Discovery BoxActs 14:15-28
Context14:15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We too are men, with human natures 1 just like you! We are proclaiming the good news to you, so that you should turn 2 from these worthless 3 things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, 4 the sea, and everything that is in them. 14:16 In 5 past 6 generations he allowed all the nations 7 to go their own ways, 14:17 yet he did not leave himself without a witness by doing good, 8 by giving you rain from heaven 9 and fruitful seasons, satisfying you 10 with food and your hearts with joy.” 11 14:18 Even by saying 12 these things, they scarcely persuaded 13 the crowds not to offer sacrifice to them.
14:19 But Jews came from Antioch 14 and Iconium, 15 and after winning 16 the crowds over, they stoned 17 Paul and dragged him out of the city, presuming him to be dead. 14:20 But after the disciples had surrounded him, he got up and went back 18 into the city. On 19 the next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe. 20
14:21 After they had proclaimed the good news in that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, 21 to Iconium, 22 and to Antioch. 23 14:22 They strengthened 24 the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue 25 in the faith, saying, “We must enter the kingdom 26 of God through many persecutions.” 27 14:23 When they had appointed elders 28 for them in the various churches, 29 with prayer and fasting 30 they entrusted them to the protection 31 of the Lord in whom they had believed. 14:24 Then they passed through 32 Pisidia and came into Pamphylia, 33 14:25 and when they had spoken the word 34 in Perga, 35 they went down to Attalia. 36 14:26 From there they sailed back to Antioch, 37 where they had been commended 38 to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. 39 14:27 When they arrived and gathered the church together, they reported 40 all the things God 41 had done with them, and that he had opened a door 42 of faith for the Gentiles. 14:28 So they spent 43 considerable 44 time with the disciples.
[14:15] 1 tn Grk “with the same kinds of feelings,” L&N 25.32. BDAG 706 s.v. ὁμοιοπαθής translates the phrase “with the same nature τινί as someone.” In the immediate context, the contrast is between human and divine nature, and the point is that Paul and Barnabas are mere mortals, not gods.
[14:15] 2 tn Grk “in order that you should turn,” with ἐπιστρέφειν (epistrefein) as an infinitive of purpose, but this is somewhat awkward contemporary English. To translate the infinitive construction “proclaim the good news, that you should turn,” which is much smoother English, could give the impression that the infinitive clause is actually the content of the good news, which it is not. The somewhat less formal “to get you to turn” would work, but might convey to some readers manipulativeness on the part of the apostles. Thus “proclaim the good news, so that you should turn,” is used, to convey that the purpose of the proclamation of good news is the response by the hearers. The emphasis here is like 1 Thess 1:9-10.
[14:15] 3 tn Or “useless,” “futile.” The reference is to idols and idolatry, worshiping the creation over the Creator (Rom 1:18-32). See also 1 Kgs 16:2, 13, 26; 2 Kgs 17:15; Jer 2:5; 8:19; 3 Macc 6:11.
[14:15] 4 tn Grk “and the earth, and the sea,” but καί (kai) has not been translated before “the earth” and “the sea” since contemporary English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
[14:16] 5 tn Grk “them, who in.” The relative pronoun (“who”) was replaced by the pronoun “he” (“In past generations he”) and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek and the awkwardness of two relative clauses (“who made the heaven” and “who in past generations”) following one another.
[14:16] 6 tn On this term see BDAG 780 s.v. παροίχομαι. The word is a NT hapax legomenon.
[14:16] 7 tn Or “all the Gentiles” (in Greek the word for “nation” and “Gentile” is the same). The plural here alludes to the variety of false religions in the pagan world.
[14:17] 8 tn The participle ἀγαθουργῶν (agaqourgwn) is regarded as indicating means here, parallel to the following participles διδούς (didou") and ἐμπιπλῶν (empiplwn). This is the easiest way to understand the Greek structure. Semantically, the first participle is a general statement, followed by two participles giving specific examples of doing good.
[14:17] 9 tn Or “from the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).
[14:17] 10 tn Grk “satisfying [filling] your hearts with food and joy.” This is an idiomatic expression; it strikes the English reader as strange to speak of “filling one’s heart with food.” Thus the additional direct object “you” has been supplied, separating the two expressions somewhat: “satisfying you with food and your hearts with joy.”
