Peter’s speech, interrupted by verses 18 and 19, is now resumed. For, however, refers back to verse 16, and thus gives the reason why it was necessary that Judas should have been the guide of those who arrested Jesus (v. 16).

Very frequently the Greek conjunction gar “for” presents a number of problems in translation, since it is often not related to the immediately preceding statement. In some passages it serves only to show that the argument is proceeding. In some languages it is best to omit the conjunction entirely in a construction such as here and to emphasize the use of Greek oun “therefore” at the beginning of verse 21. The basic meaning here is “since the Scriptures have indicated what should be done, therefore someone must be chosen to take Judas’ place.” The argument relates the content of verse 20 to what follows, not to what precedes.

It is written is a set formula used for the introduction of a quotation from the Old Testament. The first passage quoted is Psalm 69.25. The Psalm has the plural form:

“May their houses become empty,
Let no one live in their tents.”

Peter uses it in the singular since he applies the meaning of the Psalm solely to Judas. The second passage quoted (Psalm 109.8) is an almost exact quotation from the Septuagint. Whereas the first passage expresses the wish that the house or home of Judas would be left empty, the second passage expresses the need for someone else to take his place of service, and thus serves as a transition to verses 21-26. Place of service (variously rendered “office,” “ministry,” “charge”) should be translated in such a way as to show that the emphasis is upon the service that the apostle renders rather than the office which he holds. It is not at all likely that at this early date the institutional life of the church had become so developed as to have had an office of apostleship. In any case, Luke defines the primary function of an apostle as a witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus (vv. 21-22).

In many languages such an “impersonal passive” construction as “it is written” cannot be employed. In some languages one must have an active expression, for example, “The one who wrote the book of the Psalms said,” “There are words in the book of the Psalms which say,” or “In the book of the Psalms one may read.”

The most satisfactory translation for Psalms is normally “songs,” though in some instances one may need some type of qualifier, for example, “religious songs,” or “songs of worship.”

The third person imperative in Greek expressions translated as “may … become” and “let … live” is equivalent in many languages to an emphatic obligatory mood, for example, “his house must become empty” and “no one must live in it.” The use of English “may” and “let” is quite misleading, for neither potentiality nor permission is implied in the original.

The concept of a house becoming empty is not easy to render literally in many languages. One may speak of an empty container, for example, a box, sack, or bucket, but not of a house. Therefore, it may be necessary to restructure the semantic components, for example, “everyone must leave the house,” with a verb for “leave” which implies permanent abandonment.

The construction may … take represents a Greek imperative. As in the case of the two preceding imperatives, it may be necessary to employ an obligatory mood, for example, “someone else must take his place,” or, as suggested above, “must do his work,” or “must do what he was supposed to do.”

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 .

If a term for brothers does not lend itself to generalization in identifying fellow countrymen, one can often use another kinship term which will have this essential function, for example, “relatives,” “kinsmen,” or “cousins.”

Quite plainly translates “with boldness” or “with confidence.” The same phrase is used in 4.31 and is translated there with boldness; the expanded phrase occurs in 4.29 and 28.31 where it is translated with all boldness. A literal rendering of the phrase speak to you … plainly may turn out in some languages to be only a reference to the quality of utterance or pronunciation. Hence, one may need to shift the focus to something like “I must make you to understand clearly.”

Patriarch (a word which occurs in the New Testament only here and in 7.8, 9 and Hebrews 7.4) implies progenitor and “founder of the nation,” but in the present passage it is an honorary title applied to David, the king of Israel. The term patriarch is equivalent in many languages to “forefather,” “grandfather in ancient times,” “our big grandfather,” or “elder many years ago.”

If it is necessary to specify the agent of the expression was buried, one can simply say “he was buried by the people” or “the people buried him.” Nothing more explicit is required.

In order to avoid speaking as though Peter was addressing the crowd in a cemetery, one may wish to shift the expression here to “near here.” In some languages, however, one cannot speak of a grave as “near” someone or something, since graves are not regarded as “movable.” Therefore, it may be necessary to shift the focus, for example, “and we here are near to (or, not far from) his grave.”

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 .

The expression and so provides a useful transition by preparing the reader for a type of conclusion.

