Kisah Para Rasul 23:27-29

23:27 This man was seized ¹  by the Jews and they were about to kill him, ²  when I came up ³  with the detachment ⁴  and rescued him, because I had learned that he was ⁵  a Roman citizen. ⁶  23:28 Since I wanted to know ⁷  what charge they were accusing him of, ⁸  I brought him down to their council. ⁹  23:29 I found he ¹⁰  was accused with reference to controversial questions ¹¹  about their law, but no charge against him deserved death or imprisonment. ¹² 

Kisah Para Rasul 25:11

25:11 If then I am in the wrong ¹³  and have done anything that deserves death, I am not trying to escape dying, ¹⁴  but if not one of their charges against me is true, ¹⁵  no one can hand me over to them. ¹⁶  I appeal to Caesar!” ¹⁷ 

Kisah Para Rasul 25:18-20

25:18 When his accusers stood up, they did not charge ¹⁸  him with any of the evil deeds I had suspected. ¹⁹  25:19 Rather they had several points of disagreement ²⁰  with him about their own religion ²¹  and about a man named Jesus ²²  who was dead, whom Paul claimed ²³  to be alive. 25:20 Because I was at a loss ²⁴  how I could investigate these matters, ²⁵  I asked if he were willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried ²⁶  there on these charges. ²⁷ 

Kisah Para Rasul 25:26

25:26 But I have nothing definite ²⁸  to write to my lord ²⁹  about him. ³⁰  Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, ³¹  so that after this preliminary hearing ³²  I may have something to write.

[23:27]  ¹ tn The participle συλλημφθέντα (sullhmfqenta) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. The remark reviews events of Acts 21:27-40.

[23:27]  ² tn Grk “and was about to be killed by them.” The passive construction has been converted to an active one in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:27]  ³ tn Or “approached.”

[23:27]  ⁴ tn Normally this term means “army,” but according to BDAG 947 s.v. στράτευμα, “Of a smaller detachment of soldiers, sing. Ac 23:10, 27.” In the plural it can be translated “troops,” but it is singular here.

[23:27]  ⁵ tn In Greek this is a present tense retained in indirect discourse.

[23:27]  ⁶ tn The word “citizen” is supplied here for emphasis and clarity.

[23:27]  sn The letter written by the Roman commander Claudius Lysias was somewhat self-serving. He made it sound as if the rescue of a Roman citizen had been a conscious act on his part. In fact, he had made the discovery of Paul’s Roman citizenship somewhat later. See Acts 21:37-39 and 22:24-29.

[23:28]  ⁷ tn Or “determine.”

[23:28]  ⁸ tn Grk “to know the charge on account of which they were accusing him.” This has been simplified to eliminate the prepositional phrase and relative pronoun δι᾿ ἣν (di’ }hn) similar to L&N 27.8 which has “‘I wanted to find out what they were accusing him of, so I took him down to their Council’ Ac 23:28.”

[23:28]  ⁹ tn Grk “their Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[23:29]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “whom I found.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been changed to a personal pronoun (“he”) and a new sentence begun in the translation at this point.

[23:29]  ¹¹ tn BDAG 428 s.v. ζήτημα states, “in our lit. only in Ac, w. the mng. it still has in Mod. Gk. (controversial) question, issue, argument…Ac 15:2; 26:3. ζ. περί τινος questions about someth.…18:15; 25:19. – In 23:29, since περί had already been used, the subj. of the discussion is added in the gen. ζ. τοῦ νόμου αὐτῶν.”

[23:29]  sn With reference to controversial questions. Note how the “neutral” Roman authorities saw the issue. This was a religious rather than a civil dispute. See Acts 18:15.

[23:29]  ¹² tn Grk “but having no charge worthy of death or imprisonment.” BDAG 273-74 s.v. ἔγκλημα 1 has “legal t.t.…ἔ. ἄξιον θανάτου ἢ δεσμῶν a charge deserving death or imprisonment 23:29.”

