The term watch is rendered in many languages as “be on your guard” or “watch out for people like that,” in the sense of “protecting yourselves against.” One may also use a figurative expression such as “keep awake” or “be alert.”

The verb remember should not be translated in such a way as to imply that people had forgotten. The implication here is “keep constantly in mind” or “think about continuously.” Remember is actually a participle and may be taken either in a temporal sense, “as you remember,” or in a circumstantial sense, “remembering.” It is also possible to understand this participle as an imperative used in conjunction with watch, as in the Good News Translation (see also New English Bible).

The phrase with many tears is probably a reference to the amount of suffering which Paul had as the result of persecution and difficulties. The closest equivalent in some languages may be “I suffered very much.”

The word translated taught is not the usual word for “teach,” but it carries the overtones of “warn” or “admonish.”

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 .