Acts 13:41

13:41 ‘Look, you scoffers; be amazed and perish! ¹ 

For I am doing a work in your days,

a work you would never believe, even if someone tells you.’” ² 

Acts 14:26

14:26 From there they sailed back to Antioch, ³  where they had been commended ⁴  to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. ⁵ 

Acts 15:38

15:38 but Paul insisted ⁶  that they should not take along this one who had left them in Pamphylia ⁷  and had not accompanied them in the work.

Acts 5:38

5:38 So in this case I say to you, stay away from these men and leave them alone, because if this plan or this undertaking originates with people, ⁸  it will come to nothing, ⁹ 

Acts 13:2

13:2 While they were serving ¹⁰  the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart ¹¹  for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

[13:41]  ¹ tn Or “and die!”

[13:41]  ² sn A quotation from Hab 1:5. The irony in the phrase even if someone tells you, of course, is that Paul has now told them. So the call in the warning is to believe or else face the peril of being scoffers whom God will judge. The parallel from Habakkuk is that the nation failed to see how Babylon’s rising to power meant perilous judgment for Israel.

[14:26]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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.

[15:38]  ⁵ tn BDAG 94 s.v. ἀξιόω 2.a has “he insisted (impf.) that they should not take him along” for this phrase.

[15:38]  ⁶ sn Pamphylia was a province in the southern part of Asia Minor. See Acts 13:13, where it was mentioned previously.

[5:38]  ⁷ tn Here ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).

[5:38]  ⁸ tn Or “it will be put to an end.”

[13:2]  ⁹ tn This term is frequently used in the LXX of the service performed by priests and Levites in the tabernacle (Exod 28:35, 43; 29:30; 30:20; 35:19; 39:26; Num 1:50; 3:6, 31) and the temple (2 Chr 31:2; 35:3; Joel 1:9, 13; 2:17, and many more examples). According to BDAG 591 s.v. λειτουργέω 1.b it is used “of other expression of religious devotion.” Since the previous verse described the prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch, it is probable that the term here describes two of them (Barnabas and Saul) as they were serving in that capacity. Since they were not in Jerusalem where the temple was located, general religious service is referred to here.

[13:2]  ¹⁰ tn Or “Appoint.”