The natives is the same expression which occurs in verse 2 and may be rendered in some languages as “the local people,” “the people who lived on the island,” or “the people whose homes were there.” The choice of a term or phrase depends upon the normal manner in which a receptor language designates local inhabitants of a region.

This man must be a murderer is often rendered as “this man is surely a murderer” or “this man most certainly has killed someone.”

The word rendered Fate is the name of a god whom people worshiped, and must be translated so that readers get this meaning. The Good News Translation has tried to accomplish this by spelling the word with a capital F (see also Moffatt “Justice”; New English Bible “divine justice”). To render merely as “justice” (Revised Standard Version, An American Translation*, Phillips) seems inadequate. It may be necessary to qualify this as “the god Justice,” “a god called Justice,” or “a god called Retribution.”

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 .