Acts 17:16

Paul at Athens

17:16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, ¹  his spirit was greatly upset ²  because he saw ³  the city was full of idols.

Acts 13:1

The Church at Antioch Commissions Barnabas and Saul

13:1 Now there were these prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch: ⁴  Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, ⁵  Lucius the Cyrenian, ⁶  Manaen (a close friend of Herod ⁷  the tetrarch ⁸  from childhood ⁹ ) and Saul.

Acts 19:35

19:35 After the city secretary ¹⁰  quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, what person ¹¹  is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the keeper ¹²  of the temple of the great Artemis ¹³  and of her image that fell from heaven? ¹⁴ 

[17:16]  ¹ map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

[17:16]  ² tn Grk “greatly upset within him,” but the words “within him” were not included in the translation because they are redundant in English. See L&N 88.189. The term could also be rendered “infuriated.”

[17:16]  ³ tn Or “when he saw.” The participle θεωροῦντος (qewrounto") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle; it could also be translated as temporal.

[13:1]  ⁴ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia).

[13:1]  ⁵ sn Simeon may well have been from North Africa, since the Latin loanword Niger refers to someone as “dark-complexioned.”

[13:1]  ⁶ sn The Cyrenian refers to a native of the city of Cyrene, on the coast of northern Africa west of Egypt.

[13:1]  ⁷ sn Herod is generally taken as a reference to Herod Antipas, who governed Galilee from 4 b.c. to a.d. 39, who had John the Baptist beheaded, and who is mentioned a number of times in the gospels.

[13:1]  ⁸ tn Or “the governor.”

[13:1]  ⁹ tn Or “(a foster brother of Herod the tetrarch).” The meaning “close friend from childhood” is given by L&N 34.15, but the word can also mean “foster brother” (L&N 10.51). BDAG 976 s.v. σύντροφας states, “pert. to being brought up with someone, either as a foster-brother or as a companion/friend,” which covers both alternatives. Context does not given enough information to be certain which is the case here, although many modern translations prefer the meaning “close friend from childhood.”

[19:35]  ⁷ tn Or “clerk.” The “scribe” (γραμματεύς, grammateu") was the keeper of the city’s records.

[19:35]  ⁸ tn This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo").

[19:35]  ⁹ tn See BDAG 670 s.v. νεωκόρος. The city is described as the “warden” or “guardian” of the goddess and her temple.

[19:35]  ¹⁰ sn Artemis was a Greek goddess worshiped particularly in Asia Minor, whose temple, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was located just outside the city of Ephesus.

[19:35]  ¹¹ tn Or “from the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).