23:10 When the argument became31 so great the commanding officer32 feared that they would tear Paul to pieces,33 he ordered the detachment34 to go down, take him away from them by force,35 and bring him into the barracks.36
tn This genitive absolute construction with the participle γινομένης (ginomenēs) has been taken temporally (it could also be translated as causal).
32
tnGrk “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.
33
tnGrk “that Paul would be torn to pieces by them.” BDAG236s.v.διασπάω has “of an angry mob μὴ διασπασθῇ ὁ Παῦλος ὑπʼ αὐτῶνthat Paul would be torn in pieces by themAc 23:10.” The passive construction is somewhat awkward in English and has been converted to an equivalent active construction in the translation.
34
tn Normally this term means “army,” but according to BDAG947s.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.