Acts 5:25

5:25 But someone came and reported to them, “Look! The men you put in prison are standing in the temple courts ¹  and teaching ²  the people!”

Acts 12:6

12:6 On that very night before Herod was going to bring him out for trial, ³  Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while ⁴  guards in front of the door were keeping watch ⁵  over the prison.

Acts 12:17

12:17 He motioned to them ⁶  with his hand to be quiet and then related ⁷  how the Lord had brought ⁸  him out of the prison. He said, “Tell James and the brothers these things,” and then he left and went to another place. ⁹ 

Acts 16:27

16:27 When the jailer woke up ¹⁰  and saw the doors of the prison standing open, ¹¹  he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, ¹²  because he assumed ¹³  the prisoners had escaped.

Acts 16:37

16:37 But Paul said to the police officers, ¹⁴  “They had us beaten in public ¹⁵  without a proper trial ¹⁶  – even though we are Roman citizens ¹⁷  – and they threw us ¹⁸  in prison. And now they want to send us away ¹⁹  secretly? Absolutely not! They ²⁰  themselves must come and escort us out!” ²¹ 

Acts 26:10

26:10 And that is what I did in Jerusalem: Not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons by the authority I received ²²  from the chief priests, but I also cast my vote ²³  against them when they were sentenced to death. ²⁴ 

¹ tn Grk “the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.

² sn Obeying God (see v. 29), the apostles were teaching again (4:18-20; 5:20). They did so despite the risk.

³ tn Grk “was going to bring him out,” but the upcoming trial is implied. See Acts 12:4.

⁴ tn Grk “two chains, and.” Logically it makes better sense to translate this as a temporal clause, although technically it is a coordinate clause in Greek.

⁵ tn Or “were guarding.”

⁵ tn Or “He gave them a signal.” Grk “Giving them a signal…he related to them.” The participle κατασείσας (kataseisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

⁶ tc ‡ Most mss, including some of the most important ones (B D E Ψ Ï sy), read αὐτοῖς (autoi", “to them”) here, while some excellent and early witnesses (Ì^45vid,74vid א A 33 81 945 1739 pc) lack the pronoun. Although it is possible that the pronoun was deleted because it was seen as superfluous, it is also possible that it was added as a natural expansion on the text, strengthening the connection between Peter and his listeners. Although a decision is difficult, the shorter reading is slightly preferred. NA²⁷ puts the pronoun in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

⁷ tn Or “led.”

⁸ sn He…went to another place. This is Peter’s last appearance in Acts with the exception of the Jerusalem council in Acts 15.

⁷ 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.

⁸ tn The additional semantic component “standing” is supplied (“standing open”) to convey a stative nuance in English.

⁹ 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).

¹⁰ tn Or “thought.”

⁹ tn Grk “to them”; the referent (the police officers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn Grk “Having us beaten in public.” The participle δείραντες (deirante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

¹¹ tn Or “in public, uncondemned.” BDAG 35 s.v. ἀκατάκριτος has “uncondemned, without due process” for this usage.

¹² tn The participle ὑπάρχοντας (Juparconta") has been translated as a concessive adverbial participle.

¹³ tn The word “us” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

¹⁴ tn L&N 28.71 has “send us away secretly” for this verse.

¹⁵ tn Grk “But they.”

¹⁶ sn They themselves must come and escort us out! Paul was asking for the injustice he and Silas suffered to be symbolically righted. It was a way of publicly taking their actions off the record and showing the apostles’ innocence, a major public statement. Note the apology given in v. 39.

¹¹ tn Grk “by receiving authority.” The participle λαβών (labwn) has been taken instrumentally.

¹² tn Grk “cast down a pebble against them.” L&N 30.103 states, “(an idiom, Grk ‘to bring a pebble against someone,’ a reference to a white or black pebble used in voting for or against someone) to make known one’s choice against someone – ‘to vote against.’ …‘when they were sentenced to death, I also voted against them’ Ac 26:10.”

¹³ tn Grk “when they were being executed”; but the context supports the sentencing rather than the execution itself (cf. L&N 30.103).