Acts 16:16 
Context| NET © | Now 1 as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit that enabled her to foretell the future by supernatural means. 2 She 3 brought her owners 4 a great profit by fortune-telling. 5 |
| NIV © | Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. |
| NASB © | It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. |
| NLT © | One day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a demon–possessed slave girl. She was a fortune–teller who earned a lot of money for her masters. |
| MSG © | One day, on our way to the place of prayer, a slave girl ran into us. She was a psychic and, with her fortunetelling, made a lot of money for the people who owned her. |
| BBE © | And when we were going to the place of prayer, we came across a girl with a spirit which gave knowledge of the future, whose masters made great profit from her power. |
| NRSV © | One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. |
| NKJV © | Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune–telling. |
| KJV | |
| NASB © | |
| GREEK | |
| NET © [draft] ITL | Now <1161> as we <2257> were going <4198> to <1519> the place of prayer <4335> , a slave girl <3814> met <5221> us <2254> who had <2192> a spirit <4151> that enabled <4436> her to foretell the future by supernatural means <4436> . She brought <3930> her <846> owners <2962> a great <4183> profit <2039> by fortune-telling .<3132> |
| NET © | Now 1 as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit that enabled her to foretell the future by supernatural means. 2 She 3 brought her owners 4 a great profit by fortune-telling. 5 |
| NET © Notes |
1 tn Grk “Now it happened that.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. 2 tn Or “who had a spirit of divination”; Grk “who had a spirit of Python.” According to BDAG 896-97 s.v. πύθων, originally Πύθων (Puqwn) was the name of the serpent or dragon that guarded the Delphic oracle. According to Greek mythology, it lived at the foot of Mount Parnassus and was killed by Apollo. From this, the word came to designate a person who was thought to have a spirit of divination. Pagan generals, for example, might consult someone like this. So her presence here suggests a supernatural encounter involving Paul and her “spirit.” W. Foerster, TDNT 6:920, connects the term with ventriloquism but states: “We must assume, however, that for this girl, as for those mentioned by Origen…, the art of ventriloquism was inseparably connected with a (supposed or authentic) gift of soothsaying.” It should also be noted that if the girl in question here were only a ventriloquist, the exorcism performed by Paul in v. 18 would not have been effective. 3 tn Grk “who.” Because of the awkwardness in English of having two relative clauses follow one another (“who had a spirit…who brought her owners a great profit”) the relative pronoun here (“who”) has been translated as a pronoun (“she”) and a new sentence begun in the translation. 4 tn Or “masters.” 5 tn On this term see BDAG 616 s.v. μαντεύομαι. It was used of those who gave oracles. |
