The Greek does not make explicit the persons to whom the Roman commander gave his orders, but it is obvious that they were given to his men.

“Him” of the Greek has been made explicit in the Good News Translation by translating Paul.

Whipping a person was not to punish him, but was the legal means of examining a person who was either a slave or an alien (see v. 29). Whipping was regarded as a kind of torture in order to guarantee that the individual would tell the truth.

Screaming … against him may be rendered as “speaking against him by their screams.” This shift may be required, since in some languages one can only “speak against” and not “scream against.”

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 .