Acts 23:27

This man was seized ¹  by the Jews and they were about to kill him, ²  when I came up ³  with the detachment ⁴  and rescued him, because I had learned that he was ⁵  a Roman citizen. ⁶ 

Ac 21:31-33; Ac 22:25-29; Ac 23:10; Ac 24:7

¹ tn The participle συλλημφθέντα (sullhmfqenta) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. The remark reviews events of Acts 21:27-40.

² tn Grk “and was about to be killed by them.” The passive construction has been converted to an active one in the translation for stylistic reasons.

³ tn Or “approached.”

⁴ tn Normally this term means “army,” but according to BDAG 947 s.v. στράτευμα, “Of a smaller detachment of soldiers, sing. Ac 23:10, 27.” In the plural it can be translated “troops,” but it is singular here.

⁵ tn In Greek this is a present tense retained in indirect discourse.

⁶ tn The word “citizen” is supplied here for emphasis and clarity.

sn The letter written by the Roman commander Claudius Lysias was somewhat self-serving. He made it sound as if the rescue of a Roman citizen had been a conscious act on his part. In fact, he had made the discovery of Paul’s Roman citizenship somewhat later. See Acts 21:37-39 and 22:24-29.