Acts 4:9

4:9 if ¹  we are being examined ²  today for a good deed ³  done to a sick man – by what means this man was healed ⁴  –

Acts 24:8

24:8 When you examine ⁵  him yourself, you will be able to learn from him ⁶  about all these things we are accusing him of doing.” ⁷ 

Acts 28:18

28:18 When ⁸  they had heard my case, ⁹  they wanted to release me, ¹⁰  because there was no basis for a death sentence ¹¹  against me.

Acts 12:19

12:19 When Herod ¹²  had searched ¹³  for him and did not find him, he questioned ¹⁴  the guards and commanded that they be led away to execution. ¹⁵  Then ¹⁶  Herod ¹⁷  went down from Judea to Caesarea ¹⁸  and stayed there.

Acts 17:11

17:11 These Jews ¹⁹  were more open-minded ²⁰  than those in Thessalonica, ²¹  for they eagerly ²²  received ²³  the message, examining ²⁴  the scriptures carefully every day ²⁵  to see if these things were so.

[4:9]  ¹ tn This clause is a first class condition. It assumes for the sake of argument that this is what they were being questioned about.

[4:9]  ² tn Or “questioned.” The Greek term ἀνακρίνω (anakrinw) points to an examination similar to a legal one.

[4:9]  ³ tn Or “for an act of kindness.”

[4:9]  ⁴ tn Or “delivered” (σέσωται [seswtai], from σώζω [swzw]). See 4:12.

[24:8]  ⁵ tn Or “question.”

[24:8]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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.

[28:18]  ⁹ 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 Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“who”) has been replaced by the personal pronoun (“they”) and a new sentence begun at this point in the translation.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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ sn They wanted to release me. See Acts 25:23-27.

[28:18]  ¹² tn Grk “no basis for death,” but in this context a sentence of death is clearly indicated.

[12:19]  ¹³ sn King Herod was Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod I (Herod the Great).

[12:19]  ¹⁴ tn Or “had instigated a search” (Herod would have ordered the search rather than conducting it himself).

[12:19]  ¹⁵ tn “Questioned” is used to translate ἀνακρίνας (anakrina") here because a possible translation offered by BDAG 66 s.v. ἀνακρίνω for this verse is “examined,” which could be understood to mean Herod inspected the guards rather than questioned them. The translation used by the NIV, “cross-examined,” also avoids this possible misunderstanding.

[12:19]  ¹⁶ tn The meaning “led away to execution” for ἀπαχθῆναι (apacqhnai) in this verse is given by BDAG 95 s.v. ἀπάγω 2.c. Although an explicit reference to execution is lacking here, it is what would usually occur in such a case (Acts 16:27; 27:42; Code of Justinian 9.4.4). “Led away to torture” is a less likely option (Pliny the Younger, Letters 10, 96, 8).

[12:19]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “and,” but the sequence of events is better expressed in English by “then.” A new sentence is begun in the translation because of the length of the sentence in Greek, which exceeds normal English sentence length.

[12:19]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Since Herod has been the subject of the preceding material, and the circumstances of his death are the subject of the following verses (20-23), it is best to understand Herod as the subject here. This is especially true since according to Josephus, Ant. 19.8.2 [19.343-352], Herod Agrippa I died at Caesarea in a.d. 44, and vv. 20-23 here describe his death. Thus the end of v. 19 provides Luke’s transition to explain how Herod got from Jerusalem to Caesarea where he died. In spite of all this evidence, the NRSV translates this phrase “Then Peter went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there,” understanding the referent to be Peter rather than Herod Agrippa I.

[12:19]  ¹⁹ sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1.

[17:11]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “These”; the referent (the Jews in the synagogue at Berea) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:11]  ¹⁸ tn Or “more willing to learn.” L&N 27.48 and BDAG 404 s.v. εὐγενής 2 both use the term “open-minded” here. The point is that they were more receptive to Paul’s message.

[17:11]  ¹⁹ sn Thessalonica was a city in Macedonia (modern Salonica).

[17:11]  ²⁰ tn Or “willingly,” “readily”; Grk “with all eagerness.”

[17:11]  ²¹ tn Grk “who received.” Here the relative pronoun (“who”) has been translated as a pronoun (“they”) preceded by a semicolon, which is less awkward in contemporary English than a relative clause at this point.

[17:11]  ²² tn This verb (BDAG 66 s.v. ἀνακρίνω 1) refers to careful examination.

[17:11]  ²³ tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase in this verse.