18:12 Now while Gallio 35 was proconsul 36 of Achaia, 37 the Jews attacked Paul together 38 and brought him before the judgment seat, 39
23:31 So the soldiers, in accordance with their orders, 48 took 49 Paul and brought him to Antipatris 50 during the night. 23:32 The next day they let 51 the horsemen 52 go on with him, and they returned to the barracks. 53 23:33 When the horsemen 54 came to Caesarea 55 and delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented 56 Paul to him.
26:30 So the king got up, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them,
28:30 Paul 63 lived 64 there two whole years in his own rented quarters 65 and welcomed 66 all who came to him,
1 tn Or “proclaimed.”
sn All the prophets…have spoken about and announced. What Peter preaches is rooted in basic biblical and Jewish hope as expressed in the OT scriptures.
2 tn Grk “selling a field that belonged to him, brought” The participle πωλήσας (pwlhsa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
3 tn Or “a farm.”
4 tn Normally a reference to actual coins (“currency”). See L&N 6.68.
5 tn Or “ancestors”; Grk “fathers.”
6 tn Or “by crucifying him” (“hang on a tree” is by the time of the first century an idiom for crucifixion). The allusion is to the judgment against Jesus as a rebellious figure, appealing to the language of Deut 21:23. The Jewish leadership has badly “misjudged” Jesus.
7 tn Grk “This one God exalted” (emphatic).
8 tn Or “Founder” (of a movement).
9 tn Or “to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.”
10 tn Grk “his brothers.”
11 tn Grk “was granting them deliverance.” The narrator explains that this act pictured what Moses could do for his people.
12 tn Grk “by his hand,” where the hand is a metaphor for the entire person.
13 sn They did not understand. Here is the theme of the speech. The people did not understand what God was doing through those he chose. They made the same mistake with Joseph at first. See Acts 3:17; 13:27. There is good precedent for this kind of challenging review of history in the ancient scriptures: Ps 106:6-46; Ezek 20; and Neh 9:6-38.
14 sn They covered their ears to avoid hearing what they considered to be blasphemy.
15 tn Grk “opening his mouth” (a Semitic idiom for beginning to speak in a somewhat formal manner). The participle ἀνοίξας (anoixa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
16 sn Beginning with this scripture. The discussion likely included many of the scriptures Acts has already noted for the reader in earlier speeches. At the least, readers of Acts would know what other scriptures might be meant.
17 tn Grk “and he.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.
18 tn The double vocative suggests emotion.
19 sn Persecuting me. To persecute the church is to persecute Jesus.
20 tn The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which is used only rarely in a generic sense of both men and women. In the historical setting here, Paul’s traveling companions were almost certainly all males.
21 tn That is, unable to speak because of fear or amazement. See BDAG 335 s.v. ἐνεός.
22 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. Acts 22:9 appears to indicate that they saw the light but did not hear a voice. They were “witnesses” that something happened.
23 tn Or “arguing.” BDAG 954 s.v. συζητέω 2 gives “dispute, debate, argue…τινί ‘w. someone’” for συνεζήτει (sunezhtei).
24 tn Grk “the Hellenists,” but this descriptive term is largely unknown to the modern English reader. The translation “Greek-speaking Jews” attempts to convey something of who these were, but it was more than a matter of language spoken; it involved a degree of adoption of Greek culture as well.
25 tn The traditional translation, “he fell into a trance,” is somewhat idiomatic; it is based on the textual variant ἐπέπεσεν (epepesen, “he fell”) found in the Byzantine text but almost certainly not original.
26 tn Grk “And the voice.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
27 tn Or “declare.”
28 sn For the significance of this vision see Mark 7:14-23; Rom 14:14; Eph 2:11-22. God directed this change in practice.
29 tn Or “constantly.” This term also appears in Luke 22:14 and Acts 26:7.
30 tn Grk “but earnest prayer was being made by the church to God for him.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged to follow English style, and the somewhat awkward passive “prayer was being made” has been changed to the simpler active verb “were praying.” Luke portrays what follows as an answer to prayer.
31 tn The words “the door” are not in the Greek text, but are implied (see Acts 12:13).
32 sn That they were greatly astonished is a common response in Luke-Acts to God’s work (Luke 8:56; Acts 2:7, 12; 8:13; 9:21; 10:45).
33 tn Grk “And they.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the continuity with the preceding verse. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style does not.
34 sn The word of the Lord is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου (rJhma tou kuriou; Luke 22:61, Acts 11:16, 1 Pet 1:25) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logo" tou kuriou; here and in Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 15:35, 36; 19:10, 20; 1 Thess 1:8, 4:15; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said.
35 sn Gallio was proconsul of Achaia from
36 sn The proconsul was the Roman official who ruled over a province traditionally under the control of the Roman senate.
37 sn Achaia was a Roman province created in 146
38 tn Grk “with one accord.”
