Acts 18:12

Paul Before the Proconsul Gallio

18:12 Now while Gallio ¹  was proconsul ²  of Achaia, ³  the Jews attacked Paul together ⁴  and brought him before the judgment seat, ⁵ 

Acts 7:5

7:5 He ⁶  did not give any of it to him for an inheritance, ⁷  not even a foot of ground, ⁸  yet God ⁹  promised to give it to him as his possession, and to his descendants after him, ¹⁰  even though Abraham ¹¹  as yet had no child.

[18:12]  ¹ sn Gallio was proconsul of Achaia from a.d. 51-52. This date is one of the firmly established dates in Acts. Lucius Junius Gallio was the son of the rhetorician Seneca and the brother of Seneca the philosopher. The date of Gallio’s rule is established from an inscription (W. Dittenberger, ed., Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum 2.3 no. 8). Thus the event mentioned here is probably to be dated July-October a.d. 51.

[18:12]  ² sn The proconsul was the Roman official who ruled over a province traditionally under the control of the Roman senate.

[18:12]  ³ sn Achaia was a Roman province created in 146 b.c. that included the most important parts of Greece (Attica, Boeotia, and the Peloponnesus).

[18:12]  ⁴ tn Grk “with one accord.”

[18:12]  ⁵ tn Although BDAG 175 s.v. βῆμα 3 gives the meaning “tribunal” for this verse and a number of modern translations use similar terms (“court,” NIV; “tribunal,” NRSV), there is no need for an alternative translation here since the bema was a standard feature in Greco-Roman cities of the time.

[7:5]  ⁶ tn Grk “And he.” 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.

[7:5]  ⁷ tn Grk “He did not give him an inheritance in it.” This could be understood to mean that God did not give something else to Abraham as an inheritance while he was living there. The point of the text is that God did not give any of the land to him as an inheritance, and the translation makes this clear.

[7:5]  ⁸ tn Grk “a step of a foot” (cf. Deut 2:5).

[7:5]  ⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:5]  ¹⁰ sn An allusion to Gen 12:7; 13:15; 15:2, 18; 17:8; 24:7; 48:4. On the theological importance of the promise and to his descendants after him, see Rom 4 and Gal 3.

[7:5]  ¹¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.