Acts 22:3-4

22:3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated with strictness under Gamaliel according to the law of our ancestors, and was zealous for God just as all of you are today. 22:4 I persecuted this Way 10  even to the point of death, 11  tying up 12  both men and women and putting 13  them in prison,

Acts 22:19-23

22:19 I replied, 14  ‘Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat those in the various synagogues 15  who believed in you. 22:20 And when the blood of your witness 16  Stephen was shed, 17  I myself was standing nearby, approving, 18  and guarding the cloaks 19  of those who were killing him.’ 20  22:21 Then 21  he said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”

The Roman Commander Questions Paul

22:22 The crowd 22  was listening to him until he said this. 23  Then 24  they raised their voices and shouted, 25  “Away with this man 26  from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live!” 27  22:23 While they were screaming 28  and throwing off their cloaks 29  and tossing dust 30  in the air,


tn Grk “a Jewish man.”

tn BDAG 74 s.v. ἀνατρέφω b has “of mental and spiritual nurture bring up, rear, trainἀνατεθραμμένος ἐν τ. πόλει ταύτῃ 22:3.”

tn Or “with precision.” Although often translated “strictly” this can be misunderstood for “solely” in English. BDAG 39 s.v. ἀκρίβεια gives the meaning as “exactness, precision.” To avoid the potential misunderstanding the translation “with strictness” is used, although it is slightly more awkward than “strictly.”

tn Grk “strictly at the feet of” (an idiom).

tn Or “brought up in this city under Gamaliel, educated with strictness…” The phrase παρὰ τοὺς πόδας Γαμαλιὴλ (para tou" poda" Gamalihl) could be understood with what precedes or with what follows. The punctuation of NA27 and UBS4, which place a comma after ταύτῃ (tauth), has been followed in the translation.

sn Gamaliel was a famous Jewish scholar and teacher mentioned here and in Acts 5:34. He had a grandson of the same name and is referred to as “Gamaliel the Elder” to avoid confusion. He is quoted a number of times in the Mishnah, was given the highest possible title for Jewish teachers, Rabba (cf. John 20:16), and was highly regarded in later rabbinic tradition.

tn Or “our forefathers.”

tn Grk “ancestors, being.” The participle ὑπάρχων (Juparcwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

tn BDAG 427 s.v. ζηλωτής 1.a.α has “of pers. …ζ. τοῦ θεοῦ one who is loyal to God Ac 22:3.”

tn Grk “who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“who”) was translated by the first person pronoun (“I”) and a new sentence begun in the translation.

10 sn That is, persecuted the Christian movement (Christianity). The Way is also used as a description of the Christian faith in Acts 9:2; 18:25-26; 19:9, 23; 24:14, 22).

11 tn BDAG 442-43 s.v. θάνατος 1.a has “διώκειν ἄχρι θανάτου persecute even to death Ac 22:4.”

12 tn Grk “binding.” See Acts 8:3.

13 tn BDAG 762 s.v. παραδίδωμι 1.b has “W. local εἰςεἰς φυλακήν put in prison Ac 8:3; cp. 22:4.”

14 tn Grk “And I said.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai, in καγώ [kagw]) has not been translated here.

15 tn For the distributive sense of the expression κατὰ τὰς συναγωγάς (kata ta" sunagwga") BDAG 512 s.v. κατά B.1.d has “of places viewed serially, distributive use w. acc.…κατ᾿ οἶκαν from house to houseAc 2:46b; 5:42…Likew. the pl.…κ. τὰς συναγωγάς 22:19.” See also L&N 37.114.

sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

16 sn Now Paul referred to Stephen as your witness, and he himself had also become a witness. The reversal was now complete; the opponent had now become a proponent.

17 sn When the blood of your witness Stephen was shed means “when your witness Stephen was murdered.”

18 tn Grk “and approving.” This καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

19 tn Or “outer garments.”

sn The cloaks. The outer garment, or cloak, was taken off and laid aside to leave the arms free (in this case for throwing stones).

20 tn Or “who were putting him to death.” For the translation of ἀναιρούντων (anairountwn) as “putting to death” see BDAG 64 s.v. ἀναιρέω 2.

21 tn Grk “And.” Since this represents a response to Paul’s reply in v. 19, καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the logical sequence.

22 tn Grk “They were listening”; the referent (the crowd) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

23 tn Grk “until this word.”

sn Until he said this. Note it is the mention of Paul’s mission to the Gentiles with its implication of ethnic openness that is so disturbing to the audience.

24 tn Grk “And.” To indicate the logical sequence, καί (kai) has been translated as “then” here.

25 tn Grk “and said.”

26 tn Grk “this one.”

27 tn BDAG 491 s.v. καθήκω has “to be appropriate, come/reach to, be proper/fitting…Usu. impers. καθήκει it comes (to someone)…foll. by acc. and inf….οὐ καθῆκεν αὐτὸν ζῆν he should not be allowed to live Ac 22:22.”

28 tn The participle κραυγαζόντων (kraugazontwn) has been translated temporally.

29 tn Or “outer garments.”

sn Their cloaks. The outer garment, or cloak, was taken off and laid aside to leave the arms free (perhaps in this case as preparation for throwing stones).

30 sn The crowd’s act of tossing dust in the air indicated they had heard something disturbing and offensive. This may have been a symbolic gesture, indicating Paul’s words deserved to be thrown to the wind, or it may have simply resulted from the fact they had nothing else to throw at him at the moment.