Acts 5:18

5:18 They ¹  laid hands on ²  the apostles and put them in a public jail.

Acts 8:3

8:3 But Saul was trying to destroy ³  the church; entering one house after another, he dragged off ⁴  both men and women and put them in prison. ⁵ 

Acts 9:2

9:2 and requested letters from him to the synagogues ⁶  in Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, ⁷  either men or women, he could bring them as prisoners ⁸  to Jerusalem. ⁹ 

Acts 12:4

12:4 When he had seized him, he put him in prison, handing him over to four squads ¹⁰  of soldiers to guard him. Herod ¹¹  planned ¹²  to bring him out for public trial ¹³  after the Passover.

Luke 21:12

21:12 But before all this, ¹⁴  they will seize ¹⁵  you and persecute you, handing you over to the synagogues ¹⁶  and prisons. You ¹⁷  will be brought before kings and governors because of my name.

Ephesians 3:1

Paul's Relationship to the Divine Mystery

3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus ¹⁸  for the sake of you Gentiles –

Ephesians 4:1-2

Live in Unity

4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, ¹⁹  urge you to live ²⁰  worthily of the calling with which you have been called, ²¹  4:2 with all humility and gentleness, ²²  with patience, bearing with ²³  one another in love,

Ephesians 2:9

2:9 it is not from ²⁴  works, so that no one can boast. ²⁵ 

Philemon 1:9

1:9 I would rather appeal ²⁶  to you on the basis of love – I, Paul, an old man ²⁷  and even now a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus ²⁸  –

Revelation 1:9

1:9 I, John, your brother and the one who shares ²⁹  with you in the persecution, kingdom, and endurance that ³⁰  are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus. ³¹ 

Revelation 2:10

2:10 Do not be afraid of the things you are about to suffer. The devil is about to have some of you thrown ³²  into prison so you may be tested, ³³  and you will experience suffering ³⁴  for ten days. Remain faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown that is life itself. ³⁵ 

[5:18]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Or “they arrested.”

[8:3]  ³ tn Or “began to harm [the church] severely.” If the nuance of this verb is “destroy,” then the imperfect verb ἐλυμαίνετο (elumaineto) is best translated as a conative imperfect as in the translation above. If instead the verb is taken to mean “injure severely” (as L&N 20.24), it should be translated in context as an ingressive imperfect (“began to harm the church severely”). Either option does not significantly alter the overall meaning, since it is clear from the stated actions of Saul in the second half of the verse that he intended to destroy or ravage the church.

[8:3]  ⁴ tn The participle σύρων (surwn) has been translated as an finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[8:3]  ⁵ tn BDAG 762 s.v. παραδίδωμι 1.b has “εἰς φυλακήν put in prison Ac 8:3.”

[9:2]  ⁶ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[9:2]  ⁷ sn The expression “the way” in ancient religious literature refers at times to “the whole way of life fr. a moral and spiritual viewpoint” (BDAG 692 s.v. ὁδός 3.c), and it has been so used of Christianity and its teachings in the book of Acts (see also 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22). It is a variation of Judaism’s idea of two ways, the true and the false, where “the Way” is the true one (1 En. 91:18; 2 En. 30:15).

[9:2]  ⁸ tn Grk “bring them bound”; the translation “bring someone as prisoner” for δεδεμένον ἄγειν τινά (dedemenon agein tina) is given by BDAG 221 s.v. δέω 1.b.

[9:2]  ⁹ sn From Damascus to Jerusalem was a six-day journey. Christianity had now expanded into Syria.

[12:4]  ¹⁰ sn Four squads of soldiers. Each squad was a detachment of four soldiers.

[12:4]  ¹¹ tn Grk “guard him, planning to bring him out.” The Greek construction continues with a participle (βουλόμενος, boulomeno") and an infinitive (ἀναγαγεῖν, anagagein), but this creates an awkward and lengthy sentence in English. Thus a reference to Herod was introduced as subject and the participle translated as a finite verb (“Herod planned”).

