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 18:17
Context18:17 So they all seized Sosthenes, the president of the synagogue, 5 and began to beat 6 him in front of the judgment seat. 7 Yet none of these things were of any concern 8 to Gallio.
Acts 21:27
Context21:27 When the seven days were almost over, 9 the Jews from the province of Asia 10 who had seen him in the temple area 11 stirred up the whole crowd 12 and seized 13 him,
Acts 23:27
Context23:27 This man was seized 14 by the Jews and they were about to kill him, 15 when I came up 16 with the detachment 17 and rescued him, because I had learned that he was 18 a Roman citizen. 19
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 That is, “the official in charge of the synagogue”; ἀρχισυνάγωγος (arcisunagwgo") refers to the “leader/president of a synagogue” (so BDAG 139 s.v. and L&N 53.93).
sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.
6 tn The imperfect verb ἔτυπτον (etupton) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.
7 sn See the note on the term judgment seat in 18:12.
8 tn L&N 25.223 has “‘none of these things were of any concern to Gallio’ Ac 18:17.”
sn Rome was officially indifferent to such disputes. Gallio understood how sensitive some Jews would be about his meddling in their affairs. This is similar to the way Pilate dealt with Jesus. In the end, he let the Jewish leadership and people make the judgment against Jesus.
9 tn BDAG 975 s.v. συντελέω 4 has “to come to an end of a duration, come to an end, be over…Ac 21:27.”
10 tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.
sn Note how there is a sense of Paul being pursued from a distance. These Jews may well have been from Ephesus, since they recognized Trophimus the Ephesian (v. 29).
11 tn Grk “in the temple.” See the note on the word “temple” in v. 28.
12 tn Or “threw the whole crowd into consternation.” L&N 25.221 has “συνέχεον πάντα τὸν ὄχλον ‘they threw the whole crowd into consternation’ Ac 21:27. It is also possible to render the expression in Ac 21:27 as ‘they stirred up the whole crowd.’”
13 tn Grk “and laid hands on.”
14 tn The participle συλλημφθέντα (sullhmfqenta) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. The remark reviews events of Acts 21:27-40.
15 tn Grk “and was about to be killed by them.” The passive construction has been converted to an active one in the translation for stylistic reasons.
16 tn Or “approached.”
17 tn Normally this term means “army,” but according to BDAG 947 s.v. στράτευμα, “Of a smaller detachment of soldiers, sing. Ac 23:10, 27.” In the plural it can be translated “troops,” but it is singular here.
18 tn In Greek this is a present tense retained in indirect discourse.
19 tn The word “citizen” is supplied here for emphasis and clarity.
sn The letter written by the Roman commander Claudius Lysias was somewhat self-serving. He made it sound as if the rescue of a Roman citizen had been a conscious act on his part. In fact, he had made the discovery of Paul’s Roman citizenship somewhat later. See Acts 21:37-39 and 22:24-29.
