Discovery BoxActs 21:13 
Context21:13 Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking 1 my heart? For I am ready not only to be tied up, 2 but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Acts 21:33
Context21:33 Then the commanding officer 3 came up and arrested 4 him and ordered him to be tied up with two chains; 5 he 6 then asked who he was and what 7 he had done.
Acts 22:29
Context22:29 Then those who were about to interrogate him stayed away 8 from him, and the commanding officer 9 was frightened when he realized that Paul 10 was 11 a Roman citizen 12 and that he had had him tied up. 13
1 tn The term translated “breaking” as used by Josephus (Ant. 10.10.4 [10.207]) means to break something into pieces, but in its only NT use (it is a hapax legomenon) it is used figuratively (BDAG 972 s.v. συνθρύπτω).
2 tn L&N 18.13 has “to tie objects together – ‘to tie, to tie together, to tie up.’” The verb δέω (dew) is sometimes figurative for imprisonment (L&N 37.114), but it is preferable to translate it literally here in light of v. 11 where Agabus tied himself up with Paul’s belt.
3 tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 31.
4 tn Grk “seized.”
5 tn The two chains would be something like handcuffs (BDAG 48 s.v. ἅλυσις and compare Acts 28:20).
6 tn Grk “and he.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was begun in the translation, and καί (kai) has been replaced with a semicolon. “Then” has been supplied after “he” to clarify the logical sequence.
7 tn Grk “and what it is”; this has been simplified to “what.”
8 tn BDAG 158 s.v. ἀφίστημι 2.b has “keep away…ἀπό τινος… Lk 4:13; Ac 5:38; 2 Cor 12:8…cp. Ac 22:29.” In context, the point would seem to be not that the interrogators departed or withdrew, but that they held back from continuing the flogging.
9 tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 24.
10 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn This is a present tense (ἐστιν, estin) retained in indirect discourse. It must be translated as a past tense in contemporary English.
12 tn The word “citizen” is supplied here for emphasis and clarity.
13 sn Had him tied up. Perhaps a reference to the chains in Acts 21:33, or the preparations for the lashing in Acts 22:25. A trial would now be needed to resolve the matter. The Roman authorities’ hesitation to render a judgment in the case occurs repeatedly: Acts 22:30; 23:28-29; 24:22; 25:20, 26-27. The legal process begun here would take the rest of Acts and will be unresolved at the end. The process itself took four years of Paul’s life.
