Acts 17:4-5

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. 17:5 But the Jews became jealous, ⁵  and gathering together some worthless men from the rabble in the marketplace, ⁶  they formed a mob ⁷  and set the city in an uproar. ⁸  They attacked Jason’s house, ⁹  trying to find Paul and Silas ¹⁰  to bring them out to the assembly. ¹¹ 

[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).

[17:5]  ⁵ tn Grk “becoming jealous.” The participle ζηλώσαντες (zhlwsante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. So elsewhere in Acts (5:17; 7:9; 13:45).

[17:5]  ⁶ tn Literally ἀγοραῖος (agoraio") refers to the crowd in the marketplace, although BDAG 14-15 s.v. ἀγοραῖος 1 gives the meaning, by extension, as “rabble.” Such a description is certainly appropriate in this context. L&N 15.127 translates the phrase “worthless men from the streets.”

[17:5]  ⁷ tn On this term, which is a NT hapax legomenon, see BDAG 745 s.v. ὀχλοποιέω.

[17:5]  ⁸ tn BDAG 458 s.v. θορυβέω 1 has “set the city in an uproar, start a riot in the city” for the meaning of ἐθορύβουν (eqoruboun) in this verse.

[17:5]  ⁹ sn The attack took place at Jason’s house because this was probably the location of the new house church.

[17:5]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “them”; the referents (Paul and Silas) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:5]  ¹¹ tn BDAG 223 s.v. δῆμος 2 has “in a Hellenistic city, a convocation of citizens called together for the purpose of transacting official business, popular assembly προάγειν εἰς τὸν δ. Ac 17:5.”