Acts 16:3-12

16:3 Paul wanted Timothy ¹  to accompany him, and he took ²  him and circumcised ³  him because of the Jews who were in those places, ⁴  for they all knew that his father was Greek. ⁵  16:4 As they went through the towns, ⁶  they passed on ⁷  the decrees that had been decided on by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem ⁸  for the Gentile believers ⁹  to obey. ¹⁰  16:5 So the churches were being strengthened in the faith and were increasing in number every day. ¹¹ 

Paul’s Vision of the Macedonian Man

16:6 They went through the region of Phrygia ¹²  and Galatia, ¹³  having been prevented ¹⁴  by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message ¹⁵  in the province of Asia. ¹⁶  16:7 When they came to ¹⁷  Mysia, ¹⁸  they attempted to go into Bithynia, ¹⁹  but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow ²⁰  them to do this, ²¹  16:8 so they passed through ²²  Mysia ²³  and went down to Troas. ²⁴  16:9 A ²⁵  vision appeared to Paul during the night: A Macedonian man was standing there ²⁶  urging him, ²⁷  “Come over ²⁸  to Macedonia ²⁹  and help us!” 16:10 After Paul ³⁰  saw the vision, we attempted ³¹  immediately to go over to Macedonia, ³²  concluding that God had called ³³  us to proclaim the good news to them.

Arrival at Philippi

16:11 We put out to sea ³⁴  from Troas ³⁵  and sailed a straight course ³⁶  to Samothrace, ³⁷  the next day to Neapolis, ³⁸  16:12 and from there to Philippi, ³⁹  which is a leading city of that district ⁴⁰  of Macedonia, ⁴¹  a Roman colony. ⁴²  We stayed in this city for some days.

Acts 16:2

16:2 The brothers in Lystra ⁴³  and Iconium ⁴⁴  spoke well ⁴⁵  of him. ⁴⁶ 

Colossians 2:9

2:9 For in him all the fullness of deity lives ⁴⁷  in bodily form,

Colossians 1:8

1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Colossians 1:22

1:22 but now he has reconciled you ⁴⁸  by his physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before him –

Colossians 1:24

1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my physical body – for the sake of his body, the church – what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.

[16:3]  ¹ tn Grk “this one”; the referent (Timothy) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:3]  ² tn Grk “and taking him he circumcised him.” The participle λαβών (labwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Paul’s cultural sensitivity showed in his action here. He did not want Timothy’s lack of circumcision to become an issue (1 Cor 9:15-23).

[16:3]  ³ tn The verb περιέτεμεν (perietemen) here may be understood as causative (cf. ExSyn 411-12) if Paul did not personally perform the circumcision.

[16:3]  ⁴ tn Or “who lived in the area.”

[16:3]  ⁵ tn The anarthrous predicate nominative has been translated as qualitative (“Greek”) rather than indefinite (“a Greek”).

[16:4]  ⁶ tn Or “cities.”

[16:4]  ⁷ tn BDAG 762-63 s.v. παραδίδωμι 3 has “they handed down to them the decisions to observe Ac 16:4.”

[16:4]  ⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[16:4]  ⁹ tn Grk “for them”; the referent (Gentile believers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:4]  ¹⁰ tn Or “observe” or “follow.”

[16:5]  ¹¹ tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase.

[16:6]  ¹² sn Phrygia was a district in central Asia Minor west of Pisidia.

[16:6]  ¹³ sn Galatia refers to either (1) the region of the old kingdom of Galatia in the central part of Asia Minor (North Galatia), or (2) the Roman province of Galatia, whose principal cities in the 1st century were Ancyra and Pisidian Antioch (South Galatia). The exact extent and meaning of this area has been a subject of considerable controversy in modern NT studies.

[16:6]  ¹⁴ tn Or “forbidden.”

[16:6]  ¹⁵ tn Or “word.”

[16:6]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this 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.

[16:7]  ¹⁷ tn BDAG 511 s.v. κατά B.1.b has “to Mysia” here.

[16:7]  ¹⁸ sn Mysia was a province in northwest Asia Minor.

[16:7]  ¹⁹ sn Bithynia was a province in northern Asia Minor northeast of Mysia.

[16:7]  ²⁰ tn Or “permit”; see BDAG 269 s.v. ἐάω 1.

[16:7]  ²¹ tn The words “do this” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied for stylistic reasons, since English handles ellipses differently than Greek.

[16:8]  ²² tn Although the normal meaning for παρέρχομαι (parercomai) is “pass by, go by,” it would be difficult to get to Troas from where Paul and his companions were without going through rather than around Mysia. BDAG 776 s.v. παρέρχομαι 6 list some nonbiblical examples of the meaning “go through, pass through,” and give that meaning for the usage here.

[16:8]  ²³ sn Mysia was a province in northwest Asia Minor.

