Isaiah 31:4

The Lord Will Defend Zion

31:4 Indeed, this is what the Lord says to me:

“The Lord will be like a growling lion,

like a young lion growling over its prey. ¹ 

Though a whole group of shepherds gathers against it,

it is not afraid of their shouts

or intimidated by their yelling. ² 

In this same way the Lord who commands armies will descend

to do battle on Mount Zion and on its hill. ³ 

Acts 16:22

16:22 The crowd joined the attack ⁴  against them, and the magistrates tore the clothes ⁵  off Paul and Silas ⁶  and ordered them to be beaten with rods. ⁷ 

Acts 18:12

Paul Before the Proconsul Gallio

18:12 Now while Gallio ⁸  was proconsul ⁹  of Achaia, ¹⁰  the Jews attacked Paul together ¹¹  and brought him before the judgment seat, ¹² 

Acts 19:24-29

19:24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines ¹³  of Artemis, ¹⁴  brought a great deal ¹⁵  of business ¹⁶  to the craftsmen. 19:25 He gathered ¹⁷  these ¹⁸  together, along with the workmen in similar trades, ¹⁹  and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity ²⁰  comes from this business. 19:26 And you see and hear that this Paul has persuaded ²¹  and turned away ²²  a large crowd, ²³  not only in Ephesus ²⁴  but in practically all of the province of Asia, ²⁵  by saying ²⁶  that gods made by hands are not gods at all. ²⁷  19:27 There is danger not only that this business of ours will come into disrepute, ²⁸  but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis ²⁹  will be regarded as nothing, ³⁰  and she whom all the province of Asia ³¹  and the world worship will suffer the loss of her greatness.” ³² 

19:28 When ³³  they heard ³⁴  this they became enraged ³⁵  and began to shout, ³⁶  “Great is Artemis ³⁷  of the Ephesians!” 19:29 The ³⁸  city was filled with the uproar, ³⁹  and the crowd ⁴⁰  rushed to the theater ⁴¹  together, ⁴²  dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, the Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions.

Acts 21:28-30

21:28 shouting, “Men of Israel, ⁴³  help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law, ⁴⁴  and this sanctuary! ⁴⁵  Furthermore ⁴⁶  he has brought Greeks into the inner courts of the temple ⁴⁷  and made this holy place ritually unclean!” ⁴⁸  21:29 (For they had seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him previously, and ⁴⁹  they assumed Paul had brought him into the inner temple courts.) ⁵⁰  21:30 The whole city was stirred up, ⁵¹  and the people rushed together. ⁵²  They seized ⁵³  Paul and dragged him out of the temple courts, ⁵⁴  and immediately the doors were shut.

[31:4]  ¹ tn Heb “As a lion growls, a young lion over its prey.” In the Hebrew text the opening comparison is completed later in the verse (“so the Lord will come down…”), after a parenthesis describing how fearless the lion is. The present translation divides the verse into three sentences for English stylistic reasons.

[31:4]  ² tn Heb “Though there is summoned against it fullness of shepherds, by their voice it is not terrified, and to their noise it does not respond.”

[31:4]  ³ tn Some prefer to translate the phrase לִצְבֹּא עַל (litsbo’ ’al) as “fight against,” but the following context pictures the Lord defending, not attacking, Zion.

[16:22]  ⁴ tn L&N 39.50 has “the crowd joined the attack against them” for συνεπέστη (sunepesth) in this verse.

[16:22]  ⁵ tn Grk “tearing the clothes off them, the magistrates ordered.” The participle περιρήξαντες (perirhxante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Although it may be possible to understand the aorist active participle περιρήξαντες in a causative sense (“the magistrates caused the clothes to be torn off Paul and Silas”) in the mob scene that was taking place, it is also possible that the magistrates themselves actively participated. This act was done to prepare them for a public flogging (2 Cor 11:25; 1 Thess 2:2).

[16:22]  ⁶ tn Grk “off them”; the referents (Paul and Silas) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:22]  ⁷ tn The infinitive ῥαβδίζειν (rJabdizein) means “to beat with rods or sticks” (as opposed to fists or clubs, BDAG 902 s.v. ῥαβδίζω).

[18:12]  ⁸ sn Gallio was proconsul of Achaia from a.d. 51-52. This date is one of the firmly established dates in Acts. Lucius Junius Gallio was the son of the rhetorician Seneca and the brother of Seneca the philosopher. The date of Gallio’s rule is established from an inscription (W. Dittenberger, ed., Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum 2.3 no. 8). Thus the event mentioned here is probably to be dated July-October a.d. 51.

[18:12]  ⁹ sn The proconsul was the Roman official who ruled over a province traditionally under the control of the Roman senate.

[18:12]  ¹⁰ sn Achaia was a Roman province created in 146 b.c. that included the most important parts of Greece (Attica, Boeotia, and the Peloponnesus).

[18:12]  ¹¹ tn Grk “with one accord.”

[18:12]  ¹² tn Although BDAG 175 s.v. βῆμα 3 gives the meaning “tribunal” for this verse and a number of modern translations use similar terms (“court,” NIV; “tribunal,” NRSV), there is no need for an alternative translation here since the bema was a standard feature in Greco-Roman cities of the time.

