Acts 23:21

23:21 So do not let them persuade you to do this, ¹  because more than forty of them ²  are lying in ambush ³  for him. They ⁴  have bound themselves with an oath ⁵  not to eat or drink anything ⁶  until they have killed him, and now they are ready, waiting for you to agree to their request.” ⁷ 

Acts 27:12

27:12 Because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided ⁸  to put out to sea ⁹  from there. They hoped that ¹⁰  somehow they could reach ¹¹  Phoenix, ¹²  a harbor of Crete facing ¹³  southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

Acts 28:27

28:27 For the heart of this people has become dull, ¹⁴ 

and their ears are hard of hearing, ¹⁵ 

and they have closed their eyes,

so that they would not see with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand with their heart

and turn, ¹⁶  and I would heal them.”’ ¹⁷ 

[23:21]  ¹ tn Grk “do not be persuaded by them.” The passive construction μὴ πεισθῇς αὐτοῖς (mh peisqh" autoi") has been converted to an active construction in the translation, and the phrase “to do this” supplied to indicate more clearly the object of their persuasion.

[23:21]  ² tn Grk “forty men of them.” In the expression ἐξ αὐτῶν ἄνδρες (ex autwn andre") “men” is somewhat redundant and has not been included in the English translation.

[23:21]  ³ tn Grk “are lying in wait for him” (BDAG 334 s.v. ἐνεδρεύω); see also v. 16.

[23:21]  ⁴ tn Grk “for him, who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“who”) was translated by the third person plural pronoun (“they”) and a new sentence begun in the translation.

[23:21]  ⁵ tn Or “bound themselves under a curse.” BDAG 63 s.v. ἀναθεματίζω 1 has “trans. put under a curse τινά someone… ἀ. ἑαυτόν vss. 12, 21, 13 v.l.”

[23:21]  ⁶ 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.

[23:21]  ⁷ tn Grk “waiting for your approval,” “waiting for your agreement.” Since it would be possible to misunderstand the literal translation “waiting for your approval” to mean that the Jews were waiting for the commander’s approval to carry out their plot or to kill Paul (as if he were to be an accomplice to their plot), the object of the commander’s approval (their request to bring Paul to the council) has been specified in the translation as “their request.”

[27:12]  ⁸ tn BDAG 181-82 s.v. βουλή 2.a, “β. τίθεσθαι (Judg 19:30; Ps 12:3) decide 27:12 (w. inf. foll.).”

[27:12]  ⁹ 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.”

[27:12]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “from there, if somehow” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was begun here in the translation and the introductory phrase “They hoped that” supplied (with the subject, “they,” repeated from the previous clause) to make a complete English sentence.

[27:12]  ¹¹ tn Grk “if somehow, reaching Phoenix, they could…” The participle καταντήσαντες (katanthsante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[27:12]  ¹² sn Phoenix was a seaport on the southern coast of the island of Crete. This was about 30 mi (48 km) further west.

[27:12]  ¹³ tn Or “a harbor of Crete open to the southwest and northwest.”

[28:27]  ¹⁵ tn Or “insensitive.”

[28:27]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “they hear heavily with their ears” (an idiom for slow comprehension).

[28:27]  ¹⁷ sn Note how the failure to respond to the message of the gospel is seen as a failure to turn.

[28:27]  ¹⁸ sn A quotation from Isa 6:9-10.