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When[a] they arrived[b] in Salamis,[c] they began to proclaim[d] the word of God in the Jewish synagogues.[e] (Now they also had John[f] as their assistant.)[g] When they had crossed over[h] the whole island as far as Paphos,[i] they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus,[j] who was with the proconsul[k] Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. The proconsul[l] summoned[m] Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear[n] the word of God.

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Footnotes

  1. 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.
  2. Acts 13:5 tn The participle γενόμενοι (genomenoi) is taken temporally.
  3. 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.
  4. Acts 13:5 tn The imperfect verb κατήγγελλον (katēngellon) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.
  5. Acts 13:5 sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.
  6. Acts 13:5 sn John refers here to John Mark (see Acts 12:25).
  7. 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.
  8. Acts 13:6 tn Or “had passed through,” “had traveled through.”
  9. Acts 13:6 sn Paphos. A city on the southwestern coast of the island of Cyprus. It was the seat of the Roman proconsul.
  10. 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.
  11. Acts 13:7 sn The proconsul was the Roman official who ruled over a province traditionally under the control of the Roman senate.
  12. Acts 13:7 tn Grk “This one”; the referent (the proconsul) is specified in the translation for clarity.
  13. Acts 13:7 tn Grk “summoning Barnabas and Saul, wanted to hear.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesamenos) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
  14. Acts 13:7 sn The proconsul…wanted to hear the word of God. This description of Sergius Paulus portrays him as a sensitive, secular Gentile leader.