Acts 17:11-15

17:11 These Jews ¹  were more open-minded ²  than those in Thessalonica, ³  for they eagerly ⁴  received ⁵  the message, examining ⁶  the scriptures carefully every day ⁷  to see if these things were so. 17:12 Therefore many of them believed, along with quite a few ⁸  prominent ⁹  Greek women and men. 17:13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica ¹⁰  heard that Paul had also proclaimed the word of God ¹¹  in Berea, ¹²  they came there too, inciting ¹³  and disturbing ¹⁴  the crowds. 17:14 Then the brothers sent Paul away to the coast ¹⁵  at once, but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea. ¹⁶  17:15 Those who accompanied Paul escorted him as far as Athens, ¹⁷  and after receiving an order for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left. ¹⁸ 

[17:11]  ¹ tn Grk “These”; the referent (the Jews in the synagogue at Berea) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:11]  ² tn Or “more willing to learn.” L&N 27.48 and BDAG 404 s.v. εὐγενής 2 both use the term “open-minded” here. The point is that they were more receptive to Paul’s message.

[17:11]  ³ sn Thessalonica was a city in Macedonia (modern Salonica).

[17:11]  ⁴ tn Or “willingly,” “readily”; Grk “with all eagerness.”

[17:11]  ⁵ tn Grk “who received.” Here the relative pronoun (“who”) has been translated as a pronoun (“they”) preceded by a semicolon, which is less awkward in contemporary English than a relative clause at this point.

[17:11]  ⁶ tn This verb (BDAG 66 s.v. ἀνακρίνω 1) refers to careful examination.

[17:11]  ⁷ tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase in this verse.

[17:12]  ⁸ tn 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).

[17:12]  ⁹ tn Or “respected.”

[17:13]  ¹⁰ sn Thessalonica was a city in Macedonia (modern Salonica).

[17:13]  ¹¹ tn Grk “that the word of God had also been proclaimed by Paul.” This passive construction has been converted to an active one in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:13]  ¹² sn Berea (alternate spelling in NRSV Beroea; Greek Beroia) was a very old city in Macedonia on the river Astraeus about 45 mi (75 km) from Thessalonica.

[17:13]  ¹³ tn BDAG 911 s.v. σαλεύω 2 has “incite” for σαλεύοντες (saleuonte") in Acts 17:13.

[17:13]  ¹⁴ tn Or “stirring up” (BDAG 990-91 s.v. ταράσσω 2). The point is the agitation of the crowds.

[17:14]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “to the sea.” Here ἕως ἐπὶ τὴν θάλασσαν ({ew" epi thn qalassan) must mean “to the edge of the sea,” that is, “to the coast.” Since there is no mention of Paul taking a ship to Athens, he presumably traveled overland. The journey would have been about 340 mi (550 km).

[17:14]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “remained there”; the referent (Berea) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:15]  ¹⁷ map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

[17:15]  ¹⁸ sn They left. See 1 Thess 3:1-2, which shows they went from here to Thessalonica.