Discovery BoxActs 22:17-21 
Context22:17 When 1 I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance 2 22:18 and saw the Lord 3 saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ 22:19 I replied, 4 ‘Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat those in the various synagogues 5 who believed in you. 22:20 And when the blood of your witness 6 Stephen was shed, 7 I myself was standing nearby, approving, 8 and guarding the cloaks 9 of those who were killing him.’ 10 22:21 Then 11 he said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
1 tn Grk “It happened to me that.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
2 tn BDAG 309 s.v. ἔκστασις 2 has “γενέσθαι ἐν ἐκστάσει fall into a trance Ac 22:17.”
3 tn Or “Jesus”; Grk “him.” The referent (the Lord, cf. v. 19) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Grk “And I said.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai, in καγώ [kagw]) has not been translated here.
5 tn For the distributive sense of the expression κατὰ τὰς συναγωγάς (kata ta" sunagwga") BDAG 512 s.v. κατά B.1.d has “of places viewed serially, distributive use w. acc.…κατ᾿ οἶκαν from house to house…Ac 2:46b; 5:42…Likew. the pl.…κ. τὰς συναγωγάς 22:19.” See also L&N 37.114.
sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.
6 sn Now Paul referred to Stephen as your witness, and he himself had also become a witness. The reversal was now complete; the opponent had now become a proponent.
7 sn When the blood of your witness Stephen was shed means “when your witness Stephen was murdered.”
8 tn Grk “and approving.” This καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
9 tn Or “outer garments.”
sn The cloaks. The outer garment, or cloak, was taken off and laid aside to leave the arms free (in this case for throwing stones).
10 tn Or “who were putting him to death.” For the translation of ἀναιρούντων (anairountwn) as “putting to death” see BDAG 64 s.v. ἀναιρέω 2.
11 tn Grk “And.” Since this represents a response to Paul’s reply in v. 19, καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the logical sequence.
