Passage

Acts 11.21

Book: Acts · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

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. 20. 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.

And the report concerning them came to the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas as far as Antioch: 23. who, when he was come, and had seen the grace of God, was glad; and he exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord: (Acts 11:19-23, ASV)

WEB

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. 20. 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.

The report concerning them came to the ears of the assembly which was in Jerusalem. They sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch, 23. who, when he had come, and had seen the grace of God, was glad. He exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they should remain near to the Lord. (Acts 11:19-23, WEB)

KJV

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. 20. 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.

Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. 23. Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. (Acts 11:19-23, KJV)

YLT

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; 20. 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.

And the account was heard in the ears of the assembly that [is] in Jerusalem concerning them, and they sent forth Barnabas to go through unto Antioch, 23. who, having come, and having seen the grace of God, was glad, and was exhorting all with purpose of heart to cleave to the Lord, (Acts 11:19-23, 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

"And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number that believed turned unto the Lord." (Acts 11:21, ASV)

"The hand of the Lord." In the Old Testament God's "hand" is his active power, in deliverance and in judgment. Luke uses the exact phrase of the infant John the Baptist, "the hand of the Lord was with him" (Luke 1:66), and the church prays for God to stretch out his hand to heal (Acts 4:30). Here it confirms the preaching of unnamed believers from Cyprus and Cyrene to Greeks (11:20).

God's approval of a new step. Speaking to Gentiles at Antioch was untried. Luke's way of showing that it had divine approval is to say that God's hand was in it, and then to show the Jerusalem church's envoy, Barnabas, recognizing "the grace of God" there (verse 23).

"A great number that believed turned." Polys te arithmos ho pisteusas epestrepsen epi ton kyrion. Belief and turning are one movement. Epistrephō, to turn, is Acts' word for conversion (Acts 3:19; 14:15). For Gentiles it meant turning from idols, as Paul wrote: "ye turned unto God from idols, to serve a living and true God" (1 Thessalonians 1:9, ASV).

"Unto the Lord." "The hand of the Lord" and "turned unto the Lord" stand side by side, and the previous verse calls Jesus "the Lord Jesus." Luke uses the same title for God and for Jesus without strain, part of the early church's practice of giving Jesus the divine name Kyrios.

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; see Lexicon Roadmap.

G4100 - pisteuo, pisteuo, Strong's G4100
G2962 - kyrios, kyrios, Strong's G2962

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Church at Antioch, via 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

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.