Acts 4:1-3

The Arrest and Trial of Peter and John

4:1 While Peter and John ¹  were speaking to the people, the priests and the commander ²  of the temple guard ³  and the Sadducees ⁴  came up ⁵  to them, 4:2 angry ⁶  because they were teaching the people and announcing ⁷  in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 4:3 So ⁸  they seized ⁹  them and put them in jail ¹⁰  until the next day (for it was already evening).

Acts 5:18

5:18 They ¹¹  laid hands on ¹²  the apostles and put them in a public jail.

Acts 5:27

5:27 When they had brought them, they stood them before the council, ¹³  and the high priest questioned ¹⁴  them,

Acts 16:19-21

16:19 But when her owners ¹⁵  saw their hope of profit ¹⁶  was gone, they seized ¹⁷  Paul and Silas and dragged ¹⁸  them into the marketplace before the authorities. 16:20 When ¹⁹  they had brought them ²⁰  before the magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion. ²¹  They are ²²  Jews 16:21 and are advocating ²³  customs that are not lawful for us to accept ²⁴  or practice, ²⁵  since we are ²⁶  Romans.”

Acts 17:5-6

17:5 But the Jews became jealous, ²⁷  and gathering together some worthless men from the rabble in the marketplace, ²⁸  they formed a mob ²⁹  and set the city in an uproar. ³⁰  They attacked Jason’s house, ³¹  trying to find Paul and Silas ³²  to bring them out to the assembly. ³³  17:6 When they did not find them, they dragged ³⁴  Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, ³⁵  screaming, “These people who have stirred up trouble ³⁶  throughout the world ³⁷  have come here too,

Acts 18:12

Paul Before the Proconsul Gallio

18:12 Now while Gallio ³⁸  was proconsul ³⁹  of Achaia, ⁴⁰  the Jews attacked Paul together ⁴¹  and brought him before the judgment seat, ⁴² 

Matthew 26:57

Condemned by the Sanhedrin

26:57 Now the ones who had arrested Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the high priest, in whose house ⁴³  the experts in the law ⁴⁴  and the elders had gathered.

[4:1]  ¹ tn Grk “While they”; the referents (Peter and John) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:1]  ² tn Or “captain.”

[4:1]  ³ tn Grk “the official of the temple,” a title for the commander of the Jewish soldiers guarding the temple (thus the translation, “the commander of the temple guard”). See L&N 37.91.

[4:1]  ⁴ sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). See also Matt 3:7; 16:1-12; 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 5:17; 23:6-8.

[4:1]  ⁵ tn Or “approached.” This verb often denotes a sudden appearing (BDAG 418 s.v. ἐφίστημι 1).

[4:2]  ⁶ tn Or “greatly annoyed,” “provoked.”

[4:2]  ⁷ tn Or “proclaiming.”

[4:3]  ⁸ tn Grk “And” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the logical sequence of events.

[4:3]  ⁹ tn Or “they arrested”; Grk “they laid hands on.”

[4:3]  ¹⁰ tn Or “prison,” “custody.”

[5:18]  ¹¹ tn Grk “jealousy, and they.” In the Greek text this is a continuation of the previous sentence, but a new sentence has been started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[5:18]  ¹² tn Or “they arrested.”

[5:27]  ¹³ tn Or “the Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[5:27]  ¹⁴ tn Or “interrogated,” “asked.”

[16:19]  ¹⁵ tn Or “masters.”

[16:19]  ¹⁶ tn On this use of ἐργασία (ergasia), see BDAG 390 s.v. 4. It is often the case that destructive practices and commerce are closely tied together.

[16:19]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “was gone, seizing.” The participle ἐπιλαβόμενοι (epilabomenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[16:19]  ¹⁸ tn On the term ἕλκω ({elkw) see BDAG 318 s.v. 1.

[16:20]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “And when.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[16:20]  ²⁰ tn Grk “having brought them.” The participle ἐπιλαβόμενοι (epilabomenoi) has been taken temporally. It is also possible in English to translate this participle as a finite verb: “they brought them before the magistrates and said.”

