To all the people of Israel must not be taken to mean that John preached to each and every Israelite, but it indicates that his message was directed to all of them. “All people” is frequently used in the Old Testament with the meaning “many people.” Moreover, in most languages a term for “all” is also used in the relative sense to mean “very many.”

That they should turn from their sins and be baptized translates the Greek construction “a baptism of repentance.” The Greek expression “a baptism of repentance” is essentially a noun phrase which has been constructed by what grammarians call transformations from a verb expression “repent and be baptized.” In the noun form of this relatively complex expression in Greek there is no specified way in which the two events are related. However, from occurrences of these two expressions in other contexts, we can determine that the phrase consisting of two nouns is basically an adaptation of the verb expression. Therefore the translation turn from their sins and be baptized is fully justified.

In a number of languages the closest equivalent of “repentance” is “to turn from one’s sins.” “Repentance” actually involves three important meaningful components: (1) a person has done something wrong, (2) he feels deeply sorrowful for what he has done, and (3) he changes, with the intent not to commit the sin again. In both Hebrew and Greek the focus of attention in “repentance” is this last component, namely, the change. Accordingly, one should employ some term in a receptor language which will likewise focus on this aspect and not merely upon a person’s feeling of contrition or sorrow for having sinned.

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 .