Most translators understand Luke to be saying that the people insulted Paul; but others take this to mean that they spoke evil things against Christ, that is, “blasphemy” (Jerusalem Bible, Zürcher Bibel; and “abuse” of New American Bible). The Greek verb may have either sense.

They spoke against what Paul was saying is, in many languages, equivalent to “they said, What Paul was saying is a lie.” To render insulted him one may simply say “they spoke bad things about Paul.” The emphasis of this clause seems to be simply that they not only spoke about what Paul said but they also spoke about him personally.

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 .