Kisah Para Rasul 17:18

17:18 Also some of the Epicurean ¹  and Stoic ²  philosophers were conversing ³  with him, and some were asking, ⁴  “What does this foolish babbler ⁵  want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.” ⁶  (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) ⁷ 

Kisah Para Rasul 2:13

2:13 But others jeered at the speakers, ⁸  saying, “They are drunk on new wine!” ⁹ 

Kisah Para Rasul 13:41

13:41 ‘Look, you scoffers; be amazed and perish! ¹⁰ 

For I am doing a work in your days,

a work you would never believe, even if someone tells you.’” ¹¹ 

Kisah Para Rasul 25:19

25:19 Rather they had several points of disagreement ¹²  with him about their own religion ¹³  and about a man named Jesus ¹⁴  who was dead, whom Paul claimed ¹⁵  to be alive.

Kisah Para Rasul 26:8

26:8 Why do you people ¹⁶  think ¹⁷  it is unbelievable ¹⁸  that ¹⁹  God raises the dead?

Kisah Para Rasul 26:24-25

26:24 As Paul ²⁰  was saying these things in his defense, Festus ²¹  exclaimed loudly, “You have lost your mind, ²²  Paul! Your great learning is driving you insane!” 26:25 But Paul replied, ²³  “I have not lost my mind, most excellent Festus, ²⁴  but am speaking ²⁵  true and rational ²⁶  words.

[17:18]  ¹ sn An Epicurean was a follower of the philosophy of Epicurus, who founded a school in Athens about 300 b.c. Although the Epicureans saw the aim of life as pleasure, they were not strictly hedonists, because they defined pleasure as the absence of pain. Along with this, they desired the avoidance of trouble and freedom from annoyances. They saw organized religion as evil, especially the belief that the gods punished evildoers in an afterlife. In keeping with this, they were unable to accept Paul’s teaching about the resurrection.

[17:18]  ² sn A Stoic was a follower of the philosophy founded by Zeno (342-270 b.c.), a Phoenician who came to Athens and modified the philosophical system of the Cynics he found there. The Stoics rejected the Epicurean ideal of pleasure, stressing virtue instead. The Stoics emphasized responsibility for voluntary actions and believed risks were worth taking, but thought the actual attainment of virtue was difficult. They also believed in providence.

[17:18]  ³ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβάλλω 1 has “converse, confer” here.

[17:18]  ⁴ tn Grk “saying.”

[17:18]  ⁵ tn Or “ignorant show-off.” The traditional English translation of σπερμολόγος (spermologo") is given in L&N 33.381 as “foolish babbler.” However, an alternate view is presented in L&N 27.19, “(a figurative extension of meaning of a term based on the practice of birds in picking up seeds) one who acquires bits and pieces of relatively extraneous information and proceeds to pass them off with pretense and show – ‘ignorant show-off, charlatan.’” A similar view is given in BDAG 937 s.v. σπερμολόγος: “in pejorative imagery of persons whose communication lacks sophistication and seems to pick up scraps of information here and there scrapmonger, scavenger…Engl. synonyms include ‘gossip’, ‘babbler’, chatterer’; but these terms miss the imagery of unsystematic gathering.”

[17:18]  ⁶ tn The meaning of this phrase is not clear. Literally it reads “strange deities” (see BDAG 210 s.v. δαιμόνιον 1). The note of not being customary is important. In the ancient world what was new was suspicious. The plural δαιμονίων (daimoniwn, “deities”) shows the audience grappling with Paul’s teaching that God was working through Jesus.

[17:18]  ⁷ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[2:13]  ⁸ tn The words “the speakers” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied for clarity. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[2:13]  ⁹ tn Grk “They are full of new wine!”

[2:13]  sn New wine refers to a new, sweet wine in the process of fermentation.

[13:41]  ¹⁰ tn Or “and die!”

[13:41]  ¹¹ sn A quotation from Hab 1:5. The irony in the phrase even if someone tells you, of course, is that Paul has now told them. So the call in the warning is to believe or else face the peril of being scoffers whom God will judge. The parallel from Habakkuk is that the nation failed to see how Babylon’s rising to power meant perilous judgment for Israel.

[25:19]  ¹² tn Grk “several controversial issues.” BDAG 428 s.v. ζήτημα states, “in our lit. only in Ac, w. the mng. it still has in Mod. Gk. (controversial) question, issue, argument…Ac 15:2; 26:3. ζ. περί τινος questions about someth.…18:15; 25:19.”

[25:19]  ¹³ tn On this term see BDAG 216 s.v. δεισιδαιμονία 2. It is a broad term for religion.

[25:19]  sn About their own religion. Festus made it clear that in his view as a neutral figure (and as one Luke had noted was disposed to help the Jews), he saw no guilt in Paul. The issue was a simple religious dispute.

[25:19]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “a certain Jesus.”

[25:19]  ¹⁵ tn Or “asserted.”

[26:8]  ¹⁶ tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate that the second person pronoun (“you”) is plural (others in addition to King Agrippa are being addressed).

[26:8]  ¹⁷ tn BDAG 568 s.v. κρίνω 3 states, “τί ἄπιστον κρίνεται παρ᾿ ὑμῖν; why do you think it is incredible? Ac 26:8.” The passive construction (“why is it thought unbelievable…”) has been converted to an active one to simplify the translation.

[26:8]  ¹⁸ tn Or “incredible.” BDAG 103 s.v. ἄπιστος 1 states, “unbelievable, incredible…τί ἄπιστον κρίνεται παρ᾿ ὑμῖν…; why does it seem incredible to you? Ac 26:8.”

[26:8]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “if.” The first-class conditional construction, which assumes reality for the sake of argument, has been translated as indirect discourse.

[26:24]  ²⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:24]  ²¹ sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

[26:24]  ²² tn On the term translated “lost your mind” see BDAG 610 s.v. μαίνομαι, which has “you’re out of your mind, you’re raving, said to one whose enthusiasm seems to have outrun better judgment 26:24.”

[26:24]  sn The expression “You have lost your mind” would be said to someone who speaks incredible things, in the opinion of the hearer. Paul’s mention of the resurrection (v. 23) was probably what prompted Festus to say this.

[26:25]  ²³ tn Grk “said.”

[26:25]  ²⁴ sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

[26:25]  ²⁵ tn Or “declaring.” BDAG 125 s.v. ἀποφθέγγομαι states, “speak out, declare boldly or loudly…τὶ: σωφροσύνης ῥήματα Ac 26:25.”

[26:25]  ²⁶ tn BDAG 987 s.v. σωφροσύνη 1 has “gener. soundness of mind, reasonableness, rationality…ἀληθείας καὶ σωφροσύνης ῥήματα true and rational words (opp. μαίνομαι) Ac 26:25.”