Discovery BoxActs 6:7 
Context6:7 The word of God continued to spread, 1 the number of disciples in Jerusalem 2 increased greatly, and a large group 3 of priests became obedient to the faith.
Acts 9:25
Context9:25 But his disciples took him at night and let him down through an opening 4 in the wall by lowering him in a basket. 5
Acts 9:38
Context9:38 Because Lydda 6 was near Joppa, when the disciples heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Come to us without delay.” 7
Acts 14:20-22
Context14:20 But after the disciples had surrounded him, he got up and went back 8 into the city. On 9 the next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe. 10
14:21 After they had proclaimed the good news in that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, 11 to Iconium, 12 and to Antioch. 13 14:22 They strengthened 14 the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue 15 in the faith, saying, “We must enter the kingdom 16 of God through many persecutions.” 17
Acts 18:23
Context18:23 After he spent 18 some time there, Paul left and went through the region of Galatia 19 and Phrygia, 20 strengthening all the disciples.
Acts 20:1
Context20:1 After the disturbance had ended, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging 21 them and saying farewell, 22 he left to go to Macedonia. 23
Acts 20:30
Context20:30 Even from among your own group 24 men 25 will arise, teaching perversions of the truth 26 to draw the disciples away after them.
Acts 21:4
Context21:4 After we located 27 the disciples, we stayed there 28 seven days. They repeatedly told 29 Paul through the Spirit 30 not to set foot 31 in Jerusalem. 32
1 tn Grk “kept on spreading”; the verb has been translated as a progressive imperfect.
2 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
3 tn Grk “a great multitude.”
sn A large group. Many Jews, even some religious leaders, were responding.
4 tn The opening in the wall is not specifically mentioned here, but the parallel account in 2 Cor 11:33 mentions a “window” or “opening” (θυρίς, quris) in the city wall through which Paul was lowered. One alternative to introducing mention of the opening is to translate Acts 9:25 “they let him down over the wall,” as suggested in L&N 7.61. This option is not employed by many translations, however, because for the English reader it creates an (apparent) contradiction between Acts 9:25 and 2 Cor 11:33. In reality the account here is simply more general, omitting the detail about the window.
5 tn On the term for “basket” used here, see BDAG 940 s.v. σπυρίς.
6 sn Lydda was a city northwest of Jerusalem on the way to Joppa.
7 tn Grk “Do not delay to come to us.” It is somewhat smoother to say in English, “Come to us without delay.”
8 tn Grk “and entered”; the word “back” is not in the Greek text but is implied.
9 tn Grk “And on.” 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 sn Derbe was a city in Lycaonia about 35 mi (60 km) southeast of Lystra. This was the easternmost point of the journey.
map For location see JP1 E2; JP2 E2; JP3 E2.
11 sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 35 mi (60 km) northwest of Derbe.
map For location see JP1 E2; JP2 E2; JP3 E2.
12 sn Iconium was a city in Lycaonia about 18 mi (30 km) north of Lystra.
13 sn Antioch was a city in Pisidia about 90 mi (145 km) west northwest of Lystra.
map For location see JP1 E2; JP2 E2; JP3 E2; JP4 E2.
14 tn Grk “to Antioch, strengthening.” Due to the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was started here. This participle (ἐπιστηρίζοντες, episthrizonte") and the following one (παρακαλοῦντες, parakalounte") have been translated as finite verbs connected by the coordinating conjunction “and.”
15 sn And encouraged them to continue. The exhortations are like those noted in Acts 11:23; 13:43. An example of such a speech is found in Acts 20:18-35. Christianity is now characterized as “the faith.”
16 sn This reference to the kingdom of God clearly refers to its future arrival.
17 tn Or “sufferings.”
18 tn Grk “Having spent”; the participle ποιήσας (poihsas) is taken temporally.
19 sn Galatia refers to either (1) the region of the old kingdom of Galatia in the central part of Asia Minor, or (2) the Roman province of Galatia, whose principal cities in the 1st century were Ancyra and Pisidian Antioch. The exact extent and meaning of this area has been a subject of considerable controversy in modern NT studies.
20 sn Phrygia was a district in central Asia Minor west of Pisidia. See Acts 16:6.
21 tn Or “exhorting.”
22 tn Or “and taking leave of them.”
23 sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.
24 tn Grk “from among yourselves.”
25 tn The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only rarely is used in a generic sense to refer to both males and females. Since Paul is speaking to the Ephesian elders at this point and there is nothing in the context to suggest women were included in that group (“from among your own group”), it is most likely Paul was not predicting that these false teachers would include women.
26 tn Grk “speaking crooked things”; BDAG 237 s.v. διαστρέφω 2 has “λαλεῖν διεστραμμένα teach perversions (of the truth) Ac 20:30.”
sn These perversions of the truth refer to the kinds of threats that would undermine repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. v. 21). Instead these false teachers would arise from within the Ephesian congregation (cf. 1 John 2:18-19) and would seek to draw the disciples away after them.
27 tn BDAG 78 s.v. ἀνευρίσκω has “look/search for (w. finding presupposed) τινά…τοὺς μαθητάς Ac 21:4.” The English verb “locate,” when used in reference to persons, has the implication of both looking for and finding someone. The participle ἀνευρόντες (aneuronte") has been taken temporally.
28 tn BDAG 154 s.v. αὐτοῦ states, “deictic adv. designating a position relatively near or far…there…Ac 21:4.”
29 tn The imperfect verb ἔλεγον (elegon) has been taken iteratively.
30 sn Although they told this to Paul through the Spirit, it appears Paul had a choice here (see v. 14). Therefore this amounted to a warning: There was risk in going to Jerusalem, so he was urged not to go.
31 tn BDAG 367 s.v. ἐπιβαίνω places Ac 21:4 under 1, “go up/upon, mount, board…πλοίῳ…Ac 27:2…Abs. go on board, embark…21:1 D, 2. – So perh. also ἐ. εἰς ᾿Ιεροσόλυμα embark for Jerusalem (i.e. to the seaport of Caesarea) vs. 4.” BDAG notes, however, “But this pass. may also belong to 2. to move to an area and be there, set foot in.” Because the message from the disciples to Paul through the Holy Spirit has the character of a warning, the latter meaning has been adopted for this translation.
32 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
