Acts 4:1-27

The Arrest and Trial of Peter and John

4:1 While Peter and John ¹  were speaking to the people, the priests and the commander ²  of the temple guard ³  and the Sadducees ⁴  came up ⁵  to them, 4:2 angry ⁶  because they were teaching the people and announcing ⁷  in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 4:3 So ⁸  they seized ⁹  them and put them in jail ¹⁰  until the next day (for it was already evening). 4:4 But many of those who had listened to ¹¹  the message ¹²  believed, and the number of the men ¹³  came to about five thousand.

4:5 On the next day, ¹⁴  their rulers, elders, and experts in the law ¹⁵  came together ¹⁶  in Jerusalem. ¹⁷  4:6 Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and others who were members of the high priest’s family. ¹⁸  4:7 After ¹⁹  making Peter and John ²⁰  stand in their midst, they began to inquire, “By what power or by what name ²¹  did you do this?” 4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, ²²  replied, ²³  “Rulers of the people and elders, ²⁴  4:9 if ²⁵  we are being examined ²⁶  today for a good deed ²⁷  done to a sick man – by what means this man was healed ²⁸  – 4:10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ ²⁹  the Nazarene whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, this man stands before you healthy. 4:11 This Jesus ³⁰  is the stone that was rejected by you, ³¹  the builders, that has become the cornerstone. ³²  4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people ³³  by which we must ³⁴  be saved.”

4:13 When they saw the boldness ³⁵  of Peter and John, and discovered ³⁶  that they were uneducated ³⁷  and ordinary ³⁸  men, they were amazed and recognized these men had been with Jesus. 4:14 And because they saw the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say against this. ³⁹  4:15 But when they had ordered them to go outside the council, ⁴⁰  they began to confer with one another, 4:16 saying, “What should we do with these men? For it is plain ⁴¹  to all who live in Jerusalem that a notable miraculous sign ⁴²  has come about through them, ⁴³  and we cannot deny it. 4:17 But to keep this matter from spreading any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more ⁴⁴  to anyone in this name.” 4:18 And they called them in and ordered ⁴⁵  them not to speak or teach at all in the name ⁴⁶  of Jesus. 4:19 But Peter and John replied, ⁴⁷  “Whether it is right before God to obey ⁴⁸  you rather than God, you decide, 4:20 for it is impossible ⁴⁹  for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.” 4:21 After threatening them further, they released them, for they could not find how to punish them on account of the people, because they were all praising ⁵⁰  God for what had happened. 4:22 For the man, on whom this miraculous sign ⁵¹  of healing had been performed, ⁵²  was over forty years old.

The Followers of Jesus Pray for Boldness

4:23 When they were released, Peter and John ⁵³  went to their fellow believers ⁵⁴  and reported everything the high priests and the elders had said to them. 4:24 When they heard this, they raised their voices to God with one mind ⁵⁵  and said, “Master of all, ⁵⁶  you who made the heaven, the earth, ⁵⁷  the sea, and everything that is in them, 4:25 who said by the Holy Spirit through ⁵⁸  your servant David our forefather, ⁵⁹ 

‘Why do the nations ⁶⁰  rage, ⁶¹ 

and the peoples plot foolish ⁶²  things?

4:26 The kings of the earth stood together, ⁶³ 

and the rulers assembled together,

against the Lord and against his ⁶⁴  Christ.’ ⁶⁵ 

4:27 “For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against ⁶⁶  your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, ⁶⁷ 

[4:1]  ¹ tn Grk “While they”; the referents (Peter and John) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:1]  ² tn Or “captain.”

[4:1]  ³ tn Grk “the official of the temple,” a title for the commander of the Jewish soldiers guarding the temple (thus the translation, “the commander of the temple guard”). See L&N 37.91.

[4:1]  ⁴ sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). See also Matt 3:7; 16:1-12; 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 5:17; 23:6-8.

[4:1]  ⁵ tn Or “approached.” This verb often denotes a sudden appearing (BDAG 418 s.v. ἐφίστημι 1).

[4:2]  ⁶ tn Or “greatly annoyed,” “provoked.”

[4:2]  ⁷ tn Or “proclaiming.”

[4:3]  ⁸ tn Grk “And” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the logical sequence of events.

[4:3]  ⁹ tn Or “they arrested”; Grk “they laid hands on.”

[4:3]  ¹⁰ tn Or “prison,” “custody.”

[4:4]  ¹¹ tn Or “had heard.”

[4:4]  ¹² tn Or “word.”

[4:4]  ¹³ tn In the historical setting it is likely that only men are referred to here. The Greek term ἀνήρ (anhr) usually refers to males or husbands rather than people in general. Thus to translate “of the people” would give a false impression of the number, since any women and children were apparently not included in the count.

[4:5]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “It happened that on the next day.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[4:5]  ¹⁵ tn Or “and scribes.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.

[4:5]  ¹⁶ tn Or “law assembled,” “law met together.”

[4:5]  ¹⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[4:6]  ¹⁸ sn The high priest’s family. This family controlled the high priesthood as far back as a.d. 6. Annas, Caiaphas, and Alexander were all high priests at one time (though Alexander held that office after this event).

[4:7]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “And after.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new sentence is begun in the translation at the beginning of v. 7.

[4:7]  ²⁰ tn Grk “making them”; the referents (Peter and John) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:7]  ²¹ sn By what name. The issue of the “name” comes up again here. This question, meaning “by whose authority,” surfaces an old dispute (see Luke 20:1-8). Who speaks for God about the ancient faith?

[4:8]  ²² sn Filled with the Holy Spirit. The narrator’s remark about the Holy Spirit indicates that Peter speaks as directed by God and for God. This fulfills Luke 12:11-12 (1 Pet 3:15).

