Acts 18:25

18:25 He had been instructed in ¹  the way of the Lord, and with great enthusiasm ²  he spoke and taught accurately the facts ³  about Jesus, although he knew ⁴  only the baptism of John.

Acts 21:13

21:13 Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking ⁵  my heart? For I am ready not only to be tied up, ⁶  but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Acts 26:29

26:29 Paul replied, “I pray to God that whether in a short or a long time ⁷  not only you but also all those who are listening to me today could become such as I am, except for these chains.” ⁸ 

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¹ tn Or “had been taught.”

² tn Grk “and boiling in spirit” (an idiom for great eagerness or enthusiasm; BDAG 426 s.v. ζέω).

³ tn Grk “the things.”

⁴ tn Grk “knowing”; the participle ἐπιστάμενος (epistameno") has been translated as a concessive adverbial participle.

⁵ tn The term translated “breaking” as used by Josephus (Ant. 10.10.4 [10.207]) means to break something into pieces, but in its only NT use (it is a hapax legomenon) it is used figuratively (BDAG 972 s.v. συνθρύπτω).

⁶ tn L&N 18.13 has “to tie objects together – ‘to tie, to tie together, to tie up.’” The verb δέω (dew) is sometimes figurative for imprisonment (L&N 37.114), but it is preferable to translate it literally here in light of v. 11 where Agabus tied himself up with Paul’s belt.

⁷ tn BDAG 703 s.v. ὀλίγος 2.b.β has “καὶ ἐν ὀλ. καὶ ἐν μεγάλῳ whether in a short or a long time vs. 29 (cf. B-D-F §195; GWhitaker, The Words of Agrippa to St. Paul: JTS 15, 1914, 82f; AFridrichsen, SymbOsl 14, ’35, 50; Field, Notes 141-43; s. Rob. 653).”

⁸ sn Except for these chains. The chains represented Paul’s unjust suffering for the sake of the message. His point was, in effect, “I do not care how long it takes. I only hope you and everyone else hearing this would become believers in Christ, but without my unjust suffering.”