39 tn Although BDAG 175 s.v. βῆμα 3 gives the meaning “tribunal” for this verse and a number of modern translations use similar terms (“court,” NIV; “tribunal,” NRSV), there is no need for an alternative translation here since the bema was a standard feature in Greco-Roman cities of the time.
sn The judgment seat (βῆμα, bhma) was a raised platform mounted by steps and sometimes furnished with a seat, used by officials in addressing an assembly or making pronouncements, often on judicial matters. The judgment seat was a familiar item in Greco-Roman culture, often located in the agora, the public square or marketplace in the center of a city. So this was a very public event.
40 sn Miletus was a seaport on the western coast of Asia Minor about 45 mi (72 km) south of Ephesus.
41 tn The words “a message” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
42 tn The words “to him” are not in the Greek text but are implied. L&N 33.311 has for the verb μετακαλέομαι (metakaleomai) “to summon someone, with considerable insistence and authority – ‘to summon, to tell to come.’”
43 tn Or “the people there.”
44 tn Grk “and” (δέ, de); the phrase “at that” has been used in the translation to clarify the cause and effect relationship.
45 tn BDAG 778 s.v. παρίστημι/παριστάνω 2.b.α has “οἱ παρεστῶτες αὐτῷ those standing near him Ac 23:2.”
46 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
47 tn Or “hit” (‘strike’ maintains the wordplay with the following verse). The action was probably designed to indicate a rejection of Paul’s claim to a clear conscience in the previous verse.
48 tn BDAG 237-38 s.v. διατάσσω 2 has “κατὰ τὸ δ. αὐτοῖς in accordance w. their orders…Ac 23:31.”
49 tn Grk “taking.” The participle ἀναλαβόντες (analabonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
50 sn Antipatris was a city in Judea about 35 mi (55 km) northwest of Jerusalem (about halfway to Caesarea). It was mentioned several times by Josephus (Ant. 13.15.1 [13.390]; J. W. 1.4.7 [1.99]).
51 tn Grk “letting.” The participle ἐάσαντες (easante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
52 tn Or “cavalrymen.”
53 tn Or “the headquarters.” BDAG 775 s.v. παρεμβολή 2 has “barracks/headquarters of the Roman troops in Jerusalem Ac 21:34, 37; 22:24; 23:10, 16, 32.”
54 tn Grk “who, coming to Caesarea.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek construction, a new sentence was begun here in the translation. The relative pronoun (“who”) has been replaced with the referent (the horsemen) in the translation for clarity.
55 sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1. It was about 30 mi (50 km) from Antipatris.
56 tn BDAG 778 s.v. παρίστημι/παριστάνω 1.b has “present, represent – α. lit. τινά τινι someone to someone παρέστησαν τὸν Παῦλον αὐτῷ Ac 23:33.”
57 tn BDAG 893-94 s.v. πρῶτος 2.a.β has “οἱ πρῶτοι the most prominent men, the leading men w. gen. of the place…or of a group…οἱ πρ. τοῦ λαοῦ…Lk 19:47; cp. Ac 25:2; 28:17.”
58 tn BDAG 326 s.v. ἐμφανίζω 3 has “ἐ. τινὶ κατά τινος bring formal charges against someone…Ac 24:1; 25:2.”
sn Note how quickly the Jewish leadership went after Paul: They brought formal charges against him within three days of Festus’ arrival in the province.
59 tn Grk “they brought no charge of any of the evil deeds.” BDAG 31 s.v. αἰτία 3.b has “αἰτίαν φέρειν…bring an accusation Ac 25:18.” Since κατήγοροι (kathgoroi, “accusers”) in the previous clause is somewhat redundant with this, “charge” was used instead.
60 tn Or “I was expecting.”
61 tn L&N 33.153 s.v. σημαίνω, “to cause something to be both specific and clear – ‘to indicate clearly, to make clear’… ‘for it seems unreasonable to me to send a prisoner without clearly indicating the charges against him’ Ac 25:27.”
sn Without clearly indicating the charges against him. Again the point is made by Festus himself that there is difficulty even in articulating a charge against Paul.
62 tn Or “to stay.”
sn Allowed to live by himself. Paul continued to have a generous prison arrangement (cf. Acts 27:3).
63 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
64 tn Or “stayed.”
65 tn Or perhaps, “two whole years at his own expense.” BDAG 654 s.v. μίσθωμα states, “the customary act. mng. ‘contract price, rent’…is not found in our lit. (Ac) and the pass. what is rented, a rented house is a mng. not found outside it (even Ammonius Gramm. [100 ad] p. 93 Valck. knows nothing of it. Hence the transl. at his own expense [NRSV] merits attention) ἐν ἰδίῳ μισθώματι in his own rented lodgings Ac 28:30 (for the idea cp. Jos., Ant. 18, 235).”
66 tn Or “and received.”