Acts 17:1

Paul and Silas at Thessalonica

17:1 After they traveled through ¹  Amphipolis ²  and Apollonia, ³  they came to Thessalonica, ⁴  where there was a Jewish synagogue. ⁵ 

Acts 17:11

17:11 These Jews ⁶  were more open-minded ⁷  than those in Thessalonica, ⁸  for they eagerly ⁹  received ¹⁰  the message, examining ¹¹  the scriptures carefully every day ¹²  to see if these things were so.

Acts 17:13

17:13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica ¹³  heard that Paul had also proclaimed the word of God ¹⁴  in Berea, ¹⁵  they came there too, inciting ¹⁶  and disturbing ¹⁷  the crowds.

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¹ tn BDAG 250 s.v. διοδεύω 1 has “go, travel through” for this verse.

² sn Amphipolis. The capital city of the southeastern district of Macedonia (BDAG 55 s.v. ᾿Αμφίπολις). It was a military post. From Philippi this was about 33 mi (53 km).

³ sn Apollonia was a city in Macedonia about 27 mi (43 km) west southwest of Amphipolis.

⁴ sn Thessalonica (modern Salonica) was a city in Macedonia about 33 mi (53 km) west of Apollonia. It was the capital of Macedonia. The road they traveled over was called the Via Egnatia. It is likely they rode horses, given their condition in Philippi. The implication of v. 1 is that the two previously mentioned cities lacked a synagogue.

map For location see JP1-C1; JP2-C1; JP3-C1; JP4-C1.

⁵ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

⁶ tn Grk “These”; the referent (the Jews in the synagogue at Berea) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Or “more willing to learn.” L&N 27.48 and BDAG 404 s.v. εὐγενής 2 both use the term “open-minded” here. The point is that they were more receptive to Paul’s message.

⁸ sn Thessalonica was a city in Macedonia (modern Salonica).

map For location see JP1-C1; JP2-C1; JP3-C1; JP4-C1.

⁹ tn Or “willingly,” “readily”; Grk “with all eagerness.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “who received.” Here the relative pronoun (“who”) has been translated as a pronoun (“they”) preceded by a semicolon, which is less awkward in contemporary English than a relative clause at this point.

¹¹ tn This verb (BDAG 66 s.v. ἀνακρίνω 1) refers to careful examination.

¹² tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase in this verse.

¹³ sn Thessalonica was a city in Macedonia (modern Salonica).

¹⁴ tn Grk “that the word of God had also been proclaimed by Paul.” This passive construction has been converted to an active one in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁵ 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.

¹⁶ tn BDAG 911 s.v. σαλεύω 2 has “incite” for σαλεύοντες (saleuonte") in Acts 17:13.

sn Inciting. Ironically, it was the Jews who were disturbing the peace, not the Christians.

¹⁷ tn Or “stirring up” (BDAG 990-91 s.v. ταράσσω 2). The point is the agitation of the crowds.