Kisah Para Rasul 14:17

14:17 yet he did not leave himself without a witness by doing good, ¹  by giving you rain from heaven ²  and fruitful seasons, satisfying you ³  with food and your hearts with joy.” ⁴ 

Kisah Para Rasul 28:15

28:15 The brothers from there, ⁵  when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius ⁶  and Three Taverns ⁷  to meet us. When he saw them, ⁸  Paul thanked God and took courage.

[14:17]  ¹ tn The participle ἀγαθουργῶν (agaqourgwn) is regarded as indicating means here, parallel to the following participles διδούς (didou") and ἐμπιπλῶν (empiplwn). This is the easiest way to understand the Greek structure. Semantically, the first participle is a general statement, followed by two participles giving specific examples of doing good.

[14:17]  ² tn Or “from the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).

[14:17]  ³ tn Grk “satisfying [filling] your hearts with food and joy.” This is an idiomatic expression; it strikes the English reader as strange to speak of “filling one’s heart with food.” Thus the additional direct object “you” has been supplied, separating the two expressions somewhat: “satisfying you with food and your hearts with joy.”

[14:17]  ⁴ sn God’s general sovereignty and gracious care in the creation are the way Paul introduces the theme of the goodness of God. He was trying to establish monotheism here. It is an OT theme (Gen 8:22; Ps 4:7; 145:15-16; 147:8-9; Isa 25:6; Jer 5:24) which also appears in the NT (Luke 12:22-34).

[28:15]  ⁵ sn Mention of Christian brothers from there (Rome) shows that God’s message had already spread as far as Italy and the capital of the empire.

[28:15]  ⁶ sn The Forum of Appius was a small traveler’s stop on the Appian Way about 43 mi (71 km) south of Rome (BDAG 125 s.v. ᾿Αππίου φόρον). It was described by Horace as “crammed with boatmen and stingy tavernkeepers” (Satires 1.5.3).

[28:15]  ⁷ sn Three Taverns was a stop on the Appian Way 33 mi (55 km) south of Rome.

[28:15]  ⁸ tn Grk “whom, when he saw [them], Paul.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced by the personal pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence begun here in the translation.