Acts 18:14-16

18:14 But just as Paul was about to speak, ¹  Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of some crime or serious piece of villainy, ²  I would have been justified in accepting the complaint ³  of you Jews, ⁴  18:15 but since it concerns points of disagreement ⁵  about words and names and your own law, settle ⁶  it yourselves. I will not be ⁷  a judge of these things!” 18:16 Then he had them forced away ⁸  from the judgment seat. ⁹ 

[18:14]  ¹ tn Grk “about to open his mouth” (an idiom).

[18:14]  ² tn BDAG 902 s.v. ῥᾳδιούργημα states, “From the sense ‘prank, knavery, roguish trick, slick deed’ it is but a short step to that of a serious misdeed, crime, villainy…a serious piece of villainy Ac 18:14 (w. ἀδίκημα).”

[18:14]  ³ tn According to BDAG 78 s.v. ἀνέχω 3 this is a legal technical term: “Legal t.t. κατὰ λόγον ἂν ἀνεσχόμην ὑμῶν I would have been justified in accepting your complaint Ac 18:14.”

[18:14]  ⁴ tn Grk “accepting your complaint, O Jews.”

[18:15]  ⁵ tn Or “dispute.”

[18:15]  ⁶ tn Grk “see to it” (an idiom).

[18:15]  ⁷ tn Or “I am not willing to be.” Gallio would not adjudicate their religious dispute.

[18:16]  ⁸ tn Grk “driven away,” but this could result in a misunderstanding in English (“driven” as in a cart or wagon?). “Forced away” conveys the idea; Gallio rejected their complaint. In contemporary English terminology the case was “thrown out of court.” The verb ἀπήλασεν (aphlasen) has been translated as a causative since Gallio probably did not perform this action in person, but ordered his aides or officers to remove the plaintiffs.

[18:16]  ⁹ sn See the note on the term judgment seat in 18:12.