The Greek of this verse involves a relatively complex sentence structure, but the meaning is made clear by the Good News Translation and most other translations. The gift sent to Jerusalem by the disciples in Antioch (most of whom were probably Gentiles) indicates at least two things: (1) their gratitude to the Jerusalem church from which the Christian message had come and (2) their sense of unity with the Jewish believers in Jerusalem.

It is important, however, in translating this verse to indicate that the action of sending help was a collective action and not an individual one. A literal rendering of each of them would send as much as he could might suggest that each individual was sending his own particular gift. Obviously, however, this was a joint undertaking since the money was sent to the church elders in Jerusalem by means of two persons designated for the task, Barnabas and Saul.

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 .