Acts 20:13

The Voyage to Miletus

20:13 We went on ahead ¹  to the ship and put out to sea ²  for Assos, ³  intending ⁴  to take Paul aboard there, for he had arranged it this way. ⁵  He ⁶  himself was intending ⁷  to go there by land. ⁸ 

Acts 22:29

22:29 Then those who were about to interrogate him stayed away ⁹  from him, and the commanding officer ¹⁰  was frightened when he realized that Paul ¹¹  was ¹²  a Roman citizen ¹³  and that he had had him tied up. ¹⁴ 

[20:13]  ¹ tn Grk “going on ahead.” The participle προελθόντες (proelqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[20:13]  ² tn BDAG 62 s.v. ἀνάγω 4, “as a nautical t.t. (ἀ. τὴν ναῦν put a ship to sea), mid. or pass. ἀνάγεσθαι to begin to go by boat, put out to sea.”

[20:13]  ³ sn Assos was a city of Mysia about 24 mi (40 km) southeast of Troas.

[20:13]  ⁴ tn BDAG 628 s.v. μέλλω 1.c.γ has “denoting an intended action: intend, propose, have in mind…Ac 17:31; 20:3, 7, 13ab; 23:15; 26:2; 27:30.”

[20:13]  ⁵ tn Or “for he told us to do this.” Grk “for having arranged it this way, he.” The participle διατεταγμένος (diatetagmeno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. BDAG 237 s.v. διατάσσω 1 has “οὕτως διατεταγμένος ἦν he had arranged it so Ac 20:13.” L&N 15.224 has “‘he told us to do this.”

[20:13]  ⁶ tn A new sentence was begun here in the translation because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence; in Greek this is part of the preceding sentence beginning “We went on ahead.”

[20:13]  ⁷ tn BDAG 628 s.v. μέλλω 1.c.γ has “denoting an intended action: intend, propose, have in mind…Ac 17:31; 20:3, 7, 13ab; 23:15; 26:2; 27:30.”

[20:13]  ⁸ tn Or “there on foot.”

[22:29]  ⁹ tn BDAG 158 s.v. ἀφίστημι 2.b has “keep away…ἀπό τινος… Lk 4:13; Ac 5:38; 2 Cor 12:8…cp. Ac 22:29.” In context, the point would seem to be not that the interrogators departed or withdrew, but that they held back from continuing the flogging.

[22:29]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 24.

[22:29]  ¹¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:29]  ¹² tn This is a present tense (ἐστιν, estin) retained in indirect discourse. It must be translated as a past tense in contemporary English.

[22:29]  ¹³ tn The word “citizen” is supplied here for emphasis and clarity.

[22:29]  ¹⁴ sn Had him tied up. Perhaps a reference to the chains in Acts 21:33, or the preparations for the lashing in Acts 22:25. A trial would now be needed to resolve the matter. The Roman authorities’ hesitation to render a judgment in the case occurs repeatedly: Acts 22:30; 23:28-29; 24:22; 25:20, 26-27. The legal process begun here would take the rest of Acts and will be unresolved at the end. The process itself took four years of Paul’s life.