Acts 8:40

8:40 Philip, however, found himself ¹  at Azotus, ²  and as he passed through the area, ³  he proclaimed the good news ⁴  to all the towns ⁵  until he came to Caesarea. ⁶ 

Acts 9:30

9:30 When the brothers found out about this, they brought him down to Caesarea ⁷  and sent him away to Tarsus.

Acts 10:1

Peter Visits Cornelius

10:1 Now there was a man in Caesarea ⁸  named Cornelius, a centurion ⁹  of what was known as the Italian Cohort. ¹⁰ 

Acts 18:22

18:22 and when he arrived ¹¹  at Caesarea, ¹²  he went up and greeted ¹³  the church at Jerusalem ¹⁴  and then went down to Antioch. ¹⁵ 

Acts 23:23

23:23 Then ¹⁶  he summoned ¹⁷  two of the centurions ¹⁸  and said, “Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea ¹⁹  along with seventy horsemen ²⁰  and two hundred spearmen ²¹  by ²²  nine o’clock tonight, ²³ 

[8:40]  ¹ tn Or “appeared.”

[8:40]  ² sn Azotus was a city on the coast of southern Palestine, known as Ashdod in OT times.

[8:40]  ³ tn The words “the area” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[8:40]  ⁴ tn Or “he preached the gospel.”

[8:40]  ⁵ tn Or “cities.”

[8:40]  ⁶ 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.

[9:30]  ⁷ 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.

[10:1]  ⁸ sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). It was known as “Caesarea by the sea” (BDAG 499 s.v. Καισάρεια 2). Largely Gentile, it was a center of Roman administration and the location of many of Herod the Great’s building projects (Josephus, Ant. 15.9.6 [15.331-341]).

[10:1]  ⁹ sn A centurion was a noncommissioned officer in the Roman army or one of the auxiliary territorial armies, commanding a centuria of (nominally) 100 men. The responsibilities of centurions were broadly similar to modern junior officers, but there was a wide gap in social status between them and officers, and relatively few were promoted beyond the rank of senior centurion. The Roman troops stationed in Judea were auxiliaries, who would normally be rewarded with Roman citizenship after 25 years of service. Some of the centurions may have served originally in the Roman legions (regular army) and thus gained their citizenship at enlistment. Others may have inherited it, like Paul.

[10:1]  ¹⁰ sn A cohort was a Roman military unit of about 600 soldiers, one-tenth of a legion (BDAG 936 s.v. σπεῖρα). The Italian Cohort has been identified as cohors II Italica which is known to have been stationed in Syria in a.d. 88.

[18:22]  ¹¹ tn BDAG 531 s.v. κατέρχομαι 2 states, “arrive, put in, nautical t.t. of ships and those who sail in them, who ‘come down’ fr. the ‘high seas’…εἴς τι at someth. a harbor Ac 18:22; 21:3; 27:5.”

[18:22]  ¹² 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. This was a sea voyage of 620 mi (990 km).

[18:22]  ¹³ tn Grk “going up and greeting.” The participles ἀναβάς (anabas) and ἀσπασάμενος (aspasameno") are translated as finite verbs due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[18:22]  ¹⁴ tn The words “at Jerusalem” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the participle ἀναβάς (anabas). The expression “go up” refers almost exclusively to the direction of Jerusalem, while the corresponding “go down” (κατέβη, katebh) refers to directions away from Jerusalem. Both expressions are based on a Hebrew idiom. Assuming Jerusalem is meant, this is another indication of keeping that key church informed. If Jerusalem is not referred to here, then Caesarea is in view. Paul was trying to honor a vow, which also implies a visit to Jerusalem.

[18:22]  ¹⁵ sn Went down to Antioch. The city of Antioch in Syria lies due north of Jerusalem. In Western languages it is common to speak of north as “up” and south as “down,” but the NT maintains the Hebrew idiom which speaks of any direction away from Jerusalem as down (since Mount Zion was thought of in terms of altitude). This marks the end of the second missionary journey which began in Acts 15:36. From Caesarea to Antioch is a journey of 280 mi (450 km).

[23:23]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “And.” Since this represents a response to the reported ambush, καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the logical sequence.

[23:23]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “summoning…he said.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:23]  ¹⁸ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[23:23]  ¹⁹ 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. This was a journey of about 65 mi (just over 100 km).

[23:23]  ²⁰ tn Or “cavalrymen.”

[23:23]  ²¹ tn A military technical term of uncertain meaning. BDAG 217 s.v. δεξιολάβος states, “a word of uncertain mng., military t.t., acc. to Joannes Lydus…and Theophyl. Sim., Hist. 4, 1 a light-armed soldier, perh. bowman, slinger; acc. to a scholion in CMatthaei p. 342 body-guard….Spearman Goodspd., NRSV; ‘security officer’, GDKilpatrick, JTS 14, ’63, 393f.”

[23:23]  ²² tn Grk “from.”

[23:23]  ²³ tn Grk “from the third hour of the night.”