Acts 15:2

15:2 When Paul and Barnabas had a major argument and debate ¹  with them, the church ²  appointed Paul and Barnabas and some others from among them to go up to meet with ³  the apostles and elders in Jerusalem ⁴  about this point of disagreement. ⁵ 

Acts 15:6

15:6 Both the apostles and the elders met together to deliberate ⁶  about this matter.

Acts 15:23

15:23 They sent this letter with them: ⁷ 

From the apostles ⁸  and elders, your brothers, ⁹  to the Gentile brothers and sisters ¹⁰  in Antioch, ¹¹  Syria, ¹²  and Cilicia, greetings!

Acts 20:17

20:17 From Miletus ¹³  he sent a message ¹⁴  to Ephesus, telling the elders of the church to come to him. ¹⁵ 

[15:2]  ¹ tn Grk “no little argument and debate” (an idiom).

[15:2]  ² tn Grk “they”; the referent (the church, or the rest of the believers at Antioch) has been specified to avoid confusion with the Judaizers mentioned in the preceding clause.

[15:2]  ³ tn Grk “go up to,” but in this context a meeting is implied.

[15:2]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[15:2]  ⁵ tn Or “point of controversy.” It is unclear whether this event parallels Gal 2:1-10 or that Gal 2 fits with Acts 11:30. More than likely Gal 2:1-10 is to be related to Acts 11:30.

[15:6]  ⁶ tn The translation for ἰδεῖν (idein) in this verse is given by BDAG 279-80 s.v. εἶδον 3 as “deliberate concerning this matter.” A contemporary idiom would be to “look into” a matter.

[15:23]  ⁷ tn Grk “writing by their hand” (an idiom for sending a letter).

[15:23]  ⁸ tn Grk “The apostles.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[15:23]  ⁹ tn Grk “brothers,” but “your” is supplied to specify the relationship, since without it “brothers” could be understood as vocative in English.

[15:23]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “to the brothers who are from the Gentiles.”

[15:23]  ¹¹ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia).

[15:23]  ¹² tn Grk “and Syria,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[20:17]  ¹³ sn Miletus was a seaport on the western coast of Asia Minor about 45 mi (72 km) south of Ephesus.

[20:17]  ¹⁴ tn The words “a message” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[20:17]  ¹⁵ tn The words “to him” are not in the Greek text but are implied. L&N 33.311 has for the verb μετακαλέομαι (metakaleomai) “to summon someone, with considerable insistence and authority – ‘to summon, to tell to come.’”