Discovery BoxActs 6:1-2 
Context6:1 Now in those 1 days, when the disciples were growing in number, 2 a complaint arose on the part of the Greek-speaking Jews 3 against the native Hebraic Jews, 4 because their widows 5 were being overlooked 6 in the daily distribution of food. 7 6:2 So the twelve 8 called 9 the whole group 10 of the disciples together and said, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to wait on tables. 11
Acts 9:26
Context9:26 When he arrived in Jerusalem, 12 he attempted to associate 13 with the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, because they did not believe 14 that he was a disciple.
Acts 15:10
Context15:10 So now why are you putting God to the test 15 by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke 16 that neither our ancestors 17 nor we have been able to bear?
Acts 18:27
Context18:27 When Apollos 18 wanted to cross over to Achaia, 19 the brothers encouraged 20 him 21 and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he 22 assisted greatly those who had believed by grace,
Acts 19:9
Context19:9 But when 23 some were stubborn 24 and refused to believe, reviling 25 the Way 26 before the congregation, he left 27 them and took the disciples with him, 28 addressing 29 them every day 30 in the lecture hall 31 of Tyrannus.
Acts 21:16
Context21:16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea 32 came along with us too, and brought us to the house 33 of Mnason of Cyprus, a disciple from the earliest times, 34 with whom we were to stay.
1 tn Grk “these.” The translation uses “those” for stylistic reasons.
2 tn Grk “were multiplying.”
3 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.
4 tn Grk “against the Hebrews,” but as with “Hellenists” this needs further explanation for the modern reader.
5 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.
6 tn Or “neglected.”
7 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.
8 sn The twelve refers to the twelve apostles.
9 tn Grk “calling the whole group…together, said.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενοι (proskalesamenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
10 tn Or “the multitude.”
11 tn Grk “to serve tables.”
12 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
13 tn Or “join.”
14 tn The participle πιστεύοντες (pisteuonte") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.
15 tn According to BDAG 793 s.v. πειράζω 2.c, “In Ac 15:10 the πειράζειν τὸν θεόν consists in the fact that after God’s will has been clearly made known through granting of the Spirit to the Gentiles (v. 8), some doubt and make trial to see whether God’s will really becomes operative.” All testing of God in Luke is negative: Luke 4:2; 11:16.
16 sn A yoke is a wooden bar or frame that joins two animals like oxen or horses so that they can pull a wagon, plow, etc. together. Here it is used figuratively of the restriction that some in the early church wanted to place on Gentile converts to Christianity of observing the law of Moses and having males circumcised. The yoke is a decidedly negative image: Matt 23:4, but cf. Matt 11:29-30.
17 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
18 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Apollos) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
19 sn To cross over to Achaia. Achaia was organized by the Romans as a separate province in 27
20 tn Grk “encouraging [him], the brothers wrote.” The participle προτρεψάμενοι (protreyamenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. This was the typical letter of commendation from the Ephesians to the Achaeans.
21 tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
22 tn Grk “who, when he arrived.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“who”) was replaced with the pronoun “he” and a new sentence begun in the translation.
23 tn BDAG 1105-6 s.v. ὡς 8.b lists this use as a temporal conjunction.
24 tn Or “some became hardened.” See BDAG 930 s.v. σκληρύνω b and Acts 7:51-53.
25 tn Or “speaking evil of.” BDAG 500 s.v. κακολογέω has “speak evil of, revile, insult…τὶ someth. τὴν ὁδόν the Way (i.e. Christian way of life) Ac 19:9.”
26 sn The Way refers to the Christian movement (Christianity). Luke frequently refers to it as “the Way” (Acts 9:2; 18:25-26; 19:23; 22:4; 24:14, 22).
27 tn Grk “leaving them, he took.” The participle ἀποστάς (apostas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
28 tn The words “with him” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
29 tn Although the word διελέξατο (dielexato; from διαλέγομαι, dialegomai) is frequently translated “reasoned,” “disputed,” or “argued,” this sense comes from its classical meaning where it was used of philosophical disputation, including the Socratic method of questions and answers. However, there does not seem to be contextual evidence for this kind of debate in Acts 19:9. 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.
30 tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase in this verse.
31 tn The “lecture hall” was a place where teachers and pupils met. The term is a NT hapax legomenon (BDAG 982 s.v. σχολή). L&N 7.14 notes, “it is better to use a translation such as ‘lecture hall’ rather than ‘school,’ since one does not wish to give the impression of the typical classroom situation characteristic of present-day schools.”
32 sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1.
map For location see Map2 C1; Map4 B3; Map5 F2; Map7 A1; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
33 tn Grk “to Mnason…”; the words “the house of” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the verb ξενισθῶμεν (xenisqwmen).
34 tn Or perhaps, “Mnason of Cyprus, one of the original disciples.” BDAG 137 s.v. ἀρχαῖος 1 has “ἀ. μαθητής a disciple of long standing (perh. original disc.) Ac 21:16.”
