Acts 17:18

17:18 Also some of the Epicurean ¹  and Stoic ²  philosophers were conversing ³  with him, and some were asking, ⁴  “What does this foolish babbler ⁵  want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.” ⁶  (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) ⁷ 

Acts 21:37-38

21:37 As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, ⁸  he said ⁹  to the commanding officer, ¹⁰  “May I say ¹¹  something to you?” The officer ¹²  replied, ¹³  “Do you know Greek? ¹⁴  21:38 Then you’re not that Egyptian who started a rebellion ¹⁵  and led the four thousand men of the ‘Assassins’ ¹⁶  into the wilderness ¹⁷  some time ago?” ¹⁸ 

Acts 25:14-15

25:14 While ¹⁹  they were staying there many days, Festus ²⁰  explained Paul’s case to the king to get his opinion, ²¹  saying, “There is a man left here as a prisoner by Felix. 25:15 When I was in Jerusalem, ²²  the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed ²³  me about him, ²⁴  asking for a sentence of condemnation ²⁵  against him.

Acts 25:19

25:19 Rather they had several points of disagreement ²⁶  with him about their own religion ²⁷  and about a man named Jesus ²⁸  who was dead, whom Paul claimed ²⁹  to be alive.

Acts 25:26

25:26 But I have nothing definite ³⁰  to write to my lord ³¹  about him. ³²  Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, ³³  so that after this preliminary hearing ³⁴  I may have something to write.

Acts 25:1

Paul Appeals to Caesar

25:1 Now ³⁵  three days after Festus ³⁶  arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem ³⁷  from Caesarea. ³⁸ 

Colossians 4:9

4:9 I sent him ³⁹  with Onesimus, the faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. ⁴⁰  They will tell ⁴¹  you about everything here.

[17:18]  ¹ sn An Epicurean was a follower of the philosophy of Epicurus, who founded a school in Athens about 300 b.c. Although the Epicureans saw the aim of life as pleasure, they were not strictly hedonists, because they defined pleasure as the absence of pain. Along with this, they desired the avoidance of trouble and freedom from annoyances. They saw organized religion as evil, especially the belief that the gods punished evildoers in an afterlife. In keeping with this, they were unable to accept Paul’s teaching about the resurrection.

[17:18]  ² sn A Stoic was a follower of the philosophy founded by Zeno (342-270 b.c.), a Phoenician who came to Athens and modified the philosophical system of the Cynics he found there. The Stoics rejected the Epicurean ideal of pleasure, stressing virtue instead. The Stoics emphasized responsibility for voluntary actions and believed risks were worth taking, but thought the actual attainment of virtue was difficult. They also believed in providence.

[17:18]  ³ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβάλλω 1 has “converse, confer” here.

[17:18]  ⁴ tn Grk “saying.”

[17:18]  ⁵ tn Or “ignorant show-off.” The traditional English translation of σπερμολόγος (spermologo") is given in L&N 33.381 as “foolish babbler.” However, an alternate view is presented in L&N 27.19, “(a figurative extension of meaning of a term based on the practice of birds in picking up seeds) one who acquires bits and pieces of relatively extraneous information and proceeds to pass them off with pretense and show – ‘ignorant show-off, charlatan.’” A similar view is given in BDAG 937 s.v. σπερμολόγος: “in pejorative imagery of persons whose communication lacks sophistication and seems to pick up scraps of information here and there scrapmonger, scavenger…Engl. synonyms include ‘gossip’, ‘babbler’, chatterer’; but these terms miss the imagery of unsystematic gathering.”

[17:18]  ⁶ tn The meaning of this phrase is not clear. Literally it reads “strange deities” (see BDAG 210 s.v. δαιμόνιον 1). The note of not being customary is important. In the ancient world what was new was suspicious. The plural δαιμονίων (daimoniwn, “deities”) shows the audience grappling with Paul’s teaching that God was working through Jesus.

[17:18]  ⁷ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[21:37]  ⁸ tn Or “the headquarters.” BDAG 775 s.v. παρεμβολή 2 has “barracks/headquarters of the Roman troops in Jerusalem Ac 21:34, 37; 22:24; 23:10, 16, 32.”

[21:37]  ⁹ tn Grk “says” (a historical present).

