Acts 11:20
To the Greeks as well
- The gospel’s word εὐαγγελίζομαι euangelizomai · to speak good news
Original
Translations
But some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks as well, proclaiming the good news about the Lord Jesus.
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.
and there were certain of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who having entered into Antioch, were speaking to the Hellenists, proclaiming good news—the Lord Jesus,
그 중에 구브로와 구레네 몇 사람이 안디옥에 이르러 헬라인에게도 말하여 주 예수를 전파하니
그들 중의 몇 사람은 키프로스와 구레네 사람들이었는데 그들이 안디옥에 이르러 그리스말 하는 사람들에게 말하여 주 예수님을 선포하매
Commentaries
Matthew Henry on Acts 11:19-24 as a whole
The first preachers of the gospel at Antioch, were dispersed from Jerusalem by persecution; thus what was meant to hurt the church, was made to work for its good. The wrath of man is made to praise God. What should the ministers of Christ preach, but Christ? …
Read the whole commentary →Wesley Acts 11:20
Some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene - Who were more accustomed to converse with the Gentiles. Who coming into Antioch - Then the capital of Syria, and, next to Rome and Alexandria, the most considerable city of the empire. …
Read the whole commentary →
Note
Those scattered after Stephen's death travelled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, but spoke the message only to Jews. In this verse a few of them cross that line.
But some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks as well, proclaiming the good news about the Lord Jesus.
Acts 11:20The verse picks up the thread laid down at 8:4. The scattered had been "speaking the message only to Jews" (Acts 11:19); now, with a "but" (de), Luke sets apart some men from Cyprus and from Cyrene in North Africa, Jewish believers at home in the Greek-speaking world. Antioch, where they came, was the capital of Syria. "The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord" (Acts 11:21). Jerusalem sent Barnabas, who "saw the grace of God" and rejoiced (Acts 11:23), and he fetched Saul from Tarsus. It was here that the disciples were first called Christians (Acts 11:26).
The verb is in the present participle, euangelizomenoi, beside the imperfect elaloun, "they were speaking": a continuing conversation, not one speech. Its object is "the Lord Jesus" (ton kurion Iēsoun). In Jerusalem the apostles had told Jews the news that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah they awaited (Acts 5:42). To Greeks who had never waited for a Messiah, these men announce Jesus as Lord, kurios, a title the Greek world also gave to its gods and to the emperor.
Who heard it? The KJV says "the Grecians," the word it used in 6:1 for the Greek-speaking Jews in the church (Acts 6:1). The BSB says "the Greeks as well." Both printed Greek texts read Hellēnistas, "Hellenists," that is, Greek-speakers, though some manuscripts have Hellēnas, "Greeks"; the BSB's "as well" matches a kai that the critical text has and the Textus Receptus lacks. Either way the word is set against "only to Jews" in the verse before, so most readers take it to mean people who were not Jews, as the BSB does.
Wesley marks the moment: "Here we have the first account of the preaching the Gospel to the idolatrous Gentiles. All those to whom it had been preached before, did at least worship one God, the God of Israel" Wesley. Even Cornelius had feared God. Matthew Henry sees the design behind the scattering: "thus what was meant to hurt the church, was made to work for its good" Matthew Henry. And: "When the Lord Jesus is preached in simplicity, and according to the Scriptures, he will give success" Matthew Henry.
Wesley describes Antioch as "next to Rome and Alexandria, the most considerable city of the empire" Wesley. In a city of that size, the men who opened the gospel's door to the Gentile world left no names. Among the teachers of the church at Antioch a little later is "Lucius of Cyrene" (Acts 13:1), but whether he was one of them no one can say.
The gospel crossed its widest border not in an apostle's sermon but in the conversation of ordinary believers far from home with neighbours of another language and another religion.