Acts 23:9

23:9 There was a great commotion, ¹  and some experts in the law ²  from the party of the Pharisees stood up ³  and protested strongly, ⁴  “We find nothing wrong ⁵  with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”

Acts 23:29

23:29 I found he ⁶  was accused with reference to controversial questions ⁷  about their law, but no charge against him deserved death or imprisonment. ⁸ 

Acts 25:25

25:25 But I found that he had done nothing that deserved death, ⁹  and when he appealed ¹⁰  to His Majesty the Emperor, ¹¹  I decided to send him. ¹² 

Acts 28:18

28:18 When ¹³  they had heard my case, ¹⁴  they wanted to release me, ¹⁵  because there was no basis for a death sentence ¹⁶  against me.

Acts 28:2

28:2 The local inhabitants ¹⁷  showed us extraordinary ¹⁸  kindness, for they built a fire and welcomed us all because it had started to rain ¹⁹  and was cold.

Acts 24:17

24:17 After several years ²⁰  I came to bring to my people gifts for the poor ²¹  and to present offerings, ²² 

Luke 23:4

23:4 Then ²³  Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for an accusation ²⁴  against this man.”

Luke 23:14-15

23:14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading ²⁵  the people. When I examined him before you, I ²⁶  did not find this man guilty ²⁷  of anything you accused him of doing. 23:15 Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, he has done nothing ²⁸  deserving death. ²⁹ 

Luke 23:1

Jesus Brought Before Pilate

23:1 Then ³⁰  the whole group of them rose up and brought Jesus ³¹  before Pilate. ³² 

Luke 3:16

3:16 John answered them all, ³³  “I baptize you with water, ³⁴  but one more powerful than I am is coming – I am not worthy ³⁵  to untie the strap ³⁶  of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ³⁷ 

Luke 4:14-16

The Beginning of Jesus’ Ministry in Galilee

4:14 Then ³⁸  Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, ³⁹  returned to Galilee, and news about him spread ⁴⁰  throughout the surrounding countryside. ⁴¹  4:15 He ⁴²  began to teach ⁴³  in their synagogues ⁴⁴  and was praised ⁴⁵  by all.

Rejection at Nazareth

4:16 Now ⁴⁶  Jesus ⁴⁷  came to Nazareth, ⁴⁸  where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue ⁴⁹  on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. ⁵⁰  He ⁵¹  stood up to read, ⁵² 

[23:9]  ¹ tn Or “clamor” (cf. BDAG 565 s.v. κραυγή 1.a, which has “there arose a loud outcry” here, and Exod 12:30).

[23:9]  ² tn Or “and some scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 4:5.

[23:9]  ³ tn Grk “standing up.” The participle ἀναστάντες (anastante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:9]  ⁴ tn Grk “protested strongly, saying.” L&N 39.27 has “διαμάχομαι: to fight or contend with, involving severity and thoroughness – ‘to protest strongly, to contend with.’…‘some scribes from the party of the Pharisees protested strongly’ Ac 23:9.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated.

[23:9]  ⁵ sn “We find nothing wrong with this man.” Here is another declaration of innocence. These leaders recognized the possibility that Paul might have the right to make his claim.

[23:29]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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.”

[25:25]  ⁹ sn He had done nothing that deserved death. Festus’ opinion of Paul’s guilt is like Pilate’s of Jesus (Luke 23:4, 14, 22).

[25:25]  ¹⁰ tn The participle ἐπικαλεσαμένου (epikalesamenou) has been taken temporally. It could also be translated as causal: “and because he appealed…”

[25:25]  ¹¹ tn A designation of the Roman emperor (in this case, Nero). BDAG 917 s.v. σεβαστός states, “ὁ Σεβαστός His Majesty the Emperor Ac 25:21, 25 (of Nero).”

[25:25]  ¹² tn The word “him” 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.

[28:18]  ¹³ tn Grk “who when.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“who”) has been replaced by the personal pronoun (“they”) and a new sentence begun at this point in the translation.

[28:18]  ¹⁴ tn Or “had questioned me”; or “had examined me.” BDAG 66 s.v. ἀνακρίνω 2 states, “to conduct a judicial hearing, hear a case, question.”

[28:18]  ¹⁵ sn They wanted to release me. See Acts 25:23-27.

[28:18]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “no basis for death,” but in this context a sentence of death is clearly indicated.

[28:2]  ¹⁷ tn Although this is literally βάρβαροι (barbaroi; “foreigners, barbarians”) used for non-Greek or non-Romans, as BDAG 166 s.v. βάρβαρος 2.b notes, “Of the inhabitants of Malta, who apparently spoke in their native language Ac 28:2, 4 (here β. certainly without derogatory tone…).”

[28:2]  ¹⁸ tn BDAG 1019 s.v. τυγχάνω 2.d states, “δυνάμεις οὐ τὰς τυχούσας extraordinary miracles Ac 19:11. Cp. 28:2.”

[28:2]  ¹⁹ tn Or “because it was about to rain.” BDAG 418 s.v. ἐφίστημι 4 states, “διὰ τ. ὑετὸν τὸν ἐφεστῶτα because it had begun to rain Ac 28:2…But the mng. here could also be because it threatened to rain (s. 6).”

[24:17]  ²⁰ tn BDAG 401 s.v. ἔτος has “δι᾿ ἐ. πλειόνων after several years 24:17.”

[24:17]  ²¹ tn Grk “to bring alms,” but the term “alms” is not in common use today, so the closest modern equivalent, “gifts for the poor,” is used instead.

