Acts 11:19

Activity in the Church at Antioch

11:19 Now those who had been scattered because of the persecution that took place over Stephen ¹  went as far as ²  Phoenicia, ³  Cyprus, ⁴  and Antioch, ⁵  speaking the message ⁶  to no one but Jews.

Acts 15:2

15:2 When Paul and Barnabas had a major argument and debate ⁷  with them, the church ⁸  appointed Paul and Barnabas and some others from among them to go up to meet with ⁹  the apostles and elders in Jerusalem ¹⁰  about this point of disagreement. ¹¹ 

Acts 21:40

21:40 When the commanding officer ¹²  had given him permission, ¹³  Paul stood ¹⁴  on the steps and gestured ¹⁵  to the people with his hand. When they had become silent, ¹⁶  he addressed ¹⁷  them in Aramaic, ¹⁸ 

Acts 25:26

25:26 But I have nothing definite ¹⁹  to write to my lord ²⁰  about him. ²¹  Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, ²²  so that after this preliminary hearing ²³  I may have something to write.

[11:19]  ¹ sn The phrase over Stephen means in connection with Stephen’s death. See Acts 8:1b-3.

[11:19]  ² tn Or “finally reached.” The translations “went as far as” and “finally reached” for διῆλθον (dihlqon) in this verse are given in L&N 15.17.

[11:19]  ³ sn Phoenicia was an area along the Mediterranean coast north of Palestine.

[11:19]  ⁴ tn Grk “and Cyprus,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[11:19]  ⁵ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). This was probably the third largest city in the Greco-Roman world (Alexandria in Egypt was the second largest, and Rome the largest) and was the seat of government in Syria. Five miles away was a major temple to Artemis, Apollo, and Astarte, major pagan deities.

[11:19]  ⁶ tn Grk “word.”

[15:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “no little argument and debate” (an idiom).

[15:2]  ⁸ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the church, or the rest of the believers at Antioch) has been specified to avoid confusion with the Judaizers mentioned in the preceding clause.

[15:2]  ⁹ tn Grk “go up to,” but in this context a meeting is implied.

[15:2]  ¹⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[15:2]  ¹¹ tn Or “point of controversy.” It is unclear whether this event parallels Gal 2:1-10 or that Gal 2 fits with Acts 11:30. More than likely Gal 2:1-10 is to be related to Acts 11:30.

[21:40]  ¹³ tn The referent (the commanding officer) has been supplied here in the translation for clarity.

[21:40]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Giving him permission.” The participle ἐπιτρέψαντος (epitreyanto") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[21:40]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “standing.” The participle ἑστώς (Jestws) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[21:40]  ¹⁶ tn Or “motioned.”

[21:40]  ¹⁷ tn γενομένης (genomenhs) has been taken temporally. BDAG 922 s.v. σιγή has “πολλῆς σιγῆς γενομένης when a great silence had fallen = when they had become silent Ac 21:40.”

[21:40]  ¹⁸ tn Or “spoke out to.” L&N 33.27 has “to address an audience, with possible emphasis upon loudness – ‘to address, to speak out to.’ πολλῆς δέ σιγῆς γενομένης προσεφώνησεν τῇ ᾿Εβραίδι διαλέκτῳ ‘when they were quiet, he addressed them in Hebrew’ Ac 21:40.”

[21:40]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “in the Hebrew dialect, saying.” This refers to the Aramaic spoken in Palestine in the 1st century (BDAG 270 s.v. ῾Εβραΐς). The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[25:26]  ¹⁹ sn There is irony here. How can Festus write anything definite about Paul, if he is guilty of nothing.

[25:26]  ²⁰ sn To my lord means “to His Majesty the Emperor.”

[25:26]  ²¹ tn Grk “about whom I have nothing definite…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced with a personal pronoun (“him”) and a new sentence begun in the translation at the beginning of v. 26.

[25:26]  ²² sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

[25:26]  ²³ tn Or “investigation.” BDAG 66 s.v. ἀνάκρισις has “a judicial hearing, investigation, hearing, esp. preliminary hearing…τῆς ἀ. γενομένης Ac 25:26.” This is technical legal language.