Some men of our group is a deliberately vague phrase (cf. v. 1). Upset you is literally “upsetting your souls,” with “souls” used as equivalent to “persons.” The word rendered upset is a very strong term, and it refers to reversing what has been done or to tearing down what has been built.

The final clause they had not, however, received any instructions from us to do this may be equivalent to “we did not, however, tell them that they should do this.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .