The Good News Translation has made it explicit that Paul (Greek “he”) is the subject of the verb shook. In Greek there is a very evident contrast between the subject of this sentence and the subject of the following sentence, “he shook … they were waiting.”

The final phrase, without being harmed at all, may be translated as “and he did not suffer anything” or “and the snake did not cause him harm.”

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 .