In Greek this verse is one sentence, but it has been broken into two by the Good News Translation. With great pomp and ceremony depicts the great fanfare with which oriental kings would have entered a public gathering. The phrase with great pomp and ceremony may be translated in some languages as “and were honored very much with ceremonies” or “and people honored them very much by what they did.”

The audience hall was used not only for times such as this, but could also be used as a place for public trial. In some languages, the audience hall would be “a large hall” or “a large building for people to assemble in.”

Military chiefs translates a word which may be rendered as “men in charge of a thousand soldiers,” while leading men may be taken in the sense of “the most prominent men.”

Festus gave the order is literally a participial clause: “Festus having given the order.” It may, however, be necessary to stipulate “and soldiers brought Paul in.”

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 .

Our ship is literally “we,” but in most languages our ship would have to be translated as “the ship in which we were traveling.” In a number of languages the appropriate equivalent would simply be “the ship.”

Would go on the rocks must be translated in some languages as “would be blown onto the rocks” or “the wind would blow the ship to where rocks were.”

The four anchors may be translated as “they lowered from the back of the ship four heavy weights to keep it from moving.”

The phrase back of the ship translates a technical Greek term referring to the “stern.”

They … prayed for daylight is appropriately rendered in some languages as “they … prayed that daylight would soon come.” One should not suggest that they were praying for daylight to occur in the middle of the night.

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 .

Luke begins this verse with one of his favorite transitional formulas (literally “and it happened”), which may be indicated in translation merely by the introduction of a paragraph, and since a new paragraph is begun at this point, the Good News Translation has made the mention of the subject explicit: Paul.

After three days may be rendered in some languages as “three days later” or “after Paul had been in Rome for three days.”

The verb called must be translated in some languages as “invited to a meeting” or “asked them to come see him.”

In order to specify that the Jewish leaders in this instance were those in Rome and not the Jewish leaders of Jerusalem, the term local has been employed.

On my brothers see 2.29. It is obvious that in the present context reference is not made to fellow believers, but to fellow Jews.

In Greek, the first word in Paul’s address is I, placed in an emphatic position. It was important for Paul to point out several matters: (1) that the accusations made against him by the Jews were false; (2) that he was not found guilty by the Roman government and would have been released, had he not appealed to the Emperor; and (3) that he himself had no accusation to make against his own people.

I did nothing against our people may be translated as “I did not in any way harm our people.” In this quoted context the pronoun our is to be rendered as inclusive first person plural for those languages which make a distinction between inclusive and exclusive first person. In speaking about doing nothing against … the customs, it may be necessary to say “I did not violate the customs” or “I did not speak against the customs,” with customs often being translated as “the way in which our people live.”

The customs that we received from our ancestors may be expressed more naturally in some languages as “the customs which our ancestors handed down to us.”

I was made a prisoner in Jerusalem may be translated in the active form as “the Jews caused me to be a prisoner in Jerusalem.”

The word rendered handed over always carries overtones of wrongdoing on the part of those who did the handing over; it is the same word used by Jesus in Luke 9.44 and 18.32.

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 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 .