[24:17]  ²² tn Or “sacrifices.” BDAG 887 s.v. προσφορά 1 has “προσφοράς ποιεῖν have sacrifices made Ac 24:17,” but this may be overly specific. It is not clear from the immediate context whether the offering of sacrificial animals (so BDAG assumes) or offerings of some other sort (such as financial gifts) are in view. The combination with ἐλεημοσύνας (elehmosuna") in the preceding clause may suggest monetary offerings. Some have suggested this is an allusion to the payments made by Paul on behalf of the four other men mentioned in Acts 21:23-26, but the text here seems to suggest something Paul had planned to do before he came, while the decision to pay for the expenses of the men in 21:23ff. was made at the suggestion of the Jerusalem leadership after he arrived. In either case, Paul was portraying himself as a pious worshiper of his God.

[23:4]  ²³ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[23:4]  ²⁴ tn Grk “find no cause.”

[23:14]  ²⁵ tn This term also appears in v. 2.

[23:14]  ²⁶ tn Grk “behold, I” A transitional use of ἰδού (idou) has not been translated here.

[23:14]  ²⁷ tn Grk “nothing did I find in this man by way of cause.” The reference to “nothing” is emphatic.

[23:15]  ²⁸ sn With the statement “he has done nothing,” Pilate makes another claim that Jesus is innocent of any crime worthy of death.

[23:15]  ²⁹ tn Grk “nothing deserving death has been done by him.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in keeping with contemporary English style.

[23:1]  ³⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[23:1]  ³¹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:1]  ³² sn Pilate was the Roman prefect (procurator) in charge of collecting taxes and keeping the peace. His immediate superior was the Roman governor (proconsul) of Syria, although the exact nature of this administrative relationship is unknown. Pilate’s relations with the Jews had been rocky (v. 12). Here he is especially sensitive to them.

[3:16]  ³³ tn Grk “answered them all, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[3:16]  ³⁴ tc A few mss (C D 892 1424 pc it ) add εἰς μετάνοιαν (ei" metanoian, “for repentance”). Although two of the mss in support are early and important, it is an obviously motivated reading to add clarification, probably representing a copyist’s attempt to harmonize Luke’s version with Matt 3:11.

[3:16]  ³⁵ tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”

[3:16]  ³⁶ tn The term refers to the leather strap or thong used to bind a sandal. This is often viewed as a collective singular and translated as a plural, “the straps of his sandals,” but it may be more emphatic to retain the singular here.

[3:16]  ³⁷ sn With the Holy Spirit and fire. There are differing interpretations for this phrase regarding the number of baptisms and their nature. (1) Some see one baptism here, and this can be divided further into two options. (a) The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire could refer to the cleansing, purifying work of the Spirit in the individual believer through salvation and sanctification, or (b) it could refer to two different results of Christ’s ministry: Some accept Christ and are baptized with the Holy Spirit, but some reject him and receive judgment. (2) Other interpreters see two baptisms here: The baptism of the Holy Spirit refers to the salvation Jesus brings at his first advent, in which believers receive the Holy Spirit, and the baptism of fire refers to the judgment Jesus will bring upon the world at his second coming. One must take into account both the image of fire and whether individual or corporate baptism is in view. A decision is not easy on either issue. The image of fire is used to refer to both eternal judgment (e.g., Matt 25:41) and the power of the Lord’s presence to purge and cleanse his people (e.g., Isa 4:4-5). The pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost, a fulfillment of this prophecy no matter which interpretation is taken, had both individual and corporate dimensions. It is possible that since Holy Spirit and fire are governed by a single preposition in Greek, the one-baptism view may be more likely, but this is not certain. Simply put, there is no consensus view in scholarship at this time on the best interpretation of this passage.

[4:14]  ³⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[4:14]  ³⁹ sn Once again Jesus is directed by the Spirit. Luke makes a point about Jesus’ association with the Spirit early in his ministry (3:22, 4:1 [2x]; 4:18).

[4:14]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “went out.”

[4:14]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “all the surrounding region.”

[4:15]  ⁴² tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[4:15]  ⁴³ tn The imperfect verb has been translated ingressively.

[4:15]  ⁴⁴ sn The next incident in Luke 4:16-30 is probably to be seen as an example of this ministry of teaching in their synagogues in Galilee. Synagogues were places for Jewish prayer and worship, with recognized leadership (cf. Luke 8:41). Though the origin of the synagogue is not entirely clear, it seems to have arisen in the postexilic community during the intertestamental period. A town could establish a synagogue if there were at least ten men. In normative Judaism of the NT period, the OT scripture was read and discussed in the synagogue by the men who were present (see the Mishnah, m. Megillah 3-4; m. Berakhot 2).

[4:15]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “being glorified.” The participle δοξαζόμενος (doxazomeno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. This is the only place Luke uses the verb δοξάζω (doxazw) of Jesus.

[4:16]  ⁴⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[4:16]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:16]  ⁴⁸ sn Nazareth was Jesus’ hometown (which is why he is known as Jesus of Nazareth) about 20 miles (30 km) southwest from Capernaum.

[4:16]  ⁴⁹ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:15.

[4:16]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “according to his custom.”

[4:16]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[4:16]  ⁵² sn In normative Judaism of the period, the OT scripture was read and discussed in the synagogue by the men who were present. See the Mishnah, m. Megillah 3-4; m. Berakhot 2. First came the law, then the prophets, then someone was asked to speak on the texts. Normally one stood up to read out of respect for the scriptures, and then sat down (v. 20) to expound them.