He was humiliated, and justice was denied him is literally “in his humiliation his judgment was taken away.” The first part of this expression is easily taken to mean he was humiliated, but the second half causes difficulty. Most translations tend either in the direction of the Good News Translation or the direction of Jerusalem Bible, “he has been humiliated and has no one to defend him” (see also New English Bible “he has been humiliated and has no redress”). The second line of verse 33 (in Greek a rhetorical question) is rendered by the Good News Translation no one will be able to tell about his descendants, since he was put to death without leaving any posterity. This view is followed by New English Bible, Jerusalem Bible, and An American Translation*, among others. There is also the possibility that the word translated descendants may mean “contemporary generation.” If this is the case, the question can mean “who can relate the evil of his contemporaries?” Phillips has “His generation who shall declare?” Like the King James Version rendering, “who shall declare his generation?” this makes little sense. Because his life on earth has come to an end (literally “his life was lifted from the earth”) is best understood as referring, in this context, to Christ’s death, though some commentators understand this verse to refer to his exaltation from the earth to heaven.

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 .