The forms of the Greek verbs translated followed and shouting indicate that this was a continuous action. Note also the fact that this is made explicit in the beginning of verse 18. One can, therefore, translate “she kept following Paul and us and kept shouting” or “she continually followed Paul and us and kept shouting.”

The Most High God was a term current among both Jews and Gentiles. The expression the Most High God is usually translated in one of two different ways. Either Most High refers to position, that is, “the highest God” (indirectly a reference to “the God in heaven”) or “the God who is higher than all other gods,” that is to say, “the most important God.” Here the reference would certainly seem to be to “God who is greater than all others.”

How you can be saved (Jerusalem Bible “to tell you how to be saved”) translates the noun phrase “a way of salvation” (so New American Bible, New English Bible, An American Translation*), but which has been rendered by a number of translators as “the way of salvation” (Revised Standard Version, Moffatt, Barclay, Phillips). There is no problem in transforming a noun phrase into a verbal expression as the Good News Translation and Jerusalem Bible have done, since this often provides a much better basis for understanding the meaning. The real problem that faces the translator is the meaning of the expression “way of salvation.” Is it legitimate to understand this in the sense of “the way of salvation,” which can then be transformed into a verbal expression such as how you can be saved? In this regard there are several observations that are important. (1) When the definite article “the” is used in Greek, it is usually safe to assume that the definite article can be used in English translation; however, it does not follow that when no article is used in Greek, the equivalent expression in English is the indefinite article “a.” For example, in 17.23 the literal expression “to unknown God” may be legitimately taken either as to “an” unknown God or to “the” unknown God; and it is definitely to be concluded that the expression “Son of God” in Mark 15.39 means “the Son of God.” (2) Luke certainly intends for his readers to understand that there is but one way of salvation; and for this reason “way of salvation” must be understood in the sense that Luke himself would have taken it, “the way of salvation.”

As long as the passive expression can be preserved, for example, how you can be saved, there are usually no problems involved. However, it may be necessary to place this in the active, in which case God must be made the subject: “how God can save you.”

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 .