A very beautiful child translates the Greek expression “he was beautiful to God.” However, the addition of the phrase “to God” or “before God” was evidently a way of forming a strong superlative. For example, in Jonah 3.3 Nineveh is said to have been “a city great before God,” that is, a very great city; while the statement in Genesis 10.9, “Nimrod was a mighty hunter before the Lord,” simply means that Nimrod was “the greatest hunter in the world.”

At home is the meaning of the expression “in the house of his father.” The phrase at home may be equivalent to “was taken care of at home” or even “nursed at home.”

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 .