Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

Acts 4:5

ἐγένετο δὲ : the formula is another characteristic of St. Luke's style, Friedrich, Das Lucasevangelium, p. 13, also Dalman, Die Worte Jesu, pp. 26, 29. Compare for the type of construction, according to which what takes place is put in the infinitive mood, depending upon ἐγένετο, Acts 9:32; Acts 9:37; Acts 9:43; Acts 11:26; Acts 14:1, and other instances in Dr. Plummer's exhaustive note, St. Luke, p. 45 ἐπὶ τὴν αὔριον : here only and in Luke 10:35, in N.T. For the temporal use of ἐπί Acts 3:1 συναχθῆναι, i.e., the Sanhedrim, ἄρχοντας here = ἀρχιερεῖς, who are mentioned first as a rule, where the N.T. enumerates the different orders of the Sanhedrim, whilst οἱ ἄρχοντες is an interchangeable expression, both in the N.T. and in Josephus (see, for instance, Schürer, Jewish People, div. ii., vol. i., pp. 177, 205, E.T.), although there are two instances in which both words occur together, Luke 23:13; Luke 24:20. Whatever may have been the precise significance of the term ἀρχιερεῖς, Schürer, u. s., pp. 203 206, E.T., it included, beyond all doubt, the most prominent representatives of the priesthood, belonging chiefly, if not entirely, to the Sadducean party. πρεσβυτέρους : those members were known simply by this title who did not belong to either of the two special classes mentioned. γραμματεῖς : the professional lawyers who adhered to the Pharisees, Jos., Ant., xvii., 6, 2. Even under the Roman government the Sanhedrim possessed considerable independence of jurisdiction, both civil and criminal. Not only could it order arrests to be made by its own officers, but it could dispose, on its own authority, of cases where the death penalty was not involved, Schürer, u. s., p. 187, E.T., and Edersheim, History of the Jewish Nation, p. 103 ff. εἰς Ἰερουσαλήμ : Weiss would restrict ἐν Ἰερ. to the scribes of Jerusalem to distinguish them from the scribes of Galilee, but it is doubtful whether the words can bear this (see also Rendall, who favours the same view as Weiss). Holtzmann and Wendt, on the other hand, defend εἰς, and suppose that the members of the Sanhedrim were obliged to hurry into the city from their country estates. Zöckler applies ἐν Ἰερ. not only to γραμματεῖς, but also to the other members of the Sanhedrim, and sees in the words an intimation that the sitting was hurriedly composed of the members actually present in Jerusalem.

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Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

Acts 4:5

Old Testament

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