Discovery BoxActs 18:14-16 
Context18:14 But just as Paul was about to speak, 1 Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of some crime or serious piece of villainy, 2 I would have been justified in accepting the complaint 3 of you Jews, 4 18:15 but since it concerns points of disagreement 5 about words and names and your own law, settle 6 it yourselves. I will not be 7 a judge of these things!” 18:16 Then he had them forced away 8 from the judgment seat. 9
1 tn Grk “about to open his mouth” (an idiom).
2 tn BDAG 902 s.v. ῥᾳδιούργημα states, “From the sense ‘prank, knavery, roguish trick, slick deed’ it is but a short step to that of a serious misdeed, crime, villainy…a serious piece of villainy Ac 18:14 (w. ἀδίκημα).”
3 tn According to BDAG 78 s.v. ἀνέχω 3 this is a legal technical term: “Legal t.t. κατὰ λόγον ἂν ἀνεσχόμην ὑμῶν I would have been justified in accepting your complaint Ac 18:14.”
4 tn Grk “accepting your complaint, O Jews.”
5 tn Or “dispute.”
6 tn Grk “see to it” (an idiom).
7 tn Or “I am not willing to be.” Gallio would not adjudicate their religious dispute.
8 tn Grk “driven away,” but this could result in a misunderstanding in English (“driven” as in a cart or wagon?). “Forced away” conveys the idea; Gallio rejected their complaint. In contemporary English terminology the case was “thrown out of court.” The verb ἀπήλασεν (aphlasen) has been translated as a causative since Gallio probably did not perform this action in person, but ordered his aides or officers to remove the plaintiffs.
