A descendant of David (literally “from the seed of this one”) is in the stressed position in the Greek sentence structure. Most languages have a rather traditional term for “descendant.” In general this reflects two different principal areas of meaning: (1) “of the same family” or “of the same clan,” and (2) a more specific term which acquires a general meaning, for example, “grandson of” or “great-grandson of.”

In the Greek text of Acts the title Savior appears only here and in 5.31. Note that the people of Israel are the goal of the implied event in the word Savior. In other words, “he is the one who saves the people of Israel.”

The expression people of Israel represents what might be called an appositional construction, “the people are Israel” or “the people are Israelites.”

The last clause of verse 23 as he had promised may require some specific indication as to the persons to whom the promise had been made, for example, “as he had promised the ancestors of the Israelites.”

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 .