The Lord’s hand, an expression used to indicate the power of the Lord (see 11.21) is here used of the Lord’s power to judge and to punish. Such an expression as the Lord’s hand will come down on you is, however, not very meaningful in some languages. It might even imply some kind of blessing, but of course this would not fit in the context. Some translators have employed expressions such as “the Lord will strike you down” or “the Lord will hit you” thus implying indirectly a reference to “hand.” In other instances one may use an expression for judgment or condemnation, such as “the Lord will condemn you right now.”

And will not see the light of day is a participial construction indicating the extent of the blindness that will come upon Elymas. For a time may be taken in an indefinite temporal sense, though it is possible also to understand the phrase in the sense of “until a given time.” If this latter interpretation is followed, then the phrase would mean “until the time appointed by God.”

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 .