28:23 They set 6 a day to meet with him, 7 and they came to him where he was staying 8 in even greater numbers. 9 From morning until evening he explained things 10 to them, 11 testifying 12 about the kingdom of God 13 and trying to convince 14 them about Jesus from both the law of Moses and the prophets.
1 tn Grk “Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out courageously and said.” The redundancy is removed in the translation and the verb “replied” is used in keeping with the logical sequence of events. The theme of boldness reappears: Acts 4:24-30; 9:27-28.
2 tn Grk “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken.” For smoothness and simplicity of English style, the passive construction has been converted to active voice in the translation.
3 tn Or “and consider yourselves unworthy.”
4 tn Grk “behold, we.” In this context ἰδού (idou) is not easily translated into English.
5 sn This turning to the Gentiles would be a shocking rebuke to 1st century Jews who thought they alone were the recipients of the promise.
6 tn Grk “Having set.” The participle ταξάμενοι (taxamenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
7 tn Grk “Having set a day with him”; the words “to meet” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
8 tn Or “came to him in his rented quarters.”
9 tn BDAG 848 s.v. πολύς 1.b.β.ב states, “(even) more πλείονες in even greater numbers Ac 28:23.”
10 tn The word “things” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
11 tn Grk “to whom he explained.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been replaced by the pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence begun at this point in the translation.
12 tn BDAG 233 s.v. διαμαρτύρομαι 1 has “to make a solemn declaration about the truth of someth. testify of, bear witness to (orig. under oath)…God’s kingdom 28:23.”
13 sn Testifying about the kingdom of God. The topic is important. Paul’s preaching was about the rule of God and his promise in Jesus. Paul’s text was the Jewish scriptures.
14 tn Or “persuade.”