16:25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying 3 and singing hymns to God, 4 and the rest of 5 the prisoners were listening to them.
1 tn Grk “speaking, who.” The relative pronoun has been replaced by the noun “Paul,” and a new sentence begun in the translation because an English relative clause would be very awkward here.
2 tn Or “looked.”
3 tn Grk “praying, were singing.” The participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
4 sn Praying and singing hymns to God. Tertullian said, “The legs feel nothing in the stocks when the heart is in heaven” (To the Martyrs 2; cf. Rom 5:3; Jas 1:2; 1 Pet 5:6). The presence of God means the potential to be free (cf. v. 26).
5 tn The words “the rest of” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
6 tn The imperfect verb ηὐκαίρουν (hukairoun) has been translated as a customary or habitual imperfect.
7 tn BDAG 406-7 s.v. εὐκαιρέω has “used to spend their time in nothing else than telling Ac 17:21.”
8 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. The reference to newness may be pejorative.