Discovery BoxActs 4:31 
Context4:31 When 1 they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, 2 and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak 3 the word of God 4 courageously. 5
Acts 7:58
Context7:58 When 6 they had driven him out of the city, they began to stone him, 7 and the witnesses laid their cloaks 8 at the feet of a young man named Saul.
Acts 8:1
Context8:1 And Saul agreed completely with killing 9 him.
Now on that day a great 10 persecution began 11 against the church in Jerusalem, 12 and all 13 except the apostles were forced to scatter throughout the regions 14 of Judea and Samaria.
Acts 8:12
Context8:12 But when they believed Philip as he was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God 15 and the name of Jesus Christ, 16 they began to be baptized, 17 both men and women.
Acts 11:20
Context11:20 But there were some men from Cyprus 18 and Cyrene 19 among them who came 20 to Antioch 21 and began to speak to the Greeks 22 too, proclaiming the good news of the Lord Jesus.
Acts 18:17
Context18:17 So they all seized Sosthenes, the president of the synagogue, 23 and began to beat 24 him in front of the judgment seat. 25 Yet none of these things were of any concern 26 to Gallio.
Acts 18:26
Context18:26 He began to speak out fearlessly 27 in the synagogue, 28 but when Priscilla and Aquila 29 heard him, they took him aside 30 and explained the way of God to him more accurately.
Acts 20:7
Context20:7 On the first day 31 of the week, when we met 32 to break bread, Paul began to speak 33 to the people, and because he intended 34 to leave the next day, he extended 35 his message until midnight.
Acts 24:2
Context24:2 When Paul 36 had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, 37 saying, “We have experienced a lengthy time 38 of peace through your rule, 39 and reforms 40 are being made in this nation 41 through your foresight. 42
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 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.
3 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.
4 tn Or “speak God’s message.”
5 tn Or “with boldness.”
6 tn Grk “And when.” 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 sn They began to stone him. The irony of the scene is that the people do exactly what the speech complains about in v. 52.
8 tn Or “outer garments.”
sn Laid their cloaks. The outer garment, or cloak, was taken off and laid aside to leave the arms free (in this case for throwing stones).
9 tn The term ἀναίρεσις (anairesi") can refer to murder (BDAG 64 s.v.; 2 Macc 5:13; Josephus, Ant. 5.2.12 [5.165]).
10 tn Or “severe.”
11 tn Grk “Now there happened on that day a great persecution.” It is less awkward to say in English “Now on that day a great persecution began.”
12 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
13 sn All. Given that the Jerusalem church is still active after this and that the Hellenists are the focus of Acts 6-8, it is possible to argue that only the Hellenistic Christians were forced to scatter.
14 tn Or “countryside.”
15 sn The kingdom of God is also what Jesus preached: Acts 1:3. The term reappears in 14:22; 19:8; 28:23, 31.
16 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
17 tn The imperfect verb ἐβαπτίζοντο (ebaptizonto) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.
18 sn Cyprus was a large island in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Asia Minor.
19 sn Cyrene was a city on the northern African coast west of Egypt.
20 tn Grk “among them, coming to Antioch began to speak.” The participle ἐλθόντες (elqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
21 sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). See the note in 11:19.
22 sn The statement that some men from Cyprus and Cyrene…began to speak to the Greeks shows that Peter’s experience of reaching out to the Gentiles was not unique.
23 tn That is, “the official in charge of the synagogue”; ἀρχισυνάγωγος (arcisunagwgo") refers to the “leader/president of a synagogue” (so BDAG 139 s.v. and L&N 53.93).
sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.
24 tn The imperfect verb ἔτυπτον (etupton) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.
25 sn See the note on the term judgment seat in 18:12.
26 tn L&N 25.223 has “‘none of these things were of any concern to Gallio’ Ac 18:17.”
sn Rome was officially indifferent to such disputes. Gallio understood how sensitive some Jews would be about his meddling in their affairs. This is similar to the way Pilate dealt with Jesus. In the end, he let the Jewish leadership and people make the judgment against Jesus.
27 tn Or “boldly.” This is a frequent term in Acts (9:27-28; 13:46; 14:3; 19:8; 26:26).
28 sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.
29 sn Priscilla and Aquila. This key couple, of which Priscilla was an important enough figure to be mentioned by name, instructed Apollos about the most recent work of God. See also the note on Aquila in 18:2.
30 tn BDAG 883 s.v. προσλαμβάνω 3 has “take aside, mid. τινά someone…So prob. also Ac 18:26: Priscilla and Aquila take Apollos aside to teach him undisturbed.”
31 sn On the first day. This is the first mention of a Sunday gathering (1 Cor 16:2).
32 tn Or “assembled.”
33 tn The verb διαλέγομαι (dialegomai) is frequently used of Paul addressing Jews in the synagogue. 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. In the context of a Christian gathering, it is preferable to translate διελέγετο (dielegeto) simply as “speak” here. The imperfect verb διελέγετο has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.
34 tn BDAG 628 s.v. μέλλω 1.c.γ has “denoting an intended action: intend, propose, have in mind…Ac 17:31; 20:3, 7, 13ab; 23:15; 26:2; 27:30.”
35 tn Or “prolonged.”
36 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
37 tn Or “began to bring charges, saying.”
38 tn Grk “experienced much peace.”
39 tn Grk “through you” (“rule” is implied).
40 tn This term is used only once in the NT (a hapax legomenon). It refers to improvements in internal administration (BDAG 251 s.v. διόρθωμα).
41 tn Or “being made for this people.”
42 sn References to peaceful rule, reforms, and the governor’s foresight in the opening address by Tertullus represent an attempt to praise the governor and thus make him favorable to the case. Actual descriptions of his rule portray him as inept (Tacitus, Annals 12.54; Josephus, J. W. 2.13.2-7 [2.253-270]).
