Acts 8:5

8:5 Philip went down to the main city of Samaria ¹  and began proclaiming ²  the Christ ³  to them.

Acts 11:27

Famine Relief for Judea

11:27 At that time ⁴  some ⁵  prophets ⁶  came down ⁷  from Jerusalem ⁸  to Antioch. ⁹ 

Acts 18:22

18:22 and when he arrived ¹⁰  at Caesarea, ¹¹  he went up and greeted ¹²  the church at Jerusalem ¹³  and then went down to Antioch. ¹⁴ 

Acts 21:10

21:10 While we remained there for a number of days, ¹⁵  a prophet named Agabus ¹⁶  came down from Judea.

Acts 9:32

Peter Heals Aeneas

9:32 Now ¹⁷  as Peter was traveling around from place to place, ¹⁸  he also came down to the saints who lived in Lydda. ¹⁹ 

Acts 13:4

Paul and Barnabas Preach in Cyprus

13:4 So Barnabas and Saul, ²⁰  sent out by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, ²¹  and from there they sailed to Cyprus. ²² 

Acts 15:30

15:30 So when they were dismissed, ²³  they went down to Antioch, ²⁴  and after gathering the entire group ²⁵  together, they delivered the letter.

Acts 27:5

27:5 After we had sailed across the open sea ²⁶  off Cilicia and Pamphylia, ²⁷  we put in ²⁸  at Myra ²⁹  in Lycia. ³⁰ 

Acts 12:19

12:19 When Herod ³¹  had searched ³²  for him and did not find him, he questioned ³³  the guards and commanded that they be led away to execution. ³⁴  Then ³⁵  Herod ³⁶  went down from Judea to Caesarea ³⁷  and stayed there.

Acts 15:1

The Jerusalem Council

15:1 Now some men came down from Judea ³⁸  and began to teach the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised ³⁹  according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Acts 18:5

18:5 Now when Silas and Timothy arrived ⁴⁰  from Macedonia, ⁴¹  Paul became wholly absorbed with proclaiming ⁴²  the word, testifying ⁴³  to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. ⁴⁴ 

Acts 21:3

21:3 After we sighted Cyprus ⁴⁵  and left it behind on our port side, ⁴⁶  we sailed on to Syria and put in ⁴⁷  at Tyre, ⁴⁸  because the ship was to unload its cargo there.

[8:5]  ¹ tn The word “main” is supplied in the translation to clarify that “Samaria” is not the name of the city (at least in NT times). See both BDAG 912 s.v. Σαμάρεια, and L&N 93.568.

[8:5]  ² tn The imperfect ἐκήρυσσεν (ekhrussen) has been translated as an ingressive, since this is probably the first time such preaching took place.

[8:5]  ³ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[11:27]  ⁴ tn Grk “In these days,” but the dative generally indicates a specific time.

[11:27]  ⁵ tn The word “some” is not in the Greek text, but is usually used in English when an unspecified number is mentioned.

[11:27]  ⁶ sn Prophets are mentioned only here and in 13:1 and 21:10 in Acts.

[11:27]  ⁷ sn Came down from Jerusalem. 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).

[11:27]  ⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[11:27]  ⁹ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). See the note in 11:19.

[18:22]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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).

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

[9:32]  ¹³ tn Grk “Now it happened that.” 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.

[9:32]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “As Peter was going through all [the places],” which is somewhat awkward in English. The meaning is best expressed by a phrase like “going around from place to place” or “traveling around from place to place.”

[9:32]  ¹⁵ sn Lydda was a city northwest of Jerusalem on the way to Joppa. It was about 10.5 miles (17 km) southeast of Joppa.

[13:4]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “they”; the referents (Barnabas and Saul) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:4]  ¹⁷ sn Seleucia was the port city of Antioch in Syria.

[13:4]  ¹⁸ sn Cyprus was a large island in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Asia Minor.

[15:30]  ¹⁹ tn Or “sent away.”

[15:30]  ²⁰ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia).

[15:30]  ²¹ tn Or “congregation” (referring to the group of believers).

[27:5]  ²² tn Grk “the depths,” the deep area of a sea far enough from land that it is not protected by the coast (L&N 1.73).

[27:5]  ²³ sn Pamphylia was a province in the southern part of Asia Minor; it was west of Cilicia (see BDAG 753 s.v. Παμφυλία).

[27:5]  ²⁴ tn BDAG 531 s.v. κατέρχομαι 2 states, “Of ships and those who sail in them, who ‘come down’ fr. the ‘high seas’: arrive, put in…ἔις τι at someth. a harbor 18:22; 21:3; 27:5.”

[27:5]  ²⁵ sn Myra was a city on the southern coast of Lycia in Asia Minor. This journey from Sidon (v. 3) was 440 mi (700 km) and took about 15 days.

[27:5]  ²⁶ sn Lycia was the name of a peninsula on the southern coast of Asia Minor between Caria and Pamphylia.

[12:19]  ²⁵ sn King Herod was Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod I (Herod the Great).

[12:19]  ²⁶ tn Or “had instigated a search” (Herod would have ordered the search rather than conducting it himself).

[12:19]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ 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]  ²⁸ sn That is, they came down from Judea to Antioch in Syria.

[15:1]  ²⁹ 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.

[18:5]  ³¹ tn Grk “came down.”

[18:5]  ³² sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.

[18:5]  ³³ tn BDAG 971 s.v. συνέχω 6 states, “συνείχετο τῷ λόγῳ (Paul) was wholly absorbed in preaching Ac 18:5…in contrast to the activity cited in vs. 3.” The imperfect συνείχετο (suneiceto) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect (“became wholly absorbed…”), stressing the change in Paul’s activity once Silas and Timothy arrived. At this point Paul apparently began to work less and preach more.

[18:5]  ³⁴ tn BDAG 233 s.v. διαμαρτύρομαι 2 has “testify of, bear witness to solemnly (orig. under oath)…W. acc. and inf. foll. Ac 18:5.”

[18:5]  ³⁵ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[21:3]  ³⁴ sn Cyprus is a large island in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Asia Minor.

[21:3]  ³⁵ sn The expression left it behind on our port side here means “sailed past to the south of it” since the ship was sailing east.

[21:3]  ³⁶ 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’…ἔις τι at someth. a harbor 18:22; 21:3; 27:5.”

[21:3]  ³⁷ sn Tyre was a city and seaport on the coast of Phoenicia. From Patara to Tyre was about 400 mi (640 km). It required a large cargo ship over 100 ft (30 m) long, and was a four to five day voyage.