Acts 4:7

ἐν τῷ μέσῳ : according to the Mishnah the members of the court sat in a semicircle, see Hamburger, u. s., to be able to see each other. But it is unnecessary to press the expression, it may be quite general, cf. Matthew 14:6; Mark 3:3; John 8:3. On the usual submissive attitude of prisoners, see Jos., Ant., xiv., 9, 4. In this verse R.V. supplies “was there” as a verb, Annas being its subject. Various attempts to amend the broken construction all the proper names are in the nominative (not in accusative as T.R.), so W.H [151], R.V., Wendt, Weiss;. reads συνήχθησαν, so Blass in β. ἐν ποίᾳ : by what kind of power; or may = τίνι, Acts 23:34 ἐν ποίῳ ὀνόματι : in virtue of what name? “nomen hic vis ac potestas” Grotius and Wetstein, in loco. They ask as if they would accuse them of referring to some magical name or formula for the performance of the miracles, Acts 19:13 (on ὄνομα see Acts 3:16), cf. LXX, Exodus 5:23. Probably they would like to bring the Apostles under the condemnation pronounced in Deuteronomy 13:1. “So did they very foolishly conceit that the very naming of some name might do wonders and the Talmud forgeth that Ben Sadha wrought miracles by putting the unutterable name within the skin of his foot and then sewing it up,” J. Lightfoot. ὑμεῖς : as if in scorn, with depreciatory emphasis at the close of the question, so Wendt, and Blass, Grammatik des N. G., p. 160. τοῦτο : not this teaching (Olshausen), but the miracle on the lame man.

[151] Westcott and Hort's The New Testament in Greek: Critical Text and Notes.