Acts 14:12-14

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Acts 14:12 tn The imperfect verb ἐκάλουν (ekaloun) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.
2. Acts 14:12 sn Zeus was the chief Greek deity, worshiped throughout the Greco-Roman world (known to the Romans as Jupiter).
3. Acts 14:12 sn Hermes was a Greek god who (according to Greek mythology) was the messenger of the gods and the god of oratory (equivalent to the Roman god Mercury).
4. Acts 14:13 tn The words “the temple of” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. The translation “the priest of (the temple/shrine of) Zeus located before the city” is given for this phrase by BDAG 426 s.v. Ζεύς.
5. Acts 14:13 sn See the note on Zeus in the previous verse.
6. Acts 14:13 tn Or “oxen.”
7. Acts 14:13 tn Or “wreaths.”sn Garlands were commonly wreaths of wool with leaves and flowers woven in, worn on a person’s head or woven around a staff. They were an important part of many rituals used to worship pagan gods. Although it was an erroneous reaction, the priest’s reaction shows how all acknowledged their power and access to God.
8. Acts 14:13 tn The words “to them” are not in the Greek text, but are clearly implied by the response of Paul and Barnabas in the following verse.
9. Acts 14:14 sn The apostles Barnabas and Paul. This is one of only two places where Luke calls Paul an apostle, and the description here is shared with Barnabas. This is a nontechnical use here, referring to a commissioned messenger.
10. Acts 14:14 tn The participle ἀκούσαντες (akousantes) is taken temporally.
11. Acts 14:14 tn Grk “tearing their clothes they rushed out.” The participle διαρρήξαντες (diarrēxantes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. This action is a Jewish response to blasphemy (m. Sanhedrin 7.5; Jdt 14:16-17).
12. Acts 14:14 tn So BDAG 307 s.v. ἐκπηδάω 1, “rush (lit. ‘leap’) out…εἰς τὸν ὄχλον into the crowd Ac 14:14.”
13. Acts 14:14 tn Grk “shouting and saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes, in v. 15) has not been translated because it is redundant.sn What follows is one of two speeches in Acts to a purely pagan audience (Acts 17 in Athens is the other). So Paul focused on God as Creator, a common link.