Acts 11:5

11:5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision,¹ an object something like a large sheet descending,² being let down from heaven³ by its four corners, and it came to me.

Acts 21:34

21:34 But some in the crowd shouted one thing, and others something else,⁴ and when the commanding officer⁵ was unable⁶ to find out the truth⁷ because of the disturbance,⁸ he ordered Paul⁹ to be brought into the barracks.¹⁰

Acts 21:37

21:37 As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks,¹¹ he said¹² to the commanding officer,¹³ “May I say¹⁴ something to you?” The officer¹⁵ replied,¹⁶ “Do you know Greek?¹⁷

Acts 23:18

23:18 So the centurion¹⁸ took him and brought him to the commanding officer¹⁹ and said, “The prisoner Paul called²⁰ me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”

Acts 25:26

25:26 But I have nothing definite²¹ to write to my lord²² about him.²³ Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa,²⁴ so that after this preliminary hearing²⁵ I may have something to write.

¹tn This term describes a supernatural vision and reflects a clear distinction from something imagined (BDAG 718 s.v. ὅραμα 1). Peter repeated the story virtually word for word through v. 13. The repetition with this degree of detail shows the event’s importance.

²tn Or “coming down.”

³tn Or “the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).

⁴tn L&N 33.77 has “ἄλλοι δὲ ἄλλο τι ἐπεφώνουν ἐν τῷ ὄχλῳ ‘some in the crowd shouted one thing; others, something else’ Ac 21:34.”

⁵tn Grk “he”; the referent (the commanding officer) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶tn This genitive absolute construction has been translated temporally; it could also be taken causally: “and since the commanding officer was unable to find out the truth.”

⁷tn Or “find out what had happened”; Grk “the certainty” (BDAG 147 s.v. ἀσφαλής 2).

⁸tn Or “clamor,” “uproar” (BDAG 458 s.v. θόρυβος).

⁹tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰tn Or “the headquarters.” BDAG 775 s.v. παρεμβολή 2 has “barracks/headquarters of the Roman troops in Jerusalem Ac 21:34, 37; 22:24; 23:10, 16, 32.”

¹¹tn Or “the headquarters.” BDAG 775 s.v. παρεμβολή 2 has “barracks/headquarters of the Roman troops in Jerusalem Ac 21:34, 37; 22:24; 23:10, 16, 32.”

¹²tn Grk “says” (a historical present).

¹³tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers) See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 31.

¹⁴tn Grk “Is it permitted for me to say” (an idiom).

¹⁵tn Grk “He”; the referent (the officer) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁶tn Grk “said.”

¹⁷sn “Do you know Greek?” Paul as an educated rabbi was bilingual. Paul’s request in Greek allowed the officer to recognize that Paul was not the violent insurrectionist he thought he had arrested (see following verse). The confusion of identities reveals the degree of confusion dominating these events.

¹⁸tn Grk “he”; the referent (the centurion) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁹tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 10.

²⁰tn Grk “calling.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

²¹sn There is irony here. How can Festus write anything definite about Paul, if he is guilty of nothing.

²²sn To my lord means “to His Majesty the Emperor.”

²³tn 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.

²⁴sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

²⁵tn 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.