Acts 17:4

17:4 Some of them were persuaded ¹  and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large group ²  of God-fearing Greeks ³  and quite a few ⁴  prominent women.

Acts 18:27

18:27 When Apollos ⁵  wanted to cross over to Achaia, ⁶  the brothers encouraged ⁷  him ⁸  and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he ⁹  assisted greatly those who had believed by grace,

Acts 28:6

28:6 But they were expecting that he was going to swell up ¹⁰  or suddenly drop dead. So after they had waited ¹¹  a long time and had seen ¹²  nothing unusual happen ¹³  to him, they changed their minds ¹⁴  and said he was a god. ¹⁵ 

[17:4]  ¹ tn Or “convinced.”

[17:4]  ² tn Or “a large crowd.”

[17:4]  ³ tn Or “of devout Greeks,” but this is practically a technical term for the category called God-fearers, Gentiles who worshiped the God of Israel and in many cases kept the Mosaic law, but did not take the final step of circumcision necessary to become a proselyte to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 743-44. Luke frequently mentions such people (Acts 13:43, 50; 16:14; 17:17; 18:7).

[17:4]  ⁴ tn Grk “not a few”; this use of negation could be misleading to the modern English reader, however, and so has been translated as “quite a few” (which is the actual meaning of the expression).

[18:27]  ⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Apollos) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:27]  ⁶ sn To cross over to Achaia. Achaia was organized by the Romans as a separate province in 27 b.c. and was located across the Aegean Sea from Ephesus. The city of Corinth was in Achaia.

[18:27]  ⁷ tn Grk “encouraging [him], the brothers wrote.” The participle προτρεψάμενοι (protreyamenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. This was the typical letter of commendation from the Ephesians to the Achaeans.

[18:27]  ⁸ tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[18:27]  ⁹ tn Grk “who, when he arrived.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“who”) was replaced with the pronoun “he” and a new sentence begun in the translation.

[28:6]  ⁹ tn Or “going to burn with fever.” According to BDAG 814 s.v. πίμπρημι, either meaning (“swell up” or “burn with fever”) is possible for Acts 28:6.

[28:6]  ¹⁰ tn The participle προσδοκώντων (prosdokwntwn) has been taken temporally.

[28:6]  ¹¹ tn The participle θεωρούντων (qewrountwn) has been taken temporally.

[28:6]  ¹² tn Grk “happening.” The participle γινόμενον (ginomenon) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[28:6]  ¹³ tn Grk “changing their minds.” The participle μεταβαλόμενοι (metabalomenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[28:6]  ¹⁴ sn And said he was a god. The reaction is like Acts 14:11-19 where the crowd wanted to make Paul and Barnabas into gods. The providence of God had protected Paul again.