Acts 5:19

5:19 But during the night an angel of the Lord ¹  opened ²  the doors of the prison, ³  led them out, ⁴  and said,

Acts 5:22

5:22 But the officers ⁵  who came for them ⁶  did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, ⁷ 

Acts 16:23

16:23 After they had beaten them severely, ⁸  they threw them into prison and commanded ⁹  the jailer to guard them securely.

Acts 22:4

22:4 I ¹⁰  persecuted this Way ¹¹  even to the point of death, ¹²  tying up ¹³  both men and women and putting ¹⁴  them in prison,

Acts 8:3

8:3 But Saul was trying to destroy ¹⁵  the church; entering one house after another, he dragged off ¹⁶  both men and women and put them in prison. ¹⁷ 

Acts 12:4-5

12:4 When he had seized him, he put him in prison, handing him over to four squads ¹⁸  of soldiers to guard him. Herod ¹⁹  planned ²⁰  to bring him out for public trial ²¹  after the Passover. 12:5 So Peter was kept in prison, but those in the church were earnestly ²²  praying to God for him. ²³ 

Acts 16:24

16:24 Receiving such orders, he threw them in the inner cell ²⁴  and fastened their feet in the stocks. ²⁵ 

Acts 16:40

16:40 When they came out of the prison, they entered Lydia’s house, and when they saw the brothers, they encouraged them and then ²⁶  departed.

Acts 5:25

5:25 But someone came and reported to them, “Look! The men you put in prison are standing in the temple courts ²⁷  and teaching ²⁸  the people!”

Acts 12:6

12:6 On that very night before Herod was going to bring him out for trial, ²⁹  Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while ³⁰  guards in front of the door were keeping watch ³¹  over the prison.

Acts 12:17

12:17 He motioned to them ³²  with his hand to be quiet and then related ³³  how the Lord had brought ³⁴  him out of the prison. He said, “Tell James and the brothers these things,” and then he left and went to another place. ³⁵ 

Acts 16:27

16:27 When the jailer woke up ³⁶  and saw the doors of the prison standing open, ³⁷  he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, ³⁸  because he assumed ³⁹  the prisoners had escaped.

Acts 16:37

16:37 But Paul said to the police officers, ⁴⁰  “They had us beaten in public ⁴¹  without a proper trial ⁴²  – even though we are Roman citizens ⁴³  – and they threw us ⁴⁴  in prison. And now they want to send us away ⁴⁵  secretly? Absolutely not! They ⁴⁶  themselves must come and escort us out!” ⁴⁷ 

Acts 26:10

26:10 And that is what I did in Jerusalem: Not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons by the authority I received ⁴⁸  from the chief priests, but I also cast my vote ⁴⁹  against them when they were sentenced to death. ⁵⁰ 

Acts 12:10

12:10 After they had passed the first and second guards, ⁵¹  they came to the iron ⁵²  gate leading into the city. It ⁵³  opened for them by itself, ⁵⁴  and they went outside and walked down one narrow street, ⁵⁵  when at once the angel left him.

[5:19]  ¹ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” Linguistically, “angel of the Lord” is the same in both testaments (and thus, he is either “an angel of the Lord” or “the angel of the Lord” in both testaments). For arguments and implications, see ExSyn 252; M. J. Davidson, “Angels,” DJG, 9; W. G. MacDonald argues for “an angel” in both testaments: “Christology and ‘The Angel of the Lord’,” Current Issues in Biblical and Patristic Interpretation, 324-35.

[5:19]  ² tn Grk “opening the doors of the prison.” The participle ἀνοίξας (anoixa") has been translated as a finite verb due to the requirements of contemporary English style.

[5:19]  ³ tn Greek φυλακῆς (fulakh"), a different word from the one in v. 18 (τήρησις, thrhsi", “jail”).

[5:19]  ⁴ tn Or “brought them out.” Grk “and leading them out, said.” The participle ἐξαγαγών (exagagwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[5:22]  ⁵ tn The Greek term ὑπηρέτης (Juphreth") generally means “servant,” but in the NT is used for many different types of servants, like attendants to a king, the officers of the Sanhedrin (as here), assistants to magistrates, and (especially in the Gospel of John) Jewish guards in the Jerusalem temple (see L&N 35.20).

[5:22]  ⁶ tn The words “for them” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[5:22]  ⁷ tn Grk “reported, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[16:23]  ⁹ tn Grk “Having inflicted many blows on them.” The participle ἐπιθέντες (epiqente") has been taken temporally. BDAG 384 s.v. ἐπιτίθημι 1.a.β has “inflict blows upon someone” for this expression, but in this context it is simpler to translate in English as “they had beaten them severely.”

[16:23]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “commanding.” The participle παραγγείλαντες (parangeilante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[22:4]  ¹³ tn Grk “who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“who”) was translated by the first person pronoun (“I”) and a new sentence begun in the translation.

[22:4]  ¹⁴ sn That is, persecuted the Christian movement (Christianity). The Way is also used as a description of the Christian faith in Acts 9:2; 18:25-26; 19:9, 23; 24:14, 22).

[22:4]  ¹⁵ tn BDAG 442-43 s.v. θάνατος 1.a has “διώκειν ἄχρι θανάτου persecute even to death Ac 22:4.”

[22:4]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “binding.” See Acts 8:3.

[22:4]  ¹⁷ tn BDAG 762 s.v. παραδίδωμι 1.b has “W. local εἰς…εἰς φυλακήν put in prison Ac 8:3; cp. 22:4.”

