translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: ACT

label: NET study note

text: Corinth was the capital city of the senatorial province of Achaia and the seat of the Roman proconsul. It was located 55 mi (88 km) west of Athens. Corinth was a major rival to Athens and was the largest city in Greece at the time. map For location see JP1-C2 ; JP2-C2 ; JP3-C2 ; JP4-C2 .


text: On Aquila and his wife Priscilla see also Acts 18:18, 26 ; Rom 16:3-4 ; 1 Cor 16:19 ; 2 Tim 4:19 . In the NT “Priscilla” and “Prisca” are the same person. This author uses the full name Priscilla , while Paul uses the diminutive form Prisca.


text: Pontus was a region in the northeastern part of Asia Minor. It was a Roman province.


text: Claudius refers to the Roman emperor Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus, known as Claudius, who ruled from a.d. 41-54. The edict expelling the Jews from Rome was issued in a.d. 49 (Suetonius, Claudius 25.4).


text: This is a parenthetical note by the author.


text: See the note on synagogue in 6:9 .


text: Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.


text: Your blood be on your own heads! By invoking this epithet Paul declared himself not responsible for their actions in rejecting Jesus whom Paul preached (cf. Ezek 33:4; 3:6-21 ; Matt 23:35; 27:25 ).


text: Frequently in Acts such a vision will tell the reader where events are headed. See Acts 10:9-16 and 16:9-10 for other accounts of visions.


text: Gallio was proconsul of Achaia from a.d. 51-52. This date is one of the firmly established dates in Acts. Lucius Junius Gallio was the son of the rhetorician Seneca and the brother of Seneca the philosopher. The date of Gallio’s rule is established from an inscription (W. Dittenberger, ed., Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum 2.3 no. 8). Thus the event mentioned here is probably to be dated July-October a.d. 51.


text: The proconsul was the Roman official who ruled over a province traditionally under the control of the Roman senate.


text: Achaia was a Roman province created in 146 b.c. that included the most important parts of Greece (Attica, Boeotia, and the Peloponnesus).


text: See the note on the term judgment seat in 18:12 .


text: See the note on Aquila in 18:2 .


text: He had made a vow. It is debated whether this vow is a private vow of thanksgiving or the Nazirite vow, because it is not clear whether the Nazirite vow could be taken outside Jerusalem. Some have cited the Mishnah ( m. Nazir 3:6, 5:4) to argue that the shaving of the hair can occur outside Jerusalem, and Josephus, J. W. 2.15.1 (2.313) is sometimes suggested as a parallel, but these references are not clear. H. Greeven, TDNT 2:777, is certain that this refers to the Nazirite vow. Regardless, it is clear that Paul reflected his pious dependence on God.


text: Ephesus was an influential city in Asia Minor. It was the location of the famous temple of Artemis. In 334 b.c. control of the city had passed to Alexander the Great, who contributed a large sum to the building of a new and more elaborate temple of Artemis, which became one of the seven wonders of the ancient world and lasted until destroyed by the Goths in a.d. 263. This major port city would be reached from Corinth by ship. It was 250 mi (400 km) east of Corinth by sea. map For location see JP1-D2 ; JP2-D2 ; JP3-D2 ; JP4-D2 .


text: He would not consent. Paul probably refused because he wanted to reach Jerusalem for the festival season before the seas became impassable during the winter.


text: 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 . This was a sea voyage of 620 mi (990 km). map For location see Map2-C1 ; Map4-B3 ; Map5-F2 ; Map7-A1 ; JP1-F4 ; JP2-F4 ; JP3-F4 ; JP4-F4 .


text: Went down to Antioch. The city of Antioch in Syria lies due north of Jerusalem. In Western languages it is common to speak of north as “up” and south as “down,” but the NT maintains the Hebrew idiom which speaks of any direction away from Jerusalem as down (since Mount Zion was thought of in terms of altitude). This marks the end of the second missionary journey which began in Acts 15:36 . From Caesarea to Antioch is a journey of 280 mi (450 km). map For location see JP1-F2 ; JP2-F2 ; JP3-F2 ; JP4-F2 .


text: 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.


text: Phrygia was a district in central Asia Minor west of Pisidia. See Acts 16:6 .


text: Priscilla and Aquila. This key couple, of which Priscilla was an important enough figure to be mentioned by name, instructed Apollos about the most recent work of God. See also the note on Aquila in 18:2 .


text: To cross over to Achaia. Achaia was organized by the Romans as a separate province in 27 b.c. and was located across the Aegean Sea from Ephesus. The city of Corinth was in Achaia.