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 25:8-11

25:8 Paul said in his defense, ⁵  “I have committed no offense ⁶  against the Jewish law ⁷  or against the temple or against Caesar.” ⁸  25:9 But Festus, ⁹  wanting to do the Jews a favor, asked Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and be tried ¹⁰  before me there on these charges?” ¹¹  25:10 Paul replied, ¹²  “I am standing before Caesar’s ¹³  judgment seat, ¹⁴  where I should be tried. ¹⁵  I have done nothing wrong ¹⁶  to the Jews, as you also know very well. ¹⁷  25:11 If then I am in the wrong ¹⁸  and have done anything that deserves death, I am not trying to escape dying, ¹⁹  but if not one of their charges against me is true, ²⁰  no one can hand me over to them. ²¹  I appeal to Caesar!” ²² 

Ezra 4:12-15

4:12 Now ²³  let the king be aware that the Jews who came up to us from you have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and odious city. ²⁴  They are completing its walls and repairing its foundations. 4:13 Let the king also be aware that if this city is built and its walls are completed, no more tax, custom, or toll will be paid, and the royal treasury ²⁵  will suffer loss. 4:14 In light of the fact that we are loyal to the king, ²⁶  and since it does not seem appropriate to us that the king should sustain damage, ²⁷  we are sending the king this information ²⁸  4:15 so that he may initiate a search of the records ²⁹  of his predecessors ³⁰  and discover in those records ³¹  that this city is rebellious ³²  and injurious to both kings and provinces, producing internal revolts ³³  from long ago. ³⁴  It is for this very reason that this city was destroyed.

Daniel 3:12

3:12 But there are Jewish men whom you appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – and these men ³⁵  have not shown proper respect to you, O king. They don’t serve your gods and they don’t pay homage to the golden statue that you have erected.”

Daniel 6:13

6:13 Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the captives ³⁶  from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the edict that you issued. Three times daily he offers his prayer.” ³⁷ 

Luke 23:2

23:2 They ³⁸  began to accuse ³⁹  him, saying, “We found this man subverting ⁴⁰  our nation, forbidding ⁴¹  us to pay the tribute tax ⁴²  to Caesar ⁴³  and claiming that he himself is Christ, ⁴⁴  a king.”

John 19:12

19:12 From this point on, Pilate tried ⁴⁵  to release him. But the Jewish leaders ⁴⁶  shouted out, ⁴⁷  “If you release this man, ⁴⁸  you are no friend of Caesar! ⁴⁹  Everyone who claims to be a king ⁵⁰  opposes Caesar!”

John 19:1

Pilate Tries to Release Jesus

19:1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged severely. ⁵¹ 

John 2:15

2:15 So he made a whip of cords ⁵²  and drove them all out of the temple courts, ⁵³  with the sheep and the oxen. He scattered the coins of the money changers ⁵⁴  and overturned their tables.

[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.

[25:8]  ⁵ tn Grk “Paul saying in his defense”; the participle ἀπολογουμένου (apologoumenou) could be taken temporally (“when Paul said…”), but due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the participle was translated as a finite verb and a new sentence begun here in the translation. BDAG 116-17 s.v. ἀπολογέομαι has “W. ὅτι foll. τοῦ Παύλου ἀπολογουμένου, ὅτι when Paul said in his defense (direct quot. foll.) Ac 25:8.”

[25:8]  ⁶ tn Grk “I have sinned…in nothing.”

[25:8]  ⁷ tn Grk “against the law of the Jews.” Here τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[25:8]  ⁸ tn Or “against the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[25:9]  ⁹ sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

[25:9]  ¹⁰ tn Or “stand trial.”

[25:9]  ¹¹ tn Grk “concerning these things.”

[25:10]  ¹² tn Grk “said.”

[25:10]  ¹³ tn Or “before the emperor’s” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[25:10]  ¹⁴ tn Although BDAG 175 s.v. βῆμα 3 gives the meaning “tribunal” for this verse, and a number of modern translations use similar terms (“court,” NIV; “tribunal,” NRSV), since the bema was a standard feature in Greco-Roman cities of the time, there is no need for an alternative translation here. Here of course Paul’s reference to “Caesar’s judgment seat” is a form of metonymy; since Festus is Caesar’s representative, Festus’ judgment seat represents Caesar’s own.

[25:10]  ¹⁵ tn That is, tried by an imperial representative and subject to Roman law.

