Acts 8:30-31

8:30 So Philip ran up ¹  to it ²  and heard the man ³  reading Isaiah the prophet. He ⁴  asked him, ⁵  “Do you understand what you’re reading?” 8:31 The man ⁶  replied, “How in the world can I, ⁷  unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

¹ tn The participle προσδραμών (prosdramwn) is regarded as attendant circumstance.

² tn The words “to it” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

³ tn Grk “heard him”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Grk “and he.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

⁵ tn Grk “he said”; but since what follows is a question, it is better English style to translate the introduction to the question “he asked him.”

⁶ tn Grk “He”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Grk “How am I able, unless…” The translation is based on the force of the conjunction γάρ (gar) in this context. The translation “How in the world can I?” is given in BDAG 189 s.v. γάρ 1.f.