Discovery BoxActs 17:4-5 
Context17:4 Some of them were persuaded 1 and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large group 2 of God-fearing Greeks 3 and quite a few 4 prominent women. 17:5 But the Jews became jealous, 5 and gathering together some worthless men from the rabble in the marketplace, 6 they formed a mob 7 and set the city in an uproar. 8 They attacked Jason’s house, 9 trying to find Paul and Silas 10 to bring them out to the assembly. 11
1 tn Or “convinced.”
2 tn Or “a large crowd.”
3 tn Or “of devout Greeks,” but this is practically a technical term for the category called God-fearers, Gentiles who worshiped the God of Israel and in many cases kept the Mosaic law, but did not take the final step of circumcision necessary to become a proselyte to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 743-44. Luke frequently mentions such people (Acts 13:43, 50; 16:14; 17:17; 18:7).
4 tn Grk “not a few”; this use of negation could be misleading to the modern English reader, however, and so has been translated as “quite a few” (which is the actual meaning of the expression).
5 tn Grk “becoming jealous.” The participle ζηλώσαντες (zhlwsante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. So elsewhere in Acts (5:17; 7:9; 13:45).
6 tn Literally ἀγοραῖος (agoraio") refers to the crowd in the marketplace, although BDAG 14-15 s.v. ἀγοραῖος 1 gives the meaning, by extension, as “rabble.” Such a description is certainly appropriate in this context. L&N 15.127 translates the phrase “worthless men from the streets.”
7 tn On this term, which is a NT hapax legomenon, see BDAG 745 s.v. ὀχλοποιέω.
8 tn BDAG 458 s.v. θορυβέω 1 has “set the city in an uproar, start a riot in the city” for the meaning of ἐθορύβουν (eqoruboun) in this verse.
9 sn The attack took place at Jason’s house because this was probably the location of the new house church.
10 tn Grk “them”; the referents (Paul and Silas) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn BDAG 223 s.v. δῆμος 2 has “in a Hellenistic city, a convocation of citizens called together for the purpose of transacting official business, popular assembly προάγειν εἰς τὸν δ. Ac 17:5.”
