Discovery BoxActs 13:5-6 
Context13:5 When 1 they arrived 2 in Salamis, 3 they began to proclaim 4 the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. 5 (Now they also had John 6 as their assistant.) 7 13:6 When they had crossed over 8 the whole island as far as Paphos, 9 they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 10
Acts 17:10
Context17:10 The brothers sent Paul and Silas off to Berea 11 at once, during the night. When they arrived, 12 they went to the Jewish synagogue. 13
Acts 24:24
Context24:24 Some days later, when Felix 14 arrived with his wife Drusilla, 15 who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him speak 16 about faith in Christ Jesus. 17
Acts 25:8
Context25:8 Paul said in his defense, 18 “I have committed no offense 19 against the Jewish law 20 or against the temple or against Caesar.” 21
1 tn Grk “And when.” 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.
2 tn The participle γενόμενοι (genomenoi) is taken temporally.
3 sn Salamis was a city on the southeastern coast of the island of Cyprus. This was a commercial center and a center of Judaism.
4 tn The imperfect verb κατήγγελλον (kathngellon) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.
5 sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.
6 sn John refers here to John Mark (see Acts 12:25).
7 tn The word ὑπηρέτης (Juphreth") usually has the meaning “servant,” but it is doubtful John Mark fulfilled that capacity for Barnabas and Saul. He was more likely an apprentice or assistant to them.
sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
8 tn Or “had passed through,” “had traveled through.”
9 sn Paphos. A city on the southwestern coast of the island of Cyprus. It was the seat of the Roman proconsul.
10 sn Named Bar-Jesus. “Jesus” is the Latin form of the name “Joshua.” The Aramaic “bar” means “son of,” so this man was surnamed “son of Joshua.” The scene depicts the conflict between Judaism and the emerging new faith at a cosmic level, much like the Simon Magus incident in Acts 8:9-24. Paul’s ministry looks like Philip’s and Peter’s here.
11 sn Berea (alternate spelling in NRSV Beroea; Greek Beroia) was a very old city in Macedonia on the river Astraeus about 45 mi (75 km) west of Thessalonica.
map For location see JP1 C1; JP2 C1; JP3 C1; JP4 C1.
12 tn Grk “who arriving there, went to.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (οἵτινες, Joitine") has been left untranslated and a new English sentence begun. The participle παραγενόμενοι (paragenomenoi) has been taken temporally.
13 sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.
14 sn See the note on Antonius Felix in 23:24.
15 sn It is possible that Drusilla, being Jewish, was the source of Felix’s knowledge about the new movement called Christianity. The youngest daughter of Herod Agrippa I and sister of Agrippa II, she would have been close to 20 years old at the time. She had married the king of a small region in Syria but divorced him at the age of 16 to marry Felix. This was her second marriage and Felix’s third (Josephus, Ant. 19.9.1 [19.354], 20.7.2 [20.141-144]). As a member of Herod’s family, she probably knew about the Way.
16 tn The word “speak” is implied; BDAG 32 s.v. ἀκούω 1.c has “ἤκουσεν αὐτοῦ περὶ τῆς…πίστεως he heard him speak about faith Ac 24:24.”
17 tn Or “Messiah Jesus”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
18 tn Grk “Paul saying in his defense”; the participle ἀπολογουμένου (apologoumenou) could be taken temporally (“when Paul said…”), but due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the participle was translated as a finite verb and a new sentence begun here in the translation. BDAG 116-17 s.v. ἀπολογέομαι has “W. ὅτι foll. τοῦ Παύλου ἀπολογουμένου, ὅτι when Paul said in his defense (direct quot. foll.) Ac 25:8.”
19 tn Grk “I have sinned…in nothing.”
20 tn Grk “against the law of the Jews.” Here τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων has been translated as an attributive genitive.
sn The Jewish law refers to the law of Moses.
21 tn Or “against the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).
sn Paul’s threefold claim to be innocent with respect to the law…the temple and Caesar argues that he has not disturbed the peace at any level. This was the standard charge made against early Christians (Luke 23:2; Acts 17:6-7). The charges here are emphatically denied, with the Greek conjunction oute repeated before each charge.
