Noise, rather than a strong wind, is the subject of the verb filled. The house in which the believers were meeting may either have been a private house of else a part of the temple; there is no way to make a definite decision inasmuch as the word may refer to either.

An impersonal type of construction such as there was a noise is not possible in many languages. “Noises” cannot exist apart from their being heard. Therefore, in some languages one must say “the people heard a noise.”

Some restructuring of relationships may be necessary in the first clause because of the comparison, for example, “the people heard a noise that was coming from the sky; the noise was just like what a wind makes when it blows strong.” As may be noted, “strong” is shifted from its position as an attributive to “wind,” to a position as attributive to the process of “blowing.” This is frequently required, since the force is regarded not as a character of the wind, but as an aspect of the blowing.

Note that the pronoun it must be related to the noise, and not to the wind. In some cases this must be made explicit, for example, “the noise filled the house” or “everywhere in the house the people heard the noise.” The latter expression may be necessary, since in many languages one cannot speak of a “noise filling” anything.

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 .