Acts 24:13-16

24:13 nor can they prove ¹  to you the things ²  they are accusing me of doing. ³  24:14 But I confess this to you, that I worship ⁴  the God of our ancestors ⁵  according to the Way (which they call a sect), believing everything that is according to the law ⁶  and that is written in the prophets. 24:15 I have ⁷  a hope in God (a hope ⁸  that ⁹  these men ¹⁰  themselves accept too) that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. ¹¹  24:16 This is the reason ¹²  I do my best to always ¹³  have a clear ¹⁴  conscience toward God and toward people. ¹⁵ 

Acts 24:20-21

24:20 Or these men here ¹⁶  should tell what crime ¹⁷  they found me guilty of ¹⁸  when I stood before the council, ¹⁹  24:21 other than ²⁰  this one thing ²¹  I shouted out while I stood before ²²  them: ‘I am on trial before you today concerning the resurrection of the dead.’” ²³ 

[24:13]  ¹ tn BDAG 778 s.v. παρίστημι/παριστάνω 1.f has “οὐδὲ παραστῆσαι δύνανταί σοι περὶ ὧν νυνὶ κατηγοροῦσίν μου nor can they prove to you the accusations they are now making against me Ac 24:13.”

[24:13]  ² tn The words “the things” are not in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[24:13]  ³ tn Grk “nor can they prove to you [the things] about which they are now accusing me.” This has been simplified to eliminate the relative pronoun (“which”) in the translation.

[24:14]  ⁴ tn Or “serve.”

[24:14]  ⁵ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[24:14]  ⁶ sn That is, the law of Moses. Paul was claiming that he legitimately worshiped the God of Israel. He was arguing that this amounted to a religious dispute rather than a political one, so that the Roman authorities need not concern themselves with it.

[24:15]  ⁷ tn Grk “having.” The participle ἔχων (ecwn) has been translated as a finite verb and a new sentence begun at this point in the translation because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence.

[24:15]  ⁸ sn This mention of Paul’s hope sets up his appeal to the resurrection of the dead. At this point Paul was ignoring the internal Jewish dispute between the Pharisees (to which he had belonged) and the Sadducees (who denied there would be a resurrection of the dead).

[24:15]  ⁹ tn Grk “a hope in God (which these [men] themselves accept too).” Because the antecedent of the relative pronoun “which” is somewhat unclear in English, the words “a hope” have been repeated at the beginning of the parenthesis for clarity.

[24:15]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “that they”; the referent (these men, Paul’s accusers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:15]  ¹¹ tn Or “the unjust.”

[24:16]  ¹² tn BDAG 329 s.v. ἐν 9.a, “ἐν τούτῳ πιστεύομεν this is the reason why we believe Jn 16:30; cp. Ac 24:16.”

[24:16]  ¹³ tn BDAG 224 s.v. διά 2.a, “διὰ παντός…always, continually, constantly…Ac 2:25 (Ps 15:8); 10:2; 24:16.” However, the positioning of the adverb “always” in the English translation is difficult; the position used is one of the least awkward.

[24:16]  ¹⁴ tn BDAG 125 s.v. ἀπρόσκοπος 1 has “ἀ. συνείδησις a clear conscience Ac 24:16.”

[24:16]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “men,” but this is a generic use (Paul does not have only males in view).

[24:20]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “these [men] themselves.”

[24:20]  ¹⁷ tn Or “unrighteous act.”

[24:20]  ¹⁸ tn The words “me guilty of” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. L&N 88.23 has “αὐτοὶ οὗτοι εἰπάτωσαν τί εὗρον ἀδίκημα στάντος μου ‘let these men themselves tell what unrighteous act they found me guilty of’ Ac 24:20.”

[24:20]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “the Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[24:21]  ²⁰ tn BDAG 433 s.v. ἤ 2.c has “οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἤ nothing else than…Ac 17:21. τί…ἤ what other…than…24:21.”

[24:21]  ²¹ tn Grk “one utterance.”

[24:21]  ²² tn Cf. BDAG 327 s.v. ἐν 1.e, which has “before, in the presence of, etc.”

[24:21]  ²³ sn The resurrection of the dead. Paul’s point was, what crime was there in holding this religious belief?