Most translators understand captain in the sense employed in the Good News Translation, though there are some who render this term as “pilot” or “helmsman.” It was quite customary either for the owner himself or for his representative to travel aboard a ship. The captain may be rendered as “the one who gave orders to the sailors” or “the one who bossed the men who had charge of making the ship go.”

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 .