15:34

There is a textual issue here. The words of Acts 15:34 was added in some of the later Greek manuscripts. The person who labeled the verses did so based on these later Greek manuscripts. Only the King James Version includes this verse in their translation, while the New American Standard Bible includes it in brackets. Many English versions include the words of 15:34 only in a footnote. Include this verse only as a footnote, as many English versions do. An example footnote is:

Only some of the later Greek manuscripts include 15:34, which reads: But Silas decided to remain there.

If the common language version in your area includes this verse in their translation, you may want to include it in brackets. The New American Standard Bible does this.

If you put 15:34 in a footnote, here are several ways to number the verses:

• Put the number 34 after the number 33, and put the footnote before 15:35. For example:

33–34After spending some time there, they were sent off by the brothers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. * 35But Paul and Barnabas remained…

• Put the number 34 after the last word of 15:33, and put the footnote after it. For example:

33After spending some time there, they were sent off by the brothers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. 34* 35But Paul and Barnabas remained…

• Do not include the number 34, and put the footnote before 15:35. For example:

33After spending some time there, they were sent off by the brothers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. * 35But Paul and Barnabas remained…

© 2001, 2021 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

Paragraph 16:25–28

16:25a–b

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them: The tenses of the verbs “pray,” “sing,” and “listen” indicate doing these things for some time, perhaps for an hour or as much as ten hours. Paul and Silas prayed and sang until the earthquake, which occurred About midnight. But it is not clear when they began praying and singing. Translate in a way that indicates that Paul and Silas prayed and sang for some time, and the prisoners listened for that time.

Some languages must explain this length of time in the translation. For example:

⌊That night⌋ about midnight Paul and Silas had been praying and singing hymns to God ⌊for some time⌋, and the other prisoners were listening to them
-or-

⌊That night⌋ about midnight Paul and Silas had been praying and singing hymns to God ⌊for a long time⌋, and the other prisoners were listening to them

praying: The word praying refers to speaking to God, either to praise Him, thank Him, or ask Him something. This term does not refer to ritualistic words or words of magic. Use the proper word or phrase in your language. See how you translated this word in 1:24 or 14:23.

Paul and Silas prayed aloud, because the prisoners heard them praying. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate that Paul and Silas prayed silently or quietly. If this is true in your language, indicate that they prayed aloud. For example:

praying ⌊aloud⌋

singing hymns to God: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as singing hymns refers to songs that praise someone. Paul and Silas sang songs that praised God. Another way to translate the Greek word is:

singing songs of praise to God
-or-
singing songs that praised God

to God: The prayers and songs were directed to God. Paul and Silas did not do this for the benefit of the prisoners but were happy that they were listening.

© 2001, 2021 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

17:17a

So he reasoned: There are two ways to interpret the Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So:

(1) It introduces a result or consequence. For example:

So he was reasoning (New American Standard Bible)

(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Good News Translation, New American Bible, Revised Edition, New American Standard Bible, NET Bible, English Standard Version, King James Version)

(2) It introduces a new part of the story. As such it is not translated with a word. For example:

He held discussions (God’s Word)

(New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible, New Century Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).

reasoned: This word refers to discussing something and trying to convince others about it. Other ways to translate this word are:

held discussions (Good News Translation)
-or-
debated (New Jerusalem Bible)

The Greek tense probably indicates that Paul did this over a period of time, perhaps several weeks. For example:

was reasoning (New American Standard Bible)

It is implied that Paul mainly talked about the good news about Jesus. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate only general discussions. If that is true in your language, you may want to include the implied information in your translation. For example:

was reasoning ⌊about Jesus⌋
-or-
began reasoning ⌊that Jesus was the Christ/Savior⌋

God-fearing Gentiles: This phrase is literally “the worshiping ones.” Here it refers to non-Jewish men and women who worshiped the God of the Jews. But they had not converted completely to Judaism. For example:

the devout persons (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
the Gentiles who worshiped God (Good News Translation)

17:17b

marketplace: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as marketplace was a public area where people gathered for many activities. One of these activities in Athens was discussing different ideas and beliefs. See how you translated this word in 16:19 or 17:5.

