Verse 1 of Chapter 4 consists of a transitional statement (the fact that Peter and John were still speaking to the people) and the arrival of those who were concerned about what was happening in the temple.

There is a problem with regard to the statement Peter and John were still speaking to the people, since this might imply in some languages that Peter and John were both saying exactly the same thing, or that they were both speaking at the same time but saying something different. Since the preceding discourse has been attributed directly to Peter, some languages require some such statement as “Peter was still speaking to the people with John at his side” or “Peter, with John helping him, was still speaking to the people.”

Though in the Greek text this transitional material is in a participial construction and the following clause is the independent clause, it is quite necessary in a number of instances to shift the structure of the Greek sentence and make the initial portion the independent sentence, while the second clause becomes the dependent portion. There are important stylistic reasons for this type of shift, for if the first clause began with “when,” it would seem to imply that something was anticipated.

Some manuscripts read, “chief priests” (see New English Bible) rather than priests. However, the word for “chief priest” occurs 122 times in the New Testament, while the word for “priest” is used only 31 times. Accordingly, it is more likely that a scribe would substitute the more frequently used word for the less frequent word. Moreover, the reading “chief priests” seems to be an attempt by a scribe to heighten the seriousness of the persecution.

A number of different expressions for priest are used in various languages. The important thing is that this be a term to designate a professional religious functionary. All so-called “world religions” have their priestly castes or groups. In so-called animistic societies there may, however, be difficulty in obtaining a satisfactory word for priest. In some instances the closest equivalent is the shaman or the medicine man. In other instances it may be important to have some type of descriptive phrase as “the one who sacrifices” or “the one who functions in the house of God.”

The officer in charge of the temple guards was himself a priest and the highest officer in the temple, ranking second only to the High Priest. In many languages the equivalent of temple guards is simply the “policemen of the temple.”

The Sadducees (mentioned also in 5.17 and 23.6, 7, 8) were a religious party among the Jews composed largely of priests. They were in some respects a very conservative group, and, as the text indicates, did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. For the term Sadducees it is essential that some type of transliteration be employed. However, a brief explanation of the sect of the Sadducees should be contained in a glossary.

In some languages great care is exercised in indicating the composition of a group. For example, if one says “the priests” and “the Sadducees” this would mean all the priests and all the Sadducees. One must, therefore, employ a type of partitive construction in some languages and say “some of the priests” and “some of the Sadducees.”

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 Council was the supreme religious court of the Jews; it was composed of seventy leading Jewish men and was presided over by the High Priest. Though the Greek text itself (which simply has “they”) makes no specific reference to the Council, this is an important device in identifying the group of individuals who were meeting together to consult on this matter. A phrase such as “those who were consulting together” may be an appropriate way of identifying the various individuals brought together for this consultation.

Bold comes from a word which literally means “freedom of speech,” and may indicate that the members of the Council were amazed at the boldness with which Peter and John had spoken in the name of Jesus. How bold Peter and John were can be expressed as “how Peter and John spoke without fear.” In some languages this may be expressed idiomatically as “how they said everything” or “how they did not cover up anything.”

The expression for learn must not imply either formal instruction or any outside information. This is something which the members of the Council deduced from the way in which Peter and John had spoken.

Ordinary men of no education translated two words, the first of which, “ordinary men,” means a person who is not a specialist in a particular field; while the second, “of no education,” means a persons who is unschooled, and in the papyri even refers to one who cannot write. This latter term is taken by some translators to refer to a person who is untrained in the Jewish Law, though it is doubtful if that is the meaning in the present context. For the two words Jerusalem Bible has “uneducated laymen,” New English Bible “untrained laymen,” and An American Translation* “uneducated, ordinary men.”

Expressions for ordinary men vary widely in different languages, for example, “the little people,” “those who do not count for much,” “those who live at the edge of the village,” and “those who command others.”

Lack of formal education (in the rabbinical sense) is not so easily expressed. In some situations this is expressed in rather unique ways, for example, “they did not know paper,” “they could not instruct from books,” or “they had not gone off to school.”

The meaning of the Greek clause “they had been with Jesus” is they had been companions that is, close friends, of Jesus. It is important to indicate that Peter and John had been with Jesus over a period of time. It is for that reason that the Good News Translation has employed companions of Jesus. In other languages one may have “experienced living with Jesus,” “associated with Jesus,” or “followed along with Jesus for some time.”

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 .

This is the first time in the book of Acts where the word church appears. Although the word is used in a variety of ways throughout the book of the Acts, it is used in the present passage as a technical term for the description of the Christian community in Jerusalem.

In many languages there are serious problems in finding an adequate term for church. Too often the term simply identifies a building, and certainly in the New Testament its primary reference should be to the group of believers. It is for this reason that in a number of languages church in this context is translated as “gathering of believers” or “the group of believers,” or even as in some instances “all those believing in Christ.”

