^23:23Then⁸⁴ he summoned⁸⁵ two of the centurions⁸⁶ and said, “Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea⁸⁷ along with seventy horsemen⁸⁸ and two hundred spearmen⁸⁹ by⁹⁰ nine o’clock tonight,⁹¹^23:24and provide mounts for Paul to ride⁹² so that he may be brought safely to Felix⁹³ the governor.”⁹⁴^23:25He wrote⁹⁵ a letter that went like this:⁹⁶

^23:26Claudius Lysias to His Excellency Governor⁹⁷ Felix,⁹⁸ greetings. ^23:27This man was seized⁹⁹ by the Jews and they were about to kill him,¹⁰⁰ when I came up¹⁰¹ with the detachment¹⁰² and rescued him, because I had learned that he was¹⁰³ a Roman citizen.¹⁰⁴^23:28Since I wanted to know¹⁰⁵ what charge they were accusing him of,¹⁰⁶ I brought him down to their council.¹⁰⁷^23:29I found he¹⁰⁸ was accused with reference to controversial questions¹⁰⁹ about their law, but no charge against him deserved death or imprisonment.¹¹⁰^23:30When I was informed¹¹¹ there would be a plot¹¹² against this man, I sent him to you at once, also ordering his accusers to state their charges¹¹³ against him before you.

^23:31So the soldiers, in accordance with their orders,¹¹⁴ took¹¹⁵ Paul and brought him to Antipatris¹¹⁶ during the night. ^23:32The next day they let¹¹⁷ the horsemen¹¹⁸ go on with him, and they returned to the barracks.¹¹⁹^23:33When the horsemen¹²⁰ came to Caesarea¹²¹ and delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented¹²² Paul to him. ^23:34When the governor¹²³ had read¹²⁴ the letter,¹²⁵ he asked¹²⁶ what province he was from.¹²⁷ When he learned¹²⁸ that he was from Cilicia,¹²⁹^23:35he said, “I will give you a hearing¹³⁰ when your accusers arrive too.” Then¹³¹ he ordered that Paul¹³² be kept under guard in Herod’s palace.¹³³

