Acts 15:32 καὶ αὐτοὶ προφῆται ὄντες

[Alan Patterson]

32 Ἰούδας τε καὶ Σιλᾶς, καὶ αὐτοὶ προφῆται ὄντες, διὰ λόγου πολλοῦ παρεκάλεσαν τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς καὶ ἐπεστήριξαν: 33 ποιήσαντες δὲ χρόνον ἀπελύθησαν μετ' εἰρήνης ἀπὸ τῶν ἀδελφῶν πρὸς τοὺς ἀποστείλαντας αὐτούς. 34 Παῦλος 35 δὲ καὶ Βαρναβᾶς διέτριβον ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ διδάσκοντες καὶ εὐαγγελιζόμενοι μετὰ καὶ ἑτέρων πολλῶν τὸν λόγον τοῦ κυρίου.

In vs 32, the NET Bible reads: "Both Judas and Silas, who were prophets themselves..."

Could καὶ αὐτοὶ προφῆται ὄντες be understood as "and those who were prophets..."? What led me to question the NET was the phrase in vs 35, μετὰ καὶ ἑτέρων πολλῶν, "along with many others..." So, Judas & Silas return to Jerusalem, leaving the "other prophets" in Antioch, the group in vs 35 that was with Judas & Silas are now with Paul & Barnabas.

Ἡ χάρις τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μεθ' ὑμῶν.

[David Lim]

32 Ἰούδας τε καὶ Σιλᾶς, καὶ αὐτοὶ προφῆται ὄντες, διὰ λόγου πολλοῦ παρεκάλεσαν τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς καὶ ἐπεστήριξαν: 33 ποιήσαντες δὲ χρόνον ἀπελύθησαν μετ' εἰρήνης ἀπὸ τῶν ἀδελφῶν πρὸς τοὺς ἀποστείλαντας αὐτούς. 34 Παῦλος 35 δὲ καὶ Βαρναβᾶς διέτριβον ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ διδάσκοντες καὶ εὐαγγελιζόμενοι μετὰ καὶ ἑτέρων πολλῶν τὸν λόγον τοῦ κυρίου.

In vs 32, the NET Bible reads: "Both Judas and Silas, who were prophets themselves..."

Could καὶ αὐτοὶ προφῆται ὄντες be understood as "and those who were prophets..."? What led me to question the NET was the phrase in vs 35, μετὰ καὶ ἑτέρων πολλῶν, "along with many others..." So, Judas & Silas return to Jerusalem, leaving the "other prophets" in Antioch, the group in vs 35 that was with Judas & Silas are now with Paul & Barnabas.

Ἡ χάρις τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μεθ' ὑμῶν.

If the author intended to say "both Judas and Silas and the [ones] who are prophets" or something similar, I would expect an article after "και", but the pronoun points naturally back to "ιουδας τε και σιλας". Moreover the participle seems to be in the normal position for an adjectival clause like this, whereas "the [ones] who are prophets" would probably have been "οι οντες προφηται". Also, the participle is in the present tense, which fits perfectly if the author intended to say "both Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves,". Heb 13:3 looks like a similar construction to Acts 15:32. Am I right?

[cwconrad]

32 Ἰούδας τε καὶ Σιλᾶς, καὶ αὐτοὶ προφῆται ὄντες, διὰ λόγου πολλοῦ παρεκάλεσαν τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς καὶ ἐπεστήριξαν: 33 ποιήσαντες δὲ χρόνον ἀπελύθησαν μετ' εἰρήνης ἀπὸ τῶν ἀδελφῶν πρὸς τοὺς ἀποστείλαντας αὐτούς. 34 Παῦλος 35 δὲ καὶ Βαρναβᾶς διέτριβον ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ διδάσκοντες καὶ εὐαγγελιζόμενοι μετὰ καὶ ἑτέρων πολλῶν τὸν λόγον τοῦ κυρίου.

In vs 32, the NET Bible reads: "Both Judas and Silas, who were prophets themselves..."

Could καὶ αὐτοὶ προφῆται ὄντες be understood as "and those who were prophets..."? What led me to question the NET was the phrase in vs 35, μετὰ καὶ ἑτέρων πολλῶν, "along with many others..." So, Judas & Silas return to Jerusalem, leaving the "other prophets" in Antioch, the group in vs 35 that was with Judas & Silas are now with Paul & Barnabas.

Ἡ χάρις τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μεθ' ὑμῶν.

I have taken the liberty of changing the subject header to show the passage and the particular phrasing that is under discussion. It's easier to talk about the text when you know where it is in the NT text.

Your question seems less to concern the Greek text than it does the translation.We do not ordinarily discuss translations here but rather the Greek text itself.

In this instance you seem to question the NET translation, which is about as precise and accurate as can be. ὄντες προφῆται can only qualify Ἰούδας τε καὶ Σιλᾶς and must refer to them and them only; αὐτοὶ also refers to Ἰούδας τε καὶ Σιλᾶς and is intensive; καὶ is not a conjunction here but the adverb, here with a sense of "also, even, too." The phrase you cite as suggesting your alternative version of αὐτοὶ προφῆται ὄντες, namely μετὰ καὶ ἑτέρων πολλῶν, is far removed from the phrase under discussion and does not affect the meaning of the phrase. NET is quite correct here; the phase could be Englished so as to reflect the Greek syntax as "themselves also being prophets" -- but the NET phrasing is more natural English.