The phrase kept part … for himself translates a verb which appears in two other places in the New Testament, Acts 5.3 and Titus 2.10. This verb is also used in the Septuagint in the story of Achan (Joshua 7.1), and it is tempting to see a parallel between this account and the story of Achan. In Hellenistic Greek this verb is commonly used of money taken secretly from a quantity belonging to a group of people.

Though the Greek text literally says “laid it at the apostles’ feet,” it is frequently more satisfactory to translate simply “turned it over to the apostles” or “gave it to the apostles.” A literal translation of the Greek idiom could be, and often is, badly misunderstood.

The phrase as his wife knew can sometimes be translated by a separate clause “his wife knew all about it.”

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 .