Discovery BoxActs 7:36 
Context7:36 This man led them out, performing wonders and miraculous signs 1 in the land of Egypt, 2 at 3 the Red Sea, and in the wilderness 4 for forty years.
Acts 10:32
Context10:32 Therefore send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter. This man is staying as a guest in the house of Simon the tanner, 5 by the sea.’
Acts 13:13
Context13:13 Then Paul and his companions put out to sea 6 from Paphos 7 and came to Perga 8 in Pamphylia, 9 but John 10 left them and returned to Jerusalem. 11
Acts 27:27
Context27:27 When the fourteenth night had come, while we were being driven 12 across the Adriatic Sea, 13 about midnight the sailors suspected they were approaching some land. 14
Acts 28:11
Context28:11 After three months we put out to sea 15 in an Alexandrian ship that had wintered at the island and had the “Heavenly Twins” 16 as its figurehead. 17
1 tn Here the context indicates the miraculous nature of the signs mentioned.
sn Performing wonders and miraculous signs. Again Moses acted like Jesus. The phrase appears 9 times in Acts (2:19, 22, 43; 4:30; 5:12; 6:8; 7:36; 14:3; 15:12).
2 tn Or simply “in Egypt.” The phrase “the land of” could be omitted as unnecessary or redundant.
3 tn Grk “and at,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
4 tn Or “desert.”
5 tn Or “with a certain Simon Berseus.” Although most modern English translations treat βυρσεῖ (bursei) as Simon’s profession (“Simon the tanner”), it is possible that the word is actually Simon’s surname (“Simon Berseus” or “Simon Tanner”). BDAG 185 s.v. βυρσεύς regards it as a surname.
6 tn BDAG 62 s.v. ἀνάγω 4, “as a nautical t.t. (ἀ. τὴν ναῦν put a ship to sea), mid. or pass. ἀνάγεσθαι to begin to go by boat, put out to sea.”
7 sn Paphos was a city on the southwestern coast of the island of Cyprus. See Acts 13:6.
8 sn Perga was a city in Pamphylia near the southern coast of Asia Minor. The journey from Paphos to Perga is about 105 mi (175 km).
9 sn Pamphylia was a province in the southern part of Asia Minor.
10 sn That is, John Mark.
11 sn Returned to Jerusalem. John Mark had originally accompanied them from Jerusalem (see Acts 12:25). John Mark’s decision to leave became an issue later for Barnabas and Paul (Acts 15:36-39).
map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
12 tn Here “being driven” has been used to translate διαφέρω (diaferw) rather than “drifting,” because it is clear from the attempt to drop anchors in v. 29 that the ship is still being driven by the gale. “Drifting” implies lack of control, but not necessarily rapid movement.
13 sn The Adriatic Sea. They were now somewhere between Crete and Malta.
14 tn Grk “suspected that some land was approaching them.” BDAG 876 s.v. προσάγω 2.a states, “lit. ὑπενόουν προσάγειν τινά αὐτοῖς χώραν they suspected that land was near (lit. ‘approaching them’) Ac 27:27.” Current English idiom would speak of the ship approaching land rather than land approaching the ship.
15 tn BDAG 62 s.v. ἀνάγω 4, “as a nautical t.t. (ἀ. τὴν ναῦν put a ship to sea), mid. or pass. ἀνάγεσθαι to begin to go by boat, put out to sea.”
16 tn Or “the ‘Twin Gods’”; Grk “the Dioscuri” (a joint name for the pagan deities Castor and Pollux).
sn That had the ‘Heavenly Twins’ as its figurehead. The twin brothers Castor and Pollux, known collectively as the Dioscuri or ‘Heavenly Twins,’ were the twin sons of Zeus and Leda according to Greek mythology. The Alexandrian ship on which Paul and his companions sailed from Malta had a carved emblem or figurehead of these figures, and they would have been the patron deities of the vessel. Castor and Pollux were the “gods of navigation.” To see their stars was considered a good omen (Epictetus, Discourses 2.18.29; Lucian of Samosata, The Ship 9).
17 tn Or “as its emblem.”
