Acts 13:4-6

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Acts 13:4 tn Grk “they”; the referents (Barnabas and Saul) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
2. Acts 13:4 sn Seleucia was the port city of Antioch in Syria.
3. Acts 13:4 sn Cyprus was a large island in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Asia Minor.
4. Acts 13:5 tn Grk “And when.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
5. Acts 13:5 tn The participle γενόμενοι (genomenoi) is taken temporally.
6. Acts 13:5 sn Salamis was a city on the southeastern coast of the island of Cyprus. This was a commercial center and a center of Judaism.
7. Acts 13:5 tn The imperfect verb κατήγγελλον (katēngellon) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.
8. Acts 13:5 sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.
9. Acts 13:5 sn John refers here to John Mark (see Acts 12:25).
10. Acts 13:5 tn The word ὑπηρέτης (hupēretēs) usually has the meaning “servant,” but it is doubtful John Mark fulfilled that capacity for Barnabas and Saul. He was more likely an apprentice or assistant to them.sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
11. Acts 13:6 tn Or “had passed through,” “had traveled through.”
12. Acts 13:6 sn Paphos. A city on the southwestern coast of the island of Cyprus. It was the seat of the Roman proconsul.
13. Acts 13:6 sn Named Bar-Jesus. “Jesus” is the Latin form of the name “Joshua.” The Aramaic “bar” means “son of,” so this man was surnamed “son of Joshua.” The scene depicts the conflict between Judaism and the emerging new faith at a cosmic level, much like the Simon Magus incident in Acts 8:9-24. Paul’s ministry looks like Philip’s and Peter’s here.