Acts 23:23-32

Context
23:23 Then¹ he summoned² two of the centurions³ and said, “Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea⁴ along with seventy horsemen⁵ and two hundred spearmen⁶ by⁷ nine o’clock tonight,⁸ 23:24 and provide mounts for Paul to ride⁹ so that he may be brought safely to Felix¹⁰ the governor.”¹¹ 23:25 He wrote¹² a letter that went like this:¹³

23:26 Claudius Lysias to His Excellency Governor¹⁴ Felix,¹⁵ greetings. 23:27 This man was seized¹⁶ by the Jews and they were about to kill him,¹⁷ when I came up¹⁸ with the detachment¹⁹ and rescued him, because I had learned that he was²⁰ a Roman citizen.²¹ 23:28 Since I wanted to know²² what charge they were accusing him of,²³ I brought him down to their council.²⁴ 23:29 I found he²⁵ was accused with reference to controversial questions²⁶ about their law, but no charge against him deserved death or imprisonment.²⁷ 23:30 When I was informed²⁸ there would be a plot²⁹ against this man, I sent him to you at once, also ordering his accusers to state their charges³⁰ against him before you.

23:31 So the soldiers, in accordance with their orders,³¹ took³² Paul and brought him to Antipatris³³ during the night. 23:32 The next day they let³⁴ the horsemen³⁵ go on with him, and they returned to the barracks.³⁶

[23:23] ¹tn 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] ²tn Grk “summoning…he said.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:23] ³sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[23:23] ⁴sn 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] ⁵tn Or “cavalrymen.”

[23:23] ⁶tn 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] ⁷tn Grk “from.”

[23:23] ⁸tn Grk “from the third hour of the night.”

[23:24] ⁹tn Grk “provide mounts to put Paul on.”

[23:24] ¹⁰sn 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 a.d. 52/53. His administration was notorious for its corruption, cynicism, and cruelty. According to the historian Tacitus (History 5.9) Felix “reveled in cruelty and lust, and wielded the power of a king with the mind of a slave.”

[23:24] ¹¹tn Grk “Felix the procurator.” The official Roman title has been translated as “governor” (BDAG 433 s.v. ἡγεμών 2).

[23:25] ¹⁷tn 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] ¹⁸tn 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] ²⁵tn Grk “Procurator.” The official Roman title has been translated as “governor” (BDAG 433 s.v. ἡγεμών 2).

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

[23:27] ³³tn 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] ³⁴tn 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] ³⁵tn Or “approached.”

[23:27] ³⁶tn 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] ³⁷tn In Greek this is a present tense retained in indirect discourse.

[23:27] ³⁸tn The word “citizen” is supplied here for emphasis and clarity.

[23:28] ⁴¹tn Or “determine.”

[23:28] ⁴²tn 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] ⁴³tn Grk “their Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[23:29] ⁴⁹tn 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] ⁵⁰tn 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] ⁵¹tn 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] ⁵⁷tn Grk “It being revealed to me.” The participle μηνυθείσης (mhnuqeish") has been taken temporally.

[23:30] ⁵⁸tn The term translated “plot” here is a different one than the one in Acts 23:16 (see BDAG 368 s.v. ἐπιβουλή).

[23:30] ⁵⁹tn 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] ⁶⁵tn BDAG 237-38 s.v. διατάσσω 2 has “κατὰ τὸ δ. αὐτοῖς in accordance w. their orders…Ac 23:31.”

[23:31] ⁶⁶tn Grk “taking.” The participle ἀναλαβόντες (analabonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:31] ⁶⁷sn 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] ⁷³tn Grk “letting.” The participle ἐάσαντες (easante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:32] ⁷⁴tn Or “cavalrymen.”

[23:32] ⁷⁵tn 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.”