Acts 5:22-25

5:22 But the officers ¹  who came for them ²  did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, ³  5:23 “We found the jail locked securely and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, ⁴  we found no one inside.” 5:24 Now when the commander ⁵  of the temple guard ⁶  and the chief priests heard this report, ⁷  they were greatly puzzled concerning it, ⁸  wondering what this could ⁹  be. 5:25 But someone came and reported to them, “Look! The men you put in prison are standing in the temple courts ¹⁰  and teaching ¹¹  the people!”

Acts 16:27

16:27 When the jailer woke up ¹²  and saw the doors of the prison standing open, ¹³  he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, ¹⁴  because he assumed ¹⁵  the prisoners had escaped.

Acts 19:23

19:23 At ¹⁶  that time ¹⁷  a great disturbance ¹⁸  took place concerning the Way. ¹⁹ 

¹ tn The Greek term ὑπηρέτης (Juphreth") generally means “servant,” but in the NT is used for many different types of servants, like attendants to a king, the officers of the Sanhedrin (as here), assistants to magistrates, and (especially in the Gospel of John) Jewish guards in the Jerusalem temple (see L&N 35.20).

² tn The words “for them” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

³ tn Grk “reported, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

⁴ tn The word “them” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

⁵ tn Or “captain.”

⁶ tn Grk “the official of the temple,” a title for the commander of the Jewish soldiers guarding the temple (thus the translation, “the commander of the temple guard”). See L&N 37.91.

⁷ tn Grk “heard these words.”

⁸ tn Grk “concerning them,” agreeing with the plural antecedent “these words.” Since the phrase “these words” was translated as the singular “this report,” the singular “concerning it” is used here.

⁹ tn The optative verb here expresses confused uncertainty.

¹⁰ tn Grk “the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.

¹¹ sn Obeying God (see v. 29), the apostles were teaching again (4:18-20; 5:20). They did so despite the risk.

¹² tn L&N 23.75 has “had awakened” here. It is more in keeping with contemporary English style, however, to keep the two verbal ideas parallel in terms of tense (“when the jailer woke up and saw”) although logically the second action is subsequent to the first.

¹³ tn The additional semantic component “standing” is supplied (“standing open”) to convey a stative nuance in English.

¹⁴ sn Was about to kill himself. The jailer’s penalty for failing to guard the prisoners would have been death, so he contemplated saving the leaders the trouble (see Acts 12:19; 27:42).

¹⁵ tn Or “thought.”

¹⁶ tn Grk “There happened at that time.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Instead the verb “took place” has been supplied in the translation.

¹⁷ tn BDAG 512 s.v. κατά B.2.a, “in definite indications of time…Of the past: κ. ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρόν at that time, then…Ac 12:1; 19:23.”

¹⁸ tn Grk “no little disturbance” (an idiom; see BDAG 991 s.v. τάραχος 2).

¹⁹ sn The Way refers to the Christian movement (Christianity).