Acts 4:1-12
Acts 4:1-12. FIRST ARREST OF THE APOSTLES. THEIR HEARING AND DEFENCE... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 4:1-12. FIRST ARREST OF THE APOSTLES. THEIR HEARING AND DEFENCE... [ Continue Reading ]
ΛΑΛΟΎΝΤΩΝ ΔΈ. Some little time must have elapsed since Pentecost, for now the movements of the Apostles have become a matter of concern to the Jewish authorities. See their complaint (Acts 5:28). There is no note of time at the beginning of chap. 3. It need not have been a long period, for news soon... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΙΑΠΟΝΟΎΜΕΝΟΙ. The word is found in LXX. (Ecclesiastes 10:9) of the pain and risk which a man incurs in removing stones. Here the pain is mental, they were _sorely grieved_. It is used (Acts 16:18) of St Paul’s feeling when the ‘damsel possessed with a spirit of divination’ cried after him at Philip... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΉΡΗΣΙΝ, _ward_, safe keeping, i.e. in a prison-house. And it is worth noticing on the use of it, that the Jews only employed imprisonment for this precautionary purpose. It was not a mode of punishment with them, and where we find mention of it so used in the Scripture records, the authorities who... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΟΛΛΟῚ ΔΈ, _but many_ &c.; i.e. they were not deterred by the arrest of the Apostles. ἘΠΊΣΤΕΥΣΑΝ, _believed_, i.e. on Him (Jesus) whom Peter had set before them as the Prophet of whom Moses had spoken. ἘΓΕΝΉΘΗ, _came to, amounted to_. Thus the Christian brotherhood had gained nearly two thousand a... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΠῚ ΤῊΝ ΑΥ̓́ΡΙΟΝ, _on the morrow_, when the investigation was permitted to be held. ΤΟῪΣ ἌΡΧΟΝΤΑΣ ΚΑῚ ΤΟῪΣ ΠΡΕΣΒΥΤΈΡΟΥΣ. Here we may see that the party of the Sadducees was at this time the party of power and influence. ΚΑῚ ΤΟῪΣ ΓΡΑΜΜΑΤΕΙ͂Σ. Not only did the Scribes copy, but they also expounded t... [ Continue Reading ]
ἌΝΝΑΣ Κ.Τ.Λ. All the names in this verse are in the nominative with אAB. The _Vulg_. has also nominatives but the construction of the previous verse in the Latin brings the words there also into the same case. 6. ΚΑῚ ἌΝΝΑΣ Ὁ�, _and Annas the high-priest was there_. The verb in this sentence is under... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΝ ΤΩ͂Ι ΜΈΣΩΙ, _in the midst_. The council or Sanhedrin was assembled in the _Beth-din_ or Judgment-hall. ἘΝ ΠΟΊΑΙ ΔΥΝΆΜΕΙ, _by what power_. The noun here is the same which is used often for ‘a mighty work,’ and so has the force of ‘miraculous power.’ Ἢ ἘΝ ΠΟΊΩΙ ὈΝΌΗΑΤΙ. Literally ‘in what name.’... [ Continue Reading ]
τοῦ Ἰσραήλ omitted with אAB. The _Vulg_. also omits, but reads ‘Principes populi et seniores, audite.’ 8. ΠΝΕΎΜΑΤΟΣ ἉΓΊΟΥ. The Spirit of God which had come upon him had changed Peter ‘into another man.’ Cf. 1 Samuel 10:6. ἌΡΧΟΝΤΕΣ ΤΟΥ͂ ΛΑΟΥ͂. This was the highest tribunal which the Jews possessed.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΕἸ. This conjunction followed as here by the verb in the indicative = if, as is really the case; and so in sense is equivalent to ἐπεὶ, since, but may still be rendered ‘if.’ ἈΝΑΚΡΙΝΌΜΕΘΑ Κ.Τ.Λ. Render, _we are examined concerning a good deed done to an impotent man_. Both the nouns are without the... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΝ ΤΩ͂Ι ὈΝΌΜΑΤΙ, _in the name_, as before in Acts 4:7. ὙΜΕΙ͂Σ ἘΣΤΑΥΡΏΣΑΤΕ, _ye crucified_. For though the Roman soldiers were the actual agents in the crucifixion, it was the Jewish people and their rulers who set the Roman power in motion and urged it to the last extremity. The pronoun is therefor... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟἸΚΟΔΌΜΩΝ instead of οἰκοδομούντων with אABD. The _Vulg_. has a participle. 11. ΟΥ̓͂ΤΟΣ, _this_, viz. Jesus. ὙΦ' ὙΜΩ͂Ν ΤΩ͂Ν ΟἸΚΟΔΌΜΩΝ. Render, _of you the builders_. The article has its proper force. The council are fitly called the builders, for on them depended the whole religious and civil gove... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑῚ … Ἡ ΣΩΤΗΡΊΑ. Render, _and salvation is not in any other_, i.e. salvation in all the fulness of its conception. St Peter thus intimates that the cure of the lame man is only a sign of the power of salvation for the soul which was in Jesus. The people were to draw from the effect produced by ‘Aris... [ Continue Reading ]
