In many languages one cannot speak of “giving a commandment.” One must simply “command” or “speak a commandment,” for example, “this is the way the Lord commanded us” or “with these words the Lord commanded us.” (In this context “us” is exclusive.)

This quotation comes from the Septuagint of Isaiah 49.6, though one brief phrase of the Septuagint text is omitted by Paul. It comes from one of the “servant poems” in the Old Testament in which God sends his “servant” as a messenger to all the nations. Simeon (in Luke 2.32) applied these words solely to Jesus, while in the present passage Paul seems to be applying them first of all to Jesus and then in an extended sense to the Christian messengers, though it is possible that Paul has in mind only the Christian messengers with no reference to Jesus. However, the pronoun you in this quotation is singular.

The way of salvation may be variously rendered, for way in this context refers to the means or instrument, “it is through you that the whole world will be saved” or in the active form, “it is through you that God will save the whole world.” Quite naturally world in this type of context must refer to the people of the world, not to the physical earth.

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 .