In some languages it is awkward to say looked straight at the Council. On the contrary, one must address such “straight looks” at members of the Council; therefore, “he looked straight at the men who were in the Council.”

On my brothers (literally “men brothers”) see 1.16.

An adequate term to express the meaning of conscience is not easy to find in some languages. In fact, such expressions may be highly idiomatic—for example, “the little man who stands within me,” “my internal shadow,” or “the echo of my heart.” What is important about a term for conscience is that it represents one’s most basic concerns about behavior and values. In some languages it is simply equivalent to “heart” and in this particular context it may be translated as “in my heart I have no serious questions about my whole life before God.” In other languages one may say “my heart does not cause me questions” or “within myself I do not have doubts about my whole life before God.”

The phrase my whole life may be rendered as “the way I have lived during all my life” or “what I have done during my whole life.”

In a number of languages, before God must be rendered as “with God looking on” or “before the eyes of God.” What is important here is that Paul brings God as a witness to what he has done during all his life.

To this very day (literally “up to this day”) has been rendered by the New English Bible as “and still live today.” Both the Good News Translation and the New English Bible are so in order to indicate that Paul had not stopped living with a good conscience before God, which might otherwise be implied by the phrase “up to this day.”

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 .