23:11 The following night the Lord 9 stood near 10 Paul 11 and said, “Have courage, 12 for just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, 13 so you must also testify in Rome.” 14
1 tn Grk “urged us, saying.” The participle λέγουσα (legousa) is redundant in English and has not been translated.
2 tn This is a first class condition in Greek, with the statement presented as real or true for the sake of the argument.
3 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.’”
4 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.”
5 sn The expression By all these things means “In everything I did.”
6 tn Or “must assist.”
7 tn Or “the sick.” See Eph 4:28.
8 sn The saying is similar to Matt 10:8. Service and generosity should be abundant. Interestingly, these exact words are not found in the gospels. Paul must have known of this saying from some other source.
9 sn The presence of the Lord indicated the vindicating presence and direction of God.
10 tn Grk “standing near Paul, said.” The participle ἐπιστάς (epistas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
11 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 tn Or “Do not be afraid.”
13 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
14 sn Like Jesus went to Jerusalem, Paul would now go to Rome. This trip forms the concluding backdrop to Acts. This is the second notice about going to Rome (see Acts 19:21 for the first).
map For location see JP4-A1.