translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: ACT

label: NET translator note

text: Grk “they”; the referents (Paul and Barnabas) have been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Or “that a large crowd.”


text: Or “who would not believe.”


text: Or “embittered their minds” ( Grk “their souls”). BDAG 502 s.v. κακόω 2 has “ make angry, embitter τὰς ψυχάς τινων κατά τινος poison the minds of some persons against another Ac 14:2 .”


text: The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.


text: Grk “word.”


text: Here the context indicates the miraculous nature of the signs mentioned.


text: BDAG 825 s.v. πλῆθος 2.b. γ has this translation for πλῆθος ( plhqo" ).


text: These clauses are a good example of the contrastive μὲν … δέ ( men … de ) construction: Some “on the one hand” sided with the Jews, but some “on the other hand” sided with the apostles.


text: Grk “So there came about an attempt” 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.


text: On this verb see BDAG 1022 s.v. ὑβρίζω .


text: The direct object “them” is repeated after both verbs in the translation for stylistic reasons, although it occurs only after λιθοβολῆσαι ( liqobolhsai ) in the Greek text.


text: Grk “learning about it, fled.” The participle συνιδόντες ( sunidonte" ) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. It could also be taken temporally (“when they learned about it”) as long as opening clause of v. 5 is not translated as a temporal clause too, which results in a redundancy.


text: Grk “region, and there.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, καί ( kai ) has not been translated and a new sentence begun in the translation.


text: The periphrastic construction εὐαγγελιζόμενοι ἦσαν ( euangelizomenoi hsan ) has been translated as a progressive imperfect.


text: Grk “And in.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί ( kai ) has not been translated here.


text: Grk “powerless in his feet,” meaning he was unable to use his feet to walk.


text: Grk “lame from his mother’s womb” (an idiom). sn The description lame from birth makes clear how serious the condition was, and how real it was. This event is very similar to Acts 3:1-10 , except here the lame man’s faith is clear from the start.


text: Grk “speaking, who.” The relative pronoun has been replaced by the noun “Paul,” and a new sentence begun in the translation because an English relative clause would be very awkward here.


text: Or “looked.”


text: BDAG 722 s.v. ὀρθός 1.a has “ stand upright on your feet .”


text: Grk “he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: This verb is imperfect tense in contrast to the previous verb, which is aorist. It has been translated ingressively, since the start of a sequence is in view here.


text: Grk “they lifted up their voice” (an idiom).


text: Grk “in Lycaonian, saying.” The word “language” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. The participle λέγοντες ( legontes ) is redundant in English and has not been translated.


text: So BDAG 707 s.v. ὁμοιόω 1. However, L&N 64.4 takes the participle ὁμοιωθέντες ( Jomoiwqente" ) as an adjectival participle modifying θεοί ( qeoi ): “the gods resembling men have come down to us.” sn The gods have come down to us in human form. Greek culture spoke of “divine men.” In this region there was a story of Zeus and Hermes visiting the area (Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.611-725). The locals failed to acknowledge them, so judgment followed. The present crowd was determined not to make the mistake a second time.


text: The imperfect verb ἐκάλουν ( ekaloun ) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.


text: The words “the temple of” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. The translation “ the priest of (the temple/shrine of) Zeus located before the city ” is given for this phrase by BDAG 426 s.v. Ζεύς .


text: Or “oxen.”


text: Or “wreaths.” sn Garlands were commonly wreaths of wool with leaves and flowers woven in, worn on a person’s head or woven around a staff. They were an important part of many rituals used to worship pagan gods. Although it was an erroneous reaction, the priest’s reaction shows how all acknowledged their power and access to God.


text: The words “to them” are not in the Greek text, but are clearly implied by the response of Paul and Barnabas in the following verse.


text: The participle ἀκούσαντες ( akousante" ) is taken temporally.


text: Grk “tearing their clothes they rushed out.” The participle διαρρήξαντες ( diarrhxante" ) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. This action is a Jewish response to blasphemy ( m. Sanhedrin 7.5; Jdt 14:16-17).


text: So BDAG 307 s.v. ἐκπηδάω 1, “ rush (lit. ‘leap’) out … εἰς τὸν ὄχλον into the crowd Ac 14:14 .”


text: Grk “shouting and saying.” The participle λέγοντες ( legontes , in v. 15 ) has not been translated because it is redundant. sn What follows is one of two speeches in Acts to a purely pagan audience ( in Athens is the other). So Paul focused on God as Creator, a common link.


text: Grk “with the same kinds of feelings,” L&N 25.32. BDAG 706 s.v. ὁμοιοπαθής translates the phrase “ with the same nature τινί as someone .” In the immediate context, the contrast is between human and divine nature, and the point is that Paul and Barnabas are mere mortals, not gods.


