Acts 15:25

15:25 we have unanimously ¹  decided ²  to choose men to send to you along with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul,

Acts 15:28

15:28 For it seemed best to the Holy Spirit and to us ³  not to place any greater burden on you than these necessary rules: ⁴ 

Acts 25:27

25:27 For it seems unreasonable to me to send a prisoner without clearly indicating ⁵  the charges against him.”

Acts 26:9

26:9 Of course, ⁶  I myself was convinced ⁷  that it was necessary to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus the Nazarene.

Acts 27:13

27:13 When a gentle south wind sprang up, they thought ⁸  they could carry out ⁹  their purpose, so they weighed anchor ¹⁰  and sailed close along the coast ¹¹  of Crete.

Acts 12:9

12:9 Peter ¹²  went out ¹³  and followed him; ¹⁴  he did not realize that what was happening through the angel was real, ¹⁵  but thought he was seeing a vision.

Acts 15:22

15:22 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided ¹⁶  to send men chosen from among them, Judas called Barsabbas and Silas, ¹⁷  leaders among the brothers, to Antioch ¹⁸  with Paul and Barnabas.

Acts 17:18

17:18 Also some of the Epicurean ¹⁹  and Stoic ²⁰  philosophers were conversing ²¹  with him, and some were asking, ²²  “What does this foolish babbler ²³  want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.” ²⁴  (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) ²⁵ 

[15:25]  ¹ tn Grk “having become of one mind, we have decided.” This has been translated “we have unanimously decided” to reduce the awkwardness in English.

[15:25]  ² tn BDAG 255 s.v. δοκέω 2.b.β lists this verse under the meaning “it seems best to me, I decide, I resolve.”

[15:28]  ³ tn This is the same expression translated “decided” in Acts 15:22, 25. BDAG 255 s.v. δοκέω 2.b.β lists “decide” as a possible gloss for this verse, and this translation would be consistent with the translation of the same expression in Acts 15:22, 25. However, the unusually awkward “the Holy Spirit and we have decided” would result. Given this approach, it would be more natural in English to say “We and the Holy Spirit have decided,” but changing the order removes the emphasis the Greek text gives to the Holy Spirit. Thus, although the similarity to the phrases in 15:22, 25 is obscured, it is better to use the alternate translation “it seems best to me” (also given by BDAG): “it seemed best to the Holy Spirit and to us.” Again the scope of agreement is highlighted.

[15:28]  ⁴ tn L&N 71.39 translates “indispensable (rules)” while BDAG 358 s.v. ἐπάναγκες has “the necessary things.”

[25:27]  ⁵ tn L&N 33.153 s.v. σημαίνω, “to cause something to be both specific and clear – ‘to indicate clearly, to make clear’… ‘for it seems unreasonable to me to send a prisoner without clearly indicating the charges against him’ Ac 25:27.”

[26:9]  ⁷ tn BDAG 737 s.v. οὖν 3 states, “It has been proposed that some traces of older Gk. usage in which οὖν is emphatic, = certainly, really, to be sure etc. (s. L-S-J-M s.v. 1) remain in the pap…and in the NT…indeed, of course Ac 26:9.”

[26:9]  ⁸ tn Grk “I thought to myself.” BDAG 255 s.v. δοκέω 2.a has “ἔδοξα ἐμαυτῷ δεῖν πρᾶξαι = Lat. mihi videbar I was convinced that it was necessary to do Ac 26:9.”

[27:13]  ⁹ tn Grk “thinking.” The participle δόξαντες (doxante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[27:13]  ¹⁰ tn Or “accomplish.” L&N 68.29, for κρατέω, has “to be able to complete or finish, presumably despite difficulties – ‘to accomplish, to do successfully, to carry out.’ …‘thinking that they could carry out their purpose’ Ac 27:13.”

[27:13]  ¹¹ tn Or “departed.”

[27:13]  ¹² tn L&N 54.8, “παραλέγομαι: (a technical, nautical term) to sail along beside some object – ‘to sail along the coast, to sail along the shore.’…‘they sailed along the coast of Crete’ Ac 27:13.” With the addition of the adverb ἆσσον (asson) this becomes “sailed close along the coast of Crete.”

[12:9]  ¹¹ tn Grk “And going out he followed.”

[12:9]  ¹² tn Grk “Peter going out followed him.” The participle ἐξελθών (exelqwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[12:9]  ¹³ tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[12:9]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “what was done through the angel was a reality” (see BDAG 43 s.v. ἀληθής 3).

[15:22]  ¹³ tn BDAG 255 s.v. δοκέω 2.b.β lists this verse under the meaning “it seems best to me, I decide, I resolve.”

[15:22]  ¹⁴ sn Silas. See 2 Cor 1:19; 1 Thess 1:1; 2 Thess 1:1 (= Silvanus).

[15:22]  ¹⁵ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia).

[17:18]  ¹⁵ sn An Epicurean was a follower of the philosophy of Epicurus, who founded a school in Athens about 300 b.c. Although the Epicureans saw the aim of life as pleasure, they were not strictly hedonists, because they defined pleasure as the absence of pain. Along with this, they desired the avoidance of trouble and freedom from annoyances. They saw organized religion as evil, especially the belief that the gods punished evildoers in an afterlife. In keeping with this, they were unable to accept Paul’s teaching about the resurrection.

[17:18]  ¹⁶ sn A Stoic was a follower of the philosophy founded by Zeno (342-270 b.c.), a Phoenician who came to Athens and modified the philosophical system of the Cynics he found there. The Stoics rejected the Epicurean ideal of pleasure, stressing virtue instead. The Stoics emphasized responsibility for voluntary actions and believed risks were worth taking, but thought the actual attainment of virtue was difficult. They also believed in providence.

[17:18]  ¹⁷ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβάλλω 1 has “converse, confer” here.

[17:18]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “saying.”

[17:18]  ¹⁹ tn Or “ignorant show-off.” The traditional English translation of σπερμολόγος (spermologo") is given in L&N 33.381 as “foolish babbler.” However, an alternate view is presented in L&N 27.19, “(a figurative extension of meaning of a term based on the practice of birds in picking up seeds) one who acquires bits and pieces of relatively extraneous information and proceeds to pass them off with pretense and show – ‘ignorant show-off, charlatan.’” A similar view is given in BDAG 937 s.v. σπερμολόγος: “in pejorative imagery of persons whose communication lacks sophistication and seems to pick up scraps of information here and there scrapmonger, scavenger…Engl. synonyms include ‘gossip’, ‘babbler’, chatterer’; but these terms miss the imagery of unsystematic gathering.”

[17:18]  ²⁰ tn The meaning of this phrase is not clear. Literally it reads “strange deities” (see BDAG 210 s.v. δαιμόνιον 1). The note of not being customary is important. In the ancient world what was new was suspicious. The plural δαιμονίων (daimoniwn, “deities”) shows the audience grappling with Paul’s teaching that God was working through Jesus.

[17:18]  ²¹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.