Discovery BoxActs 1:20 
Context1:20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his house become deserted, 1 and let there be no one to live in it,’ 2 and ‘Let another take his position of responsibility.’ 3
Acts 19:38
Context19:38 If then Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint 4 against someone, the courts are open 5 and there are proconsuls; let them bring charges against one another there. 6
Acts 28:4
Context28:4 When the local people 7 saw the creature hanging from Paul’s 8 hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer! Although he has escaped from the sea, Justice herself 9 has not allowed him to live!” 10
1 tn Or “uninhabited” or “empty.”
2 sn A quotation from Ps 69:25.
3 tn Or “Let another take his office.”
sn A quotation from Ps 109:8.
4 tn BDAG 600 s.v. λόγος 1.a.ε has “ἔχειν πρός τινα λόγον have a complaint against someone…19:38.”
5 tn L&N 56.1 has ‘if Demetrius and his workers have an accusation against someone, the courts are open’ Ac 19:38.”
6 tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text but is implied. The official’s request is that the legal system be respected.
7 tn Although this is literally βάρβαροι (barbaroi; “foreigners, barbarians”) used for non-Greek or non-Romans, as BDAG 166 s.v. βάρβαρος 2.b notes, “Of the inhabitants of Malta, who apparently spoke in their native language Ac 28:2, 4 (here β. certainly without derogatory tone…).”
8 tn Grk “his”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn That is, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live. BDAG 250 s.v. δίκη 2 states, “Justice personified as a deity Ac 28:4”; L&N 12.27, “a goddess who personifies justice in seeking out and punishing the guilty – ‘the goddess Justice.’ ἡ δίκη ζῆν οὐκ εἴασεν ‘the goddess Justice would not let him live’ Ac 28:4.” Although a number of modern English translations have rendered δίκη (dikh) “justice,” preferring to use an abstraction, in the original setting it is almost certainly a reference to a pagan deity. In the translation, the noun “justice” was capitalized and the reflexive pronoun “herself” was supplied to make the personification clear. This was considered preferable to supplying a word like ‘goddess’ in connection with δίκη.
10 sn The entire scene is played out initially as a kind of oracle from the gods resulting in the judgment of a guilty person (Justice herself has not allowed him to live). Paul’s survival of this incident without ill effects thus spoke volumes about his innocence.
