The transitional particle so is particularly important to mark the break between the statement attributed to the church elders and what Paul did as the result of their advice.

Took the men may be rendered in some languages as “went along with the men” or even “accompanied the men.”

Once again there is the problem of defining exactly what ceremony of purification is referred to. Some commentators conclude that it would have been necessary for Paul to have undergone a type of purification ceremony before entering the temple, since he had recently returned from an extended visit in Gentile countries, and it seems quite possible that this is the ceremony of purification referred to in the present verse. Inasmuch as Paul was considered ceremonially impure, he would have undergone this ceremony of purification before entering the temple to take part in the act of purification with the four Nazirites. That this is the correct interpretation is supported by the observation that Paul did not go into the temple until after he had performed the ceremony of purification, and that this took place several days before the sacrifice for these four men was to be offered.

The word used for temple in this verse is a word that normally refers to the entire temple area, but in the present context the meaning seems to be limited to the temple proper; and this would be true also for the use of temple in verses 27 ff. The period of purification refers to the seven-day period that the four men who had taken the Nazirite vow had to undergo before they would be considered ceremonially pure to carry out the sacrifice. Each one of them refers to the four Nazirites; a sacrifice would not have been offered for Paul himself at the end of this period.

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 .