Acts 16:6-10

Paul’s Vision of the Macedonian Man

16:6 They went through the region of Phrygia ¹  and Galatia, ²  having been prevented ³  by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message ⁴  in the province of Asia. ⁵  16:7 When they came to ⁶  Mysia, ⁷  they attempted to go into Bithynia, ⁸  but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow ⁹  them to do this, ¹⁰  16:8 so they passed through ¹¹  Mysia ¹²  and went down to Troas. ¹³  16:9 A ¹⁴  vision appeared to Paul during the night: A Macedonian man was standing there ¹⁵  urging him, ¹⁶  “Come over ¹⁷  to Macedonia ¹⁸  and help us!” 16:10 After Paul ¹⁹  saw the vision, we attempted ²⁰  immediately to go over to Macedonia, ²¹  concluding that God had called ²²  us to proclaim the good news to them.

Acts 18:21

18:21 but said farewell to ²³  them and added, ²⁴  “I will come back ²⁵  to you again if God wills.” ²⁶  Then ²⁷  he set sail from Ephesus,

Acts 20:22

20:22 And now, ²⁸  compelled ²⁹  by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem ³⁰  without knowing what will happen to me there, ³¹ 

Lamentations 3:37

מ (Mem)

3:37 Whose command was ever fulfilled ³² 

unless the Lord ³³  decreed it?

Romans 1:13

1:13 I do not want you to be unaware, ³⁴  brothers and sisters, ³⁵  that I often intended to come to you (and was prevented until now), so that I may have some fruit even among you, just as I already have among the rest of the Gentiles. ³⁶ 

Romans 1:2

1:2 This gospel ³⁷  he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,

Colossians 1:15-18

The Supremacy of Christ

1:15 ³⁸ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn ³⁹  over all creation, ⁴⁰ 

1:16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, ⁴¹  whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.

1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together ⁴²  in him.

1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn ⁴³  from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. ⁴⁴ 

[16:6]  ¹ sn Phrygia was a district in central Asia Minor west of Pisidia.

[16:6]  ² 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]  ³ tn Or “forbidden.”

[16:6]  ⁴ tn Or “word.”

[16:6]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn BDAG 511 s.v. κατά B.1.b has “to Mysia” here.

[16:7]  ⁷ sn Mysia was a province in northwest Asia Minor.

[16:7]  ⁸ sn Bithynia was a province in northern Asia Minor northeast of Mysia.

[16:7]  ⁹ tn Or “permit”; see BDAG 269 s.v. ἐάω 1.

[16:7]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² sn Mysia was a province in northwest Asia Minor.

[16:8]  ¹³ sn Troas was a port city (and surrounding region) on the northwest coast of Asia Minor, near ancient Troy.

[16:9]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[16:9]  ¹⁶ tn The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[16:9]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “Coming over.” The participle διαβάς (diabas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[16:9]  ¹⁸ sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.

[16:10]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:10]  ²⁰ tn Grk “sought.”

[16:10]  ²¹ sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.

[16:10]  ²² tn Or “summoned.”

[18:21]  ²³ tn Or “but took leave of.”

[18:21]  ²⁴ tn Grk “and saying”; the participle εἰπών (eipwn) has been translated as “added” rather than “said” to avoid redundancy with the previous “said farewell.” The participle εἰπών has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[18:21]  ²⁵ tn Or “will return.”

[18:21]  ²⁶ tn The participle θέλοντος (qelontos), a genitive absolute construction, has been translated as a conditional adverbial participle. Again Paul acts in dependence on God.

[18:21]  ²⁷ tn A new sentence was begun here in the translation due to the length of the sentence in Greek and the requirements of contemporary English style, which generally uses shorter sentences.

[20:22]  ²⁸ tn Grk “And now, behold.” Here ἰδού (idou) has not been translated.

[20:22]  ²⁹ tn Grk “bound.”

[20:22]  ³⁰ sn This journey to Jerusalem suggests a parallel between Paul and Jesus, since the “Jerusalem journey” motif figures so prominently in Luke’s Gospel (9:51-19:44).

[20:22]  ³¹ tn BDAG 965 s.v. συναντάω 2 has τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ συναντήσοντα ἐμοὶ μὴ εἰδώς without knowing what will happen to me there Ac 20:22.”

[3:37]  ³² tn Heb “Who is this, he spoke and it came to pass?” The general sense is to ask whose commands are fulfilled. The phrase “he spoke and it came to pass” is taken as an allusion to the creation account (see Gen 1:3).

[3:37]  ³³ tc The MT reads אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “the Lord”) here rather than יהוה (YHWH, “the Lord”). See the tc note at 1:14.

[1:13]  ³⁴ sn The expression “I do not want you to be unaware [Grk ignorant]” also occurs in 1 Cor 10:1; 12:1; 1 Thess 4:13. Paul uses the phrase to signal that he is about to say something very important.

[1:13]  ³⁵ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:13]  ³⁶ tn Grk “in order that I might have some fruit also among you just as also among the rest of the Gentiles.”

[1:2]  ³⁷ tn Grk “the gospel of God, which he promised.” Because of the length and complexity of this sentence in Greek, it was divided into shorter English sentences in keeping with contemporary English style. To indicate the referent of the relative pronoun (“which”), the word “gospel” was repeated at the beginning of v. 2.

[1:15]  ³⁸ sn This passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.

[1:15]  ³⁹ tn The Greek term πρωτότοκος (prwtotokos) could refer either to first in order of time, such as a first born child, or it could refer to one who is preeminent in rank. M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 43, expresses the meaning of the word well: “The ‘firstborn’ was either the eldest child in a family or a person of preeminent rank. The use of this term to describe the Davidic king in Ps 88:28 LXX (=Ps 89:27 EVV), ‘I will also appoint him my firstborn (πρωτότοκον), the most exalted of the kings of the earth,’ indicates that it can denote supremacy in rank as well as priority in time. But whether the πρωτό- element in the word denotes time, rank, or both, the significance of the -τοκος element as indicating birth or origin (from τίκτω, give birth to) has been virtually lost except in ref. to lit. birth.” In Col 1:15 the emphasis is on the priority of Jesus’ rank as over and above creation (cf. 1:16 and the “for” clause referring to Jesus as Creator).

[1:15]  ⁴⁰ tn The genitive construction πάσης κτίσεως (pash" ktisew") is a genitive of subordination and is therefore translated as “over all creation.” See ExSyn 103-4.

[1:16]  ⁴¹ tn BDAG 579 s.v. κυριότης 3 suggests “bearers of the ruling powers, dominions” here.

[1:17]  ⁴² tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.

[1:18]  ⁴³ tn See the note on the term “firstborn” in 1:15. Here the reference to Jesus as the “firstborn from among the dead” seems to be arguing for a chronological priority, i.e., Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.

[1:18]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”