ΘΕΩΡΟΥ͂ΝΤΕΣ. This is not the common verb for _seeing_, but implies that they beheld with some astonishment. ΠΑΡΡΗΣΊΑΝ, a freedom and readiness of speech not to be expected in unlearned men. This it was which made them wonder. ΤΟΥ͂ ΠΈΤΡΟΥ … ΚΑῚ ἸΩΆΝΝΟΥ. It appears then, though St Luke has not recor... [ Continue Reading ]
THE APOSTLES ARE DISMISSED UNPUNISHED... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΌΝ ΤΕ ἌΝΘΡΩΠΟΝ. It has been asked on this verse: Why did the sight of the healed man so utterly confound the judges that they had not a word to say? We may see from what happened afterwards that there were men in the council not without the thought that God was really working through the Apostles.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἜΞΩ ΤΟΥ͂ ΣΥΝΕΔΡΊΟΥ, i.e. to retire from the council-chamber while the members of the council considered in conference what course should be taken. ΣΥΝΈΒΑΛΛΟΝ is the word used (Acts 17:18) of the conference of the Stoic and Epicurean philosophers with St Paul at Athens.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΓΝΩΣΤΌΝ, _well-known, patent to all_. For the word, which is less common in the singular than in the plural, cf. Sir 21:7 γνωστὸς μακρόθεν ὁ δυνατὸς ἐν γλώσσῃ. ΠΑ͂ΣΙΝ … ΦΑΝΕΡΌΝ, _manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem_. Because all the inhabitants knew the beggar at the Temple-gate, and that h... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀπειλῇ omitted with אABD. Unrepresented in the _Vulg_. 17. ΔΙΑΝΕΜΗΘΗ͂Ι, _be spread abroad_, i.e. the fame of the miracle and the consequent belief in the divinity of Jesus. ἘΠῚ ΤΩ͂Ι ὈΝΌΗΑΤΙ. The notion in the preposition here is that of _resting upon_. The Apostles were no more to make the name of... [ Continue Reading ]
αὐτοῖς omitted with אABDE. The _Vulg_. gives the pronoun only once, ‘vocantes eos.’ 18. ΚΑΛΈΣΑΝΤΕΣ, _having called them_, i.e. back again into the council-chamber. ΠΑΡΉΓΓΕΙΛΑΝ, _they commanded_. The verb is frequently used of our Lord’s strict injunctions that His miracles should not be published... [ Continue Reading ]
ΕἾΠΟΝ ΠΡῸΣ ΑΥ̓ΤΟΎΣ with אABDE, and the _Vulg_. agrees with this. 19. Ὁ ΔῈ ΠΈΤΡΟΣ ΚΑῚ ἸΩΆΝΝΗΣ. Both alike express their determination to publish the news of Christ’s life and resurrection. The reason why both names are here mentioned may be that each was separately appealed to for a promise to desis... [ Continue Reading ]
ΕἼΔΑΜΕΝ ΚΑῚ ἨΚΟΎΣΑΜΕΝ, _we saw and heard_. For the witness is to be concerning the whole life of Jesus.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΡΟΣΑΠΕΙΛΗΣΆΜΕΝΟΙ, _having further threatened_. The first threats must have been made as soon as the Apostles were called back into the council-hall, as was suggested in Acts 4:17. They did not see their way to do more than threaten, because the people were sure that the lame man had been healed and... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΤΩ͂Ν … ΤΕΣΣΕΡΆΚΟΝΤΑ, _above forty years old_. To one who looked on the circumstances, as St Luke, with a physician’s eye (Colossians 4:14), this feature would be most noticeable. For limbs unused shrink and wither, and become disproportionate to the other parts of the frame. ἘΦ' ὋΝ ΓΕΓΌΝΕΙ ΤῸ ΣΗΜΕ... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΡῸΣ ΤΟῪΣ ἸΔΊΟΥΣ, _to their own company_, who were perhaps still abiding in the upper room which they had occupied before Pentecost. Because St Peter on a later occasion (Acts 12:12) made his way, after his delivery from prison, to the house of Mary the mother of John Mark where many were gathered t... [ Continue Reading ]
THE APOSTLES RELEASED. THEIR PRAYER AND ITS ANSWER... [ Continue Reading ]
ὁ θεὸς after σὺ omitted with אAB. _Vulg_. has ‘tu es qui fecisti.’ 24. ΟἹ ΔῈ�, _and they, having heard it_, viz. the report of the threats. ἮΡΑΝ ΦΩΝΉΝ, _lifted up their voice_. The compound verb ἐπαίρειν is the more common in classical Greek in this phrase. Both forms are found in the LXX. For αἴρε... [ Continue Reading ]
