Acts 4:1. First arrest of the Apostles. Their hearing and Defence 1. _And as they spake unto the people_ The movements of the Apostles had by this time become an object of concern to the authorities in Jerusalem. See their complaint (Acts 5:28). There is no note of time at the beginning of chap. 3... [ Continue Reading ]
_being grieved_ Better, _being troubled_. The word signifies _thoroughly pained_. It is used (Acts 16:18) of St Paul's feeling when the "damsel possessed with a spirit of divination" cried after him at Philippi. _that they taught the people_ One objection which the scribes and priests would feel to... [ Continue Reading ]
_and put them in hold_ i.e. in prison. The word means _ward_, safe keeping. 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,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Howbeit_ Better, _But_, i.e. not being deterred by the arrest of the Apostles. _many of them which heard the word believed_ on Jesus; for Peter had set Him before them as that Prophet concerning whom Moses had spoken. _and the number of the men was_ [better, CAME TO] _about five thousand_ That is... [ Continue Reading ]
_And it came to pass on the morrow_ When the investigation was permitted to be held. _that their rulers, and elders_ Here we see that the party of the Sadducees was the party of power and influence at this time. _and scribes_ For these were not only the copyists, but the interpreters and expounder... [ Continue Reading ]
_and Annas the high priest_ was there. The verb is understood. Annas (called Ananus in Josephus), son of one Seth, was made high-priest (a.d. 7) by the Roman governor Quirinus [Cyrenius], and so continued till a.d. 14 (Joseph. _Antiq_. xviii. 2. 1). We do not find that he was ever again appointed to... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when they had set them in the midst_ The council or Sanhedrin was assembled as the _Beth-din_, in the house of judgment. _they asked, By what power, or by what name_, &c. For _power_, the original has the same word as is used so often of Christ's miracles, and generally rendered _mighty works.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost_ The Spirit of God upon him had changed him "into another man." Cf. 1 Samuel 10:6. _said unto them, Ye rulers of the people_ For this was the highest judicial tribunal which the Jews had. _and elders of Israel_ The best authorities omit _of Israel_. The coun... [ Continue Reading ]
_if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man_ Both the nouns are without the article. Read "_a_good deed done to _an_impotent man." Of = concerning, as we still use it in "to speak of." St Peter's words imply that perhaps there would be some other charge brought against them... [ Continue Reading ]
_by the name of Jesus_ Read _in_the name, as before. _whom ye crucified_ i.e. by the Roman soldiers. So (2 Samuel 12:9) David is said to have killed Uriah, though it is added "by the sword of the children of Ammon." _even by him_ The Greek seems rather to refer back to the former clause of the ver... [ Continue Reading ]
_This_(i.e. Jesus) _is the stone which was set at nought of you_[_the builders_ There is the definite article in the original. The council are fitly called the builders, for on them depended the whole religious and civil government of the people. St Peter, with his mind now enlightened to apply the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Neither is there salvation in any other_ Rather, AND OUR _salvation is not in any other_. The article with the noun (ἡ σωτηρία) seems thus better expressed. 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 wer... [ Continue Reading ]
The Apostles are dismissed unpunished 13. _the boldness_ The word implies freedom and readiness of speech such as would not be expected from the unlearned. _of Peter and John_ Here we have evidence that not all the speeches which were made are reported by St Luke, for we have no record of any word... [ Continue Reading ]
It has been asked on this verse: Why the sight of the healed man so utterly confounded 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. Gamaliel says (Acts... [ Continue Reading ]
_to go aside out of the council_ To leave the council chamber, while the members of the council discussed what should be done.... [ Continue Reading ]
_manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem_ Because all the inhabitants knew the beggar at the Temple-gate, and that he had been lame all his life. There could only be two grounds on which, in reference to the cure of the cripple, the Apostles could be worthy of punishment: (1) If it were a case... [ Continue Reading ]
_But that it spread_ i.e. the fame of the miracle and the consequent belief in the Divinity of Jesus. _let us straitly threaten them_ The best MSS. omit the word here rendered _straitly_. The literal translation of the Received Text is "let us threaten them with a threat," a Hebrew mode of expressi... [ Continue Reading ]
