Acts 12:6-7

12:6 On that very night before Herod was going to bring him out for trial, ¹  Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while ²  guards in front of the door were keeping watch ³  over the prison. 12:7 Suddenly ⁴  an angel of the Lord ⁵  appeared, and a light shone in the prison cell. He struck ⁶  Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly!” And the chains fell off Peter’s ⁷  wrists. ⁸ 

[12:6]  ¹ tn Grk “was going to bring him out,” but the upcoming trial is implied. See Acts 12:4.

[12:6]  ² 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]  ³ tn Or “were guarding.”

[12:7]  ⁴ tn Grk “And behold.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here. The interjection ἰδού (idou), often difficult to translate into English, expresses the suddenness of the angel’s appearance.

[12:7]  ⁵ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 5:19.

[12:7]  ⁶ tn Grk “striking the side of Peter, he awoke him saying.” The term refers to a push or a light tap (BDAG 786 s.v. πατάσσω 1.a). The participle πατάξας (pataxa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[12:7]  ⁷ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Peter) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:7]  ⁸ tn Grk “the hands,” but the wrist was considered a part of the hand.