Kisah Para Rasul 12:15

12:15 But they said to her, “You’ve lost your mind!” ¹  But she kept insisting that it was Peter, ²  and they kept saying, ³  “It is his angel!” ⁴ 

Kisah Para Rasul 16:38

16:38 The police officers reported these words to the magistrates. They were frightened when they heard Paul and Silas ⁵  were Roman citizens ⁶ 

[12:15]  ¹ sn “You’ve lost your mind!” Such a response to the miraculous is not unusual in Luke-Acts. See Luke 24:11; Acts 26:25. The term μαίνομαι (mainomai) can have the idea of being “raving mad” or “totally irrational” (BDAG 610 s.v.). It is a strong expression.

[12:15]  ² tn Grk “she kept insisting that the situation was thus” (cf. BDAG 422 s.v. ἔχω 10.a). Most translations supply a less awkward English phrase like “it was so”; the force of her insistence, however, is that “it was Peter,” which was the point under dispute.

[12:15]  ³ tn The two imperfect tense verbs, διϊσχυρίζετο (diiscurizeto) and ἔλεγον (elegon), are both taken iteratively. The picture is thus virtually a shouting match between Rhoda and the rest of the believers.

[12:15]  ⁴ sn The assumption made by those inside, “It is his angel,” seems to allude to the idea of an attending angel (cf. Gen 48:16 LXX; Matt 18:10; Test. Jacob 1:10).

[16:38]  ⁵ tn Grk “heard they”; the referents (Paul and Silas) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:38]  ⁶ sn Roman citizens. This fact was disturbing to the officials because due process was a right for a Roman citizen, well established in Roman law. To flog a Roman citizen was considered an abomination. Such punishment was reserved for noncitizens.