Acts 4:15

But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, BUT, WHEN THEY HAD COMMANDED THEM TO GO ASIDE OUT OF THE COUNCIL, THEY CONFERRED - or 'proceeded to confer' [ suneballon (G4820) is better supported than sunebalon (G4820) of the Received Text] "among themselves....

15-22 All the care of the rulers is, that the doctrine of Christ spread not among the people, yet they cannot say it is false or dangerous, or of any ill tendency; and they are ashamed to own the true reason; that it testifies against their hypocrisy, wickedness, and tyranny. Those who know how to put a just value upon Christ's promises, know how to put just contempt upon the world's threatenings. The apostles look with concern on perishing souls, and know they cannot escape eternal ruin but by Jesus Christ, therefore they are faithful in warning, and showing the right way. None will enjoy peace of mind, nor act uprightly, till they have learned to guide their conduct by the fixed standard of truth, and not by the shifting opinions and fancies of men. Especially beware of a vain attempt to serve two masters, God and the world; the end will be, you can serve neither fully....

WHAT SHALL WE DO TO THESE MEN? - The object which they had in view was evidently to prevent their preaching. The miracle was performed, and it was believed by the people to have been made. This they could not expect to be able successfully to deny. Their only object, therefore, was to prevent the apostles from making the use which they saw they would to convince the people that Jesus was the Messiah. The question was, in what way they should prevent this; whether by putting them to death, by imprisoning them, or by scourging them; or whether by simply exerting theft authority and forbidding them. From the former they were deterred, doubtless, by fear of the multitude; and they therefore adopted the latter, and seemed to suppose that the mere exertion of their authority would be sufficient to deter them from this in future. THE COUNCIL - Greek: The “Sanhedrin.” This body was composed of 7...

EXPOSITION ACTS 4:1 THE CAPTAIN OF THE TEMPLE. Only here and Acts 5:24, and Luke 22:4, Luke 22:52 in the plural some have thought that the commander of the Roman garrison of the castle of Antonia is here meant. But as the scene is laid in the court of the temple, this is very improbable. Josephus ('Ant. Jud.,' 20, Luke 6:2) speaks of an officer apparently of the temple, who was called ὁ στρατηγός, and was certainly a Jew by his name Ananus, and being, as Josephus relates farther ('Bell Jud.,' 2, 12. 6), the son of the high priest Ana

BUT WHEN THEY HAD COMMANDED THEM,.... That is, when the sanhedrim had ordered the apostles; or "commanded that both", as the Arabic version reads, both Peter and John; and, it may be, the man that was healed too: TO GO ASIDE OUT OF THE COUNCIL; or place where the council, or sanhedrim sat; which, whether it was in the chamber "Gazith", in the temple where they used to sit g, or in the shops, or in the city, whither they removed, is not certain. We are told h, that "the sanhedrim removed from the chamber Gazith, to the shops, and from the shops to Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem to Jabneh;'' that is, after the destruction of the city. And the first remove was much about this time; for it is said i, that "forty years before the destruction of the temple, the sanhedrim removed, and sat in the shops.'' Not in the shops where things were sold for the use of the temple, but in a court adjoi...

Peter and John were summoned before the priests to give an account for having healed the lame man, and for having preached in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. In the eighth verse we read: Acts 4:8. _Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole: Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved._ Nothing can exceed the directness, the comprehensi

ACTS 4:13-16 The Western text, preserved most fully in ith and copG67, rewrites the account, emphasizing the perplexity of the Sanhedrin: > “Now when they all heard the firmness of Peter and John, convinced > that they were uneducated and common men, they were amazed; (14) but > seeing the lame man standing with them, cured, they could make no > opposition in deed or word (copG67 omits: in deed or word). But some > of them recognized that they had been with Jesus. (Then they talked > with each other [copG67]).” Codex Bezae stands between the full-blown Western form of text and the text of most of the old uncials. The scribe of D omits kai. ivdiw/tai (ver....

CHAPTER 4 __ 1. Their Arrest (Acts 4:1). 2. The Result of the Testimony (Acts 4:4). 3. Peter and John before the Rulers and Elders (Acts 4:5). 4. Peter's bold witness (Acts 4:8). 5. The astonished Sanhedrin and their Release (Acts 4:13). 6. With their own company (Acts 4:23). 7. The saved multitude (Acts 4:32). The enemy begins now his acts, and the first indication is gi

DILEMMA OF THE RULERS: THEIR VERDICT. The promise of Luke 21:15 is at once literally fulfilled, and the reasoning is given by which the judges felt themselves overborne. It is that Peter and John are certain of their case, and show no hesitation though they possess no literary training and are generally uncultured, and that the man they cured stood beside them, a living corroboration. The recognition of the apostles as having been with Jesus is regarded by many as irrelevant. but if Jesus was still active, He would act most naturally through His former intimates. The apostles are ordered to withdraw while the members of the court deliberate; yet we have a full account of their discussion, an account which has an appearance of probability. It is not based on the discussion of the Sanhedrists on John the Baptist (Mark

ARREST (Acts 4:1-4)...