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 17:13

17:13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica ⁶  heard that Paul had also proclaimed the word of God ⁷  in Berea, ⁸  they came there too, inciting ⁹  and disturbing ¹⁰  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 sn Thessalonica was a city in Macedonia (modern Salonica).

⁷ 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.

⁸ 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.

⁹ 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.

¹⁰ tn Or “stirring up” (BDAG 990-91 s.v. ταράσσω 2). The point is the agitation of the crowds.