He won God’s favor (see Jerusalem Bible, Phillips, Moffatt, An American Translation*) is literally “he found grace before God,” but the meaning of “grace” in this passage is the same as in verse 10. The phrase won God’s favor is not easy to translate in a number of languages. Frequently it must be expressed as a type of causative—for example, “he caused God to be favorable to him” or “he acted in such a way that God was good with him.”

Although the text literally reads “he (that is, David) asked to find,” it seems most probable that Stephen intended the word “to find” in the sense of to provide (see New English Bible, An American Translation*) or “to build” (Jerusalem Bible; see Moffatt “devise”). Whatever may be the precise meaning of this verse in its Old Testament context (Psalm 132.5), in Acts it seems quite clear that David is not requesting that he be permitted to look around and find something already built, but rather that he be allowed “to build” or “to provide” a place for God.

The word which the Good News Translation has translated house may also mean “tent” (most translations are vague, for example “dwelling,” “dwelling place,” or “habitation”), but the point seems to be that David was asking to build God a permanent place, that is, the temple (see Jerusalem Bible “to have a temple built”), as opposed to the tent which was formerly used as the place of God’s presence.

As is indicated in the Good News Translation list of alternative readings, there is a textual problem which may be resolved in one of two ways: (1) David’s request may have been to build a temple for the “house of Jacob,” that is, for the nation of Israel (see Jerusalem Bible “to have a temple built for the House of Jacob”); or (2) David’s request may have been to build a temple for the God of Jacob (as the Good News Translation and most other translations have done). The UBS committee on the Greek text prefers the alternative reading suggested by the Good News Translation, both on the basis of the diverse manuscript evidence in support of this reading and for the reason that it is easy to see why a scribe would change the reading “house” to “God,” but not vice versa.

If the Good News Translation is followed, it is most important to avoid a rendering of the God of Jacob which will seem to imply that this God is different from the God which is mentioned twice previously in the same verse. In some languages it may be necessary to introduce a marginal note at this point to indicate that God is spoken of as the God of Jacob, or as expressed in some languages “the God whom Jacob 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 .