By the use of three verbs, Paul gives the essential points in his biography: born … brought up … received (strict) instruction in the Law of our ancestors. Once again Paul emphasizes his Jewish origin: I am a Jew … brought up here in Jerusalem (literally “in this city,” that is, in Jerusalem). In some languages born in Tarsus is more naturally rendered as “Tarsus, in the province of Cilicia, is my hometown” or “Tarsus … is the town from which I come.”

There is some question regarding the relationship of the phrase as a student of Gamaliel to the context. It may be taken either with the verb that precedes it, brought up, or with the verb that follows, received … instruction. The Good News Translation follows the first alternative; the Jerusalem Bible follows the second: “I was brought up here in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was taught the exact observance of the Law of our ancestors.” (See also New English Bible, which parallels Jerusalem Bible.) As a student of Gamaliel is literally “at the feet of Gamaliel,” a reference to the way that the Jewish teachers taught their students; the teacher himself would sit on a stool with his students sitting on the ground in front of him. As a student of Gamaliel may be rendered either as “I learned from Gamaliel,” “Gamaliel was my teacher,” or “Gamaliel taught me.”

I received strict instruction in the Law is equivalent to “I learned carefully just how to obey the Law” or “I was taught just how I must obey the Law.”

The Law of our ancestors is merely another way of speaking of the Law of Moses and the traditions which had developed around it. The Law of our ancestors may be rendered as “the Laws which our ancestors followed,” “the Law which was given to our ancestors,” or “the Law which was passed on to us by our ancestors.”

Luke’s phrase (literally “being zealous for God as all of you are today”) refers to Paul’s dedication to God: I … was just as dedicated to God as all of you here today are (see Barclay “I am as whole-heartedly devoted to God as any of you here today” and Jerusalem Bible “I was as full of my duty towards God as you are today”). By making this statement, Paul was trying to point out to his listeners that he recognized their sincere dedication to God, but that he was no less dedicated to God than they.

An expression such as dedicated to God may be rendered as “I gave myself just as much to God” or “I gave myself just as much to work for God.”

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 .