Acts 8:5

8:5 Philip went down to the main city of Samaria ¹  and began proclaiming ²  the Christ ³  to them.

Acts 8:9

8:9 Now in that city was a man named Simon, who had been practicing magic ⁴  and amazing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great.

Acts 8:14

8:14 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem ⁵  heard that Samaria had accepted the word ⁶  of God, they sent ⁷  Peter and John to them.

Acts 1:8

1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts ⁸  of the earth.”

Acts 8:1

8:1 And Saul agreed completely with killing ⁹  him.

Saul Begins to Persecute the Church

Now on that day a great ¹⁰  persecution began ¹¹  against the church in Jerusalem, ¹²  and all ¹³  except the apostles were forced to scatter throughout the regions ¹⁴  of Judea and Samaria.

Acts 9:31

9:31 Then ¹⁵  the church throughout Judea, Galilee, ¹⁶  and Samaria experienced ¹⁷  peace and thus was strengthened. ¹⁸  Living ¹⁹  in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, the church ²⁰  increased in numbers.

Acts 15:3

15:3 So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia ²¹  and Samaria, they were relating at length ²²  the conversion of the Gentiles and bringing great joy ²³  to all the brothers.

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¹ tn The word “main” is supplied in the translation to clarify that “Samaria” is not the name of the city (at least in NT times). See both BDAG 912 s.v. Σαμάρεια, and L&N 93.568.

sn The main city of Samaria most likely refers to the principal city of Samaria, rebuilt by Herod the Great as Sebaste in honor of Augustus (J. Boehmer, “Studien zur Geographie Palästinas bes. im Neuen Testament,” ZNW 9 [1908]: 216-18; D. Gill and C. Gempf, eds., The Book of Acts in its Graeco-Roman Setting, 272). This is the best option if the article before “city” is taken as original. If the reading without the article is taken as original, then another city may be in view: Gitta, the hometown of Simon Magus according to Justin Martyr (cf. C. K. Barrett, Acts [ICC], 1:402-3; F. F. Bruce, Acts [NICNT], 165).

² tn The imperfect ἐκήρυσσεν (ekhrussen) has been translated as an ingressive, since this is probably the first time such preaching took place.

³ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

sn See the note on Christ in 2:31.

⁴ tn On the idiom προϋπῆρχεν μαγεύων (prouphrcen mageuwn) meaning “had been practicing magic” see BDAG 889 s.v. προϋπάρχω.

⁵ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁶ tn Or “message.”

⁷ sn They sent. The Jerusalem church with the apostles was overseeing the expansion of the church, as the distribution of the Spirit indicates in vv. 15-17.

⁸ tn Or “to the ends.”

⁹ tn The term ἀναίρεσις (anairesi") can refer to murder (BDAG 64 s.v.; 2 Macc 5:13; Josephus, Ant. 5.2.12 [5.165]).

¹⁰ tn Or “severe.”

¹¹ 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.”

¹² map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹³ 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.

¹⁴ tn Or “countryside.”

¹⁵ tn Or “Therefore.” This verse is another summary text in Acts (cf. 2:41-47; 4:32-37; 5:12-16; 6:7).

¹⁶ tn Grk “and Galilee,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

¹⁷ tn Grk “had.”

¹⁸ tn Or “Built up.” The participle οἰκοδομουμένη (oikodomoumenh) has been translated as a participle of result related to εἶχεν (eicen). It could also be understood as adverbial to ἐπληθύνετο (eplhquneto): “Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria experienced peace. Strengthened and living in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.” Although some scholars do not regard the participle of result as a legitimate category, it is actually fairly common (see ExSyn 637-39).

¹⁹ tn Grk “And living.” 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.

²⁰ tn Grk “it”; the referent (the church) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²¹ sn Phoenicia was an area along the Mediterranean coast north of Palestine in ancient Syria.

²² tn L&N 33.201 indicates that ἐκδιηγέομαι (ekdihgeomai) means to provide detailed information in a systematic manner, “to inform, to relate, to tell fully.” “Relating at length” conveys this effectively in the present context.

²³ tn For ἐποίουν (epoioun) in this verse BDAG 839 s.v. ποιέω 2.c has “they brought joy to the members.”