Acts 21:13

21:13 Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking ¹  my heart? For I am ready not only to be tied up, ²  but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Acts 21:33

21:33 Then the commanding officer ³  came up and arrested ⁴  him and ordered him to be tied up with two chains; ⁵  he ⁶  then asked who he was and what ⁷  he had done.

Acts 22:29

22:29 Then those who were about to interrogate him stayed away ⁸  from him, and the commanding officer ⁹  was frightened when he realized that Paul ¹⁰  was ¹¹  a Roman citizen ¹²  and that he had had him tied up. ¹³ 

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¹ 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).

² 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.

³ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 31.

⁴ tn Grk “seized.”

⁵ tn The two chains would be something like handcuffs (BDAG 48 s.v. ἅλυσις and compare Acts 28:20).

⁶ tn Grk “and he.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was begun in the translation, and καί (kai) has been replaced with a semicolon. “Then” has been supplied after “he” to clarify the logical sequence.

⁷ tn Grk “and what it is”; this has been simplified to “what.”

⁸ tn BDAG 158 s.v. ἀφίστημι 2.b has “keep away…ἀπό τινος… Lk 4:13; Ac 5:38; 2 Cor 12:8…cp. Ac 22:29.” In context, the point would seem to be not that the interrogators departed or withdrew, but that they held back from continuing the flogging.

⁹ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 24.

¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ tn This is a present tense (ἐστιν, estin) retained in indirect discourse. It must be translated as a past tense in contemporary English.

¹² tn The word “citizen” is supplied here for emphasis and clarity.

¹³ sn Had him tied up. Perhaps a reference to the chains in Acts 21:33, or the preparations for the lashing in Acts 22:25. A trial would now be needed to resolve the matter. The Roman authorities’ hesitation to render a judgment in the case occurs repeatedly: Acts 22:30; 23:28-29; 24:22; 25:20, 26-27. The legal process begun here would take the rest of Acts and will be unresolved at the end. The process itself took four years of Paul’s life.