Acts 17:1-9

Context

Paul and Silas at Thessalonica

17:1 After they traveled through¹ Amphipolis² and Apollonia,³ they came to Thessalonica,⁴ where there was a Jewish synagogue.⁵ 17:2 Paul went to the Jews in the synagogue,⁶ as he customarily did, and on three Sabbath days he addressed⁷ them from the scriptures, 17:3 explaining and demonstrating⁸ that the Christ⁹ had to suffer and to rise from the dead,¹⁰ saying,¹¹ “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.”¹² 17:4 Some of them were persuaded¹³ and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large group¹⁴ of God-fearing Greeks¹⁵ and quite a few¹⁶ prominent women. 17:5 But the Jews became jealous,¹⁷ and gathering together some worthless men from the rabble in the marketplace,¹⁸ they formed a mob¹⁹ and set the city in an uproar.²⁰ They attacked Jason’s house,²¹ trying to find Paul and Silas²² to bring them out to the assembly.²³ 17:6 When they did not find them, they dragged²⁴ Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials,²⁵ screaming, “These people who have stirred up trouble²⁶ throughout the world²⁷ have come here too, 17:7 and²⁸ Jason has welcomed them as guests! They²⁹ are all acting against Caesar’s³⁰ decrees, saying there is another king named³¹ Jesus!”³² 17:8 They caused confusion among³³ the crowd and the city officials³⁴ who heard these things. 17:9 After³⁵ the city officials³⁶ had received bail³⁷ from Jason and the others, they released them.

[17:1] ¹tn BDAG 250 s.v. διοδεύω 1 has “go, travel through” for this verse.

[17:1] ²sn Amphipolis. The capital city of the southeastern district of Macedonia (BDAG 55 s.v. ᾿Αμφίπολις). It was a military post. From Philippi this was about 33 mi (53 km).

[17:1] ³sn Apollonia was a city in Macedonia about 27 mi (43 km) west southwest of Amphipolis.

[17:1] ⁴sn Thessalonica (modern Salonica) was a city in Macedonia about 33 mi (53 km) west of Apollonia. It was the capital of Macedonia. The road they traveled over was called the Via Egnatia. It is likely they rode horses, given their condition in Philippi. The implication of v. 1 is that the two previously mentioned cities lacked a synagogue.

[17:1] ⁵sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[17:2] ⁶tn Grk “he went in to them”; the referent (the Jews in the synagogue) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:2] ⁷tn Although the word διελέξατο (dielexato; from διαλέγομαι, dialegomai) is frequently translated “reasoned,” “disputed,” or “argued,” this sense comes from its classical meaning where it was used of philosophical disputation, including the Socratic method of questions and answers. However, there does not seem to be contextual evidence for this kind of debate in Acts 17:2. As G. Schrenk (TDNT 2:94-95) points out, “What is at issue is the address which any qualified member of a synagogue might give.” Other examples of this may be found in the NT in Matt 4:23 and Mark 1:21.

[17:3] ⁸tn BDAG 772 s.v. παρατίθημι 2.b has “demonstrate, point out” here.

[17:3] ⁹tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[17:3] ¹⁰sn The Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead. These two points (suffering and resurrection) would have been among the more controversial aspects of Paul’s messianic preaching. The term translated “had to” (δεῖ, dei) shows how divine design and scripture corresponded here.

[17:3] ¹¹tn The Greek words used here (καὶ ὅτι, kai {oti, “and that”) mark the switch from indirect to direct discourse. Contemporary English requires the use of an introductory verb of speaking or saying to make this transition.

[17:3] ¹²tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[17:4] ¹³tn Or “convinced.”

[17:4] ¹⁴tn Or “a large crowd.”

[17:4] ¹⁵tn Or “of devout Greeks,” but this is practically a technical term for the category called God-fearers, Gentiles who worshiped the God of Israel and in many cases kept the Mosaic law, but did not take the final step of circumcision necessary to become a proselyte to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 743-44. Luke frequently mentions such people (Acts 13:43, 50; 16:14; 17:17; 18:7).

