Acts 8:1

8:1 And Saul agreed completely with killing ¹  him.

Saul Begins to Persecute the Church

Now on that day a great ²  persecution began ³  against the church in Jerusalem, ⁴  and all ⁵  except the apostles were forced to scatter throughout the regions ⁶  of Judea and Samaria.

Acts 19:26

19:26 And you see and hear that this Paul has persuaded ⁷  and turned away ⁸  a large crowd, ⁹  not only in Ephesus ¹⁰  but in practically all of the province of Asia, ¹¹  by saying ¹²  that gods made by hands are not gods at all. ¹³ 

Acts 25:24

25:24 Then Festus ¹⁴  said, “King Agrippa, ¹⁵  and all you who are present here with us, you see this man about whom the entire Jewish populace ¹⁶  petitioned ¹⁷  me both in Jerusalem ¹⁸  and here, ¹⁹  shouting loudly ²⁰  that he ought not to live any longer.

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¹ tn The term ἀναίρεσις (anairesi") can refer to murder (BDAG 64 s.v.; 2 Macc 5:13; Josephus, Ant. 5.2.12 [5.165]).

² tn Or “severe.”

³ tn Grk “Now there happened on that day a great persecution.” It is less awkward to say in English “Now on that day a great persecution began.”

⁴ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁵ sn All. Given that the Jerusalem church is still active after this and that the Hellenists are the focus of Acts 6-8, it is possible to argue that only the Hellenistic Christians were forced to scatter.

⁶ tn Or “countryside.”

⁷ tn Grk “persuading.” The participle πείσας (peisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

⁸ tn Or “misled.”

⁹ tn BDAG 472 s.v. ἱκανός 3.a has “of pers. ὄχλος a large crowd…Ac 11:24, 26; 19:26.”

¹⁰ map For location see JP1-D2; JP2-D2; JP3-D2; JP4-D2.

¹¹ tn Grk “Asia”; see the note on this word in v. 22.

¹² tn The participle λέγων (legwn) has been regarded as indicating instrumentality.

¹³ tn The words “at all” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

sn Gods made by hands are not gods at all. Paul preached against paganism’s idolatry. Here is a one-line summary of a speech like that in Acts 17:22-31.

¹⁴ sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

¹⁵ sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

¹⁶ tn Probably best understood as rhetorical hyperbole. BDAG 825 s.v. πλῆθος 2.b.γ states, “people, populace, population…τὸ πλῆθος the populace…ἅπαν τὸ πλ. τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων Ac 25:24.” However, the actions of the leadership are seen by Luke as representing the actions of the entire nation, so the remark is not inaccurate.

¹⁷ tn Or “appealed to” (BDAG 341 s.v. ἐντυγχάνω 1.a).

¹⁸ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹⁹ sn Here means “here in Caesarea.”

²⁰ tn Or “screaming.”