The passive expression he has been raised can be placed in the active, with God as the agent, for example, “God has raised Jesus to his right side.” To the right side of God, indicating the place of authority and power, may possibly be rendered “by means of the right hand (that is, power) of God.” But inasmuch as the reference in verse 30 is to “sitting upon the throne” and the reference in verse 34 is to “sitting at the right side of God,” it seems most likely that the phrase has a local reference in this verse, that is, “at God’s right side.” However, one may also translate as “at the place of honor at God’s side.”

In some languages he … received from him the Holy Spirit is more naturally rendered as “God gave him the Holy Spirit.” This restructuring is particularly useful if the first clause is shifted to an active form, with God as the agent.

The clause as his Father had promised is one way of rendering the elliptical Greek expression “promise of the Holy Spirit.” When the text says literally that Jesus “received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father,” it really means that he “received the Holy Spirit, who had been promised by the Father.”

Though the Greek text does not employ a possessive pronoun with “Father,” it is essential in many languages to add some pronominal relation, even as in the Good News Translation his Father.

It is important in translating this verse not to suggest that God and his Father are two different persons. Hence, one may need to employ an appositional expression, for example, “God, his Father, had promised.”

“He poured out this which you see and hear” is translated by the Good News Translation what you now see and hear is his gift that he has poured out on us. “This” of the Greek may refer back to the Holy Spirit (as many translations have it), but the Good News Translation understands “this” as referring back to the total experience that the believers have shared in connection with the coming of the Holy Spirit; and since this experience comes from God, it is spoken of as his gift (see also New English Bible “all that you now see and hear flows from him”).

This last part of verse 33 is difficult to translate. One usually cannot speak of “pouring out” an event. One can “cause” an event, but not “pour it out.” Moreover, if one says “pour out this gift,” then it would appear that Jesus is pouring out the gift of the Spirit, which has just been given to him by God, but the Scriptures consistently speak of God pouring out his Spirit. In many languages the most satisfactory way of treating this last portion of the verse is to translate “and Jesus is the one who has caused what you now see and hear.”

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 .