As mentioned above, young man is not the same word as appears in verse 9; however, for the sake of translation, it is best to render these by the same term. There are certain aspects of this verse which are not altogether clear. They may refer either to some of the Christians who were at the gathering, or more specifically to the relatives of the young man. And the verb rendered took … home is literally “took away” (see New English Bible, Revised Standard Version), but the reference is obviously to the fact that these people took the young man either to his own or to their home. In light of the context, it seems most likely that the young man was taken to his own home. Took the young man home should not imply that “they carried him.” The Greek text simply states “they led him home.” This could also be rendered as “accompanied him.”

The final expression, were greatly comforted, may be rendered as a causative: “this caused them to be very much comforted.” One may however, encounter a number of idiomatic expressions in various receptor languages: “their hearts became still again,” “again they were happy in their hearts,” or “and again their hearts sat down to rest.”

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 .