Luke 23:5

23:5 But they persisted ¹  in saying, “He incites ²  the people by teaching throughout all Judea. It started in Galilee and ended up here!” ³ 

Luke 23:1

Jesus Brought Before Pilate

23:1 Then ⁴  the whole group of them rose up and brought Jesus ⁵  before Pilate. ⁶ 

Luke 18:17

18:17 I tell you the truth, ⁷  whoever does not receive ⁸  the kingdom of God like a child ⁹  will never ¹⁰  enter it.”

Jeremiah 38:4

38:4 So these officials said to the king, “This man must be put to death. For he is demoralizing ¹¹  the soldiers who are left in the city as well as all the other people there by these things he is saying. ¹²  This ¹³  man is not seeking to help these people but is trying to harm them.” ¹⁴ 

Amos 7:10

Amos Confronts a Priest

7:10 Amaziah the priest of Bethel ¹⁵  sent this message ¹⁶  to King Jeroboam of Israel: “Amos is conspiring against you in the very heart of the kingdom of Israel! ¹⁷  The land cannot endure all his prophecies. ¹⁸ 

Acts 16:20-21

16:20 When ¹⁹  they had brought them ²⁰  before the magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion. ²¹  They are ²²  Jews 16:21 and are advocating ²³  customs that are not lawful for us to accept ²⁴  or practice, ²⁵  since we are ²⁶  Romans.”

Acts 17:6-7

17:6 When they did not find them, they dragged ²⁷  Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, ²⁸  screaming, “These people who have stirred up trouble ²⁹  throughout the world ³⁰  have come here too, 17:7 and ³¹  Jason has welcomed them as guests! They ³²  are all acting against Caesar’s ³³  decrees, saying there is another king named ³⁴  Jesus!” ³⁵ 

Acts 24:5

24:5 For we have found ³⁶  this man to be a troublemaker, ³⁷  one who stirs up riots ³⁸  among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader ³⁹  of the sect of the Nazarenes. ⁴⁰ 

[23:5]  ¹ tn Or “were adamant.” For “persisted in saying,” see L&N 68.71.

[23:5]  ² sn He incites the people. The Jewish leadership claimed that Jesus was a political threat and had to be stopped. By reiterating this charge of stirring up rebellion, they pressured Pilate to act, or be accused of overlooking political threats to Rome.

[23:5]  ³ tn Grk “beginning from Galilee until here.”

[23:1]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[23:1]  ⁵ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:1]  ⁶ sn Pilate was the Roman prefect (procurator) in charge of collecting taxes and keeping the peace. His immediate superior was the Roman governor (proconsul) of Syria, although the exact nature of this administrative relationship is unknown. Pilate’s relations with the Jews had been rocky (v. 12). Here he is especially sensitive to them.

[18:17]  ⁷ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[18:17]  ⁸ sn On receive see John 1:12.

[18:17]  ⁹ sn The point of the comparison receive the kingdom of God like a child has more to do with a child’s trusting spirit and willingness to be dependent and receive from others than any inherent humility the child might possess.

[18:17]  ¹⁰ tn The negation in Greek used here (οὐ μή, ou mh) is very strong.

[38:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “weakening the hands of.” For this idiom see BDB 951 s.v. רָפָה Pi. and compare the usage in Isa 13:7; Ezek 21:7 (21:12 HT).

[38:4]  ¹² tn Heb “by saying these things.”

[38:4]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) has not been rendered here because it is introducing a parallel causal clause to the preceding one. To render “For” might be misunderstood as a grounds for the preceding statement. To render “And” or “Moreover” sounds a little odd here. If it must be represented, “Moreover” is perhaps the best rendering.

[38:4]  ¹⁴ tn Or “is not looking out for these people’s best interests but is really trying to do them harm”; Heb “is not seeking the welfare [or “well-being”; Hebrew shalom] of this people but [their] harm [more literally, evil].”

