15:32a

Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets: The Greek word that can mean “also” is in this phrase. It probably indicates that besides the Christian leaders choosing them to confirm the letter, they were also prophets. For example:

Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves (New American Standard Bible)

But many English versions do not translate the Greek word.

prophets: A prophet was a person who received messages from God to tell people. The message from God may be in words or visions. See how you translated this word in 15:15.

15:32b

said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as said much probably refers to many messages that God gave to Judas and Silas as his prophets to tell the believers at Antioch. Other ways to translate this are:

said many things to encourage the believers and make them stronger (New Century Version)
-or-
greatly encouraged and strengthened the brothers by many talks to them (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)

It is implied that they already confirmed that the letter was truly from the apostles and elders in Jerusalem.

strengthen: Here the word strengthen refers to helping the brothers to believe in Jesus well and obey him wholeheartedly. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly refer only to physical strengthening. If this is true in your language, indicate that it refers to helping them to believe well. For example:

strengthen ⌊their faith⌋
-or-
helped them to believe even more ⌊in Jesus⌋

brothers: This refers generally to the believers in Antioch, both men and women. See how you translated this word in 15:1.

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