Paragraph 1:15–17

1:15a–b

In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (a gathering of about a hundred and twenty) and said: The Greek is literally “In these days, Peter, having stood among the brothers, said (and the gathering was in itself about one hundred and twenty).” But in the Greek, the phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as a gathering of about a hundred and twenty in 1:15b occurs between the verb said and what Peter said. The Berean Standard Bible puts the phrase after the word brothers in 1:15a to indicate that it is additional information about the brothers. The Good News Translation indicates the purpose of standing (“to speak”) in this verse and puts the verb “said” in 1:16a. Consider the best place to place the verb “said” with the extra information in 1:15b.

In those days: This phrase refers to the days after Jesus went to heaven. Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

One day (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
At this time (New American Standard Bible)

brothers: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible literally translates as brothers means “fellow believers,” not Peter’s actual brothers. In some languages, a person may normally address a fellow believer as “brother” or “sibling.” In your translation, you should make it clear that Peter himself was one of those who believed in Jesus.

(a gathering of about a hundred and twenty) and said: This comment by Luke as the author indicates the approximate number of believers who had gathered together there. The Berean Standard Bible puts parentheses around it to show that this is extra information, not a main part of the story.

gathering: This word probably refers to all the people there, both men and women. For example:

the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons (New Revised Standard Version)

a hundred and twenty: Some languages do not have words for large numbers such as hundred. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Use numerals from the major language. For example:

120 (New Living Translation (2004))

• Use the major language words.

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