Romans 12:3

Conduct in Humility

12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to every one of you not to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think, but to think with sober discernment, as God has distributed to each of you ¹  a measure of faith. ² 

Acts 18:24-28

Apollos Begins His Ministry

18:24 Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, arrived in Ephesus. ³  He was an eloquent speaker, ⁴  well-versed ⁵  in the scriptures. 18:25 He had been instructed in ⁶  the way of the Lord, and with great enthusiasm ⁷  he spoke and taught accurately the facts ⁸  about Jesus, although he knew ⁹  only the baptism of John. 18:26 He began to speak out fearlessly ¹⁰  in the synagogue, ¹¹  but when Priscilla and Aquila ¹²  heard him, they took him aside ¹³  and explained the way of God to him more accurately. 18:27 When Apollos ¹⁴  wanted to cross over to Achaia, ¹⁵  the brothers encouraged ¹⁶  him ¹⁷  and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he ¹⁸  assisted greatly those who had believed by grace, 18:28 for he refuted the Jews vigorously ¹⁹  in public debate, ²⁰  demonstrating from the scriptures that the Christ ²¹  was Jesus. ²² 

Acts 18:2

18:2 There he ²³  found ²⁴  a Jew named Aquila, ²⁵  a native of Pontus, ²⁶  who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius ²⁷  had ordered all the Jews to depart from ²⁸  Rome. ²⁹  Paul approached ³⁰  them,

Colossians 1:12

1:12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share ³¹  in the saints’ ³²  inheritance in the light.

Philippians 3:15

3:15 Therefore let those of us who are “perfect” embrace this point of view. ³³  If you think otherwise, God will reveal to you the error of your ways. ³⁴ 

[12:3]  ¹ tn The words “of you” have been supplied for clarity.

[12:3]  ² tn Or “to each as God has distributed a measure of faith.”

[18:24]  ³ map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.

[18:24]  ⁴ tn Or “was a learned man.” In this verse λόγιος (logios) can refer to someone who was an attractive and convincing speaker, a rhetorician (L&N 33.32), or it can refer to the person who has acquired a large part of the intellectual heritage of a given culture (“learned” or “cultured,” L&N 27.20, see also BDAG 598 s.v. λόγιος which lists both meanings as possible here). The description of Apollos’ fervent speaking in the following verses, as well as implications from 1 Cor 1-4, where Paul apparently compares his style and speaking ability with that of Apollos, suggests that eloquent speaking ability or formal rhetorical skill are in view here. This clause has been moved from its order in the Greek text (Grk “a certain Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, an eloquent speaker, arrived in Ephesus, who was powerful in the scriptures”) and paired with the last element (“powerful in the scriptures”) due to the demands of clarity and contemporary English style.

[18:24]  ⁵ tn Grk “powerful.” BDAG 264 s.v. δυνατός 1.b has “in the Scriptures = well-versed 18:24.”

[18:25]  ⁶ tn Or “had been taught.”

[18:25]  ⁷ tn Grk “and boiling in spirit” (an idiom for great eagerness or enthusiasm; BDAG 426 s.v. ζέω).

[18:25]  ⁸ tn Grk “the things.”

[18:25]  ⁹ tn Grk “knowing”; the participle ἐπιστάμενος (epistameno") has been translated as a concessive adverbial participle.

[18:26]  ¹⁰ tn Or “boldly.” This is a frequent term in Acts (9:27-28; 13:46; 14:3; 19:8; 26:26).

[18:26]  ¹¹ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[18:26]  ¹² sn Priscilla and Aquila. This key couple, of which Priscilla was an important enough figure to be mentioned by name, instructed Apollos about the most recent work of God. See also the note on Aquila in 18:2.

[18:26]  ¹³ tn BDAG 883 s.v. προσλαμβάνω 3 has “take aside, mid. τινά someone…So prob. also Ac 18:26: Priscilla and Aquila take Apollos aside to teach him undisturbed.”

[18:27]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Apollos) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:27]  ¹⁵ sn To cross over to Achaia. Achaia was organized by the Romans as a separate province in 27 b.c. and was located across the Aegean Sea from Ephesus. The city of Corinth was in Achaia.

[18:27]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “encouraging [him], the brothers wrote.” The participle προτρεψάμενοι (protreyamenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. This was the typical letter of commendation from the Ephesians to the Achaeans.

[18:27]  ¹⁷ tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[18:27]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “who, when he arrived.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“who”) was replaced with the pronoun “he” and a new sentence begun in the translation.

[18:28]  ¹⁹ tn Or “vehemently.” BDAG 414 s.v. εὐτόνως has “vigorously, vehemently…εὐ. διακατελέγχεσθαί τινι refute someone vigorously Ac 18:28.”

[18:28]  ²⁰ tn L&N 33.442 translates the phrase τοῖς ᾿Ιουδαίοις διακατηλέγχετο δημοσίᾳ (toi" Ioudaioi" diakathlenceto dhmosia) as “he defeated the Jews in public debate.” On this use of the term δημόσιος (dhmosio") see BDAG 223 s.v. 2.

[18:28]  ²¹ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” Again the issue is identifying the Christ as Jesus (see 5:42; 8:5; 9:22; 18:5).

[18:28]  ²² tn Although many English translations have here “that Jesus was the Christ,” in the case of two accusatives following a copulative infinitive, the first would normally be the subject and the second the predicate nominative. Additionally, the first accusative here (τὸν χριστόν, ton criston) has the article, a further indication that it should be regarded as subject of the infinitive.

[18:2]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Grk “finding.” The participle εὑρών (Jeurwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[18:2]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ sn Pontus was a region in the northeastern part of Asia Minor. It was a Roman province.

[18:2]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ tn Or “to leave.”

[18:2]  ²⁹ map For location see JP4 A1.

[18:2]  ³⁰ tn Or “went to.”

[1:12]  ³¹ tn BDAG 473 s.v. ἱκανόω states, “τινὰ εἴς τι someone for someth. Col 1:12.” The point of the text is that God has qualified the saints for a “share” or “portion” in the inheritance of the saints.

[1:12]  ³² tn Grk “the inheritance of the saints.” The genitive noun τῶν ἁγίων (twn Jagiwn) is a possessive genitive: “the saints’ inheritance.”

[3:15]  ³³ tn Grk “those of us who are ‘perfect’ should think this,” or possibly “those of us who are mature should think this.”

[3:15]  ³⁴ tn Grk “reveal this to you.” The referent of the pronoun “this” is the fact that the person is thinking differently than Paul does. This has been specified in the translation with the phrase “the error of your ways”; Paul is stating that God will make it known to these believers when they are not in agreement with Paul.