In the Greek text there is a problem of transition at the beginning of the first verse. In Greek the conjunction de, usually rendered “but,” may be sufficient to suggest a major change in content. However, the problem of transition was recognized by early scribes who tended to make a difference in the division of verse content, taking the last three words of verse 47 and associating them with the first verse of Chapter 3 so as to provide more satisfactorily for the transition.

In the King James Version this transition is indicated by the conjunctive adverb “now” but this tends to be rather misleading. Accordingly, the Good News Translation has employed simply one day, since this would be normal in English, and probably the closest natural equivalent. Other languages, however, have expressions such as “and then,” “later,” or “at another time.”

It is possible that John is John Mark, but most commentators understand him to be John, the son of Zebedee.

Throughout the New Testament there are two words used for temple: one indicates the central sanctuary itself; the other (used here) is a more comprehensive term and includes the whole temple area. As noted elsewhere, a term for temple may be very well rendered as “the house of God.” However in some languages this becomes confusing since it may already be used for “the church building.” Some have amplified the phrase, for example, “a house of God of the Jews,” but this can become rather ambiguous in indicating that it is only “the God of the Jews.” An expression such as “the house of prayer” can likewise be somewhat confusing since it might also be applicable to a “synagogue.” Therefore, some translators have used a more general expression such as “the house of worship,” and to distinguish this from a synagogue they have called it “the great house of worship” and have called the synagogue “a small house of worship of the Jews.”

Three o’clock in the afternoon is literally “the ninth hour” (see 2.15). Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells that temple sacrifices were offered twice a day: at sunrise and about the ninth hour, that is, about three o’clock in the afternoon.

There are very few languages in which one can use an expression such as “at the ninth hour.” In some languages it has been possible to preserve a rough equivalent such as “nine hours after sunrise,” but this is usually awkward. An adjustment to a modern reckoning of time is no doubt more satisfactory, namely at three o’clock in the afternoon. In some languages, however, this is still a rather artificial way of speaking and therefore a more indigenous expression may be regarded as more satisfactory—for example, “when the sun is halfway down in the sky,” “at the time of the afternoon rest,” or “when the sun is leaning on its side.” If such terms are consistently and habitually used for expressing a time such as three o’clock in the afternoon, they are quite satisfactory in the translation.

An expression such as the hour for prayers can be rendered as “the time when the people habitually pray” or “the time when people normally pray.” Some languages may require a goal for a term such as “prayer,” and therefore it is perfectly acceptable to have “a time when people normally pray (or, talk) to God.”

In the selection of a term for prayer it is important to emphasize the fact of communication rather than primarily “begging for” or “asking for.”

In languages which make a clear distinction between prayer as simply speaking to God and more elaborate religious functions involving prayer, it is preferable to use the latter term in this instance. Therefore it could legitimately be translated essentially as “the time when people normally worshiped.”

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 .