The god Zeus, whose temple stood just outside the town is the way that most translators understand the meaning of the Greek; however, some think the reference is to the name of a local deity (see Jerusalem Bible “Zeus-outside-the-gate”). The flowers (literally “wreaths of flowers”) were draped around animals to be sacrificed. Commentators differ as to whether the gate referred to was the gate of the city, the gate of the temple, or the gate of the house where the apostles were staying; but it seems more in keeping with the story to suppose that the gate referred to was the gate of the temple. The purpose of the sacrifice that the priest wanted to offer is clearly evident in the context; it was to be offered to the apostles, and for this reason the Good News Translation has made the purpose of his intended sacrifice explicit (see vv. 14 ff.).
The phrase the priest of the god Zeus may need to be somewhat more explicit in some languages—for example, “the priest who served the god Zeus” or even “the priest in the temple of the god Zeus.”
The phrase whose temple may be translated as “the building in which people worshiped Zeus.”
The verb brought must frequently be translated by two quite different verbs, one which would apply to “bulls” and another to “flowers.” In the first instance it may be “caused to be led” or “caused to be driven,” while in the second it would be either “carried” or perhaps “caused to be carried.”
In this instance the term gate may often be rendered as merely “entrance” or “place where people went in.”
For languages which have no sacrificial system, to offer sacrifice to may be translated as “to kill an animal in honor of” or “to kill an animal as a gift to show respect for.” However, there must be direct implication of “worship”—for example, “to kill an animal in order to show worship to.”
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 .