Acts 23:23,24

Acts 23:23-24

The Western text, reconstructed by A. C. Clark on the basis chiefly of 614 it^{gig, h} vg^mss syr^hmg, reads as follows:…~Etoima,sate stratiw,taj( o[pwj poreuqw/sin e[wj Kaisarei,aj( i`ppei/j e`kato.n kai. dexiola,bouj diakosi,ouj\ kai. avpo. tri,thj w[raj th/j nukto.j keleu,ei e`toi,mouj ei=nai poreu,esqai\ (24) kai. toi/j e`katonta,rcoij parh,ggeilen kth,nh parasth/sai( i[na evpibiba,santej to.n Pau/lon dia. nukto.j diasw,swsin eivj Kaisa,reian pro.j Fh,lika to.n h`gemo,na\ evfobh,qh ga.r mh,pote a`rpa,santej auvto.n oi` VIoudai/oi avpokte,nwsi( kai. auvto.j metaxu. e;gklhsin e;ch| w`j avrgu,rion eivlhfw,j (“… ‘Get ready soldiers to go to Caesarea, a hundred horsemen and two hundred spearmen,’ and he commanded that they be ready to start at the third hour of the night. (24) And he ordered the centurions to provide mounts for Paul to ride, and bring him by night to Felix the governor; for he was afraid that the Jews would seize him [Paul] and kill him, and afterwards he would incur the accusation of having taken money” [i.e. to allow Paul to be lynched]). The purpose of the concluding clauses is to provide an explanation for the tribune’s action.