Acts 16:27-28

16:27 When the jailer woke up ¹  and saw the doors of the prison standing open, ²  he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, ³  because he assumed ⁴  the prisoners had escaped. 16:28 But Paul called out loudly, ⁵  “Do not harm yourself, ⁶  for we are all here!”

Acts 16:37-39

16:37 But Paul said to the police officers, ⁷  “They had us beaten in public ⁸  without a proper trial ⁹  – even though we are Roman citizens ¹⁰  – and they threw us ¹¹  in prison. And now they want to send us away ¹²  secretly? Absolutely not! They ¹³  themselves must come and escort us out!” ¹⁴  16:38 The police officers reported these words to the magistrates. They were frightened when they heard Paul and Silas ¹⁵  were Roman citizens ¹⁶  16:39 and came ¹⁷  and apologized to them. After ¹⁸  they brought them out, they asked them repeatedly ¹⁹  to leave the city.

[16:27]  ¹ tn L&N 23.75 has “had awakened” here. It is more in keeping with contemporary English style, however, to keep the two verbal ideas parallel in terms of tense (“when the jailer woke up and saw”) although logically the second action is subsequent to the first.

[16:27]  ² tn The additional semantic component “standing” is supplied (“standing open”) to convey a stative nuance in English.

[16:27]  ³ sn Was about to kill himself. The jailer’s penalty for failing to guard the prisoners would have been death, so he contemplated saving the leaders the trouble (see Acts 12:19; 27:42).

[16:27]  ⁴ tn Or “thought.”

[16:28]  ⁵ tn Grk “But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying.” The dative phrase μεγάλῃ φωνῇ (megalh fwnh) has been simplified as an English adverb (“loudly”), and the participle λέγων (legwn) has not been translated since it is redundant in English.

[16:28]  ⁶ sn Do not harm yourself. Again the irony is that Paul is the agent through whom the jailer is spared.

[16:37]  ⁷ tn Grk “to them”; the referent (the police officers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:37]  ⁸ tn Grk “Having us beaten in public.” The participle δείραντες (deirante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[16:37]  ⁹ tn Or “in public, uncondemned.” BDAG 35 s.v. ἀκατάκριτος has “uncondemned, without due process” for this usage.

[16:37]  ¹⁰ tn The participle ὑπάρχοντας (Juparconta") has been translated as a concessive adverbial participle.

[16:37]  ¹¹ tn The word “us” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[16:37]  ¹² tn L&N 28.71 has “send us away secretly” for this verse.

[16:37]  ¹³ tn Grk “But they.”

[16:37]  ¹⁴ sn They themselves must come and escort us out! Paul was asking for the injustice he and Silas suffered to be symbolically righted. It was a way of publicly taking their actions off the record and showing the apostles’ innocence, a major public statement. Note the apology given in v. 39.

[16:38]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “heard they”; the referents (Paul and Silas) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:38]  ¹⁶ sn Roman citizens. This fact was disturbing to the officials because due process was a right for a Roman citizen, well established in Roman law. To flog a Roman citizen was considered an abomination. Such punishment was reserved for noncitizens.

[16:39]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “and coming, they apologized.” The participle ἐλθόντες (elqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[16:39]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “and after.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

[16:39]  ¹⁹ tn The verb ἐρώτων (erwtwn) has been translated as an iterative imperfect; the English adverb “repeatedly” brings out the iterative force in the translation.