Paragraph 6:7

6:7a

6:7 is a general comment about what was happening in Jerusalem in connection to the believers.

So: The Greek word is usually translated as “and” or “but.” Here it indicates a new part of the story. For example:

And (Revised Standard Version)

The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So may have the meaning of “therefore.” This meaning is also possible here.

In some languages omitting this word is more natural. For example:

God’s message went spread

the word of God continued to spread: This clause indicates that people in more and more places heard the message from God and believed it. The Greek tense indicates an ongoing action. For example:

The word of God was spreading
-or-
the word of God continued to spread (Good News Translation)

This is a figure of speech. In some languages a literal translation will not have the correct meaning. If that is true in your language, translate the meaning of the figure of speech. For example:

⌊people⌋ in more and more places ⌊believed⌋ the word of God

the word of God: This phrase refers to the message that God told the apostles to tell others. It implies the gospel of Jesus. It does not refer to a single word. See how you translated this phrase in 4:31 or 6:2.

6:7b

The number of disciples in Jerusalem: This phrase refers the believers who lived in Jerusalem or perhaps met regularly there.

disciples: This word refers to people who believed in Jesus as the Messiah. It does not refer only to the first twelve disciples. See how you translated this word in 6:1.

grew rapidly: The Greek tense indicates an ongoing action. For example:

was increasing rapidly (Revised English Bible)
-or-
continued to increase much/greatly

6:7c

a great number: This phrase is literally “a large crowd.” It perhaps treats the priests who believed in Jesus as a group. It indicates that there were many of them. Here are some other ways to translate this:

a great many (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
a large group (New American Bible, Revised Edition)

priests: Jewish priests were men who offered sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. They also performed other rituals for the people. See how you translated this word in 4:1.

became obedient to the faith: Here the word faith refers to believing in Jesus. This phrase indicates that the priests believed in Jesus. It does not mean that they obeyed but did not believe.

The Greek tense indicates an ongoing action. It probably indicates that each of these priests decided in his own time rather than all of them deciding together. Here are some other ways to translate this:

began obeying Jesus, one after another
-or-
believed and obeyed (New Century Version)

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