Acts 4:3. For it was now even-tide.— Or, evening. As Peter and John went up to the temple at three in the afternoon, this expression makes it probable that some hours might be spent in preaching to the people; and consequently, that what we have in the former chapter, is only an abstract, or brief heads of the discourses that they made on this occasion, which probably is the case in general with the speeches recorded by the sacred historians, as well as by others.

Acts 4:4. The number of the men was about five thousand.— Dr. Benson concludes, that five thousand men were converted on this occasion, besides the three thousand mentioned before, chap. Acts 2:41. If it had been said, as there, that so many were added to the church, it would have determined the sense as he and others understand it; but the use of the word εγενηθη here, became, favours the interpretation,thatthewholenumber,includingthosewhohadbeenconverted before, became about five thousand. See ch. Act 1:15 in the Greek. It is hardly to be thought, unless it were expressly asserted, that another day should be so much more remarkable for its number of converts, than that on which the Spirit descended. However, supposing only two thousand were now converted, it is a glorious proof of the truth of Christianity; and no example can be given of the philosophers, or any other teachers, succeeding so gloriously in making converts to such holy and self-denying doctrines.

Acts 4:6. And Annas the high-priest, and Caiaphas,— See the note on Luke 3:2. John and Alexander were evidently persons of great note among the Jews at this time; and it is not improbable, as Dr. Lightfoot and others suppose, that the former might be the celebrated Rabbin Jochanan Ben Zaccai, mentioned in the Talmud, the scholar of Hillel; and that the latter might be the Alabarch, or governor of the Jews at Alexandria, brother to the famous Philo-Judaeus, and in great favour with Claudius Caesar. Josephus mentions him often, and tells us among other things, that he adorned nine gates of the temple with plates of gold and silver. Of the kindred of the high-priest, is read by some, Of the pontifical family. Dr. Hammond explains this of the twenty-four members of the Aaronic family, who presided over the twenty-four courses; others refer it to those who were nearly related to Annas and Caiaphas; but Grotius thinks that it includes the kindred of those who hadlately been in the office of high-priest, which, he says, made them members of the Sanhedrim. These were the very persons who had procured the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore theythought themselves highly concerned to suppress his disciples and their doctrine.

Acts 4:7. And when they had set them in the midst,— It was the custom for the Sanhedrim to sit almost in a circle, or oval, and to set the prisoners in the midst of them: St. Peter and St. John being so placed, the court demanded of them, "By what power, human or diabolical, angelic or divine, have you cured this man; whose name have you invoked to the working of this miracle; or from whom had you your authority to preach so publicly to the people?—From us you had it not, though we alone have the authority to give a commission to any man to do so?"

Acts 4:9. Made whole;— Σεσωσται, he is cured, or saved. See the note on Acts 4:12.

