19:33a
The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander forward: Here the word pushed can have its literal meaning or the figurative meaning of “force someone to do something he does not want to do.” It is not clear which meaning is correct here. The Jews made an effort to put Alexander in front of the crowd so that he could speak. Some versions translate the figurative meaning. For example:
the Jews made him go up to the front (Good News Translation)
The Jews in the crowd: Not every person in the crowd instructed Alexander about what to say. For example:
some of the crowd shouted (New International Version)
Alexander: Alexander was probably a Jew. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate or imply that Alexander was not a Jew. If that is true in your language, you may want to explain it in your translation. For example:
Alexander, ⌊one of them,⌋
forward: This phrase refers to the place where someone could speak and be heard by everyone in the amphitheater. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
the front of the crowd (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
the speaking place
19:33b
to explain himself: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to explain himself has several meanings. There are several ways to interpret the Greek word. The two main ways are:
(1) It means instruct or advise here. For example:
told him to explain the situation (New Living Translation (2004))
(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New American Bible, Revised Edition, New Living Translation (2004), Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible, New Century Version, English Standard Version)
(2) It means conclude. Some people concluded that Alexander was involved in the trouble or responsible for it.
concluded that Alexander was responsible (Good News Translation)
(Good News Translation, New American Standard Bible, God’s Word, NET Bible)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).
19:33c
he motioned for silence: This clause in Greek is literally “he waved/moved his hand.” It implies that Alexander did this in order to ask the crowd to be quiet. Use the usual word or phrase in your language for asking for a crowd to be quiet. For example:
he gestured ⌊to the crowd⌋ for silence
-or-
he made a motion/sign with his hand ⌊for the crowd⌋ to become quiet
You may want to use the gesture in your language that signals a crowd to be quiet. See how you translated the word “motioned” in 12:17 or 13:16.
so he could make his defense: The phrase does not say how Alexander would make his defense. If possible, do not say in your translation what Alexander would have said.
In some languages what is defended must be said. Alexander probably would have said that the Jews had not caused this trouble and the trouble was connected to Paul. If that is true in your language, refer generally to the cause of the uproar. For example:
in order to defend ⌊himself and his fellow Jews⌋ ⌊about the trouble⌋ ⌊in the city⌋
the people: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as people is literally “assembly.” It is the same word as in 19:30a that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “assembly.” It refers to the people gathered in the amphitheater.
© 2001, 2021 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.