Translation commentary on Acts 9:14

“Here,” as employed in most translations, appears in the Good News Translation as to Damascus and in Moffatt as “in this city too.”

With authority from the chief priests is often equivalent to “the chief priests have given him the power” or “the chief priests have said that he is able to.” The phrase call on your name is equivalent to “worship you.” It must not be understood merely in the sense “speaking a person’s name.” It can, however, be understood as “using your name as they pray.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Acts 10:4

Stared is the same verb translated had their eyes fixed on in 1.10. In the question What is it, sir? the word translated sir may also mean “Lord.” The problem is that the word sir may mean too little, whereas “Lord” may be taken to mean too much. Cornelius clearly recognizes that this is a heavenly messenger, though it is doubtful if he would address him in the same way that one addresses God, that is, “Lord.” A number of translations have “Lord,” but the New English Bible has followed essentially the same conclusion as that of the Good News Translation, “What is it, my lord?” Moffatt again believes that any English translation would imply either too much or too little (9.5), so he simply translates “What is it?” In many languages there is simply no equivalent for the term sir as merely a polite means of addressing a person. Under such circumstances one is justified in omitting such an expression of polite, direct address.

The Hebraic expression “your prayers and your works of charity went up for a memorial before God” simply means God has accepted your prayers and works of charity, and has remembered you.

In translating the word accepted it is important to avoid the implication of literally “receiving” or “taking.” In a number of languages the appropriate equivalent is “has heard your prayers and has seen your works of charity.” In other languages it may be necessary to make the degree of acceptance more specific by saying “God is happy with your prayers and works of charity.”

Works of charity must often be translated simply as “what you have given to the poor.” This, of course, is another way of speaking of “alms.”

The verb remembered in this type of context must not be rendered as though God had forgotten about Cornelius and that now at last he was remembering him. Rather, it is important to choose a term which will imply “is responding to you” or “is answering you.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Acts 10:42

Although it is possible to understand he in the clause he commanded as a reference to God, it is more probable that the reference is to Jesus.

The verb which most translators render “preach” or “proclaim” is expanded by the Good News Translation to preach the gospel, since this is a technical term in the book of Acts for the proclamation of the gospel.

The living and the dead is a comprehensive term for all persons, past and present. It is, of course, part of the teaching of the New Testament that at the end of time some people will still be alive on the earth.

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 .

Translation commentary on Acts 11:29

The Greek of this verse involves a relatively complex sentence structure, but the meaning is made clear by the Good News Translation and most other translations. The gift sent to Jerusalem by the disciples in Antioch (most of whom were probably Gentiles) indicates at least two things: (1) their gratitude to the Jerusalem church from which the Christian message had come and (2) their sense of unity with the Jewish believers in Jerusalem.

It is important, however, in translating this verse to indicate that the action of sending help was a collective action and not an individual one. A literal rendering of each of them would send as much as he could might suggest that each individual was sending his own particular gift. Obviously, however, this was a joint undertaking since the money was sent to the church elders in Jerusalem by means of two persons designated for the task, Barnabas and Saul.

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 .

Translation commentary on Acts 13:6

Paphos, on the western end of the island, was about ninety miles from Salamis. Paphos, known as “New Paphos” in New Testament times, was the official capital of the island. Though in English one may speak of all the way across, in some languages it is necessary to employ a term which would indicate clearly that this was from one end of the island to the other, for example, “went the length of the island” or “went from one end of the island to the other end of the island.”

Met translates a verb which is literally “found,” here used in the sense of “to find by chance.”

Magician, a Persian loan word which originally referred to one who was a member of a particular kind of priesthood, had come in New Testament times to mean “sorcerer,” “magician,” or even “swindler” or “charlatan.”

Bar-Jesus in Aramaic would mean “son of Joshua,” the Greek equivalent of Joshua being Jesus (see Hebrews 4.8). “False prophets” (the literal form of the Greek) is taken by the Good News Translation in the sense of one who claimed to be a prophet. For Luke any person who spoke (a message) contrary to the Christian preaching would be classified as a “false prophet.” Since Bar-Jesus was a prophet, even though a false one, perhaps it may be necessary in some languages to say “who claimed to be a prophet of God but was not.” In this way the falseness of his activity can be made perfectly clear.

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 .

Translation commentary on Acts 13:40

Take care … so that it will not happen to you may be difficult to render. One may employ an expression such as “be careful or it will happen to you” or “be on your guard, then it will not happen to you.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Acts 14:20

Luke’s phrase “the disciples” has been rendered as the believers; the reference is to the Christians in Antioch. The fact that Paul was able to get up and go back into the town, and the next day go to Derbe, suggests that Luke intended this to be read as a miraculous event.

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 .

Translation commentary on Acts 15:28 – 15:29

Though the Greek text has the conjunction gar “for,” in many languages it is necessary to omit this conjunction, since it obviously does not express a causal relationship. It merely signifies that what follows is a logical outgrowth of what has preceded. In many languages it is best to represent this logical development simply by starting another sentence without a connective, as in the case of the Good News Translation.

The verb has agreed may be rendered as “are of the same mind,” “think the same thoughts,” or even, “say the same thing.”

Besides these necessary rules is a very difficult grammatical construction in Greek and though there are no textual variations present, some scholars have made suggestions as to how the text may have been damaged and therefore should be changed. The word rendered necessary rules (New English Bible, Jerusalem Bible “the essentials”) is used elsewhere in Greek as an adverb but never with the article before it, as it appears here. If we accept the text as it stands, then Luke has evidently made this word the equivalent of a noun by the addition of the definite article. As an adverb the word means “necessarily,” and so as a noun it would mean “that which is necessary”; here, in the plural, it means “those necessary (things/rules/regulations).” Besides these necessary rules may be rendered “it is only that you should follow certain rules” or “you should, however, do the following things.” In reality, however, since the regulations specified in verse 29 are all negations, it may be necessary to use a negative expression in verse 28, “but you must not do the following.”

Keep yourselves from immorality is simply “do not commit immorality” or “do not have illicit sex relations.”

You will do well may be understood either in the sense of “you will prosper” (see Phillips “you will make good progress”) or with the meaning “you will be doing right.”

Keep yourselves from doing these things may be equivalent to “if you do not do these things.” In some languages, however, it may be necessary to shift the focus somewhat by saying “if you do just as we have said.”

Good-bye (“farewell” of many translations) translates a fixed expression used at the end of letters and frequently found in the papyri. A translator may employ, as an equivalent of good-bye, whatever expression is normally used in the salutation of a letter. If in the receptor language there is no such custom employed in writing letters, such an expression may be omitted; or one may introduce, as a final phrase, the type of expression generally used when people part from one another.

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 .