Acts 28:18

Greek (Tischendorf 8th ed.)

English Translation

who, when they had examined me, desired to set me free, because there was no cause of death in me.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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ἀνακρίναντές

anakrínō

G350

“to examine”

Verb, Aorist, Active, Participle, Nominative, Plural, Masculine

Appears 16× in the Greek New Testament
First appears at Luke 23:14

Full Thayer's Definition

Origin: from G303 and G2919

TDNT: 18:43,5

1. examine or judge a. to investigate, examine, enquire into, scrutinise, sift, question 1. specifically in a forensic sense of a judge to hold an investigation 2. to interrogate, examine the accused or witnesses b. to judge of, estimate, determine (the excellence or defects of any person or thing

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

13: words
12: distinct lemmas
Acts: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is ἀνακρίναντές to examine G350 — appearing just 16 times in the whole Greek New Testament.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

ἀνακρίναντές to examine G350 occurs in 14 verses of the Greek New Testament. Also found in:

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse:

με I G1473 ×2

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Acts 28:18 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Acts 26:31–32 When they had withdrawn, they spoke one to another, saying, "This man does nothing worthy of death or of bonds."
Acts 23:29 I found him to be accused about questions of their law, but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or of bonds.
Acts 22:24–25 the commanding officer commanded him to be brought into the barracks, ordering him to be examined by scourging, that he might know for what crime they shouted against him like that.
Acts 22:30 But on the next day, desiring to know the truth about why he was accused by the Jews, he freed him from the bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all the council to come together, and brought Paul down and set him before them.
Acts 24:10 When the governor had beckoned to him to speak, Paul answered, "Because I know that you have been a judge of this nation for many years, I cheerfully make my defense,
Acts 24:22 But Felix, having more exact knowledge concerning the Way, deferred them, saying, "When Lysias, the commanding officer, comes down, I will decide your case."
Acts 25:7–8 When he had come, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing against him many and grievous charges which they could not prove,

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Commentary

Notes on Acts 28:18 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Commentary source

Bengel's Gnomon

Johann Albrecht Bengel

Act 28:18. Ἐδούλοντο ἀπολῦσαι, were wishing to let me go) ch. Act 24:23, etc.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Meyer's Critical & Exegetical Commentary

Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer

Act_28:18-19. This observation of the apostle, disclosing his presence at Rome thus brought about as a position of necessity, completes (comp. Act_25:25) the narrative of Act_25:9. After his vindication (Act_25:8) we are to conceive, namely, that Festus expresses his willingness to release him; this the Jews oppose (Act_28:19), and now Festus proposes that Paul should allow himself to be judged in Jerusalem (Act_25:9), whereupon the latter appeals to Caesar (Act_25:11).

οὐχ ὡς τοῦ ἔθνους … κατηγορεῖν] thus purely on the defensive, and not in unpatriotic hostility.

ἔχων and the present infinitive (see the critical remarks) refer to what Paul has to do now in Rome.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Expositor's Greek Testament

ed. W. Robertson Nicoll

Act 28:18 . ἀνακ ., cf. Act 24:8 , Act 25:6 ; Act 25:26 , referring here to the judicial inquiries of Felix and Festus.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(18) Who, when they had examined me . . .—It is possible that we have here only the summary of a fuller narrative, and that he gave an outline of the proceedings that had taken place between his first seizure and his appeal to the emperor. What he states, however, was fully warranted by the facts. No Roman magistrate had ever condemned him. Agrippa and Festus had decided that he might have been released (Act_26:32). He had been constrained to appeal to Cæsar in self-defence, to avoid the danger of being handed over to a prejudiced tribunal or to plots of assassination (Act_25:8-10). But, as it was, he came not, as other appellants so often came, with counter-accusations. On all such matters his lips were sealed, and his motive now was to remove any unfavourable impressions which reports from Judæa might have left on the minds of his hearers.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

18. would have let me go] [R. V. “desired to set me at liberty”] Alluding most probably to Agrippa’s remark (Act_26:32) and the statement of Festus (Act_25:25). It seems probable that Felix would have found means to set Paul free had the requisite bribe been offered to him (Act_24:26). All were convinced of his innocence.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

Who when they had examined me,.... About the things laid to his charge, had heard what his accusers had to object to him, and the defence he made for himself:

would have let me go; released him from his bonds, and set him at liberty to go where he pleased:

because there was no cause of death in me; no crime proved upon him, which was worthy of death; and this was the sense of Lysias the chief captain, and of Felix and Festus the Roman governors, and of King Agrippa.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

18 Who, when they had examined me, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me.

Ver. 18. Because there was no cause] See Act 25:25.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

When they had examined me ... - Acts 24:10-27; Acts 25; Act 26:31-32.

No cause of death - No crime worthy of death.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

Examined me; as Festus did in the presence of king Agrippa, Act 25:26, who, they were both unbelievers, yet justified Paul, acknowledging that he had not committed any thing worthy of bonds, much less of death. Thus our Saviour was declared innocent by Pilate, Luk 23:4,14.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

Desired to set me at liberty for would have let me go, A.V.. Had examined me (ajnakrinantev me); see Act_4:9 Act_12:19 Act_24:8; Act_25:26. Desired to set me at liberty. (see Act_25:18, Act_25:19, 25 26:31, 32)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

McGarvey & Pendleton's Commentaries

J. W. McGarvey

See notes on verse 17

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges

18. ἀνακρίναντές με ἐβούλοντο ἀπολῦσαι, having examined me, they desired to set me at liberty. Alluding most probably to Agrippa’s remark (Act 26:32) and the statement of Festus (Act 25:25). It seems probable that Felix would have found means to set Paul free had the requisite bribe been offered to him (Act 24:26). All were convinced of his innocence.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Alford’s Greek Testament

Henry Alford

18. ἐβούλ. ἀπολῦσαι] This may have been at ch. 25:8. The possibility of such a release is asserted by Agrippa, ch. 26:32.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Acts, in the Acts, opens this verse with 13 words (12 distinct Greek lemmas). Its most distinctive word is anakrínō (“to examine”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “to examine” (anakrínō) shape what this verse is saying?
Luke 23:14 shares the word «to examine» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“I” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
Reading how Bengel's Gnomon and Meyer's Critical & Exegetical Commentary read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 16 words in this verse.
“I” occurs 2× in this single verse.
12 distinct Greek lemmas span 13 words in this verse.