Brought their charges against translates the same verb which appeared in 23.15. This expression brought their charges against is rendered in some languages as “accused Paul of having violated various laws” or “told Festus, This man Paul has committed various crimes.” A term such as “various” or “some” must be introduced in some languages in order to indicate the indefinite nature of these particular charges.

The sense of the verb used in verse 2 seems to be that of begged (so also Phillips, An American Translation*, Moffatt; Jerusalem Bible “urgently asking”) rather than merely “asked” (New English Bible). The tense of the verb indicates action in progress, that is, “they were begging Festus.” Both in this verse and in the following verse the Good News Translation has made pronominal subjects explicit; here “him” has been rendered as Festus, and in the following verse “him” has been rendered as Paul. In trying to relate the verb begged to the favor which was asked of Festus, it is often useful to place the content of what was requested in the form of direct discourse—for example, “they begged Festus, Please cause Paul to come here to Jerusalem.” The use of a term such as “please” not only suggests the concept of favor but also reinforces the meaning of begged. In some languages a term such as favor is translated as “to do good for them,” “to do them a kindness,” or “to be helpful to them.”

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 .