The order of grammatical elements in the Greek must often be shifted to represent the order of events, as in the Good News Translation. That is to say, first, Jesus finishes speaking; second, he is taken up into heaven; third, the disciples watch; and, fourth, the cloud hides him.

The phrase after saying this may be rendered in many languages as “first he said” or “he finished speaking and then.” This makes the reference to the speaking relate to the previous statement.

The passive expression was taken up may require a subject, which should be God; that is, “God took him up to heaven.” However, it is important that one not get the impression that God grabbed him by the head and hauled him into heaven—as in the case of one translation. Therefore, in some languages it may be better to translate “God caused him to go to heaven.” (See also 1.2a.)

The verb watch so often occurs in a continuative form, thus focusing upon the duration of the process. A cloud hid him from their sight translates “a cloud took him up out of their sight.” In a number of languages the phrase “a cloud hid him” causes some difficulty, since a “cloud” is essentially an instrument, not an agent. Therefore, one may prefer to employ “he was hidden by a cloud” or “he was no longer visible because of a cloud.” If the verb hid suggests some intentionality on the part of the cloud, one may employ “because of the cloud he could not be seen” or “… they could not see him.”

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 .