Acts 21:10

21:10 While we remained there for a number of days, ¹  a prophet named Agabus ²  came down from Judea.

Acts 10:37

10:37 you know what happened throughout Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John announced: ³ 

Acts 12:19

12:19 When Herod ⁴  had searched ⁵  for him and did not find him, he questioned ⁶  the guards and commanded that they be led away to execution. ⁷  Then ⁸  Herod ⁹  went down from Judea to Caesarea ¹⁰  and stayed there.

Acts 15:1

The Jerusalem Council

15:1 Now some men came down from Judea ¹¹  and began to teach the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised ¹²  according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Acts 16:1

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

16:1 He also came to Derbe ¹³  and to Lystra. ¹⁴  A disciple ¹⁵  named Timothy was there, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, ¹⁶  but whose father was a Greek. ¹⁷ 

Acts 8:1

8:1 And Saul agreed completely with killing ¹⁸  him.

Saul Begins to Persecute the Church

Now on that day a great ¹⁹  persecution began ²⁰  against the church in Jerusalem, ²¹  and all ²²  except the apostles were forced to scatter throughout the regions ²³  of Judea and Samaria.

Acts 9:31

9:31 Then ²⁴  the church throughout Judea, Galilee, ²⁵  and Samaria experienced ²⁶  peace and thus was strengthened. ²⁷  Living ²⁸  in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, the church ²⁹  increased in numbers.

Acts 26:20

26:20 but I declared to those in Damascus first, and then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, ³⁰  and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, ³¹  performing deeds consistent with ³²  repentance.

Acts 28:21

28:21 They replied, ³³  “We have received no letters from Judea about you, nor have any of the brothers come from there ³⁴  and reported or said anything bad about you.

[21:10]  ¹ tn BDAG 848 s.v. πολύς 1.b.α has “ἐπὶ ἡμέρας πλείους for a (large) number of days, for many days…Ac 13:31. – 21:10…24:17; 25:14; 27:20.”

[21:10]  ² sn Agabus also appeared in Acts 11:28. He was from Jerusalem, so the two churches were still in contact with one another.

[10:37]  ³ tn Or “proclaimed.”

[12:19]  ⁵ sn King Herod was Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod I (Herod the Great).

[12:19]  ⁶ tn Or “had instigated a search” (Herod would have ordered the search rather than conducting it himself).

[12:19]  ⁷ tn “Questioned” is used to translate ἀνακρίνας (anakrina") here because a possible translation offered by BDAG 66 s.v. ἀνακρίνω for this verse is “examined,” which could be understood to mean Herod inspected the guards rather than questioned them. The translation used by the NIV, “cross-examined,” also avoids this possible misunderstanding.

[12:19]  ⁸ tn The meaning “led away to execution” for ἀπαχθῆναι (apacqhnai) in this verse is given by BDAG 95 s.v. ἀπάγω 2.c. Although an explicit reference to execution is lacking here, it is what would usually occur in such a case (Acts 16:27; 27:42; Code of Justinian 9.4.4). “Led away to torture” is a less likely option (Pliny the Younger, Letters 10, 96, 8).

[12:19]  ⁹ tn Grk “and,” but the sequence of events is better expressed in English by “then.” A new sentence is begun in the translation because of the length of the sentence in Greek, which exceeds normal English sentence length.

[12:19]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Since Herod has been the subject of the preceding material, and the circumstances of his death are the subject of the following verses (20-23), it is best to understand Herod as the subject here. This is especially true since according to Josephus, Ant. 19.8.2 [19.343-352], Herod Agrippa I died at Caesarea in a.d. 44, and vv. 20-23 here describe his death. Thus the end of v. 19 provides Luke’s transition to explain how Herod got from Jerusalem to Caesarea where he died. In spite of all this evidence, the NRSV translates this phrase “Then Peter went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there,” understanding the referent to be Peter rather than Herod Agrippa I.

[12:19]  ¹¹ 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.

[15:1]  ⁷ sn That is, they came down from Judea to Antioch in Syria.