The direct form you killed may need to be shifted into a causative in some languages since these people themselves did not crucify Jesus but by their behavior caused him to be crucified by the Romans. Therefore, a causative form such as “you caused him to be killed” or “you caused him to die” may be more appropriate and accurate.

One who leads men to life may be understood as “one who causes people to really live,” “one who causes true life,” or “one who shows true life”; there is no way of knowing precisely what meaning Peter had in mind. The meaning “prince” does not fit the context and is usually quite inadequate.

But God raised him from the dead correctly translates the Greek relative clause “whom God raised from the dead.” The contrast between the activity of the people in causing Jesus’ death and what God did in raising him from the dead is so great that it usually needs to be specifically highlighted by a conjunction such as “but.”

As noted in previous sections, raised him from the dead is essentially a causative, for example, “caused him to rise from the dead.”

The substantive expression witnesses to this may be changed into a verbal expression “we ourselves saw this.” To this translates a relative pronoun that may refer either to the fact of the resurrection (so the Good News Translation), or else “to him,” that is, to Jesus who was raised from the dead.

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 .

Though the Greek text has gar (literally “because” but often signifying only a general connection in thought), there is no direct causal relationship between verse 22 and the preceding statement. The fact that the man was over forty years of age simply enhances the significance of the miracle. Accordingly, in many languages one cannot translate by a causal conjunction meaning “for.”

The expression the man on whom this miracle of healing had been performed presents a number of difficulties for transfer into other languages. Accordingly, one sometimes finds “the man who was healed in this miraculous way,” “the man who experienced healing by a miracle,” or “the man whom a miracle made well.”

The phrase over forty years old is variously expressed in different languages, for example, “he had lived more than forty years” or “his years were more than forty.” In languages in which there is a poorly developed numerical system (as, for example, in the languages of the primitive tribes in South America), one can express relative age in terms of the time of life, for example, “he was no longer the age of a warrior” or even “he was so old that his children would be men.” (This does not, of course, imply that the man had had children, but simply that if he had children, they would already be adults.)

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 .

The term stand is not primarily a reference to a particular body position, but where the apostles are to be. In some languages this is equivalent to “go into the temple.”

Tell the people all about this new life (see also Jerusalem Bible, An American Translation*, Phillips) literally translates “tell the people all the words (or things) of this life.”

The reference to the people must be made somewhat more specific in some languages as “the people there.”

In the context the meaning of this … life is the Christian life, therefore the basis for translating the phrase new life. The phrase this new life is difficult to translate in many languages since “life” is not a noun but a verb. Therefore, the phrase may be rendered as “this new way” or “this new way of living.” In some languages new is equivalent to “different,” for example, “this different kind of way to live.”

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 .

The Greek of this verse is literally “and they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking.” Most commentators and translators agree that the spirit referred to is the Holy Spirit, and the sentence construction lends itself to the interpretation of the text that the Good News Translation has given: But the Spirit gave Stephen such wisdom that when he spoke they could not resist him (see also Jerusalem Bible, “they found they could not get the better of him because of his wisdom, and because it was the Spirit that prompted what he said”).

Gave … such wisdom is equivalent in some languages to “caused him to be so wise” or “caused him to speak such wise words.”

The expression could not resist him may be rendered as “were not able to answer him” or “were not able to argue against him.”

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 .

The other is literally “his neighbor,” but the meaning in this context is obviously “fellow countryman” (Jerusalem Bible). It is interesting that in Exodus it is not said that the one Israelite pushed Moses aside. This expression does, however, emphasize the similarity between the way that the Israelite treated Moses and the way that the Jews treated Jesus.

The terms ruler and judge may be more conveniently rendered as verbs, for example, “to rule over us and to judge us.”

Note that in the Good News Translation the positions of speaking, for example, he said (v. 26) and he asked (v. 27), occur at different positions in the direct discourse largely for stylistic reasons. The position of such verbs of speaking should be ordered in such a way as to make them seem completely natural. In most languages they tend to go at the beginning of direct discourse, in some languages they occur at the end, and in certain languages there is both an introductory expression for speaking as well as another term identifying the end of direct discourse.

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 .

They kept on stoning underlines the force of the Greek verb tense. The verb translated called on means “to call on (in prayer).” One might compare this prayer with the prayer of Jesus in Luke 23.46.

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 .