It is not known who all the others are. It is possible that they are all the others in the Christian community as contrasted with the apostles. It is also possible that all the others could refer to anyone who heard this account. In any event, a translation should be so constructed as to include others but not necessarily exclude any particular group.

The expression were filled with great fear poses certain problems in many languages since one cannot be filled with … fear. One can, however, “fear very much,” “have great fear,” or “great fear can possess one.”

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 .

This is the first time in the book of Acts where disciples is used as a designation of the Christians. Altogether the corresponding Greek term is used more than twenty-five times in Acts: once with the addition “of the Lord” (9.1); and in 9.25 the reference may be limited to the followers of Paul, Saul’s followers.

It may be necessary to employ a term for disciples which is different from the expression used in the translation of the Gospels. If in the Gospels one has used a phrase such as “those whom Jesus taught” or “those who learned from Jesus,” in Acts it is necessary to employ an expression which will indicate indirect association with Jesus, for example, “those who were followers of Jesus” (if the word “followers” means adherents to rather than immediate companions) or “believers in Jesus.” In fact, many translations use simply “believers” for disciples in Acts.

The number of disciples kept growing is rendered in many languages as “there were more people who became believers” or “more and more people believed in Jesus.”

Kept growing accurately translates the continuous aspect of the Greek present tense.

Quarrel is translated by some as “complaint” or “disagreement,” while others understand the word to mean a secret murmuring that was not done openly.

Greek-speaking Jews is rendered by most translations as “Hellenists”; and native Jews is usually translated as “Hebrews.” Although there is fairly unanimous agreement regarding the meaning of this latter term (it refers to Aramaic-speaking Jews of Palestine), there is some disagreement regarding the meaning of the former of these words. However, most commentators understand “Hellenists” to mean Greek-speaking Jews (see New English Bible “those of them who spoke Greek”); compare 9.29 and 11.20.

The phrase native Jews is not complicated in some languages. Some would like to render this simply as “those who lived in Jerusalem,” thus implying that Greek-speaking Jews were visitors from other areas. Others prefer to render this phrase as “Jews who spoke only the Jewish language” or “Jews who spoke only Aramaic.”

In Jerusalem there were many widows of men who had lived most of their lives outside of the Holy City, but had come to Jerusalem to die and to be buried. In order to care for these widows the Jews had set up means whereby they would be given money for food. Evidently the Christian community had adopted a similar custom. The daily distribution of funds is literally “in the daily distribution,” and may be taken to refer either to funds (as in the Good News Translation) or else to food. In light of the manner in which the Jews themselves handled the care for the widows, it is quite likely that the distribution is that of money rather than food.

The passive expression were being neglected may be rendered in some languages by a kind of substitute passive “they did not receive.”

The daily distribution of funds may be rendered as “money that was given to the widows each day” or “money that was given for the widows’ needs of each day.”

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 .

This verse actually continues the sentence begun in verse 17 and is a subordinate temporal clause beginning with “until the time in which.” In order to make the sentence less difficult for the English reader, the Good News Translation has divided it into two parts (see also Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, Phillips). Who had not known Joseph is true in a temporal sense, but the primary reference is to the unwillingness of the new king to be guided by what Joseph had done for Egypt.

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 the form of the question is to be retained in verse 50, it must be so structured as to imply a strong affirmation that God had himself made all such things. If this cannot be brought out clearly in the question, then one may shift to an emphatic statement. After all, the question is merely rhetorical even as the preceding two questions are, and in some languages such expressions must be restructured as emphatic statements. God is obviously not asking for information, but by means of the question form is emphasizing his lack of dependence upon what man has built.

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 Good News Translation understands the evil within Simon in the sense of an evil plan, though most translators simply render the word by “wickedness.” The expression “the intent of your heart” is rendered by the Good News Translation as for thinking such a thing as this, since in Jewish thought the heart was the seat of one’s thoughts.

Forgive you for thinking may be rendered as “forgive you because you have thought.”

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 transitional particle so is particularly important, since it marks the conclusion of the preceding paragraph and introduces the result stated in this paragraph.

Who appeared to you may be also taken in the sense of “whom you saw” (see 1.3). Has sent me—Jesus himself captures the intended emphasis of the Greek sentence structure which is missed by a translation such as “the Lord Jesus … has sent me” (Revised Standard Version).

The expression filled with the Holy Spirit must conform to the normal usage of such an expression in the receptor language, for example, “whom the Spirit will control,” “into whom the Holy Spirit comes,” etc. (See also 2.4; 4.8, 31; 6.3, 5, 8; 7.55; 9.17; 11.24; 13.9.)

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 .