24:6a

even: Here this word means “also.” Tertullus implies that Paul was a worse person than being a leader of a sect, because here he claimed Paul tried to desecrate the Jewish temple. Other ways to translate this word are:

also (God’s Word)
-or-
Furthermore (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
and worse than that,
-or-
And that’s not all

tried to desecrate the temple: The word desecrate refers to making the temple unfit for religious uses. Doing this is very offensive to those who follow that religion. Tertullus referred to what some Jews from Asia yelled in Acts 21:27–29. They claimed that Paul tried to bring a non-Jewish person into the area only allowed for Jews. If that had happened, all religious services would have stopped until the temple was ritually cleansed. The clause implies that he did not succeed in desecrating the temple. Other ways to translate this clause are:

tried to defile the Temple (Good News Translation)
-or-
attempted to profane the Temple (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
tried to disgrace the temple (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
was trying to make the Temple unclean (New Century Version)

the temple: This refers to the temple in Jerusalem. It was the main place where Jews worshiped God. In some languages this must be made clear. For example:

the temple ⌊in Jerusalem⌋
-or-
the ⌊Jewish⌋ temple

If Paul had brought Gentiles into the temple courts reserved for the Jews, the Jews would have considered that he had desecrated the temple as well.

24:6b

so we seized him: This clause in Greek is literally “whom we seized.” This clause is a result of 24:6a, so the Berean Standard Bible adds so here. Use whatever is natural for that meaning. For example:

but we seized him (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
attempted to profane the Temple. We placed him under arrest. (New Jerusalem Bible)

seized: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as seized refers to grabbing someone. It can also mean “arrest.” For example:

arrested (Good News Translation)

24:6c–8a

There is a textual issue here:

(1) The earliest Greek manuscripts do not have 24:6c–8a.

(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, English Standard Version, New American Bible, Revised Edition, New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, NET Bible, Revised English Bible, New Century Version)

(2) Some later Greek manuscripts have 24:6c–8a, which reads:

and wanted to judge him according to our law. But the commander, Lysias, came and with the use of much force snatched him from our hands and ordered his accusers to come before you

(King James Version, New American Standard Bible (in brackets))

It is recommended that you follow option (1), because the UBS Handbook Greek NT recommends it.

Many English versions put 24:6c–8a in a footnote. You should include 24:6c–8a as a footnote. An example footnote is:

Only some of the later Greek manuscripts include 24:6c–8a, which reads: and wanted to judge him according to our law. But the commander, Lysias, came and with the use of much force snatched him from our hands and ordered his accusers to come before you.

If the common language version in your area includes this verse in their translation, you may want to include it in brackets, as the New American Standard Bible does.

If you put 24:6c–8a in a footnote, here are several ways to number the verses:

• Put the number 7 after the number 6 in 24:6. Put the footnote marker before 24:8. For example:

6–7…so we seized him. * 8By…

• Do not include the number 7. Put the footnote marker before 24:8. For example:

6…so we seized him. * 8By…

• Indicate a span of verses 6 to 8. For example:

6–8…so we seized him. * By…

You probably want to follow how the common language version in your area did this.

[and we would have judged him according to our law]: The Jewish leaders wanted to take Paul to court and try him under Jewish law.

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