Ὁ ΤΟΥ͂ ΠΑΤΡῸΣ ἩΜΩ͂Ν ΔΙᾺ ΠΝΕΎΜΑΤΟΣ ἉΓΊΟΥ ΣΤΌΜΑΤΟΣ ΔΑΥΕῚΔ ΠΑΙΔΌΣ ΣΟΥ. This is the reading of אABE. The _Vulg_. in some degree confirms it, having ‘qui Spiritu sancto per os patris nostri David, pueri tui.’ But the reading is full of difficulty and there is probably some error. The _Vulg_. would seem t... [ Continue Reading ]
After ἈΛΗΘΕΊΑΣ add ἘΝ ΤΗ͂Ι ΠΌΛΕΙ ΤΑΎΤΗΙ with אABDE. _Vulg_. ‘in civitate ista.’ 27. ἘΠ' ἈΛΗΘΕΊΑΣ, _of a truth_. This expression is both classical and is also found often in the LXX. as Daniel 2:8; Daniel 2:47; Job 9:2; Job 19:4; Job 36:4; Isaiah 37:18, for the Hebrew אָמְנָם = verily. The Apostle p... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΟΙΗ͂ΣΑΙ, _to accomplish_. God made the passions, which the enemies of Jesus indulged, to be the instruments for working out His will. So men, when they suppose they are choosing their own way, have the ends thereof shapen by God, ‘rough hew them how they will.’ Their misdeeds are made to execute th... [ Continue Reading ]
ἜΠΙΔΕ, _look upon_. The verb is employed in heathen writings very often of the _oversight_ and _notice_ of the gods, and is common in the LXX. for God’s providential care. Cf. Job 22:12; Psalms 112:6; Ezekiel 8:12, and 2Ma 7:6 ὁ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἐφορᾷ. ΔΟΎΛΟΙΣ. The Apostles use this word of themselves,... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΝ ΤΩ͂Ι ΤῊΝ ΧΕΙ͂ΡΆ ΣΟΥ ἘΚΤΕΊΝΕΙΝ ΣΕ. Literally, ‘while Thou stretchest forth Thine hand.’ Thus the mighty works were to be a sign and testimony to the words which the Apostles spake, to demonstrate that they were God’s words, and that none could do the works which they did except God were with him.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΣΑΛΕΎΘΗ Ὁ ΤΌΠΟΣ. That they might feel at once that the God of all nature, to whom they had appealed (Acts 4:24), was among them. In their immediate need an immediate answer is vouchsafed, and a token with it that their prayer was heard. Cp. Acts 16:26 of the shaking of the prison at Philippi after... [ Continue Reading ]
ἡ omitted before ΚΑΡΔΊΑ and ΨΥΧῊ with אABD. 32. ΚΑΡΔΊΑ ΚΑῚ ΨΥΧῊ ΜΊΑ, _one heart and soul_. This was a Hebrew form of expressing complete accord. So (1 Chronicles 12:38) καὶ ὁ κατάλοιπος Ἰσραὴλ ψυχὴ μἱα τοῦ βασιλεῦσαι τὸν Δαυίδ. Also cf. such expressions as (1 Samuel 14:7; 2 Kings 10:15) ὡς ἡ καρδία... [ Continue Reading ]
UNANIMITY AND LOVE AMONG THE FIRST CHRISTIANS... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΥΝΆΜΕΙ ΜΕΓΆΛΗΙ (the order of the _Vulg_.) with אABD and several cursives. 33. ἈΠΕΔΊΔΟΥΝ ΤῸ ΜΑΡΤΎΡΙΟΝ, _they gave their witness_. The article should have its force. See above on Acts 4:12. The verb is also much stronger than the usual verb ‘to give.’ It is used for ‘paying a debt’ (Matthew 18:29; Lu... [ Continue Reading ]
ἮΝ for ὑπῆρχεν with אABF. 34. ΣΥ̓ΔῈ ΓᾺΡ ἘΝΔΕΉΣ ΤΙΣ ἮΝ. The A.V. omits to translate γὰρ, but it is essential to the sense. _For neither was there_, &c. This was one reason for their favour among men. All could see and admire the spirit of self-sacrifice which was exhibited by what they were doing. S... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΑΡᾺ ΤΟῪΣ ΠΌΔΑΣ. To lay a thing at, or under, any one’s feet was a significant act. Here it denoted that entire control was given to the Apostles over the bestowal of these sums. For the figure, cp. Psalms 8:6, and Cicero _pro Flacco_ (XXVII. § 68) ‘_ante pedes prætoris_ in foro expensum est auri po... [ Continue Reading ]
ἸΩΣῊΦ with אABDE and _Vulg_., also several cursives and some other versions. 36. ἸΩΣΉΦ. The oldest MSS. give this as the form of the word. Barnabas, who was so called, was afterwards the companion of St Paul in his first missionary journey (Acts 13:2), and is often mentioned by St Luke. He was invi... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΓΡΟΥ͂, _a field_. Joseph is perhaps chosen as an example of the primitive liberality of the Christian community, because there was something remarkable in the kind of gift, or the nature of the sacrifice which he made. And the character of the man, who was to play a part in the history of the Acts,... [ Continue Reading ]