[21:37]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers) See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 31.

[21:37]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Is it permitted for me to say” (an idiom).

[21:37]  ¹² tn Grk “He”; the referent (the officer) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:37]  ¹³ tn Grk “said.”

[21:37]  ¹⁴ sn “Do you know Greek?” Paul as an educated rabbi was bilingual. Paul’s request in Greek allowed the officer to recognize that Paul was not the violent insurrectionist he thought he had arrested (see following verse). The confusion of identities reveals the degree of confusion dominating these events.

[21:38]  ¹⁵ tn L&N 39.41 has “οὐκ ἄρα σὺ εἶ ὁ Αἰγύπτιος ὁ πρὸ τούτων τῶν ἡμερῶν ἀναστατώσας ‘then you are not that Egyptian who some time ago started a rebellion’ Ac 21:38.”

[21:38]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “of the Sicarii.”

[21:38]  ¹⁷ tn Or “desert.”

[21:38]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “before these days.”

[25:14]  ¹⁹ tn BDAG 1105-6 s.v. ὡς 8.b states, “w. pres. or impf. while, when, as long as…Ac 1:10; 7:23; 9:23; 10:17; 13:25; 19:9; 21:27; 25:14.”

[25:14]  ²⁰ sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

[25:14]  ²¹ tn Grk “Festus laid Paul’s case before the king for consideration.” BDAG 74 s.v. ἀνατίθημι 2 states, “otherw. only mid. to lay someth. before someone for consideration, declare, communicate, refer w. the added idea that the pers. to whom a thing is ref. is asked for his opinion lay someth. before someone for consideration…Ac 25:14.”

[25:15]  ²² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[25:15]  ²³ tn BDAG 326 s.v. ἐμφανίζω 3 has “to convey a formal report about a judicial matter, present evidence, bring charges…ἐ. περί τινος concerning someone 25:15.”

[25:15]  ²⁴ tn Grk “about whom.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been replaced with a personal pronoun (“him”) and a new sentence started in the translation at the beginning of v. 15 (where the phrase περὶ οὗ [peri Jou] occurs in the Greek text).

[25:15]  ²⁵ tn BDAG 516 s.v. καταδίκη states, “condemnation, sentence of condemnation, conviction, guilty verdict…αἰτεῖσθαι κατά τινος κ. ask for a conviction of someone Ac 25:15.”

[25:19]  ²⁶ tn Grk “several controversial issues.” BDAG 428 s.v. ζήτημα states, “in our lit. only in Ac, w. the mng. it still has in Mod. Gk. (controversial) question, issue, argument…Ac 15:2; 26:3. ζ. περί τινος questions about someth.…18:15; 25:19.”

[25:19]  ²⁷ tn On this term see BDAG 216 s.v. δεισιδαιμονία 2. It is a broad term for religion.

[25:19]  ²⁸ tn Grk “a certain Jesus.”

[25:19]  ²⁹ tn Or “asserted.”

[25:26]  ³⁰ sn There is irony here. How can Festus write anything definite about Paul, if he is guilty of nothing.

[25:26]  ³¹ sn To my lord means “to His Majesty the Emperor.”

[25:26]  ³² tn Grk “about whom I have nothing definite…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced with a personal pronoun (“him”) and a new sentence begun in the translation at the beginning of v. 26.

[25:26]  ³³ sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

[25:26]  ³⁴ tn Or “investigation.” BDAG 66 s.v. ἀνάκρισις has “a judicial hearing, investigation, hearing, esp. preliminary hearing…τῆς ἀ. γενομένης Ac 25:26.” This is technical legal language.

[25:1]  ³⁵ tn BDAG 736-37 s.v. οὖν 2.b states, “οὖν serves to indicate a transition to someth. new…now, then, well…Ac 25:1.”

[25:1]  ³⁶ sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

[25:1]  ³⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[25:1]  ³⁸ sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1. This was a journey of 65 mi (just over 100 km).

[4:9]  ³⁹ tn The Greek sentence continues v. 9 with the phrase “with Onesimus,” but this is awkward in English, so the verb “I sent” was inserted and a new sentence started at the beginning of v. 9 in the translation.

[4:9]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “is of you.”

[4:9]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “will make known to you.” This has been simplified in the translation to “will tell.”