Acts 14:23

14:23 When they had appointed elders ¹  for them in the various churches, ²  with prayer and fasting ³  they entrusted them to the protection ⁴  of the Lord in whom they had believed.

Acts 14:27

14:27 When they arrived and gathered the church together, they reported ⁵  all the things God ⁶  had done with them, and that he had opened a door ⁷  of faith for the Gentiles.

[14:23]  ¹ sn Appointed elders. See Acts 20:17.

[14:23]  ² tn The preposition κατά (kata) is used here in a distributive sense; see BDAG 512 s.v. κατά B.1.d.

[14:23]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.

[14:27]  ⁵ tn Or “announced.”

[14:27]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ sn On the image of opening, or of the door, see 1 Cor 16:9; 2 Cor 2:12; Col 4:3.