This man could have been released if he had not appealed to the Emperor is a statement by which Luke intends to verify not only the innocence of Paul but the truthfulness of the Christian message. Could have been released is emphatic in the Greek sentence structure. The treatment of this kind of condition, which is contrary to fact (that is to say, Paul had appealed to the Emperor and therefore could not be released), poses certain problems in translation into some receptor languages. In some languages one must say, for example, “if he had not appealed to the Emperor, but he has, then he could have been released, but now he cannot be released.” In certain other languages, however, this type of condition contrary to fact is represented as causal—for example, “but because he has appealed to the Emperor, this man cannot be released.”

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 .