Acts 18:21-28

18:21 but said farewell to ¹  them and added, ²  “I will come back ³  to you again if God wills.” ⁴  Then ⁵  he set sail from Ephesus, 18:22 and when he arrived ⁶  at Caesarea, ⁷  he went up and greeted ⁸  the church at Jerusalem ⁹  and then went down to Antioch. ¹⁰  18:23 After he spent ¹¹  some time there, Paul left and went through the region of Galatia ¹²  and Phrygia, ¹³  strengthening all the disciples.

Apollos Begins His Ministry

18:24 Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, arrived in Ephesus. ¹⁴  He was an eloquent speaker, ¹⁵  well-versed ¹⁶  in the scriptures. 18:25 He had been instructed in ¹⁷  the way of the Lord, and with great enthusiasm ¹⁸  he spoke and taught accurately the facts ¹⁹  about Jesus, although he knew ²⁰  only the baptism of John. 18:26 He began to speak out fearlessly ²¹  in the synagogue, ²²  but when Priscilla and Aquila ²³  heard him, they took him aside ²⁴  and explained the way of God to him more accurately. 18:27 When Apollos ²⁵  wanted to cross over to Achaia, ²⁶  the brothers encouraged ²⁷  him ²⁸  and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he ²⁹  assisted greatly those who had believed by grace, 18:28 for he refuted the Jews vigorously ³⁰  in public debate, ³¹  demonstrating from the scriptures that the Christ ³²  was Jesus. ³³ 

[18:21]  ¹ tn Or “but took leave of.”

[18:21]  ² tn Grk “and saying”; the participle εἰπών (eipwn) has been translated as “added” rather than “said” to avoid redundancy with the previous “said farewell.” The participle εἰπών has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[18:21]  ³ tn Or “will return.”

[18:21]  ⁴ tn The participle θέλοντος (qelontos), a genitive absolute construction, has been translated as a conditional adverbial participle. Again Paul acts in dependence on God.

[18:21]  ⁵ tn A new sentence was begun here in the translation due to the length of the sentence in Greek and the requirements of contemporary English style, which generally uses shorter sentences.

[18:22]  ⁶ tn BDAG 531 s.v. κατέρχομαι 2 states, “arrive, put in, nautical t.t. of ships and those who sail in them, who ‘come down’ fr. the ‘high seas’…εἴς τι at someth. a harbor Ac 18:22; 21:3; 27:5.”

[18:22]  ⁷ sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1. This was a sea voyage of 620 mi (990 km).

[18:22]  ⁸ tn Grk “going up and greeting.” The participles ἀναβάς (anabas) and ἀσπασάμενος (aspasameno") are translated as finite verbs due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[18:22]  ⁹ tn The words “at Jerusalem” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the participle ἀναβάς (anabas). The expression “go up” refers almost exclusively to the direction of Jerusalem, while the corresponding “go down” (κατέβη, katebh) refers to directions away from Jerusalem. Both expressions are based on a Hebrew idiom. Assuming Jerusalem is meant, this is another indication of keeping that key church informed. If Jerusalem is not referred to here, then Caesarea is in view. Paul was trying to honor a vow, which also implies a visit to Jerusalem.

[18:22]  ¹⁰ sn Went down to Antioch. The city of Antioch in Syria lies due north of Jerusalem. In Western languages it is common to speak of north as “up” and south as “down,” but the NT maintains the Hebrew idiom which speaks of any direction away from Jerusalem as down (since Mount Zion was thought of in terms of altitude). This marks the end of the second missionary journey which began in Acts 15:36. From Caesarea to Antioch is a journey of 280 mi (450 km).

[18:23]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Having spent”; the participle ποιήσας (poihsas) is taken temporally.

[18:23]  ¹² sn Galatia refers to either (1) the region of the old kingdom of Galatia in the central part of Asia Minor, or (2) the Roman province of Galatia, whose principal cities in the 1st century were Ancyra and Pisidian Antioch. The exact extent and meaning of this area has been a subject of considerable controversy in modern NT studies.

[18:23]  ¹³ sn Phrygia was a district in central Asia Minor west of Pisidia. See Acts 16:6.

[18:24]  ¹⁴ map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.

[18:24]  ¹⁵ tn Or “was a learned man.” In this verse λόγιος (logios) can refer to someone who was an attractive and convincing speaker, a rhetorician (L&N 33.32), or it can refer to the person who has acquired a large part of the intellectual heritage of a given culture (“learned” or “cultured,” L&N 27.20, see also BDAG 598 s.v. λόγιος which lists both meanings as possible here). The description of Apollos’ fervent speaking in the following verses, as well as implications from 1 Cor 1-4, where Paul apparently compares his style and speaking ability with that of Apollos, suggests that eloquent speaking ability or formal rhetorical skill are in view here. This clause has been moved from its order in the Greek text (Grk “a certain Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, an eloquent speaker, arrived in Ephesus, who was powerful in the scriptures”) and paired with the last element (“powerful in the scriptures”) due to the demands of clarity and contemporary English style.

[18:24]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “powerful.” BDAG 264 s.v. δυνατός 1.b has “in the Scriptures = well-versed 18:24.”

[18:25]  ¹⁷ tn Or “had been taught.”

[18:25]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “and boiling in spirit” (an idiom for great eagerness or enthusiasm; BDAG 426 s.v. ζέω).

[18:25]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “the things.”

[18:25]  ²⁰ tn Grk “knowing”; the participle ἐπιστάμενος (epistameno") has been translated as a concessive adverbial participle.

[18:26]  ²¹ tn Or “boldly.” This is a frequent term in Acts (9:27-28; 13:46; 14:3; 19:8; 26:26).

[18:26]  ²² sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[18:26]  ²³ sn Priscilla and Aquila. This key couple, of which Priscilla was an important enough figure to be mentioned by name, instructed Apollos about the most recent work of God. See also the note on Aquila in 18:2.

[18:26]  ²⁴ tn BDAG 883 s.v. προσλαμβάνω 3 has “take aside, mid. τινά someone…So prob. also Ac 18:26: Priscilla and Aquila take Apollos aside to teach him undisturbed.”

[18:27]  ²⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Apollos) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:27]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ 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.

[18:28]  ³⁰ tn Or “vehemently.” BDAG 414 s.v. εὐτόνως has “vigorously, vehemently…εὐ. διακατελέγχεσθαί τινι refute someone vigorously Ac 18:28.”

[18:28]  ³¹ tn L&N 33.442 translates the phrase τοῖς ᾿Ιουδαίοις διακατηλέγχετο δημοσίᾳ (toi" Ioudaioi" diakathlenceto dhmosia) as “he defeated the Jews in public debate.” On this use of the term δημόσιος (dhmosio") see BDAG 223 s.v. 2.

[18:28]  ³² tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” Again the issue is identifying the Christ as Jesus (see 5:42; 8:5; 9:22; 18:5).

[18:28]  ³³ tn Although many English translations have here “that Jesus was the Christ,” in the case of two accusatives following a copulative infinitive, the first would normally be the subject and the second the predicate nominative. Additionally, the first accusative here (τὸν χριστόν, ton criston) has the article, a further indication that it should be regarded as subject of the infinitive.