Acts 16:34-36

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Acts 16:34 tn Grk “He”; the referent (the jailer) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2. Acts 16:34 tn Grk “placed [food] on the table” (a figurative expression). Since the actual word for food is not specified, it would also be possible to translate “set a meal before them,” but since this is taking place in the middle of the night, the preparations necessary for a full meal would probably not have been made. More likely Paul and Silas were given whatever was on hand that needed little or no preparation.
3. Acts 16:34 tn Or “he was overjoyed.”
4. Acts 16:34 tn The translation “come to believe” reflects more of the resultative nuance of the perfect tense here.
5. Acts 16:34 tn The phrase “together with his entire household” is placed at the end of the English sentence so that it refers to both the rejoicing and the belief. A formal equivalence translation would have “and he rejoiced greatly with his entire household that he had come to believe in God,” but the reference to the entire household being baptized in v. 33 presumes that all in the household believed.
6. Acts 16:35 tn The translation “day is breaking” for ἡμέρα γίνεται (hēmera ginetai) in this verse is given by BDAG 436 s.v. ἡμέρα 1.a.
7. Acts 16:35 tn On the term translated “magistrates,” see BDAG 947-48 s.v. στρατηγός 1. These city leaders were properly called duoviri, but were popularly known as praetors (στρατηγοί, stratēgoi). They were the chief officials of Philippi. The text leaves the impression that they came to the decision to release Paul and Silas independently. God was at work everywhere.
8. Acts 16:35 tn On the term ῥαβδοῦχος (rhabdouchos) see BDAG 902 s.v. The term was used of the Roman lictor and roughly corresponds to contemporary English “constable, policeman.”
9. Acts 16:36 tn The word “saying” is not in the Greek text, but is implied; it is necessary in English because the content of what the jailer said to Paul and Silas is not the exact message related to him by the police officers, but is a summary with his own additions.
10. Acts 16:36 tn The word “orders” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
11. Acts 16:36 tn Grk “So coming out now go in peace.” The participle ἐξελθόντες (exelthontes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.