40:18 To whom can you compare God?
To what image can you liken him?
20:1 After the disturbance had ended, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging 17 them and saying farewell, 18 he left to go to Macedonia. 19
1 tn Heb “the
2 tn Heb “commanded.”
3 tn Here πνεῦμα (pneuma) is understood as a qualitative predicate nominative while the articular θεός (qeos) is the subject.
4 tn Or “the divine being.” BDAG 446 s.v. θεῖος 1.b has “divine being, divinity” here.
5 tn Or “a likeness.” Again idolatry is directly attacked as an affront to God and a devaluation of him.
6 tn Grk “by the skill and imagination of man,” but ἀνθρώπου (anqrwpou) has been translated as an attributive genitive.
7 tn Or “craftsmanship” (cf. BDAG 1001 s.v. τέχνη).
8 tn Or “thought.” BDAG 336 s.v. ἐνθύμησις has “thought, reflection, idea” as the category of meaning here, but in terms of creativity (as in the context) the imaginative faculty is in view.
9 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 sn Berea (alternate spelling in NRSV Beroea; Greek Beroia) was a very old city in Macedonia on the river Astraeus about 45 mi (75 km) from Thessalonica.
11 tn Grk “of the Thessalonians.”
12 tn Grk “and Gaius,” but this 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.
13 sn Derbe was a city in Lycaonia about 30 mi (50 km) southeast of Lystra.
14 tn Grk “the Asians Tychicus and Trophimus.” In the NT “Asia” always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.
15 tn Grk “These, having gone on ahead, were waiting.” The participle προελθόντες (proelqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
16 sn Troas was a port city (and surrounding region) on the northwest coast of Asia Minor.
17 tn Or “exhorting.”
18 tn Or “and taking leave of them.”
19 sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.
20 tn Or “and was chosen to have a share in this ministry.” The term λαγχάνω (lancanw) here and in 2 Pet 1:1 can be understood as referring to the process of divine choice and thus be translated, “was chosen to have.”