Acts 24:13-21

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Acts 24:13 tn BDAG 778 s.v. παρίστημι/παριστάνω 1.f has “οὐδὲ παραστῆσαι δύνανταί σοι περὶ ὧν νυνὶ κατηγοροῦσίν μου nor can they prove to you the accusations they are now making against me Ac 24:13.”sn Nor can they prove. This is a formal legal claim that Paul’s opponents lacked proof of any wrongdoing. They had no witness who could justify the arrest at the temple.
2. Acts 24:13 tn The words “the things” are not in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
3. Acts 24:13 tn Grk “nor can they prove to you [the things] about which they are now accusing me.” This has been simplified to eliminate the relative pronoun (“which”) in the translation.
4. Acts 24:14 tn Or “serve.”
5. Acts 24:14 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
6. Acts 24:14 sn That is, the law of Moses. Paul was claiming that he legitimately worshiped the God of Israel. He was arguing that this amounted to a religious dispute rather than a political one, so that the Roman authorities need not concern themselves with it.
7. Acts 24:15 tn Grk “having.” The participle ἔχων (echōn) has been translated as a finite verb and a new sentence begun at this point in the translation because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence.
8. Acts 24:15 sn This mention of Paul’s hope sets up his appeal to the resurrection of the dead. At this point Paul was ignoring the internal Jewish dispute between the Pharisees (to which he had belonged; Acts 23:6) and the Sadducees (who denied there would be a resurrection of the dead; Acts 23:8).
9. Acts 24:15 tn Grk “a hope in God (which these [men] themselves accept too).” Because the antecedent of the relative pronoun “which” is somewhat unclear in English, the words “a hope” have been repeated at the beginning of the parenthesis for clarity.
10. Acts 24:15 tn Grk “that they”; the referent (these men, Paul’s accusers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11. Acts 24:15 tn Or “the unjust.”sn This is the only mention of the resurrection of the unrighteous in Acts. The idea parallels the idea of Jesus as the judge of both the living and the dead (Acts 10:42; 17:31).
12. Acts 24:16 tn BDAG 329 s.v. ἐν 9.a, “ἐν τούτῳ πιστεύομεν this is the reason why we believe Jn 16:30; cp. Ac 24:16.”
13. Acts 24:16 tn BDAG 224 s.v. διά 2.a, “διὰ παντός…always, continually, constantly…Ac 2:25 (Ps 16:8); 10:2; 24:16.” However, the positioning of the adverb “always” in the English translation is difficult; the position used is one of the least awkward.
14. Acts 24:16 tn BDAG 125 s.v. ἀπρόσκοπος 1 has “ἀ. συνείδησις a clear conscience Ac 24:16.”
15. Acts 24:16 tn Grk “men,” but this is a generic use (Paul does not have only males in view).
16. Acts 24:17 tn BDAG 401 s.v. ἔτος has “δι᾿ ἐ. πλειόνων after several years 24:17.”
17. Acts 24:17 tn Grk “to bring alms,” but the term “alms” is not in common use today, so the closest modern equivalent, “gifts for the poor,” is used instead.
18. Acts 24:17 tn Or “sacrifices.” BDAG 887 s.v. προσφορά 1 has “προσφοράς ποιεῖν have sacrifices made Ac 24:17, ” but this may be overly specific. It is not clear from the immediate context whether the offering of sacrificial animals (so BDAG assumes) or offerings of some other sort (such as financial gifts) are in view. The combination with ἐλεημοσύνας (eleēmosunas) in the preceding clause may suggest monetary offerings. Some have suggested this is an allusion to the payments made by Paul on behalf of the four other men mentioned in Acts 21:23-26, but the text here seems to suggest something Paul had planned to do before he came, while the decision to pay for the expenses of the men in 21:23ff. was made at the suggestion of the Jerusalem leadership after he arrived. In either case, Paul was portraying himself as a pious worshiper of his God.
19. Acts 24:18 sn Ritually purified. Paul’s claim here is that he was honoring the holiness of God by being sensitive to issues of ritual purity. Not only was he not guilty of the charges against him, but he was thoroughly devout.
20. Acts 24:18 tn BDAG 458 s.v. θόρυβος 3.b has “μετὰ θορύβου…with a disturbance Ac 24:18.”
21. Acts 24:19 tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia. The Roman province of Asia made up about one-third of modern Asia Minor and was on the western side of it. 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. Acts 24:19 tn BDAG 533 s.v. κατηγορέω 1 states, “nearly always as legal t.t.: bring charges in court.” L&N 33.427 states for κατηγορέω (katēgoreō), “to bring serious charges or accusations against someone, with the possible connotation of a legal or court context—‘to accuse, to bring charges.’”sn Who should be here…and bring charges. Paul was asking, where were those who brought about his arrest and claimed he broke the law? His accusers were not really present. This subtle point raised the issue of injustice.
23. Acts 24:20 tn Grk “these [men] themselves.”
24. Acts 24:20 tn Or “unrighteous act.”
25. Acts 24:20 tn The words “me guilty of” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. L&N 88.23 has “αὐτοὶ οὗτοι εἰπάτωσαν τί εὗρον ἀδίκημα στάντος μου ‘let these men themselves tell what unrighteous act they found me guilty of’ Ac 24:20.”
26. Acts 24:20 tn Grk “the Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).
27. Acts 24:21 tn BDAG 433 s.v. ἤ 2.c has “οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἤ nothing else than…Ac 17:21. τί…ἤ what other…than…24:21.”
28. Acts 24:21 tn Grk “one utterance.”
29. Acts 24:21 tn Cf. BDAG 327 s.v. ἐν 1.e, which has “before, in the presence of, etc.”
30. Acts 24:21 sn The resurrection of the dead. Paul’s point was, what crime was there in holding this religious belief?