beit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.

d

John xi. 49: xviii. 13.

Matt. xxi. 23.

e Luke xii. 11,

5 And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes, 6 and Annas the high priest, and Luke iii. 2. Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, d Exod. ii. 14. have ye done this? 8 e Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; 10 be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, fch. iii. 6, 16. whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even g ch. il. 24. by him doth this man stand here before you whole.

12.

22. Isa. xxviii. 16.

Matt. xxi. 42.

11 h This is the stone which was set at nought of you h Ps. exviii. builders, which is become the head of the corner. 12 i Neither is there salvation in any other for there is i Matt. i. 21. none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and Trender, beheld.

have formed part of their preaching.

3.] it was now eventide, perhaps, from their adjourning the case till the next day, the second evening, beginning with the twelfth hour: see Matt. xiv. 15, and note.

4. the number of the men] The Greek word for "men" here is that which signifies males as distinguished from females. But it does not appear whether we are to take this strictly as masculine, or more loosely, as if it were the more general term. Meyer thinks the former: Olshausen, that as yet only men attached themselves to the church (but see ch. i. 14) De Wette objects to the stricter view, that St. Luke does not so reckon, ch. ii. 4 (see however Luke ix. 14, and cf. the parallel place in Matthew): but leaves it undecided. The laxer use of this stricter term occurs Luke xi. 31, and James i. 20. In ch. v. 14, men and women both are mentioned as being added to the Lord.

5-12.] THE APOSTLES EXAMINED BEFORE THE SANHEDRIM. PETER'S SPEECH.

5. their rulers, &c.] i. e. the rulers &c. of the Jews; a construction frequently

ch. x. 43.
1 Tim. ii. 5,

6.

literally, freedom of speech.

used where there can be little chance of
mistaking to whom or what the pronoun
refers. The rulers, elders, and scribes
together make up the Sanhedrim, or great
council: see Matt. ii. 4; xxvi. 59; ch. v.
21. 6. at Jerusalem] Why is this spe-
cified? I believe it merely implies that
the meeting was not held in the temple,
but in the city.
On Annas and
Caiaphas, both called high priests, Luke
iii. 2,-see note there. 7.] By (literally,
in) what (manner of) power? of what
kind was the enabling cause, the element
in which, as its condition, the deed was
wrought?-by (in, see above) what (manner
of) name, spoken as a word of power: see
ch. iii. 6, 16. this, not the teaching
(as some think),-nor both the miracle and
the teaching (as others), but the miracle:
and that only.
8.] filled with the
Holy Ghost, i. e. specially, for the oc-
casion.
10.] whom ye crucified,
whom God raised... the copula (and, or
but) is omitted, to make the contrast more
striking. 11.] See Matt. xxi. 42, note.

13-18.] CONSULTATION AND SENTENCE

1 Cor. i. 27.

k ch. iii. 11.

j Matt. xi. 25. John, it and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. 14 And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. 15 But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred 1 John xi. 47. among themselves, 16 saying, 1 What I shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by m ch. iii. 9, 10. them is m manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it. 17 But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. 18 n And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. 20 P For we cannot but speak the things which we a have seen and heard. 21 So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how

n ch. v. 40.

o ch. v. 29.

p ch. i. 8: ii. 32.

q ch. xxii. 15.

r

1 John i. 1, 3.

Luke xx. 6, 19: xxii. 2. ch. v. 26.

q

C

r

b

Matt. xxi. 26. they might punish them, because of the people for all men glorified God for that which was done. 22 For the man was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was shewed.

8 ch. iii. 7, 8.

t ch. xii. 12.

t

23 And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. 24 And when they heard that, they lifted up

trender, having also previously known.

a render, recognized.

y better, must we do.

z literally, threaten them with threats.
a render, saw.

render, were glorying.

OF THE SANHEDRIM. 13.] having previously known, i. e. they did not then per ceive it for the first time; this is stated as the reason for their wonder: not as the A. V.

they recognized them; their astonishment setting them to think, and reminding them that they had seen these men with Jesus:-that they (once) were with Jesus.

