Acts 15:41

15:41 He passed through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening ¹  the churches.

Acts 15:32

15:32 Both Judas and Silas, who were prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with a long speech. ² 

Acts 14:22

14:22 They strengthened ³  the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue ⁴  in the faith, saying, “We must enter the kingdom ⁵  of God through many persecutions.” ⁶ 

¹ sn Strengthening. See Acts 14:22; 15:32; 18:23.

² tn Here λόγου (logou) is singular. BDAG 599-600 s.v. λόγος 1.a.β has “in a long speech” for this phrase.

³ tn Grk “to Antioch, strengthening.” Due to the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was started here. This participle (ἐπιστηρίζοντες, episthrizonte") and the following one (παρακαλοῦντες, parakalounte") have been translated as finite verbs connected by the coordinating conjunction “and.”

⁴ sn And encouraged them to continue. The exhortations are like those noted in Acts 11:23; 13:43. An example of such a speech is found in Acts 20:18-35. Christianity is now characterized as “the faith.”

⁵ sn This reference to the kingdom of God clearly refers to its future arrival.

⁶ tn Or “sufferings.”