Acts 10:1

Peter Visits Cornelius

10:1 Now there was a man in Caesarea ¹  named Cornelius, a centurion ²  of what was known as the Italian Cohort. ³ 

Acts 23:17

23:17 Paul called ⁴  one of the centurions ⁵  and said, “Take this young man to the commanding officer, ⁶  for he has something to report to him.”

Acts 27:1

Paul and Company Sail for Rome

27:1 When it was decided we ⁷  would sail to Italy, ⁸  they handed over Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion ⁹  of the Augustan Cohort ¹⁰  named Julius.

Acts 27:3

27:3 The next day we put in ¹¹  at Sidon, ¹²  and Julius, treating Paul kindly, ¹³  allowed him to go to his friends so they could provide him with what he needed. ¹⁴ 

Acts 27:43

27:43 But the centurion, ¹⁵  wanting to save Paul’s life, ¹⁶  prevented them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land, ¹⁷ 

Matthew 8:8

8:8 But the centurion replied, ¹⁸  “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Instead, just say the word and my servant will be healed.

Matthew 27:54

27:54 Now when the centurion ¹⁹  and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and what took place, they were extremely terrified and said, “Truly this one was God’s Son!”

[10:1]  ¹ sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). It was known as “Caesarea by the sea” (BDAG 499 s.v. Καισάρεια 2). Largely Gentile, it was a center of Roman administration and the location of many of Herod the Great’s building projects (Josephus, Ant. 15.9.6 [15.331-341]).

[10:1]  ² sn A centurion was a noncommissioned officer in the Roman army or one of the auxiliary territorial armies, commanding a centuria of (nominally) 100 men. The responsibilities of centurions were broadly similar to modern junior officers, but there was a wide gap in social status between them and officers, and relatively few were promoted beyond the rank of senior centurion. The Roman troops stationed in Judea were auxiliaries, who would normally be rewarded with Roman citizenship after 25 years of service. Some of the centurions may have served originally in the Roman legions (regular army) and thus gained their citizenship at enlistment. Others may have inherited it, like Paul.

[10:1]  ³ sn A cohort was a Roman military unit of about 600 soldiers, one-tenth of a legion (BDAG 936 s.v. σπεῖρα). The Italian Cohort has been identified as cohors II Italica which is known to have been stationed in Syria in a.d. 88.

[23:17]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[23:17]  ⁶ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 10.

[27:1]  ⁷ sn The last “we” section in Acts begins here and extends to 28:16 (the previous one ended at 21:18).

[27:1]  ⁸ sn Sail to Italy. This voyage with its difficulty serves to show how God protected Paul on his long journey to Rome. From the perspective of someone in Palestine, this may well picture “the end of the earth” quite literally (cf. Acts 1:8).

[27:1]  ⁹ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[27:1]  ¹⁰ tn According to BDAG 917 s.v. σεβαστός, “In σπεῖρα Σεβαστή 27:1 (cp. OGI 421) Σεβαστή is likew. an exact transl. of Lat. Augusta, an honorary title freq. given to auxiliary troops (Ptolem. renders it Σεβαστή in connection w. three legions that bore it: 2, 3, 30; 2, 9, 18; 4, 3, 30) imperial cohort.” According to W. Foerster (TDNT 7:175), “In Ac. 27:1 the σπεῖρα Σεβαστή is an expression also found elsewhere for ‘auxiliary troops.’” In no case would this refer to a special imperial bodyguard, and to translate “imperial regiment” or “imperial cohort” might give this impression. There is some archaeological evidence for a Cohors Augusta I stationed in Syria during the time of Augustus, but whether this is the same unit is very debatable.

[27:3]  ¹¹ tn BDAG 516 s.v. κατάγω states, “Hence the pass., in act. sense, of ships and seafarers put in εἴς τι at a harbor…εἰς Σιδῶνα Ac 27:3.”

[27:3]  ¹² sn Sidon is another seaport 75 mi (120 km) north of Caesarea.

[27:3]  ¹³ tn BDAG 1056 s.v. φιλανθρώπως states, “benevolently, kindly φιλανθρώπως χρῆσθαί (τινι) treat someone in kindly fashion…Ac 27:3.”

[27:3]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “to go to his friends to be cared for.” The scene is an indication of Christian hospitality.

[27:43]  ¹⁵ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[27:43]  ¹⁶ tn Or “wanting to rescue Paul.”

[27:43]  ¹⁷ tn BDAG 347 s.v. I. ἔξειμι has “ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν get to land Ac 27:43.”

[8:8]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “But answering, the centurion replied.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant and has not been translated.

[27:54]  ¹⁹ sn See the note on the word centurion in Matt 8:5.