Acts 16:27-33

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!” 16:29 Calling for lights, the jailer ⁷  rushed in and fell down ⁸  trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas. 16:30 Then he brought them outside ⁹  and asked, “Sirs, what must ¹⁰  I do to be saved?” 16:31 They replied, ¹¹  “Believe ¹²  in the Lord Jesus ¹³  and you will be saved, you and your household.” 16:32 Then ¹⁴  they spoke the word of the Lord ¹⁵  to him, along with all those who were in his house. 16:33 At ¹⁶  that hour of the night he took them ¹⁷  and washed their wounds; ¹⁸  then ¹⁹  he and all his family ²⁰  were baptized right away. ²¹ 

[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.

[16:29]  ⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the jailer) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:29]  ⁸ tn Or “and prostrated himself.”

[16:30]  ⁹ tn Grk “And bringing them outside, he asked.” The participle προαγαγών (proagagwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun by supplying the conjunction “then” to indicate the logical sequence.

[16:30]  ¹⁰ tn The Greek term (δεῖ, dei) is used by Luke to represent divine necessity.

[16:31]  ¹¹ tn Grk “said.”

[16:31]  ¹² sn Here the summary term of response is a call to believe. In this context it refers to trusting the sovereign God’s power to deliver, which events had just pictured for the jailer.

[16:31]  ¹³ tc The majority of mss add Χριστόν (Criston, “Christ”) here (C D E Ψ 1739 Ï sy sa), but the best and earliest witnesses read simply τὸν κύριον ᾿Ιησοῦν (ton kurion Ihsoun, “the Lord Jesus”; Ì^74vid א A B 33 81 pc bo). The addition of “Christ” to “Lord Jesus” is an obviously motivated reading. Thus on both external and internal grounds, the shorter reading is strongly preferred.

[16:32]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “And they.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the continuity with the preceding verse. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style does not.

[16:32]  ¹⁵ sn The word of the Lord is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου (rJhma tou kuriou; Luke 22:61, Acts 11:16, 1 Pet 1:25) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logo" tou kuriou; here and in Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 15:35, 36; 19:10, 20; 1 Thess 1:8, 4:15; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said.

[16:33]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “And at.” 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.

[16:33]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “taking them…he washed.” The participle παραλαβών (paralabwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[16:33]  ¹⁸ tn On this phrase BDAG 603 s.v. λούω 1 gives a literal translation as “by washing he freed them from the effects of the blows.”

[16:33]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the logical sequence.

[16:33]  ²⁰ sn All his family. It was often the case in the ancient world that conversion of the father led to the conversion of all those in the household.

[16:33]  ²¹ tn Or “immediately.”