2:29 “Brothers, 1 I can speak confidently 2 to you about our forefather 3 David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
2:1 Now 4 when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
9:31 Then 14 the church throughout Judea, Galilee, 15 and Samaria experienced 16 peace and thus was strengthened. 17 Living 18 in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, the church 19 increased in numbers.
21:1 After 22 we 23 tore ourselves away 24 from them, we put out to sea, 25 and sailing a straight course, 26 we came to Cos, 27 on the next day to Rhodes, 28 and from there to Patara. 29
1 tn Since this represents a continuation of the address beginning in v.14 and continued in v. 22, “brothers” has been used here rather than a generic expression like “brothers and sisters.”
2 sn Peter’s certainty is based on well-known facts.
3 tn Or “about our noted ancestor,” “about the patriarch.”
4 tn Grk “And” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style does not.
5 tn Grk “These”; the referent (the Jews in the synagogue at Berea) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn Or “more willing to learn.” L&N 27.48 and BDAG 404 s.v. εὐγενής 2 both use the term “open-minded” here. The point is that they were more receptive to Paul’s message.
7 sn Thessalonica was a city in Macedonia (modern Salonica).
8 tn Or “willingly,” “readily”; Grk “with all eagerness.”
9 tn Grk “who received.” Here the relative pronoun (“who”) has been translated as a pronoun (“they”) preceded by a semicolon, which is less awkward in contemporary English than a relative clause at this point.
10 tn This verb (BDAG 66 s.v. ἀνακρίνω 1) refers to careful examination.
11 tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase in this verse.
12 tn Grk “he went in to them”; the referent (the Jews in the synagogue) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 tn Although the word διελέξατο (dielexato; from διαλέγομαι, dialegomai) is frequently translated “reasoned,” “disputed,” or “argued,” this sense comes from its classical meaning where it was used of philosophical disputation, including the Socratic method of questions and answers. However, there does not seem to be contextual evidence for this kind of debate in Acts 17:2. As G. Schrenk (TDNT 2:94-95) points out, “What is at issue is the address which any qualified member of a synagogue might give.” Other examples of this may be found in the NT in Matt 4:23 and Mark 1:21.
14 tn Or “Therefore.” This verse is another summary text in Acts (cf. 2:41-47; 4:32-37; 5:12-16; 6:7).
15 tn Grk “and Galilee,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
16 tn Grk “had.”
17 tn Or “Built up.” The participle οἰκοδομουμένη (oikodomoumenh) has been translated as a participle of result related to εἶχεν (eicen). It could also be understood as adverbial to ἐπληθύνετο (eplhquneto): “Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria experienced peace. Strengthened and living in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.” Although some scholars do not regard the participle of result as a legitimate category, it is actually fairly common (see ExSyn 637-39).
18 tn Grk “And living.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
19 tn Grk “it”; the referent (the church) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20 tn The words “the door” are not in the Greek text, but are implied (see Acts 12:13).
21 sn That they were greatly astonished is a common response in Luke-Acts to God’s work (Luke 8:56; Acts 2:7, 12; 8:13; 9:21; 10:45).
22 tn Grk “It happened that when.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Since the action described by the participle ἀποσπασθέντας (apospasqenta", “tearing ourselves away”) is prior to the departure of the ship, it has been translated as antecedent action (“after”).
23 sn This marks the beginning of another “we” section in Acts. These have been traditionally understood to mean that Luke was in the company of Paul for this part of the journey.
24 tn BDAG 120 s.v. ἀποσπάω 2.b has “pass. in mid. sense ἀ. ἀπό τινος tear oneself away Ac 21:1”; LSJ 218 gives several illustrations of this verb meaning “to tear or drag away from.”
25 tn BDAG 62 s.v. ἀνάγω 4, “as a nautical t.t. (ἀ. τὴν ναῦν put a ship to sea), mid. or pass. ἀνάγεσθαι to begin to go by boat, put out to sea.”
26 tn BDAG 406 s.v. εὐθυδρομέω has “of a ship run a straight course”; L&N 54.3 has “to sail a straight course, sail straight to.”
27 sn Cos was an island in the Aegean Sea.
28 sn Rhodes was an island off the southwestern coast of Asia Minor.
29 sn Patara was a city in Lycia on the southwestern coast of Asia Minor. The entire journey was about 185 mi (295 km).
30 tn BDAG 277-78 s.v. εἰ 2 has “marker of an indirect question as content, that…Sim. also (Procop. Soph., Ep. 123 χάριν ἔχειν εἰ = that) μαρτυρόμενος…εἰ παθητὸς ὁ Χριστός testifying…that the Christ was to suffer…Ac 26:23.”
31 tn Or “the Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
32 tn That is, to the Jewish people. Grk “the people”; the word “our” has been supplied to clarify the meaning.
33 sn Note how the context of Paul’s gospel message about Jesus, resurrection, and light both to Jews and to the Gentiles is rooted in the prophetic message of the OT scriptures. Paul was guilty of following God’s call and preaching the scriptural hope.