19:2a

Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?: At that time, some believers did not receive the Holy Spirit immediately when they decided to believe in Jesus (8:15–17). Some people were not taught about the Holy Spirit. So Paul probably wanted to know what these men knew.

In some languages what is believed must be said. If that is true in your language, refer to believing in Jesus. For example:

Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed ⌊in Jesus⌋?

Did you receive the Holy Spirit: In English, the word receive implies someone else willingly gave what was received. The word “take” does not imply that someone else willingly gave it. It is implied here that God willingly gave the Holy Spirit.

Many languages have the same word for both “receive” and “take.” In some of those languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate that the believers took the Holy Spirit or that God did not give it willingly. If that is true in your language, you may want to use a different word than receive. For example:

Was the Holy Spirit given to you…?
-or-
Did ⌊God⌋ give the Holy Spirit to you…?

became believers: Here this word means “accepted that a message is true.”

19:2b

No, they answered, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit: This clause in Greek is literally “But we have not heard if the/a Holy Spirit is/exists.” These men had not heard of the Holy Spirit. For example:

We have never even heard of a Holy Spirit (New Century Version)

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