Passage

Acts 11.19

Book: Acts · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

17. If then God gave unto them the like gift as he did also unto us, when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, that I could withstand God? 18. And when they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then to the Gentiles also hath God granted repentance unto life.

19. They therefore that were scattered abroad upon the tribulation that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia, and Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to none save only to Jews.

But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21. And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number that believed turned unto the Lord. (Acts 11:17-21, ASV)

WEB

17. If then God gave to them the same gift as us, when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, that I could withstand God?” 18. When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life!”

19. They therefore who were scattered abroad by the oppression that arose about Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews only.

But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21. The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. (Acts 11:17-21, WEB)

KJV

17. Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God? 18. When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

19. Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.

And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21. And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord. (Acts 11:17-21, KJV)

YLT

17. if then the equal gift God did give to them as also to us, having believed upon the Lord Jesus Christ, I, how was I able to withstand God?' 18. And they, having heard these things, were silent, and were glorifying God, saying, 'Then, indeed, also to the nations did God give the reformation to life.'

19. Those, indeed, therefore, having been scattered abroad, from the tribulation that came after Stephen, went through unto Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to none except to Jews only;

and there were certain of them men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who having entered into Antioch, were speaking unto the Hellenists, proclaiming good news, the Lord Jesus, 21. and the hand of the Lord was with them, a great number also, having believed, did turn unto the Lord. (Acts 11:17-21, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Luke, narrating. Acts is the second volume of a two-part work addressed to Theophilus (Acts 1:1, compare Luke 1:1-4).
Audience: Theophilus and the wider church. Within the scene, Jews and then Greeks of Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch.
Location: Phoenicia (the coast of Tyre and Sidon), the island of Cyprus, and Antioch on the Orontes in Syria, which Josephus ranks third among the cities of the empire after Rome and Alexandria (Jewish War 3.29).
Time period: From the mid 30s AD, after Stephen's death, into the early 40s; the famine prophecy that follows (Acts 11:27-28) points to the reign of Claudius (AD 41-54). Acts was composed c. AD 62-90; the date is debated, and Colin Hemer (The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History) argued for the early 60s.

Theological reading

"They therefore that were scattered abroad upon the tribulation that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia, and Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to none save only to Jews." (Acts 11:19, ASV)

Luke picks up a dropped thread. The opening words repeat Acts 8:4 almost exactly, "They therefore that were scattered abroad." Luke left the scattered believers in chapter 8 to follow Philip, then Saul and Peter; now he returns to them. The events of 11:19-26 may overlap in time with chapters 9 and 10.

"The tribulation that arose about Stephen." Thlipsis, pressure or affliction. Stephen's death (8:1) is still the starting point; the mission to Antioch grows from the same persecution that sent Philip to Samaria.

The route. Phoenicia on the coast, Cyprus offshore, and Antioch on the Orontes, the capital of the province of Syria, which Josephus ranks as the third city of the empire. Each had a Jewish community, which is where the scattered believers went first.

"To none save only to Jews." At first the message stayed within Israel, as the apostles' own practice had. Luke states it plainly so that the next verse, men of Cyprus and Cyrene speaking to Greeks (11:20), reads as the breakthrough it was.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

G3056 - logos, logos, Strong's G3056
G1096 - ginomai, ginomai, Strong's G1096

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Church at Antioch, via Acts 11.19-20, Acts 11.19-21
Churches the Disciples Started, via Acts 11.19-26

People:

Luke the Evangelist, via Acts 11.19-26
Simeon Called Niger, via Acts 11.19-21

Passages:

Acts 8.4

Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.