[23:29]  sn Despite the official assessment that no charge against him deserved death or imprisonment, there was no effort to release Paul.

[25:11]  ¹³ tn BDAG 20 s.v. ἀδικέω 1.b has “intr. be in the wrong (Ex 2:13) εἰ ἀδικῶ Ac 25:11.”

[25:11]  ¹⁴ tn BDAG 764 s.v. παραιτέομαι 2.b.β, “οὐ παραιτοῦμαι τὸ ἀποθανεῖν I am not trying to escape death Ac 25:11 (cp. Jos., Vi. 141).” To avoid redundancy in the translation, the English gerund “dying” is used to translate the Greek infinitive ἀποθανεῖν (apoqanein).

[25:11]  ¹⁵ tn Or “but if there is nothing to their charges against me.” Both “if” clauses in this verse are first class conditions. Paul stated the options without prejudice, assuming in turn the reality of each for the sake of the argument.

[25:11]  ¹⁶ sn That is, no one can hand me over to them lawfully. Paul was aware of the dangers of a return to Jerusalem.

[25:11]  ¹⁷ tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[25:11]  sn The appeal to Caesar was known as the provocatio ad Caesarem. It was a Roman citizen’s right to ask for a direct judgment by the emperor (Pliny the Younger, Letters 10.96). It was one of the oldest rights of Roman citizens.

[25:18]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “they brought no charge of any of the evil deeds.” BDAG 31 s.v. αἰτία 3.b has “αἰτίαν φέρειν…bring an accusation Ac 25:18.” Since κατήγοροι (kathgoroi, “accusers”) in the previous clause is somewhat redundant with this, “charge” was used instead.

[25:18]  ¹⁹ tn Or “I was expecting.”

[25:19]  ²⁰ tn Grk “several controversial issues.” BDAG 428 s.v. ζήτημα states, “in our lit. only in Ac, w. the mng. it still has in Mod. Gk. (controversial) question, issue, argument…Ac 15:2; 26:3. ζ. περί τινος questions about someth.…18:15; 25:19.”

[25:19]  ²¹ tn On this term see BDAG 216 s.v. δεισιδαιμονία 2. It is a broad term for religion.

[25:19]  sn About their own religion. Festus made it clear that in his view as a neutral figure (and as one Luke had noted was disposed to help the Jews), he saw no guilt in Paul. The issue was a simple religious dispute.

[25:19]  ²² tn Grk “a certain Jesus.”

[25:19]  ²³ tn Or “asserted.”

[25:20]  ²⁴ tn Or “Because I was undecided.” Grk “Being at a loss.” The participle ἀπορούμενος (aporoumeno") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

[25:20]  ²⁵ tn L&N 27.34 states, “ἀπορούμενος δὲ ἐγὼ τὴν περὶ τούτων ζήτησιν ‘I was undecided about how I could get information on these matters’ Ac 25:20. The clause ‘about how I could get information on these matters’ may also be rendered as ‘about how I should try to find out about these matters’ or ‘about how I could learn about these matters.’”

[25:20]  ²⁶ tn Or “stand trial.”

[25:20]  ²⁷ tn Grk “on these things.”

[25:26]  ²⁸ sn There is irony here. How can Festus write anything definite about Paul, if he is guilty of nothing.

[25:26]  ²⁹ sn To my lord means “to His Majesty the Emperor.”

[25:26]  ³⁰ tn Grk “about whom I have nothing definite…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced with a personal pronoun (“him”) and a new sentence begun in the translation at the beginning of v. 26.

[25:26]  ³¹ sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

[25:26]  ³² tn Or “investigation.” BDAG 66 s.v. ἀνάκρισις has “a judicial hearing, investigation, hearing, esp. preliminary hearing…τῆς ἀ. γενομένης Ac 25:26.” This is technical legal language.