Acts 16:21

16:21 and are advocating ¹  customs that are not lawful for us to accept ²  or practice, ³  since we are ⁴  Romans.”

Acts 25:16

25:16 I answered them ⁵  that it was not the custom of the Romans to hand over anyone ⁶  before the accused had met his accusers face to face ⁷  and had been given ⁸  an opportunity to make a defense against the accusation. ⁹ 

[16:21]  ¹ tn Grk “proclaiming,” but in relation to customs, “advocating” is a closer approximation to the meaning.

[16:21]  ² tn Or “acknowledge.”

[16:21]  ³ sn Customs that are not lawful for us to accept or practice. Ironically, the charges are similar to those made against Jesus in Luke 23:2, where Jews argued he was “twisting” their customs. The charge has three elements: (1) a racial element (Jewish); (2) a social element (unlawful); and (3) a traditional element (not their customs).

[16:21]  ⁴ tn Grk “we being Romans.” The participle οὖσιν (ousin) has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

[25:16]  ⁵ tn Grk “to whom I answered.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been replaced with a personal pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence started in the translation at the beginning of v. 16.

[25:16]  ⁶ tn Grk “any man.” This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpos).

[25:16]  ⁷ tn Or “has met his accusers in person.”

[25:16]  ⁸ tn Grk “and receives.”

[25:16]  ⁹ tn Or “indictment” (a legal technical term). BDAG 273-74 s.v. ἔγκλημα 1 states, “legal t.t.…ἀπολογία περὶ τοῦ ἐ. defense against the accusation Ac 25:16.” L&N 56.6 defines ἔγκλημα (enklhma) as “(a technical, legal term) a formal indictment or accusation brought against someone – ‘indictment, accusation, case.’ …‘and might receive an opportunity for a defense against the indictment’ Ac 25:16.”