[14:17] 11 sn God’s general sovereignty and gracious care in the creation are the way Paul introduces the theme of the goodness of God. He was trying to establish monotheism here. It is an OT theme (Gen 8:22; Ps 4:7; 145:15-16; 147:8-9; Isa 25:6; Jer 5:24) which also appears in the NT (Luke 12:22-34).
[14:18] 12 tn The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is regarded as indicating means.
[14:18] 13 tn BDAG 524 s.v. καταπαύω 2.b gives both “restrain” and “dissuade someone fr. someth.,” but “they scarcely dissuaded the crowds from offering sacrifice,” while accurate, is less common in contemporary English than saying “they scarcely persuaded the crowds not to offer sacrifice.” Paganism is portrayed as a powerful reality that is hard to reverse.
[14:19] 14 sn Antioch was a city in Pisidia about 90 mi (145 km) west northwest of Lystra.
[14:19] 15 sn Iconium was a city in Lycaonia about 18 mi (30 km) north of Lystra. Note how Jews from other cities were chasing Paul (2 Cor 11:4-6; Gal 2:4-5; Acts 9:16).
[14:19] 16 tn The participle πείσαντες (peisante") is taken temporally (BDAG 791 s.v. πείθω 1.c).
[14:19] 17 tn Grk “stoning Paul they dragged him.” The participle λιθάσαντες (liqasante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
[14:20] 18 tn Grk “and entered”; the word “back” is not in the Greek text but is implied.
[14:20] 19 tn Grk “And on.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
[14:20] 20 sn Derbe was a city in Lycaonia about 35 mi (60 km) southeast of Lystra. This was the easternmost point of the journey.
[14:21] 21 sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 35 mi (60 km) northwest of Derbe.
[14:21] 22 sn Iconium was a city in Lycaonia about 18 mi (30 km) north of Lystra.
[14:21] 23 sn Antioch was a city in Pisidia about 90 mi (145 km) west northwest of Lystra.
[14:22] 24 tn Grk “to Antioch, strengthening.” Due to the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was started here. This participle (ἐπιστηρίζοντες, episthrizonte") and the following one (παρακαλοῦντες, parakalounte") have been translated as finite verbs connected by the coordinating conjunction “and.”
[14:22] 25 sn And encouraged them to continue. The exhortations are like those noted in Acts 11:23; 13:43. An example of such a speech is found in Acts 20:18-35. Christianity is now characterized as “the faith.”
[14:22] 26 sn This reference to the kingdom of God clearly refers to its future arrival.
[14:22] 27 tn Or “sufferings.”
[14:23] 28 sn Appointed elders. See Acts 20:17.
[14:23] 29 tn The preposition κατά (kata) is used here in a distributive sense; see BDAG 512 s.v. κατά B.1.d.
[14:23] 30 tn Literally with a finite verb (προσευξάμενοι, proseuxamenoi) rather than a noun, “praying with fasting,” but the combination “prayer and fasting” is so familiar in English that it is preferable to use it here.
[14:23] 31 tn BDAG 772 s.v. παρατίθημι 3.b has “entrust someone to the care or protection of someone” for this phrase. The reference to persecution or suffering in the context (v. 22) suggests “protection” is a better translation here. This looks at God’s ultimate care for the church.
[14:24] 32 tn Grk “Then passing through Pisidia they came.” The participle διελθόντες (dielqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
[14:24] 33 sn Pamphylia was a province along the southern coast of Asia Minor.
[14:25] 35 sn Perga was a city in Pamphylia near the southern coast of Asia Minor.
[14:25] 36 sn Attalia was a seaport in the province of Pamphylia on the southern coast of Asia Minor, about 12 mi (20 km) southwest of Perga.
[14:26] 37 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] 38 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] 39 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.
[14:27] 41 sn Note that God is the subject of the activity. The outcome of this mission is seen as a confirmation of the mission to the Gentiles.
[14:27] 42 sn On the image of opening, or of the door, see 1 Cor 16:9; 2 Cor 2:12; Col 4:3.
[14:28] 43 tn BDAG 238 s.v. διατρίβω gives the meaning as “spend” when followed by an accusative τὸν χρόνον (ton cronon) which is the case here.
