Acts 3:20

3:20 so that times of refreshing ¹  may come from the presence of the Lord, ²  and so that he may send the Messiah ³  appointed ⁴  for you – that is, Jesus.

Acts 9:20

9:20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, ⁵  saying, “This man is the Son of God.” ⁶ 

Acts 11:20

11:20 But there were some men from Cyprus ⁷  and Cyrene ⁸  among them who came ⁹  to Antioch ¹⁰  and began to speak to the Greeks ¹¹  too, proclaiming the good news of the Lord Jesus.

Acts 17:3

17:3 explaining and demonstrating ¹²  that the Christ ¹³  had to suffer and to rise from the dead, ¹⁴  saying, ¹⁵  “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.” ¹⁶ 

Acts 17:18

17:18 Also some of the Epicurean ¹⁷  and Stoic ¹⁸  philosophers were conversing ¹⁹  with him, and some were asking, ²⁰  “What does this foolish babbler ²¹  want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.” ²²  (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) ²³ 

Acts 19:13

19:13 But some itinerant ²⁴  Jewish exorcists tried to invoke the name ²⁵  of the Lord Jesus over those who were possessed by ²⁶  evil spirits, saying, “I sternly warn ²⁷  you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.”

Acts 19:1

Disciples of John the Baptist at Ephesus

19:1 While ²⁸  Apollos was in Corinth, ²⁹  Paul went through the inland ³⁰  regions ³¹  and came to Ephesus. ³²  He ³³  found some disciples there ³⁴ 

Colossians 1:23

1:23 if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, ³⁵  without shifting ³⁶  from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.

Colossians 2:2

2:2 My goal is that ³⁷  their hearts, having been knit together ³⁸  in love, may be encouraged, and that ³⁹  they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ⁴⁰ 

Ephesians 4:21

4:21 if indeed you heard about him and were taught in him, just as the truth is in Jesus.

Ephesians 4:1

Live in Unity

4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, ⁴¹  urge you to live ⁴²  worthily of the calling with which you have been called, ⁴³ 

Ephesians 1:11-12

1:11 In Christ ⁴⁴  we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, ⁴⁵  since we were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will 1:12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope ⁴⁶  on Christ, ⁴⁷  would be to the praise of his glory.

[3:20]  ¹ tn Or “relief.”

[3:20]  ² tn The words “so that…Lord” are traditionally placed in v. 19 by most English translations, but in the present translation the verse division follows the standard critical editions of the Greek text (NA²⁷, UBS⁴).

[3:20]  ³ tn Or “the Christ”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[3:20]  ⁴ tn Or “designated in advance.”

[9:20]  ⁵ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[9:20]  ⁶ tn The ὅτι (Joti) is understood to introduce direct (“This man is the Son of God”) rather than indirect discourse (“that this man is the Son of God”) because the pronoun οὗτος (Jouto") combined with the present tense verb ἐστιν (estin) suggests the contents of what was proclaimed are a direct (albeit summarized) quotation.

[11:20]  ⁷ sn Cyprus was a large island in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Asia Minor.

[11:20]  ⁸ sn Cyrene was a city on the northern African coast west of Egypt.

[11:20]  ⁹ tn Grk “among them, coming to Antioch began to speak.” The participle ἐλθόντες (elqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[11:20]  ¹⁰ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). See the note in 11:19.

[11:20]  ¹¹ sn The statement that some men from Cyprus and Cyrene…began to speak to the Greeks shows that Peter’s experience of reaching out to the Gentiles was not unique.

[17:3]  ¹² tn BDAG 772 s.v. παρατίθημι 2.b has “demonstrate, point out” here.

[17:3]  ¹³ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[17:3]  ¹⁴ sn The Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead. These two points (suffering and resurrection) would have been among the more controversial aspects of Paul’s messianic preaching. The term translated “had to” (δεῖ, dei) shows how divine design and scripture corresponded here.

[17:3]  ¹⁵ tn The Greek words used here (καὶ ὅτι, kai {oti, “and that”) mark the switch from indirect to direct discourse. Contemporary English requires the use of an introductory verb of speaking or saying to make this transition.

[17:3]  ¹⁶ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[17:18]  ¹⁷ sn An Epicurean was a follower of the philosophy of Epicurus, who founded a school in Athens about 300 b.c. Although the Epicureans saw the aim of life as pleasure, they were not strictly hedonists, because they defined pleasure as the absence of pain. Along with this, they desired the avoidance of trouble and freedom from annoyances. They saw organized religion as evil, especially the belief that the gods punished evildoers in an afterlife. In keeping with this, they were unable to accept Paul’s teaching about the resurrection.

[17:18]  ¹⁸ sn A Stoic was a follower of the philosophy founded by Zeno (342-270 b.c.), a Phoenician who came to Athens and modified the philosophical system of the Cynics he found there. The Stoics rejected the Epicurean ideal of pleasure, stressing virtue instead. The Stoics emphasized responsibility for voluntary actions and believed risks were worth taking, but thought the actual attainment of virtue was difficult. They also believed in providence.

