Acts 21:31

21:31 While they were trying ¹  to kill him, a report ²  was sent up ³  to the commanding officer ⁴  of the cohort ⁵  that all Jerusalem was in confusion. ⁶ 

Acts 27:42

27:42 Now the soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners ⁷  so that none of them would escape by swimming away. ⁸ 

Acts 3:15

3:15 You killed ⁹  the Originator ¹⁰  of life, whom God raised ¹¹  from the dead. To this fact we are witnesses! ¹² 

Acts 23:12

The Plot to Kill Paul

23:12 When morning came, ¹³  the Jews formed ¹⁴  a conspiracy ¹⁵  and bound themselves with an oath ¹⁶  not to eat or drink anything ¹⁷  until they had killed Paul.

Acts 23:14

23:14 They ¹⁸  went ¹⁹  to the chief priests ²⁰  and the elders and said, “We have bound ourselves with a solemn oath ²¹  not to partake ²²  of anything until we have killed Paul.

Acts 7:52

7:52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors ²³  not persecute? ²⁴  They ²⁵  killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One, ²⁶  whose betrayers and murderers you have now become! ²⁷ 

[21:31]  ¹ tn Grk “seeking.”

[21:31]  ² tn Or “information” (originally concerning a crime; BDAG 1050 s.v. φάσις).

[21:31]  ³ tn Grk “went up”; this verb is used because the report went up to the Antonia Fortress where the Roman garrison was stationed.

[21:31]  ⁴ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). In Greek the term χιλίαρχος (ciliarco") literally described the “commander of a thousand,” but it was used as the standard translation for the Latin tribunus militum or tribunus militare, the military tribune who commanded a cohort of 600 men.

[21:31]  ⁵ sn A cohort was a Roman military unit of about 600 soldiers, one-tenth of a legion.

[21:31]  ⁶ tn BDAG 953 s.v. συγχέω has “Pass. w. act.force be in confusion…ὅλη συγχύννεται ᾿Ιερουσαλήμ 21:31.”

[27:42]  ⁷ sn The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners. The issue here was not cruelty, but that the soldiers would be legally responsible if any prisoners escaped and would suffer punishment themselves. So they were planning to do this as an act of self-preservation. See Acts 16:27 for a similar incident.

[27:42]  ⁸ tn The participle ἐκκολυμβήσας (ekkolumbhsa") has been taken instrumentally.

[3:15]  ¹³ tn Or “You put to death.”

[3:15]  ¹⁴ tn Or “Founder,” “founding Leader.”

[3:15]  ¹⁵ sn Whom God raised. God is the main actor here, as he testifies to Jesus and vindicates him.

[3:15]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.” The two consecutive relative clauses make for awkward English style, so the second was begun as a new sentence with the words “to this fact” supplied in place of the Greek relative pronoun to make a complete sentence in English.

[23:12]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “when it was day.”

[23:12]  ²⁰ tn Grk “forming a conspiracy, bound.” The participle ποιήσαντες (poihsantes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:12]  ²¹ tn L&N 30.72 has ‘some Jews formed a conspiracy’ Ac 23:12”; BDAG 979 s.v. συστροφή 1 has “Judeans came together in a mob 23:12. But in the last pass. the word may also mean – 2. the product of a clandestine gathering, plot, conspiracy” (see also Amos 7:10; Ps 63:3).

[23:12]  ²² tn Or “bound themselves under a curse.” BDAG 63 s.v. ἀναθεματίζω 1 has “trans. put under a curse τινά someone…pleonastically ἀναθέματι ἀ. ἑαυτόν Ac 23:14…ἀ. ἑαυτόν vss. 12, 21, 13 v.l.” On such oaths see m. Shevi’it 3:1-5. The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[23:12]  ²³ tn The word “anything” 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.

[23:14]  ²⁵ tn Grk “who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was translated by the third person plural pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence begun in the translation.

[23:14]  ²⁶ tn Grk “going.” The participle προσελθόντες (proselqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:14]  ²⁷ sn They went to the chief priests. The fact that the high priest knew of this plot and did nothing shows the Jewish leadership would even become accomplices to murder to stop Paul. They would not allow Roman justice to take its course. Paul’s charge in v. 3 of superficially following the law is thus shown to be true.

[23:14]  ²⁸ tn Or “bound ourselves under a curse.” BDAG 63 s.v. ἀναθεματίζω 1 has “trans. put under a curse τινά someone…pleonastically ἀναθέματι ἀ. ἑαυτόν Ac 23:14…ἀ. ἑαυτόν vss. 12, 21, 13 v.l.” The pleonastic use ἀναθέματι ἀνεθεματίσαμεν (literally “we have cursed ourselves with a curse”) probably serves as an intensifier following Semitic usage, and is represented in the translation by the word “solemn.” On such oaths see m. Nedarim 3:1, 3.

[23:14]  ²⁹ tn This included both food and drink (γεύομαι [geuomai] is used of water turned to wine in John 2:9).

[7:52]  ³¹ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:52]  ³² sn Which…persecute. The rhetorical question suggests they persecuted them all.

[7:52]  ³³ tn Grk “And they.” 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.

[7:52]  ³⁴ sn The Righteous One is a reference to Jesus Christ.

[7:52]  ³⁵ sn Whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. The harsh critique has OT precedent (1 Kgs 19:10-14; Neh 9:26; 2 Chr 36:16).