Acts 12:4

12:4 When he had seized him, he put him in prison, handing him over to four squads ¹  of soldiers to guard him. Herod ²  planned ³  to bring him out for public trial ⁴  after the Passover.

Acts 12:6

12:6 On that very night before Herod was going to bring him out for trial, ⁵  Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while ⁶  guards in front of the door were keeping watch ⁷  over the prison.

[12:4]  ¹ sn Four squads of soldiers. Each squad was a detachment of four soldiers.

[12:4]  ² tn Grk “guard him, planning to bring him out.” The Greek construction continues with a participle (βουλόμενος, boulomeno") and an infinitive (ἀναγαγεῖν, anagagein), but this creates an awkward and lengthy sentence in English. Thus a reference to Herod was introduced as subject and the participle translated as a finite verb (“Herod planned”).

[12:4]  ³ tn Or “intended”; Grk “wanted.”

[12:4]  ⁴ tn Grk “to bring him out to the people,” but in this context a public trial (with certain condemnation as the result) is doubtless what Herod planned. L&N 15.176 translates this phrase “planning to bring him up for a public trial after the Passover.”

[12:6]  ⁵ tn Grk “was going to bring him out,” but the upcoming trial is implied. See Acts 12:4.

[12:6]  ⁶ 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.

[12:6]  ⁷ tn Or “were guarding.”