Acts 24:5-14

24:5 For we have found ¹  this man to be a troublemaker, ²  one who stirs up riots ³  among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader ⁴  of the sect of the Nazarenes. ⁵  24:6 He ⁶  even tried to desecrate ⁷  the temple, so we arrested ⁸  him. 24:7 [[EMPTY]] ⁹  24:8 When you examine ¹⁰  him yourself, you will be able to learn from him ¹¹  about all these things we are accusing him of doing.” ¹²  24:9 The Jews also joined in the verbal attack, ¹³  claiming ¹⁴  that these things were true.

Paul’s Defense Before Felix

24:10 When the governor gestured for him to speak, Paul replied, “Because I know ¹⁵  that you have been a judge over this nation for many years, I confidently make my defense. ¹⁶  24:11 As you can verify ¹⁷  for yourself, not more than twelve days ago ¹⁸  I went up to Jerusalem ¹⁹  to worship. 24:12 They did not find me arguing ²⁰  with anyone or stirring up a crowd ²¹  in the temple courts ²²  or in the synagogues ²³  or throughout the city, ²⁴  24:13 nor can they prove ²⁵  to you the things ²⁶  they are accusing me of doing. ²⁷  24:14 But I confess this to you, that I worship ²⁸  the God of our ancestors ²⁹  according to the Way (which they call a sect), believing everything that is according to the law ³⁰  and that is written in the prophets.

[24:5]  ¹ tn Grk “For having found.” The participle εὑρόντες (Jeurontes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[24:5]  ² tn L&N 22.6 has “(a figurative extension of meaning of λοιμός ‘plague,’ 23.158) one who causes all sorts of trouble – ‘troublemaker, pest.’ … ‘for we have found this man to be a troublemaker” Ac 24:5.”

[24:5]  ³ tn Or “dissensions.” While BDAG 940 s.v. στάσις 3 translates this phrase “κινεῖν στάσεις (v.l. στάσιν) τισί create dissension among certain people Ac 24:5,” it is better on the basis of the actual results of Paul’s ministry to categorize this usage under section 2, “uprising, riot, revolt, rebellion” (cf. the use in Acts 19:40).

[24:5]  ⁴ tn This term is yet another NT hapax legomenon (BDAG 894 s.v. πρωτοστάτης).

[24:5]  ⁵ sn The sect of the Nazarenes is a designation for followers of Jesus the Nazarene, that is, Christians.

[24:6]  ⁶ tn Grk “who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“who”) was replaced by the third person singular pronoun (“he”) and a new sentence begun here in the translation.

[24:6]  ⁷ tn Or “profane” (BDAG 173 s.v. βεβηλόω). The term was also used of profaning the Sabbath.

[24:6]  ⁸ tn Or “seized.” Grk “whom also we arrested.” Because of the awkwardness of a relative clause in English at this point, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced by the pronoun “him” as object of the verb.

[24:7]  ¹¹ tc Some later mss include some material at the end of v. 6, all of 24:7, and some material at the beginning of v. 8: “and we wanted to judge him according to our law. 24:7 But Lysias the commanding officer came and took him out of our hands with a great deal of violence, 24:8 ordering those who accused him to come before you.” Acts 24:6b, 7, and 8a are lacking in Ì⁷⁴ א A B H L P 049 81 1175 1241 pm and a few versional witnesses. They are included (with a few minor variations) in E Ψ 33 323 614 945 1505 1739 pm and a few versional witnesses. This verse (and parts of verses) is most likely not a part of the original text of Acts, for not only is it lacking from the better witnesses, there is no easy explanation as to how such could be missing from them. The present translation follows NA²⁷ in omitting the verse number, a procedure also followed by a number of other modern translations.

[24:8]  ¹⁶ tn Or “question.”

[24:8]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “From whom when you examine him yourself, you will be able to learn…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced by the third person singular pronoun (“him”) and a new sentence begun at the beginning of v. 8 in the translation.

[24:8]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “about all these things of which we are accusing him.” This has been simplified to eliminate the relative pronoun (“of which”) in the translation.

[24:9]  ²¹ tn Grk “joined in the attack,” but the adjective “verbal” has been supplied to clarify that this was not another physical assault on Paul. The verb is another NT hapax legomenon (BDAG 969 s.v. συνεπιτίθημι).

[24:9]  ²² tn Or “asserting” (BDAG 1050 s.v. φάσκω).

[24:10]  ²⁶ tn Grk “knowing.” The participle ἐπιστάμενος (epistamenos) has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

[24:10]  ²⁷ sn “Because…defense.” Paul also paid an indirect compliment to the governor, implying that he would be fair in his judgment.

[24:11]  ³¹ tn BDAG 369 s.v. ἐπιγινώσκω 2.c has “notice, perceive, learn of, ascertain…Also as legal t.t. ascertain (2 Macc 14:9) τὶ Ac 23:28; cp. 24:8. W. ὅτι foll. Ac 24:11.” “Verify” is an English synonym for “ascertain.”

[24:11]  ³² tn Grk “it is not more than twelve days from when.” This has been simplified to “not more than twelve days ago.”

[24:11]  ³³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[24:12]  ³⁶ tn Or “disputing,” “conducting a heated discussion.”

[24:12]  ³⁷ tn BDAG 381 s.v. ἐπίστασις 2 has “ἐ. ποιεῖν ὄχλου to cause a crowd to gather Ac 24:12.” Roman authorities would not allow a mob to gather and threaten the peace, and anyone suspected of instigating a mob would certainly be arrested.

[24:12]  ³⁸ tn Grk “in the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.

[24:12]  ³⁹ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[24:12]  ⁴⁰ sn A second part of Paul’s defense is that he did nothing while he was in Jerusalem to cause unrest, neither arguing nor stirring up a crowd in the temple courts or in the synagogues or throughout the city.

[24:13]  ⁴¹ 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]  ⁴² 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]  ⁴³ 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]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “serve.”

[24:14]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[24:14]  ⁴⁸ 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.