Discovery BoxActs 11:5 
Context11:5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, 1 an object something like a large sheet descending, 2 being let down from heaven 3 by its four corners, and it came to me.
Acts 21:34
Context21:34 But some in the crowd shouted one thing, and others something else, 4 and when the commanding officer 5 was unable 6 to find out the truth 7 because of the disturbance, 8 he ordered Paul 9 to be brought into the barracks. 10
Acts 21:37
Context21:37 As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, 11 he said 12 to the commanding officer, 13 “May I say 14 something to you?” The officer 15 replied, 16 “Do you know Greek? 17
Acts 23:18
Context23:18 So the centurion 18 took him and brought him to the commanding officer 19 and said, “The prisoner Paul called 20 me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”
Acts 25:26
Context25:26 But I have nothing definite 21 to write to my lord 22 about him. 23 Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, 24 so that after this preliminary hearing 25 I may have something to write.
1 tn This term describes a supernatural vision and reflects a clear distinction from something imagined (BDAG 718 s.v. ὅραμα 1). Peter repeated the story virtually word for word through v. 13. The repetition with this degree of detail shows the event’s importance.
2 tn Or “coming down.”
3 tn Or “the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).
4 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.”
5 tn Grk “he”; the referent (the commanding officer) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 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.”
7 tn Or “find out what had happened”; Grk “the certainty” (BDAG 147 s.v. ἀσφαλής 2).
8 tn Or “clamor,” “uproar” (BDAG 458 s.v. θόρυβος).
9 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 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.”
11 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.”
12 tn Grk “says” (a historical present).
13 tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers) See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 31.
14 tn Grk “Is it permitted for me to say” (an idiom).
15 tn Grk “He”; the referent (the officer) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Grk “said.”
17 sn “Do you know Greek?” Paul as an educated rabbi was bilingual. Paul’s request in Greek allowed the officer to recognize that Paul was not the violent insurrectionist he thought he had arrested (see following verse). The confusion of identities reveals the degree of confusion dominating these events.
18 tn Grk “he”; the referent (the centurion) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
19 tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 10.
20 tn Grk “calling.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
21 sn There is irony here. How can Festus write anything definite about Paul, if he is guilty of nothing.
22 sn To my lord means “to His Majesty the Emperor.”
23 tn Grk “about whom I have nothing definite…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced with a personal pronoun (“him”) and a new sentence begun in the translation at the beginning of v. 26.
24 sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.
25 tn Or “investigation.” BDAG 66 s.v. ἀνάκρισις has “a judicial hearing, investigation, hearing, esp. preliminary hearing…τῆς ἀ. γενομένης Ac 25:26.” This is technical legal language.
