Acts 16:1-3
New English Translation
Timothy Joins Paul and Silas
16 He also came to Derbe[a] and to Lystra.[b] A disciple[c] named Timothy was there, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer,[d] but whose father was a Greek.[e] 2 The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke well[f] of him.[g] 3 Paul wanted Timothy[h] to accompany him, and he took[i] him and circumcised[j] him because of the Jews who were in those places,[k] for they all knew that his father was Greek.[l]
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- Acts 16:1 sn Derbe was a city in Lycaonia about 35 mi (60 km) southeast of Lystra. It was about 90 mi (145 km) from Tarsus.
- Acts 16:1 sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 18 mi (30 km) south of Iconium.
- Acts 16:1 tn Grk “And behold, a disciple.” Here ἰδού (idou) has not been translated.
- Acts 16:1 tn L&N 31.103 translates this phrase “the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer.”
- Acts 16:1 sn His father was a Greek. Timothy was the offspring of a mixed marriage between a Jewish woman (see 2 Tim 1:5) and a Gentile man. On mixed marriages in Judaism, see Neh 13:23-27; Ezra 9:1-10:44; Mal 2:10-16; Jub. 30:7-17; m. Qiddushin 3.12; m. Yevamot 7.5.
- Acts 16:2 tn For this sense of μαρτυρέω (martureō), see BDAG 618 s.v. 2.b.
- Acts 16:2 tn Grk “who was well spoken of by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium.” Because of the awkwardness in English of having two relative clauses follow one another (“who was a believer…who was well spoken of”) and the awkwardness of the passive verb (“was well spoken of”), the relative pronoun at the beginning of 16:2 (“who”) has been translated as a pronoun (“him”) and the construction converted from passive to active at the same time a new sentence was started in the translation.
- Acts 16:3 tn Grk “this one”; the referent (Timothy) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Acts 16:3 tn Grk “and taking him he circumcised him.” The participle λαβών (labōn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Paul’s cultural sensitivity showed in his action here. He did not want Timothy’s lack of circumcision to become an issue (1 Cor 9:15-23).
- Acts 16:3 tn The verb περιέτεμεν (perietemen) here may be understood as causative (cf. ExSyn 411-12) if Paul did not personally perform the circumcision.
- Acts 16:3 tn Or “who lived in the area.”
- Acts 16:3 tn The anarthrous predicate nominative has been translated as qualitative (“Greek”) rather than indefinite (“a Greek”).sn His father was Greek. Under Jewish law at least as early as the 2nd century, a person was considered Jewish if his or her mother was Jewish. It is not certain whether such a law was in effect in the 1st century, but even if it was, Timothy would not have been accepted as fully Jewish because he was not circumcised.
Acts 16:1-3
Lexham English Bible
Timothy Accompanies Paul and Silas
16 And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there named[a] Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish woman but of a Greek father, 2 who was well spoken of by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted this one to go with him, and he took him[b] and[c] circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was Greek.
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