Discovery BoxActs 4:13 
Context4:13 When they saw the boldness 1 of Peter and John, and discovered 2 that they were uneducated 3 and ordinary 4 men, they were amazed and recognized these men had been with Jesus.
Acts 4:31
Context4:31 When 5 they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, 6 and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak 7 the word of God 8 courageously. 9
Acts 6:1
Context6:1 Now in those 10 days, when the disciples were growing in number, 11 a complaint arose on the part of the Greek-speaking Jews 12 against the native Hebraic Jews, 13 because their widows 14 were being overlooked 15 in the daily distribution of food. 16
Acts 9:21
Context9:21 All 17 who heard him were amazed and were saying, “Is this not 18 the man who in Jerusalem was ravaging 19 those who call on this name, and who had come here to bring them as prisoners 20 to the chief priests?”
Acts 13:43
Context13:43 When the meeting of the synagogue 21 had broken up, 22 many of the Jews and God-fearing proselytes 23 followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and were persuading 24 them 25 to continue 26 in the grace of God.
Acts 15:3
Context15:3 So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia 27 and Samaria, they were relating at length 28 the conversion of the Gentiles and bringing great joy 29 to all the brothers.
Acts 17:11
Context17:11 These Jews 30 were more open-minded 31 than those in Thessalonica, 32 for they eagerly 33 received 34 the message, examining 35 the scriptures carefully every day 36 to see if these things were so.
Acts 27:30
Context27:30 Then when the sailors tried to escape from the ship and were lowering the ship’s boat into the sea, pretending 37 that they were going to put out anchors from the bow,
1 tn Or “courage.”
2 tn Or “and found out.”
3 sn Uneducated does not mean “illiterate,” that is, unable to read or write. Among Jews in NT times there was almost universal literacy, especially as the result of widespread synagogue schools. The term refers to the fact that Peter and John had no formal rabbinic training and thus, in the view of their accusers, were not qualified to expound the law or teach publicly. The objection is like Acts 2:7.
4 tn For the translation of ἰδιῶται (idiwtai) as “ordinary men” see L&N 27.26.
5 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.
6 sn The place where they were assembled…was shaken. This signifies that God is in their midst. See Acts 16:26; Exod 19:18; Ps 114:7; Isa 6:4.
7 tn The imperfect verb has been translated as an ingressive imperfect (“began to speak”). Logical sequencing suggests that their speaking began after they were filled with the Spirit. The prayer was answered immediately.
8 tn Or “speak God’s message.”
9 tn Or “with boldness.”
10 tn Grk “these.” The translation uses “those” for stylistic reasons.
11 tn Grk “were multiplying.”
12 tn Grk “the Hellenists,” but this descriptive term is largely unknown to the modern English reader. The translation “Greek-speaking Jews” attempts to convey something of who these were, but it was more than a matter of language spoken; it involved a degree of adoption of Greek culture as well.
sn The Greek-speaking Jews were the Hellenists, Jews who to a greater or lesser extent had adopted Greek thought, customs, and lifestyle, as well as the Greek language. The city of Alexandria in Egypt was a focal point for them, but they were scattered throughout the Roman Empire.
13 tn Grk “against the Hebrews,” but as with “Hellenists” this needs further explanation for the modern reader.
14 sn The care of widows is a major biblical theme: Deut 10:18; 16:11, 14; 24:17, 19-21; 26:12-13; 27:19; Isa 1:17-23; Jer 7:6; Mal 3:5.
15 tn Or “neglected.”
16 tn Grk “in the daily serving.”
sn The daily distribution of food. The early church saw it as a responsibility to meet the basic needs of people in their group.
17 tn Grk “And all.” 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.
18 tn The Greek interrogative particle used in this verse (οὐχ, ouc) expects a positive reply. They all knew about Saul’s persecutions.
19 tn Normally, “destroying,” but compare 4 Macc 4:23; 11:4 and MM 529 s.v. πορθέω for examples from Koine papyri. See also BDAG 853 s.v. πορθέω.
20 tn Grk “bring them bound”; the translation “bring someone as prisoner” for δεδεμένον ἄγειν τινά (dedemenon agein tina) is given by BDAG 221 s.v. δέω 1.b.
21 sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.
22 tn BDAG 607 s.v. λύω 3 has “λυθείσης τ. συναγωγῆς when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up Ac 13:43.”
23 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.
24 tn This is the meaning given for ἔπειθον (epeiqon) in this verse by BDAG 791 s.v. πείθω 1.b.
25 tn Grk “who, as they were speaking with them, were persuading them.”
26 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.
27 sn Phoenicia was an area along the Mediterranean coast north of Palestine in ancient Syria.
28 tn L&N 33.201 indicates that ἐκδιηγέομαι (ekdihgeomai) means to provide detailed information in a systematic manner, “to inform, to relate, to tell fully.” “Relating at length” conveys this effectively in the present context.
29 tn For ἐποίουν (epoioun) in this verse BDAG 839 s.v. ποιέω 2.c has “they brought joy to the members.”
30 tn Grk “These”; the referent (the Jews in the synagogue at Berea) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
31 tn Or “more willing to learn.” L&N 27.48 and BDAG 404 s.v. εὐγενής 2 both use the term “open-minded” here. The point is that they were more receptive to Paul’s message.
32 sn Thessalonica was a city in Macedonia (modern Salonica).
map For location see JP1 C1; JP2 C1; JP3 C1; JP4 C1.
33 tn Or “willingly,” “readily”; Grk “with all eagerness.”
34 tn Grk “who received.” Here the relative pronoun (“who”) has been translated as a pronoun (“they”) preceded by a semicolon, which is less awkward in contemporary English than a relative clause at this point.
35 tn This verb (BDAG 66 s.v. ἀνακρίνω 1) refers to careful examination.
36 tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase in this verse.
37 tn BDAG 889 s.v. πρόφασις 2 states, “προφάσει ὡς under the pretext that, pretending that…Ac 27:30.” In other words, some of the sailors gave up hope that such efforts would work and instead attempted to escape while pretending to help.
