Acts 23:21 New English Translation

²¹So do not let them persuade you to do this,^[a] because more than forty of them^[b] are lying in ambush^[c] for him. They^[d] have bound themselves with an oath^[e] not to eat or drink anything^[f] until they have killed him, and now they are ready, waiting for you to agree to their request.”^[g]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Acts 23:21 tn Grk “do not be persuaded by them.” The passive construction μὴ πεισθῇς αὐτοῖς (mē peisthēs autois) has been converted to an active construction in the translation, and the phrase “to do this” supplied to indicate more clearly the object of their persuasion.
Acts 23:21 tn Grk “forty men of them.” In the expression ἐξ αὐτῶν ἄνδρες (ex autōn andres) “men” is somewhat redundant and has not been included in the English translation.
Acts 23:21 tn Grk “are lying in wait for him” (BDAG 334 s.v. ἐνεδρεύω); see also v. 16.
Acts 23:21 tn Grk “for him, who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“who”) was translated by the third person plural pronoun (“they”) and a new sentence begun in the translation.
Acts 23:21 tn Or “bound themselves under a curse.” BDAG 63 s.v. ἀναθεματίζω 1 has “trans. put under a curse τινά someone…ἀ. ἑαυτόν vss. 12, 21, 13 v.l.”
Acts 23:21 tn The word “anything” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
Acts 23:21 tn Grk “waiting for your approval,” “waiting for your agreement.” Since it would be possible to misunderstand the literal translation “waiting for your approval” to mean that the Jews were waiting for the commander’s approval to carry out their plot or to kill Paul (as if he were to be an accomplice to their plot), the object of the commander’s approval (their request to bring Paul to the council) has been specified in the translation as “their request.”

Acts 23:21 in all English translations

New English Translation (NET)