Although almost all translations say that Paul spoke to them in Hebrew, actually Paul would have been speaking in Aramaic, the language which the Jews of that day used (see New English Bible “in the Jewish language”). Spoke to them in Hebrew may be rendered as “spoke to them; the words he used were Hebrew words,” “spoke to them, using the Hebrew language,” “spoke to them in their own Jewish language,” or “… in the language used by the Jews.”

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 .

Paul is quick to point out that he has done nothing wrong (literally “not sinned”) against the Law of the Jews (see 21.21), or against the temple (see 21.28), or against the Roman Emperor. The less known term, “Caesar,” appears as the Roman Emperor (see New English Bible “the Emperor”).

I have done nothing wrong against the Law of the Jews may be rendered as “I have done nothing which violates the Law of the Jews” or “… which is contrary to the Law of the Jews.” It may be much more difficult to speak of “nothing wrong against the temple.” In some languages this is “have not harmed the temple in any way,” or “have not caused trouble as far as the temple is concerned.”

Frequently one cannot use the same expression, “doing anything wrong against,” with three such entirely different objects as the Law of the Jews, the temple, and the Roman Emperor. Therefore, especially in the final case, it may be necessary to say, “I have said nothing bad against the Roman Emperor” or “I have said nothing harmful against the Roman Emperor.”

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 .

On the road differs from near Damascus of 22.6, while at midday differs slightly in wording from about midday of the same verse. Much brighter than the sun intensifies what is said in 22.6 and 9.3. Shining also differs from what was said in the earlier accounts; there the verb flashed was used. It is not strange, however, that Luke in recounting the conversion of Paul uses slightly different details of wording. For him to have reproduced the exact wording in every instance would have certainly produced a rather monotonous account. These stylistic modifications are precisely what one would expect from a writer as skillful as Luke.

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 very strong wind is in some languages “a very fast wind” or “a wind which makes large waves.”

This wind that blew down from the island was so well known that the sailors had given it a proper name, and this has been rendered by Northeaster. The equivalent of Northeaster is, in some languages, “a wind from the northeast” or “a wind that blows from the left of the rising sun.”

From the island is literally “from it,” a reference to the island of Crete. In some instances it is necessary to make some adaptation in the expression blew down from the island, since seagoing persons would soon recognize that a wind which only came from an island would not be strong enough to cause a great storm. Therefore, an expression such as “blew down across the island” would be necessary.

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 natives (Jerusalem Bible “the inhabitants”) renders a term which refers primarily to people who speak a language other than Greek; to render as “barbarous people” (King James Version) or “rough islanders” (New English Bible) is to press the meaning of the word too far. The equivalent in some languages is “the tribe of people who lived there.”

Friendly comes from the same root as the word rendered kind in 27.3. In some languages friendly may be rendered as “they welcomed us,” while in other languages the closest equivalent is “they helped us.”

In order to present what is a more logical and chronological order for the English reader, the remainder of this verse has been inverted from the Greek order. The kind of fire referred to here is a wood fire built out in the open. The two references to us in this verse are very vague. Did Luke have in mind all of the persons from the ship or, more specifically, merely the Christian group? It seems almost impossible to imagine that two hundred and seventy-six people could have gathered around a fire, and it is quite likely that Luke is now limiting his interests to the attitude of the islanders toward Paul and his companions.

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 day of Pentecost (Greek pentecostē “the fiftieth [day]”) was the fiftieth day after Passover; it was the day the Jews celebrated the Feast of the Grain Harvest (see Exodus 23.16; 34.22; Leviticus 23.15-21; and Deuteronomy 16.9-12). It is important to have a marginal note at this point to explain what Pentecost is. In the text, one can employ a phrase such as “day which was called Pentecost,” or “day which was called fifty days after,” but this latter type of expression is rarely acceptable.

All the believers represents the Greek word all which may refer either to all the Christians or merely to all the apostles. Most translations choose to make this ambiguous, whereas the Good News Translation has made it explicit, that is, the total Christian community. In a number of languages one cannot employ a term such as “believers” without indicating the one in whom they believed, for example, “all those who believed in Jesus.” There may be in some languages a problem with the use of “all,” since this is obviously not an absolute “all.” Therefore, it may be necessary to say “all the believers there,” referring to the believers who were presumably associated with the group in Jerusalem.

In one place translates the Greek phrase which was discussed in 1.15; whereas it had one meaning in the earlier verse, it is obvious that it is used here in the sense of “at the same place.” The expression in one place is further expanded in verse 2 to indicate that this refers to a particular house. It may, therefore, be necessary to be somewhat more specific and indicate “in the same house.” Otherwise the reader may have the impression that it was the same town or the same land, since a general term such as “place” may not exist in the receptor language.

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 .