[8:3]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn The participle σύρων (surwn) has been translated as an finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[8:3]  ¹⁹ tn BDAG 762 s.v. παραδίδωμι 1.b has “εἰς φυλακήν put in prison Ac 8:3.”

[12:4]  ²¹ sn Four squads of soldiers. Each squad was a detachment of four soldiers.

[12:4]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Or “intended”; Grk “wanted.”

[12:4]  ²⁴ 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.”

[12:5]  ²⁵ tn Or “constantly.” This term also appears in Luke 22:14 and Acts 26:7.

[12:5]  ²⁶ tn Grk “but earnest prayer was being made by the church to God for him.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged to follow English style, and the somewhat awkward passive “prayer was being made” has been changed to the simpler active verb “were praying.” Luke portrays what follows as an answer to prayer.

[16:24]  ²⁹ tn Or “prison.”

[16:24]  ³⁰ tn L&N 6.21 has “stocks” for εἰς τὸ ξύλον (ei" to xulon) here, as does BDAG 685 s.v. ξύλον 2.b. However, it is also possible (as mentioned in L&N 18.12) that this does not mean “stocks” but a block of wood (a log or wooden column) in the prison to which prisoners’ feet were chained or tied. Such a possibility is suggested by v. 26, where the “bonds” (“chains”?) of the prisoners loosened.

[16:40]  ³³ tn “Then” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to clarify the logical sequence in the translation.

[5:25]  ³⁷ tn Grk “the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.

[5:25]  ³⁸ sn Obeying God (see v. 29), the apostles were teaching again (4:18-20; 5:20). They did so despite the risk.

[12:6]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “was going to bring him out,” but the upcoming trial is implied. See Acts 12:4.

[12:6]  ⁴² tn Grk “two chains, and.” Logically it makes better sense to translate this as a temporal clause, although technically it is a coordinate clause in Greek.

[12:6]  ⁴³ tn Or “were guarding.”

[12:17]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “He gave them a signal.” Grk “Giving them a signal…he related to them.” The participle κατασείσας (kataseisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[12:17]  ⁴⁶ tc ‡ Most mss, including some of the most important ones (B D E Ψ Ï sy), read αὐτοῖς (autoi", “to them”) here, while some excellent and early witnesses (Ì^45vid,74vid א A 33 81 945 1739 pc) lack the pronoun. Although it is possible that the pronoun was deleted because it was seen as superfluous, it is also possible that it was added as a natural expansion on the text, strengthening the connection between Peter and his listeners. Although a decision is difficult, the shorter reading is slightly preferred. NA²⁷ puts the pronoun in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

[12:17]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “led.”

[12:17]  ⁴⁸ sn He…went to another place. This is Peter’s last appearance in Acts with the exception of the Jerusalem council in Acts 15.

[16:27]  ⁴⁹ tn L&N 23.75 has “had awakened” here. It is more in keeping with contemporary English style, however, to keep the two verbal ideas parallel in terms of tense (“when the jailer woke up and saw”) although logically the second action is subsequent to the first.

[16:27]  ⁵⁰ tn The additional semantic component “standing” is supplied (“standing open”) to convey a stative nuance in English.

[16:27]  ⁵¹ sn Was about to kill himself. The jailer’s penalty for failing to guard the prisoners would have been death, so he contemplated saving the leaders the trouble (see Acts 12:19; 27:42).

[16:27]  ⁵² tn Or “thought.”

[16:37]  ⁵³ tn Grk “to them”; the referent (the police officers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:37]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “Having us beaten in public.” The participle δείραντες (deirante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[16:37]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “in public, uncondemned.” BDAG 35 s.v. ἀκατάκριτος has “uncondemned, without due process” for this usage.

[16:37]  ⁵⁶ tn The participle ὑπάρχοντας (Juparconta") has been translated as a concessive adverbial participle.

[16:37]  ⁵⁷ tn The word “us” 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.

[16:37]  ⁵⁸ tn L&N 28.71 has “send us away secretly” for this verse.

[16:37]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “But they.”

[16:37]  ⁶⁰ sn They themselves must come and escort us out! Paul was asking for the injustice he and Silas suffered to be symbolically righted. It was a way of publicly taking their actions off the record and showing the apostles’ innocence, a major public statement. Note the apology given in v. 39.

[26:10]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “by receiving authority.” The participle λαβών (labwn) has been taken instrumentally.

[26:10]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “cast down a pebble against them.” L&N 30.103 states, “(an idiom, Grk ‘to bring a pebble against someone,’ a reference to a white or black pebble used in voting for or against someone) to make known one’s choice against someone – ‘to vote against.’ …‘when they were sentenced to death, I also voted against them’ Ac 26:10.”

[26:10]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “when they were being executed”; but the context supports the sentencing rather than the execution itself (cf. L&N 30.103).

[12:10]  ⁶¹ tn Or perhaps, “guard posts.”

[12:10]  ⁶² sn The iron gate shows how important security was here. This door was more secure than one made of wood (which would be usual).

[12:10]  ⁶³ tn Grk “which.” The relative pronoun (“which”) was replaced by the pronoun “it,” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek.

[12:10]  ⁶⁴ tn The Greek term here, αὐτομάτη (automath), indicates something that happens without visible cause (BDAG 152 s.v. αὐτόματος).

[12:10]  ⁶⁵ tn Or “lane,” “alley” (BDAG 907 s.v. ῥύμη).