Discovery BoxActs 21:31-33
Context21:31 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 21:32 He 7 immediately took 8 soldiers and centurions 9 and ran down to the crowd. 10 When they saw 11 the commanding officer 12 and the soldiers, they stopped beating 13 Paul. 21:33 Then the commanding officer 14 came up and arrested 15 him and ordered him to be tied up with two chains; 16 he 17 then asked who he was and what 18 he had done.
Acts 23:23-32
Context23:23 Then 19 he summoned 20 two of the centurions 21 and said, “Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea 22 along with seventy horsemen 23 and two hundred spearmen 24 by 25 nine o’clock tonight, 26 23:24 and provide mounts for Paul to ride 27 so that he may be brought safely to Felix 28 the governor.” 29 23:25 He wrote 30 a letter that went like this: 31
23:26 Claudius Lysias to His Excellency Governor 32 Felix, 33 greetings. 23:27 This man was seized 34 by the Jews and they were about to kill him, 35 when I came up 36 with the detachment 37 and rescued him, because I had learned that he was 38 a Roman citizen. 39 23:28 Since I wanted to know 40 what charge they were accusing him of, 41 I brought him down to their council. 42 23:29 I found he 43 was accused with reference to controversial questions 44 about their law, but no charge against him deserved death or imprisonment. 45 23:30 When I was informed 46 there would be a plot 47 against this man, I sent him to you at once, also ordering his accusers to state their charges 48 against him before you.
23:31 So the soldiers, in accordance with their orders, 49 took 50 Paul and brought him to Antipatris 51 during the night. 23:32 The next day they let 52 the horsemen 53 go on with him, and they returned to the barracks. 54
Proverbs 4:16
Context4:16 For they cannot sleep unless they cause harm; 55
they are robbed of sleep 56 until they make someone stumble. 57
[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.”
[21:32] 7 tn Grk “who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, the relative pronoun (“who”) was translated as a pronoun (“he”) and a new sentence was begun here in the translation.
[21:32] 8 tn Grk “taking…ran down.” The participle κατέδραμεν (katedramen) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
[21:32] 9 sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.
[21:32] 10 tn Grk “to them”; the referent (the crowd) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:32] 11 tn Grk “seeing.” The participle ἰδόντες (idonte") has been taken temporally.
[21:32] 12 tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 31.
[21:32] 13 sn The mob stopped beating Paul because they feared the Romans would arrest them for disturbing the peace and for mob violence. They would let the Roman officials take care of the matter from this point on.
[21:33] 14 tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 31.
[21:33] 16 tn The two chains would be something like handcuffs (BDAG 48 s.v. ἅλυσις and compare Acts 28:20).
[21:33] 17 tn Grk “and he.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was begun in the translation, and καί (kai) has been replaced with a semicolon. “Then” has been supplied after “he” to clarify the logical sequence.
[21:33] 18 tn Grk “and what it is”; this has been simplified to “what.”
[23:23] 19 tn Grk “And.” Since this represents a response to the reported ambush, καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the logical sequence.
[23:23] 20 tn Grk “summoning…he said.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
[23:23] 21 sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.
[23:23] 22 sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1. This was a journey of about 65 mi (just over 100 km).
[23:23] 23 tn Or “cavalrymen.”
[23:23] 24 tn A military technical term of uncertain meaning. BDAG 217 s.v. δεξιολάβος states, “a word of uncertain mng., military t.t., acc. to Joannes Lydus…and Theophyl. Sim., Hist. 4, 1 a light-armed soldier, perh. bowman, slinger; acc. to a scholion in CMatthaei p. 342 body-guard….Spearman Goodspd., NRSV; ‘security officer’, GDKilpatrick, JTS 14, ’63, 393f.”
[23:23] 26 tn Grk “from the third hour of the night.”
[23:24] 27 tn Grk “provide mounts to put Paul on.”
[23:24] 28 sn Felix the governor was Antonius Felix, a freedman of Antonia, mother of the Emperor Claudius. He was the brother of Pallas and became procurator of Palestine in
[23:24] 29 tn Grk “Felix the procurator.” The official Roman title has been translated as “governor” (BDAG 433 s.v. ἡγεμών 2).