[16:20]  ²¹ tn BDAG 309 s.v. ἐκταράσσω has “agitate, cause trouble to, throw into confusion” for the meaning of this verb.

[16:20]  ²² tn Grk “being Jews, and they are proclaiming.” The participle ὑπάρχοντες (Juparconte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[16:21]  ²³ tn Grk “proclaiming,” but in relation to customs, “advocating” is a closer approximation to the meaning.

[16:21]  ²⁴ tn Or “acknowledge.”

[16:21]  ²⁵ sn Customs that are not lawful for us to accept or practice. Ironically, the charges are similar to those made against Jesus in Luke 23:2, where Jews argued he was “twisting” their customs. The charge has three elements: (1) a racial element (Jewish); (2) a social element (unlawful); and (3) a traditional element (not their customs).

[16:21]  ²⁶ tn Grk “we being Romans.” The participle οὖσιν (ousin) has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

[17:5]  ²⁷ tn Grk “becoming jealous.” The participle ζηλώσαντες (zhlwsante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. So elsewhere in Acts (5:17; 7:9; 13:45).

[17:5]  ²⁸ tn Literally ἀγοραῖος (agoraio") refers to the crowd in the marketplace, although BDAG 14-15 s.v. ἀγοραῖος 1 gives the meaning, by extension, as “rabble.” Such a description is certainly appropriate in this context. L&N 15.127 translates the phrase “worthless men from the streets.”

[17:5]  ²⁹ tn On this term, which is a NT hapax legomenon, see BDAG 745 s.v. ὀχλοποιέω.

[17:5]  ³⁰ tn BDAG 458 s.v. θορυβέω 1 has “set the city in an uproar, start a riot in the city” for the meaning of ἐθορύβουν (eqoruboun) in this verse.

[17:5]  ³¹ sn The attack took place at Jason’s house because this was probably the location of the new house church.

[17:5]  ³² tn Grk “them”; the referents (Paul and Silas) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:5]  ³³ tn BDAG 223 s.v. δῆμος 2 has “in a Hellenistic city, a convocation of citizens called together for the purpose of transacting official business, popular assembly προάγειν εἰς τὸν δ. Ac 17:5.”

[17:6]  ³⁴ tn See BDAG 977-78 s.v. σύρω on this verb. It was used in everyday speech of dragging in fish by a net, or dragging away someone’s (presumably) dead body (Paul in Acts 14:19).

[17:6]  ³⁵ tn L&N 37.93 defines πολιτάρχης (politarch") as “a public official responsible for administrative matters within a town or city and a member of the ruling council of such a political unit – ‘city official’” (see also BDAG 845 s.v.).

[17:6]  ³⁶ tn Or “rebellion.” BDAG 72 s.v. ἀναστατόω has “disturb, trouble, upset,” but in light of the references in the following verse to political insurrection, “stirred up rebellion” would also be appropriate.

[17:6]  ³⁷ tn Or “the empire.” This was a way of referring to the Roman empire (BDAG 699 s.v. οἰκουμένη 2.b).

[18:12]  ³⁸ sn Gallio was proconsul of Achaia from a.d. 51-52. This date is one of the firmly established dates in Acts. Lucius Junius Gallio was the son of the rhetorician Seneca and the brother of Seneca the philosopher. The date of Gallio’s rule is established from an inscription (W. Dittenberger, ed., Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum 2.3 no. 8). Thus the event mentioned here is probably to be dated July-October a.d. 51.

[18:12]  ³⁹ sn The proconsul was the Roman official who ruled over a province traditionally under the control of the Roman senate.

[18:12]  ⁴⁰ sn Achaia was a Roman province created in 146 b.c. that included the most important parts of Greece (Attica, Boeotia, and the Peloponnesus).

[18:12]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “with one accord.”

[18:12]  ⁴² tn Although BDAG 175 s.v. βῆμα 3 gives the meaning “tribunal” for this verse and a number of modern translations use similar terms (“court,” NIV; “tribunal,” NRSV), there is no need for an alternative translation here since the bema was a standard feature in Greco-Roman cities of the time.

[26:57]  ⁴³ tn Grk “where.”

[26:57]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “where the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.