A square foot of ground in Greek is technically a linear measurement (see Revised Standard Version “a foot’s length”), but for English speakers it is more common to measure ground in square feet than in linear feet (see Jerusalem Bible “a single square foot of this land”). This phrase occurs in Deuteronomy 2.5 of the Septuagint. The measurement of a square foot of ground must, of course, be adjusted. It may be rendered by a rather general expression such as “not even a very small piece of ground.” But in some languages there is a corresponding idiomatic expression, “not even a piece of ground where a cooking pot could be placed.”

The promise referred to in the last half of this verse is based on Genesis 17.8. That it would belong to him translates the Greek expression “for a possession”; the meaning is that God would give the land to Abraham and to his descendants as a permanent possession.

In some societies personal possession of land is rather unusual, since land is not normally possessed by individuals but belongs to a tribal group. It may, therefore, be necessary to make such possession rather explicit, often by means of direct discourse, for example, “God did not give Abraham any part of the land so that Abraham could say, This land belongs just to me.”

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 .