16:23 In those days Ahithophel’s advice was considered as valuable as a prophetic revelation. 5 Both David and Absalom highly regarded the advice of Ahithophel. 6
17:1 Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me pick out twelve thousand men. Then I will go and pursue David this very night. 17:2 When I catch up with 7 him he will be exhausted and worn out. 8 I will rout him, and the entire army that is with him will flee. I will kill only the king 17:3 and will bring the entire army back to you. In exchange for the life of the man you are seeking, you will get back everyone. 9 The entire army will return unharmed.” 10
17:4 This seemed like a good idea to Absalom and to all the leaders 11 of Israel.
14:10 Then 12 Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus into their hands. 13 14:11 When they heard this, they were delighted 14 and promised to give him money. 15 So 16 Judas 17 began looking for an opportunity to betray him.
1 tn Heb “go to”; NAB “have (+ sexual NCV) relations with”; TEV “have intercourse with”; NLT “Go and sleep with.”
2 tn Heb “and the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened.”
3 sn That is, on top of the flat roof of the palace, so it would be visible to the public.
4 tn Heb “went to”; NAB “he visited his father’s concubines”; NIV “lay with his father’s concubines”; TEV “went in and had intercourse with.”
5 tn Heb “And the advice of Ahithophel which he advised in those days was as when one inquires of the word of God.”
6 tn Heb “So was all the advice of Ahithophel, also to David, also to Absalom.”
7 tn Heb “and I will come upon him.”
8 tn Heb “exhausted and slack of hands.”
9 tc Heb “like the returning of all, the man whom you are seeking.” The LXX reads differently: “And I will return all the people to you the way a bride returns to her husband, except for the life of the one man whom you are seeking.” The other early versions also struggled with this verse. Modern translations are divided as well: the NAB, NRSV, REB, and NLT follow the LXX, while the NASB and NIV follow the Hebrew text.
10 tn Heb “all of the people will be safe.”
11 tn Heb “elders.”
12 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
13 tn Grk “betray him to them”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 sn The leaders were delighted when Judas contacted them about betraying Jesus, because it gave them the opportunity they had been looking for, and they could later claim that Jesus had been betrayed by one of his own disciples.
15 sn Matt 26:15 states the amount of money they gave Judas was thirty pieces of silver (see also Matt 27:3-4; Zech 11:12-13).
16 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.
17 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Judas) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
18 tn Grk “who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was translated by the third person plural pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence begun in the translation.
19 tn Grk “going.” The participle προσελθόντες (proselqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
20 sn They went to the chief priests. The fact that the high priest knew of this plot and did nothing shows the Jewish leadership would even become accomplices to murder to stop Paul. They would not allow Roman justice to take its course. Paul’s charge in v. 3 of superficially following the law is thus shown to be true.
21 tn Or “bound ourselves under a curse.” BDAG 63 s.v. ἀναθεματίζω 1 has “trans. put under a curse τινά someone…pleonastically ἀναθέματι ἀ. ἑαυτόν Ac 23:14…ἀ. ἑαυτόν vss. 12, 21, 13 v.l.” The pleonastic use ἀναθέματι ἀνεθεματίσαμεν (literally “we have cursed ourselves with a curse”) probably serves as an intensifier following Semitic usage, and is represented in the translation by the word “solemn.” On such oaths see m. Nedarim 3:1, 3.
22 tn This included both food and drink (γεύομαι [geuomai] is used of water turned to wine in John 2:9).
23 tn Grk “the Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).
24 tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 10.
25 tn Or “decide.” BDAG 227 s.v. διαγινώσκω has “ἀκριβέστερον τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ to make a more thorough examination of his case Ac 23:15.”
26 tn Grk “determine the things about him.”
27 tn The expression “more thorough inquiry” reflects the comparative form of ἀκριβέστερον (akribesteron).
28 sn “We are ready to kill him.” Now those Jews involved in the conspiracy, along with the leaders as accomplices, are going to break one of the ten commandments.
29 tn The words “this place” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
30 tn Grk “who, knowing…, not only do them but also approve…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
31 tn Grk “are worthy of death.”
32 sn “Vice lists” like vv. 28-32 can be found elsewhere in the NT in Matt 15:19; Gal 5:19-21; 1 Tim 1:9-10; and 1 Pet 4:3. An example from the intertestamental period can be found in Wis 14:25-26.