Acts 15:30-41

15:30 So when they were dismissed, ¹  they went down to Antioch, ²  and after gathering the entire group ³  together, they delivered the letter. 15:31 When they read it aloud, ⁴  the people ⁵  rejoiced at its encouragement. ⁶  15:32 Both Judas and Silas, who were prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with a long speech. ⁷  15:33 After ⁸  they had spent some time there, ⁹  they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them. 15:34 [[EMPTY]] ¹⁰  15:35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, ¹¹  teaching and proclaiming (along with many others) ¹²  the word of the Lord. ¹³ 

Paul and Barnabas Part Company

15:36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return ¹⁴  and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord ¹⁵  to see how they are doing.” ¹⁶  15:37 Barnabas wanted to bring John called Mark along with them too, 15:38 but Paul insisted ¹⁷  that they should not take along this one who had left them in Pamphylia ¹⁸  and had not accompanied them in the work. 15:39 They had ¹⁹  a sharp disagreement, ²⁰  so that they parted company. Barnabas took along ²¹  Mark and sailed away to Cyprus, ²²  15:40 but Paul chose Silas and set out, commended ²³  to the grace of the Lord by the brothers and sisters. ²⁴  15:41 He passed through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening ²⁵  the churches.

[15:30]  ¹ tn Or “sent away.”

[15:30]  ² sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia).

[15:30]  ³ tn Or “congregation” (referring to the group of believers).

[15:31]  ⁴ tn Grk “read it.” The translation “read aloud” is used to indicate the actual practice of public reading; translating as “read” could be misunderstood to mean private, silent, or individual reading.

[15:31]  ⁵ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the people) is specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:31]  ⁶ tn Or “at its encouraging message.”

[15:32]  ⁷ tn Here λόγου (logou) is singular. BDAG 599-600 s.v. λόγος 1.a.β has “in a long speech” for this phrase.

[15:33]  ⁸ tn Grk “And after.” 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.

[15:33]  ⁹ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[15:34]  ¹⁰ tc A few mss add 15:34 “But Silas decided to stay there.” Verse 34 is lacking in Ì⁷⁴ א A B E Ψ Ï bo. It is included in a shorter form, with a few minor variations, by (C) 33 36 323 453 614 (945) 1175 1739 1891 al sa, and in a longer form (“But Silas decided to stay with them, and only Judas departed”) by D l. The verse is almost certainly not a part of the original text of Acts, but was added to harmonize with the statement about Silas in v. 40. The present translation follows NA²⁷ in omitting the verse number, a procedure also followed by a number of other modern translations.

[15:35]  ¹¹ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia).

[15:35]  ¹² sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[15:35]  ¹³ sn The word of the Lord is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου (rJhma tou kuriou; Luke 22:61, Acts 11:16, 1 Pet 1:25) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logo" tou kuriou; here and in v. 36; Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 16:32; 19:10, 20; 1 Thess 1:8, 4:15; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said.

[15:36]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Returning let us visit.” The participle ἐπιστρέψαντες (epistreyante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[15:36]  ¹⁵ tn See the note on the phrase “word of the Lord” in v. 35.

[15:36]  ¹⁶ tn BDAG 422 s.v. ἔχω 10.b has “how they are” for this phrase.

[15:38]  ¹⁷ tn BDAG 94 s.v. ἀξιόω 2.a has “he insisted (impf.) that they should not take him along” for this phrase.

[15:38]  ¹⁸ sn Pamphylia was a province in the southern part of Asia Minor. See Acts 13:13, where it was mentioned previously.

[15:39]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “There happened a sharp disagreement.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[15:39]  ²⁰ tn BDAG 780 s.v. παροξυσμός 2 has “sharp disagreement” here; L&N 33.451 has “sharp argument, sharp difference of opinion.”

[15:39]  ²¹ tn Grk “taking along Mark sailed.” The participle παραλαβόντα (paralabonta) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[15:39]  ²² sn Cyprus is a large island in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Asia Minor.

[15:40]  ²³ tn Or “committed.” BDAG 762 s.v. παραδίδωμι 2 gives “be commended by someone to the grace of the Lord” as the meaning for this phrase, although “give over” and “commit” are listed as alternatives for this category.

[15:40]  ²⁴ tn Grk “by the brothers.” Here it it is highly probable that the entire congregation is in view, not just men, so the translation “brothers and sisters” has been used for the plural ἀδελφῶν (adelfwn),.

[15:41]  ²⁵ sn Strengthening. See Acts 14:22; 15:32; 18:23.