16:16 Now 10 as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit that enabled her to foretell the future by supernatural means. 11 She 12 brought her owners 13 a great profit by fortune-telling. 14
1 tn Or “crippled.”
2 tn Grk “from his mother’s womb.”
3 tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase.
4 tn Grk “alms.” The term “alms” is not in common use today, so what the man expected, “money,” is used in the translation instead. The idea is that of money given as a gift to someone who was poor. Giving alms was viewed as honorable in Judaism (Tob 1:3, 16; 12:8-9; m. Pe’ah 1:1). See also Luke 11:41; 12:33; Acts 9:36; 10:2, 4, 31; 24:17.
5 tn Grk “the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.
sn Into the temple courts. The exact location of this incident is debated. The ‘Beautiful Gate’ referred either to the Nicanor Gate (which led from the Court of the Gentiles into the Court of Women) or the Shushan Gate at the eastern wall.
6 tn Or “What prevents me.” The rhetorical question means, “I should get baptized, right?”
7 tn Grk “was going to bring him out,” but the upcoming trial is implied. See Acts 12:4.
8 tn Grk “two chains, and.” Logically it makes better sense to translate this as a temporal clause, although technically it is a coordinate clause in Greek.
9 tn Or “were guarding.”
10 tn Grk “Now it happened that.” 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.
11 tn Or “who had a spirit of divination”; Grk “who had a spirit of Python.” According to BDAG 896-97 s.v. πύθων, originally Πύθων (Puqwn) was the name of the serpent or dragon that guarded the Delphic oracle. According to Greek mythology, it lived at the foot of Mount Parnassus and was killed by Apollo. From this, the word came to designate a person who was thought to have a spirit of divination. Pagan generals, for example, might consult someone like this. So her presence here suggests a supernatural encounter involving Paul and her “spirit.” W. Foerster, TDNT 6:920, connects the term with ventriloquism but states: “We must assume, however, that for this girl, as for those mentioned by Origen…, the art of ventriloquism was inseparably connected with a (supposed or authentic) gift of soothsaying.” It should also be noted that if the girl in question here were only a ventriloquist, the exorcism performed by Paul in v. 18 would not have been effective.
12 tn Grk “who.” Because of the awkwardness in English of having two relative clauses follow one another (“who had a spirit…who brought her owners a great profit”) the relative pronoun here (“who”) has been translated as a pronoun (“she”) and a new sentence begun in the translation.
13 tn Or “masters.”
14 tn On this term see BDAG 616 s.v. μαντεύομαι. It was used of those who gave oracles.
15 tn Or “fixed.”
16 sn The world refers to the whole inhabited earth.
17 tn Or “appointed.” BDAG 723 s.v. ὁρίζω 2.b has “of persons appoint, designate, declare: God judges the world ἐν ἀνδρὶ ᾧ ὥρισεν through a man whom he has appointed Ac 17:31.”
sn A man whom he designated. Jesus is put in the position of eschatological judge. As judge of the living and the dead, he possesses divine authority (Acts 10:42).
18 tn The participle ἀναστήσας (anasthsa") indicates means here.
19 sn You whitewashed wall. This was an idiom for hypocrisy – just as the wall was painted on the outside but something different on the inside, so this person was not what he appeared or pretended to be (L&N 88.234; see also BDAG 1010 s.v. τοῖχος). Paul was claiming that the man’s response was two-faced (Ezek 13:10-16; Matt 23:27-28). See also Deut 28:22.
20 tn Grk “And do.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
21 tn The law refers to the law of Moses.
22 tn BDAG 769 s.v. παρανομέω has “παρανομῶν κελεύεις in violation of the law you order Ac 23:3.”
sn In violation of the law. Paul was claiming that punishment was given before the examination was complete (m. Sanhedrin 3:6-8). Luke’s noting of this detail shows how quickly the leadership moved to react against Paul.
23 tn Grk “having.” The participle ἔχων (ecwn) has been translated as a finite verb and a new sentence begun at this point in the translation because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence.
24 sn This mention of Paul’s hope sets up his appeal to the resurrection of the dead. At this point Paul was ignoring the internal Jewish dispute between the Pharisees (to which he had belonged) and the Sadducees (who denied there would be a resurrection of the dead).
25 tn Grk “a hope in God (which these [men] themselves accept too).” Because the antecedent of the relative pronoun “which” is somewhat unclear in English, the words “a hope” have been repeated at the beginning of the parenthesis for clarity.
26 tn Grk “that they”; the referent (these men, Paul’s accusers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
27 tn Or “the unjust.”
sn This is the only mention of the resurrection of the unrighteous in Acts. The idea parallels the idea of Jesus as the judge of both the living and the dead (Acts 10:42; 17:31).
28 tn Grk “So experiencing…I stand.” The participle τυχών (tucwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
29 tn BDAG 311 s.v. ἐκτός 3.b, “functions as prep. w. gen. οὐδὲν ἐ. ὧν nothing except what (cf. 1 Ch 29:3; 2 Ch 17:19; TestNapht. 6:2) Ac 26:22.”
30 sn What the prophets and Moses said. Paul argued that his message reflected the hope of the Jewish scriptures.
31 tn The participle βραδυπλοοῦντες (braduploounte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
32 sn Cnidus was the name of a peninsula on the southwestern coast of Asia Minor. This was about 130 mi (210 km) from Myra.
33 tn This genitive absolute construction with προσεῶντος (prosewnto") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle. L&N 13.139 translates the phrase μὴ προσεῶντος ἡμᾶς τοῦ ἀνέμου (mh prosewnto" Jhma" tou anemou) as “the wind would not let us go any farther.”
34 tn BDAG 1040 s.v. ὑποπλέω states, “sail under the lee of an island, i.e. in such a way that the island protects the ship fr. the wind Ac 27:4, 7.”
35 sn Salmone was the name of a promontory on the northeastern corner of the island of Crete. This was about 100 mi (160 km) farther along.
36 tn BDAG 889 s.v. πρόφασις 2 states, “προφάσει ὡς under the pretext that, pretending that…Ac 27:30.” In other words, some of the sailors gave up hope that such efforts would work and instead attempted to escape while pretending to help.