¹ tn Grk “hand,” here a metaphor for God’s strength or power or authority.

² tn Or “purpose,” “will.”

³ tn Or “had predestined.” Since the term “predestine” is something of a technical theological term, not in wide usage in contemporary English, the translation “decide beforehand” was used instead (see L&N 30.84). God’s direction remains as the major theme.

⁴ sn The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners. The issue here was not cruelty, but that the soldiers would be legally responsible if any prisoners escaped and would suffer punishment themselves. So they were planning to do this as an act of self-preservation. See Acts 16:27 for a similar incident.

⁵ tn The participle ἐκκολυμβήσας (ekkolumbhsa") has been taken instrumentally.