Acts 13:4

Paul and Barnabas Preach in Cyprus

13:4 So Barnabas and Saul, ¹  sent out by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, ²  and from there they sailed to Cyprus. ³ 

Acts 14:26

14:26 From there they sailed back to Antioch, ⁴  where they had been commended ⁵  to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. ⁶ 

Acts 20:15

20:15 We set sail ⁷  from there, and on the following day we arrived off Chios. ⁸  The next day we approached ⁹  Samos, ¹⁰  and the day after that we arrived at Miletus. ¹¹ 

Acts 27:1

Paul and Company Sail for Rome

27:1 When it was decided we ¹²  would sail to Italy, ¹³  they handed over Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion ¹⁴  of the Augustan Cohort ¹⁵  named Julius.

[13:4]  ¹ tn Grk “they”; the referents (Barnabas and Saul) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:4]  ² sn Seleucia was the port city of Antioch in Syria.

[13:4]  ³ sn Cyprus was a large island in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Asia Minor.

[14:26]  ⁴ sn Antioch was the city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia) from which Paul’s first missionary journey began (see Acts 13:1-4). That first missionary journey ends here, after covering some 1,400 mi (2,240 km).

[14:26]  ⁵ tn Or “committed.” BDAG 762 s.v. παραδίδωμι 2 gives “commended to the grace of God for the work 14:26” as the meaning for this phrase, although “give over” and “commit” are listed as alternative meanings for this category.

[14:26]  ⁶ tn BDAG 829 s.v. πληρόω 5 has “to bring to completion an activity in which one has been involved from its beginning, complete, finish” as meanings for this category. The ministry to which they were commissioned ends with a note of success.

[20:15]  ⁷ tn Grk “setting sail from there.” The participle ἀποπλεύσαντες (apopleusante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[20:15]  ⁸ tn Or “offshore from Chios.”

[20:15]  ⁹ tn Or “crossed over to,” “arrived at.” L&N 54.12 has “παραβάλλω: (a technical, nautical term) to sail up to or near – ‘to approach, to arrive at, to sail to.’ παρεβάλομεν εἰς Σάμον ‘we approached Samos’ or ‘we arrived at Samos’ Ac 20:15.”

[20:15]  ¹⁰ sn Samos is an island in the Aegean Sea off the western coast of Asia Minor.

[20:15]  ¹¹ sn Miletus was a seaport on the western coast of Asia Minor about 40 mi (70 km) south of Ephesus. From Mitylene to Miletus was about 125 mi (200 km).

[27:1]  ¹⁰ sn The last “we” section in Acts begins here and extends to 28:16 (the previous one ended at 21:18).

[27:1]  ¹¹ sn Sail to Italy. This voyage with its difficulty serves to show how God protected Paul on his long journey to Rome. From the perspective of someone in Palestine, this may well picture “the end of the earth” quite literally (cf. Acts 1:8).

[27:1]  ¹² sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[27:1]  ¹³ tn According to BDAG 917 s.v. σεβαστός, “In σπεῖρα Σεβαστή 27:1 (cp. OGI 421) Σεβαστή is likew. an exact transl. of Lat. Augusta, an honorary title freq. given to auxiliary troops (Ptolem. renders it Σεβαστή in connection w. three legions that bore it: 2, 3, 30; 2, 9, 18; 4, 3, 30) imperial cohort.” According to W. Foerster (TDNT 7:175), “In Ac. 27:1 the σπεῖρα Σεβαστή is an expression also found elsewhere for ‘auxiliary troops.’” In no case would this refer to a special imperial bodyguard, and to translate “imperial regiment” or “imperial cohort” might give this impression. There is some archaeological evidence for a Cohors Augusta I stationed in Syria during the time of Augustus, but whether this is the same unit is very debatable.