© 2001, 2021 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

18:15a

since: The Greek word is often translated as “if.” But it is likely true that Gallio is certain that the matter between the Jews and Paul is only disagreements about words and names and the Jewish law. Therefore many English versions translate the Greek word as since.

it is a dispute about: The pronoun it refers to the accusation against Paul. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

this concerns (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
the things you are saying are (New Century Version)

words: These questions are matters of religion. Gallio saw this dispute only as a matter of the Jewish religion. The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as words usually implies that these words cause arguments. For example:

⌊controversial⌋ words
-or-
words ⌊of religion⌋ ⌊that cause arguments⌋

names: This word may imply the argument that Paul said that Jesus should be named the Christ (18:5c) but the Jews disagreed. It is not known how much Gallio, as a Roman, knew about the problems that the Jews had with Christian beliefs. So you should translate the word literally.

your own law: This phrase refers to the Jewish laws.

18:15b

settle it yourselves: The Greek words here are literally “you will see (to it) yourselves.” The future tense here is used as a command from an official to those under his authority. The command tells the Jews to resolve the problem themselves. Other ways to translate this clause are:

see to it yourselves (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
you must deal with it yourselves (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
you will have to take care of it (Contemporary English Version)

18:15c

I refuse to be a judge of such things: The Greek words are literally “a judge, I, of these things, (I) do not intend/want to be.” It emphasizes “a judge, I, of these things.” It asserts strongly that Gallio has no desire at all to judge these matters of religion. Other ways to translate this clause are:

I myself have no intention of being a judge of these matters/questions
-or-
I, as judge of these things? I refuse.
-or-
No way do I want to judge these things!

© 2001, 2021 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

19:19a–b

And a number of those who had practiced magic arts: The Greek is literally “a number of the ones having practiced sorcery.” The Greek is the normal past tense (called “aorist”). There are two ways to interpret the Greek past tense here:

(1) It indicates that this group of people stopped practicing sorcery at some time in the past. It would imply that they stopped when they began believing in Jesus. For example:

A good many of those who formerly practised magic (Revised English Bible)

(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition, English Standard Version, New Living Translation (2004), Contemporary English Version, NET Bible, Revised English Bible , New Century Version)

(2) It indicates that this group of people stopped practicing sorcery at this time. It could be that this group began believing in Jesus at this time, or that they believed earlier and only stopped at this time. For example:

a number of those who practiced magic arts (Revised Standard Version)

(Revised Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, King James Version)

Two other decisions about the context affect which interpretation to choose:

(a) Does Luke imply that the believers stopped practicing sorcery immediately upon believing in Jesus?

(b) Is this part of the group Luke mentions in 19:18, a separate group that believed earlier, or a separate group that believed at this time?

Interpretation (1) assumes that the believers stopped practicing when they believed and that this group began believing earlier. Interpretation (2) assumes either that this group began believing at this time, or that they believed earlier and only on this day stopped practicing magic.

The Greek seems to imply that this group is separate from the group in 19:18, but it could be some of that group. If it was the same group, this author would have expected “a number of them” here. But whether this group believed earlier or on this day is not clear at all. Both interpretations are possible.

And a number of those who: The word number refers to an unknown amount. It is less than “all” but more than “a few.” Other ways to translate this phrase are:

Many of those who (Good News Translation)
-or-
Some of them who (New Century Version)

had practiced: Here the word practiced refers to doing something regularly. Other ways to translate this word are:

did
-or-
used (New Century Version)

magic arts: This word refers to the use of secret sayings and rituals that are supernaturally powerful. People would use these sayings and rituals to cause things to happen that they could not do by their own power. Other ways to translate this word are:

magic (Good News Translation)
-or-
witchcraft (Contemporary English Version)

brought their books and burned them in front of everyone: These clauses probably imply that all who became believers and who had scrolls of magic burned them. In some languages a literal translation would not have the correct meaning. If that is true in your language, translate the correct meaning. For example:

A number who had practiced sorcery had scrolls of magic. They ⌊all⌋ gathered those scrolls and burned them publicly.

books: This word refers to strips of papyrus paper or animal skin (leather or parchment) which people have written on. They were rolled around a stick. Magic scrolls were usually small.

The difference between a scroll and a book is not important here. In some languages to translate the word “scrolls” would need a long descriptive phrase. If that is true in your language, you may want to translate this word as books, as the Berean Standard Bible does.

19:19c

When the value of the books was calculated: The word calculated probably refers to adding the value of all the scrolls. Or someone may have estimated the number of scrolls and multiplied that number by a typical value for those kinds of scrolls. For example:

they counted the value of them (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
They added up the price of the books (Good News Translation)
-or-
The value of these was calculated to be (New Jerusalem Bible)

value: Here this word refers to the price or cost of something.

