In many languages one cannot speak of the word of the Lord kept spreading. Rather, one must change this to read “more and more people kept hearing about the message concerning the Lord.”

Kept spreading and growing stronger correctly emphasize the continuous aspects of the Greek verbs in this verse. The final phrase growing stronger is equivalent to “more and more people were believing.” In a number of languages one cannot speak of a word becoming strong. Only some animate creature can be spoken of as “growing stronger.”

The introductory phrase in this powerful way is quite difficult to translate adequately in a number of languages. Way actually specifies the manner in which the preceding events took place, including the miracles of Paul, the defeat of the sons of Sceva, and finally the public burning of the books on magic. In some languages the equivalent expression is “all this that had happened was very strong,” but in many instances what happened must be directly related to the reactions of people: “all that had happened convinced people strongly.” In still other instances the equivalent may be “because of these unusual events” or “because of these powerful events.”

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 .