Acts 17:13
What does Acts 17:13 mean?
A plain-English look at Acts 17:13 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Acts 17:13 means
Hostile Jews from Thessalonica, hearing that Paul proclaims God’s word in Beroea, travel there and agitate the crowds. Opposition is mobile and persistent. They cannot refute the message in Scripture, so they resort to stirring public unrest. The pattern shows that gospel advance often meets recycled tactics: misrepresentation, provocation, and pressure. Yet it also reveals the movement’s resilience; persecution displaces messengers but spreads the message. What began as local jealousy becomes a regional campaign. Still, the believers respond with wisdom, recognizing when to shield a leading voice while the work continues through others who remain.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was proclaimed of Paul at Beroea also, they came thither likewise, stirring up and troubling the multitudes.
KJV
King James Version · 1611But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was proclaimed of Paul at Beroea also, they came thither likewise, stirring up and troubling the multitudes.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949But when the Jews of Thessalonica had news that Paul was preaching the word at Beroea, they came there, troubling the people and working them up.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862And when the Jews from Thessalonica knew that also in Berea was the word of God declared by Paul, they came thither also, agitating the multitudes;
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752And when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was also preached by Paul at Berea, they came thither also, stirring up and troubling the multitude.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890But when the Jews from Thessalonica knew that the word ofGod was announced in Berea also by Paul, they came there also, stirring up the crowds.
Context
Following many Bereans believing (verse 12), verse 13 introduces familiar trouble. The same opponents from Thessalonica arrive and inflame the situation. This threat pushes the church to act decisively in the next verse (14), sending Paul away while keeping Silas and Timothy in place. In verse 15 Paul is escorted to Athens and urges his coworkers to join him quickly. These moves transition the narrative from synagogue-based ministry to the unique context of Athens, where idols, philosophers, and the Areopagus shape the next phase (verses 16–34).
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Acts 6:12
And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and seized him, and brought him into the council,
- Acts 17:5
But the Jews, being moved with jealousy, took unto them certain vile fellows of the rabble, and gathering a crowd, set the city on an uproar; and assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them forth to the people.
- 1 Kings 21:25
(But there was none like unto Ahab, who did sell himself to do that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.
- Acts 21:27
And when the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the multitude and laid hands on him,
- Matthew 23:13
But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye shut the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye enter not in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering in to enter.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:14
For ye, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judæa in Christ Jesus: for ye also suffered the same things of your own countrymen, even as they did of the Jews;
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