[25:10]  ¹⁶ sn “I have done nothing wrong.” Here is yet another declaration of total innocence on Paul’s part.

[25:10]  ¹⁷ tn BDAG 506 s.v. καλῶς 7 states, “comp. κάλλιον (for the superl., as Galen, Protr. 8 p. 24, 19J.=p. 10, 31 Kaibel; s. B-D-F §244, 2) ὡς καί σὺ κ. ἐπιγινώσκεις as also you know very well Ac 25:10.”

[25:11]  ¹⁸ tn BDAG 20 s.v. ἀδικέω 1.b has “intr. be in the wrong (Ex 2:13) εἰ ἀδικῶ Ac 25:11.”

[25:11]  ¹⁹ tn BDAG 764 s.v. παραιτέομαι 2.b.β, “οὐ παραιτοῦμαι τὸ ἀποθανεῖν I am not trying to escape death Ac 25:11 (cp. Jos., Vi. 141).” To avoid redundancy in the translation, the English gerund “dying” is used to translate the Greek infinitive ἀποθανεῖν (apoqanein).

[25:11]  ²⁰ tn Or “but if there is nothing to their charges against me.” Both “if” clauses in this verse are first class conditions. Paul stated the options without prejudice, assuming in turn the reality of each for the sake of the argument.

[25:11]  ²¹ sn That is, no one can hand me over to them lawfully. Paul was aware of the dangers of a return to Jerusalem.

[25:11]  ²² tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[4:12]  ²³ tn The MT takes this word with the latter part of v. 11, but in English style it fits better with v. 12.

[4:12]  ²⁴ sn Management of the provinces that were distantly removed from the capital was difficult, and insurrection in such places was a perennial problem. The language used in this report about Jerusalem (i.e., “rebellious,” “odious”) is intentionally inflammatory. It is calculated to draw immediate attention to the perceived problem.

[4:13]  ²⁵ tn Aram “the treasury of kings.” The plural “kings” is Hebrew, not Aramaic. If the plural is intended in a numerical sense the reference is not just to Artaxerxes but to his successors as well. Some scholars understand this to be the plural of majesty, referring to Artaxerxes. See F. C. Fensham, Ezra and Nehemiah (NICOT), 74.

[4:14]  ²⁶ tn Aram “we eat the salt of the palace.”

[4:14]  ²⁷ tn Aram “the dishonor of the king is not fitting for us to see.”

[4:14]  ²⁸ tn Aram “and we have made known.”

[4:15]  ²⁹ tn Aram “the book of the minutes.”

[4:15]  ³⁰ tn Aram “of your fathers.”

[4:15]  ³¹ tn Aram “discover…and learn.” For stylistic reasons this has been translated as a single concept.

[4:15]  ³² tn Aram “is a rebellious city.”

[4:15]  ³³ tn Aram “revolts they are making in its midst.”

[4:15]  ³⁴ tn Aram “from olden days.” So also in v. 19.

[3:12]  ³⁵ sn Daniel’s absence from this scene has sparked the imagination of commentators, some of whom have suggested that perhaps he was unable to attend the dedication due to sickness or due to being away on business. Hippolytus supposed that Daniel may have been watching from a distance.

[6:13]  ³⁶ tn Aram “from the sons of the captivity [of].”

[6:13]  ³⁷ tn Aram “prays his prayer.”

[23:2]  ³⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[23:2]  ³⁹ sn They began to accuse him. There were three charges: (1) disturbing Jewish peace; (2) fomenting rebellion through advocating not paying taxes (a lie – 20:20-26); and (3) claiming to be a political threat to Rome, by claiming to be a king, an allusion to Jesus’ messianic claims. The second and third charges were a direct challenge to Roman authority. Pilate would be forced to do something about them.

[23:2]  ⁴⁰ tn On the use of the term διαστρέφω (diastrefw) here, see L&N 31.71 and 88.264.

[23:2]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “and forbidding.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated to suggest to the English reader that this and the following charge are specifics, while the previous charge was a summary one. See the note on the word “misleading” earlier in this verse.

[23:2]  ⁴² tn This was a “poll tax.” L&N 57.182 states this was “a payment made by the people of one nation to another, with the implication that this is a symbol of submission and dependence – ‘tribute tax.’”

[23:2]  ⁴³ tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[23:2]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[19:12]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “sought.”