Acts 4:10. By the name of Jesus, &c.— The time of Christ's resurrection was that of the celebrating the passover, the most solemn festival of the Jews; the scene was in Jerusalem, the metropolis of Judea, and at that time crowded with Jews, who came thither from all parts of the earth, to keep the passover. The actors and witnesses were the chief priests and elders, Pontius Pilate the Roman governor, and the Roman soldiers who guarded the sepulchre. Now, if the account of guarding the sepulchre had been false, it is not to be doubted, but the chief priests and elders, who are said to have obtained the guard, and sealed the door of the sepulchre, would, by some authentic act, have cleared themselves of the folly and guilt imputed to them by the evangelist. All the several charges upon the whole government of Judea, might have been answered at once by an attestation from the chief priests, setting forth, that they never demanded a guard to be set at the sepulchre, confirmed by the testimony of the Roman soldiers, (many of whom were probably at Jerusalem when the gospel was written,) denying that they were ever upon that guard. This, not only the reputation of the chief priests, but their avowed malice to Christ, and aversion to his doctrine and religion, required; and this they would probably have done at all events, had they been at liberty to propagate and invent what lie they pleased. But that a guard was set at the sepulchre, was, in all likelihood, by the dispersion and flight of the soldiers into the city, too well known in Jerusalem for them to venture at denying it: for which reason they were obliged to invent a lie consistent with that known fact, however absurd and improbable the lie might appear, when it came to be considered. Now, as the report put into the mouths of the Roman soldiers by the chief priests and elders, is no proof of the falsehood of this fact, but rather of the contrary; so does the naming the scene, the actors, and the witnesses, form a very strong proof of its being true, since no forger of lies, willingly and wittingly, furnishes out the means of his own detection; especiallywhen we consider that this account is related by that evangelist,who is said to have composed his gospel forthose Christians who dwelt in Judea, many of whom then living were probably at Jerusalem when this thing was done,—not to mention again the absurdity of the report of the disciples coming by night, and stealing the body, as it stands in the evangelist, and taking it, as it was afterwards prudently amended by the Sanhedrim, and propagated by an express deputation from them to all the synagogues of the Jews throughout the world; in which, without making any mention of the Roman guard, they say no more than that the disciples came by night, and stole away the body,—taking it, we say, in the manner in which these wise counsellors were, on mature deliberation, pleased to put it, it may be sufficient to observe, that the theft charged upon the disciples was so far from being proved, that it was not so much as ever inquired into. And yet the accusers were the chief priests and elders of the Jews; men in high reverence and authority with the people, vested with all the power of the Jewish state, and consequently furnished with all the means of procuring informations, and of gaining and extorting a confession. And what were the accused? menof low birth, mean fortunes, without learning, without credit, without support; and who, out of pusillanimity and fear, had deserted their Master, upon the first occasion offered of shewing their fidelity and attachment to him. And can it be imagined that the chief priests and council would not have made inquiry into the fact, the belief of which they took so much pains to propagate, had they themselves been persuaded of the truth of it? And had they inquired into it, can it be supposed that out of such a number of mean persons as must have been privy to it, no one, either from honesty, or religion, or fear of punishment, or the hope of reward, would have betrayed the secret, and given them such intelligence as might have enabled them to put the question ofthe resurrection out of all dispute. For had it been once proved that the disciples stole away the body of Jesus, their word would hardly have been taken for his resurrection. But how did these poor men act? Conscious of no fraud or imposture, they remained in Jerusalem a week or more, after the report of their having stolen their Master's body was spread over the city, and in about a month returned thither again: not long after which they asserted boldly, to the face of their powerful enemies and accusers, the chief priests and elders, that God had raised from the dead that same Jesus whom they had crucified. And what was the behaviour of these learned rabbins, these watchful guardians of the Jewish church and state? Why, they suffered the disciples of Jesus, charged by their order with an imposture tending to disturb the government, to continue unquestioned at Jerusalem, and to depart thence unmolested; and when, upon their return thither, they had caused them to be seized and brought before them, for preaching through Jesus—the resurrection, what did they say to them? Did they charge them with having stolen away the body of their Master? Nothing like it: on the contrary, not able to gainsay the testimony given by the apostles to the resurrection of Jesus, vouched by a miracle just then performed by them in his name, they ordered them to withdraw, and conferred among themselves what they should do with them.

Acts 4:13. Unlearned and ignorant men,— Illiterate men, and in private stations of life; αγραμματοι και ιδιωται, men of no education, nor in any public rank of life, as the priests and magistrates were: And they took knowledge of them, επεγινωσκον, would read more properly, and they knew them. Grotius observes, that therulers,having often been present when Christ taught publicly, might have seen Peter and John near him, though perhaps they might have observed them more particularly the night that Jesus was taken, when they had attended their Lord to the house of Caiaphas.

Acts 4:16. A notable miracle— Γνωστον, a signal and well-known miracle; one which could neither be doubted nor disproved.

Acts 4:17. But, &c.— "Nevertheless:" The word 'Αλλα is frequently used in this sense both by sacred and prophane writers.

Acts 4:18. Not to speak at all, &c.— That is, privately; nor to teach, that is, publicly. This is the very thing which men, conscious of the truth of the apostles testimony, and self-condemned, would do,—stop their mouths by violence, as they knew they could not answer them any other way.

Acts 4:19. Whether it be right in the sight of God— As they professed to believe the being, and infinite perfections of God, they must, on their own principles, easily see the absurdity of expecting obedience to their commands from good men, who believed themselves divinely commissioned. There is a passage which bears some resemblance to this in the apology of Socrates, as recorded by Plato. When they were condemning him to death for teaching the people, he said, "O ye Athenians, I embrace and love you; but I will obey God rather than you; and if you would dismiss me, and spare my life, on condition that I should cease to teach my fellow-citizens, I would rather die a thousand times, than accept the proposal." What are ten thousand subtilties of the antient philosophers, when compared with a sentiment like this. See Plato, Socrat. Apol. p. 23.

