The narrative is continued in 2.5-13, but it is essential, in light of the shift of viewpoint, that new participants be introduced. Therefore, verse 5 is essentially a means of introducing the crowd which heard the believers speaking in tongues.

The English introductory expression there were provides a good transition, but in some languages it is important to make the link with the preceding more evident, for example, by carrying over the reference to the city of Jerusalem, as “in this city of Jerusalem Jews from everywhere were living.” This reference to the city picks up a specific identification in 1.12, but the same location is implicit in all the preceding sections.

Religious men refers to the Jews living in Jerusalem and not to a category of Gentile believers or others separate from the Jews. An abstract such as religious must often be made more specific, for example, “those who regularly worshiped God” or “those who customarily prayed to God.” Some languages do not have an abstract such as “religious,” but they indicate essentially the same content by a set expression referring to customary worship or prayer.

The phrase every country is here not to be understood in an absolute sense, but in no language are terms such as “all” and “everyone” always construed as absolute.

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 .