Acts 19:29

19:29 The ¹  city was filled with the uproar, ²  and the crowd ³  rushed to the theater ⁴  together, ⁵  dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, the Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions.

Acts 19:31

19:31 Even some of the provincial authorities ⁶  who were his friends sent ⁷  a message ⁸  to him, urging him not to venture ⁹  into the theater.

[19:29]  ¹ tn Grk “And the.” 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.

[19:29]  ² tn L&N 39.43 has “‘the uproar spread throughout the whole city’ (literally ‘the city was filled with uproar’) Ac 19:29.” BDAG 954 s.v. σύγχυσις has “confusion, tumult.”

[19:29]  ³ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the crowd) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:29]  ⁴ sn To the theater. This location made the event a public spectacle. The Grand Theater in Ephesus (still standing today) stood facing down the main thoroughfare of the city toward the docks. It had a seating capacity of 25,000.

[19:29]  ⁵ tn Grk “to the theater with one accord.”

[19:31]  ⁶ tn Grk “Asiarchs” (high-ranking officials of the province of Asia).

[19:31]  ⁷ tn Grk “sending”; the participle πέμψαντες (pemyante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[19:31]  ⁸ tn The words “a message” are not in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[19:31]  ⁹ tn BDAG 242-43 s.v. δίδωμι 11 has “to cause (oneself) to go, go, venture somewhere (cp. our older ‘betake oneself’)…Ac 19:31.” The desire of these sympathetic authorities was surely to protect Paul’s life. The detail indicates how dangerous things had become.