Acts 8:1

8:1 And Saul agreed completely with killing him.

Saul Begins to Persecute the Church

Now on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were forced to scatter throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria.

Acts 15:36

Paul and Barnabas Part Company

15:36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord to see how they are doing.”

Acts 16:13

16:13 On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate to the side of the river, where we thought there would be a place of prayer, and we sat down 10  and began to speak 11  to the women 12  who had assembled there. 13 

Acts 27:39

Paul is Shipwrecked

27:39 When day came, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed 14  a bay 15  with a beach, 16  where they decided to run the ship aground if they could.


tn The term ἀναίρεσις (anairesi") can refer to murder (BDAG 64 s.v.; 2 Macc 5:13; Josephus, Ant. 5.2.12 [5.165]).

tn Or “severe.”

tn Grk “Now there happened on that day a great persecution.” It is less awkward to say in English “Now on that day a great persecution began.”

map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

sn All. Given that the Jerusalem church is still active after this and that the Hellenists are the focus of Acts 6-8, it is possible to argue that only the Hellenistic Christians were forced to scatter.

tn Or “countryside.”

tn Grk “Returning let us visit.” The participle ἐπιστρέψαντες (epistreyante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

tn See the note on the phrase “word of the Lord” in v. 35.

tn BDAG 422 s.v. ἔχω 10.b has “how they are” for this phrase.

13 tn Grk “and sitting down we began to speak.” The participle καθίσαντες (kaqisante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

14 tn The imperfect verb ἐλαλοῦμεν (elaloumen) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

15 sn To the women. Apparently there were not enough Jews present in Philippi to have a synagogue (ten men would have been required to have one).

16 tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

19 tn Or “observed,” “saw.”

20 tn Or “gulf” (BDAG 557 s.v. κόλπος 3).

21 sn A beach would refer to a smooth sandy beach suitable for landing.