20:1 After the disturbance had ended, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging 1 them and saying farewell, 2 he left to go to Macedonia. 3
21:1 After 14 we 15 tore ourselves away 16 from them, we put out to sea, 17 and sailing a straight course, 18 we came to Cos, 19 on the next day to Rhodes, 20 and from there to Patara. 21
1:1 I wrote 22 the former 23 account, 24 Theophilus, 25 about all that Jesus began to do and teach
1 tn Or “exhorting.”
2 tn Or “and taking leave of them.”
3 sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.
4 tn Grk “seeking.”
5 tn Or “information” (originally concerning a crime; BDAG 1050 s.v. φάσις).
6 tn Grk “went up”; this verb is used because the report went up to the Antonia Fortress where the Roman garrison was stationed.
7 tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). In Greek the term χιλίαρχος (ciliarco") literally described the “commander of a thousand,” but it was used as the standard translation for the Latin tribunus militum or tribunus militare, the military tribune who commanded a cohort of 600 men.
8 sn A cohort was a Roman military unit of about 600 soldiers, one-tenth of a legion.
9 tn BDAG 953 s.v. συγχέω has “Pass. w. act.force be in confusion…ὅλη συγχύννεται ᾿Ιερουσαλήμ 21:31.”
10 tn L&N 39.41 has “οὐκ ἄρα σὺ εἶ ὁ Αἰγύπτιος ὁ πρὸ τούτων τῶν ἡμερῶν ἀναστατώσας ‘then you are not that Egyptian who some time ago started a rebellion’ Ac 21:38.”
11 tn Grk “of the Sicarii.”
12 tn Or “desert.”
13 tn Grk “before these days.”
14 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”).
15 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.
16 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.”
17 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.”
18 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.”
19 sn Cos was an island in the Aegean Sea.
20 sn Rhodes was an island off the southwestern coast of Asia Minor.
21 sn Patara was a city in Lycia on the southwestern coast of Asia Minor. The entire journey was about 185 mi (295 km).
22 tn Or “produced,” Grk “made.”
23 tn Or “first.” The translation “former” is preferred because “first” could imply to the modern English reader that the author means that his previous account was the first one to be written down. The Greek term πρῶτος (prwtos) does not necessarily mean “first” in an absolute sense, but can refer to the first in a set or series. That is what is intended here – the first account (known as the Gospel of Luke) as compared to the second one (known as Acts).
24 tn The Greek word λόγος (logos) is sometimes translated “book” (NRSV, NIV) or “treatise” (KJV). A formal, systematic treatment of a subject is implied, but the word “book” may be too specific and slightly misleading to the modern reader, so “account” has been used.
25 tn Grk “O Theophilus,” but the usage of the vocative in Acts with ὦ (w) is unemphatic, following more the classical idiom (see ExSyn 69).
26 sn The suggestion here is that Jesus was too popular to openly arrest him.