24:10 When the governor gestured for him to speak, Paul replied, “Because I know 26 that you have been a judge over this nation for many years, I confidently make my defense. 27
1 tn Or “to the ends.”
2 tn Or “mistreatment.”
3 tn Or “to set them free.”
4 tn Grk “And now.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
5 sn A quotation from Exod 3:7-8, 10.
6 tn Grk “And Cornelius.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
7 tn Grk “said.”
8 tn Grk “at the ninth hour.” Again, this is the hour of afternoon prayer.
9 tn Grk “and behold.” The interjection ἰδού (idou) is difficult at times to translate into English. Here it has been translated as “suddenly” to convey the force of Cornelius’ account of the angel’s appearance.
10 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 sn The expression raised up refers here to making someone king. There is a wordplay here: “raising up” refers to bringing someone onto the scene of history, but it echoes with the parallel to Jesus’ resurrection.
12 tn Grk “about whom.” The relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced by the pronoun “him” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek. The verb εἶπεν (eipen) has not been translated (literally “he said testifying”) because it is redundant when combined with the participle μαρτυρήσας (marturhsa", “testifying”). Instead the construction of verb plus participle has been translated as a single English verb (“testified”).
13 sn A quotation from Ps 89:20.
14 sn A quotation from 1 Sam 13:14.
15 tn Or “who will perform all my will,” “who will carry out all my wishes.”
16 tn Grk “that this”; the referent (the promise mentioned in the previous verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
sn This promise refers to the promise of a Savior through the seed (descendants) of David that is proclaimed as fulfilled (Rom 1:1-7).
17 tn Or “by resurrecting.” The participle ἀναστήσας (anasthsa") is taken as instrumental here.
sn By raising (i.e., by resurrection) tells how this promise came to be realized, though again the wordplay also points to his presence in history through this event (see the note on “raised up” in v. 22).
18 sn You are my Son. The key to how the quotation is used is the naming of Jesus as “Son” to the Father. The language is that of kingship, as Ps 2 indicates. Here is the promise about what the ultimate Davidic heir would be.
19 tn Grk “I have begotten you.” The traditional translation for γεγέννηκα (gegennhka, “begotten”) is misleading to the modern English reader because it is no longer in common use. Today one speaks of “fathering” a child in much the same way speakers of English formerly spoke of “begetting a child.”
sn A quotation from Ps 2:7.
20 tn Grk “urged us, saying.” The participle λέγουσα (legousa) is redundant in English and has not been translated.
21 tn This is a first class condition in Greek, with the statement presented as real or true for the sake of the argument.
22 tn Or “faithful to the Lord.” BDAG 821 s.v. πίστος 2 states concerning this verse, “Of one who confesses the Christian faith believing or a believer in the Lord, in Christ, in God πιστ. τῷ κυρίῳ Ac 16:15.” L&N 11.17 has “one who is included among the faithful followers of Christ – ‘believer, Christian, follower.’”
23 tn Although BDAG 759 s.v. παραβιάζομαι has “urge strongly, prevail upon,” in contemporary English “persuade” is a more frequently used synonym for “prevail upon.”
24 tn The term translated “breaking” as used by Josephus (Ant. 10.10.4 [10.207]) means to break something into pieces, but in its only NT use (it is a hapax legomenon) it is used figuratively (BDAG 972 s.v. συνθρύπτω).
25 tn L&N 18.13 has “to tie objects together – ‘to tie, to tie together, to tie up.’” The verb δέω (dew) is sometimes figurative for imprisonment (L&N 37.114), but it is preferable to translate it literally here in light of v. 11 where Agabus tied himself up with Paul’s belt.
26 tn Grk “knowing.” The participle ἐπιστάμενος (epistamenos) has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.
27 sn “Because…defense.” Paul also paid an indirect compliment to the governor, implying that he would be fair in his judgment.
28 sn There is irony here. How can Festus write anything definite about Paul, if he is guilty of nothing.
29 sn To my lord means “to His Majesty the Emperor.”
30 tn Grk “about whom I have nothing definite…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced with a personal pronoun (“him”) and a new sentence begun in the translation at the beginning of v. 26.
31 sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.
32 tn Or “investigation.” BDAG 66 s.v. ἀνάκρισις has “a judicial hearing, investigation, hearing, esp. preliminary hearing…τῆς ἀ. γενομένης Ac 25:26.” This is technical legal language.