The pronoun they must refer back in some way to the Jews who have been introduced in the preceding verse, for example, “when these men heard.”

This noise may have a reference either to the noise accompanying the arrival of the Holy Spirit (v. 2) or to the talking in other languages (v. 4). The word itself is a different word for noise from the one which is used in verse 2, though this is no argument against identifying this noise with the noise mentioned in that verse. However, the nearest antecedent is the sound of the believers talking in other languages (v. 4), for example, “when they heard the believers talking in strange languages.” It is also possible to preserve a measure of ambiguity, for example, “when they heard what had happened” or “… what was happening.”

A large crowd (the Greek has only plēthos “crowd,” but this normally refers to a “large gathering”) must, in some languages, be semantically redistributed, for example, “many people gathered together.”

The Greek sentence continues through verse 6a and 6b, but the Good News Translation has introduced a break, since the causal clause goes more appropriately with the event of being excited.

This is the excitement of amazement and bewilderment, not the excitement of good news or of some thrilling spectacle. It is important, therefore, that insofar as possible the appropriate term be selected.

The causal clause may need some greater clarification of roles and events, for example, “because then each person heard the believers speak; they were speaking in that person’s own language.” In some instances one must specify “own language” as “the language which he spoke in his own town.”

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 .