SIL Translator’s Notes on Acts 23:18

23:18a

So: The Greek phrase is literally “So then.” It indicates following action and introduces the result of Paul’s request.

the centurion took him to the commander: The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the centurion took him are literally “taking him, he brought/led (him).” The first clause indicates that the centurion left Paul, taking his nephew with him. The second clause indicates that the centurion arrived with the nephew before the commander. For example:

he took him, ⌊leaving Paul,⌋ and brought him to the commander

But in English it is more natural to only use one verb here. For example:

the man took him to the tribune (New Jerusalem Bible)

him: Here the pronoun him refers to Paul’s nephew.

23:18b–c

asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you: Some languages need to express to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you as direct speech.

The centurion used the word asked because he knew that Paul’s command of 23:17b was really a request. If you translated 23:17b as a request, do so here as well. For example:

asked me, ‘Could you take this young man to the commander? He has something to tell him.’

But if you translated 23:17b as a command, do so here as well. For example:

said to me, ‘Take this young man to the commander, because he has something to tell him.’

© 2001, 2021 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
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.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments