Acts 11:19-30

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Acts 11:19 sn The phrase over Stephen means in connection with Stephen’s death. See Acts 8:1b-3.
2. Acts 11:19 tn Or “finally reached.” The translations “went as far as” and “finally reached” for διῆλθον (diēlthon) in this verse are given in L&N 15.17.
3. Acts 11:19 sn Phoenicia was an area along the Mediterranean coast north of Palestine.
4. Acts 11:19 tn Grk “and Cyprus,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.sn Cyprus was a large island in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Asia Minor.
5. Acts 11:19 sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). This was probably the third largest city in the Greco-Roman world (Alexandria in Egypt was the second largest, and Rome the largest) and was the seat of government in Syria. Five miles away was a major temple to Artemis, Apollo, and Astarte, major pagan deities.
6. Acts 11:19 tn Grk “word.”
7. Acts 11:20 sn Cyprus was a large island in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Asia Minor.
8. Acts 11:20 sn Cyrene was a city on the northern African coast west of Egypt.
9. Acts 11:20 tn Grk “among them, coming to Antioch began to speak.” The participle ἐλθόντες (elthontes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
10. Acts 11:20 sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). See the note in 11:19.
11. Acts 11:20 sn The statement that some men from Cyprus and Cyrene…began to speak to the Greeks shows that Peter’s experience of reaching out to the Gentiles was not unique.
12. Acts 11:21 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.
13. Acts 11:21 tn The participle πιστεύσας (pisteusas) is articular and thus cannot be adverbial. It is adjectival, modifying ἀριθμός (arithmos), but has been translated into English as a relative clause (“who believed”).
14. Acts 11:21 sn Again, the expression turned is a summary term for responding to the gospel.
15. Acts 11:22 tn Grk “Word.”
16. Acts 11:22 tn Grk “was heard in the ears,” an idiom. L&N 24.67 states that the idiom means “to hear in secret” (which it certainly does in Matt 10:27), but secrecy does not seem to be part of the context here, and there is no particular reason to suggest the report was made in secret.
17. Acts 11:22 tc ‡ Most mss read the infinitive “to travel” after “Barnabas.” διελθεῖν (dielthein) is found before ἕως (heōs) in D E Ψ 33 M and some versional mss. It is lacking in P⁷⁴ א A B 81 1739 and some versional mss. Although the infinitive with ἕως fits Lukan style, it has the appearance of a scribal clarification. The infinitive has the earmarks of a Western expansion on the text and thus is unlikely to be autographic. NA²⁸ has the infinitive in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.
18. Acts 11:22 sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). See the note in 11:19. Again the Jerusalem church exercised an oversight role.
19. Acts 11:23 tn Grk “Antioch, who when.” The relative pronoun was omitted and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek.
20. Acts 11:23 tn BDAG 883 s.v. προσμένω 1.a.β has “remain true to the Lord” for προσμένειν (prosmenein) in this verse.sn He…encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord. The call to faithfulness is frequent in Acts (2:40; 14:22; 15:32; 16:39; 20:1-2).
21. Acts 11:23 tn Grk “with purpose of heart”; BDAG 869 s.v. πρόθεσις 2.a translates this phrase “purpose of heart, i.e. devotion” here.
22. Acts 11:24 tn Grk “a significant crowd.”
23. Acts 11:26 sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). See the note in 11:19.
24. Acts 11:26 tn Grk “So 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.
25. Acts 11:26 tn Grk “year they”; the referents (Barnabas and Saul) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
26. Acts 11:26 tn Grk “a significant crowd.”
27. Acts 11:26 sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). See the note in 11:19.
28. Acts 11:26 sn The term Christians appears only here, in Acts 26:28, and 1 Pet 4:16 in the NT.
29. Acts 11:27 tn Grk “In these days,” but the dative generally indicates a specific time.
30. Acts 11:27 tn The word “some” is not in the Greek text, but is usually used in English when an unspecified number is mentioned.
31. Acts 11:27 sn Prophets are mentioned only here and in 13:1 and 21:10 in Acts.
32. Acts 11:27 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).
33. Acts 11:27 sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). See the note in 11:19.
34. Acts 11:28 tn Grk “getting up, predicted.” The participle ἀναστάς (anastas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
35. Acts 11:28 tn Or “made clear”; Grk “indicated beforehand” (BDAG 920 s.v. σημαίνω 2).
36. Acts 11:28 tn Grk “great.”
37. Acts 11:28 sn This famine is one of the firmly fixed dates in Acts. It took place from a.d. 45-48. The events described in chap. 11 of Acts occurred during the early part of that period.
38. Acts 11:28 tn Or “whole Roman Empire.” While the word οἰκουμένη (oikoumenē) does occasionally refer specifically to the Roman Empire, BDAG 699 s.v. οἰκουνένη 2 does not list this passage (only Acts 24:5 and 17:6).
39. Acts 11:28 tn Grk “world, which.” The relative pronoun (“which”) was replaced by the demonstrative pronoun “this” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek.
40. Acts 11:28 sn This is best taken as a parenthetical note by the author. Claudius was the Roman emperor Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus, known as Claudius, who ruled from a.d. 41-54.
41. Acts 11:29 tn So BDAG 410 s.v. εὐπορέω.
42. Acts 11:29 tn Or “determined,” “resolved.”
43. Acts 11:29 tn Grk “to send [something] for a ministry,” but today it is common to speak of sending relief for victims of natural disasters.sn The financial relief reflects the oneness of the church, meeting the needs of another (even racially distinct) community. Jerusalem, having ministered to them, now received ministry back. A later collection from Greece is noted in Rom 15:25-27, but it reflects the same spirit as this gift.
44. Acts 11:30 tn Grk “Judea, which they did.” The relative pronoun was omitted and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek.
45. Acts 11:30 tn The words “their financial aid” 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.