Acts 12:15

12:15 But they said to her, “You’ve lost your mind!” ¹  But she kept insisting that it was Peter, ²  and they kept saying, ³  “It is his angel!” ⁴ 

Acts 26:24

26:24 As Paul ⁵  was saying these things in his defense, Festus ⁶  exclaimed loudly, “You have lost your mind, ⁷  Paul! Your great learning is driving you insane!”

[12:15]  ¹ sn “You’ve lost your mind!” Such a response to the miraculous is not unusual in Luke-Acts. See Luke 24:11; Acts 26:25. The term μαίνομαι (mainomai) can have the idea of being “raving mad” or “totally irrational” (BDAG 610 s.v.). It is a strong expression.

[12:15]  ² tn Grk “she kept insisting that the situation was thus” (cf. BDAG 422 s.v. ἔχω 10.a). Most translations supply a less awkward English phrase like “it was so”; the force of her insistence, however, is that “it was Peter,” which was the point under dispute.

[12:15]  ³ tn The two imperfect tense verbs, διϊσχυρίζετο (diiscurizeto) and ἔλεγον (elegon), are both taken iteratively. The picture is thus virtually a shouting match between Rhoda and the rest of the believers.

[12:15]  ⁴ sn The assumption made by those inside, “It is his angel,” seems to allude to the idea of an attending angel (cf. Gen 48:16 LXX; Matt 18:10; Test. Jacob 1:10).

[26:24]  ⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:24]  ⁶ sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

[26:24]  ⁷ tn On the term translated “lost your mind” see BDAG 610 s.v. μαίνομαι, which has “you’re out of your mind, you’re raving, said to one whose enthusiasm seems to have outrun better judgment 26:24.”