[4:8]  ²³ tn Grk “Spirit, said to them.”

[4:8]  ²⁴ tc The Western and Byzantine texts, as well as one or two Alexandrian witnesses, read τοῦ ᾿Ισραήλ (tou Israhl, “of Israel”) after πρεσβύτεροι (presbuteroi, “elders”; so D E Ψ 33 1739 Ï it), while most of the better witnesses, chiefly Alexandrian (Ì⁷⁴ א A B 0165 1175 vg sa bo), lack this modifier. The longer reading was most likely added by scribes to give literary balance to the addressees in that “Rulers” already had an adjunct while “elders” was left absolute.

[4:9]  ²⁵ tn This clause is a first class condition. It assumes for the sake of argument that this is what they were being questioned about.

[4:9]  ²⁶ tn Or “questioned.” The Greek term ἀνακρίνω (anakrinw) points to an examination similar to a legal one.

[4:9]  ²⁷ tn Or “for an act of kindness.”

[4:9]  ²⁸ tn Or “delivered” (σέσωται [seswtai], from σώζω [swzw]). See 4:12.

[4:10]  ²⁹ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[4:11]  ³⁰ tn Grk “This one”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:11]  ³¹ tn The word “you” is inserted into the quotation because Peter is making a direct application of Ps 118:22 to his hearers. Because it is not in the OT, it has been left as normal type (rather than bold italic). The remarks are like Acts 2:22-24 and 3:12-15.

[4:11]  ³² sn A quotation from Ps 118:22 which combines the theme of rejection with the theme of God’s vindication/exaltation.

[4:12]  ³³ tn Here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).

[4:12]  ³⁴ sn Must be saved. The term used here (δεῖ, dei, “it is necessary”) reflects the necessity set up by God’s directive plan.

[4:13]  ³⁵ tn Or “courage.”

[4:13]  ³⁶ tn Or “and found out.”

[4:13]  ³⁷ sn Uneducated does not mean “illiterate,” that is, unable to read or write. Among Jews in NT times there was almost universal literacy, especially as the result of widespread synagogue schools. The term refers to the fact that Peter and John had no formal rabbinic training and thus, in the view of their accusers, were not qualified to expound the law or teach publicly. The objection is like Acts 2:7.

[4:13]  ³⁸ tn For the translation of ἰδιῶται (idiwtai) as “ordinary men” see L&N 27.26.

[4:14]  ³⁹ tn Or “nothing to say in opposition.”

[4:15]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “the Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[4:16]  ⁴¹ tn Or “evident.”

[4:16]  ⁴² tn Here σημεῖον (shmeion) has been translated as “miraculous sign” rather than simply “sign” or “miracle” since both components appear to be present in the context. It is clear that the healing of the lame man was a miracle, but for the Sanhedrin it was the value of the miraculous healing as a sign that concerned them because it gave attestation to the message of Peter and John. The sign “speaks” as Peter claimed in 3:11-16.

[4:16]  ⁴³ tn Or “has been done by them.”

[4:17]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “speak no longer.”

[4:18]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “commanded.”

[4:18]  ⁴⁶ sn In the name of Jesus. Once again, the “name” reflects the person. The person of Jesus and his authority is the “troubling” topic that, as far as the Jewish leadership is concerned, needs controlling.

[4:19]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “answered and said to them.”

[4:19]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “hear,” but the idea of “hear and obey” or simply “obey” is frequently contained in the Greek verb ἀκούω (akouw; see L&N 36.14).

[4:20]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “for we are not able not to speak about what we have seen and heard,” but the double negative, which cancels out in English, is emphatic in Greek. The force is captured somewhat by the English translation “it is impossible for us not to speak…” although this is slightly awkward.

[4:21]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “glorifying.”

[4:22]  ⁵¹ tn Here σημεῖον (shmeion) has been translated as “miraculous sign” rather than simply “sign” or “miracle” since both components appear to be present in the context. See also the note on this word in v. 16.

[4:22]  ⁵² tn Or “had been done.”

[4:23]  ⁵³ tn Grk “they”; the referents (Peter and John) have been specified in the translation for clarity, since a new topic begins in v. 23 and the last specific reference to Peter and John in the Greek text is in 4:19.

[4:23]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “to their own [people].” In context this phrase is most likely a reference to other believers rather than simply their own families and/or homes, since the group appears to act with one accord in the prayer that follows in v. 24. At the literary level, this phrase suggests how Jews were now splitting into two camps, pro-Jesus and anti-Jesus.

[4:24]  ⁵⁵ sn With one mind. Compare Acts 1:14.

[4:24]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “Lord of all.”

[4:24]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “and the earth, and the sea,” but καί (kai) has not been translated before “the earth” and “the sea” since contemporary English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[4:25]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “by the mouth of” (an idiom).

[4:25]  ⁵⁹ tn Or “ancestor”; Grk “father.”

[4:25]  ⁶⁰ tn Or “Gentiles.”

[4:25]  ⁶¹ sn The Greek word translated rage includes not only anger but opposition, both verbal and nonverbal. See L&N 88.185.

[4:25]  ⁶² tn Or “futile”; traditionally, “vain.”

[4:26]  ⁶³ tn Traditionally, “The kings of the earth took their stand.”

[4:26]  ⁶⁴ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[4:26]  ⁶⁵ sn A quotation from Ps 2:1-2.

[4:27]  ⁶⁶ sn The application of Ps 2:1-2 is that Jews and Gentiles are opposing Jesus. The surprise of the application is that Jews are now found among the enemies of God’s plan.

[4:27]  ⁶⁷ sn A wordplay on “Christ,” v. 26, which means “one who has been anointed.”