[15:1]  ⁸ tc Codex Bezae (D) and a few other witnesses have “and walk” here (i.e., instead of τῷ ἔθει τῷ Μωϋσέως [tw eqei tw Mwu>sew"] they read καὶ τῷ ἔθει τῷ Μωϋσέως περιπατῆτε [kai tw eqei tw Mwu>sew" peripathte]). This is a decidedly stronger focus on obedience to the Law. As well, D expands vv. 1-5 in various places with the overall effect of being “more sympathetic to the local tradition of the church at Jerusalem” while the Alexandrian witnesses are more sympathetic to Paul (TCGNT 377). Codex D is well known for having a significantly longer text in Acts, but modern scholarship is generally of the opinion that the text of D expands on the original wording of Acts, with a theological viewpoint that especially puts Peter in a more authoritarian light. The expansion in these five verses is in keeping with that motif even though Peter is not explicitly in view.

[16:1]  ⁹ sn Derbe was a city in Lycaonia about 35 mi (60 km) southeast of Lystra. It was about 90 mi (145 km) from Tarsus.

[16:1]  ¹⁰ sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 25 mi (40 km) south of Iconium.

[16:1]  ¹¹ tn Grk “And behold, a disciple.” Here ἰδού (idou) has not been translated.

[16:1]  ¹² tn L&N 31.103 translates this phrase “the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer.”

[16:1]  ¹³ sn His father was a Greek. Timothy was the offspring of a mixed marriage between a Jewish woman (see 2 Tim 1:5) and a Gentile man. On mixed marriages in Judaism, see Neh 13:23-27; Ezra 9:1-10:44; Mal 2:10-16; Jub. 30:7-17; m. Qiddushin 3.12; m. Yevamot 7.5.

[8:1]  ¹¹ tn The term ἀναίρεσις (anairesi") can refer to murder (BDAG 64 s.v.; 2 Macc 5:13; Josephus, Ant. 5.2.12 [5.165]).

[8:1]  ¹² tn Or “severe.”

[8:1]  ¹³ tn Grk “Now there happened on that day a great persecution.” It is less awkward to say in English “Now on that day a great persecution began.”

[8:1]  ¹⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[8:1]  ¹⁵ sn All. Given that the Jerusalem church is still active after this and that the Hellenists are the focus of Acts 6-8, it is possible to argue that only the Hellenistic Christians were forced to scatter.

[8:1]  ¹⁶ tn Or “countryside.”

[9:31]  ¹³ tn Or “Therefore.” This verse is another summary text in Acts (cf. 2:41-47; 4:32-37; 5:12-16; 6:7).

[9:31]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “and Galilee,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[9:31]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “had.”

[9:31]  ¹⁶ tn Or “Built up.” The participle οἰκοδομουμένη (oikodomoumenh) has been translated as a participle of result related to εἶχεν (eicen). It could also be understood as adverbial to ἐπληθύνετο (eplhquneto): “Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria experienced peace. Strengthened and living in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.” Although some scholars do not regard the participle of result as a legitimate category, it is actually fairly common (see ExSyn 637-39).

[9:31]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “And living.” 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.

[9:31]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “it”; the referent (the church) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:20]  ¹⁵ tn BDAG 1093-94 s.v. χώρα 2.b states, “of the provincial name (1 Macc 8:3) ἡ χώρα τῆς ᾿Ιουδαίας Ac 26:20.”

[26:20]  ¹⁶ sn That they should repent and turn to God. This is the shortest summary of Paul’s message that he preached.

[26:20]  ¹⁷ tn BDAG 93 s.v. ἄξιος 1.b, “καρποὶ ἄ. τῆς μετανοίας fruits in keeping with your repentance…Lk 3:8; Mt 3:8. For this ἄ. τῆς μετανοίας ἔργα Ac 26:20.” Note how Paul preached the gospel offer and the issue of response together, side by side.

[28:21]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “they said to him.”

[28:21]  ¹⁸ tn Or “arrived”; Grk “come” (“from there” is implied). Grk “coming.” The participle παραγενόμενος (paragenomeno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.