Discovery BoxActs 12:4 
Context12:4 When he had seized him, he put him in prison, handing him over to four squads 1 of soldiers to guard him. Herod 2 planned 3 to bring him out for public trial 4 after the Passover.
Acts 12:6-7
Context12:6 On that very night before Herod was going to bring him out for trial, 5 Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while 6 guards in front of the door were keeping watch 7 over the prison. 12:7 Suddenly 8 an angel of the Lord 9 appeared, and a light shone in the prison cell. He struck 10 Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly!” And the chains fell off Peter’s 11 wrists. 12
Acts 16:26-27
Context16:26 Suddenly a great earthquake occurred, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. Immediately all the doors flew open, and the bonds 13 of all the prisoners came loose. 16:27 When the jailer woke up 14 and saw the doors of the prison standing open, 15 he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, 16 because he assumed 17 the prisoners had escaped.
1 sn Four squads of soldiers. Each squad was a detachment of four soldiers.
2 tn Grk “guard him, planning to bring him out.” The Greek construction continues with a participle (βουλόμενος, boulomeno") and an infinitive (ἀναγαγεῖν, anagagein), but this creates an awkward and lengthy sentence in English. Thus a reference to Herod was introduced as subject and the participle translated as a finite verb (“Herod planned”).
3 tn Or “intended”; Grk “wanted.”
4 tn Grk “to bring him out to the people,” but in this context a public trial (with certain condemnation as the result) is doubtless what Herod planned. L&N 15.176 translates this phrase “planning to bring him up for a public trial after the Passover.”
5 tn Grk “was going to bring him out,” but the upcoming trial is implied. See Acts 12:4.
6 tn Grk “two chains, and.” Logically it makes better sense to translate this as a temporal clause, although technically it is a coordinate clause in Greek.
7 tn Or “were guarding.”
8 tn Grk “And behold.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here. The interjection ἰδού (idou), often difficult to translate into English, expresses the suddenness of the angel’s appearance.
9 tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 5:19.
10 tn Grk “striking the side of Peter, he awoke him saying.” The term refers to a push or a light tap (BDAG 786 s.v. πατάσσω 1.a). The participle πατάξας (pataxa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
11 tn Grk “his”; the referent (Peter) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 tn Grk “the hands,” but the wrist was considered a part of the hand.
13 tn Or perhaps, “chains.” The translation of τὰ δεσμά (ta desma) is to some extent affected by the understanding of ξύλον (xulon, “stocks”) in v. 24. It is possible (as mentioned in L&N 18.12) that this does not mean “stocks” but a block of wood (a log or wooden column) in the prison to which prisoners’ feet were chained or tied.
14 tn L&N 23.75 has “had awakened” here. It is more in keeping with contemporary English style, however, to keep the two verbal ideas parallel in terms of tense (“when the jailer woke up and saw”) although logically the second action is subsequent to the first.
15 tn The additional semantic component “standing” is supplied (“standing open”) to convey a stative nuance in English.
16 sn Was about to kill himself. The jailer’s penalty for failing to guard the prisoners would have been death, so he contemplated saving the leaders the trouble (see Acts 12:19; 27:42).
17 tn Or “thought.”
