Kisah Para Rasul 17:18-20

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  17:19 So they took Paul and ⁸  brought him to the Areopagus, ⁹  saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are proclaiming? 17:20 For you are bringing some surprising things ¹⁰  to our ears, so we want to know what they ¹¹  mean.”

Kisah Para Rasul 17:32

17:32 Now when they heard about ¹²  the resurrection from the dead, some began to scoff, ¹³  but others said, “We will hear you again about this.”

Kisah Para Rasul 18:14-17

18:14 But just as Paul was about to speak, ¹⁴  Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of some crime or serious piece of villainy, ¹⁵  I would have been justified in accepting the complaint ¹⁶  of you Jews, ¹⁷  18:15 but since it concerns points of disagreement ¹⁸  about words and names and your own law, settle ¹⁹  it yourselves. I will not be ²⁰  a judge of these things!” 18:16 Then he had them forced away ²¹  from the judgment seat. ²²  18:17 So they all seized Sosthenes, the president of the synagogue, ²³  and began to beat ²⁴  him in front of the judgment seat. ²⁵  Yet none of these things were of any concern ²⁶  to Gallio.

Kisah Para Rasul 25:19-20

25:19 Rather they had several points of disagreement ²⁷  with him about their own religion ²⁸  and about a man named Jesus ²⁹  who was dead, whom Paul claimed ³⁰  to be alive. 25:20 Because I was at a loss ³¹  how I could investigate these matters, ³²  I asked if he were willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried ³³  there on these charges. ³⁴ 

Kisah Para Rasul 26:31-32

26:31 and as they were leaving they said to one another, ³⁵  “This man is not doing anything deserving ³⁶  death or imprisonment.” 26:32 Agrippa ³⁷  said to Festus, ³⁸  “This man could have been released ³⁹  if he had not appealed to Caesar.” ⁴⁰ 

[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.

[17:19]  ⁸ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:19]  ⁹ tn Or “to the council of the Areopagus.” See also the term in v. 22.

[17:19]  sn The Areopagus has been traditionally understood as reference to a rocky hill near the Acropolis in Athens, although this place may well have been located in the marketplace at the foot of the hill (L&N 93.412; BDAG 129 s.v. ῎Αρειος πάγος). This term does not refer so much to the place, however, as to the advisory council of Athens known as the Areopagus, which dealt with ethical, cultural, and religious matters, including the supervision of education and controlling the many visiting lecturers. Thus it could be translated the council of the Areopagus. See also the term in v. 22.

[17:20]  ¹⁰ tn BDAG 684 s.v. ξενίζω 2 translates the substantival participle ξενίζοντα (xenizonta) as “astonishing things Ac 17:20.”

[17:20]  ¹¹ tn Grk “these things”; but since the referent (“surprising things”) is so close, the repetition of “these things” sounds redundant in English, so the pronoun “they” was substituted in the translation.

[17:32]  ¹² tn The participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") has been taken temporally.

[17:32]  ¹³ tn L&N 33.408 has “some scoffed (at him) Ac 17:32” for ἐχλεύαζον (ecleuazon) here; the imperfect verb has been translated as an ingressive imperfect (“began to scoff”).

[18:14]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “about to open his mouth” (an idiom).

[18:14]  ¹⁵ tn BDAG 902 s.v. ῥᾳδιούργημα states, “From the sense ‘prank, knavery, roguish trick, slick deed’ it is but a short step to that of a serious misdeed, crime, villainy…a serious piece of villainy Ac 18:14 (w. ἀδίκημα).”

[18:14]  ¹⁶ tn According to BDAG 78 s.v. ἀνέχω 3 this is a legal technical term: “Legal t.t. κατὰ λόγον ἂν ἀνεσχόμην ὑμῶν I would have been justified in accepting your complaint Ac 18:14.”

[18:14]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “accepting your complaint, O Jews.”

[18:15]  ¹⁸ tn Or “dispute.”

[18:15]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “see to it” (an idiom).

[18:15]  ²⁰ tn Or “I am not willing to be.” Gallio would not adjudicate their religious dispute.

[18:16]  ²¹ tn Grk “driven away,” but this could result in a misunderstanding in English (“driven” as in a cart or wagon?). “Forced away” conveys the idea; Gallio rejected their complaint. In contemporary English terminology the case was “thrown out of court.” The verb ἀπήλασεν (aphlasen) has been translated as a causative since Gallio probably did not perform this action in person, but ordered his aides or officers to remove the plaintiffs.

[18:16]  ²² sn See the note on the term judgment seat in 18:12.

[18:17]  ²³ tn That is, “the official in charge of the synagogue”; ἀρχισυνάγωγος (arcisunagwgo") refers to the “leader/president of a synagogue” (so BDAG 139 s.v. and L&N 53.93).

[18:17]  sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[18:17]  ²⁴ tn The imperfect verb ἔτυπτον (etupton) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

[18:17]  ²⁵ sn See the note on the term judgment seat in 18:12.

[18:17]  ²⁶ tn L&N 25.223 has “‘none of these things were of any concern to Gallio’ Ac 18:17.”

[18:17]  sn Rome was officially indifferent to such disputes. Gallio understood how sensitive some Jews would be about his meddling in their affairs. This is similar to the way Pilate dealt with Jesus. In the end, he let the Jewish leadership and people make the judgment against Jesus.

[25:19]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ tn Grk “a certain Jesus.”

[25:19]  ³⁰ tn Or “asserted.”

[25:20]  ³¹ tn Or “Because I was undecided.” Grk “Being at a loss.” The participle ἀπορούμενος (aporoumeno") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

[25:20]  ³² tn L&N 27.34 states, “ἀπορούμενος δὲ ἐγὼ τὴν περὶ τούτων ζήτησιν ‘I was undecided about how I could get information on these matters’ Ac 25:20. The clause ‘about how I could get information on these matters’ may also be rendered as ‘about how I should try to find out about these matters’ or ‘about how I could learn about these matters.’”

[25:20]  ³³ tn Or “stand trial.”

[25:20]  ³⁴ tn Grk “on these things.”

[26:31]  ³⁵ tn Grk “they spoke to one another saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[26:31]  ³⁶ tn BDAG 93 s.v. ἄξιος 1.b has “θανάτου ἢ δεσμῶν ἄ. nothing deserving death or imprisonment 23:29; 26:31.”

[26:31]  sn Not doing anything deserving death… Here is yet another declaration of Paul’s innocence, but still no release. The portrayal shows how unjust Paul’s confinement was.

[26:32]  ³⁷ sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

[26:32]  ³⁸ sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

[26:32]  ³⁹ tn Or “set free.”

[26:32]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[26:32]  sn If he had not appealed to Caesar. Ultimately Agrippa and Festus blamed what Paul himself had done in appealing to Caesar for his own continued custody. In terms of Luke’s narrative, this still appears unjust and a denial of responsibility.