Acts 18:16-17

18:16 Then he had them forced away ¹  from the judgment seat. ²  18:17 So they all seized Sosthenes, the president of the synagogue, ³  and began to beat ⁴  him in front of the judgment seat. ⁵  Yet none of these things were of any concern ⁶  to Gallio.

[18:16]  ¹ 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]  ² sn See the note on the term judgment seat in 18:12.

[18:17]  ³ tn That is, “the official in charge of the synagogue”; ἀρχισυνάγωγος (arcisunagwgo") refers to the “leader/president of a synagogue” (so BDAG 139 s.v. and L&N 53.93).

[18:17]  ⁴ tn The imperfect verb ἔτυπτον (etupton) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

[18:17]  ⁵ sn See the note on the term judgment seat in 18:12.

[18:17]  ⁶ tn L&N 25.223 has “‘none of these things were of any concern to Gallio’ Ac 18:17.”