4:16a

At my first defense: The phrase my first defense refers to a session of a Roman court in which a judge asked Paul some preliminary questions. Paul tried to prove that he was innocent of the things people had accused him of doing. During the first session, the judge did not decide definitely whether Paul was guilty or innocent, and so he ordered Paul to appear in court a second time.

If the people in your area do not completely understand expressions that refer to courts and trials, it may be necessary for you to translate the phrase At my first defense something like this: “the first time I had to stand in front of the judge and answer his questions….”

4:16b

no one stood with me: No one went with Paul to testify in his favor when the judge questioned him that first time.

The order of words in Greek indicates that Paul was emphasizing no one.

4:16c

but everyone deserted me: Paul used the strong Greek word of contrast, alla, to emphasize everyone in contrast to the “no one” in 4:16b. He had hoped that at least one of his friends would be at the court to defend him when the judge asked him questions, but they all had abandoned him.

4:16d

May it not be charged against them: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as charged against is a term used to describe a person calculating costs and debts. Here Paul used the term figuratively, in the sense that God keeps a record of people’s sins. Paul’s friends had abandoned him, but he prayed that God would not count or record this act against them as a sin.

© 2003 by SIL International®

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.