Acts 15:32

15:32 Both Judas and Silas, who were prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with a long speech. 1 

Acts 11:23

11:23 When 2  he came and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain true 3  to the Lord with devoted hearts, 4 

Acts 14:22

14:22 They strengthened 5  the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue 6  in the faith, saying, “We must enter the kingdom 7  of God through many persecutions.” 8 

Acts 16:40

16:40 When they came out of the prison, they entered Lydia’s house, and when they saw the brothers, they encouraged them and then 9  departed.

1 tn Here λόγου (logou) is singular. BDAG 599-600 s.v. λόγος 1.a.β has “in a long speech” for this phrase.

2 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.

3 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).

4 tn Grk “with purpose of heart”; BDAG 869 s.v. πρόθεσις 2.a translates this phrase “purpose of heart, i.e. devotion” here.

5 tn Grk “to Antioch, strengthening.” Due to the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was started here. This participle (ἐπιστηρίζοντες, episthrizonte") and the following one (παρακαλοῦντες, parakalounte") have been translated as finite verbs connected by the coordinating conjunction “and.”

6 sn And encouraged them to continue. The exhortations are like those noted in Acts 11:23; 13:43. An example of such a speech is found in Acts 20:18-35. Christianity is now characterized as “the faith.”

7 sn This reference to the kingdom of God clearly refers to its future arrival.

8 tn Or “sufferings.”

9 tn “Then” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to clarify the logical sequence in the translation.