Discovery BoxActs 8:1 
Context8:1 And Saul agreed completely with killing 1 him.
Now on that day a great 2 persecution began 3 against the church in Jerusalem, 4 and all 5 except the apostles were forced to scatter throughout the regions 6 of Judea and Samaria.
Acts 8:14-15
Context8:14 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem 7 heard that Samaria had accepted the word 8 of God, they sent 9 Peter and John to them. 8:15 These two 10 went down and prayed for them so that they would receive the Holy Spirit.
Acts 8:40
Context8:40 Philip, however, found himself 11 at Azotus, 12 and as he passed through the area, 13 he proclaimed the good news 14 to all the towns 15 until he came to Caesarea. 16
1 tn The term ἀναίρεσις (anairesi") can refer to murder (BDAG 64 s.v.; 2 Macc 5:13; Josephus, Ant. 5.2.12 [5.165]).
2 tn Or “severe.”
3 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.”
4 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
5 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.
6 tn Or “countryside.”
7 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
8 tn Or “message.”
9 sn They sent. The Jerusalem church with the apostles was overseeing the expansion of the church, as the distribution of the Spirit indicates in vv. 15-17.
10 tn Grk “who.” The relative pronoun was replaced by the phrase “these two” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style.
11 tn Or “appeared.”
12 sn Azotus was a city on the coast of southern Palestine, known as Ashdod in OT times.
13 tn The words “the area” are not in the Greek text but are implied.
14 tn Or “he preached the gospel.”
15 tn Or “cities.”
16 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.