[23:25] 30 tn Grk “writing.” Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was begun here in the translation, supplying “he” (referring to the commanding officer, Claudius Lysias) as subject. The participle γράψας (grayas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
[23:25] 31 tn Grk “having this form,” “having this content.” L&N 33.48 has “γράψσς ἐπιστολὴν ἔχουσαν τὸν τύπον τοῦτον ‘then he wrote a letter that went like this’ Ac 23:25. It is also possible to understand ἐπιστολή in Ac 23:25 not as a content or message, but as an object (see 6.63).”
[23:26] 32 tn Grk “Procurator.” The official Roman title has been translated as “governor” (BDAG 433 s.v. ἡγεμών 2).
[23:26] 33 sn Governor Felix. See the note on Felix in v. 24.
[23:27] 34 tn The participle συλλημφθέντα (sullhmfqenta) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. The remark reviews events of Acts 21:27-40.
[23:27] 35 tn Grk “and was about to be killed by them.” The passive construction has been converted to an active one in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[23:27] 36 tn Or “approached.”
[23:27] 37 tn Normally this term means “army,” but according to BDAG 947 s.v. στράτευμα, “Of a smaller detachment of soldiers, sing. Ac 23:10, 27.” In the plural it can be translated “troops,” but it is singular here.
[23:27] 38 tn In Greek this is a present tense retained in indirect discourse.
[23:27] 39 tn The word “citizen” is supplied here for emphasis and clarity.
[23:28] 41 tn Grk “to know the charge on account of which they were accusing him.” This has been simplified to eliminate the prepositional phrase and relative pronoun δι᾿ ἣν (di’ }hn) similar to L&N 27.8 which has “‘I wanted to find out what they were accusing him of, so I took him down to their Council’ Ac 23:28.”
[23:28] 42 tn Grk “their Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).
[23:29] 43 tn Grk “whom I found.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been changed to a personal pronoun (“he”) and a new sentence begun in the translation at this point.
[23:29] 44 tn BDAG 428 s.v. ζήτημα states, “in our lit. only in Ac, w. the mng. it still has in Mod. Gk. (controversial) question, issue, argument…Ac 15:2; 26:3. ζ. περί τινος questions about someth.…18:15; 25:19. – In 23:29, since περί had already been used, the subj. of the discussion is added in the gen. ζ. τοῦ νόμου αὐτῶν.”
[23:29] 45 tn Grk “but having no charge worthy of death or imprisonment.” BDAG 273-74 s.v. ἔγκλημα 1 has “legal t.t.…ἔ. ἄξιον θανάτου ἢ δεσμῶν a charge deserving death or imprisonment 23:29.”
[23:30] 46 tn Grk “It being revealed to me.” The participle μηνυθείσης (mhnuqeish") has been taken temporally.
[23:30] 47 tn The term translated “plot” here is a different one than the one in Acts 23:16 (see BDAG 368 s.v. ἐπιβουλή).
[23:30] 48 tn Grk “the things against him.” This could be rendered as “accusations,” “grievances,” or “charges,” but since “ordered his accusers to state their accusations” sounds redundant in English, “charges” was used instead.
[23:31] 49 tn BDAG 237-38 s.v. διατάσσω 2 has “κατὰ τὸ δ. αὐτοῖς in accordance w. their orders…Ac 23:31.”
[23:31] 50 tn Grk “taking.” The participle ἀναλαβόντες (analabonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
[23:31] 51 sn Antipatris was a city in Judea about 35 mi (55 km) northwest of Jerusalem (about halfway to Caesarea). It was mentioned several times by Josephus (Ant. 13.15.1 [13.390]; J. W. 1.4.7 [1.99]).
[23:32] 52 tn Grk “letting.” The participle ἐάσαντες (easante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
[23:32] 53 tn Or “cavalrymen.”
[23:32] 54 tn Or “the headquarters.” BDAG 775 s.v. παρεμβολή 2 has “barracks/headquarters of the Roman troops in Jerusalem Ac 21:34, 37; 22:24; 23:10, 16, 32.”
[4:16] 55 sn The verb is רָעַע (ra’a’), which means “to do evil; to harm.” The verse is using the figure of hyperbole to stress the preoccupation of some people with causing trouble. R. L. Alden says, “How sick to find peace only at the price of another man’s misfortune” (Proverbs, 47).
[4:16] 56 sn Heb “their sleep is robbed/seized”; these expressions are metonymical for their restlessness in plotting evil.
[4:16] 57 sn The Hiphil imperfect (Kethib) means “cause to stumble.” This idiom (from hypocatastasis) means “bring injury/ruin to someone” (BDB 505-6 s.v. כָּשַׁל Hiph.1).
