Acts 25:11-12

25:11 If then I am in the wrong ¹  and have done anything that deserves death, I am not trying to escape dying, ²  but if not one of their charges against me is true, ³  no one can hand me over to them. ⁴  I appeal to Caesar!” ⁵  25:12 Then, after conferring with his council, ⁶  Festus ⁷  replied, “You have appealed to Caesar; ⁸  to Caesar ⁹  you will go!” ¹⁰ 

Acts 25:25

25:25 But I found that he had done nothing that deserved death, ¹¹  and when he appealed ¹²  to His Majesty the Emperor, ¹³  I decided to send him. ¹⁴ 

Acts 28:18

28:18 When ¹⁵  they had heard my case, ¹⁶  they wanted to release me, ¹⁷  because there was no basis for a death sentence ¹⁸  against me.

[25:11]  ¹ tn BDAG 20 s.v. ἀδικέω 1.b has “intr. be in the wrong (Ex 2:13) εἰ ἀδικῶ Ac 25:11.”

[25:11]  ² tn BDAG 764 s.v. παραιτέομαι 2.b.β, “οὐ παραιτοῦμαι τὸ ἀποθανεῖν I am not trying to escape death Ac 25:11 (cp. Jos., Vi. 141).” To avoid redundancy in the translation, the English gerund “dying” is used to translate the Greek infinitive ἀποθανεῖν (apoqanein).

[25:11]  ³ tn Or “but if there is nothing to their charges against me.” Both “if” clauses in this verse are first class conditions. Paul stated the options without prejudice, assuming in turn the reality of each for the sake of the argument.

[25:11]  ⁴ sn That is, no one can hand me over to them lawfully. Paul was aware of the dangers of a return to Jerusalem.

[25:11]  ⁵ tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[25:12]  ⁶ tn That is, with his advisers.

[25:12]  ⁷ sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

[25:12]  ⁸ tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[25:12]  ⁹ tn Or “to the emperor.”

[25:12]  ¹⁰ sn “To Caesar you will go!” In all probability Festus was pleased to send Paul on to Rome and get this political problem out of his court.

[25:25]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn The participle ἐπικαλεσαμένου (epikalesamenou) has been taken temporally. It could also be translated as causal: “and because he appealed…”

[25:25]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ sn They wanted to release me. See Acts 25:23-27.

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