The narrative is continued in 2.5-13, but it is essential, in light of the shift of viewpoint, that new participants be introduced. Therefore, verse 5 is essentially a means of introducing the crowd which heard the believers speaking in tongues.

The English introductory expression there were provides a good transition, but in some languages it is important to make the link with the preceding more evident, for example, by carrying over the reference to the city of Jerusalem, as “in this city of Jerusalem Jews from everywhere were living.” This reference to the city picks up a specific identification in 1.12, but the same location is implicit in all the preceding sections.

Religious men refers to the Jews living in Jerusalem and not to a category of Gentile believers or others separate from the Jews. An abstract such as religious must often be made more specific, for example, “those who regularly worshiped God” or “those who customarily prayed to God.” Some languages do not have an abstract such as “religious,” but they indicate essentially the same content by a set expression referring to customary worship or prayer.

The phrase every country is here not to be understood in an absolute sense, but in no language are terms such as “all” and “everyone” always construed as absolute.

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 .

Made his appeal to them is a strengthened form of the verb “testify” and may also have the meaning “testify by argument.” It is not always easy to find two words for verbal appeals, for example, “made an appeal … urged,” which are strong and at the same time not completely redundant. However, to introduce the phrase many other words, and at the same time to provide the appropriate measure of emphasis, one may sometimes employ a negative expression followed by a positive, such as “this was not all that he said to them; he urged them strongly with many other words.” Though this is not a close formal correspondence, it may be an excellent dynamic equivalence, for by means of a negative-positive expression some languages succeed in reproducing the heavily loaded expression contained in the Greek text. In some languages, however, one “cannot urge with words” (in which “words” is used as instruments). One can, on the other hand, “urge by speaking more.”

Save yourselves from the punishment coming to this wicked people represents what in the Greek text is literally “save yourselves from this wicked people.” But what Peter means is that those who hear are to try to save themselves from the fate which God will bring upon the wicked people who have crucified Jesus. In languages in which “punishment” must be treated as a verb, one can restructure the sentence to read, “save yourselves, so that you will not be punished as this wicked people are going to be punished.” Some languages require a shift from “punishment,” as an outwardly imposed event, to “suffering,” with its focus upon the person directly involved (this is particularly true if the agent of the punishment is not specified). Accordingly, one may translate as “save yourselves; then you will not suffer the way these wicked people will suffer.” The expression wicked people (literally “crooked generation”) comes from Deuteronomy 32.5 and Psalm 78.8. The reference to this wicked people must be made more explicit in some languages, for example, “the wicked people here in this country” or “the bad people who killed Jesus.” In the first instance, the identification is geographical (the people of that country) and in the second instance, the identification is behavioral (those who specifically rejected and crucified Jesus). In either event, the dynamic equivalent is essentially the same. It is, of course, also possible to employ a temporal identification, such as “all the people living now,” but this is in some respects somewhat too wide, for Luke’s focus at this point is upon the Jewish nation.

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 first part of this verse may be literally rendered as “you are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your ancestors.” But “sons of the prophets” and “sons of the covenant” reflect idiomatic Semitic usage and must be understood to means those persons who will receive the promises that the prophets have made and will share in the covenant that has been agreed upon.

Though the Good News Translation has attempted to render in modern English the meaning of the Semitic phrase “the sons of the prophets,” the form the promises of God through his prophets are for you may involve certain difficulties in transfer, since the phrase for you goes directly with the event of promises. Therefore, if this can be shifted into a verbal form it may be more satisfactorily rendered as “through his prophets God made promises for your sakes” or “God caused his prophets to promise for your sakes.” The phrase for you is obviously a benefactive, and the phrase through his prophets is a normal expression of secondary agency in Greek and English.

It may also be useful to say that “the covenant is for your sakes.” This would then make it parallel with the promises. However, in order to relate the second part of verse 25a, one may require some minor shifts of relations, for example, “God made a covenant with your ancestors and it is for you,” “the covenant God made with your ancestors is for your sakes,” or “… applies to you.”

An adequate term for covenant is extremely difficult in many languages since a receptor-language term so frequently implies a compromise agreement arising out of the procedures of bargaining. The covenant of the Old Testament, of course, was one which was initiated by God and accepted by the people. Moreover, it was the faithfulness of God which made the covenant valid. In some languages a term such as “pact” or “alliance” is perhaps the best equivalent which can be found. However, it may be important that some marginal note be employed or that an explanation be made in a glossary to indicate clearly certain unique features of the covenant as represented in the Old and New Testaments.

In some languages it may be necessary to specify “God” as the subject of the speaking in verse 25b.

