Acts 15:36--16:5

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  15:37 Barnabas wanted to bring John called Mark along with them too, 15:38 but Paul insisted ⁴  that they should not take along this one who had left them in Pamphylia ⁵  and had not accompanied them in the work. 15:39 They had ⁶  a sharp disagreement, ⁷  so that they parted company. Barnabas took along ⁸  Mark and sailed away to Cyprus, ⁹  15:40 but Paul chose Silas and set out, commended ¹⁰  to the grace of the Lord by the brothers and sisters. ¹¹  15:41 He passed through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening ¹²  the churches.

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

16:1 He also came to Derbe ¹³  and to Lystra. ¹⁴  A disciple ¹⁵  named Timothy was there, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, ¹⁶  but whose father was a Greek. ¹⁷  16:2 The brothers in Lystra ¹⁸  and Iconium ¹⁹  spoke well ²⁰  of him. ²¹  16:3 Paul wanted Timothy ²²  to accompany him, and he took ²³  him and circumcised ²⁴  him because of the Jews who were in those places, ²⁵  for they all knew that his father was Greek. ²⁶  16:4 As they went through the towns, ²⁷  they passed on ²⁸  the decrees that had been decided on by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem ²⁹  for the Gentile believers ³⁰  to obey. ³¹  16:5 So the churches were being strengthened in the faith and were increasing in number every day. ³² 

[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.

[15:38]  ⁴ tn BDAG 94 s.v. ἀξιόω 2.a has “he insisted (impf.) that they should not take him along” for this phrase.

[15:38]  ⁵ sn Pamphylia was a province in the southern part of Asia Minor. See Acts 13:13, where it was mentioned previously.

[15:39]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn BDAG 780 s.v. παροξυσμός 2 has “sharp disagreement” here; L&N 33.451 has “sharp argument, sharp difference of opinion.”

[15:39]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ sn Cyprus is a large island in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Asia Minor.

[15:40]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² sn Strengthening. See Acts 14:22; 15:32; 18:23.

[16:1]  ¹³ sn Derbe was a city in Lycaonia about 35 mi (60 km) southeast of Lystra. It was about 90 mi (145 km) from Tarsus.

[16:1]  ¹⁴ sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 25 mi (40 km) south of Iconium.

[16:1]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “And behold, a disciple.” Here ἰδού (idou) has not been translated.

[16:1]  ¹⁶ tn L&N 31.103 translates this phrase “the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer.”

[16:1]  ¹⁷ sn His father was a Greek. Timothy was the offspring of a mixed marriage between a Jewish woman (see 2 Tim 1:5) and a Gentile man. On mixed marriages in Judaism, see Neh 13:23-27; Ezra 9:1-10:44; Mal 2:10-16; Jub. 30:7-17; m. Qiddushin 3.12; m. Yevamot 7.5.

[16:2]  ¹⁸ sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 25 mi (40 km) south of Iconium.

[16:2]  ¹⁹ sn Iconium was a city in Lycaonia about 110 mi (175 km) east of Pisidian Antioch.

[16:2]  ²⁰ tn For this sense of μαρτυρέω (marturew), see BDAG 618 s.v. 2.b.

[16:2]  ²¹ tn Grk “who was well spoken of by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium.” Because of the awkwardness in English of having two relative clauses follow one another (“who was a believer…who was well spoken of”) and the awkwardness of the passive verb (“was well spoken of”), the relative pronoun at the beginning of 16:2 (“who”) has been translated as a pronoun (“him”) and the construction converted from passive to active at the same time a new sentence was started in the translation.

[16:3]  ²² tn Grk “this one”; the referent (Timothy) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:3]  ²³ tn Grk “and taking him he circumcised him.” The participle λαβών (labwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Paul’s cultural sensitivity showed in his action here. He did not want Timothy’s lack of circumcision to become an issue (1 Cor 9:15-23).

[16:3]  ²⁴ tn The verb περιέτεμεν (perietemen) here may be understood as causative (cf. ExSyn 411-12) if Paul did not personally perform the circumcision.

[16:3]  ²⁵ tn Or “who lived in the area.”

[16:3]  ²⁶ tn The anarthrous predicate nominative has been translated as qualitative (“Greek”) rather than indefinite (“a Greek”).

[16:4]  ²⁷ tn Or “cities.”

[16:4]  ²⁸ tn BDAG 762-63 s.v. παραδίδωμι 3 has “they handed down to them the decisions to observe Ac 16:4.”

[16:4]  ²⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[16:4]  ³⁰ tn Grk “for them”; the referent (Gentile believers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:4]  ³¹ tn Or “observe” or “follow.”

[16:5]  ³² tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase.