5:34a

Pharisee: The Pharisees were one group within the Jewish religion. They were very careful to follow all the Jewish traditions, as well as obeying the laws that God had given to Moses. Here are some ways to translate this word:

• Spell the word Pharisee according to the sounds of your language and indicate that it refers to the people of that group. For example:

Farisi members
-or-
Parise adherents

• Spell the word Pharisee according to the sounds of your language and indicate that it refers to a group of people with certain beliefs. For example:

people belonging to the Farise religious sect/group
-or-
members of the religious group called the Farasi

See how you translated this word in Matthew 3:7, Mark 2:16, Luke 5:17, or John 1:24.

You may also want to explain the word Pharisee in a footnote or glossary. Here is an example footnote:

The Pharisees were a conservative Jewish religious group. They carefully followed the Old Testament laws and added other rules as well. They were the dominant religious group among the Jews and were highly respected by other Jews.

a teacher of the law: This phrase refers to a man who studied, interpreted, and taught the law of Moses. Here are some ways to translate this phrase:

a teacher of the Law ⌊of Moses⌋
-or-
an expert in religious law (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
expert on the laws ⌊that Moses wrote⌋

See how you translated this phrase in Matthew 2:4, Mark 1:22, Luke 5:17, or John 8:3.

5:34b

who was honored by all the people: This further describes Gamaliel. It does not separate this Gamaliel from other men named Gamaliel. For the correct meaning in some languages, translators must avoid the word who. For example:

and he was honored by all the people
-or-
and all the people honored him

5:34c

stood up in the Sanhedrin: This clause implies that Gamaliel was a member of the Sanhedrin. Gamaliel was already there among the other members of the Sanhedrin. Their custom was to sit while listening and stand to speak.

Sanhedrin: See how you translated this word in 5:27.

5:34d

and ordered that the men be put outside for a short time: The word ordered indicates that Gamaliel commanded someone, probably the temple guards (5:26), to take the apostles out of the room where the Sanhedrin was meeting. Here are some other ways to translate this:

and told ⌊the guards⌋ to take the men/apostles out of the room for a short time
-or-
and said, “Take(plur) these men outside for a little while”

the men be put outside: This clause is passive. Probably Gamaliel told the temple guards to take the apostles out of the room. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:

⌊someone⌋ put the men outside
-or-

⌊the guards⌋ put the men outside

If you use “someone,” as in the first example, it should not imply someone other than the temple guards. If it does, use the second example.

a short time: This probably refers to some minutes less than an hour.

General Comment on 5:34d

This clause implies that the guards did take the apostles out of the room. In some languages a literal translation would imply that the apostles were still in the room. If that is true in your language, add the implied information here. For example:

and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. ⌊And they did.⌋

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