Acts 18:26–28

18:26 He began to speak out fearlessly99 in the synagogue,100 but when Priscilla and Aquila101 heard him, they took him aside102 and explained the way of God to him more accurately. 18:27 When Apollos103 wanted to cross over to Achaia,104 the brothers encouraged105 him106 and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he107 assisted greatly those who had believed by grace, 18:28 for he refuted the Jews vigorously108 in public debate,109 demonstrating from the scriptures that the Christ110 was Jesus.111

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99	tn Or “boldly.” This is a frequent term in Acts (9:27–28; 13:46; 14:3; 19:8; 26:26).
100	sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.
101	sn Priscilla and Aquila. This key couple, of which Priscilla was an important enough figure to be mentioned by name, instructed Apollos about the most recent work of God. See also the note on Aquila in 18:2.
102	tn BDAG 883 s.v. προσλαμβάνω 3 has “take aside, mid. τινά someone … So prob. also Ac 18:26: Priscilla and Aquila take Apollos aside to teach him undisturbed.”
103	tn Grk “he”; the referent (Apollos) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
104	sn To cross over to Achaia. Achaia was organized by the Romans as a separate province in 27 b.c. and was located across the Aegean Sea from Ephesus. The city of Corinth was in Achaia.
105	tn Grk “encouraging [him], the brothers wrote.” The participle προτρεψάμενοι (protrepsamenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. This was the typical letter of commendation from the Ephesians to the Achaeans.
106	tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
107	tn Grk “who, when he arrived.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“who”) was replaced with the pronoun “he” and a new sentence begun in the translation.
108	tn Or “vehemently.” BDAG 414 s.v. εὐτόνως has “vigorously, vehemently … εὐ. διακατελέγχεσθαί τινι refute someone vigorously Ac 18:28.”
109	tn L&N 33.442 translates the phrase τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις διακατηλέγχετο δημοσίᾳ (tois Ioudaiois diakatēlencheto dēmosia) as “he defeated the Jews in public debate.” On this use of the term δημόσιος (dēmosios) see BDAG 223 s.v. 2.
110	tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” Again the issue is identifying the Christ as Jesus (see 5:42; 8:5; 9:22; 18:5). sn See the note on Christ in 2:31.
111	tn Although many English translations have here “that Jesus was the Christ,” in the case of two accusatives following a copulative infinitive, the first would normally be the subject and the second the predicate nominative. Additionally, the first accusative here (τὸν χριστόν, ton christon) has the article, a further indication that it should be regarded as subject of the infinitive.

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