19:9a

But when some of them stubbornly refused to believe: This clause refers to resisting something. These people began to oppose Paul and the message about Jesus. Other ways to translate this clause are:

some were becoming hardened (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
some were stubborn (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
some made their heads hard
-or-
some of them closed their hearts

stubbornly refused to believe: It is implied that they refused to believe in Paul’s message about Jesus.

19:9b

publicly: This phrase in Greek is literally “before the crowd.” It probably refers to all the people in the synagogue. For example:

before the whole group (Good News Translation)
-or-
before the people (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
everyone ⌊in the synagogue⌋

maligned: This word in Greek is literally “speaking evil of.” For example:

reviling (NET Bible)
-or-
they said evil things about (Good News Translation)
-or-
spoke offensively about (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

the Way: This name refers to the beliefs of Christians and living as Christians. It is used as a title. In some languages a literal translation would not have that meaning. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Explain the meaning in your translation. For example:

the Way of the Lord (Good News Translation)
-or-
the Way of Jesus (New Century Version)

• Translate literally and explain the meaning in a footnote. An example footnote is:

This name refers to the beliefs of Christians and living as Christians.

See how you translated this phrase in 9:2.

19:9c

Paul took his disciples and left: This clause in Greek is literally “having withdrawn from them.” Paul withdrew from the conflict with the people at the synagogue. Other ways to translate this clause are:

he withdrew from them (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
Paul left the synagogue (New Living Translation (2004))

Paul probably left at the end of the three months (19:8). In some languages a literal translation would be confusing regarding how this verse relates to the three months and the two years (19:10). If that is true in your language, explain when this occurred here. For example:

⌊at the end of the three months⌋ Paul left them

his disciples: The phrase his disciples refers to all the believers at Ephesus. See how you translated this word in 19:1.

19:9d

to conduct daily discussions: Paul probably discussed the gospel about Jesus. In some languages a literal translation would not imply discussing the gospel. If that is true in your language, you may want to include the implied information. For example:

had discussions ⌊about Jesus⌋
-or-
had discussions ⌊about the gospel⌋

Paul had these discussions with other people. It was not limited to Jews or any other group. In some languages who Paul discussed these things must be explicit. For example:

had discussions ⌊about Jesus⌋ ⌊with others⌋
-or-
had discussions ⌊about the gospel⌋ ⌊with anyone who wanted to⌋

lecture hall: This phrase refers to a building or large room used for teaching or discussing philosophy. For example:

teaching place
-or-
school (New American Standard Bible)

of Tyrannus: The word of probably indicates that Tyrannus was the owner of the building. Or he may have been the main teacher there, or both.

© 2001, 2021 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.