The Jews seized this man and were about to kill him translates a passive construction in Greek: “this man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them.” The reference to his having discovered that Paul was a Roman citizens and therefore went to rescue him is, of course, a misrepresentation of the facts. But this is so typical of bureaucratic correspondence that there is every reason to believe it to be an accurate report of what Lysias wrote.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .