Acts 21:24

21:24 take them and purify ¹  yourself along with them and pay their expenses, ²  so that they may have their heads shaved. ³  Then ⁴  everyone will know there is nothing in what they have been told ⁵  about you, but that you yourself live in conformity with ⁶  the law. ⁷ 

Acts 25:24

25:24 Then Festus ⁸  said, “King Agrippa, ⁹  and all you who are present here with us, you see this man about whom the entire Jewish populace ¹⁰  petitioned ¹¹  me both in Jerusalem ¹²  and here, ¹³  shouting loudly ¹⁴  that he ought not to live any longer.

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¹ 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).

² tn L&N 57.146 has “δαπάνησον ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς ‘pay their expenses’ Ac 21:24.”

³ 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).

⁴ 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.

⁵ tn The verb here describes a report or some type of information (BDAG 534 s.v. κατηχέω 1).

⁶ 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.’”

⁷ sn The law refers to the law of Moses.

⁸ sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

⁹ sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

¹⁰ tn Probably best understood as rhetorical hyperbole. BDAG 825 s.v. πλῆθος 2.b.γ states, “people, populace, population…τὸ πλῆθος the populace…ἅπαν τὸ πλ. τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων Ac 25:24.” However, the actions of the leadership are seen by Luke as representing the actions of the entire nation, so the remark is not inaccurate.

¹¹ tn Or “appealed to” (BDAG 341 s.v. ἐντυγχάνω 1.a).

¹² map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹³ sn Here means “here in Caesarea.”

¹⁴ tn Or “screaming.”