[16:8]  ²⁴ sn Troas was a port city (and surrounding region) on the northwest coast of Asia Minor, near ancient Troy.

[16:9]  ²⁵ tn Grk “And a.” 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.

[16:9]  ²⁶ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[16:9]  ²⁷ tn The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[16:9]  ²⁸ tn Grk “Coming over.” The participle διαβάς (diabas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[16:9]  ²⁹ sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.

[16:10]  ³⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:10]  ³¹ tn Grk “sought.”

[16:10]  ³² sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.

[16:10]  ³³ tn Or “summoned.”

[16:11]  ³⁴ 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.”

[16:11]  ³⁵ sn Troas was a port city (and surrounding region) on the northwest coast of Asia Minor. See v. 8.

[16:11]  ³⁶ tn BDAG 406 s.v. εὐθυδρομέω has “of a ship run a straight course” here; L&N 54.3 has “to sail a straight course, sail straight to.”

[16:11]  ³⁷ sn Samothrace is an island in the northern part of the Aegean Sea.

[16:11]  ³⁸ sn Neapolis was a seaport on the southern coast of Macedonia. It was 10 mi (16 km) from Philippi.

[16:12]  ³⁹ map For location see JP1 C1; JP2 C1; JP3 C1; JP4 C1.

[16:12]  ⁴⁰ tc ‡ Or perhaps, “a city in the first district” (there are a number of textual variants). L&N 1.85 follow the text of UBS⁴ and NA²⁷ here: “In Ac 16:12…the Greek New Testament published by the United Bible Societies has adopted a conjectural emendation, since the more traditional text, πρώτη τῆς μερίδος, literally ‘first of the district,’ is not only misleading in meaning but does not reflect the historical fact that Philippi was a city in one of the four districts of Macedonia but was not a capital city.” The original text is probably πρώτη τῆς μερίδος (prwth th" merido", “first of that district”) as found in Ì⁷⁴ א A C Ψ 33^vid 36 81 323 945 1175 1891 pc. This has traditionally been translated to give the impression that Philippi was the capital city of the district, but it does not necessarily have to be translated this way. The translation of the article before μερίδος as “that” acknowledges that there were other districts in the province of Macedonia.

[16:12]  ⁴¹ sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.

[16:12]  ⁴² sn A Roman colony was a city whose residents were regarded as Roman citizens, since such cities were originally colonized by citizens of Rome. From Troas to Philippi was 130 mi (208 km).

[16:2]  ⁴³ sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 25 mi (40 km) south of Iconium.

[16:2]  ⁴⁴ sn Iconium was a city in Lycaonia about 110 mi (175 km) east of Pisidian Antioch.

[16:2]  ⁴⁵ tn For this sense of μαρτυρέω (marturew), see BDAG 618 s.v. 2.b.

[16:2]  ⁴⁶ 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.

[2:9]  ⁴⁷ sn In him all the fullness of deity lives. The present tense in this verse (“lives”) is significant. Again, as was stated in the note on 1:19, this is not a temporary dwelling, but a permanent one. Paul’s point is polemical against the idea that the fullness of God dwells anywhere else, as the Gnostics believed, except in Christ alone. At the incarnation, the second person of the Trinity assumed humanity, and is forever the God-man.

[1:22]  ⁴⁸ tc Some of the better representatives of the Alexandrian and Western texts have a passive verb here instead of the active ἀποκατήλλαξεν (apokathllaxen, “he has reconciled”): ἀποκατηλλάγητε (apokathllaghte) in (Ì⁴⁶) B, ἀποκατήλλακται [sic] (apokathllaktai) in 33, and ἀποκαταλλαγέντες (apokatallagente") in D* F G. Yet the active verb is strongly supported by א A C D² Ψ 048 075 [0278] 1739 1881 Ï lat sy. Internally, the passive creates an anacoluthon in that it looks back to the accusative ὑμᾶς (Juma", “you”) of v. 21 and leaves the following παραστῆσαι (parasthsai) dangling (“you were reconciled…to present you”). The passive reading is certainly the harder reading. As such, it may well explain the rise of the other readings. At the same time, it is possible that the passive was produced by scribes who wanted some symmetry between the ποτε (pote, “at one time”) of v. 21 and the νυνὶ δέ (nuni de, “but now”) of v. 22: Since a passive periphrastic participle is used in v. 21, there may have a temptation to produce a corresponding passive form in v. 22, handling the ὑμᾶς of v. 21 by way of constructio ad sensum. Since παραστῆσαι occurs ten words later, it may not have been considered in this scribal modification. Further, the Western reading (ἀποκαταλλαγέντες) hardly seems to have arisen from ἀποκατηλλάγητε (contra TCGNT 555). As difficult as this decision is, the preferred reading is the active form because it is superior externally and seems to explain the rise of all forms of the passive readings.