Acts 4:21. They let them go, &c.— This dismission was not intended as an acquittal; for it was customary among the Jews to try any accused person after his discharge, when new proofs started up against him. The threatening mentioned in the foregoing sentence, might possibly have included some declaration of this sort. Dr. Heylin reads the last clause, Who all glorified God, &c. So much wiser were the people than those who were over them. Nothing could contribute more to illustrate the miracle, than the circumstance mentioned, Acts 4:22. It shews that the man's case was desperate, and that his disorder was so inveterate and confirmed, as to be beyond the reach of medicine; yet was he in one moment completely cured by the word of the apostles.
Who, after reading this account of the manner in which the rulers treated these apostles, could ever imagine that the disciples stolethe body of Jesus, or that the chief priests and elders themselves believed they did? But it may perhaps be objected, that this account comes from Christian writers;—and could the objectors expect to meet with it in Jewish writers?—We might expect indeed to find in their writings some proofs of this charge upon the disciples; and had there been any, the chief priests, the adversaries of Christ, would doubtless not have failed to produce them. But the progress which Christianity made at that time in Jerusalem, is a stronger argument than even their silence, that no proof of this charge either was, or could be made. Could the apostles have had the imprudence to preach, and could so many thousand Jews have been weak enough to believe upon their testimony, that Christ was risen from the dead, had it been proved that the disciples had stolen away his body? An infidel may, if he pleases, believe this; but let him account for it if he can.

Acts 4:24. Lord, thou art God, &c.— The sense is, "Lord, thou hast all power, and thy word is fulfilled. Men do rage against thee, but their rage is in vain."

Acts 4:29. That with all boldness, &c.— Compare Proverbs 16:1.

Acts 4:31. And when they had prayed, &c.— God of old testified his acceptance of the sacrifices or prayers of the pious by sending down fire from heaven, or by appearing after some peculiar manner in the cloud of glory: but now the token of acceptance was, that the house where they were assembled was again shaken, and there was a second effusion of the Holy Spirit, perhaps attended with the like sound, and with the like appearance of a glory, as there had been at first on the day of Pentecost. It does not appear that they had by this second effusion any further knowledge communicated;buttheywereherebycomfortedafterthediscouragements which they had met with from the Sanhedrim; and as they had prayed for fortitude, and a power ofworking more miracles, their prayer was heard, fresh courage infused, and further miraculous powers conferred, to assist them in their work, and to enable them to proceed cheerfully, and with an undaunted steadiness and resolution.

Acts 4:32. Of one heart and of one soul:— This is a proverbial expression for the most intimate and endearing friendship.

Acts 4:33. And with great power gave the apostles, &c.— The word απεδιδουν, rendered gave, signifies the restoring of something which is given as a charge, or intrusted to another. If it be taken in that sense here, it may serve to illustrate what is said, Acts 4:20. Several commentators understand the last clause of this verse, of the grace or favour which they had among the people, on account of their love, charity, zeal, and good conduct. See the note on ch. Acts 2:47. Diodati explains the word χαρις, "by the blessing of God, and the good will of the people."

Acts 4:35. And laid them down, &c.— Orobio the Jew, in his conference with Limborch, has meanly insinuated, that it was no small advantage to poor fishermen to be treasurers of so considerable a bank; and some of our late infidels have hence in a more indecent manner taken occasion to asperse the apostles of our Lord, as if their conduct was influenced byworldly motives, and temporal views; and as if they greatly advanced their circumstances in life by turning apostles. But their whole character,—their upright, generous, and disinterested behaviour, their readiness to sacrifice their lives for the sake of truth and the welfare of mankind, shew that they were far above falsifying such a trust as this, for the sake of a little money. Accordingly, they very willingly transferred the management of this affair to other hands, ch. Acts 6:2-3, &c. But we ought to take the whole history together; and then, besides the honourable testimony given to them bySt. Luke in this verse, namely, that they distributed unto every man, of that charity, according as he had need; we must further consider, that God continued to them the power of working numerous, astonishing, and beneficent miracles; and that he enabled one of them to strike two of the members of the church dead upon the spot, for treachery and dissimulation, with respect to this very charity. And can we suppose that God would continue to shew such peculiar regard to men, who would embezzle part of a public charity, or make a bad use of any part of it? It must raise in every honest mind a just indignation to see such ungenerous reflections thrown out against the apostles of our blessed Lord, who patiently endured poverty and reproach, hunger and thirst, cold and nakedness, bonds, scourgings, and imprisonments, and, after all, a violentdeath, to promote truth and righteousness on the earth. One can hardly help suspecting, that they themselves are men of extraordinarily bad hearts, who are so ready to charge others upon all occasions with dishonest designs and corrupt views; and it seems to intimate, what some men would have done upon the like occasion. Where is the infidel to be found, who ever gave such proofs of his honesty as the apostles, of our Lord have done! Men of that stamp, we know, have generally chosen to fall in with the established religion, and not to suffer any thing for their particular sentiments, how contrary soever to those of professed Christians around them.