Acts 4


Acts 4 is the fourth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The book containing this chapter is anonymous but early Christian tradition affirmed that Luke composed this book as well as the Gospel of Luke. This chapter records the Sanhedrin's arrest and subsequent release of the apostles in the aftermath of a healing by Simon Peter and his preaching in Solomon's Portico in the Temple in Jerusalem.

Text

The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 37 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:
Peter's speech was interrupted by the temple authorities who come to silence the apostles, but behind the scenes, more people join the church.

Verse 1

The suddenness of the arrival of this group of officials is noted by Heinrich Meyer, and in "The Voice" translation : Suddenly, the head of the temple police and some members of the Sadducean party interrupted Peter and John. The priests were those of the temple guard: a strict watch was maintained over the temple by three priests and 21 Levites, whose activities were overseen by the captain of the guard. The Westcott-Hort Greek text refers instead to "the chief priests". Meyer notes and criticises the view put forward by Bishop Lightfoot and others that the commander of the Roman garrison is referred to in this passage.

Verse 3

The approach of evening follows from Acts 3:1, which states that the apostles were entering the temple at "the hour of prayer": three o'clock in the afternoon.

Verse 4

Luke's estimate in Acts 2:41 was that 3,000 were baptised in response to Peter's Pentecost sermon, so an addititonal 2,000 men would appear to be indicated here. The Expanded Bible notes that men probably refers "to adult males and so household units". Wilhelm de Wette includes women within the 5,000. Robert Witham treats the 5,000 as a measure of the additional conversions that day, rather than a cumulative total.

Arrest and trial (verses 5–12)

The apostles spent a night in jail and were brought before a full session of the Sanhedrin the next morning.

Verse 10

Peter replies to the question of the council on the origin of the healing power by identifying it with Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Verse 11

Citing Psalm 118:22.

Verse 12

In his last sentence, Peter "goes further than anything he has yet said: Christ is the only mean of salvation."

Deliberation of the council (verses 13–22)

Here Luke gives a glimpse of "the inner workings of the Sanhedrin", especially their elitist perspective: they perceive the apostles in verse 13 to be "uneducated and untrained men". This may not mean that they were totally illiterate, but that they lacked the level of education shared by the elders and the scribes. Alexander refers to the Sanhedrin's "'us' and 'them' attitude 'the people'" seen in verses 16, 17, and 21.

A prophetic prayer (verses 23–31)

This section gives a glimpse of "the apostolic circle at prayer", and this particular prayer provides a "theological framework" for "legitimate exercise of free speech in the face of a tyrannical abuse of authority".

Common church life (verses 32–37)

As a slightly more detailed account than in 2:44-45, this section notes how money raised from the property sale was "channelled through the apostles" to emphasize "the sense of centralized authority".

Verses 32–35

Pope Leo XIV sees the establishment of mendicant religious orders such as the Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians and Carmelites in the thirteenth century as "an evangelical revolution... reviving the experience of the first Christian community" as recounted in this passage.

Verses 36–37

  • "Barnabas" would later play an important role in the early ministry of Apostle Paul, and, "with typically Lukan economy" of literary device, is introduced here as a character who displays "a positive example of the ideal use of wealth".
  • "Son of Encouragement": The, can also mean "son of consolation". One theory is that this is from the Aramaic בר נחמה, , meaning 'son consolation'. Another is that it is related to the Hebrew word nabī meaning "prophet". In the Syriac Bible, the phrase "son of consolation" is translated bara dbuya'a.