The Pharisees were the largest, most important, and most influential religious group of the Jews; they were very faithful in their observation of the Law of the Moses. Gamaliel, mentioned here and in 22.3, is Gamaliel I, a noted and respected Jewish teacher. The expression highly respected by all the people may be rendered in some languages as “all the people thought he was very great” or “all the people honored him very much.”

Ordered the apostles to be taken out may be shifted into an active form “ordered the guards to lead the apostles out.”

The Greek includes an adverb with the verb phrase to be taken out. Although the adverb may mean either “a little distance” or “a little while,” most translations follow the latter interpretation. In 27.28 the Good News Translation renders this same adverb by a little later.

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 .