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10 When the argument became[a] so great the commanding officer[b] feared that they would tear Paul to pieces,[c] he ordered the detachment[d] to go down, take him away from them by force,[e] and bring him into the barracks.[f]

11 The following night the Lord[g] stood near[h] Paul[i] and said, “Have courage,[j] for just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”[k]

The Plot to Kill Paul

12 When morning came,[l] the Jews formed[m] a conspiracy[n] and bound themselves with an oath[o] not to eat or drink anything[p] until they had killed Paul.

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 23:10 tn This genitive absolute construction with the participle γινομένης (ginomenēs) has been taken temporally (it could also be translated as causal).
  2. Acts 23:10 tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). In Greek the term χιλίαρχος (chiliarchos) literally described the “commander of a thousand,” but it was used as the standard translation for the Latin tribunus militum or tribunus militare, the military tribune who commanded a cohort of 600 men.
  3. Acts 23:10 tn Grk “that Paul would be torn to pieces by them.” BDAG 236 s.v. διασπάω has “of an angry mob μὴ διασπασθῇ ὁ Παῦλος ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν that Paul would be torn in pieces by them Ac 23:10.” The passive construction is somewhat awkward in English and has been converted to an equivalent active construction in the translation.
  4. Acts 23:10 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.
  5. Acts 23:10 tn Or “to go down, grab him out of their midst.”
  6. Acts 23:10 tn Or “the headquarters.” BDAG 775 s.v. παρεμβολή 2 has “barracks/headquarters of the Roman troops in Jerusalem Ac 21:34, 37; 22:24; 23:10, 16, 32.”
  7. Acts 23:11 sn The presence of the Lord indicated the vindicating presence and direction of God.
  8. Acts 23:11 tn Grk “standing near Paul, said.” The participle ἐπιστάς (epistas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
  9. Acts 23:11 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  10. Acts 23:11 tn Or “Do not be afraid.”
  11. Acts 23:11 sn Like Jesus went to Jerusalem, Paul would now go to Rome. This trip forms the concluding backdrop to Acts. This is the second notice about going to Rome (see Acts 19:21 for the first).
  12. Acts 23:12 tn Grk “when it was day.”
  13. Acts 23:12 tn Grk “forming a conspiracy, bound.” The participle ποιήσαντες (poiēsantes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
  14. Acts 23:12 tn L&N 30.72 has ‘some Jews formed a conspiracy’ Ac 23:12”; BDAG 979 s.v. συστροφή 1 has “Judeans came together in a mob 23:12. But in the last pass. the word may also mean—2. the product of a clandestine gathering, plot, conspiracy” (see also Amos 7:10; Ps 63:3).
  15. Acts 23:12 tn Or “bound themselves under a curse.” BDAG 63 s.v. ἀναθεματίζω 1 has “trans. put under a curse τινά someone…pleonastically ἀναθέματι ἀ. ἑαυτόν Ac 23:14. ἑαυτόν vss. 12, 21, 13 v.l.” On such oaths see m. Shevi’it 3:1-5. The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated.
  16. Acts 23:12 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.