Acts 18:14-16

18:14 But just as Paul was about to speak, ¹  Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of some crime or serious piece of villainy, ²  I would have been justified in accepting the complaint ³  of you Jews, ⁴  18:15 but since it concerns points of disagreement ⁵  about words and names and your own law, settle ⁶  it yourselves. I will not be ⁷  a judge of these things!” 18:16 Then he had them forced away ⁸  from the judgment seat. ⁹ 

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¹ tn Grk “about to open his mouth” (an idiom).

² tn BDAG 902 s.v. ῥᾳδιούργημα states, “From the sense ‘prank, knavery, roguish trick, slick deed’ it is but a short step to that of a serious misdeed, crime, villainy…a serious piece of villainy Ac 18:14 (w. ἀδίκημα).”

³ tn According to BDAG 78 s.v. ἀνέχω 3 this is a legal technical term: “Legal t.t. κατὰ λόγον ἂν ἀνεσχόμην ὑμῶν I would have been justified in accepting your complaint Ac 18:14.”

⁴ tn Grk “accepting your complaint, O Jews.”

⁵ tn Or “dispute.”

⁶ tn Grk “see to it” (an idiom).

⁷ tn Or “I am not willing to be.” Gallio would not adjudicate their religious dispute.

⁸ tn Grk “driven away,” but this could result in a misunderstanding in English (“driven” as in a cart or wagon?). “Forced away” conveys the idea; Gallio rejected their complaint. In contemporary English terminology the case was “thrown out of court.” The verb ἀπήλασεν (aphlasen) has been translated as a causative since Gallio probably did not perform this action in person, but ordered his aides or officers to remove the plaintiffs.

⁹ sn See the note on the term judgment seat in 18:12.