Acts 17:11

17:11 These Jews ¹  were more open-minded ²  than those in Thessalonica, ³  for they eagerly ⁴  received ⁵  the message, examining ⁶  the scriptures carefully every day ⁷  to see if these things were so.

Acts 24:14

24:14 But I confess this to you, that I worship ⁸  the God of our ancestors ⁹  according to the Way (which they call a sect), believing everything that is according to the law ¹⁰  and that is written in the prophets.

Acts 26:20

26:20 but I declared to those in Damascus first, and then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, ¹¹  and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, ¹²  performing deeds consistent with ¹³  repentance.

Acts 27:41

27:41 But they encountered a patch of crosscurrents ¹⁴  and ran the ship aground; the bow stuck fast and could not be moved, but the stern was being broken up by the force ¹⁵  of the waves.

[17:11]  ¹ tn Grk “These”; the referent (the Jews in the synagogue at Berea) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:11]  ² tn Or “more willing to learn.” L&N 27.48 and BDAG 404 s.v. εὐγενής 2 both use the term “open-minded” here. The point is that they were more receptive to Paul’s message.

[17:11]  ³ sn Thessalonica was a city in Macedonia (modern Salonica).

[17:11]  ⁴ tn Or “willingly,” “readily”; Grk “with all eagerness.”

[17:11]  ⁵ tn Grk “who received.” Here the relative pronoun (“who”) has been translated as a pronoun (“they”) preceded by a semicolon, which is less awkward in contemporary English than a relative clause at this point.

[17:11]  ⁶ tn This verb (BDAG 66 s.v. ἀνακρίνω 1) refers to careful examination.

[17:11]  ⁷ tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase in this verse.

[24:14]  ⁸ tn Or “serve.”

[24:14]  ⁹ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[24:14]  ¹⁰ sn That is, the law of Moses. Paul was claiming that he legitimately worshiped the God of Israel. He was arguing that this amounted to a religious dispute rather than a political one, so that the Roman authorities need not concern themselves with it.

[26:20]  ¹⁵ tn BDAG 1093-94 s.v. χώρα 2.b states, “of the provincial name (1 Macc 8:3) ἡ χώρα τῆς ᾿Ιουδαίας Ac 26:20.”

[26:20]  ¹⁶ sn That they should repent and turn to God. This is the shortest summary of Paul’s message that he preached.

[26:20]  ¹⁷ tn BDAG 93 s.v. ἄξιος 1.b, “καρποὶ ἄ. τῆς μετανοίας fruits in keeping with your repentance…Lk 3:8; Mt 3:8. For this ἄ. τῆς μετανοίας ἔργα Ac 26:20.” Note how Paul preached the gospel offer and the issue of response together, side by side.

[27:41]  ²² tn Grk “fell upon a place of two seas.” The most common explanation for this term is that it refers to a reef or sandbar with the sea on both sides, as noted in BDAG 245 s.v. διθάλασσος: the “τόπος δ. Ac 27:41 is a semantic unit signifying a point (of land jutting out with water on both sides).” However, Greek had terms for a “sandbank” (θῖς [qis], ταινία [tainia]), a “reef” (ἑρμα [Jerma]), “strait” (στενόν [stenon]), “promontory” (ἀρωτήρον [arwthron]), and other nautical hazards, none of which are used by the author here. NEB here translates τόπον διθάλασσον (topon diqalasson) as “cross-currents,” a proposal close to that advanced by J. M. Gilchrist, “The Historicity of Paul’s Shipwreck,” JSNT 61 (1996): 29-51, who suggests the meaning is “a patch of cross-seas,” where the waves are set at an angle to the wind, a particular hazard for sailors. Thus the term most likely refers to some sort of adverse sea conditions rather than a topographical feature like a reef or sandbar.

[27:41]  ²³ tn Or “violence” (BDAG 175 s.v. βία a).