text: Grk “in order that you should turn,” with ἐπιστρέφειν ( epistrefein ) as an infinitive of purpose, but this is somewhat awkward contemporary English. To translate the infinitive construction “proclaim the good news, that you should turn,” which is much smoother English, could give the impression that the infinitive clause is actually the content of the good news, which it is not. The somewhat less formal “to get you to turn” would work, but might convey to some readers manipulativeness on the part of the apostles. Thus “proclaim the good news, so that you should turn,” is used, to convey that the purpose of the proclamation of good news is the response by the hearers. The emphasis here is like 1 Thess 1:9-10 .


text: Or “useless,” “futile.” The reference is to idols and idolatry, worshiping the creation over the Creator ( Rom 1:18-32 ). See also 1 Kgs 16:2, 13, 26 ; 2 Kgs 17:15 ; Jer 2:5; 8:19 ; 3 Macc 6:11.


text: Grk “and the earth, and the sea,” but καί ( kai ) has not been translated before “the earth” and “the sea” since contemporary English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.


text: Grk “them, who in.” The relative pronoun (“who”) was replaced by the pronoun “he” (“In past generations he”) and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek and the awkwardness of two relative clauses (“who made the heaven” and “who in past generations”) following one another.


text: On this term see BDAG 780 s.v. παροίχομαι . The word is a NT hapax legomenon .


text: Or “all the Gentiles” (in Greek the word for “nation” and “Gentile” is the same). The plural here alludes to the variety of false religions in the pagan world.


text: The participle ἀγαθουργῶν ( agaqourgwn ) is regarded as indicating means here, parallel to the following participles διδούς ( didou" ) and ἐμπιπλῶν ( empiplwn ). This is the easiest way to understand the Greek structure. Semantically, the first participle is a general statement, followed by two participles giving specific examples of doing good.


text: Or “from the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).


text: Grk “satisfying [filling] your hearts with food and joy.” This is an idiomatic expression; it strikes the English reader as strange to speak of “filling one’s heart with food.” Thus the additional direct object “you” has been supplied, separating the two expressions somewhat: “satisfying you with food and your hearts with joy.”


text: The participle λέγοντες ( legontes ) is regarded as indicating means.


text: BDAG 524 s.v. καταπαύω 2.b gives both “ restrain ” and “ dissuade someone fr. someth. ,” but “they scarcely dissuaded the crowds from offering sacrifice,” while accurate, is less common in contemporary English than saying “they scarcely persuaded the crowds not to offer sacrifice.” Paganism is portrayed as a powerful reality that is hard to reverse.


text: The participle πείσαντες ( peisante" ) is taken temporally (BDAG 791 s.v. πείθω 1.c).


text: Grk “stoning Paul they dragged him.” The participle λιθάσαντες ( liqasante" ) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.


text: Grk “and entered”; the word “back” is not in the Greek text but is implied.


text: Grk “And on.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί ( kai ) has not been translated here.


text: Grk “to Antioch, strengthening.” Due to the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was started here. This participle ( ἐπιστηρίζοντες , episthrizonte" ) and the following one ( παρακαλοῦντες , parakalounte" ) have been translated as finite verbs connected by the coordinating conjunction “and.”


text: Or “sufferings.”


text: The preposition κατά ( kata ) is used here in a distributive sense; see BDAG 512 s.v. κατά B.1.d.


text: Literally with a finite verb ( προσευξάμενοι , proseuxamenoi ) rather than a noun, “praying with fasting,” but the combination “prayer and fasting” is so familiar in English that it is preferable to use it here.


text: BDAG 772 s.v. παρατίθημι 3.b has “ entrust someone to the care or protection of someone ” for this phrase. The reference to persecution or suffering in the context (v. 22 ) suggests “protection” is a better translation here. This looks at God’s ultimate care for the church.


text: Grk “Then passing through Pisidia they came.” The participle διελθόντες ( dielqonte" ) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.


text: Or “message.”


text: Or “committed.” BDAG 762 s.v. παραδίδωμι 2 gives “ commended to the grace of God for the work 14:26” as the meaning for this phrase, although “ give over ” and “ commit ” are listed as alternative meanings for this category.


text: BDAG 829 s.v. πληρόω 5 has “to bring to completion an activity in which one has been involved from its beginning, complete, finish ” as meanings for this category. The ministry to which they were commissioned ends with a note of success.


text: Or “announced.”


text: BDAG 238 s.v. διατρίβω gives the meaning as “ spend ” when followed by an accusative τὸν χρόνον ( ton cronon ) which is the case here.


text: Grk “no little (time)” (an idiom).