[19:12]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders, especially members of the Sanhedrin, and their servants (mentioned specifically as “the chief priests and their servants” in John 19:6). See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 7.

[19:12]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “shouted out, saying.”

[19:12]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “this one.”

[19:12]  ⁴⁹ sn Is the author using the phrase Friend of Caesar in a technical sense, as a title bestowed on people for loyal service to the Emperor, or in a more general sense merely describing a person as loyal to the Emperor? L. Morris (John [NICNT], 798) thinks it is “unlikely” that the title is used in the technical sense, and J. H. Bernard (St. John [ICC], 2:621) argues that the technical sense of the phrase as an official title was not used before the time of Vespasian (a.d. 69-79). But there appears to be significant evidence for much earlier usage. Some of this is given in BDAG 498-99 s.v. Καῖσαρ. E. Bammel (“φίλος τοῦ καίσαρος (John 19:12),” TLZ 77 [1952]: 205-10) listed significant and convincing arguments that the official title was indeed in use at the time. Granting that the title was in use during this period, what is the likelihood that it had been bestowed on Pilate? Pilate was of the equestrian order, that is, of lower nobility as opposed to senatorial rank. As such he would have been eligible to receive such an honor. It also appears that the powerful Sejanus was his patron in Rome, and Sejanus held considerable influence with Tiberius. Tacitus (Annals 6.8) quotes Marcus Terentius in his defense before the Senate as saying that close friendship with Sejanus “was in every case a powerful recommendation to the Emperor’s friendship.” Thus it is possible that Pilate held this honor. Therefore it appears that the Jewish authorities were putting a good deal of psychological pressure on Pilate to convict Jesus. They had, in effect, finally specified the charge against Jesus as treason: “Everyone who makes himself to be king opposes Caesar.” If Pilate now failed to convict Jesus the Jewish authorities could complain to Rome that Pilate had released a traitor. This possibility carried more weight with Pilate than might at first be evident: (1) Pilate’s record as governor was not entirely above reproach; (2) Tiberius, who lived away from Rome as a virtual recluse on the island of Capri, was known for his suspicious nature, especially toward rivals or those who posed a political threat; and (3) worst of all, Pilate’s patron in Rome, Sejanus, had recently come under suspicion of plotting to seize the imperial succession for himself. Sejanus was deposed in October of a.d. 31. It may have been to Sejanus that Pilate owed his appointment in Judea. Pilate was now in a very delicate position. The Jewish authorities may have known something of this and deliberately used it as leverage against him. Whether or not they knew just how potent their veiled threat was, it had the desired effect. Pilate went directly to the judgment seat to pronounce his judgment.

[19:12]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “who makes himself out to be a king.”

[19:1]  ⁵¹ tn Or “had him flogged,” or (traditional), “scourged him.” The verb should be read as causative. Pilate ordered Jesus to be flogged. A Roman governor would not carry out such a sentence in person. BDAG 620 s.v. μαστιγόω 1. states, “If J refers to the ‘verberatio’ given those condemned to death (TMommsen, Röm. Strafrecht 1899, 938f; Jos., Bell. 2, 308; 5, 449), it is odd that Pilate subsequently claims no cause for action (vs. 6); but if the latter statement refers only to the penalty of crucifixion, μ. vs. 1 may be equivalent to παιδεύω (q.v. 2bγ) in Lk 23:16, 22 (for μ. of a non-capital offense PFlor I, 61, 61 [85ad]=Mitt-Wilck. II/2, 80 II, 61).”

[2:15]  ⁵² tc Several witnesses, two of which are quite ancient (Ì^66,75 L N ˹ 33 565 892 1241 al lat), have ὡς (Jws, “like”) before φραγέλλιον (fragellion, “whip”). A decision based on external evidence would be difficult to make because the shorter reading also has excellent witnesses, as well as the majority, on its side (א A B Θ Ψ Ë¹³ Ï co). Internal evidence, though, leans toward the shorter reading. Scribes tended to add to the text, and the addition of ὡς here clearly softens the assertion of the evangelist: Instead of making a whip of cords, Jesus made “[something] like a whip of cords.”

[2:15]  ⁵³ tn Grk “the temple.”

[2:15]  ⁵⁴ sn Because of the imperial Roman portraits they carried, Roman denarii and Attic drachmas were not permitted to be used in paying the half-shekel temple-tax (the Jews considered the portraits idolatrous). The money changers exchanged these coins for legal Tyrian coinage at a small profit.