A layman of Greek

[learner2010]

I am a Christian. When I read the Bible, I encounter the text that create problems which can be solved by resorting to the original language. For example, in NT Acts 13:48, Someone said that the word "believed" in Greek is placed before the relative clause " as many as were ordained eternal life". But if that is the case, why so many translations placed the word "believed" after the relative clause " as many as were ordained eternal life"? I hope that someone in this forum can help me to get across this problem. Thank you.

[mingshey]

Well, Greek words take the grammatical role by the declension and conjugation, while English words take it largely from their place in the sentence. So a Greek word has more freedom in choosing its place in the sentence, and the choice of place is often a matter of emphasis it assumes.