Acts 16:33-34

16:33 At ¹  that hour of the night he took them ²  and washed their wounds; ³  then ⁴  he and all his family ⁵  were baptized right away. ⁶  16:34 The jailer ⁷  brought them into his house and set food ⁸  before them, and he rejoiced greatly ⁹  that he had come to believe ¹⁰  in God, together with his entire household. ¹¹ 

[16:33]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the logical sequence.

[16:33]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Or “immediately.”

[16:34]  ⁷ tn Grk “He”; the referent (the jailer) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:34]  ⁸ tn 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]  ⁹ tn Or “he was overjoyed.”

[16:34]  ¹⁰ tn The translation “come to believe” reflects more of the resultative nuance of the perfect tense here.

[16:34]  ¹¹ tn 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.