19:19d

fifty thousand drachmas: This phrase in Greek is literally “fifty thousand (pieces of) silver.” For example:

fifty thousand silver pieces (New Jerusalem Bible)

These “pieces of silver” were probably the Greek silver coins called “drachma.” For example:

fifty thousand silver coins (Good News Translation)

But a “drachma” was the wage of a farm worker for one day. It has the same value as a Roman denarius coin (Matthew 18:28, Mark 12:15, Luke 7:41). In some languages using the word “coin” or “pieces” would imply a small value. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Translate “pieces of silver” as “denarii” or “drachma.” For example:

fifty thousand drachma/denarii

Then you may want to explain the value of this coin in a footnote. An example footnote is:

The drachma/denarius was the wage of a farm worker for one day.

• Translate using “pieces of silver” or “coins” and explain the value in a footnote. An example footnote is:

These coins were very valuable. One coin was equal to the wage of a farm worker for one day.
-or-
These silver pieces were very valuable. One piece was equal to the wage of a farm worker for one day.

• Indicate in your translation that fifty thousand pieces of silver was a lot of money. For example:

⌊the large/huge amount of⌋ fifty thousand drachma/denarii

• Translate the value using the wages of a farm worker. For example:

the same amount of money as the wages of about 160 farm workers working for a year

You may then want to indicate the literal words in a footnote. An example footnote is:

Literally “fifty thousand pieces of silver.” These “pieces of silver” were probably the Greek silver coins called drachma. One drachma was the wage of a farm worker for one day.

© 2001, 2021 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

20:10a–b

threw himself on the young man, and embraced him: Here the phrase threw himself refers to Paul hurriedly placing himself on top of the body of Eutychus.

The Greek words indicate that the purpose of Paul throwing himself was to put his arms around the body. But it is implied that Paul actually did put his arms around the body. So the Berean Standard Bible translates the second clause as actually happening at this time.

Other ways to translate these Greek words are:

hurriedly lay down on the young man to put his arms around him. ⌊He put his arms around him and⌋
-or-
hurriedly placed himself down on the young man and put his arms around him
-or-
lay-prostrate embracing the young man

20:10c

Do not be alarmed: The Greek grammar probably indicates that the people were already alarmed. It probably implies that they were already grieving. For example:

Stop being alarmed

But many English versions translate this command as “do not…”

alarmed: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as alarmed refers to being troubled or distressed. Other ways to translate this word are:

distressed (NET Bible)
-or-
sorrowful

he said: The Berean Standard Bible placed the phrase he said in the middle of the spoken words. Place it where it would be most natural in your language.

He is still alive: This clause in Greek is literally “for his life is in him.” The context implies that God enabled Paul to cause Eutychus to live again. It does not imply that Paul thought that Eutychus remained alive after he fell. In some languages a literal translation would not imply the correct information. If that is true in your language, you may want to indicate the correct meaning in your translation. For example:

He is alive now (New Century Version)
-or-
because he has come back to life
-or-
because he has become alive again

© 2001, 2021 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

21:36

For: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as For introduces this verse. Here it introduces additional information about the crowd. For example:

for the multitude of the people kept following them, shouting, “Away with him! (New American Standard Bible)
-or-

and indeed the whole mob was after them, shouting, ‘Do away with him!’ (New Jerusalem Bible)

The Berean Standard Bible uses the conjunction, but the New International Version and many English versions omit the conjunction and allow the context to indicate that meaning.

the crowd that followed him kept shouting: The Greek grammar indicates that the crowd continued following and shouting. Other ways to translate this clause are:

The crowd were following and shouting
-or-
the crowd followed behind shouting, “Kill him, kill him!” (New Living Translation (2004))

the crowd: This phrase in Greek is literally “the multitude of people.” It refers to the crowd/mob (21:35c). Here its meaning is very similar to “crowd.” Other ways to translate this phrase are:

the mob of the people (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
they (Good News Translation)

Away with him: This command probably implies killing Paul. Some English versions translate the implied meaning. For example:

Kill him! (Good News Translation)

The command is addressed to someone the crowd would call “you(sing).” They probably said this to the commander.

Some languages must use a pronoun in a command. If that is true in your language, use “you(sing)” here. For example:

You(sing), take him away
-or-
You(sing), kill him

© 2001, 2021 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.