Acts 20:18-19

20:18 When they arrived, he said to them, “You yourselves know how I lived ¹  the whole time I was with you, from the first day I set foot ²  in the province of Asia, ³  20:19 serving the Lord with all humility ⁴  and with tears, and with the trials that happened to me because of the plots ⁵  of the Jews.

Acts 20:33-35

20:33 I have desired ⁶  no one’s silver or gold or clothing. 20:34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine ⁷  provided for my needs and the needs of those who were with me. 20:35 By all these things, ⁸  I have shown you that by working in this way we must help ⁹  the weak, ¹⁰  and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” ¹¹ 

[20:18]  ¹ tn Grk “You yourselves know, from the first day I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time.” This could be understood to mean “how I stayed with you the whole time,” but the following verses make it clear that Paul’s lifestyle while with the Ephesians is in view here. Thus the translation “how I lived the whole time I was with you” makes this clear.

[20:18]  ² tn Or “I arrived.” BDAG 367 s.v. ἐπιβαίνω 2, “set foot in…εἰς τ. ᾿Ασίαν set foot in Asia Ac 20:18.” However, L&N 15.83 removes the idiom: “you know that since the first day that I came to Asia.”

[20:18]  ³ tn Grk “Asia”; see the note on this word in v. 16.

[20:19]  ⁴ sn On humility see 2 Cor 10:1; 11:7; 1 Thess 2:6; Col 3:12; Eph 4:2; Phil 2:3-11.

[20:19]  ⁵ sn These plots are mentioned in Acts 9:24; 20:13.

[20:33]  ⁶ tn Traditionally, “coveted.” BDAG 371 s.v. ἐπιθυμέω 1 has “to have a strong desire to do or secure someth., desire, long for w. gen. of the thing desired…silver, gold, clothing Ac 20:33.” The traditional term “covet” is not in common usage and difficult for many modern English readers to understand. The statement affirms Paul’s integrity. He was not doing this for personal financial gain.

[20:34]  ⁷ tn The words “of mine” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to clarify whose hands Paul is referring to.

[20:35]  ⁸ sn The expression By all these things means “In everything I did.”

[20:35]  ⁹ tn Or “must assist.”

[20:35]  ¹⁰ tn Or “the sick.” See Eph 4:28.

[20:35]  ¹¹ sn The saying is similar to Matt 10:8. Service and generosity should be abundant. Interestingly, these exact words are not found in the gospels. Paul must have known of this saying from some other source.