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Footnotes

84 Grk “And.” Since this represents a response to the reported ambush, καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the logical sequence.
85 Grk “summoning … he said.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesamenos) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
86 See the note on the word centurion in .
87 Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in . This was a journey of about 65 mi (just over 100 km). For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
88 Or “cavalrymen.”
89 A military technical term of uncertain meaning. δεξιολάβος states, “a word of uncertain mng., military t.t., to Joannes Lydus … and Theophyl. Sim., Hist. 4, 1 a light-armed soldier, perh. bowman, slinger; to a scholion in CMatthaei p. 342 body-guard.… Spearman Goodspd., ; ‘security officer’, GDKilpatrick, 14, ’63, 393f.” Two hundred soldiers … along with seventy horsemen and two hundred 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.
90 Grk “from.”
91 Grk “from the third hour of the night.”
92 Grk “provide mounts to put Paul on.” Mounts for Paul to ride. The fact they were riding horses indicates they wanted everyone to move as quickly as possible.
93 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.”
94 Grk “Felix the procurator.” The official Roman title has been translated as “governor” ( ἡγεμών 2).
95 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.
96 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).”
97 Grk “Procurator.” The official Roman title has been translated as “governor” ( ἡγεμών 2).
98 Governor Felix. See the note on Felix in v. .
99 The participle συλλημφθέντα (sullēmphthenta) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. The remark reviews events of Acts 21:27–40.
100 Grk “and was about to be killed by them.” The passive construction has been converted to an active one in the translation for stylistic reasons.
101 Or “approached.”
102 Normally this term means “army,” but according to 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.
103 In Greek this is a present tense retained in indirect discourse.
104 The word “citizen” is supplied here for emphasis and clarity. The letter written by the Roman commander Claudius Lysias was somewhat self-serving. He made it sound as if the rescue of a Roman citizen had been a conscious act on his part. In fact, he had made the discovery of Paul’s Roman citizenship somewhat later. See Acts 21:37–39 and 22:24–29.
105 Or “determine.”
106 Grk “to know the charge on account of which they were accusing him.” This has been simplified to eliminate the prepositional phrase and relative pronoun διʼ ἢν (di’ hēn) similar to L&N 27.8 which has “ ‘I wanted to find out what they were accusing him of, so I took him down to their Council’ Ac 23:28.”
107 Grk “their Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).
108 Grk “whom I found.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been changed to a personal pronoun (“he”) and a new sentence begun in the translation at this point.
109 ζήτημα states, “in our lit. only in Ac, the mng. it still has in Mod. Gk. (controversial) question, issue, argument … Ac 15:2; 26:3. ζ. περί τινος questions about someth.… 18:15; 25:19.—In 23:29, since περί had already been used, the subj. of the discussion is added in the ζ. τοῦ νόμου αὐτῶν.” With reference to controversial questions. Note how the “neutral” Roman authorities saw the issue. This was a religious rather than a civil dispute. See Acts 18:15.
110 Grk “but having no charge worthy of death or imprisonment.” ἔγκλημα 1 has “legal t.t.… ἔ. ἄξιον θανάτου ἢ δεσμῶν a charge deserving death or imprisonment 23:29.” Despite the official assessment that no charge against him deserved death or imprisonment, there was no effort to release Paul.
111 Grk “It being revealed to me.” The participle μηνυθείσης (mēnutheisēs) has been taken temporally.
112 The term translated “plot” here is a different one than the one in Acts 23:16 (see ἐπιβουλή).
113 Grk “the things against him.” This could be rendered as “accusations,” “grievances,” or “charges,” but since “ordered his accusers to state their accusations” sounds redundant in English, “charges” was used instead.
114 διατάσσω 2 has “κατὰ τὸ δ. αὐτοῖς in accordance their orders … Ac 23:31.”
115 Grk “taking.” The participle ἀναλαβόντες (analabontes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
116 Antipatris was a city in Judea about 35 mi (55 km) northwest of Jerusalem (about halfway to Caesarea). It was mentioned several times by Josephus ( 13.15.1 [13.390]; 1.4.7 [1.99]).
117 Grk “letting.” The participle ἐάσαντες (easantes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
118 Or “cavalrymen.”
119 Or “the headquarters.” παρεμβολή 2 has “barracks/headquarters of the Roman troops in Jerusalem Ac 21:34, 37; 22:24; 23:10, 16, 32.”
120 Grk “who, coming to Caesarea.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek construction, a new sentence was begun here in the translation. The relative pronoun (“who”) has been replaced with the referent (the horsemen) in the translation for clarity.
121 Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in . It was about 30 mi (50 km) from Antipatris.
122 παρίστημι/παριστάνω 1.b has “present, represent—α. lit. τινά τινι someone to someone παρέστησαν τὸν Παῦλον αὐτῷ Ac 23:33.”
123 Grk “he”; the referent (the governor) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
124 Grk “having read.” The participle ἀναγνούς (anagnous) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
125 The words “the letter” are not in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
126 Grk “and asking.” The participle ἐπερωτήσας (eperōtēsas) has been translated as a finite verb and καί (kai) left untranslated due to requirements of contemporary English style.
127 Governor Felix asked what province he was from to determine whether he had legal jurisdiction over Paul. He could have sent him to his home province for trial, but decided to hear the case himself.
128 Grk “and learning.” The participle πυθόμενος (puthomenos) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
129 Cilicia was a province in northeastern Asia Minor.
130 Or “I will hear your case.” διακούω has “as legal t.t. give someone an opportunity to be heard in court, give someone (τινός) a hearing Ac 23:35”; L&N 56.13 has “to give a judicial hearing in a legal matter—‘to hear a case, to provide a legal hearing, to hear a case in court.’ ”
131 Grk “ordering.” The participle κελεύσας (keleusas) has been translated as a finite verb and a new sentence begun here due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence. “Then” has also been supplied to indicate the logical and temporal sequence.
132 Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
133 Herod’s palace (Grk “Herod’s praetorium”) was the palace built in Caesarea by Herod the Great. See Josephus, 15.9.6 (15.331). These events belong to the period of a.d. 56–57.