Kisah Para Rasul 9:2

9:2 and requested letters from him to the synagogues ¹  in Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, ²  either men or women, he could bring them as prisoners ³  to Jerusalem. ⁴ 

Kisah Para Rasul 15:23

15:23 They sent this letter with them: ⁵ 

From the apostles ⁶  and elders, your brothers, ⁷  to the Gentile brothers and sisters ⁸  in Antioch, ⁹  Syria, ¹⁰  and Cilicia, greetings!

Kisah Para Rasul 17:23

17:23 For as I went around and observed closely your objects of worship, ¹¹  I even found an altar with this inscription: ¹²  ‘To an unknown god.’ Therefore what you worship without knowing it, ¹³  this I proclaim to you.

[9:2]  ¹ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[9:2]  ² sn The expression “the way” in ancient religious literature refers at times to “the whole way of life fr. a moral and spiritual viewpoint” (BDAG 692 s.v. ὁδός 3.c), and it has been so used of Christianity and its teachings in the book of Acts (see also 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22). It is a variation of Judaism’s idea of two ways, the true and the false, where “the Way” is the true one (1 En. 91:18; 2 En. 30:15).

[9:2]  ³ tn Grk “bring them bound”; the translation “bring someone as prisoner” for δεδεμένον ἄγειν τινά (dedemenon agein tina) is given by BDAG 221 s.v. δέω 1.b.

[9:2]  ⁴ sn From Damascus to Jerusalem was a six-day journey. Christianity had now expanded into Syria.

[9:2]  map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[15:23]  ⁵ tn Grk “writing by their hand” (an idiom for sending a letter).

[15:23]  ⁶ tn Grk “The apostles.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[15:23]  ⁷ tn Grk “brothers,” but “your” is supplied to specify the relationship, since without it “brothers” could be understood as vocative in English.

[15:23]  ⁸ tn Grk “to the brothers who are from the Gentiles.”

[15:23]  ⁹ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia).

[15:23]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and Syria,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[17:23]  ¹¹ tn Or “your sanctuaries.” L&N 53.54 gives “sanctuary” (place of worship) as an alternate meaning for the word σεβάσματα (sebasmata).

[17:23]  ¹² tn Grk “on which was written,” but since it would have been carved in stone, it is more common to speak of an “inscription” in English. To simplify the English the relative construction with a passive verb (“on which was inscribed”) was translated as a prepositional phrase with a substantive (“inscription”).

[17:23]  ¹³ tn BDAG 13 s.v. ἀγνοέω 1.b has “Abs. ὅ ἀγνοοῦντες εὐσεβεῖτε what you worship without knowing it (on the subject matter Maximus Tyr. 11, 5e: all sorts of philosophers ἴσασιν οὐκ ἑκόντες καὶ λέγουσιν ἄκοντες sc. τὸ θεῖον = they know and name God without intending to do so) Ac 17:23.” Paul, in typical Jewish Christian style, informs them of the true God, of whom their idols are an ignorant reflection.