Acts 9:8

9:8 So Saul got up from the ground, but although his eyes were open, ¹  he could see nothing. ²  Leading him by the hand, his companions ³  brought him into Damascus.

Acts 12:15

12:15 But they said to her, “You’ve lost your mind!” ⁴  But she kept insisting that it was Peter, ⁵  and they kept saying, ⁶  “It is his angel!” ⁷ 

Acts 20:4

20:4 Paul ⁸  was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, ⁹  Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, ¹⁰  Gaius ¹¹  from Derbe, ¹²  and Timothy, as well as Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. ¹³ 

Acts 22:28

22:28 The commanding officer ¹⁴  answered, “I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money.” ¹⁵  “But I was even ¹⁶  born a citizen,” ¹⁷  Paul replied. ¹⁸ 

[9:8]  ¹ tn Grk “his eyes being open,” a genitive absolute construction that has been translated as a concessive adverbial participle.

[9:8]  ² sn He could see nothing. This sign of blindness, which was temporary until v. 18, is like the sign of deafness experienced by Zechariah in Luke 1. It allowed some time for Saul (Paul) to reflect on what had happened without distractions.

[9:8]  ³ tn Grk “they”; the referents (Saul’s companions) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:15]  ⁴ sn “You’ve lost your mind!” Such a response to the miraculous is not unusual in Luke-Acts. See Luke 24:11; Acts 26:25. The term μαίνομαι (mainomai) can have the idea of being “raving mad” or “totally irrational” (BDAG 610 s.v.). It is a strong expression.

[12:15]  ⁵ tn Grk “she kept insisting that the situation was thus” (cf. BDAG 422 s.v. ἔχω 10.a). Most translations supply a less awkward English phrase like “it was so”; the force of her insistence, however, is that “it was Peter,” which was the point under dispute.

[12:15]  ⁶ tn The two imperfect tense verbs, διϊσχυρίζετο (diiscurizeto) and ἔλεγον (elegon), are both taken iteratively. The picture is thus virtually a shouting match between Rhoda and the rest of the believers.

[12:15]  ⁷ sn The assumption made by those inside, “It is his angel,” seems to allude to the idea of an attending angel (cf. Gen 48:16 LXX; Matt 18:10; Test. Jacob 1:10).

[20:4]  ⁷ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:4]  ⁸ sn Berea (alternate spelling in NRSV Beroea; Greek Beroia) was a very old city in Macedonia on the river Astraeus about 45 mi (75 km) from Thessalonica.

[20:4]  ⁹ tn Grk “of the Thessalonians.”

[20:4]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and Gaius,” but this καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[20:4]  ¹¹ sn Derbe was a city in Lycaonia about 30 mi (50 km) southeast of Lystra.

[20:4]  ¹² tn Grk “the Asians Tychicus and Trophimus.” In the NT “Asia” always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.

[22:28]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 24.

[22:28]  ¹¹ sn Sometimes Roman citizenship was purchased through a bribe (Dio Cassius, Roman History 60.17.4-9). That may well have been the case here.

[22:28]  ¹² tn BDAG 495-96 s.v. καί 2.b has “intensive: even…Ac 5:39; 22:28.”

[22:28]  ¹³ tn The word “citizen” is supplied here for emphasis and clarity.

[22:28]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Paul said.” This phrase has been placed at the end of the sentence in the translation for stylistic reasons.