11:19 Now those who had been scattered because of the persecution that took place over Stephen 1 went as far as 2 Phoenicia, 3 Cyprus, 4 and Antioch, 5 speaking the message 6 to no one but Jews.
1 sn The phrase over Stephen means in connection with Stephen’s death. See Acts 8:1b-3.
2 tn Or “finally reached.” The translations “went as far as” and “finally reached” for διῆλθον (dihlqon) in this verse are given in L&N 15.17.
3 sn Phoenicia was an area along the Mediterranean coast north of Palestine.
4 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 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.
map For location see JP1-F2; JP2-F2; JP3-F2; JP4-F2.
6 tn Grk “word.”
7 map For location see JP1-C2; JP2-C2; JP3-C2; JP4-C2.
8 sn They left. See 1 Thess 3:1-2, which shows they went from here to Thessalonica.
9 sn Mention of Christian brothers from there (Rome) shows that God’s message had already spread as far as Italy and the capital of the empire.
10 sn The Forum of Appius was a small traveler’s stop on the Appian Way about 43 mi (71 km) south of Rome (BDAG 125 s.v. ᾿Αππίου φόρον). It was described by Horace as “crammed with boatmen and stingy tavernkeepers” (Satires 1.5.3).
11 sn Three Taverns was a stop on the Appian Way 33 mi (55 km) south of Rome.
12 tn Grk “whom, when he saw [them], Paul.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced by the personal pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence begun here in the translation.