Discovery BoxActs 10:1
Context10:1 Now there was a man in Caesarea 1 named Cornelius, a centurion 2 of what was known as the Italian Cohort. 3
Acts 10:31
Context10:31 and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your acts of charity 4 have been remembered before God. 5
Acts 10:3
Context10:3 About three o’clock one afternoon 6 he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God 7 who came in 8 and said to him, “Cornelius.”
Acts 10:24-25
Context10:24 The following day 9 he entered Caesarea. 10 Now Cornelius was waiting anxiously 11 for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 10:25 So when 12 Peter came in, Cornelius met 13 him, fell 14 at his feet, and worshiped 15 him.
Acts 10:17
Context10:17 Now while Peter was puzzling over 16 what the vision he had seen could signify, the men sent by Cornelius had learned where Simon’s house was 17 and approached 18 the gate.
Acts 10:30
Context10:30 Cornelius 19 replied, 20 “Four days ago at this very hour, at three o’clock in the afternoon, 21 I was praying in my house, and suddenly 22 a man in shining clothing stood before me
Acts 10:22
Context10:22 They said, “Cornelius the centurion, 23 a righteous 24 and God-fearing man, well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, 25 was directed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear a message 26 from you.”
[10:1] 1 sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). It was known as “Caesarea by the sea” (BDAG 499 s.v. Καισάρεια 2). Largely Gentile, it was a center of Roman administration and the location of many of Herod the Great’s building projects (Josephus, Ant. 15.9.6 [15.331-341]).
[10:1] 2 sn A centurion was a noncommissioned officer in the Roman army or one of the auxiliary territorial armies, commanding a centuria of (nominally) 100 men. The responsibilities of centurions were broadly similar to modern junior officers, but there was a wide gap in social status between them and officers, and relatively few were promoted beyond the rank of senior centurion. The Roman troops stationed in Judea were auxiliaries, who would normally be rewarded with Roman citizenship after 25 years of service. Some of the centurions may have served originally in the Roman legions (regular army) and thus gained their citizenship at enlistment. Others may have inherited it, like Paul.
[10:1] 3 sn A cohort was a Roman military unit of about 600 soldiers, one-tenth of a legion (BDAG 936 s.v. σπεῖρα). The Italian Cohort has been identified as cohors II Italica which is known to have been stationed in Syria in
[10:31] 4 tn Or “your gifts to the needy.”
[10:31] 5 sn This statement is a paraphrase rather than an exact quotation of Acts 10:4.
[10:3] 7 tn Grk “at about the ninth hour of the day.” This would be the time for afternoon prayer.
[10:3] 8 tn Or “the angel of God.” Linguistically, “angel of God” is the same in both testaments (and thus, he is either “an angel of God” or “the angel of God” in both testaments). For arguments and implications, see ExSyn 252; M. J. Davidson, “Angels,” DJG, 9; W. G. MacDonald argues for “an angel” in both testaments: “Christology and ‘The Angel of the Lord’,” Current Issues in Biblical and Patristic Interpretation, 324-35.
[10:3] 9 tn The participles εἰσελθόντα (eiselqonta) and εἰπόντα (eiponta) are accusative, and thus best taken as adjectival participles modifying ἄγγελον (angelon): “an angel who came in and said.”
[10:24] 10 tn Grk “On the next day,” but since this phrase has already occurred in v. 23, it would be redundant in English to use it again here.
[10:24] 11 sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi).
[10:24] 12 tn Normally προσδοκάω (prosdokaw) means “to wait with apprehension or anxiety for something,” often with the implication of impending danger or trouble (L&N 25.228), but in this context the anxiety Cornelius would have felt came from the importance of the forthcoming message as announced by the angel.
[10:25] 13 tn Grk “So it happened that when.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
[10:25] 14 tn Grk “meeting him.” The participle συναντήσας (sunanthsa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
[10:25] 15 tn Grk “falling at his feet, worshiped.” The participle πεσών (peswn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
[10:25] 16 sn When Cornelius worshiped Peter, it showed his piety and his respect for Peter, but it was an act based on ignorance, as Peter’s remark in v. 26 indicates.
[10:17] 16 tn Or “was greatly confused over.” The term means to be perplexed or at a loss (BDAG 235 s.v. διαπορέω).
[10:17] 17 tn Grk “having learned.” The participle διερωτήσαντες (dierwthsante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
[10:17] 18 tn BDAG 418 s.v. ἐφίστημι 1 has “ἐπί τι approach or stand by someth. (Sir 41:24) Ac 10:17.”
[10:30] 19 tn Grk “And Cornelius.” 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.
[10:30] 21 tn Grk “at the ninth hour.” Again, this is the hour of afternoon prayer.
[10:30] 22 tn Grk “and behold.” The interjection ἰδού (idou) is difficult at times to translate into English. Here it has been translated as “suddenly” to convey the force of Cornelius’ account of the angel’s appearance.
[10:22] 22 sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.
[10:22] 24 tn The phrase τοῦ ἔθνους τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων (tou eqnou" twn Ioudaiwn) is virtually a technical term for the Jewish nation (1 Macc 10:25; 11:30, 33; Josephus, Ant. 14.10.22 [14.248]). “All the Jewish people,” while another possible translation of the Greek phrase, does not convey the technical sense of a reference to the nation in English.