18.] in (literally, upon) the name of Jesus; i. e. so as to make that Name the subject (basis) of their discoursing.

19-22.] THE APOSTLES' ANSWER AND DISMISSAL. 21.] when they had further threatened them;-i. e. with threats super

I render, were.

b better, no means.

added to the inhibition of ver. 18.
finding no means] The difficulty with the
Sanhedrim was, to find any means of pun-
ishing them which should not stir up the
people.

22.] The circumstance of his being more than forty years old both gave notoriety to his person as having long resorted there, and made the miracle more notable, his malady being more confirmed.

THEREUPON.

23-31.] PRAYER OF THE CHURCH 23.] their own company, i. e. the other Apostles, and possibly some others assembled with them. There is nothing in ver. 31 to mark that only

u

15.

their voice to God with one accord, and said, d Lord, " thou u2 Kings xix. art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea,

X

e

25 who by the mouth of thy

and all that in them is: servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and x Ps. ii. 1. the people imagine vain things? 26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. 27 For y of truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gen-John x. 30. tiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,

:

a

с

a

Matt. xxvi. 3.
Luke i. 35.

Luke xxii. 2:
xxiii. 1, 8.

a Luke iv. 18.

iii. 18.

28 b for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel deter- bch. ii. 23: mined before to be done. 29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings and grant unto thy i servants, that with all ever. 13, 31. boldness they may speak thy word, 30 by stretching forth thine hand to heal, and that signs and wonders xxvii. 31. may be done by the name of thy holy g child Jesus.

d

ch. ix. 27: xiii. 46: xiv. 3: xix. 8: xxvi. 26:

Eph. vi. 19. d ch. ii. 43: v. 12.

e ch. iii. 6, 16.

ver. 27.

g ch. ii. 2, 4:

31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, hand they spake the word of h ver. 29.

xvi. 26.

d This is not "Kyrie," the usual word for Lord, as in verses 26, 29, but "Despota," signifying Master.

e read, our father David thy servant.

f read, said by the Holy Spirit.

hread, gathered together in this city. i This is the word

doulois," signifying bondservants, not as in verses

the Apostles were present on this occasion.

24. they lifted up their voice to God with one accord] i. e. not, as Meyer supposes, literally all speaking together in a known formula of prayer, but led by some one, and all assenting; not "their voices," ," but their voice: see note on ch. ii. 6. thou art God, which hast made] It is an acknowledgment that it was the same God, who was now doing these things, that had beforetime prophesied them of Christ.

27.] The for implies an acknowledgment of the truth of God in the fulfilment of the prophecy: Thou art the God who hast, &c., for these events have happened accordingly. The clause, in this city, which has been excluded from the text on account of its apparent redundance, answers to the clause "on his holy hill of Zion," Ps. ii. 6. See also Matt. xxiii. 37; Luke xiii. 33. The parts of this verse correspond accurately to those of the prophecy just quoted. The appellation here given to our Lord is not

"child," but Servant, as before, ch. iii. 26.
Jesus, the Servant of Jehovah, is the anti-
type and completion of David, and of all
other servants of the Lord: what is said
of them only partially and hyperbolically,
is said literally and entirely of Him.
28.] There is an ellipsis in the thought
between the verb to do, and its object
whatsoever, &c. : "to do [as they thought,
their own counsel; but really] whatsoever
Thy hand and Thy counsel determined."
thy hand and thy counsel] thy hand in-
dicates the Power, thy counsel the Wisdom
of God. The Wisdom decreed, the Hand
performed. 31.] As the first out-
pouring of the Spirit, so this special one
in answer to prayer, was testified by an
outward and visible sign: but not by the
same sign,-for that first baptism by the
Holy Ghost, the great fulfilment of the
promise, was not to be repeated. It was
on every ground probable that the token
of the especial presence of God would be
some phænomenon which would be recog-

i ch. v. 12.

