Discovery BoxActs 12:18 
Context12:18 At daybreak 1 there was great consternation 2 among the soldiers over what had become of Peter.
Acts 16:35
Context16:35 At daybreak 3 the magistrates 4 sent their police officers, 5 saying, “Release those men.”
Acts 5:21
Context5:21 When they heard this, they entered the temple courts 6 at daybreak and began teaching. 7
Now when the high priest and those who were with him arrived, they summoned the Sanhedrin 8 – that is, the whole high council 9 of the Israelites 10 – and sent to the jail to have the apostles 11 brought before them. 12
1 tn BDAG 436 s.v. ἡμέρα 1.a has “day is breaking” for ἡμέρα γίνεται (Jhmera ginetai) in this verse.
2 tn Grk “no little consternation.” The translation given for τάραχος (taraco") in this verse by BDAG 991 s.v. τάραχος 1 is “mental agitation.” The situation indicated by the Greek word is described in L&N 25.243 as “a state of acute distress and great anxiety, with the additional possible implications of dismay and confusion – ‘great distress, extreme anxiety.’” The English word “consternation” is preferred here because it conveys precisely such a situation of anxiety mixed with fear. The reason for this anxiety is explained in the following verse.
3 tn The translation “day is breaking” for ἡμέρα γίνεται (Jhmera ginetai) in this verse is given by BDAG 436 s.v. ἡμέρα 1.a.
4 tn On the term translated “magistrates,” see BDAG 947-48 s.v. στρατηγός 1. These city leaders were properly called duoviri, but were popularly known as praetors (στρατηγοί, strathgoi). They were the chief officials of Philippi. The text leaves the impression that they came to the decision to release Paul and Silas independently. God was at work everywhere.
5 tn On the term ῥαβδοῦχος (rJabdouco") see BDAG 902 s.v. The term was used of the Roman lictor and roughly corresponds to contemporary English “constable, policeman.”
6 tn Grk “the temple.” See the note on the same phrase in the preceding verse.
7 tn The imperfect verb ἐδίδασκον (edidaskon) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.
8 tn Or “the council” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).
9 tn A hendiadys (two different terms referring to a single thing) is likely here (a reference to a single legislative body rather than two separate ones) because the term γερουσίαν (gerousian) is used in both 1 Macc 12:6 and Josephus, Ant. 13.5.8 (13.166) to refer to the Sanhedrin.
10 tn Grk “sons of Israel.”
11 tn Grk “have them”; the referent (the apostles) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 tn The words “before them” are not in the Greek text but are implied.