[12:4]  ¹² tn Or “intended”; Grk “wanted.”

[12:4]  ¹³ tn Grk “to bring him out to the people,” but in this context a public trial (with certain condemnation as the result) is doubtless what Herod planned. L&N 15.176 translates this phrase “planning to bring him up for a public trial after the Passover.”

[21:12]  ¹⁴ sn But before all this. Another note of timing is present, this one especially important in understanding the sequence in the discourse. Before the things noted in vv. 8-11 are the events of vv. 12-19.

[21:12]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “will lay their hands on you.”

[21:12]  ¹⁶ sn Some of the persecution is of Jewish origin (the synagogues). Some fulfillment of this can be seen in Acts. See the note on synagogues in 4:15.

[21:12]  ¹⁷ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[3:1]  ¹⁸ tc Several early and important witnesses, chiefly of the Western text (א* D* F G [365]), lack ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou, “Jesus”) here, while most Alexandrian and Byzantine mss (Ì⁴⁶ א¹ A B [C] D¹ Ψ 33 1739 [1881] Ï lat sy bo) have the word. However, because of the Western text’s proclivities to add or delete to the text, seemingly at whim, serious doubts should be attached to the shorter reading. It is strengthened, however, by א’s support. Nevertheless, since both א and D were corrected with the addition of ᾿Ιησοῦ, their testimony might be questioned. Further, in uncial script the nomina sacra here could have led to missing a word by way of homoioteleuton (cMuiMu). At the same time, in light of the rarity of scribal omission of nomina sacra (see TCGNT 582, n. 1), a decision for inclusion of the word here must be tentative. NA²⁷ rightly places ᾿Ιησοῦ in brackets.

[4:1]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “prisoner in the Lord.”

[4:1]  ²⁰ tn Grk “walk.” The verb “walk” in the NT letters refers to the conduct of one’s life, not to physical walking.

[4:1]  ²¹ sn With which you have been called. The calling refers to the Holy Spirit’s prompting that caused them to believe. The author is thus urging his readers to live a life that conforms to their saved status before God.

[4:2]  ²² tn Or “meekness.” The word is often used in Hellenistic Greek of the merciful execution of justice on behalf of those who have no voice by those who are in a position of authority (Matt 11:29; 21:5).

[4:2]  ²³ tn Or “putting up with”; or “forbearing.”

[2:9]  ²⁴ tn Or “not as a result of.”

[2:9]  ²⁵ tn Grk “lest anyone should boast.”

[1:9]  ²⁶ tn Or “encourage.”

[1:9]  ²⁷ tn Or perhaps “an ambassador” (so RSV, TEV), reading πρεσβευτής for πρεσβύτης (a conjecture proposed by Bentley, cf. BDAG 863 s.v. πρεσβύτης). NRSV reads “old man” and places “ambassador” in a note.

[1:9]  ²⁸ tn Grk “a prisoner of Christ Jesus.”

[1:9]  ²⁹ tn The translation attempts to bring out the verbal idea in συγκοινωνός (sunkoinwno", “co-sharer”); John was suffering for his faith at the time he wrote this.

[1:9]  ³⁰ tn The prepositional phrase ἐν ᾿Ιησοῦ (en Ihsou) could be taken with ὑπομονῇ (Jupomonh) as the translation does or with the more distant συγκοινωνός (sunkoinwno"), in which case the translation would read “your brother and the one who shares with you in Jesus in the persecution, kingdom, and endurance.”

[1:9]  ³¹ tn The phrase “about Jesus” has been translated as an objective genitive.

[2:10]  ³² tn Grk “is about to throw some of you,” but the force is causative in context.

[2:10]  ³³ tn Or “tempted.”

[2:10]  ³⁴ tn Or “experience persecution,” “will be in distress” (see L&N 22.2).

[2:10]  ³⁵ tn Grk “crown of life,” with the genitive “of life” (τῆς ζωῆς, th" zwh") functioning in apposition to “crown” (στέφανον, stefanon): “the crown that consists of life.”