Acts 17:11-13
New English Translation
11 These Jews[a] were more open-minded[b] than those in Thessalonica,[c] for they eagerly[d] received[e] the message, examining[f] the scriptures carefully every day[g] to see if these things were so. 12 Therefore many of them believed, along with quite a few[h] prominent[i] Greek women and men. 13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica[j] heard that Paul had also proclaimed the word of God[k] in Berea, they came there too, inciting[l] and disturbing[m] the crowds.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Acts 17:11 tn Grk “These”; the referent (the Jews in the synagogue at Berea) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- 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.
- Acts 17:11 sn Thessalonica was a city in Macedonia (modern Salonica).
- Acts 17:11 tn Or “willingly,” “readily”; Grk “with all eagerness.”
- 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.
- Acts 17:11 tn This verb (BDAG 66 s.v. ἀνακρίνω 1) refers to careful examination.
- Acts 17:11 tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase in this verse.
- 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).
- Acts 17:12 tn Or “respected.”
- Acts 17:13 sn Thessalonica was a city in Macedonia (modern Salonica).
- 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.
- 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.
- Acts 17:13 tn Or “stirring up” (BDAG 990-91 s.v. ταράσσω 2). The point is the agitation of the crowds.
Acts 17:11-13
New International Version
11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica,(A) for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures(B) every day to see if what Paul said was true.(C) 12 As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.(D)
13 But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea,(E) some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up.
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.