Acts 20:1-2

Paul Travels Through Macedonia and Greece

20:1 After the disturbance had ended, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging ¹  them and saying farewell, ²  he left to go to Macedonia. ³  20:2 After he had gone through those regions ⁴  and spoken many words of encouragement ⁵  to the believers there, ⁶  he came to Greece, ⁷ 

Acts 20:23-24

20:23 except ⁸  that the Holy Spirit warns ⁹  me in town after town ¹⁰  that ¹¹  imprisonment ¹²  and persecutions ¹³  are waiting for me. 20:24 But I do not consider my life ¹⁴  worth anything ¹⁵  to myself, so that ¹⁶  I may finish my task ¹⁷  and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news ¹⁸  of God’s grace.

[20:1]  ¹ tn Or “exhorting.”

[20:1]  ² tn Or “and taking leave of them.”

[20:1]  ³ sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.

[20:2]  ⁴ tn BDAG 633 s.v. μέρος 1.b.γ gives the meanings “the parts (of a geographical area), region, district,” but the use of “district” in this context probably implies too much specificity.

[20:2]  ⁵ tn Grk “and encouraging them with many words.” The participle παρακαλέσας (parakalesa", “encouraging”) has been translated by the phrase “spoken…words of encouragement” because the formal equivalent is awkward in contemporary English.

[20:2]  ⁶ tn Grk “[to] them”; the referent (the believers there) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:2]  ⁷ tn In popular usage the term translated “Greece” here could also refer to the Roman province officially known as Achaia (BDAG 318 s.v. ῾Ελλάς).

[20:23]  ⁸ tn BDAG 826 s.v. πλήν 1.d has “πλὴν ὅτι except that…Ac 20:23.”

[20:23]  ⁹ tn The verb διαμαρτύρομαι (diamarturomai) can mean “warn” (BDAG 233 s.v. διαμαρτύρομαι 2 has “solemnly urge, exhort, warn…w. dat. of pers. addressed”), and this meaning better fits the context here, although BDAG categorizes Acts 20:23 under the meaning “testify of, bear witness to” (s.v. 1).

[20:23]  ¹⁰ tn The Greek text here reads κατὰ πόλιν (kata polin).

[20:23]  ¹¹ tn Grk “saying that,” but the participle λέγον (legon) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[20:23]  ¹² tn Grk “bonds.”

[20:23]  ¹³ tn Or “troubles,” “suffering.” See Acts 19:21; 21:4, 11.

[20:24]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “soul.”

[20:24]  ¹⁵ tn Or “I do not consider my life worth a single word.” According to BDAG 599 s.v. λόγος 1.a.α, “In the textually uncertain pass. Ac 20:24 the text as it stands in N., οὐδενὸς λόγου (v.l. λόγον) ποιοῦμαι τὴν ψυχὴν τιμίαν, may well mean: I do not consider my life worth a single word (cp. λόγου ἄξιον [ἄξιος 1a] and our ‘worth mention’).”

[20:24]  ¹⁶ tn BDAG 1106 s.v. ὡς 9 describes this use as “a final particle, expressing intention/purpose, with a view to, in order to.”

[20:24]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “course.” See L&N 42.26, “(a figurative extension of meaning of δρόμος ‘race’) a task or function involving continuity, serious, effort, and possibly obligation – ‘task, mission’…Ac 20:24.” On this Pauline theme see also Phil 1:19-26; Col 1:24; 2 Tim 4:6-7.

[20:24]  ¹⁸ tn Or “to the gospel.”