Acts 3:1,2

The Lame Man at the Beautiful Gate

Peter and John, who once had been partners in the fishing business, are depicted by Luke as going to the temple at the ninth hour, which was one of the hours of prayer. There were at least 2, and some say 3, hours of prayer during a given day. The first was at 9 a.m. and the second 3 p.m., or the third and ninth hours of the day. The apostles may have gone up to the temple at the ninth hour both to pray and to have an opportunity to speak to others about Jesus.

No matter what their purpose, an encounter with a man who had been lame since the time of his birth, more than forty years previous to the time of this occurrence (4:22), gave them a wonderful occasion to preach the gospel. The lame man was lain each day at the temple gate, which was called Beautiful, to ask alms from those entering in to pray (Acts 3:1-2). Josephus seems to be describing this gate in Book 5 chapter 5:3 of Wars of the Jews, when he says, "its height was fifty cubits; and its doors were forty cubits; and it was adorned after a most costly manner, as having much richer and thicker plates of silver and gold upon them than the other." The other gates were all just 30 cubits, or 45' high.