Through your descendants translates “in your seed,” a Jewish way of referring to one’s descendants. In some languages a term for “descendants” is not as easy to render as one might think. In a number of instances it is equivalent to “lineage,” in other cases it implies “clan,” but always the focus is upon those who come from a particular ancestor. Sometimes a phrase is employed “those who will follow you” or “those whom you will cause to be born.” In some instances one employs an idiom such as “from the children of your children.” One may even have such an expression as “from your family vine” or “from the twigs of your family.”

I will bless all the people on earth is a rendering of a passive construction in Greek (literally “all the people on the earth will be blessed”), in which God is the implied subject. The quotation in this verse is from Genesis 22.18 and agrees very closely both with the Hebrew and the Septuagint.

In translating bless some prefer an expression which implies simply verbal activity. Others contend that this “blessing” really refers to “causing good for.” In this case there is a double causative, for example, “I will cause your descendants to cause good for all people on 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 .

The first phrase with great power probably typifies not only the activity of the apostles but also the effect of their witness upon the people. This may be rendered in some languages as “in a powerful way” or “by showing great power.” In other languages this may be equivalent to “very strongly.”

A nominalized expression such as gave witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus may need to be shifted into a verbal form in a number of languages, for example, “witnessed that the Lord Jesus had risen from the dead,” or in the form of direct discourse “announced to the people, The Lord Jesus has risen from the dead.”

In the expression “great grace was upon them all” the grace referred to is probably God’s grace; for this reason the Good News Translation has translated God poured rich blessings on them all. On the other hand, if the reference is to the attitude of the people toward the believers, the translation of the New English Bible may be followed: “they were all held in high esteem” (see also Jerusalem Bible “they were all given great respect”).

The expression poured rich blessings is quite figurative, though it may not seem to be so in English. In many languages it must be rather radically altered, for example, “God showed great favor to them all,” “God was exceedingly good to them all,” or “God blessed them all very much.”

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 account of Peter’s message as given in these verses has much in common with that in 3.13 ff.; not all the ideas are the same, but much of the wording is similar.

The so-called possessive relationship in the God of our fathers must be rather radically restructured in many languages, for example, “the God whom our fathers worshiped” or “the God whom our ancestors worshiped.” The equivalent of fathers may be “grandfathers,” “those of long ago,” or “our grandfathers who died long ago.”

From death has been added to the verb raised in order to make explicit that the resurrection is referred to, though it is possible that the reference is to the bringing of Jesus into the world (see 3.26). The context, however, seems to favor the interpretation given by the Good News Translation, since there follows immediately the affirmation that these people had been the ones responsible for killing Jesus.

The expression raised … from death cannot be literally translated in many languages. The equivalent may be “cause to get up from death,” “cause to come back from having died,” or “caused to live again.”

Nailing him to a cross is in Greek “by hanging him on a tree” and recalls the language of Deuteronomy 21.22. It should be noted, however, that the passage in Deuteronomy refers to the custom of hanging the dead body of an executed criminal on a tree, not the Roman method of execution by crucifixion.

Some languages may require some specific mention of the place of the nailing, therefore “nailed his hands and feet to a cross.”

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 .

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 .

The people of Israel correctly translates the Semitic idiom “the sons of Israel.”

For the two possible interpretations of just as he sent me see 3.22.

The clause who will be of your own people may be rendered in some languages as “who belonged to your clan” or “who belonged to your lineage.” In some instances, of course, it is also “who belonged to your nation.” The choice of terms such as “clan,” “lineage,” or “nation” depends upon the most normal way of speaking about one’s belonging to an ethnic group related by blood descent.

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 main verb in this sentence (literally, “to be for some while”) has two participles dependent upon it, “practicing magic” and “astounding.” The meaning is that Simon had been in the city for some time and all the while had been practicing magic and astounding the people. The rendering “who had previously practiced magic” (Revised Standard Version) might suggest that at the time that Philip came to Samaria Simon was no longer practicing magic, but the force of the Greek indicates that Simon had been doing this for a long time and was still doing it at the time of Philip’s arrival in the city. The Greek literally says “the nation of the Samaritans” (see Revised Standard Version), but the meaning of the expression is simply “the Samaritan people,” that is, the Samaritans (see New English Bible, Phillips, Jerusalem Bible). He claimed that he was someone great is very similar to what was said of Theudas in 5.36.

The Greek term translated “practicing magic” is a technical expression relating to the use of sorcery. It is not a term for “performing miracles.” Since magic in one form or another, whether “white” (beneficial) or “black” (harmful), is of common occurrence in most cultures, there is usually no difficulty in finding some closely corresponding terms.

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 .