[7:10]  ¹⁵ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[7:10]  ¹⁶ tn The direct object of the verb translated “sent” is elided in the Hebrew text. The words “this message” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[7:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in the middle of the house of Israel.”

[7:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “words.”

[16:20]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “And when.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[16:20]  ²⁰ tn Grk “having brought them.” The participle ἐπιλαβόμενοι (epilabomenoi) has been taken temporally. It is also possible in English to translate this participle as a finite verb: “they brought them before the magistrates and said.”

[16:20]  ²¹ tn BDAG 309 s.v. ἐκταράσσω has “agitate, cause trouble to, throw into confusion” for the meaning of this verb.

[16:20]  ²² tn Grk “being Jews, and they are proclaiming.” The participle ὑπάρχοντες (Juparconte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[16:21]  ²³ tn Grk “proclaiming,” but in relation to customs, “advocating” is a closer approximation to the meaning.

[16:21]  ²⁴ tn Or “acknowledge.”

[16:21]  ²⁵ sn Customs that are not lawful for us to accept or practice. Ironically, the charges are similar to those made against Jesus in Luke 23:2, where Jews argued he was “twisting” their customs. The charge has three elements: (1) a racial element (Jewish); (2) a social element (unlawful); and (3) a traditional element (not their customs).

[16:21]  ²⁶ tn Grk “we being Romans.” The participle οὖσιν (ousin) has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

[17:6]  ²⁷ tn See BDAG 977-78 s.v. σύρω on this verb. It was used in everyday speech of dragging in fish by a net, or dragging away someone’s (presumably) dead body (Paul in Acts 14:19).

[17:6]  ²⁸ tn L&N 37.93 defines πολιτάρχης (politarch") as “a public official responsible for administrative matters within a town or city and a member of the ruling council of such a political unit – ‘city official’” (see also BDAG 845 s.v.).

[17:6]  ²⁹ tn Or “rebellion.” BDAG 72 s.v. ἀναστατόω has “disturb, trouble, upset,” but in light of the references in the following verse to political insurrection, “stirred up rebellion” would also be appropriate.

[17:6]  ³⁰ tn Or “the empire.” This was a way of referring to the Roman empire (BDAG 699 s.v. οἰκουμένη 2.b).

[17:7]  ³¹ tn Grk “whom.” Because of the awkwardness in English of having two relative clauses follow one another (“who have stirred up trouble…whom Jason has welcomed”) the relative pronoun here (“whom”) has been replaced by the conjunction “and,” creating a clause that is grammatically coordinate but logically subordinate in the translation.

[17:7]  ³² tn Grk “and they.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

[17:7]  ³³ tn Or “the emperor’s” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[17:7]  ³⁴ tn The word “named” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied for clarity.

[17:7]  ³⁵ sn Acting…saying…Jesus. The charges are serious, involving sedition (Luke 23:2). If the political charges were true, Rome would have to react.

[24:5]  ³⁶ tn Grk “For having found.” The participle εὑρόντες (Jeurontes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[24:5]  ³⁷ tn L&N 22.6 has “(a figurative extension of meaning of λοιμός ‘plague,’ 23.158) one who causes all sorts of trouble – ‘troublemaker, pest.’ … ‘for we have found this man to be a troublemaker” Ac 24:5.”

[24:5]  ³⁸ tn Or “dissensions.” While BDAG 940 s.v. στάσις 3 translates this phrase “κινεῖν στάσεις (v.l. στάσιν) τισί create dissension among certain people Ac 24:5,” it is better on the basis of the actual results of Paul’s ministry to categorize this usage under section 2, “uprising, riot, revolt, rebellion” (cf. the use in Acts 19:40).

[24:5]  ³⁹ tn This term is yet another NT hapax legomenon (BDAG 894 s.v. πρωτοστάτης).

[24:5]  ⁴⁰ sn The sect of the Nazarenes is a designation for followers of Jesus the Nazarene, that is, Christians.