Peter’s speech, interrupted by verses 18 and 19, is now resumed. For, however, refers back to verse 16, and thus gives the reason why it was necessary that Judas should have been the guide of those who arrested Jesus (v. 16).

Very frequently the Greek conjunction gar “for” presents a number of problems in translation, since it is often not related to the immediately preceding statement. In some passages it serves only to show that the argument is proceeding. In some languages it is best to omit the conjunction entirely in a construction such as here and to emphasize the use of Greek oun “therefore” at the beginning of verse 21. The basic meaning here is “since the Scriptures have indicated what should be done, therefore someone must be chosen to take Judas’ place.” The argument relates the content of verse 20 to what follows, not to what precedes.

It is written is a set formula used for the introduction of a quotation from the Old Testament. The first passage quoted is Psalm 69.25. The Psalm has the plural form:

“May their houses become empty,
Let no one live in their tents.”

Peter uses it in the singular since he applies the meaning of the Psalm solely to Judas. The second passage quoted (Psalm 109.8) is an almost exact quotation from the Septuagint. Whereas the first passage expresses the wish that the house or home of Judas would be left empty, the second passage expresses the need for someone else to take his place of service, and thus serves as a transition to verses 21-26. Place of service (variously rendered “office,” “ministry,” “charge”) should be translated in such a way as to show that the emphasis is upon the service that the apostle renders rather than the office which he holds. It is not at all likely that at this early date the institutional life of the church had become so developed as to have had an office of apostleship. In any case, Luke defines the primary function of an apostle as a witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus (vv. 21-22).

In many languages such an “impersonal passive” construction as “it is written” cannot be employed. In some languages one must have an active expression, for example, “The one who wrote the book of the Psalms said,” “There are words in the book of the Psalms which say,” or “In the book of the Psalms one may read.”

The most satisfactory translation for Psalms is normally “songs,” though in some instances one may need some type of qualifier, for example, “religious songs,” or “songs of worship.”

The third person imperative in Greek expressions translated as “may … become” and “let … live” is equivalent in many languages to an emphatic obligatory mood, for example, “his house must become empty” and “no one must live in it.” The use of English “may” and “let” is quite misleading, for neither potentiality nor permission is implied in the original.

The concept of a house becoming empty is not easy to render literally in many languages. One may speak of an empty container, for example, a box, sack, or bucket, but not of a house. Therefore, it may be necessary to restructure the semantic components, for example, “everyone must leave the house,” with a verb for “leave” which implies permanent abandonment.

The construction may … take represents a Greek imperative. As in the case of the two preceding imperatives, it may be necessary to employ an obligatory mood, for example, “someone else must take his place,” or, as suggested above, “must do his work,” or “must do what he was supposed to do.”

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 .