Acts 15:35-41

15:35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, ¹  teaching and proclaiming (along with many others) ²  the word of the Lord. ³ 

Paul and Barnabas Part Company

15:36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return ⁴  and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord ⁵  to see how they are doing.” ⁶  15:37 Barnabas wanted to bring John called Mark along with them too, 15:38 but Paul insisted ⁷  that they should not take along this one who had left them in Pamphylia ⁸  and had not accompanied them in the work. 15:39 They had ⁹  a sharp disagreement, ¹⁰  so that they parted company. Barnabas took along ¹¹  Mark and sailed away to Cyprus, ¹²  15:40 but Paul chose Silas and set out, commended ¹³  to the grace of the Lord by the brothers and sisters. ¹⁴  15:41 He passed through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening ¹⁵  the churches.

[15:35]  ¹ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia).

[15:35]  ² sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[15:35]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn See the note on the phrase “word of the Lord” in v. 35.

[15:36]  ⁶ tn BDAG 422 s.v. ἔχω 10.b has “how they are” for this phrase.

[15:38]  ⁷ tn BDAG 94 s.v. ἀξιόω 2.a has “he insisted (impf.) that they should not take him along” for this phrase.

[15:38]  ⁸ sn Pamphylia was a province in the southern part of Asia Minor. See Acts 13:13, where it was mentioned previously.

[15:39]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn BDAG 780 s.v. παροξυσμός 2 has “sharp disagreement” here; L&N 33.451 has “sharp argument, sharp difference of opinion.”

[15:39]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² sn Cyprus is a large island in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Asia Minor.

[15:40]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ sn Strengthening. See Acts 14:22; 15:32; 18:23.