The church will be faced not only with persons from outside their ranks who will try to lead them astray, but Paul warns them that some men from their own group will tell lies to lead the believers away after them. Believers is literally “disciples,” but as elsewhere in the book of Acts these two terms are equivalent expressions used to describe persons who have given themselves to the Lord.

To lead may be taken in the sense of result, though purpose is much more natural for the expression. To lead the believers away after them may be rendered as “to cause the believers to follow them” or even “to cause the believers to separate from other believers and follow only them.” In some instances it may even be necessary to translate “to cause some believers to join their group.”

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 .