The order given by the Ethiopian official would imply that someone was driving the carriage. Obviously, in many languages one cannot order a carriage to stop. It is only possible to “order someone to cause the carriage to stop.” Accordingly, in some languages, this first clause is translated as “the official ordered the driver to have the carriage stop,” “to cause the horses to stop,” or “to cause the oxen to stop.”

In order to avoid possible ambiguity, the Good News Translation has made the subject of baptized explicit: Philip baptized him (see Jerusalem Bible, Moffatt).

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 .