² tn Grk “Having us beaten in public.” The participle δείραντες (deirantes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

⁴ sn The leaders wanted to do this quietly, when no crowd was present, so no public uproar would result (cf. v. 21:38; 22:2).

³ sn Public opinion would not sway the blind man from getting Jesus’ attention. The term shouted is strong as it can be used of animal cries.

¹ tn Or perhaps “in a cellar” (L&N 28.78). The point is that the light of Jesus’ teaching has been put in public view.

⁶ sn To clothe oneself in sackcloth and ashes was a public sign of mourning or lament, in this case for past behavior and associated with repentance.

⁴ tn The verb ἐθρηνήσαμεν (ethrēnēsamen) refers to the loud wailing and lamenting used to mourn the dead in public in 1st century Jewish culture.

⁶ sn To clothe oneself in sackcloth and ashes was a public sign of mourning or lament, in this case for past behavior and associated with repentance.

² sn The people’s public display of self-effacing piety has gone unrewarded by the Lord. The reason, of course, is that it was blatantly hypocritical.

² sn This describes evil people who flout all morality and goodness; sooner or later the public will have had enough of them.

¹ tn This rare verb means “to make a fool of” someone. It involves deceiving someone so that their public reputation suffers (see Exod 8:25).

⁸ sn They themselves must come and escort us out! Paul was asking for the injustice he and Silas suffered to be symbolically righted. It was a way of publicly taking their actions off the record and showing the apostles’ innocence, a major public statement. Note the apology given in v. 39.

⁴ tn Grk “to bring him out to the people,” but in this context a public trial (with certain condemnation as the result) is doubtless what Herod planned. L&N 15.176 translates this phrase “planning to bring him up for a public trial after the Passover.”

² sn Strip off your clothes. In the ancient Near East, the typical punishment for a prostitute was to strip her of her clothes publicly to expose her to open shame, embarrassment, and public ridicule. Because Nineveh had acted like a prostitute, the Lord would punish her as a prostitute.

¹ sn In the public square. The area referred to here should not be thought of in terms of modern western dimensions. The wide space, plaza, or public square mentioned here is the open area in the gate complex where legal and business matters were conducted. The area could be as small as a few hundred square feet.

² tn The word “aloud” has been supplied to indicate that in the original historical setting reading would usually refer to reading out loud in public rather than silently to oneself.

¹ sn Shares in his evil deeds. Giving a public greeting could be understood by an onlooker to suggest agreement with the (false) teaching of the opponents and is thus prohibited by John.

⁴ sn To the theater. This location made the event a public spectacle. The Grand Theater in Ephesus (still standing today) stood facing down the main thoroughfare of the city toward the docks. It had a seating capacity of 25,000.

⁴ tn Or “burned them up publicly.” L&N 14.66 has “‘they brought their books together and burned them up in the presence of everyone’ Ac 19:19.”

² tn L&N 33.442 translates the phrase τοῖς ᾿Ιουδαίοις διακατηλέγχετο δημοσίᾳ (tois Ioudaiois diakatēlencheto dēmosia) as “he defeated the Jews in public debate.” On this use of the term δημόσιος (dēmosios) see BDAG 223 s.v. 2.

² tn L&N 37.93 defines πολιτάρχης (politarchēs) as “a public official responsible for administrative matters within a town or city and a member of the ruling council of such a political unit—‘city official.’”