Acts 18:23

18:23 After he spent ¹  some time there, Paul left and went through the region of Galatia ²  and Phrygia, ³  strengthening all the disciples.

Acts 8:40

8:40 Philip, however, found himself ⁴  at Azotus, ⁵  and as he passed through the area, ⁶  he proclaimed the good news ⁷  to all the towns ⁸  until he came to Caesarea. ⁹ 

Acts 17:23

17:23 For as I went around and observed closely your objects of worship, ¹⁰  I even found an altar with this inscription: ¹¹  ‘To an unknown god.’ Therefore what you worship without knowing it, ¹²  this I proclaim to you.

[18:23]  ¹ tn Grk “Having spent”; the participle ποιήσας (poihsas) is taken temporally.

[18:23]  ² 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]  ³ sn Phrygia was a district in central Asia Minor west of Pisidia. See Acts 16:6.

[8:40]  ⁴ tn Or “appeared.”

[8:40]  ⁵ sn Azotus was a city on the coast of southern Palestine, known as Ashdod in OT times.

[8:40]  ⁶ tn The words “the area” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[8:40]  ⁷ tn Or “he preached the gospel.”

[8:40]  ⁸ tn Or “cities.”

[8:40]  ⁹ 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.

[17:23]  ⁷ tn Or “your sanctuaries.” L&N 53.54 gives “sanctuary” (place of worship) as an alternate meaning for the word σεβάσματα (sebasmata).

[17:23]  ⁸ tn Grk “on which was written,” but since it would have been carved in stone, it is more common to speak of an “inscription” in English. To simplify the English the relative construction with a passive verb (“on which was inscribed”) was translated as a prepositional phrase with a substantive (“inscription”).

[17:23]  ⁹ tn BDAG 13 s.v. ἀγνοέω 1.b has “Abs. ὅ ἀγνοοῦντες εὐσεβεῖτε what you worship without knowing it (on the subject matter Maximus Tyr. 11, 5e: all sorts of philosophers ἴσασιν οὐκ ἑκόντες καὶ λέγουσιν ἄκοντες sc. τὸ θεῖον = they know and name God without intending to do so) Ac 17:23.” Paul, in typical Jewish Christian style, informs them of the true God, of whom their idols are an ignorant reflection.