Acts 23:27-29

23:27 This man was seized¹ by the Jews and they were about to kill him,² when I came up³ with the detachment⁴ and rescued him, because I had learned that he was⁵ a Roman citizen.⁶ 23:28 Since I wanted to know⁷ what charge they were accusing him of,⁸ I brought him down to their council.⁹ 23:29 I found he¹⁰ was accused with reference to controversial questions¹¹ about their law, but no charge against him deserved death or imprisonment.¹²

Acts 25:11

25:11 If then I am in the wrong¹³ and have done anything that deserves death, I am not trying to escape dying,¹⁴ but if not one of their charges against me is true,¹⁵ no one can hand me over to them.¹⁶ I appeal to Caesar!”¹⁷

Acts 25:18-20

25:18 When his accusers stood up, they did not charge¹⁸ him with any of the evil deeds I had suspected.¹⁹ 25:19 Rather they had several points of disagreement²⁰ with him about their own religion²¹ and about a man named Jesus²² who was dead, whom Paul claimed²³ to be alive. 25:20 Because I was at a loss²⁴ how I could investigate these matters,²⁵ I asked if he were willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried²⁶ there on these charges.²⁷

Acts 25:26

25:26 But I have nothing definite²⁸ to write to my lord²⁹ about him.³⁰ Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa,³¹ so that after this preliminary hearing³² I may have something to write.

¹tn 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.

²tn 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.

³tn Or “approached.”

⁴tn 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.

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

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

⁷tn Or “determine.”

⁸tn Grk “to know the charge on account of which they were accusing him.” This has been simplified to eliminate the prepositional phrase and relative pronoun δι᾿ ἣν (di’ }hn) similar to L&N 27.8 which has “‘I wanted to find out what they were accusing him of, so I took him down to their Council’ Ac 23:28.”

⁹tn Grk “their Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

¹⁰tn Grk “whom I found.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been changed to a personal pronoun (“he”) and a new sentence begun in the translation at this point.

¹¹tn BDAG 428 s.v. ζήτημα states, “in our lit. only in Ac, w. the mng. it still has in Mod. Gk. (controversial) question, issue, argument…Ac 15:2; 26:3. ζ. περί τινος questions about someth.…18:15; 25:19. – In 23:29, since περί had already been used, the subj. of the discussion is added in the gen. ζ. τοῦ νόμου αὐτῶν.”

¹²tn Grk “but having no charge worthy of death or imprisonment.” BDAG 273-74 s.v. ἔγκλημα 1 has “legal t.t.…ἔ. ἄξιον θανάτου ἢ δεσμῶν a charge deserving death or imprisonment 23:29.”

¹³tn BDAG 20 s.v. ἀδικέω 1.b has “intr. be in the wrong (Ex 2:13) εἰ ἀδικῶ Ac 25:11.”

¹⁴tn BDAG 764 s.v. παραιτέομαι 2.b.β, “οὐ παραιτοῦμαι τὸ ἀποθανεῖν I am not trying to escape death Ac 25:11 (cp. Jos., Vi. 141).” To avoid redundancy in the translation, the English gerund “dying” is used to translate the Greek infinitive ἀποθανεῖν (apoqanein).

¹⁵tn Or “but if there is nothing to their charges against me.” Both “if” clauses in this verse are first class conditions. Paul stated the options without prejudice, assuming in turn the reality of each for the sake of the argument.

¹⁶sn That is, no one can hand me over to them lawfully. Paul was aware of the dangers of a return to Jerusalem.

¹⁷tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

¹⁸tn Grk “they brought no charge of any of the evil deeds.” BDAG 31 s.v. αἰτία 3.b has “αἰτίαν φέρειν…bring an accusation Ac 25:18.” Since κατήγοροι (kathgoroi, “accusers”) in the previous clause is somewhat redundant with this, “charge” was used instead.

¹⁹tn Or “I was expecting.”

²⁰tn Grk “several controversial issues.” BDAG 428 s.v. ζήτημα states, “in our lit. only in Ac, w. the mng. it still has in Mod. Gk. (controversial) question, issue, argument…Ac 15:2; 26:3. ζ. περί τινος questions about someth.…18:15; 25:19.”

²¹tn On this term see BDAG 216 s.v. δεισιδαιμονία 2. It is a broad term for religion.

²²tn Grk “a certain Jesus.”

²³tn Or “asserted.”

²⁴tn Or “Because I was undecided.” Grk “Being at a loss.” The participle ἀπορούμενος (aporoumeno") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

²⁵tn L&N 27.34 states, “ἀπορούμενος δὲ ἐγὼ τὴν περὶ τούτων ζήτησιν ‘I was undecided about how I could get information on these matters’ Ac 25:20. The clause ‘about how I could get information on these matters’ may also be rendered as ‘about how I should try to find out about these matters’ or ‘about how I could learn about these matters.’”

²⁶tn Or “stand trial.”

²⁷tn Grk “on these things.”

²⁸sn There is irony here. How can Festus write anything definite about Paul, if he is guilty of nothing.

²⁹sn To my lord means “to His Majesty the Emperor.”

³⁰tn Grk “about whom I have nothing definite…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced with a personal pronoun (“him”) and a new sentence begun in the translation at the beginning of v. 26.

³¹sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

³²tn Or “investigation.” BDAG 66 s.v. ἀνάκρισις has “a judicial hearing, investigation, hearing, esp. preliminary hearing…τῆς ἀ. γενομένης Ac 25:26.” This is technical legal language.