6. 2 Cor.

xiii 11.

Phil. i. 27: ii. 2. 1 Pet. iii. 8.

k ch. ii. 44. 1 ch. i. 8.

m ch. i. 22.

n ch. ii. 47.

God with boldness. 32 And the multitude of them that

Rom. xv. 5, believed i were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. 33 And with great power gave the apostles mk witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and "great grace was upon them all. 341 Neither was there any among them that lacked for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things p ver. 37. ch. that were sold, 35 P and laid them down at the apostles' feet; and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. 36 And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of

o ch. ii. 45.

v. 2.

q ch. ii. 45:

vi. 1.

krender, their witness.

m better, exhortation.

:

nized as such by those present. The idea was not derived from profane sources, as some would have us believe, but from the Scriptures see Ps. xxix. 8; Isa. ii. 19, 21; xiii. 13; Ezek. xxxviii. 19 (especially); Joel iii. 16; Hagg. ii. 6, 7. they were all filled with a fresh and renewed outpouring.

32-37.] THE STATE OF THE CHURCH AT THIS TIME. This passage forms the conclusion of this division of the history, and the transition to ch. v.

32.]

"Where faith reigns, it conciliates men's minds so that all will the same thing. For hence comes discord, because we are not ruled by this divine spirit of Christ." Calvin. On the community of goods, see note at ch. ii. 45. We have the view there taken strikingly confirmed here by the expressions used No one called (reckoned) any thing of his goods (which were still "his goods," not alienated) [to be] his own. No one called his possessions his own: this shews, says Bengel, that he had not altogether in reality renounced the possession of them. 33.] The Apostles were the specially appointed witnesses of the Resurrection, ch. i. 22: and this their testimony they gave with power, i. e. with a special gift of the Holy Spirit to enforce and illustrate, to persuade and dispute on, those facts of which their own experience (see ver. 20) informed them. That the Spirit did not inspire them with unbroken uniformity in matters of fact, our present Gospels, the remuants to us of this very testimony, sufficiently witness. Nor was this necessary: each man reported what

1 render, For neither.

he had heard and seen;-and it was in the manner of delivering this report that the great power of the Spirit was shewn. See, on the whole subject, Introduction, ch. i. § iii. 5 ff. great grace, i. e. from God: this is better than to understand it "great favour," i. e. from the people, which would hadly be so absolutely designated.

34.] For gives a proof of God's grace working in them, in that they imparted their goods to the poor: see especially 2 Cor.viii.7.

the things that were sold] Literally, the things which were being sold:-the process of selling, as regarded the whole church, yet going on, though completed in individual cases. 35. at the apostles'

feet] This expression is to be literally taken. The Apostles probably sat upon a raised seat, on the step of which, at their feet, the money was laid, in token of reve36.] Barnabas, in Hebrew

rence.

"the son of prophecy,"-and the inter-
pretation has been generally made good by
taking the word rendered by the A. V.
"consolation," in the sense of exhortation:
see ch. xi. 23.
a Levite] The Levites
might possess land at all times within the
precincts of the Levitical cities: such was
the case, for example, in Jer. xxxii. 7. At
the division of the kingdoms, the priests and
Levites all resorted to Rehoboam in Judah
(and Benjamin), 2 Chron. xi. 13; from
that time probably, but certainly after the
captivity, when the Mosaic division of the
land was no longer accurately observed, the
possession of land by Levites seems to have
been allowed. The whole subject is in-
volved in some uncertainty: compare Levit.

Cyprus, 37 having land, sold it, and brought the money, rver. 34, 35. and laid it at the apostles' feet.

V. 1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira

his wife, sold a possession, 2 and kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, a and brought a certain ach. iv. 37. part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. 3 But Peter said, b Num. xxx. 2. Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? 4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. 5 And Ananias hearing these words avv. 10, 11. fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on