It may be necessary to make clear that the pronoun they at the beginning of this verse refers to the soldiers—for example, “as the soldiers were about to take Paul into the fort.”

Paul’s question to the commander of the soldiers, May I say something to you?, is rendered as direct discourse in most translations, though it appears as indirect discourse in the Jerusalem Bible.

Do you speak Greek? is not really a question asking for information, for the commander obviously understood from Paul’s statement to him that he did speak Greek. Therefore, this question must be rendered in some languages as “then you obviously speak Greek” or “then you must speak Greek.” If the question is changed into a statement, the verb relating to the commander’s comment must be changed from asked to “said.”

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 .