20:21a

testifying: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as testifying means here “proclaiming earnestly.” Paul had an important message for both Jews and Greeks. The Greek word indicates that 20:21 tells more about his proclaiming and teaching. For example:

urging (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
warning

Also see how you translated this word in 8:25 (“testified”) or 18:5 (“testifying”).

Greeks: The basic meaning of this word is people who are from Greece. But in the New Testament the word usually refers to anyone who is not a Jew. So it includes Romans and other non-Jewish peoples. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly refer only to people from Greece. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Use a more general word. For example:

Gentiles (Contemporary English Version)

• Explain its meaning in a footnote. An example footnote is:

Here this word refers to anyone who is not a Jew. Most of the people were probably Greeks, but there may have been some Romans and people from other nations.

See how you translated this word at 14:1 or 19:17.

20:21b–c

about repentance to God: This phrase in Greek is literally “repentance towards God.” The phrase indicates that Paul spoke to the people about repenting and obeying God. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

turn to God in repentance (New International Version)
-or-
change the way they think and act, and follow/obey God
-or-
change their lives and turn to God (New Century Version)

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