[17:4] ¹⁶tn Grk “not a few”; this use of negation could be misleading to the modern English reader, however, and so has been translated as “quite a few” (which is the actual meaning of the expression).

[17:5] ¹⁷tn Grk “becoming jealous.” The participle ζηλώσαντες (zhlwsante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. So elsewhere in Acts (5:17; 7:9; 13:45).

[17:5] ¹⁸tn Literally ἀγοραῖος (agoraio") refers to the crowd in the marketplace, although BDAG 14-15 s.v. ἀγοραῖος 1 gives the meaning, by extension, as “rabble.” Such a description is certainly appropriate in this context. L&N 15.127 translates the phrase “worthless men from the streets.”

[17:5] ¹⁹tn On this term, which is a NT hapax legomenon, see BDAG 745 s.v. ὀχλοποιέω.

[17:5] ²⁰tn BDAG 458 s.v. θορυβέω 1 has “set the city in an uproar, start a riot in the city” for the meaning of ἐθορύβουν (eqoruboun) in this verse.

[17:5] ²¹sn The attack took place at Jason’s house because this was probably the location of the new house church.

[17:5] ²²tn Grk “them”; the referents (Paul and Silas) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:5] ²³tn BDAG 223 s.v. δῆμος 2 has “in a Hellenistic city, a convocation of citizens called together for the purpose of transacting official business, popular assembly προάγειν εἰς τὸν δ. Ac 17:5.”

[17:6] ²⁴tn See BDAG 977-78 s.v. σύρω on this verb. It was used in everyday speech of dragging in fish by a net, or dragging away someone’s (presumably) dead body (Paul in Acts 14:19).

[17:6] ²⁵tn L&N 37.93 defines πολιτάρχης (politarch") as “a public official responsible for administrative matters within a town or city and a member of the ruling council of such a political unit – ‘city official’” (see also BDAG 845 s.v.).

[17:6] ²⁶tn Or “rebellion.” BDAG 72 s.v. ἀναστατόω has “disturb, trouble, upset,” but in light of the references in the following verse to political insurrection, “stirred up rebellion” would also be appropriate.

[17:6] ²⁷tn Or “the empire.” This was a way of referring to the Roman empire (BDAG 699 s.v. οἰκουμένη 2.b).

[17:7] ²⁸tn Grk “whom.” Because of the awkwardness in English of having two relative clauses follow one another (“who have stirred up trouble…whom Jason has welcomed”) the relative pronoun here (“whom”) has been replaced by the conjunction “and,” creating a clause that is grammatically coordinate but logically subordinate in the translation.

[17:7] ²⁹tn Grk “and they.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

[17:7] ³⁰tn Or “the emperor’s” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[17:7] ³¹tn The word “named” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied for clarity.

[17:7] ³²sn Acting…saying…Jesus. The charges are serious, involving sedition (Luke 23:2). If the political charges were true, Rome would have to react.

[17:8] ³³tn Grk “They troubled the crowd and the city officials”; but this could be understood to mean “they bothered” or “they annoyed.” In reality the Jewish instigators managed to instill doubt and confusion into both the mob and the officials by their false charges of treason. Verse 8 suggests the charges raised again Paul, Silas, Jason, and the others were false.

[17:8] ³⁴tn L&N 37.93 defines πολιτάρχης (politarch") as “a public official responsible for administrative matters within a town or city and a member of the ruling council of such a political unit – ‘city official.’”

[17:9] ³⁵tn Grk “And after.” 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.

[17:9] ³⁶tn Grk “they”; the referent (the city officials) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:9] ³⁷tn That is, “a payment” or “a pledge of security” (BDAG 472 s.v. ἱκανός 1) for which “bail” is the most common contemporary English equivalent.