Waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead may need to be somewhat recast in some languages—for example, “they were expecting him to soon swell up or suddenly fall down dead.” In some languages this may even be expressed as direct discourse “they kept thinking, He will certainly soon swell up or suddenly fall down dead.”

Not seeing anything unusual happening to him may be translated as “they did not see that Paul was suffering anything” or “they saw that Paul was not in any way suffering anything.”

Just as to be bitten by a snake was considered to be an indication of divine punishment, so to be protected from the bite of the snake was considered to be an indication of divine protection; and so they changed their minds and said, “He is a god!” It is known from other Greek sources that persons who underwent divine protection were called “friends of the god,” but it is not known where people were themselves called gods because of some act of divine protection.

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 .