Acts 21:37-39

21:37 As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, ¹  he said ²  to the commanding officer, ³  “May I say ⁴  something to you?” The officer ⁵  replied, ⁶  “Do you know Greek? ⁷  21:38 Then you’re not that Egyptian who started a rebellion ⁸  and led the four thousand men of the ‘Assassins’ ⁹  into the wilderness ¹⁰  some time ago?” ¹¹  21:39 Paul answered, ¹²  “I am a Jew ¹³  from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. ¹⁴  Please ¹⁵  allow me to speak to the people.”

¹ tn Or “the headquarters.” BDAG 775 s.v. παρεμβολή 2 has “barracks/headquarters of the Roman troops in Jerusalem Ac 21:34, 37; 22:24; 23:10, 16, 32.”

² tn Grk “says” (a historical present).

³ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers) See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 31.

⁴ tn Grk “Is it permitted for me to say” (an idiom).

⁵ tn Grk “He”; the referent (the officer) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶ tn Grk “said.”

⁷ sn “Do you know Greek?” Paul as an educated rabbi was bilingual. Paul’s request in Greek allowed the officer to recognize that Paul was not the violent insurrectionist he thought he had arrested (see following verse). The confusion of identities reveals the degree of confusion dominating these events.

⁸ tn L&N 39.41 has “οὐκ ἄρα σὺ εἶ ὁ Αἰγύπτιος ὁ πρὸ τούτων τῶν ἡμερῶν ἀναστατώσας ‘then you are not that Egyptian who some time ago started a rebellion’ Ac 21:38.”

⁹ tn Grk “of the Sicarii.”

¹⁰ tn Or “desert.”

¹¹ tn Grk “before these days.”

¹² tn Grk “said.”

¹³ tn Grk “a Jewish man.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “of a not insignificant city.” The double negative, common in Greek, is awkward in English and has been replaced by a corresponding positive expression (BDAG 142 s.v. ἄσημος 1).

¹⁵ tn Grk “I beg you.”