God has overlooked means that God did not punish men as they deserved; and the times when men did not know refers to the time before men came to know God’s will in Jesus Christ. A verb such as overlooked should not be rendered in such a way as to imply that God was heedless or unconcerned; rather, one should employ some such expression as “God chose not to consider.” In some languages this may be equivalent to “God has decided not to count up…” or “God determined not to count against people the time when they did not know.”

Though all men everywhere are commanded to turn away from their evil ways, Paul is speaking specifically to the people of Athens who now have come to hear of God in Jesus Christ. To turn away from their evil ways represents the word which most translators render “repent.” A verb such as commands may require in some languages direct discourse—for example, “but now he commands all men in every place, Turn away from your evil ways.”

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 .