_And they called them_ back again into the council chamber. _and commanded them_ The verb is frequently used of the injunctions which our Lord gave that His miraculous deeds should not be spread abroad (Mark 6:8; Luke 5:14, &c.). The pronoun _them_is not found in the best MSS.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Peter and John_ 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 desist. For an instance of like firmness in a good cause cp. 2Ma 7:30. _judge ye_... [ Continue Reading ]
_the things which we have seen and heard_ Better, _which we_saw _and heard_. For their testimony related to the whole life of Jesus.... [ Continue Reading ]
_further threatened_ This was all they could venture on, because the multitude knew that the lame man had been healed, and that there was no charge against the Apostles for which they deserved punishment. They could not say that the miracle was untrue, for there was the man standing by, and proving... [ Continue Reading ]
_the man was above forty years old_ To one who looked on the circumstances with a physician's eye, as St Luke would (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. The physician's description i... [ Continue Reading ]
The Apostles released. Their Prayer and its Answer 23. _to their own company_ 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 deliverance from prison, to the house of Mary the mother of John... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when they heard that_(better _it_)] The Greek = _and having heard_. _they lift up their voice to God with one accord, and said_ The words of the prayer which follows have so direct a reference to the circumstances which had just occurred that we cannot interpret otherwise than that to the pray... [ Continue Reading ]
In the first part of this verse there is some confusion in the Greek text. The most authoritative reading may be translated _who by the Holy Ghost_[through] _the mouth of our father David thy servant hast said_. From the _Rec. Text_there has been omitted "the Holy Ghost," and perhaps the preposition... [ Continue Reading ]
_For of a truth_ Here the best MSS. insert the words _in this city_. The Apostle proceeds here to apply the language of the Psalmist to the events preceding the Crucifixion. The insertion of _in this city_is very natural under such circumstances. _against thy holy child Jesus_ Read here, SERVANT Je... [ Continue Reading ]
_for to do_, &c. 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 the will of Go... [ Continue Reading ]
_behold their threatenings_ The Apostles are not disheartened, they are only drawing near to God for aid lest they should be in danger of becoming so. _with all boldness_ The same freedom of speech which (Acts 4:13) had been afforded to them when they were before the council. Cp. Christ's promise t... [ Continue Reading ]
_by stretching forth_, &c. Lit. _while thou stretchest forth_. Thus the mighty works were to be a sign and testimony to the words which the Apostles spake. For as had been said of their Master, none could do the works which they did except God were with him. (John 3:2.) _by the name of thy holy chi... [ Continue Reading ]
_the place was shaken_ 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 a... [ Continue Reading ]
Unanimity and Love among the first Christians 32. _of one heart and of one soul_ A Hebrew form of expressing complete accord. Thus (1 Chronicles 12:38) "all the rest of Israel were _of one heart_to make David king," and (Jeremiah 32:39) "I will give them _one heart and one way_." _neither said any... [ Continue Reading ]
_And with great power gave the apostles witness_ [Better, THEIR witness.] The Greek verb implies a great deal more than our English _gave_. It is the word so constantly used for _paying a debt_(Matthew 18:25; Luke 7:42), or _rendering an account_(Matthew 12:36; Hebrews 13:17). So that there is impli... [ Continue Reading ]
_Neither was there any among them that lacked_ The A. V. omits the word _for_, which is represented in the Greek and is needed for 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 wha... [ Continue Reading ]
_and laid them down at the apostles" feet_ A significant act, whereby it was shewn that they gave the Apostles entire control over the bestowal of these sums. For the figure, cp. Psalms 8:6, and Cicero _pro Flacco_(xxvii. § 68), _ante pedes praetoris_in foro expensum est auri pondo centum paullo min... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Joses_ The same name as _Joseph_, which form the oldest MSS. give. _who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas_ He was the companion of St Paul in his first missionary journey (Acts 13:2), and is often mentioned by St Luke. He was invited by St Paul to join him on his second journey, but as the... [ Continue Reading ]
_having land_ Lit. _a field_. It seems likely that Joses is chosen as an example of the primitive liberality of the Christian body, because there was something remarkable in the kind of gift or the nature of the sacrifice which he made.... [ Continue Reading ]