Acts 23:10

23:10 When the argument became ¹  so great the commanding officer ²  feared that they would tear Paul to pieces, ³  he ordered the detachment ⁴  to go down, take him away from them by force, ⁵  and bring him into the barracks. ⁶ 

Acts 23:15

23:15 So now you and the council ⁷  request the commanding officer ⁸  to bring him down to you, as if you were going to determine ⁹  his case ¹⁰  by conducting a more thorough inquiry. ¹¹  We are ready to kill him ¹²  before he comes near this place.” ¹³ 

Acts 23:17

23:17 Paul called ¹⁴  one of the centurions ¹⁵  and said, “Take this young man to the commanding officer, ¹⁶  for he has something to report to him.”

Acts 23:19

23:19 The commanding officer ¹⁷  took him by the hand, withdrew privately, and asked, “What is it that you want ¹⁸  to report to me?”

Acts 23:22

23:22 Then the commanding officer ¹⁹  sent the young man away, directing him, ²⁰  “Tell no one that you have reported ²¹  these things to me.”

Acts 23:26

23:26 Claudius Lysias to His Excellency Governor ²²  Felix, ²³  greetings.

[23:10]  ¹ tn This genitive absolute construction with the participle γινομένης (ginomenhs) has been taken temporally (it could also be translated as causal).

[23:10]  ² 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.

[23:10]  ³ tn Grk “that Paul would be torn to pieces by them.” BDAG 236 s.v. διασπάω has “of an angry mob μὴ διασπασθῇ ὁ Παῦλος ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν that Paul would be torn in pieces by them Ac 23:10.” The passive construction is somewhat awkward in English and has been converted to an equivalent active construction in the translation.

[23:10]  ⁴ 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.

[23:10]  ⁵ tn Or “to go down, grab him out of their midst.”

[23:10]  ⁶ 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.”

[23:15]  ⁷ tn Grk “the Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[23:15]  ⁸ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 10.

[23:15]  ⁹ tn Or “decide.” BDAG 227 s.v. διαγινώσκω has “ἀκριβέστερον τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ to make a more thorough examination of his case Ac 23:15.”

[23:15]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “determine the things about him.”

[23:15]  ¹¹ tn The expression “more thorough inquiry” reflects the comparative form of ἀκριβέστερον (akribesteron).

[23:15]  ¹² sn “We are ready to kill him.” Now those Jews involved in the conspiracy, along with the leaders as accomplices, are going to break one of the ten commandments.

[23:15]  ¹³ tn The words “this place” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[23:17]  ¹³ tn Grk “calling…Paul said.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:17]  ¹⁴ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[23:17]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 10.

[23:19]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 10.

[23:19]  ²⁰ tn Grk “you have,” but the expression “have to report” in English could be understood to mean “must report” rather than “possess to report.” For this reason the nearly equivalent expression “want to report,” which is not subject to misunderstanding, was used in the translation.

[23:22]  ²⁵ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 10.

[23:22]  ²⁶ tn BDAG 760 s.v. παραγγέλλω has “to make an announcement about someth. that must be done, give orders, command, instruct, direct of all kinds of persons in authority, worldly rulers, Jesus, the apostles…παραγγέλλειν w. an inf. and μή comes to mean forbid to do someth.: π. τινί w. aor. inf. Lk 5:14; 8:56; without the dat., which is easily supplied fr. the context Ac 23:22.” However, if the direct discourse which follows is to be retained in the translation, a different translation must be used since it is awkward to introduce direct discourse with the verb to forbid. Thus the alternative to direct was used.

[23:22]  ²⁷ tn On this verb, see BDAG 325-26 s.v. ἐμφανίζω 2. The term was frequently used of an official report to authorities. In modern terms, this was a police tip.

[23:26]  ³¹ tn Grk “Procurator.” The official Roman title has been translated as “governor” (BDAG 433 s.v. ἡγεμών 2).

[23:26]  ³² sn Governor Felix. See the note on Felix in v. 24.