Acts 2:37

κατενύγησαν τὴν καρδίαν : no word could better make known that the sting of the last word had begun to work (see Theophylact, in loco) = compungo, so in Vulg. The word is not used in classical Greek in the same sense as here, but the simple verb νύσσειν is so used. In LXX the best parallels are Genesis 34:7, Ps. 108:16 (Psalms 109:16): cf. Cicero, De Orat., iii., 34. “Hoc pœenitentiæ initium est, hic ad pietatem ingressus, tristitiam ex peccatis nostris concipere ac malorum nostrorum sensu vulnerari … sed compunctioni accedere debet promptitudo ad parendum,” Calvin, in loco. τί ποιήσωμεν; conj., delib., cf. Luke 3:10; Luke 3:12; Luke 3:14; Mark 12:14; Mark 14:12; John 12:27; Matthew 26:54, Burton, Moods and Tenses of N. T. Greek, pp. 76, 126, and Viteau, Le Grec du N. T., p. 28 ff. (1893). ἄνδρες ἀδελφοί : indicating respect and regard St. Peter's address had not been in vain “ non ita dixerant prius ” Bengel; but now the words come as a response to St. Peter's own appeal, Acts 5:29, cf. also Oecumenius, (so too Theophylact), καὶ οἰκειωτικῶς αὐτοὺς ἀδελφοὺς καλοῦσιν, οὒς πρώην ἐχλεύαζον. μετανοήσατε, Luke 24:47. The Apostles began, as the Baptist began, Matthew 3:2, as the Christ Himself began, Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:15, with the exhortation to repentance, to a change of heart and life, not to mere regret for the past. On the distinction between μετανοεῖν and μεταμέλομαι, see Trench, N. T. Synonyms, i., 208. Dr. Thayer remarks that the distinction drawn by Trench is hardly sustained by usage, but at the same time he allows that μετανοεῖν is undoubtedly the fuller and nobler term, expressive of moral action and issues, as is indicated by the fact that it is often employed in the imperative (μεταμέλομαι never), and by its construction with ἀπό, ἐκ cf. also Acts 20:31, ἡ εἰς θεὸν μετάνοια (Synonyms in Grimm-Thayer, sub μεταμέλομαι) Christian Baptism was not admission to some new club or society of virtue, it was not primarily a token of mutual love and brotherhood, although it purified and strengthened both, cf. Acts 2:44 ff.