Acts 4:7

And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this? AND WHEN THEY HAD SET THEM IN THE MIDST - the council sitting in a semi-circle (as Maimonides, quoted by Lightfoot, says), THEY ASKED, BY WHAT POWER, OR BY WHAT NAME, HAVE YE DONE THIS? - thus admitting the reality of the miracle, which, indeed, afterward they confess themselves unable to deny ()....

7._In what power _They do yet seem to have some zeal of God. For they feign that they are careful that the honor due unto God may not be given to any other. _Name _is taken in this place for authority. In sum, they deal as if they were most earnest defenders and maintainers of God’s glory. In the mean season, their importunateness is wonderful, in that they go about to drive the apostles to make denial, by asking many questions concerning a manifest matter, and to wring out by fear some other thing than they had confessed. But God doth bring their crafty wiliness to nought, and maketh them hear that which they would not....

5-14 Peter being filled with the Holy Ghost, would have all to understand, that the miracle had been wrought by the name, or power, of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, whom they had crucified; and this confirmed their testimony to his resurrection from the dead, which proved him to be the Messiah. These rulers must either be saved by that Jesus whom they had crucified, or they must perish for ever. The name of Jesus is given to men of every age and nation, as that whereby alone believers are saved from the wrath to come. But when covetousness, pride, or any corrupt passion, rules within, men shut their eyes, and close their hearts, in enmity against the light; considering all as ignorant and unlearned, who desire to know nothing in comparison with Christ crucified. And the followers of Christ should act so that all who converse with them, may take knowledge that they have been with Jesus....

Verse Acts 4:7. _BY WHAT POWER, OR BY WHAT NAME, HAVE YE DONE THIS?_] It seems that this council were convinced that the lame man was miraculously healed; but it is very likely that they believed the whole to be the effect of magic; and, as all intercourse with familiar spirits, and all spells, charms, c., were unlawful, they probably hoped that, on the examination, this business would come out, and that then these disturbers of _their_ peace would be put to death. Hence they inquired by what power, ενποιαδυναμει, by what supernatural energy or _in what name_, by what mode of incantation; and who is the spirit you invoke, in order to do these things? False prophets, reputed witches, wizards, c., were to be brought before the sanhedrin, to be by them judged, acquitted, or condemned, according to the evidence. Some think the words should be thus understood: Who gave you authority to tea...

IN THE MIDST - In the presence of the Great Council. BY WHAT POWER ... - A similar question was put to Christ in the temple, Matthew 21:23. BY WHAT NAME - That is, by whose authority. It is very probable that they expected to intimidate the apostles by this question. They claimed the right of regulating the religious affairs of the nation. They had vast power with the people. They assumed that all power to instruct the people should originate with them; and they expected that the apostles would be confounded, as having violated the established usage of the nation. It did not seem to occur to them to enter into an investigation of the question whether this acknowledged miracle did not prove that they were sent by God, but they assumed that they were impostors, and attempted

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

AND WHEN THEY HAD SET THEM IN THE MIDST,.... Of the assembly, as the Ethiopic version adds; in the middle of the sanhedrim, which sat in a semicircular form; or as the Jews express it, as the half of a round corn floor, or as a half moon, and not in a perfect circle; because it was necessary that the contending parties, and the witnesses, might go in and speak before them all b; so that those that were set before them, were placed in the middle of them: and here Peter and John were set; so the Arabic version renders it, "when they set both": they sent for them out of the hold, or custody, where they had been all night, and ordered them to be brought before them, to be examined about their doctrine and practice: THEY ASKED, BY WHAT POWER, OR BY WHAT NAME HAVE YE DONE THIS? they inquired of them, whether it was by a natural, or by a divine, or by a diabolical power, that they had wrought...

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

A full meeting of the Sanhedrin takes place in the morning. Annas and Caiaphas are known to us; the former was high priest, A.D. 6- 15; Caiaphas, his son-in-law, A.D. 18- 34. John and Alexander are otherwise unknown. These and the other high-priestly aristocrats belonged by tradition to the Sadducees (Schü rer, ii. 1:178). The court sits in a semicircle, the accused stand in the middle. The interrogation (Acts 4:7) shows that no serious charge is brought against them; it is the same that was put to Jesus (Mark 11:28; Luke 20:2) over the Temple cleansing. The name in which they acted was notorious; as to the power by which they had made the lame man walk, Mark 3:22 shows wh

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