20:18 When they arrived, he said to them, “You yourselves know how I lived 4 the whole time I was with you, from the first day I set foot 5 in the province of Asia, 6 20:19 serving the Lord with all humility 7 and with tears, and with the trials that happened to me because of the plots 8 of the Jews. 20:20 You know that I did not hold back from proclaiming 9 to you anything that would be helpful, 10 and from teaching you publicly 11 and from house to house, 20:21 testifying 12 to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus. 13 20:22 And now, 14 compelled 15 by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem 16 without knowing what will happen to me there, 17 20:23 except 18 that the Holy Spirit warns 19 me in town after town 20 that 21 imprisonment 22 and persecutions 23 are waiting for me. 20:24 But I do not consider my life 24 worth anything 25 to myself, so that 26 I may finish my task 27 and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news 28 of God’s grace.
20:25 “And now 29 I know that none 30 of you among whom I went around proclaiming the kingdom 31 will see me 32 again.
1 sn Miletus was a seaport on the western coast of Asia Minor about 45 mi (72 km) south of Ephesus.
2 tn The words “a message” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
3 tn The words “to him” are not in the Greek text but are implied. L&N 33.311 has for the verb μετακαλέομαι (metakaleomai) “to summon someone, with considerable insistence and authority – ‘to summon, to tell to come.’”
4 tn Grk “You yourselves know, from the first day I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time.” This could be understood to mean “how I stayed with you the whole time,” but the following verses make it clear that Paul’s lifestyle while with the Ephesians is in view here. Thus the translation “how I lived the whole time I was with you” makes this clear.
5 tn Or “I arrived.” BDAG 367 s.v. ἐπιβαίνω 2, “set foot in…εἰς τ. ᾿Ασίαν set foot in Asia Ac 20:18.” However, L&N 15.83 removes the idiom: “you know that since the first day that I came to Asia.”
6 tn Grk “Asia”; see the note on this word in v. 16.
7 sn On humility see 2 Cor 10:1; 11:7; 1 Thess 2:6; Col 3:12; Eph 4:2; Phil 2:3-11.
8 sn These plots are mentioned in Acts 9:24; 20:13.
9 tn Or “declaring.”
10 tn Or “profitable.” BDAG 960 s.v. συμφέρω 2.b.α has “τὰ συμφέροντα what advances your best interests or what is good for you Ac 20:20,” but the broader meaning (s.v. 2, “to be advantageous, help, confer a benefit, be profitable/useful”) is equally possible in this context.
11 tn Or “openly.”
12 tn BDAG 233 s.v. διαμαρτύρομαι 1 has “testify of, bear witness to (orig. under oath)…of repentance to Judeans and Hellenes Ac 20:21.”
13 tc Several
14 tn Grk “And now, behold.” Here ἰδού (idou) has not been translated.
15 tn Grk “bound.”
16 sn This journey to Jerusalem suggests a parallel between Paul and Jesus, since the “Jerusalem journey” motif figures so prominently in Luke’s Gospel (9:51-19:44).
17 tn BDAG 965 s.v. συναντάω 2 has τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ συναντήσοντα ἐμοὶ μὴ εἰδώς without knowing what will happen to me there Ac 20:22.”
18 tn BDAG 826 s.v. πλήν 1.d has “πλὴν ὅτι except that…Ac 20:23.”
19 tn The verb διαμαρτύρομαι (diamarturomai) can mean “warn” (BDAG 233 s.v. διαμαρτύρομαι 2 has “solemnly urge, exhort, warn…w. dat. of pers. addressed”), and this meaning better fits the context here, although BDAG categorizes Acts 20:23 under the meaning “testify of, bear witness to” (s.v. 1).
20 tn The Greek text here reads κατὰ πόλιν (kata polin).
21 tn Grk “saying that,” but the participle λέγον (legon) is redundant in English and has not been translated.
22 tn Grk “bonds.”
23 tn Or “troubles,” “suffering.” See Acts 19:21; 21:4, 11.
24 tn Grk “soul.”
25 tn Or “I do not consider my life worth a single word.” According to BDAG 599 s.v. λόγος 1.a.α, “In the textually uncertain pass. Ac 20:24 the text as it stands in N., οὐδενὸς λόγου (v.l. λόγον) ποιοῦμαι τὴν ψυχὴν τιμίαν, may well mean: I do not consider my life worth a single word (cp. λόγου ἄξιον [ἄξιος 1a] and our ‘worth mention’).”
26 tn BDAG 1106 s.v. ὡς 9 describes this use as “a final particle, expressing intention/purpose, with a view to, in order to.”
27 tn Grk “course.” See L&N 42.26, “(a figurative extension of meaning of δρόμος ‘race’) a task or function involving continuity, serious, effort, and possibly obligation – ‘task, mission’…Ac 20:24.” On this Pauline theme see also Phil 1:19-26; Col 1:24; 2 Tim 4:6-7.
28 tn Or “to the gospel.”
29 tn Grk “And now, behold.” Here ἰδού (idou) has not been translated.
30 tn Grk “all of you…will not see.” Greek handles its negation somewhat differently from English, and the translation follows English grammatical conventions.
31 sn Note how Paul’s usage of the expression proclaiming the kingdom is associated with (and intertwined with) his testifying to the good news of God’s grace in v. 24. For Paul the two concepts were interrelated.
32 tn Grk “will see my face” (an idiom for seeing someone in person).