Acts 19:23-25

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Acts 19:23 tn Grk “There happened at that time.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Instead the verb “took place” has been supplied in the translation.
2. Acts 19:23 tn BDAG 512 s.v. κατά B.2.a, “in definite indications of time…Of the past: κ. ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρόν at that time, then…Ac 12:1; 19:23.”
3. Acts 19:23 tn Grk “no little disturbance” (an idiom; see BDAG 991 s.v. τάραχος 2).
4. Acts 19:23 sn The Way refers to the Christian movement (Christianity).
5. Acts 19:24 tn BDAG 665 s.v. ναός 1.a states, “Specif. of temples: of replicas of the temple of Artemis at Ephesus 19:24…but here, near ἱερόν vs. 27…ναός can be understood in the more restricted sense shrine, where the image of the goddess stood.”
6. Acts 19:24 sn Artemis was the name of a Greek goddess worshiped particularly in Asia Minor, whose temple, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was located just outside the city of Ephesus.
7. Acts 19:24 tn Grk “brought not a little business” (an idiom).
8. Acts 19:24 sn A great deal of business. The charge that Christianity brought economic and/or social upheaval was made a number of times in Acts: 16:20-21; 17:6-7; 18:13.
9. Acts 19:25 tn Grk “gathering.” The participle συναθροίσας (sunathroisas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
10. Acts 19:25 tn Grk “whom”; because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been replaced with a pronoun (“these”) and a new sentence begun in the translation.
11. Acts 19:25 sn Workmen in similar trades. In effect, Demetrius gathered the Ephesian chamber of commerce together to hear about the threat to their prosperity.
12. Acts 19:25 tn Another possible meaning is “that this business is an easy way for us to earn a living.”