Acts 9:2

9:2 and requested letters from him to the synagogues ¹  in Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, ²  either men or women, he could bring them as prisoners ³  to Jerusalem. ⁴ 

Acts 13:50

13:50 But the Jews incited ⁵  the God-fearing women of high social standing and the prominent men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and threw them out ⁶  of their region.

Acts 16:14

16:14 A ⁷  woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth ⁸  from the city of Thyatira, ⁹  a God-fearing woman, listened to us. ¹⁰  The Lord opened her heart to respond ¹¹  to what Paul was saying.

Acts 17:4

17:4 Some of them were persuaded ¹²  and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large group ¹³  of God-fearing Greeks ¹⁴  and quite a few ¹⁵  prominent women.

Acts 18:2

18:2 There he ¹⁶  found ¹⁷  a Jew named Aquila, ¹⁸  a native of Pontus, ¹⁹  who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius ²⁰  had ordered all the Jews to depart from ²¹  Rome. ²²  Paul approached ²³  them,

Acts 21:5

21:5 When ²⁴  our time was over, ²⁵  we left and went on our way. All of them, with their wives and children, accompanied ²⁶  us outside of the city. After ²⁷  kneeling down on the beach and praying, ²⁸ 

Acts 24:24

Paul Speaks Repeatedly to Felix

24:24 Some days later, when Felix ²⁹  arrived with his wife Drusilla, ³⁰  who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him speak ³¹  about faith in Christ Jesus. ³² 

[9:2]  ¹ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[9:2]  ² sn The expression “the way” in ancient religious literature refers at times to “the whole way of life fr. a moral and spiritual viewpoint” (BDAG 692 s.v. ὁδός 3.c), and it has been so used of Christianity and its teachings in the book of Acts (see also 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22). It is a variation of Judaism’s idea of two ways, the true and the false, where “the Way” is the true one (1 En. 91:18; 2 En. 30:15).

[9:2]  ³ tn Grk “bring them bound”; the translation “bring someone as prisoner” for δεδεμένον ἄγειν τινά (dedemenon agein tina) is given by BDAG 221 s.v. δέω 1.b.

[9:2]  ⁴ sn From Damascus to Jerusalem was a six-day journey. Christianity had now expanded into Syria.

[13:50]  ⁵ tn For the translation of παρώτρυναν (parwtrunan) as “incited” see BDAG 780 s.v. παροτρύνω.

[13:50]  ⁶ tn BDAG 299 s.v. ἐκβάλλω 1 has “throw out.” Once again, many Jews reacted to the message (Acts 5:17, 33; 6:11; 13:45).

[16:14]  ⁹ tn Grk “And a.” 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.

[16:14]  ¹⁰ tn On the term translated “a dealer in purple cloth” see BDAG 855 s.v. πορφυρόπωλις.

[16:14]  ¹¹ sn Thyatira was a city in the province of Lydia in Asia Minor.

[16:14]  ¹² tn The words “to us” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[16:14]  ¹³ tn Although BDAG 880 s.v. προσέχω 2.b gives the meaning “pay attention to” here, this could be misunderstood by the modern English reader to mean merely listening intently. The following context, however, indicates that Lydia responded positively to Paul’s message, so the verb here was translated “to respond.”

[17:4]  ¹³ tn Or “convinced.”

[17:4]  ¹⁴ tn Or “a large crowd.”

[17:4]  ¹⁵ tn Or “of devout Greeks,” but this is practically a technical term for the category called God-fearers, Gentiles who worshiped the God of Israel and in many cases kept the Mosaic law, but did not take the final step of circumcision necessary to become a proselyte to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 743-44. Luke frequently mentions such people (Acts 13:43, 50; 16:14; 17:17; 18:7).

[17:4]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “not a few”; this use of negation could be misleading to the modern English reader, however, and so has been translated as “quite a few” (which is the actual meaning of the expression).

[18:2]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “And he.” 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. The word “there” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

[18:2]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “finding.” The participle εὑρών (Jeurwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[18:2]  ¹⁹ sn On Aquila and his wife Priscilla see also Acts 18:18, 26; Rom 16:3-4; 1 Cor 16:19; 2 Tim 4:19. In the NT “Priscilla” and “Prisca” are the same person. This author uses the full name Priscilla, while Paul uses the diminutive form Prisca.

[18:2]  ²⁰ sn Pontus was a region in the northeastern part of Asia Minor. It was a Roman province.

[18:2]  ²¹ sn Claudius refers to the Roman emperor Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus, known as Claudius, who ruled from a.d. 41-54. The edict expelling the Jews from Rome was issued in a.d. 49 (Suetonius, Claudius 25.4).

[18:2]  ²² tn Or “to leave.”

[18:2]  ²³ map For location see JP4 A1.

[18:2]  ²⁴ tn Or “went to.”

[21:5]  ²¹ tn Grk “It happened that when.” 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.

[21:5]  ²² tn Grk “When our days were over.” L&N 67.71 has “ὅτε δὲ ἐγένετο ἡμᾶς ἐξαρτίσαι τὰς ἡμέρας ‘when we brought that time to an end’ or ‘when our time with them was over’ Ac 21:5.”

[21:5]  ²³ tn Grk “accompanying.” Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was begun in the translation and the participle προπεμπόντων (propempontwn) translated as a finite verb.

[21:5]  ²⁴ tn Grk “city, and after.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

[21:5]  ²⁵ sn On praying in Acts, see 1:14, 24; 2:47; 4:23; 6:6; 10:2; 12:5, 12; 13:3; 16:25.

[24:24]  ²⁵ sn See the note on Antonius Felix in 23:24.

[24:24]  ²⁶ sn It is possible that Drusilla, being Jewish, was the source of Felix’s knowledge about the new movement called Christianity. The youngest daughter of Herod Agrippa I and sister of Agrippa II, she would have been close to 20 years old at the time. She had married the king of a small region in Syria but divorced him at the age of 16 to marry Felix. This was her second marriage and Felix’s third (Josephus, Ant. 19.9.1 [19.354], 20.7.2 [20.141-144]). As a member of Herod’s family, she probably knew about the Way.

[24:24]  ²⁷ tn The word “speak” is implied; BDAG 32 s.v. ἀκούω 1.c has “ἤκουσεν αὐτοῦ περὶ τῆς…πίστεως he heard him speak about faith Ac 24:24.”

[24:24]  ²⁸ tn Or “Messiah Jesus”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”