Luke 8:2-3

8:2 and also some women ¹  who had been healed of evil spirits and disabilities: ²  Mary ³  (called Magdalene), from whom seven demons had gone out, 8:3 and Joanna the wife of Cuza ⁴  (Herod’s ⁵  household manager), ⁶  Susanna, and many others who provided for them ⁷  out of their own resources.

Acts 16:15

16:15 After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, ⁸  “If ⁹  you consider me to be a believer in the Lord, ¹⁰  come and stay in my house.” And she persuaded ¹¹  us.

Acts 16:2

16:2 The brothers in Lystra ¹²  and Iconium ¹³  spoke well ¹⁴  of him. ¹⁵ 

Acts 1:10

1:10 As ¹⁶  they were still staring into the sky while he was going, suddenly ¹⁷  two men in white clothing stood near them

¹ sn There is an important respect shown to women in this text, as their contributions were often ignored in ancient society.

² tn Or “illnesses.” The term ἀσθένεια (asqeneia) refers to the state of being ill and thus incapacitated in some way – “illness, disability, weakness.” (L&N 23.143).

³ sn This Mary is not the woman mentioned in the previous passage (as some church fathers claimed), because she is introduced as a new figure here. In addition, she is further specified by Luke with the notation called Magdalene, which seems to distinguish her from the woman at Simon the Pharisee’s house.

⁴ sn Cuza is also spelled “Chuza” in many English translations.

⁵ sn Herod’s refers here to Herod Antipas. See the note on Herod Antipas in 3:1.

⁶ tn Here ἐπίτροπος (epitropo") is understood as referring to the majordomo or manager of Herod’s household (BDAG 385 s.v. ἐπίτροπος 1). However, as BDAG notes, the office may be political in nature and would then be translated something like “governor” or “procurator.” Note that in either case the gospel was reaching into the highest levels of society.

⁷ tc Many mss (א A L Ψ Ë¹ 33 565 579 1241 2542 pm it co) read “for him,” but “for them” also has good ms support (B D K W Γ Δ Θ Ë¹³ 700 892 1424 pm lat). From an internal standpoint the singular pronoun looks like an assimilation to texts like Matt 27:55 and Mark 15:41.

⁸ tn Grk “urged us, saying.” The participle λέγουσα (legousa) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

⁹ tn This is a first class condition in Greek, with the statement presented as real or true for the sake of the argument.

¹⁰ tn Or “faithful to the Lord.” BDAG 821 s.v. πίστος 2 states concerning this verse, “Of one who confesses the Christian faith believing or a believer in the Lord, in Christ, in God πιστ. τῷ κυρίῳ Ac 16:15.” L&N 11.17 has “one who is included among the faithful followers of Christ – ‘believer, Christian, follower.’”

¹¹ tn Although BDAG 759 s.v. παραβιάζομαι has “urge strongly, prevail upon,” in contemporary English “persuade” is a more frequently used synonym for “prevail upon.”

¹² sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 25 mi (40 km) south of Iconium.

¹³ sn Iconium was a city in Lycaonia about 110 mi (175 km) east of Pisidian Antioch.

¹⁴ tn For this sense of μαρτυρέω (marturew), see BDAG 618 s.v. 2.b.

¹⁵ tn Grk “who was well spoken of by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium.” Because of the awkwardness in English of having two relative clauses follow one another (“who was a believer…who was well spoken of”) and the awkwardness of the passive verb (“was well spoken of”), the relative pronoun at the beginning of 16:2 (“who”) has been translated as a pronoun (“him”) and the construction converted from passive to active at the same time a new sentence was started in the translation.

¹⁶ tn Grk “And as.” 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.

¹⁷ tn Grk “behold.”