Discovery BoxActs 20:8 
Context20:8 (Now there were many lamps 1 in the upstairs room where we were meeting.) 2
Acts 24:23
Context24:23 He ordered the centurion 3 to guard Paul, 4 but to let him have some freedom, 5 and not to prevent any of his friends 6 from meeting his needs. 7
Acts 5:12
Context5:12 Now many miraculous signs 8 and wonders came about among the people through the hands of the apostles. By 9 common consent 10 they were all meeting together in Solomon’s Portico. 11
Acts 13:43
Context13:43 When the meeting of the synagogue 12 had broken up, 13 many of the Jews and God-fearing proselytes 14 followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and were persuading 15 them 16 to continue 17 in the grace of God.
1 tn More commonly λαμπάς (lampa") means “torch,” but here according to BDAG 585 s.v. λαμπάς 2, “lamp…w. a wick and space for oil.”
2 sn This is best taken as a parenthetical note by the author.
3 sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.
4 tn Grk “that he was to be guarded.” The passive construction (τηρεῖσθαι, threisqai) has been converted to an active one in parallel with the following clauses, and the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn BDAG 77 s.v. ἄνεσις 1 states, “lit. relaxation of custodial control, some liberty, ἀ. ἔχειν have some freedom Ac 24:23.”
6 tn Grk “any of his own” (this could also refer to relatives).
7 tn Grk “from serving him.”
8 tn The miraculous nature of these signs is implied in the context.
9 tn Grk “And by.” 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.
10 tn Or “With one mind.”
11 tn Or “colonnade”; Grk “stoa.”
sn Solomon’s Portico was a covered walkway formed by rows of columns supporting a roof and open on the inner side facing the center of the temple complex. Located beside the Court of the Gentiles, it was a very public area.
12 sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.
13 tn BDAG 607 s.v. λύω 3 has “λυθείσης τ. συναγωγῆς when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up Ac 13:43.”
14 tn Normally the phrase σεβόμενοι τὸν θεόν (sebomenoi ton qeon) refers to Gentiles (“God-fearers”) who believed in God, attended the synagogue, and followed the Mosaic law to some extent, but stopped short of undergoing circumcision. BDAG 918 s.v. σέβω 1.b lists in this category references in Acts 16:14; 18:7; with σεβόμενοι alone, Acts 13:50; 17:4, 17; the phrase is also found in Josephus, Ant. 14.7.2 (14.110). Unique to this particular verse is the combination σεβόμενοι προσηλύτων (sebomenoi proshlutwn). Later rabbinic discussion suggests that to be regarded as a proper proselyte, a Gentile male had to submit to circumcision. If that is the case here, these Gentiles in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch should be regarded as full proselytes who had converted completely to Judaism and undergone circumcision. It is probably more likely, however, that προσηλύτων is used here in a somewhat looser sense (note the use of σεβομένας [sebomena"] alone to refer to women in Acts 13:50) and that these Gentiles were still in the category commonly called “God-fearers” without being full, technical proselytes to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 743-44. Regardless, the point is that many Gentiles, as well as Jews, came to faith.
15 tn This is the meaning given for ἔπειθον (epeiqon) in this verse by BDAG 791 s.v. πείθω 1.b.
16 tn Grk “who, as they were speaking with them, were persuading them.”
17 tn The verb προμένειν (promenein) is similar in force to the use of μένω (menw, “to reside/remain”) in the Gospel and Epistles of John.
