Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessagePermission granted, Paul stood on the steps and raised his hand to quiet the crowd. A great hush fell over them, and he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying:
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GWhen permission was granted, Sha'ul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand to the people. A great silence fell, and he addressed them in the Hebrew tongue, saying:
KJV
King James VersionAnd when he had given him licence, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,
BSB
Berean Standard BibleHaving received permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. A great hush came over the crowd, and he addressed them in Hebrew:
Footnotes
τῇ Ἑβραΐδι διαλέκτῳ (tē Hebraidi dialektō) — "in the Hebrew dialect" — scholars debate whether this denotes Hebrew proper or Aramaic (the everyday lingua franca of first-century Jewish Palestine), both of which could be called "Hebrew" colloquially. The crowd's sudden hush (πολλῆς σιγῆς) confirms the rhetorical power of the ancestral tongue: it arrested the mob instantly, communicating solidarity of identity before a single argument was made. The speech that follows (ch. 22) opens with Paul's Hebrew lineage and Pharisaic credentials — the tongue signals what the content will confirm.