Acts 8:4-12

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Acts 8:5 tn The word “main” is supplied in the translation to clarify that “Samaria” is not the name of the city (at least in NT times). See both BDAG 912 s.v. Σαμάρεια, and L&N 93.568.sn The main city of Samaria most likely refers to the principal city of Samaria, rebuilt by Herod the Great as Sebaste in honor of Augustus (J. Boehmer, “Studien zur Geographie Palästinas bes. im Neuen Testament,” ZNW 9 [1908]: 216-18; D. Gill and C. Gempf, eds., The Book of Acts in its Graeco-Roman Setting, 272). This is the best option if the article before “city” is taken as original. If the reading without the article is taken as autographic, then another city may be in view: Gitta, the hometown of Simon Magus according to Justin Martyr (cf. C. K. Barrett, Acts [ICC], 1:402-3; F. F. Bruce, Acts [NICNT], 165).
2. Acts 8:5 tn The imperfect ἐκήρυσσεν (ekērussen) has been translated as an ingressive, since this is probably the first time such preaching took place.
3. Acts 8:5 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”sn See the note on Christ in 2:31.
4. Acts 8:6 tn Grk “to what was being said by Philip,” a passive construction that has been changed to active voice in the translation.
5. Acts 8:6 tn Here the following context indicates the miraculous nature of the signs mentioned. This term appears 13 times in Acts, but only twice more after Acts 8:13 (i.e., 14:3; 15:12).
6. Acts 8:7 sn The expression unclean spirits refers to evil supernatural spirits which were ceremonially unclean, and which caused the persons possessed by them to be ceremonially unclean.
7. Acts 8:7 tn Grk “For [in the case of] many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out, crying in a loud voice.”
8. Acts 8:8 tn Grk “and there came about,” but this is somewhat awkward in English.
9. Acts 8:8 sn Great joy. The reason for eschatological joy was that such events pointed to God’s decisive deliverance (Luke 7:22-23). Note how the acts of healing extend beyond the Twelve here.
10. Acts 8:9 tn On the idiom προϋπῆρχεν μαγεύων (proupērchen mageuōn) meaning “had been practicing magic” see BDAG 889 s.v. προϋπάρχω.
11. Acts 8:10 tn Grk “all of them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12. Acts 8:10 tn Or “This man is what is called the Great Power of God.” The translation “what is called the Great Power of God” is given by BDAG 263 s.v. δύναμις 5, but the repetition of the article before καλουμένη μεγάλη (kaloumenē megalē) suggests the translation “the power of God that is called ‘Great.’”
13. Acts 8:12 sn The kingdom of God is also what Jesus preached; see Acts 1:3. The term reappears in Acts 14:22; 19:8; 28:23, 31. The nature of the kingdom of God in the NT and in Jesus’ teaching has long been debated by interpreters and scholars, with discussion primarily centering around the nature of the kingdom (earthly, heavenly, or both) and the kingdom’s arrival (present, future, or both). An additional major issue concerns the relationship between the kingdom of God and the person and work of Jesus himself. See also Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21.
14. Acts 8:12 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
15. Acts 8:12 tn The imperfect verb ἐβαπτίζοντο (ebaptizonto) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.