Acts 22:1-3

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Acts 22:1 sn Listen to my defense. This is the first of several speeches Paul would make in his own defense: Acts 24:10ff.; 25:8, 16; and 26:1ff. For the use of such a speech (“apologia”) in Greek, see Josephus, Ag. Ap. 2.15 [2.147]; Wis 6:10.
2. Acts 22:1 tn The adverb νυνί (nuni, “now”) is connected with the phrase τῆς πρὸς ὑμᾶς νυνὶ ἀπολογίας (tēs pros humas nuni apologias) rather than the verb ἀκούσατε (akousate), and the entire construction (prepositional phrase plus adverb) is in first attributive position and thus translated into English by a relative clause.
3. Acts 22:2 tn ἀκούσαντες (akousantes) has been taken temporally.
4. Acts 22:2 tn Or “spoke out to.” L&N 33.27 has “to address an audience, with possible emphasis upon loudness—‘to address, to speak out to.’ πολλῆς δέ σιγῆς γενομένης προσεφώνησεν τῇ ᾿Εβραίδι διαλέκτῳ ‘when they were quiet, he addressed them in Hebrew’ Ac 21:40.”
5. Acts 22:2 tn Grk “in the Hebrew language.” See the note on “Aramaic” in 21:40.
6. Acts 22:2 tn BDAG 613-14 s.v. μᾶλλον 1 “Abs. μ. can mean to a greater degree (than before), even more, now more than ever Lk 5:15; Jn 5:18; 19:8; Ac 5:14; 22:2; 2 Cor 7:7.”
7. Acts 22:2 tn BDAG 440 s.v. ἡσυχία 2 has “παρέχειν ἡσυχίαν quiet down, give a hearing…Ac 22:2.”sn This is best taken as a parenthetical note by the author.
8. Acts 22:2 tn Grk “and.” Since this represents a continuation of the speech begun in v. 1, καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the logical sequence.
9. Acts 22:3 tn Grk “a Jewish man.”
10. Acts 22:3 tn BDAG 74 s.v. ἀνατρέφω b has “of mental and spiritual nurture bring up, rear, train…ἀνατεθραμμένος ἐν τ. πόλει ταύτῃ 22:3.”
11. Acts 22:3 tn Or “with precision.” Although often translated “strictly” this can be misunderstood for “solely” in English. BDAG 39 s.v. ἀκρίβεια gives the meaning as “exactness, precision.” To avoid the potential misunderstanding the translation “with strictness” is used, although it is slightly more awkward than “strictly.”
12. Acts 22:3 tn Grk “strictly at the feet of” (an idiom).
13. Acts 22:3 tn Or “brought up in this city under Gamaliel, educated with strictness…” The phrase παρὰ τοὺς πόδας Γαμαλιὴλ (para tous podas Gamaliēl) could be understood with what precedes or with what follows. The punctuation of NA²⁸ and UBS⁵, which place a comma after ταύτῃ (tautē), has been followed in the translation.sn Gamaliel was a famous Jewish scholar and teacher mentioned here and in Acts 5:34. He had a grandson of the same name and is referred to as “Gamaliel the Elder” to avoid confusion. He is quoted a number of times in the Mishnah, was given the highest possible title for Jewish teachers, Rabba (cf. John 20:16), and was highly regarded in later rabbinic tradition.
14. Acts 22:3 tn Or “our forefathers.”
15. Acts 22:3 tn Grk “ancestors, being.” The participle ὑπάρχων (huparchōn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
16. Acts 22:3 tn BDAG 427 s.v. ζηλωτής 1.a.α has “of pers.…ζ. τοῦ θεοῦ one who is loyal to God Ac 22:3.”