¹ tn Or “and was chosen to have a share in this ministry.” The term λαγχάνω (lancanw) here and in 2 Pet 1:1 can be understood as referring to the process of divine choice and thus be translated, “was chosen to have.”

² tn Or “warned.”

³ tn Or “crooked” (in a moral or ethical sense). See Luke 3:5.

⁴ tn Grk “and.” The context, however, indicates that the conjunction carries an adversative force.

⁵ sn They were not able to resist. This represents another fulfillment of Luke 12:11-12; 21:15.

⁶ tn Grk “And they.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here; a new sentence is begun instead.

⁷ tn Grk “As he was going along, it happened that when he was approaching.” The 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.

⁸ tn Or “shone” (BDAG 799 s.v. περιαστράπτω). The light was more brilliant than the sun according to Acts 26:13.

⁹ tn Or “because of my name.” BDAG 1031 s.v. ὑπέρ 2 lists Acts 9:16 as an example of ὑπέρ (Juper) used to indicate “the moving cause or reason, because of, for the sake of, for.”

¹⁰ sn The expression executed with a sword probably refers to a beheading. James was the first known apostolic martyr (Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 2.9.1-3). On James, not the Lord’s brother, see Luke 5:10; 6:14. This death ended a short period of peace noted in Acts 9:31 after the persecution mentioned in 8:1-3.

¹¹ tn Or “responded.”

¹² tn Grk “And for.” 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 For this verb, see BDAG 1017 s.v. τροποφορέω (cf. also Deut 1:31; Exod 16:35; Num 14:34).

¹⁴ tn Or “desert.”

¹⁵ tn The imperfect verb ἐκάλουν (ekaloun) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

¹⁶ sn Zeus was the chief Greek deity, worshiped throughout the Greco-Roman world (known to the Romans as Jupiter).

¹⁷ sn Hermes was a Greek god who (according to Greek mythology) was the messenger of the gods and the god of oratory (equivalent to the Roman god Mercury).

¹⁸ tn Grk “them, who in.” The relative pronoun (“who”) was replaced by the pronoun “he” (“In past generations he”) and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek and the awkwardness of two relative clauses (“who made the heaven” and “who in past generations”) following one another.

¹⁹ tn On this term see BDAG 780 s.v. παροίχομαι. The word is a NT hapax legomenon.

²⁰ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (in Greek the word for “nation” and “Gentile” is the same). The plural here alludes to the variety of false religions in the pagan world.

²¹ tn BDAG 231 s.v. διακρίνω 1.b lists this passage under the meaning “to conclude that there is a difference, make a distinction, differentiate.”

²² tn Or “purifying.”

²³ tn Grk “And bringing them outside, he asked.” The participle προαγαγών (proagagwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun by supplying the conjunction “then” to indicate the logical sequence.

²⁴ tn The Greek term (δεῖ, dei) is used by Luke to represent divine necessity.

²⁵ 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 18:4. 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.

²⁶ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

²⁷ tn Grk “Addressing in the synagogue every Sabbath, he was attempting to persuade both Jews and Greeks.” Because in English the verb “address” is not used absolutely but normally has an object specified, the direct objects of the verb ἔπειθεν (epeiqen) have been moved forward as the objects of the English verb “addressed,” and the pronoun “them” repeated in the translation as the object of ἔπειθεν. The verb ἔπειθεν has been translated as a conative imperfect.

²⁸ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

²⁹ tn See BDAG 326-27 s.v. ἐν 1.d. However, it is also possible that ἐν (en) followed by the dative here stands for the ordinary dative (“to them”).

³⁰ sn He would not consent. Paul probably refused because he wanted to reach Jerusalem for the festival season before the seas became impassable during the winter.

³¹ sn Assos was a city of Mysia about 24 mi (40 km) southeast of Troas.

³² tn Grk “taking him aboard, we.” The participle ἀναλαβόντες (analabonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

³³ sn Mitylene was the most important city on the island of Lesbos in the Aegean Sea. It was about 44 mi (70 km) from Assos.

³⁴ tn Grk “And.” Since this represents a response to Paul’s reply in v. 19, καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the logical sequence.

³⁵ tn Grk “who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“who”) was replaced by the third person singular pronoun (“he”) and a new sentence begun here in the translation.

³⁶ tn Or “profane” (BDAG 173 s.v. βεβηλόω). The term was also used of profaning the Sabbath.

³⁷ tn Or “seized.” Grk “whom also we arrested.” Because of the awkwardness of a relative clause in English at this point, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced by the pronoun “him” as object of the verb.

³⁸ tn BDAG 736-37 s.v. οὖν 2.b states, “οὖν serves to indicate a transition to someth. new…now, then, well…Ac 25:1.”

³⁹ sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

⁴⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

⁴¹ sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1. This was a journey of 65 mi (just over 100 km).

map For location see Map2 C1; Map4 B3; Map5 F2; Map7 A1; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

⁴² tn Or “persuaded.”

⁴³ tn Grk “by the things spoken.”

⁴⁴ sn Some were convinced…but others refused to believe. Once again the gospel caused division among Jews, as in earlier chapters of Acts (13:46; 18:6).