Discovery BoxActs 17:12-15 
Context17:12 Therefore many of them believed, along with quite a few 1 prominent 2 Greek women and men. 17:13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica 3 heard that Paul had also proclaimed the word of God 4 in Berea, 5 they came there too, inciting 6 and disturbing 7 the crowds. 17:14 Then the brothers sent Paul away to the coast 8 at once, but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea. 9 17:15 Those who accompanied Paul escorted him as far as Athens, 10 and after receiving an order for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left. 11
1 tn Grk “not a few”; this use of negation could be misleading to the modern English reader, however, and so has been translated as “quite a few” (which is the actual meaning of the expression).
2 tn Or “respected.”
3 sn Thessalonica was a city in Macedonia (modern Salonica).
4 tn Grk “that the word of God had also been proclaimed by Paul.” This passive construction has been converted to an active one in the translation for stylistic reasons.
5 sn Berea (alternate spelling in NRSV Beroea; Greek Beroia) was a very old city in Macedonia on the river Astraeus about 45 mi (75 km) from Thessalonica.
6 tn BDAG 911 s.v. σαλεύω 2 has “incite” for σαλεύοντες (saleuonte") in Acts 17:13.
sn Inciting. Ironically, it was the Jews who were disturbing the peace, not the Christians.
7 tn Or “stirring up” (BDAG 990-91 s.v. ταράσσω 2). The point is the agitation of the crowds.
8 tn Grk “to the sea.” Here ἕως ἐπὶ τὴν θάλασσαν ({ew" epi thn qalassan) must mean “to the edge of the sea,” that is, “to the coast.” Since there is no mention of Paul taking a ship to Athens, he presumably traveled overland. The journey would have been about 340 mi (550 km).
9 tn Grk “remained there”; the referent (Berea) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.
11 sn They left. See 1 Thess 3:1-2, which shows they went from here to Thessalonica.
