Genesis 22:9

22:9 When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there ¹  and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up ²  his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood.

John 18:12

Jesus Before Annas

18:12 Then the squad of soldiers ³  with their commanding officer ⁴  and the officers of the Jewish leaders ⁵  arrested ⁶  Jesus and tied him up. ⁷ 

John 18:24

18:24 Then Annas sent him, still tied up, ⁸  to Caiaphas the high priest. ⁹ 

Acts 9:2

9:2 and requested letters from him to the synagogues ¹⁰  in Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, ¹¹  either men or women, he could bring them as prisoners ¹²  to Jerusalem. ¹³ 

Acts 12:6

12:6 On that very night before Herod was going to bring him out for trial, ¹⁴  Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while ¹⁵  guards in front of the door were keeping watch ¹⁶  over the prison.

Acts 21:33

21:33 Then the commanding officer ¹⁷  came up and arrested ¹⁸  him and ordered him to be tied up with two chains; ¹⁹  he ²⁰  then asked who he was and what ²¹  he had done.

Acts 22:25

22:25 When they had stretched him out for the lash, ²²  Paul said to the centurion ²³  standing nearby, “Is it legal for you to lash a man who is a Roman citizen ²⁴  without a proper trial?” ²⁵ 

Acts 22:29

22:29 Then those who were about to interrogate him stayed away ²⁶  from him, and the commanding officer ²⁷  was frightened when he realized that Paul ²⁸  was ²⁹  a Roman citizen ³⁰  and that he had had him tied up. ³¹ 

Acts 24:27

24:27 After two years ³²  had passed, Porcius Festus ³³  succeeded Felix, ³⁴  and because he wanted to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison. ³⁵ 

Acts 28:20

28:20 So for this reason I have asked to see you and speak with you, for I am bound with this chain because of the hope of Israel.” ³⁶ 

Acts 28:2

28:2 The local inhabitants ³⁷  showed us extraordinary ³⁸  kindness, for they built a fire and welcomed us all because it had started to rain ³⁹  and was cold.

Acts 2:9

2:9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and the province of Asia, ⁴⁰ 

Hebrews 13:3

13:3 Remember those in prison as though you were in prison with them, ⁴¹  and those ill-treated as though you too felt their torment. ⁴² 

[22:9]  ¹ sn Abraham built an altar there. The theme of Abraham’s altar building culminates here. He has been a faithful worshiper. Will he continue to worship when called upon to make such a radical sacrifice?

[22:9]  ² sn Then he tied up. This text has given rise to an important theme in Judaism known as the Aqedah, from the Hebrew word for “binding.” When sacrifices were made in the sanctuary, God remembered the binding of Isaac, for which a substitute was offered. See D. Polish, “The Binding of Isaac,” Jud 6 (1957): 17-21.

[18:12]  ³ tn Grk “a cohort” (but since this was a unit of 600 soldiers, a smaller detachment is almost certainly intended).

[18:12]  ⁴ tn Grk “their chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). In Greek the term χιλίαρχος (ciliarco") literally described the “commander of a thousand,” but it was used as the standard translation for the Latin tribunus militum or tribunus militaris, the military tribune who commanded a cohort of 600 men.

[18:12]  ⁵ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders, who were named as “chief priests and Pharisees” in John 18:3.

[18:12]  ⁶ tn Or “seized.”

[18:12]  ⁷ tn Or “bound him.”

[18:24]  ⁸ tn Or “still bound.”

[18:24]  ⁹ sn Where was Caiaphas the high priest located? Did he have a separate palace, or was he somewhere else with the Sanhedrin? Since Augustine (4th century) a number of scholars have proposed that Annas and Caiaphas resided in different wings of the same palace, which were bound together by a common courtyard through which Jesus would have been led as he was taken from Annas to Caiaphas. This seems a reasonable explanation, although there is no conclusive evidence.

[9:2]  ¹⁰ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[9:2]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ sn From Damascus to Jerusalem was a six-day journey. Christianity had now expanded into Syria.

[12:6]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “was going to bring him out,” but the upcoming trial is implied. See Acts 12:4.

[12:6]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Or “were guarding.”

[21:33]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 31.

[21:33]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “seized.”

[21:33]  ¹⁹ tn The two chains would be something like handcuffs (BDAG 48 s.v. ἅλυσις and compare Acts 28:20).

