Kisah Para Rasul 16:16

Paul and Silas Are Thrown Into Prison

16:16 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 

Kisah Para Rasul 19:25-26

19:25 He gathered ⁶  these ⁷  together, along with the workmen in similar trades, ⁸  and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity ⁹  comes from this business. 19:26 And you see and hear that this Paul has persuaded ¹⁰  and turned away ¹¹  a large crowd, ¹²  not only in Ephesus ¹³  but in practically all of the province of Asia, ¹⁴  by saying ¹⁵  that gods made by hands are not gods at all. ¹⁶ 

[16:16]  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.

[16:16]  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.

[16:16]  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.

[16:16]  ⁴ tn Or “masters.”

[16:16]  ⁵ tn On this term see BDAG 616 s.v. μαντεύομαι. It was used of those who gave oracles.

[19:25]  ⁶ tn Grk “gathering.” The participle συναθροίσας (sunaqroisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[19:25]  ⁷ tn Grk “whom”; because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been replaced with a pronoun (“these”) and a new sentence begun in the translation.

[19:25]  ⁸ sn Workmen in similar trades. In effect, Demetrius gathered the Ephesian chamber of commerce together to hear about the threat to their prosperity.

[19:25]  ⁹ tn Another possible meaning is “that this business is an easy way for us to earn a living.”

[19:26]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “persuading.” The participle πείσας (peisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[19:26]  ¹¹ tn Or “misled.”

[19:26]  ¹² tn BDAG 472 s.v. ἱκανός 3.a has “of pers. ὄχλος a large crowd…Ac 11:24, 26; 19:26.”

[19:26]  ¹³ map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.

[19:26]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Asia”; see the note on this word in v. 22.

[19:26]  ¹⁵ tn The participle λέγων (legwn) has been regarded as indicating instrumentality.

[19:26]  ¹⁶ tn The words “at all” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[19:26]  sn Gods made by hands are not gods at all. Paul preached against paganism’s idolatry. Here is a one-line summary of a speech like that in Acts 17:22-31.