Passage

Acts 23.21

Book: Acts · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"19. And the chief captain took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, What is it that thou hast to tell me? 20. And he said, The Jews have agreed to ask thee to bring down Paul to-morrow unto the council, as though thou wouldest inquire somewhat more exactly concerning him."

"21. Do not thou therefore yield unto them: for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, who have bound themselves under a curse, neither to eat nor to drink till they have slain him: and now are they ready, looking for the promise from thee."

"22. So the chief captain let the young man go, charging him, Tell no man that thou hast signified these things to me. 23. And he called unto him two of the centurions, and said, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go as far as Caesarea, and horsemen threescore and ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night:" (Acts 23:19-23, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"19. The commanding officer took him by the hand, and going aside, asked him privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?” 20. He said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though intending to inquire somewhat more accurately concerning him."

"21. Therefore don’t yield to them, for more than forty men lie in wait for him, who have bound themselves under a curse neither to eat nor to drink until they have killed him. Now they are ready, looking for the promise from you.”"

"22. So the commanding officer let the young man go, charging him, “Tell no one that you have revealed these things to me.” 23. He called to himself two of the centurions, and said, “Prepare two hundred soldiers to go as far as Caesarea, with seventy horsemen, and two hundred men armed with spears, at the third hour of the night.”" (Acts 23:19-23, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"19. Then the chief captain took him by the hand, and went with him aside privately, and asked him, What is that thou hast to tell me? 20. And he said, The Jews have agreed to desire thee that thou wouldest bring down Paul to morrow into the council, as though they would enquire somewhat of him more perfectly."

"21. But do not thou yield unto them: for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, which have bound themselves with an oath, that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him: and now are they ready, looking for a promise from thee."

"22. So the chief captain then let the young man depart, and charged him, See thou tell no man that thou hast shewed these things to me. 23. And he called unto him two centurions, saying, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea, and horsemen threescore and ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night;" (Acts 23:19-23, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"19. And the chief captain having taken him by the hand, and having withdrawn by themselves, inquired, 'What is that which thou hast to tell me?' 20. and he said, 'The Jews agreed to request thee, that to-morrow to the sanhedrim thou mayest bring down Paul, as being about to enquire something more exactly concerning him;"

"21. thou, therefore, mayest thou not yield to them, for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, who did anathematize themselves, not to eat nor to drink till they kill him, and now they are ready, waiting for the promise from thee.'"

"22. The chief captain, then, indeed, let the young man go, having charged [him] to tell no one, 'that these things thou didst shew unto me;' 23. and having called near a certain two of the centurions, he said, 'Make ready soldiers two hundred, that they may go on unto Caesarea, and horsemen seventy, and spearmen two hundred, from the third hour of the night;" (Acts 23:19-23, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

H2763 - charam

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.