28:17 After three days 19 Paul 20 called the local Jewish leaders 21 together. When they had assembled, he said to them, “Brothers, 22 although I had done 23 nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, 24 from Jerusalem 25 I was handed over as a prisoner to the Romans. 26
1 tn Or “come under public criticism.” BDAG 101 s.v. ἀπελεγμός has “come into disrepute Ac 19:27.”
2 sn Artemis was the name of a Greek goddess worshiped particularly in Asia Minor, whose temple, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was located just outside the city of Ephesus.
3 tn BDAG 597 s.v. λογίζομαι 1.b has “εἰς οὐθὲν λογισθῆναι be looked upon as nothing…Ac 19:27.”
4 tn Grk “Asia”; see the note on this word in v. 22.
5 tn Or “her magnificence.” BDAG 488 s.v. καθαιρέω 2.b has “καθαιρεῖσθαι τῆς μεγαλειότητος αὐτῆς suffer the loss of her magnificence Ac 19:27”; L&N 13.38 has “‘and to have her greatness done away with’ Ac 19:27.”
sn Suffer the loss of her greatness. It is important to appreciate that money alone was not the issue, even for the pagan Ephesians. The issue was ultimately the dishonor of their goddess to whom they were devoted in worship. The battle was a “cosmic” one between deities.
6 sn That is, undergo ritual cleansing. Paul’s cleansing would be necessary because of his travels in “unclean” Gentile territory. This act would represent a conciliatory gesture. Paul would have supported a “law-free” mission to the Gentiles as an option, but this gesture would represent an attempt to be sensitive to the Jews (1 Cor 9:15-22).
7 tn L&N 57.146 has “δαπάνησον ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς ‘pay their expenses’ Ac 21:24.”
8 tn The future middle indicative has causative force here. BDAG 686 s.v. ξυράω has “mid. have oneself shaved…τὴν κεφαλήν have one’s head shaved…Ac 21:24.”
sn Having their heads shaved probably involved ending a voluntary Nazirite vow (Num 6:14-15).
9 tn Grk “and.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was begun in the translation, and καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the logical sequence.
10 tn The verb here describes a report or some type of information (BDAG 534 s.v. κατηχέω 1).
11 tn Grk “adhere to the keeping of the law.” L&N 41.12 has “στοιχέω: to live in conformity with some presumed standard or set of customs – ‘to live, to behave in accordance with.’”
12 sn The law refers to the law of Moses.
13 tn Or “going to burn with fever.” According to BDAG 814 s.v. πίμπρημι, either meaning (“swell up” or “burn with fever”) is possible for Acts 28:6.
14 tn The participle προσδοκώντων (prosdokwntwn) has been taken temporally.
15 tn The participle θεωρούντων (qewrountwn) has been taken temporally.
16 tn Grk “happening.” The participle γινόμενον (ginomenon) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
17 tn Grk “changing their minds.” The participle μεταβαλόμενοι (metabalomenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
18 sn And said he was a god. The reaction is like Acts 14:11-19 where the crowd wanted to make Paul and Barnabas into gods. The providence of God had protected Paul again.
19 tn Grk “It happened that after three days.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
20 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
21 tn L&N 33.309 has “‘after three days, he called the local Jewish leaders together’ Ac 28:17.”
22 tn Grk “Men brothers,” but this is both awkward and unnecessary in English.
23 tn The participle ποιήσας (poihsas) has been translated as a concessive adverbial participle.
24 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
sn I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors. Once again Paul claimed to be faithful to the Jewish people and to the God of Israel.
25 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
26 tn Grk “into the hands of the Romans,” but this is redundant when παρεδόθην (paredoqhn) has been translated “handed over.”