Discovery BoxActs 25:25 
Context25:25 But I found that he had done nothing that deserved death, 1 and when he appealed 2 to His Majesty the Emperor, 3 I decided to send him. 4
Acts 27:1
Context27:1 When it was decided we 5 would sail to Italy, 6 they handed over Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion 7 of the Augustan Cohort 8 named Julius.
Acts 27:39
Context27:39 When day came, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed 9 a bay 10 with a beach, 11 where they decided to run the ship aground if they could.
1 sn He had done nothing that deserved death. Festus’ opinion of Paul’s guilt is like Pilate’s of Jesus (Luke 23:4, 14, 22).
2 tn The participle ἐπικαλεσαμένου (epikalesamenou) has been taken temporally. It could also be translated as causal: “and because he appealed…”
3 tn A designation of the Roman emperor (in this case, Nero). BDAG 917 s.v. σεβαστός states, “ὁ Σεβαστός His Majesty the Emperor Ac 25:21, 25 (of Nero).”
4 tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
5 sn The last “we” section in Acts begins here and extends to 28:16 (the previous one ended at 21:18).
6 sn Sail to Italy. This voyage with its difficulty serves to show how God protected Paul on his long journey to Rome. From the perspective of someone in Palestine, this may well picture “the end of the earth” quite literally (cf. Acts 1:8).
7 sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.
8 tn According to BDAG 917 s.v. σεβαστός, “In σπεῖρα Σεβαστή 27:1 (cp. OGI 421) Σεβαστή is likew. an exact transl. of Lat. Augusta, an honorary title freq. given to auxiliary troops (Ptolem. renders it Σεβαστή in connection w. three legions that bore it: 2, 3, 30; 2, 9, 18; 4, 3, 30) imperial cohort.” According to W. Foerster (TDNT 7:175), “In Ac. 27:1 the σπεῖρα Σεβαστή is an expression also found elsewhere for ‘auxiliary troops.’” In no case would this refer to a special imperial bodyguard, and to translate “imperial regiment” or “imperial cohort” might give this impression. There is some archaeological evidence for a Cohors Augusta I stationed in Syria during the time of Augustus, but whether this is the same unit is very debatable.
sn The Augustan Cohort. A cohort was a Roman military unit of about 600 soldiers, one-tenth of a legion. There is considerable debate over the identification of this particular cohort and the meaning of the title Augustan mentioned here. These may well have been auxiliary (provincial) troops given the honorary title.
9 tn Or “observed,” “saw.”
10 tn Or “gulf” (BDAG 557 s.v. κόλπος 3).
11 sn A beach would refer to a smooth sandy beach suitable for landing.
