Acts 5:23

5:23 “We found the jail locked securely and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, ¹  we found no one inside.”

Acts 12:18

12:18 At daybreak ²  there was great consternation ³  among the soldiers over what had become of Peter.

Acts 12:1

James is Killed and Peter Imprisoned

12:1 About that time King Herod ⁴  laid hands on ⁵  some from the church to harm them. ⁶ 

Acts 23:22-23

23:22 Then the commanding officer ⁷  sent the young man away, directing him, ⁸  “Tell no one that you have reported ⁹  these things to me.” 23:23 Then ¹⁰  he summoned ¹¹  two of the centurions ¹²  and said, “Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea ¹³  along with seventy horsemen ¹⁴  and two hundred spearmen ¹⁵  by ¹⁶  nine o’clock tonight, ¹⁷ 

Matthew 26:48

26:48 (Now the betrayer ¹⁸  had given them a sign, saying, “The one I kiss is the man. ¹⁹  Arrest him!”) ²⁰ 

Matthew 27:63-66

27:63 and said, “Sir, we remember that while that deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 27:64 So give orders to secure the tomb until the third day. Otherwise his disciples may come and steal his body ²¹  and say to the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” 27:65 Pilate said to them, “Take ²²  a guard of soldiers. Go and make it as secure as you can.” 27:66 So ²³  they went with the soldiers ²⁴  of the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.

[5:23]  ¹ tn The word “them” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[12:18]  ² tn BDAG 436 s.v. ἡμέρα 1.a has “day is breaking” for ἡμέρα γίνεται (Jhmera ginetai) in this verse.

[12:18]  ³ tn Grk “no little consternation.” The translation given for τάραχος (taraco") in this verse by BDAG 991 s.v. τάραχος 1 is “mental agitation.” The situation indicated by the Greek word is described in L&N 25.243 as “a state of acute distress and great anxiety, with the additional possible implications of dismay and confusion – ‘great distress, extreme anxiety.’” The English word “consternation” is preferred here because it conveys precisely such a situation of anxiety mixed with fear. The reason for this anxiety is explained in the following verse.

[12:1]  ⁴ sn King Herod was Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod I (Herod the Great). His mediocre career is summarized in Josephus, Ant. 18-19. This event took place in a.d. 42 or 43.

[12:1]  ⁵ tn Or “King Herod had some from the church arrested.”

[12:1]  ⁶ tn Or “to cause them injury.”

[23:22]  ⁷ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 10.

[23:22]  ⁸ tn BDAG 760 s.v. παραγγέλλω has “to make an announcement about someth. that must be done, give orders, command, instruct, direct of all kinds of persons in authority, worldly rulers, Jesus, the apostles…παραγγέλλειν w. an inf. and μή comes to mean forbid to do someth.: π. τινί w. aor. inf. Lk 5:14; 8:56; without the dat., which is easily supplied fr. the context Ac 23:22.” However, if the direct discourse which follows is to be retained in the translation, a different translation must be used since it is awkward to introduce direct discourse with the verb to forbid. Thus the alternative to direct was used.

[23:22]  ⁹ tn On this verb, see BDAG 325-26 s.v. ἐμφανίζω 2. The term was frequently used of an official report to authorities. In modern terms, this was a police tip.

[23:23]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “And.” Since this represents a response to the reported ambush, καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the logical sequence.

[23:23]  ¹¹ tn Grk “summoning…he said.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:23]  ¹² sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[23:23]  ¹³ 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. This was a journey of about 65 mi (just over 100 km).

[23:23]  ¹⁴ tn Or “cavalrymen.”

[23:23]  ¹⁵ tn A military technical term of uncertain meaning. BDAG 217 s.v. δεξιολάβος states, “a word of uncertain mng., military t.t., acc. to Joannes Lydus…and Theophyl. Sim., Hist. 4, 1 a light-armed soldier, perh. bowman, slinger; acc. to a scholion in CMatthaei p. 342 body-guard….Spearman Goodspd., NRSV; ‘security officer’, GDKilpatrick, JTS 14, ’63, 393f.”

[23:23]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “from.”

[23:23]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “from the third hour of the night.”

[26:48]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “the one who betrays him.”

[26:48]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “The one I kiss is he.”

[26:48]  ²⁰ sn This remark is parenthetical within the narrative and has thus been placed in parentheses.

[27:64]  ²¹ tn Grk “him.”

[27:65]  ²² tn Grk “You have a guard.”

[27:66]  ²³ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Pilate’s order.

[27:66]  ²⁴ tn Grk “with the guard.” The words “soldiers of the” have been supplied in the translation to prevent “guard” from being misunderstood as a single individual.