The root meaning of the verb translated showed his care for is “to visit.” But this verb is used here (as also in Luke 1.68, 78 and 7.16) of God’s redemptive care for his people. An American Translation* has translated this “showed an interest in” and Barclay “demonstrated his care for.” The King James Version, which makes an attempt at a literal rendering of the Greek text, makes little sense, “God at first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.” The Greek infinitive “to take” is used here to denote means, by taking. “For his name” must be understood either in the sense of “to bear (that is, have) his name” (New English Bible), or to be all his own. This first meaning of “for his name” may be rendered as “to be called by his name.” The second meaning is equivalent to “to belong to him” or “to be his possession.”

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 .