In Greek, this verse is a relative clause continuing the sentence begun in the previous verse. It is interesting to note that the verb rendered to defile is not the usual term that Jews used to describe someone who had defiled their temple, but it is a more general term which would more likely appeal to someone who was not a Jew. To defile the temple may be rendered as “make the temple unholy” or “take away the holiness from the temple.”

The verb rendered arrested may possibly mean “caught” (An American Translation*) or “seized” (Revised Standard Version). It should be noticed that everything from the last half of verse 6 through the first half of verse 8 has been placed in brackets. The reason for this is that there is a considerable degree of doubt regarding the text at this point. In fact, the UBS Textual Committee has rated this passage as a “D” reading, indicating that there is the highest degree of doubt regarding the original text at this place. Most modern translations either omit these verses entirely (see Moffatt, An American Translation*, and Phillips) or place them in a footnote (see Revised Standard Version and New English Bible). Even if one does include these verses as a genuine part of the text, they appear in somewhat different forms in the various ancient manuscripts. The longer reading which the Good News Translation has included is the one which is generally accepted as the most probable of the various alternative renderings.

Judge him according to our own Law may be rendered as “judge him as our own Law says we should,” “judge him by what it says in our Law,” or “judge him by quoting our own Law.”

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 .