Genesis 11:9

11:9 That is why its name was called ¹  Babel ²  – because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth.

Acts 19:29

19:29 The ³  city was filled with the uproar, ⁴  and the crowd ⁵  rushed to the theater ⁶  together, ⁷  dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, the Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions.

Acts 19:1

Disciples of John the Baptist at Ephesus

19:1 While ⁸  Apollos was in Corinth, ⁹  Paul went through the inland ¹⁰  regions ¹¹  and came to Ephesus. ¹²  He ¹³  found some disciples there ¹⁴ 

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹⁵  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

[11:9]  ¹ tn The verb has no expressed subject and so can be rendered as a passive in the translation.

[11:9]  ² sn Babel. Here is the climax of the account, a parody on the pride of Babylon. In the Babylonian literature the name bab-ili meant “the gate of God,” but in Hebrew it sounds like the word for “confusion,” and so retained that connotation. The name “Babel” (בָּבֶל, bavel) and the verb translated “confused” (בָּלַל, balal) form a paronomasia (sound play). For the many wordplays and other rhetorical devices in Genesis, see J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis (SSN).

[19:29]  ³ tn Grk “And the.” 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.

[19:29]  ⁴ tn L&N 39.43 has “‘the uproar spread throughout the whole city’ (literally ‘the city was filled with uproar’) Ac 19:29.” BDAG 954 s.v. σύγχυσις has “confusion, tumult.”

[19:29]  ⁵ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the crowd) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:29]  ⁶ sn To the theater. This location made the event a public spectacle. The Grand Theater in Ephesus (still standing today) stood facing down the main thoroughfare of the city toward the docks. It had a seating capacity of 25,000.

[19:29]  ⁷ tn Grk “to the theater with one accord.”

[19:1]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

[19:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “interior.”

[19:1]  ¹¹ tn BDAG 92 s.v. ἀνωτερικός has “upper τὰ ἀ. μέρη the upper (i.e. inland) country, the interior Ac 19:1.”

[19:1]  ¹² map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.

[19:1]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

[1:1]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.