Acts 11:19-22

Activity in the Church at Antioch

11:19 Now those who had been scattered because of the persecution that took place over Stephen ¹  went as far as ²  Phoenicia, ³  Cyprus, ⁴  and Antioch, ⁵  speaking the message ⁶  to no one but Jews. 11:20 But there were some men from Cyprus ⁷  and Cyrene ⁸  among them who came ⁹  to Antioch ¹⁰  and began to speak to the Greeks ¹¹  too, proclaiming the good news of the Lord Jesus. 11:21 The ¹²  hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed ¹³  turned ¹⁴  to the Lord. 11:22 A report ¹⁵  about them came to the attention ¹⁶  of the church in Jerusalem, ¹⁷  and they sent Barnabas ¹⁸  to Antioch. ¹⁹ 

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¹ sn The phrase over Stephen means in connection with Stephen’s death. See Acts 8:1b-3.

² tn Or “finally reached.” The translations “went as far as” and “finally reached” for διῆλθον (dihlqon) in this verse are given in L&N 15.17.

³ sn Phoenicia was an area along the Mediterranean coast north of Palestine.

⁴ tn Grk “and Cyprus,” 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.

sn Cyprus was a large island in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Asia Minor.

⁵ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). This was probably the third largest city in the Greco-Roman world (Alexandria in Egypt was the second largest, and Rome the largest) and was the seat of government in Syria. Five miles away was a major temple to Artemis, Apollo, and Astarte, major pagan deities.

map For location see JP1-F2; JP2-F2; JP3-F2; JP4-F2.

⁶ tn Grk “word.”

⁷ sn Cyprus was a large island in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Asia Minor.

⁸ sn Cyrene was a city on the northern African coast west of Egypt.

⁹ tn Grk “among them, coming to Antioch began to speak.” The participle ἐλθόντες (elqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

¹⁰ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). See the note in 11:19.

¹¹ sn The statement that some men from Cyprus and Cyrene…began to speak to the Greeks shows that Peter’s experience of reaching out to the Gentiles was not unique.

¹² tn Grk “And the.” 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.

¹³ tn The participle πιστεύσας (pisteusa") is articular and thus cannot be adverbial. It is adjectival, modifying ἀριθμός (ariqmo"), but has been translated into English as a relative clause (“who believed”).

¹⁴ sn Again, the expression turned is a summary term for responding to the gospel.

¹⁵ tn Grk “Word.”

¹⁶ tn Grk “was heard in the ears,” an idiom. L&N 24.67 states that the idiom means “to hear in secret” (which it certainly does in Matt 10:27), but secrecy does not seem to be part of the context here, and there is no particular reason to suggest the report was made in secret.

¹⁷ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹⁸ tc ‡ Most mss read the infinitive “to travel” after “Barnabas.” διελθεῖν (dielqein) is found before ἕως (Jews) in D E Ψ 33 Ï and some versional mss. It is lacking in Ì⁷⁴ א A B 81 1739 pc and some versional mss. Although the infinitive with ἕως fits Lukan style, it has the appearance of a scribal clarification. The infinitive has the earmarks of a Western expansion on the text and thus is unlikely to be original. NA²⁷ has the infinitive in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

¹⁹ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). See the note in 11:19. Again the Jerusalem church exercised an oversight role.