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Paul and Silas at Berea

10 The brothers sent Paul and Silas off to Berea[a] at once, during the night. When they arrived,[b] they went to the Jewish synagogue.[c] 11 These Jews[d] were more open-minded[e] than those in Thessalonica,[f] for they eagerly[g] received[h] the message, examining[i] the scriptures carefully every day[j] to see if these things were so. 12 Therefore many of them believed, along with quite a few[k] prominent[l] Greek women and men. 13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica[m] heard that Paul had also proclaimed the word of God[n] in Berea, they came there too, inciting[o] and disturbing[p] the crowds. 14 Then the brothers sent Paul away to the coast[q] at once, but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea.[r] 15 Those who accompanied Paul escorted him as far as Athens, and after receiving an order for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left.[s]

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 17:10 sn Berea (alternate spelling in NRSV Beroea; Greek Beroia) was a very old city in Macedonia on the river Astraeus about 45 mi (75 km) west of Thessalonica.
  2. Acts 17:10 tn Grk “who arriving there, went to.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (οἵτινες, hoitines) has been left untranslated and a new English sentence begun. The participle παραγενόμενοι (paragenomenoi) has been taken temporally.
  3. Acts 17:10 sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.
  4. Acts 17:11 tn Grk “These”; the referent (the Jews in the synagogue at Berea) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  5. Acts 17:11 tn Or “more willing to learn.” L&N 27.48 and BDAG 404 s.v. εὐγενής 2 both use the term “open-minded” here. The point is that they were more receptive to Paul’s message.
  6. Acts 17:11 sn Thessalonica was a city in Macedonia (modern Salonica).
  7. Acts 17:11 tn Or “willingly,” “readily”; Grk “with all eagerness.”
  8. Acts 17:11 tn Grk “who received.” Here the relative pronoun (“who”) has been translated as a pronoun (“they”) preceded by a semicolon, which is less awkward in contemporary English than a relative clause at this point.
  9. Acts 17:11 tn This verb (BDAG 66 s.v. ἀνακρίνω 1) refers to careful examination.
  10. Acts 17:11 tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase in this verse.
  11. Acts 17:12 tn Grk “not a few”; this use of negation could be misleading to the modern English reader, however, and so has been translated as “quite a few” (which is the actual meaning of the expression).
  12. Acts 17:12 tn Or “respected.”
  13. Acts 17:13 sn Thessalonica was a city in Macedonia (modern Salonica).
  14. Acts 17:13 tn Grk “that the word of God had also been proclaimed by Paul.” This passive construction has been converted to an active one in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  15. Acts 17:13 tn BDAG 911 s.v. σαλεύω 2 has “incite” for σαλεύοντες (saleuontes) in Acts 17:13.sn Inciting. Ironically, it was the Jews who were disturbing the peace, not the Christians.
  16. Acts 17:13 tn Or “stirring up” (BDAG 990-91 s.v. ταράσσω 2). The point is the agitation of the crowds.
  17. Acts 17:14 tn Grk “to the sea.” Here ἕως ἐπὶ τὴν θάλασσαν (heōs epi tēn thalassan) must mean “to the edge of the sea,” that is, “to the coast.” Since there is no mention of Paul taking a ship to Athens, he presumably traveled overland. The journey would have been about 340 mi (550 km).
  18. Acts 17:14 tn Grk “remained there”; the referent (Berea) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  19. Acts 17:15 sn They left. See 1 Thess 3:1-2, which shows they went from here to Thessalonica.

In Berea

10 (A)And the brothers immediately sent (B)Paul and Silas away by night to (C)Berea, [a]and when they arrived, they went into (D)the synagogue of the Jews. 11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in (E)Thessalonica, [b]for they received the word with [c]great eagerness, [d]examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. 12 Therefore (F)many of them believed, along with not a few (G)prominent Greek (H)women and men. 13 But when the Jews of (I)Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in (J)Berea also, they came there as well, shaking up and disturbing the crowds. 14 Then immediately (K)the brothers sent Paul out to go as far as the sea; and (L)Silas and (M)Timothy remained there. 15 Now (N)those who escorted Paul brought him as far as (O)Athens; and after receiving a command for (P)Silas and Timothy to (Q)come to him as soon as possible, they left.

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 17:10 Lit who
  2. Acts 17:11 Lit who received
  3. Acts 17:11 Lit all
  4. Acts 17:11 Or inquiring about the Scriptures