Acts 15:36

Paul and Barnabas Part Company

15:36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return ¹  and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord ²  to see how they are doing.” ³ 

Acts 16:17

16:17 She followed behind Paul and us and kept crying out, ⁴  “These men are servants ⁵  of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way ⁶  of salvation.” ⁷ 

Acts 17:3

17:3 explaining and demonstrating ⁸  that the Christ ⁹  had to suffer and to rise from the dead, ¹⁰  saying, ¹¹  “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.” ¹² 

Acts 17:13

17:13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica ¹³  heard that Paul had also proclaimed the word of God ¹⁴  in Berea, ¹⁵  they came there too, inciting ¹⁶  and disturbing ¹⁷  the crowds.

Acts 17:23

17:23 For as I went around and observed closely your objects of worship, ¹⁸  I even found an altar with this inscription: ¹⁹  ‘To an unknown god.’ Therefore what you worship without knowing it, ²⁰  this I proclaim to you.

[15:36]  ¹ 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]  ² tn See the note on the phrase “word of the Lord” in v. 35.

[15:36]  ³ tn BDAG 422 s.v. ἔχω 10.b has “how they are” for this phrase.

[16:17]  ⁴ tn Grk “crying out, saying”; the participle λέγουσα (legousa) is redundant in English and has not been translated. The imperfect verb ἔκραζεν (ekrazen) has been translated as a progressive imperfect.

[16:17]  ⁵ tn Grk “slaves.” See the note on the word “servants” in 2:18. The translation “servants” was used here because in this context there appears to be more emphasis on the activity of Paul and his companions (“proclaiming to you the way of salvation”) than on their status as “slaves of the Most High God.”

[16:17]  ⁶ tn Or “a way.” The grammar of this phrase is a bit ambiguous. The phrase in Greek is ὁδὸν σωτηρίας (Jodon swthria"). Neither the head noun nor the genitive noun has the article; this is in keeping with Apollonius’ Canon (see ExSyn 239-40). Since both nouns are anarthrous, this construction also fits Apollonius’ Corollary (see ExSyn 250-54); since the genitive noun is abstract it is most naturally qualitative, so the head noun could either be definite or indefinite without being unusual as far as the grammar is concerned. Luke’s usage of ὁδός elsewhere is indecisive as far as this passage is concerned. However, when one looks at the historical background it is clear that (1) the woman is shut up (via exorcism) not because her testimony is false but because of its source (analogous to Jesus’ treatment of demons perhaps), and (b) “the way” is a par excellence description of the new faith throughout Acts. It thus seems that at least in Luke’s presentation “the way of salvation” is the preferred translation.

[16:17]  ⁷ sn Proclaiming to you the way of salvation. The remarks were an ironic recognition of Paul’s authority, but he did not desire such a witness, possibly for fear of confusion. Her expression the Most High God might have been understood as Zeus by the audience.

[17:3]  ⁷ tn BDAG 772 s.v. παρατίθημι 2.b has “demonstrate, point out” here.

[17:3]  ⁸ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[17:3]  ⁹ sn The Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead. These two points (suffering and resurrection) would have been among the more controversial aspects of Paul’s messianic preaching. The term translated “had to” (δεῖ, dei) shows how divine design and scripture corresponded here.

[17:3]  ¹⁰ tn The Greek words used here (καὶ ὅτι, kai {oti, “and that”) mark the switch from indirect to direct discourse. Contemporary English requires the use of an introductory verb of speaking or saying to make this transition.

[17:3]  ¹¹ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[17:13]  ¹⁰ sn Thessalonica was a city in Macedonia (modern Salonica).

[17:13]  ¹¹ tn Grk “that the word of God had also been proclaimed by Paul.” This passive construction has been converted to an active one in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:13]  ¹² sn Berea (alternate spelling in NRSV Beroea; Greek Beroia) was a very old city in Macedonia on the river Astraeus about 45 mi (75 km) from Thessalonica.

[17:13]  ¹³ tn BDAG 911 s.v. σαλεύω 2 has “incite” for σαλεύοντες (saleuonte") in Acts 17:13.

[17:13]  ¹⁴ tn Or “stirring up” (BDAG 990-91 s.v. ταράσσω 2). The point is the agitation of the crowds.

[17:23]  ¹³ tn Or “your sanctuaries.” L&N 53.54 gives “sanctuary” (place of worship) as an alternate meaning for the word σεβάσματα (sebasmata).

[17:23]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “on which was written,” but since it would have been carved in stone, it is more common to speak of an “inscription” in English. To simplify the English the relative construction with a passive verb (“on which was inscribed”) was translated as a prepositional phrase with a substantive (“inscription”).

[17:23]  ¹⁵ tn BDAG 13 s.v. ἀγνοέω 1.b has “Abs. ὅ ἀγνοοῦντες εὐσεβεῖτε what you worship without knowing it (on the subject matter Maximus Tyr. 11, 5e: all sorts of philosophers ἴσασιν οὐκ ἑκόντες καὶ λέγουσιν ἄκοντες sc. τὸ θεῖον = they know and name God without intending to do so) Ac 17:23.” Paul, in typical Jewish Christian style, informs them of the true God, of whom their idols are an ignorant reflection.