[17:18]  ¹⁹ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβάλλω 1 has “converse, confer” here.

[17:18]  ²⁰ tn Grk “saying.”

[17:18]  ²¹ tn Or “ignorant show-off.” The traditional English translation of σπερμολόγος (spermologo") is given in L&N 33.381 as “foolish babbler.” However, an alternate view is presented in L&N 27.19, “(a figurative extension of meaning of a term based on the practice of birds in picking up seeds) one who acquires bits and pieces of relatively extraneous information and proceeds to pass them off with pretense and show – ‘ignorant show-off, charlatan.’” A similar view is given in BDAG 937 s.v. σπερμολόγος: “in pejorative imagery of persons whose communication lacks sophistication and seems to pick up scraps of information here and there scrapmonger, scavenger…Engl. synonyms include ‘gossip’, ‘babbler’, chatterer’; but these terms miss the imagery of unsystematic gathering.”

[17:18]  ²² tn The meaning of this phrase is not clear. Literally it reads “strange deities” (see BDAG 210 s.v. δαιμόνιον 1). The note of not being customary is important. In the ancient world what was new was suspicious. The plural δαιμονίων (daimoniwn, “deities”) shows the audience grappling with Paul’s teaching that God was working through Jesus.

[17:18]  ²³ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[19:13]  ²⁴ tn Grk “some Jewish exorcists who traveled about.” The adjectival participle περιερχομένων (periercomenwn) has been translated as “itinerant.”

[19:13]  ²⁵ tn Grk “to name the name.”

[19:13]  ²⁶ tn Grk “who had.” Here ἔχω (ecw) is used of demon possession, a common usage according to BDAG 421 s.v. ἔχω 7.a.α.

[19:13]  ²⁷ sn The expression I sternly warn you means “I charge you as under oath.”

[19:1]  ²⁸ tn Grk “It happened that while.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[19:1]  ²⁹ map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

[19:1]  ³⁰ tn Or “interior.”

[19:1]  ³¹ tn BDAG 92 s.v. ἀνωτερικός has “upper τὰ ἀ. μέρη the upper (i.e. inland) country, the interior Ac 19:1.”

[19:1]  ³² map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.

[19:1]  ³³ tn Grk “and found.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the sequencing with the following verse the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

[19:1]  ³⁴ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

[1:23]  ³⁵ tn BDAG 276 s.v. ἑδραῖος suggests “firm, steadfast.”

[1:23]  ³⁶ tn BDAG 639 s.v. μετακινέω suggests “without shifting from the hope” here.

[2:2]  ³⁷ tn Verse two begins a subordinate ἵνα (Jina) clause which was divided up into two sentences for the sake of clarity in English. Thus the phrase “My goal is that” is an attempt to reflect in the translation the purpose expressed through the ἵνα clauses.

[2:2]  ³⁸ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβιβάζω 1.b reads “unite, knit together.” Some commentators take the verb as a reference to instruction, “instructed in love.” See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 93.

[2:2]  ³⁹ tn The phrase “and that” translates the first εἰς (eis) clause of v. 2 and reflects the second goal of Paul’s striving and struggle for the Colossians – the first is “encouragement” and the second is “full assurance.”

[2:2]  ⁴⁰ tc There are at least a dozen variants here, almost surely generated by the unusual wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ (tou qeou, Cristou, “of God, Christ”; so Ì⁴⁶ B Hil). Scribes would be prone to conform this to more common Pauline expressions such as “of God, who is in Christ” (33), “of God, the Father of Christ” (א* A C 048^vid 1175 bo), and “of the God and Father of Christ” (א² Ψ 075 0278 365 1505 pc). Even though the external support for the wording τοῦ θεοῦ, Χριστοῦ is hardly overwhelming, it clearly best explains the rise of the other readings and should thus be regarded as authentic.

[4:1]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “prisoner in the Lord.”

[4:1]  ⁴² tn Grk “walk.” The verb “walk” in the NT letters refers to the conduct of one’s life, not to physical walking.

[4:1]  ⁴³ sn With which you have been called. The calling refers to the Holy Spirit’s prompting that caused them to believe. The author is thus urging his readers to live a life that conforms to their saved status before God.

[1:11]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “in whom,” as a continuation of the previous verse.

[1:11]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “we were appointed by lot.” The notion of the verb κληρόω (klhrow) in the OT was to “appoint a portion by lot” (the more frequent cognate verb κληρονομέω [klhronomew] meant “obtain a portion by lot”). In the passive, as here, the idea is that “we were appointed [as a portion] by lot” (BDAG 548 s.v. κληρόω 1). The words “God’s own” have been supplied in the translation to clarify this sense of the verb. An alternative interpretation is that believers receive a portion as an inheritance: “In Christ we too have been appointed a portion of the inheritance.” See H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 226-27, for discussion on this interpretive issue.

[1:12]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “who had already hoped.”

[1:12]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “the Messiah.”