Acts 5:21

early in the morning The words indicate a time as soon as possible after day dawn. They lost no time in obeying the command. How early it was possible for them to come to the Temple we find from the directions in the Talmud concerning the morning sacrifice. It is said (Mishna Jomaiii. 1), "The Memunneh (see note on Acts 4:1) said to them: Go ye out (on to the Temple wall or roof) and see whether the time for killing the sacrifice has arrived. If it had arrived, the out-looker said, -It has flashed forth" (i.e. day has dawned). Matthia ben Shemuel said [that the form of question was] -Has the whole face of the east become lit up as far as to Hebron? And the man answered, Yes." So that the first sacrifice took place at the very peep of day." A like explanation is found Mishna Tamidiii. 2.

But the high priest came i.e. into the council chamber, to consult on what should be done with the prisoners, of whose release they had as yet heard nothing.

called the council together This was evidently deemed a case of the utmost consequence, and all pains are bestowed to gather to the hearing the combined wisdom of the whole authorities, for now, as is seen from Gamaliel's presence, not Sadducees alone were called. The word here rendered councilmeans probably the smaller Sanhedrin.

and all the senate of the children of Israel Senate is here used in its original sense = the older men, and is a literal rendering of the Greek gerousia, meaning the great Sanhedrin of 71 elders. The name indicates that these were assessors added to the council by reason of their age and weight of character. We find from the Jewish literature that such assessors were often appointed. In the extract Mishna Jomai. 1, quoted on Acts 4:6, the word for "assessors" is parhedrin, i.e. the Greek πάρεδροι, and the adoption of such a word into the Jewish vocabulary shews that the office was not Jewish in origin but had become so firmly grafted among them as to justify the adoption of a foreign expression to describe it.