Acts 17:14-15

17:14 Then the brothers sent Paul away to the coast ¹  at once, but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea. ²  17:15 Those who accompanied Paul escorted him as far as Athens, ³  and after receiving an order for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left. ⁴ 

Acts 17:1

Paul and Silas at Thessalonica

17:1 After they traveled through ⁵  Amphipolis ⁶  and Apollonia, ⁷  they came to Thessalonica, ⁸  where there was a Jewish synagogue. ⁹ 

Acts 3:2

3:2 And a man lame ¹⁰  from birth ¹¹  was being carried up, who was placed at the temple gate called “the Beautiful Gate” every day ¹²  so he could beg for money ¹³  from those going into the temple courts. ¹⁴ 

¹ tn Grk “to the sea.” Here ἕως ἐπὶ τὴν θάλασσαν ({ew" epi thn qalassan) must mean “to the edge of the sea,” that is, “to the coast.” Since there is no mention of Paul taking a ship to Athens, he presumably traveled overland. The journey would have been about 340 mi (550 km).

² tn Grk “remained there”; the referent (Berea) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ map For location see JP1-C2; JP2-C2; JP3-C2; JP4-C2.

⁴ sn They left. See 1 Thess 3:1-2, which shows they went from here to Thessalonica.

⁵ tn BDAG 250 s.v. διοδεύω 1 has “go, travel through” for this verse.

⁶ sn Amphipolis. The capital city of the southeastern district of Macedonia (BDAG 55 s.v. ᾿Αμφίπολις). It was a military post. From Philippi this was about 33 mi (53 km).

⁷ sn Apollonia was a city in Macedonia about 27 mi (43 km) west southwest of Amphipolis.

⁸ sn Thessalonica (modern Salonica) was a city in Macedonia about 33 mi (53 km) west of Apollonia. It was the capital of Macedonia. The road they traveled over was called the Via Egnatia. It is likely they rode horses, given their condition in Philippi. The implication of v. 1 is that the two previously mentioned cities lacked a synagogue.

⁹ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

¹⁰ tn Or “crippled.”

¹¹ tn Grk “from his mother’s womb.”

¹² tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase.

¹³ tn Grk “alms.” The term “alms” is not in common use today, so what the man expected, “money,” is used in the translation instead. The idea is that of money given as a gift to someone who was poor. Giving alms was viewed as honorable in Judaism (Tob 1:3, 16; 12:8-9; m. Pe’ah 1:1). See also Luke 11:41; 12:33; Acts 9:36; 10:2, 4, 31; 24:17.

¹⁴ tn Grk “the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.