¹ tn Grk “selling a field that belonged to him, brought” The participle πωλήσας (pwlhsa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

² tn Or “a farm.”

³ tn Normally a reference to actual coins (“currency”). See L&N 6.68.

⁴ tn Or “the Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

⁵ tn Or “interrogated,” “asked.”

⁶ tn Or “exposed” (see v. 19).

⁷ tn Grk “Pharaoh’s daughter took him up for herself.” According to BDAG 64 s.v. ἀναιρέω, “The pap. exx. involve exposed children taken up and reared as slaves…The rendering ‘adopt’ lacks philological precision and can be used only in a loose sense (as NRSV), esp. when Gr-Rom. terminology relating to adoption procedures is taken into account.” In this instance both the immediate context and the OT account (Exod 2:3-10) do support the normal sense of the English word “adopt,” although it should not be understood to refer to a technical, legal event.

⁸ tn Or “and reared him” (BDAG 74 s.v. ἀνατρέφω b).

⁹ sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine, south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1.

map For location see Map2 C1; Map4 B3; Map5 F2; Map7 A1; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

¹⁰ tn Or “From the offspring”; Grk “From the seed.”

sn From the descendants (Grk “seed”). On the importance of the seed promise involving Abraham, see Gal 3:6-29.

¹¹ sn The phrase this man is in emphatic position in the Greek text.

¹² tn Grk “according to [his] promise.” The comparative clause “just as he promised” is less awkward in English.

sn Just as he promised. Note how Paul describes Israel’s history carefully to David and then leaps forward immediately to Jesus. Paul is expounding the initial realization of Davidic promise as it was delivered in Jesus.

¹³ tn Grk “and coming, they apologized.” The participle ἐλθόντες (elqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

¹⁴ tn Grk “and after.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

¹⁵ tn The verb ἐρώτων (erwtwn) has been translated as an iterative imperfect; the English adverb “repeatedly” brings out the iterative force in the translation.

¹⁶ sn Gallio was proconsul of Achaia from a.d. 51-52. This date is one of the firmly established dates in Acts. Lucius Junius Gallio was the son of the rhetorician Seneca and the brother of Seneca the philosopher. The date of Gallio’s rule is established from an inscription (W. Dittenberger, ed., Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum 2.3 no. 8). Thus the event mentioned here is probably to be dated July-October a.d. 51.

¹⁷ sn The proconsul was the Roman official who ruled over a province traditionally under the control of the Roman senate.

¹⁸ sn Achaia was a Roman province created in 146 b.c. that included the most important parts of Greece (Attica, Boeotia, and the Peloponnesus).

¹⁹ tn Grk “with one accord.”

²⁰ tn Although BDAG 175 s.v. βῆμα 3 gives the meaning “tribunal” for this verse and a number of modern translations use similar terms (“court,” NIV; “tribunal,” NRSV), there is no need for an alternative translation here since the bema was a standard feature in Greco-Roman cities of the time.

sn The judgment seat (βῆμα, bhma) was a raised platform mounted by steps and sometimes furnished with a seat, used by officials in addressing an assembly or making pronouncements, often on judicial matters. The judgment seat was a familiar item in Greco-Roman culture, often located in the agora, the public square or marketplace in the center of a city. So this was a very public event.

²¹ tn Or perhaps, “desecrators of temples.”

²² sn Nor blasphemers of our goddess. There was no formal crime with which Paul could be charged. He had the right to his religion as long as he did not act physically against the temple. Since no overt act had taken place, the official wanted the community to maintain the status quo on these religious matters. The remarks suggest Paul was innocent of any civil crime.

²³ tn Grk “provide mounts to put Paul on.”

sn Mounts for Paul to ride. The fact they were riding horses indicates they wanted everyone to move as quickly as possible.

²⁴ sn Felix the governor was Antonius Felix, a freedman of Antonia, mother of the Emperor Claudius. He was the brother of Pallas and became procurator of Palestine in a.d. 52/53. His administration was notorious for its corruption, cynicism, and cruelty. According to the historian Tacitus (History 5.9) Felix “reveled in cruelty and lust, and wielded the power of a king with the mind of a slave.”

²⁵ tn Grk “Felix the procurator.” The official Roman title has been translated as “governor” (BDAG 433 s.v. ἡγεμών 2).

²⁶ tn Or “determine.”

²⁷ tn Grk “to know the charge on account of which they were accusing him.” This has been simplified to eliminate the prepositional phrase and relative pronoun δι᾿ ἣν (di’ }hn) similar to L&N 27.8 which has “‘I wanted to find out what they were accusing him of, so I took him down to their Council’ Ac 23:28.”

²⁸ tn Grk “their Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

²⁹ tn BDAG 237-38 s.v. διατάσσω 2 has “κατὰ τὸ δ. αὐτοῖς in accordance w. their orders…Ac 23:31.”

³⁰ tn Grk “taking.” The participle ἀναλαβόντες (analabonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

³¹ sn Antipatris was a city in Judea about 35 mi (55 km) northwest of Jerusalem (about halfway to Caesarea). It was mentioned several times by Josephus (Ant. 13.15.1 [13.390]; J. W. 1.4.7 [1.99]).

³² tn BDAG 893-94 s.v. πρῶτος 2.a.β has “οἱ πρῶτοι the most prominent men, the leading men w. gen. of the place…or of a group…οἱ πρ. τοῦ λαοῦ…Lk 19:47; cp. Ac 25:2; 28:17.”

³³ tn BDAG 326 s.v. ἐμφανίζω 3 has “ἐ. τινὶ κατά τινος bring formal charges against someone…Ac 24:1; 25:2.”

sn Note how quickly the Jewish leadership went after Paul: They brought formal charges against him within three days of Festus’ arrival in the province.