Don’t be afraid, Paul! is a present imperative in Greek and may have the force of “stop being afraid, Paul.” Most translations render in with this same force.

On the necessity to stand before the Emperor see 23.11. Must translates the same verb rendered should have in verse 21 (see 1.16).

God, in his goodness, has given (Phillips “and God, as a mark of his favor toward you”) is an attempt to render the force of the Greek verb which most translations give merely as “God has granted.” On the use of this verb see 3.14; 25.11, 16. The conjunction and which introduces this final clause in verse 24 seems perfectly natural in English, but in some languages it would be misleading since it would imply that (1) Paul’s stand before the Emperor and (2) God having given to Paul the lives of those sailing with him, were two coordinate events. In some languages, therefore, one must simply drop the conjunction and.

The equivalent in some languages of in his goodness is “because he is so good” or “because of his kindness.”

In some languages one simply cannot speak of a person being “given the lives of others.” In fact, a literal rendering of this phrase might even imply the death of such individuals. The equivalent expression in some instances, therefore, is “because God is so good, he has done you a kindness: he will cause that all those who are sailing with you will remain alive” or “… none of those sailing with you will die.”

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 .