Verse 27 is actually the continuation in Greek of the sentence begun in verse 26. In the same way that verse 26 draws a conclusion on the basis of what has been said in verse 25, so verse 27 draws a conclusion on the basis of what has been said in verse 26. In fact, the content of verses 25 and 27 is essentially the same: the Kingdom of God of verse 25 is equivalent to the whole purpose of God in verse 27. Held back translates the same verb as was rendered hold back in verse 20.

The phrase the whole purpose of God is often translated as “all that God plans to do” or “all that God arranges to do.”

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 .