Discovery BoxActs 16:1-12
Context16:1 He also came to Derbe 1 and to Lystra. 2 A disciple 3 named Timothy was there, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, 4 but whose father was a Greek. 5 16:2 The brothers in Lystra 6 and Iconium 7 spoke well 8 of him. 9 16:3 Paul wanted Timothy 10 to accompany him, and he took 11 him and circumcised 12 him because of the Jews who were in those places, 13 for they all knew that his father was Greek. 14 16:4 As they went through the towns, 15 they passed on 16 the decrees that had been decided on by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem 17 for the Gentile believers 18 to obey. 19 16:5 So the churches were being strengthened in the faith and were increasing in number every day. 20
16:6 They went through the region of Phrygia 21 and Galatia, 22 having been prevented 23 by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message 24 in the province of Asia. 25 16:7 When they came to 26 Mysia, 27 they attempted to go into Bithynia, 28 but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow 29 them to do this, 30 16:8 so they passed through 31 Mysia 32 and went down to Troas. 33 16:9 A 34 vision appeared to Paul during the night: A Macedonian man was standing there 35 urging him, 36 “Come over 37 to Macedonia 38 and help us!” 16:10 After Paul 39 saw the vision, we attempted 40 immediately to go over to Macedonia, 41 concluding that God had called 42 us to proclaim the good news to them.
16:11 We put out to sea 43 from Troas 44 and sailed a straight course 45 to Samothrace, 46 the next day to Neapolis, 47 16:12 and from there to Philippi, 48 which is a leading city of that district 49 of Macedonia, 50 a Roman colony. 51 We stayed in this city for some days.
[16:1] 1 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] 2 sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 25 mi (40 km) south of Iconium.
[16:1] 3 tn Grk “And behold, a disciple.” Here ἰδού (idou) has not been translated.
[16:1] 4 tn L&N 31.103 translates this phrase “the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer.”
[16:1] 5 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] 6 sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 25 mi (40 km) south of Iconium.
[16:2] 7 sn Iconium was a city in Lycaonia about 110 mi (175 km) east of Pisidian Antioch.
[16:2] 8 tn For this sense of μαρτυρέω (marturew), see BDAG 618 s.v. 2.b.
[16:2] 9 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] 10 tn Grk “this one”; the referent (Timothy) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[16:3] 11 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] 12 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] 13 tn Or “who lived in the area.”
[16:3] 14 tn The anarthrous predicate nominative has been translated as qualitative (“Greek”) rather than indefinite (“a Greek”).
[16:4] 16 tn BDAG 762-63 s.v. παραδίδωμι 3 has “they handed down to them the decisions to observe Ac 16:4.”
[16:4] 17 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[16:4] 18 tn Grk “for them”; the referent (Gentile believers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[16:4] 19 tn Or “observe” or “follow.”
[16:5] 20 tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase.
[16:6] 21 sn Phrygia was a district in central Asia Minor west of Pisidia.
[16:6] 22 sn Galatia refers to either (1) the region of the old kingdom of Galatia in the central part of Asia Minor (North Galatia), or (2) the Roman province of Galatia, whose principal cities in the 1st century were Ancyra and Pisidian Antioch (South Galatia). The exact extent and meaning of this area has been a subject of considerable controversy in modern NT studies.
[16:6] 25 tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.
[16:7] 26 tn BDAG 511 s.v. κατά B.1.b has “to Mysia” here.
[16:7] 27 sn Mysia was a province in northwest Asia Minor.
[16:7] 28 sn Bithynia was a province in northern Asia Minor northeast of Mysia.
[16:7] 29 tn Or “permit”; see BDAG 269 s.v. ἐάω 1.
[16:7] 30 tn The words “do this” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied for stylistic reasons, since English handles ellipses differently than Greek.
[16:8] 31 tn Although the normal meaning for παρέρχομαι (parercomai) is “pass by, go by,” it would be difficult to get to Troas from where Paul and his companions were without going through rather than around Mysia. BDAG 776 s.v. παρέρχομαι 6 list some nonbiblical examples of the meaning “go through, pass through,” and give that meaning for the usage here.
[16:8] 32 sn Mysia was a province in northwest Asia Minor.
[16:8] 33 sn Troas was a port city (and surrounding region) on the northwest coast of Asia Minor, near ancient Troy.
[16:9] 34 tn Grk “And a.” 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.
[16:9] 35 tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.
[16:9] 36 tn The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.
[16:9] 37 tn Grk “Coming over.” The participle διαβάς (diabas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
[16:9] 38 sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.
[16:10] 39 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[16:10] 41 sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.
[16:11] 43 tn BDAG 62 s.v. ἀνάγω 4, “as a nautical t.t. (ἀ. τὴν ναῦν put a ship to sea), mid. or pass. ἀνάγεσθαι to begin to go by boat, put out to sea.”
[16:11] 44 sn Troas was a port city (and surrounding region) on the northwest coast of Asia Minor. See v. 8.
[16:11] 45 tn BDAG 406 s.v. εὐθυδρομέω has “of a ship run a straight course” here; L&N 54.3 has “to sail a straight course, sail straight to.”
[16:11] 46 sn Samothrace is an island in the northern part of the Aegean Sea.
[16:11] 47 sn Neapolis was a seaport on the southern coast of Macedonia. It was 10 mi (16 km) from Philippi.
[16:12] 48 map For location see JP1 C1; JP2 C1; JP3 C1; JP4 C1.
[16:12] 49 tc ‡ Or perhaps, “a city in the first district” (there are a number of textual variants). L&N 1.85 follow the text of UBS4 and NA27 here: “In Ac 16:12…the Greek New Testament published by the United Bible Societies has adopted a conjectural emendation, since the more traditional text, πρώτη τῆς μερίδος, literally ‘first of the district,’ is not only misleading in meaning but does not reflect the historical fact that Philippi was a city in one of the four districts of Macedonia but was not a capital city.” The original text is probably πρώτη τῆς μερίδος (prwth th" merido", “first of that district”) as found in Ì74 א A C Ψ 33vid 36 81 323 945 1175 1891 pc. This has traditionally been translated to give the impression that Philippi was the capital city of the district, but it does not necessarily have to be translated this way. The translation of the article before μερίδος as “that” acknowledges that there were other districts in the province of Macedonia.
[16:12] 50 sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.
[16:12] 51 sn A Roman colony was a city whose residents were regarded as Roman citizens, since such cities were originally colonized by citizens of Rome. From Troas to Philippi was 130 mi (208 km).
