Acts 13:14

13:14 Moving on from ¹  Perga, ²  they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, ³  and on the Sabbath day they went into ⁴  the synagogue ⁵  and sat down.

Acts 13:46

13:46 Both Paul and Barnabas replied courageously, ⁶  “It was necessary to speak the word of God ⁷  to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy ⁸  of eternal life, we ⁹  are turning to the Gentiles. ¹⁰ 

Acts 14:1

Paul and Barnabas at Iconium

14:1 The same thing happened in Iconium ¹¹  when Paul and Barnabas ¹²  went into the Jewish synagogue ¹³  and spoke in such a way that a large group ¹⁴  of both Jews and Greeks believed.

Acts 17:1-3

Paul and Silas at Thessalonica

17:1 After they traveled through ¹⁵  Amphipolis ¹⁶  and Apollonia, ¹⁷  they came to Thessalonica, ¹⁸  where there was a Jewish synagogue. ¹⁹  17:2 Paul went to the Jews in the synagogue, ²⁰  as he customarily did, and on three Sabbath days he addressed ²¹  them from the scriptures, 17:3 explaining and demonstrating ²²  that the Christ ²³  had to suffer and to rise from the dead, ²⁴  saying, ²⁵  “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.” ²⁶ 

Acts 17:17

17:17 So he was addressing ²⁷  the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles ²⁸  in the synagogue, ²⁹  and in the marketplace every day ³⁰  those who happened to be there.

Acts 18:4

18:4 He addressed ³¹  both Jews and Greeks in the synagogue ³²  every Sabbath, attempting to persuade ³³  them.

Acts 19:8

Paul Continues to Minister at Ephesus

19:8 So Paul ³⁴  entered ³⁵  the synagogue ³⁶  and spoke out fearlessly ³⁷  for three months, addressing ³⁸  and convincing ³⁹  them about the kingdom of God. ⁴⁰ 

[13:14]  ¹ tn Or “Passing by.”

[13:14]  ² sn Perga was a city in Pamphylia near the southern coast of Asia Minor.

[13:14]  ³ tn Or “at Antioch in Pisidia.”

[13:14]  ⁴ tn Grk “going into the synagogue they sat down.” The participle εἰσελθόντες (eiselqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[13:14]  ⁵ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[13:46]  ⁶ tn Grk “Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out courageously and said.” The redundancy is removed in the translation and the verb “replied” is used in keeping with the logical sequence of events. The theme of boldness reappears: Acts 4:24-30; 9:27-28.

[13:46]  ⁷ tn Grk “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken.” For smoothness and simplicity of English style, the passive construction has been converted to active voice in the translation.

[13:46]  ⁸ tn Or “and consider yourselves unworthy.”

[13:46]  ⁹ tn Grk “behold, we.” In this context ἰδού (idou) is not easily translated into English.

[13:46]  ¹⁰ sn This turning to the Gentiles would be a shocking rebuke to 1st century Jews who thought they alone were the recipients of the promise.

[14:1]  ¹¹ sn Iconium. See the note in 13:51.

[14:1]  ¹² tn Grk “they”; the referents (Paul and Barnabas) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:1]  ¹³ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[14:1]  ¹⁴ tn Or “that a large crowd.”

[17:1]  ¹⁵ tn BDAG 250 s.v. διοδεύω 1 has “go, travel through” for this verse.

[17:1]  ¹⁶ sn 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]  ¹⁷ sn Apollonia was a city in Macedonia about 27 mi (43 km) west southwest of Amphipolis.

[17:1]  ¹⁸ sn 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]  ¹⁹ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[17:2]  ²⁰ tn Grk “he went in to them”; the referent (the Jews in the synagogue) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:2]  ²¹ tn 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]  ²² tn BDAG 772 s.v. παρατίθημι 2.b has “demonstrate, point out” here.

[17:3]  ²³ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[17:3]  ²⁴ sn 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]  ²⁵ tn 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]  ²⁶ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[17:17]  ²⁷ tn 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 17:17. 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.

[17:17]  ²⁸ tn Or “and the devout,” 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, and the note on the phrase “God-fearing Greeks” in 17:4.

[17:17]  ²⁹ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[17:17]  ³⁰ tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase in this verse.

[18:4]  ³¹ tn 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 18:4. 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.

[18:4]  ³² sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[18:4]  ³³ tn Grk “Addressing in the synagogue every Sabbath, he was attempting to persuade both Jews and Greeks.” Because in English the verb “address” is not used absolutely but normally has an object specified, the direct objects of the verb ἔπειθεν (epeiqen) have been moved forward as the objects of the English verb “addressed,” and the pronoun “them” repeated in the translation as the object of ἔπειθεν. The verb ἔπειθεν has been translated as a conative imperfect.

[19:8]  ³⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:8]  ³⁵ tn Grk “So entering the synagogue, he spoke out fearlessly.” The participle εἰσελθών (eiselqwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[19:8]  ³⁶ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[19:8]  ³⁷ tn Or “boldly.”

[19:8]  ³⁸ tn 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 19:8. 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.

[19:8]  ³⁹ tn Or “addressing them persuasively.” The two participles διαλεγόμενος and πείθων (dialegomeno" and peiqwn) can be understood as a hendiadys (so NIV, NRSV), thus, “addressing them persuasively.”

[19:8]  ⁴⁰ sn To talk about Jesus as the Christ who has come is to talk about the kingdom of God. This is yet another summary of the message like that in 18:28.