Acts 4:37

4:37 sold ¹  a field ²  that belonged to him and brought the money ³  and placed it at the apostles’ feet.

Acts 5:27

5:27 When they had brought them, they stood them before the council, ⁴  and the high priest questioned ⁵  them,

Acts 16:30

16:30 Then he brought them outside ⁶  and asked, “Sirs, what must ⁷  I do to be saved?”

Acts 18:12

Paul Before the Proconsul Gallio

18:12 Now while Gallio ⁸  was proconsul ⁹  of Achaia, ¹⁰  the Jews attacked Paul together ¹¹  and brought him before the judgment seat, ¹² 

Acts 19:37

19:37 For you have brought these men here who are neither temple robbers ¹³  nor blasphemers of our goddess. ¹⁴ 

¹ tn Grk “selling a field that belonged to him, brought” The participle πωλήσας (pwlhsa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

² tn Or “a farm.”

³ tn Normally a reference to actual coins (“currency”). See L&N 6.68.

⁴ tn Or “the Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

⁵ tn Or “interrogated,” “asked.”

⁷ tn Grk “And bringing them outside, he asked.” The participle προαγαγών (proagagwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun by supplying the conjunction “then” to indicate the logical sequence.

⁸ tn The Greek term (δεῖ, dei) is used by Luke to represent divine necessity.

¹⁰ sn Gallio was proconsul of Achaia from a.d. 51-52. This date is one of the firmly established dates in Acts. Lucius Junius Gallio was the son of the rhetorician Seneca and the brother of Seneca the philosopher. The date of Gallio’s rule is established from an inscription (W. Dittenberger, ed., Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum 2.3 no. 8). Thus the event mentioned here is probably to be dated July-October a.d. 51.

¹¹ sn The proconsul was the Roman official who ruled over a province traditionally under the control of the Roman senate.

¹² sn Achaia was a Roman province created in 146 b.c. that included the most important parts of Greece (Attica, Boeotia, and the Peloponnesus).

¹³ tn Grk “with one accord.”

¹⁴ tn Although BDAG 175 s.v. βῆμα 3 gives the meaning “tribunal” for this verse and a number of modern translations use similar terms (“court,” NIV; “tribunal,” NRSV), there is no need for an alternative translation here since the bema was a standard feature in Greco-Roman cities of the time.

¹³ tn Or perhaps, “desecrators of temples.”

¹⁴ sn Nor blasphemers of our goddess. There was no formal crime with which Paul could be charged. He had the right to his religion as long as he did not act physically against the temple. Since no overt act had taken place, the official wanted the community to maintain the status quo on these religious matters. The remarks suggest Paul was innocent of any civil crime.