[19:24]  ¹³ tn BDAG 665 s.v. ναός 1.a states, “Specif. of temples: of replicas of the temple of Artemis at Ephesus 19:24…but here, near ἱερόν vs. 27…ναός can be understood in the more restricted sense shrine, where the image of the goddess stood.”

[19:24]  ¹⁴ sn Artemis was the name of a Greek goddess worshiped particularly in Asia Minor, whose temple, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was located just outside the city of Ephesus.

[19:24]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “brought not a little business” (an idiom).

[19:24]  ¹⁶ sn A great deal of business. The charge that Christianity brought economic and/or social upheaval was made a number of times in Acts: 16:20-21; 17:6-7; 18:13.

[19:25]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “gathering.” The participle συναθροίσας (sunaqroisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[19:25]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “whom”; because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been replaced with a pronoun (“these”) and a new sentence begun in the translation.

[19:25]  ¹⁹ sn Workmen in similar trades. In effect, Demetrius gathered the Ephesian chamber of commerce together to hear about the threat to their prosperity.

[19:25]  ²⁰ tn Another possible meaning is “that this business is an easy way for us to earn a living.”

[19:26]  ²¹ tn Grk “persuading.” The participle πείσας (peisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[19:26]  ²² tn Or “misled.”

[19:26]  ²³ tn BDAG 472 s.v. ἱκανός 3.a has “of pers. ὄχλος a large crowd…Ac 11:24, 26; 19:26.”

[19:26]  ²⁴ map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.

[19:26]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Asia”; see the note on this word in v. 22.

[19:26]  ²⁶ tn The participle λέγων (legwn) has been regarded as indicating instrumentality.

[19:26]  ²⁷ tn The words “at all” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[19:27]  ²⁸ tn Or “come under public criticism.” BDAG 101 s.v. ἀπελεγμός has “come into disrepute Ac 19:27.”

[19:27]  ²⁹ sn Artemis was the name of a Greek goddess worshiped particularly in Asia Minor, whose temple, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was located just outside the city of Ephesus.

[19:27]  ³⁰ tn BDAG 597 s.v. λογίζομαι 1.b has “εἰς οὐθὲν λογισθῆναι be looked upon as nothing…Ac 19:27.”

[19:27]  ³¹ tn Grk “Asia”; see the note on this word in v. 22.

[19:27]  ³² tn Or “her magnificence.” BDAG 488 s.v. καθαιρέω 2.b has “καθαιρεῖσθαι τῆς μεγαλειότητος αὐτῆς suffer the loss of her magnificence Ac 19:27”; L&N 13.38 has “‘and to have her greatness done away with’ Ac 19:27.”

[19:28]  ³³ tn Grk “And when.” 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.

[19:28]  ³⁴ tn Grk “And hearing.” The participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") has been taken temporally.

[19:28]  ³⁵ tn Grk “they became filled with rage” (an idiom). The reaction of the Ephesians here is like that of the Jews earlier, though Luke referred to “zeal” or “jealousy” in the former case (Acts 7:54).

[19:28]  ³⁶ tn Grk “and began shouting, saying.” The imperfect verb ἔκραζον (ekrazon) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect. The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[19:28]  ³⁷ sn Artemis was a Greek goddess worshiped particularly in Asia Minor, whose temple, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was located just outside the city of Ephesus.

[19:29]  ³⁸ 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]  ³⁹ 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]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the crowd) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:29]  ⁴¹ 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]  ⁴² tn Grk “to the theater with one accord.”

[21:28]  ⁴³ tn Or “Israelite men,” although this is less natural English. The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context, it is conceivable that this is a generic usage since “the whole crowd” is mentioned in v. 27, although it can also be argued that these remarks were addressed primarily to the men present, even if women were there.

[21:28]  ⁴⁴ sn The law refers to the law of Moses.

[21:28]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “this place.”

[21:28]  ⁴⁶ tn BDAG 400 s.v. ἔτι 2.b has “ἔ. δὲ καί furthermore…al. ἔ. τε καί…Lk 14:26; Ac 21:28.” This is a continuation of the same sentence in Greek, but due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

[21:28]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “into the temple.” The specific reference is to the Court of the Sons of Israel (see the note following the term “unclean” at the end of this verse). To avoid giving the modern reader the impression that they entered the temple building itself, the phrase “the inner courts of the temple” has been used in the translation.

[21:28]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “and has defiled this holy place.”

[21:29]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “whom.”

[21:29]  ⁵⁰ tn On the phrase “inner temple courts” see the note on the word “temple” in v. 28.

[21:30]  ⁵¹ tn On this term see BDAG 545 s.v. κινέω 2.b.

[21:30]  ⁵² tn Or “the people formed a mob.” BDAG 967 s.v. συνδρομή has “formation of a mob by pers. running together, running together…ἐγένετο σ. τοῦ λαοῦ the people rushed together Ac 21:30.”

[21:30]  ⁵³ tn Grk “and seizing.” The participle ἐπιλαβόμενοι (epilabomenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was begun in the translation, and καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[21:30]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “out of the temple.” See the note on the word “temple” in v. 28.