The nominal expression in amazement and wonder must often be shifted to a verbal form, “they were amazed and wondered.” However, in some languages it is quite impossible to find two verbs which have essentially the same area of meaning. Therefore, one can employ one verb, but qualify it with an intensive, for example, “they were completely amazed,” since in Greek the use of the two verbs is essentially a device to indicate intensity. In other words, the second verb does not introduce any semantic components which are not already suggested in the first verb.

These men who are talking like this—they are all Galileans! represents the translation of a Greek rhetorical sentence (“Are not all of these who are talking Galileans?”), in which the expected answer to the question is “Yes.” The mention that the persons talking are Galileans is here probably intended to indicate nothing other than the fact that the languages which they are speaking are not their own native languages.

Rather than attempt to make up some adjectival form such as “Galileans,” one can often retain the name of the country and produce a text which is more idiomatic, for example, “they are all from Galilee.” On the other hand, many languages have regular formatives which indicate people from a particular town or region, in which case, of course, one should certainly use such forms.

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 .