Acts 16:27-29

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Acts 16:27 tn L&N 23.75 has “had awakened” here. It is more in keeping with contemporary English style, however, to keep the two verbal ideas parallel in terms of tense (“when the jailer woke up and saw”) although logically the second action is subsequent to the first.
2. Acts 16:27 tn The additional semantic component “standing” is supplied (“standing open”) to convey a stative nuance in English.
3. Acts 16:27 sn Was about to kill himself. The jailer’s penalty for failing to guard the prisoners would have been death, so he contemplated saving the leaders the trouble (see Acts 12:19; 27:42).
4. Acts 16:27 tn Or “thought.”
5. Acts 16:28 tn Grk “But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying.” The dative phrase μεγάλῃ φωνῇ (megalē phōnē) has been simplified as an English adverb (“loudly”), and the participle λέγων (legōn) has not been translated since it is redundant in English.
6. Acts 16:28 sn Do not harm yourself. Again the irony is that Paul is the agent through whom the jailer is spared.
7. Acts 16:29 tn Grk “he”; the referent (the jailer) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8. Acts 16:29 tn Or “and prostrated himself.”sn Fell down. The earthquake and the freeing of the prisoners showed that God’s power was present. Such power could only be recognized. The open doors opened the jailer’s heart.