Acts 13:14

13:14 Moving on from ¹  Perga, ²  they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, ³  and on the Sabbath day they went into ⁴  the synagogue ⁵  and sat down.

Acts 13:43

13:43 When the meeting of the synagogue ⁶  had broken up, ⁷  many of the Jews and God-fearing proselytes ⁸  followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and were persuading ⁹  them ¹⁰  to continue ¹¹  in the grace of God.

[13:14]  ¹ tn Or “Passing by.”

[13:14]  ² sn Perga was a city in Pamphylia near the southern coast of Asia Minor.

[13:14]  ³ tn Or “at Antioch in Pisidia.”

[13:14]  ⁴ tn Grk “going into the synagogue they sat down.” The participle εἰσελθόντες (eiselqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[13:14]  ⁵ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[13:43]  ⁶ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[13:43]  ⁷ tn BDAG 607 s.v. λύω 3 has “λυθείσης τ. συναγωγῆς when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up Ac 13:43.”

[13:43]  ⁸ tn Normally the phrase σεβόμενοι τὸν θεόν (sebomenoi ton qeon) refers to Gentiles (“God-fearers”) who believed in God, attended the synagogue, and followed the Mosaic law to some extent, but stopped short of undergoing circumcision. BDAG 918 s.v. σέβω 1.b lists in this category references in Acts 16:14; 18:7; with σεβόμενοι alone, Acts 13:50; 17:4, 17; the phrase is also found in Josephus, Ant. 14.7.2 (14.110). Unique to this particular verse is the combination σεβόμενοι προσηλύτων (sebomenoi proshlutwn). Later rabbinic discussion suggests that to be regarded as a proper proselyte, a Gentile male had to submit to circumcision. If that is the case here, these Gentiles in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch should be regarded as full proselytes who had converted completely to Judaism and undergone circumcision. It is probably more likely, however, that προσηλύτων is used here in a somewhat looser sense (note the use of σεβομένας [sebomena"] alone to refer to women in Acts 13:50) and that these Gentiles were still in the category commonly called “God-fearers” without being full, technical proselytes to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 743-44. Regardless, the point is that many Gentiles, as well as Jews, came to faith.

[13:43]  ⁹ tn This is the meaning given for ἔπειθον (epeiqon) in this verse by BDAG 791 s.v. πείθω 1.b.

[13:43]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “who, as they were speaking with them, were persuading them.”

[13:43]  ¹¹ tn The verb προμένειν (promenein) is similar in force to the use of μένω (menw, “to reside/remain”) in the Gospel and Epistles of John.