Acts 5:25

5:25 But someone came and reported to them, “Look! The men you put in prison are standing in the temple courts ¹  and teaching ²  the people!”

Acts 8:3

8:3 But Saul was trying to destroy ³  the church; entering one house after another, he dragged off ⁴  both men and women and put them in prison. ⁵ 

Acts 16:40

16:40 When they came out of the prison, they entered Lydia’s house, and when they saw the brothers, they encouraged them and then ⁶  departed.

Acts 22:4

22:4 I ⁷  persecuted this Way ⁸  even to the point of death, ⁹  tying up ¹⁰  both men and women and putting ¹¹  them in prison,

Acts 24:27

24:27 After two years ¹²  had passed, Porcius Festus ¹³  succeeded Felix, ¹⁴  and because he wanted to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison. ¹⁵ 

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¹ tn Grk “the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.

² sn Obeying God (see v. 29), the apostles were teaching again (4:18-20; 5:20). They did so despite the risk.

³ tn Or “began to harm [the church] severely.” If the nuance of this verb is “destroy,” then the imperfect verb ἐλυμαίνετο (elumaineto) is best translated as a conative imperfect as in the translation above. If instead the verb is taken to mean “injure severely” (as L&N 20.24), it should be translated in context as an ingressive imperfect (“began to harm the church severely”). Either option does not significantly alter the overall meaning, since it is clear from the stated actions of Saul in the second half of the verse that he intended to destroy or ravage the church.

⁴ tn The participle σύρων (surwn) has been translated as an finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

⁵ tn BDAG 762 s.v. παραδίδωμι 1.b has “εἰς φυλακήν put in prison Ac 8:3.”

⁶ tn “Then” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to clarify the logical sequence in the translation.

⁷ 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.

⁸ 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).

⁹ tn BDAG 442-43 s.v. θάνατος 1.a has “διώκειν ἄχρι θανάτου persecute even to death Ac 22:4.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “binding.” See Acts 8:3.

¹¹ tn BDAG 762 s.v. παραδίδωμι 1.b has “W. local εἰς…εἰς φυλακήν put in prison Ac 8:3; cp. 22:4.”

¹² tn Grk “After a two-year period.”

¹³ sn Porcius Festus was the procurator of Palestine who succeeded Felix; neither the beginning nor the end of his rule (at his death) can be determined with certainty, although he appears to have died in office after about two years. Nero recalled Felix in a.d. 57 or 58, and Festus was appointed to his vacant office in a.d. 57, 58, or 59. According to Josephus (Ant. 20.8.9-10 [20.182-188]; J. W. 2.14.1 [2.271-272]), his administration was better than that of his predecessor Felix or his successor Albinus, but Luke in Acts portrays him in a less favorable light: He was willing to sacrifice Paul to court Jewish favor by taking him to Jerusalem for trial (v. 9), regardless of Paul’s guilt or innocence. The one characteristic for which Festus was noted is that he dealt harshly with those who disturbed the peace.

¹⁴ tn Grk “Felix received as successor Porcius Festus.”

sn See the note on Felix in 23:26.

¹⁵ tn Grk “left Paul imprisoned.”

sn Felix left Paul in prison. Luke makes the point that politics got in the way of justice here; keeping Paul in prison was a political favor to the Jews.