Acts 10:41

10:41 not by all the people, but by us, the witnesses God had already chosen, ¹  who ate and drank ²  with him after he rose from the dead.

Acts 13:43

13:43 When the meeting of the synagogue ³  had broken up, ⁴  many of the Jews and God-fearing proselytes ⁵  followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and were persuading ⁶  them ⁷  to continue ⁸  in the grace of God.

Acts 16:17

16:17 She followed behind Paul and us and kept crying out, ⁹  “These men are servants ¹⁰  of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way ¹¹  of salvation.” ¹² 

Acts 17:11

17:11 These Jews ¹³  were more open-minded ¹⁴  than those in Thessalonica, ¹⁵  for they eagerly ¹⁶  received ¹⁷  the message, examining ¹⁸  the scriptures carefully every day ¹⁹  to see if these things were so.

[10:41]  ¹ tn Or “the witnesses God had previously chosen.” See Acts 1:8.

[10:41]  ² sn Ate and drank. See Luke 24:35-49.

[13:43]  ³ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[13:43]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn This is the meaning given for ἔπειθον (epeiqon) in this verse by BDAG 791 s.v. πείθω 1.b.

[13:43]  ⁷ tn Grk “who, as they were speaking with them, were persuading them.”

[13:43]  ⁸ 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.

[16:17]  ⁵ tn Grk “crying out, saying”; the participle λέγουσα (legousa) is redundant in English and has not been translated. The imperfect verb ἔκραζεν (ekrazen) has been translated as a progressive imperfect.

[16:17]  ⁶ tn Grk “slaves.” See the note on the word “servants” in 2:18. The translation “servants” was used here because in this context there appears to be more emphasis on the activity of Paul and his companions (“proclaiming to you the way of salvation”) than on their status as “slaves of the Most High God.”

[16:17]  ⁷ tn Or “a way.” The grammar of this phrase is a bit ambiguous. The phrase in Greek is ὁδὸν σωτηρίας (Jodon swthria"). Neither the head noun nor the genitive noun has the article; this is in keeping with Apollonius’ Canon (see ExSyn 239-40). Since both nouns are anarthrous, this construction also fits Apollonius’ Corollary (see ExSyn 250-54); since the genitive noun is abstract it is most naturally qualitative, so the head noun could either be definite or indefinite without being unusual as far as the grammar is concerned. Luke’s usage of ὁδός elsewhere is indecisive as far as this passage is concerned. However, when one looks at the historical background it is clear that (1) the woman is shut up (via exorcism) not because her testimony is false but because of its source (analogous to Jesus’ treatment of demons perhaps), and (b) “the way” is a par excellence description of the new faith throughout Acts. It thus seems that at least in Luke’s presentation “the way of salvation” is the preferred translation.

[16:17]  ⁸ sn Proclaiming to you the way of salvation. The remarks were an ironic recognition of Paul’s authority, but he did not desire such a witness, possibly for fear of confusion. Her expression the Most High God might have been understood as Zeus by the audience.

[17:11]  ⁷ tn Grk “These”; the referent (the Jews in the synagogue at Berea) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:11]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ sn Thessalonica was a city in Macedonia (modern Salonica).

[17:11]  ¹⁰ tn Or “willingly,” “readily”; Grk “with all eagerness.”

[17:11]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn This verb (BDAG 66 s.v. ἀνακρίνω 1) refers to careful examination.

[17:11]  ¹³ tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase in this verse.