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 26:31

26:31 and as they were leaving they said to one another, ⁹  “This man is not doing anything deserving ¹⁰  death or imprisonment.”

Luke 23:4

23:4 Then ¹¹  Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for an accusation ¹²  against this man.”

Luke 23:14

23:14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading ¹³  the people. When I examined him before you, I ¹⁴  did not find this man guilty ¹⁵  of anything you accused him of doing.

John 18:38

18:38 Pilate asked, ¹⁶  “What is truth?” ¹⁷ 

When he had said this he went back outside to the Jewish leaders ¹⁸  and announced, ¹⁹  “I find no basis for an accusation ²⁰  against him.

[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.”

[26:31]  ⁹ tn Grk “they spoke to one another saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[26:31]  ¹⁰ tn BDAG 93 s.v. ἄξιος 1.b has “θανάτου ἢ δεσμῶν ἄ. nothing deserving death or imprisonment 23:29; 26:31.”

[23:4]  ¹¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[23:4]  ¹² tn Grk “find no cause.”

[23:14]  ¹³ tn This term also appears in v. 2.

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

[23:14]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “nothing did I find in this man by way of cause.” The reference to “nothing” is emphatic.

[18:38]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “Pilate said.”

[18:38]  ¹⁷ sn With his reply “What is truth?” Pilate dismissed the matter. It is not clear what Pilate’s attitude was at this point, as in 18:33. He may have been sarcastic, or perhaps somewhat reflective. The author has not given enough information in the narrative to be sure. Within the narrative, Pilate’s question serves to make the reader reflect on what truth is, and that answer (in the narrative) has already been given (14:6).

[18:38]  ¹⁸ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders, especially members of the Sanhedrin. See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 12. The term also occurs in v. 31, where it is clear the Jewish leaders are in view, because they state that they cannot legally carry out an execution. Although it is likely (in view of the synoptic parallels) that the crowd here in 18:38 was made up not just of the Jewish leaders, but of ordinary residents of Jerusalem and pilgrims who were in Jerusalem for the Passover, nevertheless in John’s Gospel Pilate is primarily in dialogue with the leadership of the nation, who are expressly mentioned in 18:35 and 19:6.

[18:38]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “said to them.”

[18:38]  ²⁰ tn Grk “find no cause.”