16:1 He also came to Derbe 1 and to Lystra. 2 A disciple 3 named Timothy was there, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, 4 but whose father was a Greek. 5
1 sn Derbe was a city in Lycaonia about 35 mi (60 km) southeast of Lystra. It was about 90 mi (145 km) from Tarsus.
map For location see JP1-E2; JP2-E2; JP3-E2.
2 sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 25 mi (40 km) south of Iconium.
map For location see JP1-E2; JP2-E2; JP3-E2.
3 tn Grk “And behold, a disciple.” Here ἰδού (idou) has not been translated.
4 tn L&N 31.103 translates this phrase “the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer.”
5 sn His father was a Greek. Timothy was the offspring of a mixed marriage between a Jewish woman (see 2 Tim 1:5) and a Gentile man. On mixed marriages in Judaism, see Neh 13:23-27; Ezra 9:1-10:44; Mal 2:10-16; Jub. 30:7-17; m. Qiddushin 3.12; m. Yevamot 7.5.
6 tn Grk “this one”; the referent (Timothy) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Grk “and taking him he circumcised him.” The participle λαβών (labwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Paul’s cultural sensitivity showed in his action here. He did not want Timothy’s lack of circumcision to become an issue (1 Cor 9:15-23).
8 tn The verb περιέτεμεν (perietemen) here may be understood as causative (cf. ExSyn 411-12) if Paul did not personally perform the circumcision.
9 tn Or “who lived in the area.”
10 tn The anarthrous predicate nominative has been translated as qualitative (“Greek”) rather than indefinite (“a Greek”).
sn His father was Greek. Under Jewish law at least as early as the 2nd century, a person was considered Jewish if his or her mother was Jewish. It is not certain whether such a law was in effect in the 1st century, but even if it was, Timothy would not have been accepted as fully Jewish because he was not circumcised.
11 map For location see JP1-C2; JP2-C2; JP3-C2; JP4-C2.
12 sn They left. See 1 Thess 3:1-2, which shows they went from here to Thessalonica.
13 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 sn Berea (alternate spelling in NRSV Beroea; Greek Beroia) was a very old city in Macedonia on the river Astraeus about 45 mi (75 km) from Thessalonica.
map For location see JP1-C1; JP2-C1; JP3-C1; JP4-C1.
15 tn Grk “of the Thessalonians.”
map For location see JP1-C1; JP2-C1; JP3-C1; JP4-C1.
16 tn Grk “and Gaius,” but this 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.
17 sn Derbe was a city in Lycaonia about 30 mi (50 km) southeast of Lystra.
map For location see JP1-E2; JP2-E2; JP3-E2.
18 tn Grk “the Asians Tychicus and Trophimus.” In the NT “Asia” always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.