Acts 16:31-40

Context
16:31 They replied,¹ “Believe² in the Lord Jesus³ and you will be saved, you and your household.” 16:32 Then⁴ they spoke the word of the Lord⁵ to him, along with all those who were in his house. 16:33 At⁶ that hour of the night he took them⁷ and washed their wounds;⁸ then⁹ he and all his family¹⁰ were baptized right away.¹¹ 16:34 The jailer¹² brought them into his house and set food¹³ before them, and he rejoiced greatly¹⁴ that he had come to believe¹⁵ in God, together with his entire household.¹⁶ 16:35 At daybreak¹⁷ the magistrates¹⁸ sent their police officers,¹⁹ saying, “Release those men.” 16:36 The jailer reported these words to Paul, saying,²⁰ “The magistrates have sent orders²¹ to release you. So come out now and go in peace.”²² 16:37 But Paul said to the police officers,²³ “They had us beaten in public²⁴ without a proper trial²⁵ – even though we are Roman citizens²⁶ – and they threw us²⁷ in prison. And now they want to send us away²⁸ secretly? Absolutely not! They²⁹ themselves must come and escort us out!”³⁰ 16:38 The police officers reported these words to the magistrates. They were frightened when they heard Paul and Silas³¹ were Roman citizens³² 16:39 and came³³ and apologized to them. After³⁴ they brought them out, they asked them repeatedly³⁵ to leave the city. 16:40 When they came out of the prison, they entered Lydia’s house, and when they saw the brothers, they encouraged them and then³⁶ departed.

[16:31] ¹tn Grk “said.”

[16:31] ²sn 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] ³tc 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] ⁴tn 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] ⁵sn 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] ⁶tn 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] ⁷tn 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] ⁸tn 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] ⁹tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the logical sequence.

[16:33] ¹⁰sn 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] ¹¹tn Or “immediately.”

[16:34] ¹²tn Grk “He”; the referent (the jailer) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:34] ¹³tn Grk “placed [food] on the table” (a figurative expression). Since the actual word for food is not specified, it would also be possible to translate “set a meal before them,” but since this is taking place in the middle of the night, the preparations necessary for a full meal would probably not have been made. More likely Paul and Silas were given whatever was on hand that needed little or no preparation.

[16:34] ¹⁴tn Or “he was overjoyed.”

[16:34] ¹⁵tn The translation “come to believe” reflects more of the resultative nuance of the perfect tense here.

[16:34] ¹⁶tn The phrase “together with his entire household” is placed at the end of the English sentence so that it refers to both the rejoicing and the belief. A formal equivalence translation would have “and he rejoiced greatly with his entire household that he had come to believe in God,” but the reference to the entire household being baptized in v. 33 presumes that all in the household believed.

[16:35] ¹⁷tn The translation “day is breaking” for ἡμέρα γίνεται (Jhmera ginetai) in this verse is given by BDAG 436 s.v. ἡμέρα 1.a.

[16:35] ¹⁸tn On the term translated “magistrates,” see BDAG 947-48 s.v. στρατηγός 1. These city leaders were properly called duoviri, but were popularly known as praetors (στρατηγοί, strathgoi). They were the chief officials of Philippi. The text leaves the impression that they came to the decision to release Paul and Silas independently. God was at work everywhere.

[16:35] ¹⁹tn On the term ῥαβδοῦχος (rJabdouco") see BDAG 902 s.v. The term was used of the Roman lictor and roughly corresponds to contemporary English “constable, policeman.”

[16:36] ²⁰tn The word “saying” is not in the Greek text, but is implied; it is necessary in English because the content of what the jailer said to Paul and Silas is not the exact message related to him by the police officers, but is a summary with his own additions.

[16:36] ²¹tn The word “orders” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[16:36] ²²tn Grk “So coming out now go in peace.” The participle ἐξελθόντες (exelqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[16:37] ²³tn Grk “to them”; the referent (the police officers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:37] ²⁴tn 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] ²⁵tn Or “in public, uncondemned.” BDAG 35 s.v. ἀκατάκριτος has “uncondemned, without due process” for this usage.

[16:37] ²⁶tn The participle ὑπάρχοντας (Juparconta") has been translated as a concessive adverbial participle.

[16:37] ²⁷tn 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] ²⁸tn L&N 28.71 has “send us away secretly” for this verse.

[16:37] ²⁹tn Grk “But they.”

[16:37] ³⁰sn 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] ³¹tn Grk “heard they”; the referents (Paul and Silas) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:38] ³²sn 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] ³³tn 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] ³⁴tn 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] ³⁵tn The verb ἐρώτων (erwtwn) has been translated as an iterative imperfect; the English adverb “repeatedly” brings out the iterative force in the translation.

[16:40] ³⁶tn “Then” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to clarify the logical sequence in the translation.