Joined the attack against refers not to verbal charges made against the two men, but to an attempt on the part of the crowd to do them physical harm. Joined the attack may be translated as “also started hitting.”

The officials tore the clothes off Paul and Silas translates an ambiguous expression in Greek. It is possible to understand this to mean that the officials tore their own clothes (as Jews did when someone committed blasphemy), but most translators and commentators understand it in the sense that the Good News Translation renders it. It was not the custom for Romans to tear their clothes under such circumstances, and the context suggests that the officials themselves tore the clothes off Paul and Silas so that they could have them whipped. On the other hand, it is more likely that the Roman officials ordered the clothes of Paul and Silas to be torn off by soldiers who no doubt would be standing nearby.

The word translated whipped literally means “to be beaten (with a stick),” but it is possible that some other instrument, such as a whip, was used. It may be necessary to stipulate precisely who received the orders and who did the whipping—for example, “ordered soldiers to whip Paul and Silas.” One may, of course, employ a general term for “beating,” implying that they were beaten with sticks or some type of instrument.

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 .