Acts 22:25-26

22:25 When they had stretched him out for the lash, ¹  Paul said to the centurion ²  standing nearby, “Is it legal for you to lash a man who is a Roman citizen ³  without a proper trial?” ⁴  22:26 When the centurion ⁵  heard this, ⁶  he went to the commanding officer ⁷  and reported it, ⁸  saying, “What are you about to do? ⁹  For this man is a Roman citizen.” ¹⁰ 

Acts 23:17

23:17 Paul called ¹¹  one of the centurions ¹²  and said, “Take this young man to the commanding officer, ¹³  for he has something to report to him.”

Acts 23:23

23:23 Then ¹⁴  he summoned ¹⁵  two of the centurions ¹⁶  and said, “Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea ¹⁷  along with seventy horsemen ¹⁸  and two hundred spearmen ¹⁹  by ²⁰  nine o’clock tonight, ²¹ 

Acts 23:26

23:26 Claudius Lysias to His Excellency Governor ²²  Felix, ²³  greetings.

Acts 24:23

24:23 He ordered the centurion ²⁴  to guard Paul, ²⁵  but to let him have some freedom, ²⁶  and not to prevent any of his friends ²⁷  from meeting his needs. ²⁸ 

Acts 25:26

25:26 But I have nothing definite ²⁹  to write to my lord ³⁰  about him. ³¹  Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, ³²  so that after this preliminary hearing ³³  I may have something to write.

[22:25]  ¹ tn Grk “for the thongs” (of which the lash was made). Although often translated as a dative of means (“with thongs”), referring to thongs used to tie the victim to the whipping post, BDAG 474-75 s.v. ἱμάς states that it “is better taken as a dat. of purpose for the thongs, in which case οἱ ἱμάντες = whips (Posidonius: 87 fgm. 5 Jac.; POxy. 1186, 2 τὴν διὰ τῶν ἱμάντων αἰκείαν. – Antiphanes 74, 8, Demosth. 19, 197 and Artem. 1, 70 use the sing. in this way).”

[22:25]  ² sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[22:25]  ³ tn The word “citizen” is supplied here for emphasis and clarity.

[22:25]  ⁴ tn Or “a Roman citizen and uncondemned.” BDAG 35 s.v. ἀκατάκριτος has “uncondemned, without due process” for this usage.

[22:26]  ⁵ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[22:26]  ⁶ tn The word “this” 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.

[22:26]  ⁷ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 24.

[22:26]  ⁸ tn The word “it” 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.

[22:26]  ⁹ tn Or perhaps, “What do you intend to do?” Although BDAG 627 s.v. μέλλω 1.c.α lists this phrase under the category “be about to, be on the point of,” it is possible it belongs under 1.c.γ, “denoting an intended action: intend, propose, have in mind…τί μέλλεις ποιεῖν; what do you intend to do?”

[22:26]  ¹⁰ tn The word “citizen” is supplied here for emphasis and clarity.

[23:17]  ¹¹ tn Grk “calling…Paul said.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:17]  ¹² sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[23:17]  ¹³ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 10.

[23:23]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “And.” Since this represents a response to the reported ambush, καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the logical sequence.

[23:23]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “summoning…he said.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:23]  ¹⁶ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[23:23]  ¹⁷ sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1. This was a journey of about 65 mi (just over 100 km).

[23:23]  ¹⁸ tn Or “cavalrymen.”

[23:23]  ¹⁹ tn A military technical term of uncertain meaning. BDAG 217 s.v. δεξιολάβος states, “a word of uncertain mng., military t.t., acc. to Joannes Lydus…and Theophyl. Sim., Hist. 4, 1 a light-armed soldier, perh. bowman, slinger; acc. to a scholion in CMatthaei p. 342 body-guard….Spearman Goodspd., NRSV; ‘security officer’, GDKilpatrick, JTS 14, ’63, 393f.”

[23:23]  ²⁰ tn Grk “from.”

[23:23]  ²¹ tn Grk “from the third hour of the night.”

[23:26]  ²² tn Grk “Procurator.” The official Roman title has been translated as “governor” (BDAG 433 s.v. ἡγεμών 2).

[23:26]  ²³ sn Governor Felix. See the note on Felix in v. 24.

[24:23]  ²⁴ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[24:23]  ²⁵ tn Grk “that he was to be guarded.” The passive construction (τηρεῖσθαι, threisqai) has been converted to an active one in parallel with the following clauses, and the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:23]  ²⁶ tn BDAG 77 s.v. ἄνεσις 1 states, “lit. relaxation of custodial control, some liberty, ἀ. ἔχειν have some freedom Ac 24:23.”

[24:23]  ²⁷ tn Grk “any of his own” (this could also refer to relatives).

[24:23]  ²⁸ tn Grk “from serving him.”

[25:26]  ²⁹ sn There is irony here. How can Festus write anything definite about Paul, if he is guilty of nothing.

[25:26]  ³⁰ sn To my lord means “to His Majesty the Emperor.”

[25:26]  ³¹ tn 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.

[25:26]  ³² sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

[25:26]  ³³ tn 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.