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Acts 23:23-25
New English Translation
Acts 23:23-25
New English Translation
23 Then[a] he summoned[b] two of the centurions[c] and said, “Make ready 200 soldiers to go to Caesarea[d] along with 70 horsemen[e] and 200 spearmen[f] by[g] nine o’clock tonight,[h] 24 and provide mounts for Paul to ride[i] so that he may be brought safely to Felix[j] the governor.”[k] 25 He wrote[l] a letter that went like this:[m]
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- Acts 23:23 tn Grk “And.” Since this represents a response to the reported ambush, καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the logical sequence.
- Acts 23:23 tn Grk “summoning…he said.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesamenos) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
- Acts 23:23 sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.
- Acts 23:23 sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1. This was a journey of about 65 mi (just over 100 km).
- Acts 23:23 tn Or “cavalrymen.”
- Acts 23:23 tn A military technical term of uncertain meaning. BDAG 217 s.v. δεξιολάβος states, “a word of uncertain mng., military t.t., acc. to Joannes Lydus…and Theophyl. Sim., Hist. 4, 1 a light-armed soldier, perh. bowman, slinger; acc. to a scholion in CMatthaei p. 342 body-guard….Spearman Goodspd., NRSV; ‘security officer’, GDKilpatrick, JTS 14, ’63, 393f.”sn 200 soldiers…along with 70 horsemen and 200 spearmen. The resulting force assembled to guard Paul was almost a full cohort. The Roman commander was taking no chances, but was sending the issue up the chain of command to the procurator to decide.
- Acts 23:23 tn Grk “from.”
- Acts 23:23 tn Grk “from the third hour of the night.”
- Acts 23:24 tn Grk “provide mounts to put Paul on.”sn Mounts for Paul to ride. The fact they were riding horses indicates they wanted everyone to move as quickly as possible.
- Acts 23:24 sn Felix the governor was Antonius Felix, a freedman of Antonia, mother of the Emperor Claudius. He was the brother of Pallas and became procurator of Palestine in a.d. 52/53. His administration was notorious for its corruption, cynicism, and cruelty. According to the historian Tacitus (History 5.9) Felix “reveled in cruelty and lust, and wielded the power of a king with the mind of a slave.”
- Acts 23:24 tn Grk “Felix the procurator.” The official Roman title has been translated as “governor” (BDAG 433 s.v. ἡγεμών 2).
- Acts 23:25 tn Grk “writing.” Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was begun here in the translation, supplying “he” (referring to the commanding officer, Claudius Lysias) as subject. The participle γράψας (grapsas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
- Acts 23:25 tn Grk “having this form,” “having this content.” L&N 33.48 has “γράψσς ἐπιστολὴν ἔχουσαν τὸν τύπον τοῦτον ‘then he wrote a letter that went like this’ Ac 23:25. It is also possible to understand ἐπιστολή in Ac 23:25 not as a content or message, but as an object (see 6.63).”
New English Translation (NET)
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