Acts 25:19

25:19 Rather they had several points of disagreement ¹  with him about their own religion ²  and about a man named Jesus ³  who was dead, whom Paul claimed ⁴  to be alive.

Acts 22:22

The Roman Commander Questions Paul

22:22 The crowd ⁵  was listening to him until he said this. ⁶  Then ⁷  they raised their voices and shouted, ⁸  “Away with this man ⁹  from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live!” ¹⁰ 

Acts 28:4

28:4 When the local people ¹¹  saw the creature hanging from Paul’s ¹²  hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer! Although he has escaped from the sea, Justice herself ¹³  has not allowed him to live!” ¹⁴ 

[25:19]  ¹ tn Grk “several controversial issues.” 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.”

[25:19]  ² tn On this term see BDAG 216 s.v. δεισιδαιμονία 2. It is a broad term for religion.

[25:19]  ³ tn Grk “a certain Jesus.”

[25:19]  ⁴ tn Or “asserted.”

[22:22]  ⁵ tn Grk “They were listening”; the referent (the crowd) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:22]  ⁶ tn Grk “until this word.”

[22:22]  ⁷ tn Grk “And.” To indicate the logical sequence, καί (kai) has been translated as “then” here.

[22:22]  ⁸ tn Grk “and said.”

[22:22]  ⁹ tn Grk “this one.”

[22:22]  ¹⁰ tn BDAG 491 s.v. καθήκω has “to be appropriate, come/reach to, be proper/fitting…Usu. impers. καθήκει it comes (to someone)…foll. by acc. and inf….οὐ καθῆκεν αὐτὸν ζῆν he should not be allowed to live Ac 22:22.”

[28:4]  ⁹ 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…).”

[28:4]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:4]  ¹¹ tn That is, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live. BDAG 250 s.v. δίκη 2 states, “Justice personified as a deity Ac 28:4”; L&N 12.27, “a goddess who personifies justice in seeking out and punishing the guilty – ‘the goddess Justice.’ ἡ δίκη ζῆν οὐκ εἴασεν ‘the goddess Justice would not let him live’ Ac 28:4.” Although a number of modern English translations have rendered δίκη (dikh) “justice,” preferring to use an abstraction, in the original setting it is almost certainly a reference to a pagan deity. In the translation, the noun “justice” was capitalized and the reflexive pronoun “herself” was supplied to make the personification clear. This was considered preferable to supplying a word like ‘goddess’ in connection with δίκη.

[28:4]  ¹² sn The entire scene is played out initially as a kind of oracle from the gods resulting in the judgment of a guilty person (Justice herself has not allowed him to live). Paul’s survival of this incident without ill effects thus spoke volumes about his innocence.