Acts 19:1

Disciples of John the Baptist at Ephesus

19:1 While ¹  Apollos was in Corinth, ²  Paul went through the inland ³  regions ⁴  and came to Ephesus. ⁵  He ⁶  found some disciples there ⁷ 

Acts 20:17

20:17 From Miletus ⁸  he sent a message ⁹  to Ephesus, telling the elders of the church to come to him. ¹⁰ 

Acts 18:19

18:19 When they reached Ephesus, ¹¹  Paul ¹²  left Priscilla and Aquila ¹³  behind there, but he himself went ¹⁴  into the synagogue ¹⁵  and addressed ¹⁶  the Jews.

Acts 18:21

18:21 but said farewell to ¹⁷  them and added, ¹⁸  “I will come back ¹⁹  to you again if God wills.” ²⁰  Then ²¹  he set sail from Ephesus,

Acts 18:24

Apollos Begins His Ministry

18:24 Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, arrived in Ephesus. ²²  He was an eloquent speaker, ²³  well-versed ²⁴  in the scriptures.

Acts 19:17

19:17 This became known to all who lived in Ephesus, ²⁵  both Jews and Greeks; fear came over ²⁶  them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was praised. ²⁷ 

---

¹ tn Grk “It happened that while.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

² map For location see JP1-C2; JP2-C2; JP3-C2; JP4-C2.

³ tn Or “interior.”

⁴ tn BDAG 92 s.v. ἀνωτερικός has “upper τὰ ἀ. μέρη the upper (i.e. inland) country, the interior Ac 19:1.”

⁵ map For location see JP1-D2; JP2-D2; JP3-D2; JP4-D2.

⁶ tn Grk “and found.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the sequencing with the following verse the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

⁷ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

⁸ sn Miletus was a seaport on the western coast of Asia Minor about 45 mi (72 km) south of Ephesus.

⁹ tn The words “a message” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

¹⁰ tn The words “to him” are not in the Greek text but are implied. L&N 33.311 has for the verb μετακαλέομαι (metakaleomai) “to summon someone, with considerable insistence and authority – ‘to summon, to tell to come.’”

¹¹ sn Ephesus was an influential city in Asia Minor. It was the location of the famous temple of Artemis. In 334 b.c. control of the city had passed to Alexander the Great, who contributed a large sum to the building of a new and more elaborate temple of Artemis, which became one of the seven wonders of the ancient world and lasted until destroyed by the Goths in a.d. 263. This major port city would be reached from Corinth by ship. It was 250 mi (400 km) east of Corinth by sea.

map For location see JP1-D2; JP2-D2; JP3-D2; JP4-D2.

¹² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹³ tn Grk “left them”; the referents (Priscilla and Aquila) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁴ tn Grk “going”; the participle εἰσελθών (eiselqwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

¹⁵ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

¹⁶ tn Although the word διελέξατο (dielexato; from διαλέγομαι, dialegomai) is frequently translated “reasoned,” “disputed,” or “argued,” this sense comes from its classical meaning where it was used of philosophical disputation, including the Socratic method of questions and answers. However, there does not seem to be contextual evidence for this kind of debate in Acts 18:19. As G. Schrenk (TDNT 2:94-95) points out, “What is at issue is the address which any qualified member of a synagogue might give.” Other examples of this may be found in the NT in Matt 4:23 and Mark 1:21.

¹⁷ tn Or “but took leave of.”

¹⁸ tn Grk “and saying”; the participle εἰπών (eipwn) has been translated as “added” rather than “said” to avoid redundancy with the previous “said farewell.” The participle εἰπών has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

¹⁹ tn Or “will return.”

²⁰ tn The participle θέλοντος (qelontos), a genitive absolute construction, has been translated as a conditional adverbial participle. Again Paul acts in dependence on God.

²¹ tn A new sentence was begun here in the translation due to the length of the sentence in Greek and the requirements of contemporary English style, which generally uses shorter sentences.

²² map For location see JP1-D2; JP2-D2; JP3-D2; JP4-D2.

²³ tn Or “was a learned man.” In this verse λόγιος (logios) can refer to someone who was an attractive and convincing speaker, a rhetorician (L&N 33.32), or it can refer to the person who has acquired a large part of the intellectual heritage of a given culture (“learned” or “cultured,” L&N 27.20, see also BDAG 598 s.v. λόγιος which lists both meanings as possible here). The description of Apollos’ fervent speaking in the following verses, as well as implications from 1 Cor 1-4, where Paul apparently compares his style and speaking ability with that of Apollos, suggests that eloquent speaking ability or formal rhetorical skill are in view here. This clause has been moved from its order in the Greek text (Grk “a certain Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, an eloquent speaker, arrived in Ephesus, who was powerful in the scriptures”) and paired with the last element (“powerful in the scriptures”) due to the demands of clarity and contemporary English style.

²⁴ tn Grk “powerful.” BDAG 264 s.v. δυνατός 1.b has “in the Scriptures = well-versed 18:24.”

²⁵ map For location see JP1-D2; JP2-D2; JP3-D2; JP4-D2.

²⁶ tn Grk “fell on.” BDAG 377 s.v. ἐπιπίπτω 2 has “φόβος ἐ. ἐπί τινα fear came upon someone…Ac 19:17.”

²⁷ tn Or “exalted.”