Add parallel Print Page Options

22 They strengthened[a] the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue[b] in the faith, saying, “We must enter the kingdom of God[c] through many persecutions.”[d] 23 When they had appointed elders[e] for them in the various churches,[f] with prayer and fasting[g] they entrusted them to the protection[h] of the Lord in whom they had believed. 24 Then they passed through[i] Pisidia and came into Pamphylia,[j]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Acts 14:22 tn Grk “to Antioch, strengthening.” Due to the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was started here. This participle (ἐπιστηρίζοντες, epistērizontes) and the following one (παρακαλοῦντες, parakalountes) have been translated as finite verbs connected by the coordinating conjunction “and.”
  2. Acts 14:22 sn And encouraged them to continue. The exhortations are like those noted in Acts 11:23; 13:43. An example of such a speech is found in Acts 20:18-35. Christianity is now characterized as “the faith.”
  3. Acts 14:22 sn This reference to the kingdom of God clearly refers to its arrival as future, although this does not automatically rule out a present manifestation of the kingdom as well. 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 Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21; Acts 1:3.
  4. Acts 14:22 tn Or “sufferings.”
  5. Acts 14:23 sn Appointed elders. See Acts 20:17.
  6. Acts 14:23 tn The preposition κατά (kata) is used here in a distributive sense; see BDAG 512 s.v. κατά B.1.d.
  7. Acts 14:23 tn Literally with a participle (προσευξάμενοι, proseuxamenoi) rather than a noun, “praying with fasting,” but the combination “prayer and fasting” is so familiar in English that it is preferable to use it here.
  8. Acts 14:23 tn BDAG 772 s.v. παρατίθημι 3.b has “entrust someone to the care or protection of someone” for this phrase. The reference to persecution or suffering in the context (v. 22) suggests “protection” is a better translation here. This looks at God’s ultimate care for the church.
  9. Acts 14:24 tn Grk “Then passing through Pisidia they came.” The participle διελθόντες (dielthontes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
  10. Acts 14:24 sn Pamphylia was a province along the southern coast of Asia Minor.