Acts 23:19

ἐπιλαβόμενος σὲ τῆς χειρός, and having taken him by the hand. The messenger sent by a Roman citizen was entitled to some consideration, and the action of the chief captain is meant to encourage the young man. The chief captain would naturally incline after his conversation with him to favour Paul rather than his Jewish accusers. We can gather this from the tone of the letter which he subsequently sent to Cæsarea.

κατ' ἰδίαν ἐπυνθάνετο, inquired privately. The A.V. joins the adverb with ἀναχωρήσας but as this verb of itself implies a going aside, it is better, and more also in accordance with the order of the Greek, to join it with ἐπυνθάνετο.