The first clause when the people heard this helps to identify a shift in the viewpoint of the characters. The pronoun this refers to all that Peter had said, such as “when the people heard what Peter had said.”

Deeply troubled is literally “stabbed to the heart” (the corresponding Greek verb occurs only here in the New Testament). To be deeply troubled may be expressed in a number of ways, often idiomatically, for example, “their hearts were cut,” “they did not know what to do,” or “they were split” (referring to their divided thoughts).

The term brothers in this verse should be the same as the expression used by Peter in verse 29.

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 .