[21:33]  ²⁰ tn Grk “and he.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was begun in the translation, and καί (kai) has been replaced with a semicolon. “Then” has been supplied after “he” to clarify the logical sequence.

[21:33]  ²¹ tn Grk “and what it is”; this has been simplified to “what.”

[22:25]  ²² tn Grk “for the thongs” (of which the lash was made). Although often translated as a dative of means (“with thongs”), referring to thongs used to tie the victim to the whipping post, BDAG 474-75 s.v. ἱμάς states that it “is better taken as a dat. of purpose for the thongs, in which case οἱ ἱμάντες = whips (Posidonius: 87 fgm. 5 Jac.; POxy. 1186, 2 τὴν διὰ τῶν ἱμάντων αἰκείαν. – Antiphanes 74, 8, Demosth. 19, 197 and Artem. 1, 70 use the sing. in this way).”

[22:25]  ²³ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[22:25]  ²⁴ tn The word “citizen” is supplied here for emphasis and clarity.

[22:25]  ²⁵ tn Or “a Roman citizen and uncondemned.” BDAG 35 s.v. ἀκατάκριτος has “uncondemned, without due process” for this usage.

[22:29]  ²⁶ tn BDAG 158 s.v. ἀφίστημι 2.b has “keep away…ἀπό τινος… Lk 4:13; Ac 5:38; 2 Cor 12:8…cp. Ac 22:29.” In context, the point would seem to be not that the interrogators departed or withdrew, but that they held back from continuing the flogging.

[22:29]  ²⁷ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 24.

[22:29]  ²⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:29]  ²⁹ tn This is a present tense (ἐστιν, estin) retained in indirect discourse. It must be translated as a past tense in contemporary English.

[22:29]  ³⁰ tn The word “citizen” is supplied here for emphasis and clarity.

[22:29]  ³¹ sn Had him tied up. Perhaps a reference to the chains in Acts 21:33, or the preparations for the lashing in Acts 22:25. A trial would now be needed to resolve the matter. The Roman authorities’ hesitation to render a judgment in the case occurs repeatedly: Acts 22:30; 23:28-29; 24:22; 25:20, 26-27. The legal process begun here would take the rest of Acts and will be unresolved at the end. The process itself took four years of Paul’s life.

[24:27]  ³² tn Grk “After a two-year period.”

[24:27]  ³³ sn Porcius Festus was the procurator of Palestine who succeeded Felix; neither the beginning nor the end of his rule (at his death) can be determined with certainty, although he appears to have died in office after about two years. Nero recalled Felix in a.d. 57 or 58, and Festus was appointed to his vacant office in a.d. 57, 58, or 59. According to Josephus (Ant. 20.8.9-10 [20.182-188]; J. W. 2.14.1 [2.271-272]), his administration was better than that of his predecessor Felix or his successor Albinus, but Luke in Acts portrays him in a less favorable light: He was willing to sacrifice Paul to court Jewish favor by taking him to Jerusalem for trial (v. 9), regardless of Paul’s guilt or innocence. The one characteristic for which Festus was noted is that he dealt harshly with those who disturbed the peace.

[24:27]  ³⁴ tn Grk “Felix received as successor Porcius Festus.”

[24:27]  ³⁵ tn Grk “left Paul imprisoned.”

[28:20]  ³⁶ sn The hope of Israel. A reference to Israel’s messianic hope. Paul’s preaching was in continuity with this Jewish hope (Acts 1:3; 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25).

[28:2]  ³⁷ tn Although this is literally βάρβαροι (barbaroi; “foreigners, barbarians”) used for non-Greek or non-Romans, as BDAG 166 s.v. βάρβαρος 2.b notes, “Of the inhabitants of Malta, who apparently spoke in their native language Ac 28:2, 4 (here β. certainly without derogatory tone…).”

[28:2]  ³⁸ tn BDAG 1019 s.v. τυγχάνω 2.d states, “δυνάμεις οὐ τὰς τυχούσας extraordinary miracles Ac 19:11. Cp. 28:2.”

[28:2]  ³⁹ tn Or “because it was about to rain.” BDAG 418 s.v. ἐφίστημι 4 states, “διὰ τ. ὑετὸν τὸν ἐφεστῶτα because it had begun to rain Ac 28:2…But the mng. here could also be because it threatened to rain (s. 6).”

[2:9]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this 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.

[13:3]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “as being imprisoned together.”

[13:3]  ⁴² tn Or “since you too are vulnerable”; Grk “you also being in the body.”