Acts 4:21

4:21 After threatening them further, they released them, for they could not find how to punish them on account of the people, because they were all praising ¹  God for what had happened.

Acts 12:19

12:19 When Herod ²  had searched ³  for him and did not find him, he questioned ⁴  the guards and commanded that they be led away to execution. ⁵  Then ⁶  Herod ⁷  went down from Judea to Caesarea ⁸  and stayed there.

Acts 17:6

17:6 When they did not find them, they dragged ⁹  Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, ¹⁰  screaming, “These people who have stirred up trouble ¹¹  throughout the world ¹²  have come here too,

Acts 21:34

21:34 But some in the crowd shouted one thing, and others something else, ¹³  and when the commanding officer ¹⁴  was unable ¹⁵  to find out the truth ¹⁶  because of the disturbance, ¹⁷  he ordered Paul ¹⁸  to be brought into the barracks. ¹⁹ 

Acts 23:9

23:9 There was a great commotion, ²⁰  and some experts in the law ²¹  from the party of the Pharisees stood up ²²  and protested strongly, ²³  “We find nothing wrong ²⁴  with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”

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¹ tn Or “glorifying.”

² sn King Herod was Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod I (Herod the Great).

³ tn Or “had instigated a search” (Herod would have ordered the search rather than conducting it himself).

⁴ tn “Questioned” is used to translate ἀνακρίνας (anakrina") here because a possible translation offered by BDAG 66 s.v. ἀνακρίνω for this verse is “examined,” which could be understood to mean Herod inspected the guards rather than questioned them. The translation used by the NIV, “cross-examined,” also avoids this possible misunderstanding.

⁵ tn The meaning “led away to execution” for ἀπαχθῆναι (apacqhnai) in this verse is given by BDAG 95 s.v. ἀπάγω 2.c. Although an explicit reference to execution is lacking here, it is what would usually occur in such a case (Acts 16:27; 27:42; Code of Justinian 9.4.4). “Led away to torture” is a less likely option (Pliny the Younger, Letters 10, 96, 8).

⁶ tn Grk “and,” but the sequence of events is better expressed in English by “then.” A new sentence is begun in the translation because of the length of the sentence in Greek, which exceeds normal English sentence length.

⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Since Herod has been the subject of the preceding material, and the circumstances of his death are the subject of the following verses (20-23), it is best to understand Herod as the subject here. This is especially true since according to Josephus, Ant. 19.8.2 [19.343-352], Herod Agrippa I died at Caesarea in a.d. 44, and vv. 20-23 here describe his death. Thus the end of v. 19 provides Luke’s transition to explain how Herod got from Jerusalem to Caesarea where he died. In spite of all this evidence, the NRSV translates this phrase “Then Peter went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there,” understanding the referent to be Peter rather than Herod Agrippa I.

sn King Herod was Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod I (Herod the Great), who died at Caesarea in a.d. 44 according to Josephus, Ant. 19.8.2 [19.343-352].

⁸ 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.

map For location see Map2-C1; Map4-B3; Map5-F2; Map7-A1; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁹ tn See BDAG 977-78 s.v. σύρω on this verb. It was used in everyday speech of dragging in fish by a net, or dragging away someone’s (presumably) dead body (Paul in Acts 14:19).

¹⁰ tn L&N 37.93 defines πολιτάρχης (politarch") as “a public official responsible for administrative matters within a town or city and a member of the ruling council of such a political unit – ‘city official’” (see also BDAG 845 s.v.).

¹¹ tn Or “rebellion.” BDAG 72 s.v. ἀναστατόω has “disturb, trouble, upset,” but in light of the references in the following verse to political insurrection, “stirred up rebellion” would also be appropriate.

¹² tn Or “the empire.” This was a way of referring to the Roman empire (BDAG 699 s.v. οἰκουμένη 2.b).

sn Throughout the world. Note how some of those present had knowledge of what had happened elsewhere. Word about Paul and his companions and their message was spreading.

¹³ tn L&N 33.77 has “ἄλλοι δὲ ἄλλο τι ἐπεφώνουν ἐν τῷ ὄχλῳ ‘some in the crowd shouted one thing; others, something else’ Ac 21:34.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the commanding officer) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁵ tn This genitive absolute construction has been translated temporally; it could also be taken causally: “and since the commanding officer was unable to find out the truth.”

¹⁶ tn Or “find out what had happened”; Grk “the certainty” (BDAG 147 s.v. ἀσφαλής 2).

¹⁷ tn Or “clamor,” “uproar” (BDAG 458 s.v. θόρυβος).

¹⁸ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁹ 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.”

²⁰ tn Or “clamor” (cf. BDAG 565 s.v. κραυγή 1.a, which has “there arose a loud outcry” here, and Exod 12:30).

²¹ tn Or “and some scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 4:5.

²² tn Grk “standing up.” The participle ἀναστάντες (anastante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

²³ tn Grk “protested strongly, saying.” L&N 39.27 has “διαμάχομαι: to fight or contend with, involving severity and thoroughness – ‘to protest strongly, to contend with.’…‘some scribes from the party of the Pharisees protested strongly’ Ac 23:9.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated.

²⁴ sn “We find nothing wrong with this man.” Here is another declaration of innocence. These leaders recognized the possibility that Paul might have the right to make his claim.