to talk · verb — present active participle, genitive plural masculine
they
αὐτῶνautōn
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural masculine
spake
λαλέωlaléō
G2980
to talk
unto
πρὸςpros
G4314
a preposition of direction · preposition
people
λαὸνlaon
G2992
a people (in general · noun — accusative singular masculine
priests
ἱερεῖςhi'ereis
G2409
a priest (literally or figuratively) · noun — nominative plural masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
captain
στρατηγὸςstratēgos
G4755
a general · noun — nominative singular masculine
temple
ἱεροῦhi'erou
G2411
a sacred place · noun — genitive singular neuter
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
Sadducees
Σαδδουκαῖοι,Saddoukaioi
G4523
a Sadducæan (i.e. Tsadokian) · noun — nominative plural masculine, a title
upon
ἐπέστησανepestēsan
G2186
to stand upon · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
them
αὐτοῖςautois
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative plural masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Luke 22:4 And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them.
Acts 6:12 And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,
Acts 23:6-9 But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pha…
Acts 5:24 Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would g…
Acts 5:26 Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned.
2 Chronicles 23:4-9 This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you entering on the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the…
Matthew 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to f…
Matthew 22:23-24 The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Acts 4:1-4
We have here the interests of the kingdom of heaven successfully carried on, and the powers of darkness appearing against them to put a stop to them. let Christ's servants be ever so resolute, Satan's agents will be spiteful; and therefore, let Satan's agents be ever so spiteful, Christ's servants ought to be resolute.
I. The apostles, Peter and John, went on in their work, and did not labour in vain. The Spirit enabled the ministers to do their part, and the people theirs.
1. The preachers faithfully deliver the doctrine of Christ: They spoke unto the people, to all that were within hearing, Act 4:1. What they said concerned them all, and they spoke it openly and publicly. They taught the p…
The priests - These persons had evidenced the most implacable enmity against Christ from the beginning.
The captain of the temple - See this office particularly explained in the note on Luk 22:4 (note).
The Sadducees - Whose whole system was now in danger by the preaching of the resurrection of Christ; for they believed not in the immortality of the soul, nor in any future world. These made a common cause with the priests, etc., to suppress the evidence of Christ's resurrection, and silence the apostles.
John Gill on Acts 4:1
And as they spake unto the people,.... For though only mention is made of Peter's preaching in the preceding chapter, yet doubtless John preached as well as he; either in turn, or to a part of the people at some distance: and this shows their diligence, faithfulness, and integrity, in the ministration of the word; and it is recorded to their honour, that whilst they were about their master's business, and discharging the duty of their office,
the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them; by agreement, with great violence, and at unawares: the "priests" might be those who kept the watch in the temple; for
"in three places the priests kept watch, in the house…
The priests and magistrates of the temple arrived. "Magistratus" should be read in the singular, as is clear from the Greek, where "στρατηγὸς" is written in the singular: for which, in Latin, some Codices have "praepositum templi," while others more correctly have "praetorem templi." For in Greek "praetor" is "στρατηγὸς," while "magistrate" or "chief" is called "ἄρχων."
While they were speaking to the people, the priests and the magistrates of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, and so on. And the priests and the magistrates, or the temple prefect, as another edition says, who seemed to be the teachers and judges of the people, were grieved that the multitude had flocked to hear the apostles. The Sadducees, however, were grieved because they preached the resurrection. Yet both were grieved because those whom they knew as the man Jesus, whom they had killed, were claimed by them to be glorified by God the Father.
See how matters are managed. First they were all mocked together. Then, after they became respected in the public speeches and afterward wrought a great marvel, therefore indeed thereafter, having grown bold, God permitting, they enter into dangers, and undertake the contests. See the progress of the Jews to boldness, since seeking the one who will deliver up Christ, now they lay hands themselves, having become bolder after the cross. For they even had the commander, so that they might again cast a public charge upon those who had been, and not avenge as private persons, which they everywhere endeavor to do. Before the multitude they bound the apostles, that seeing them they might work with greater cowardice. Privately they examine them, so that the hearers might not profit from their boldness.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Captain — (1.) Heb. sar (1 Sam. 22:2; 2 Sam. 23:19). Rendered “chief,” Gen. 40:2; 41:9; rendered also “prince,” Dan. 1:7; “ruler,” Judg. 9:30; “governor,’ 1 Kings 22:26. This same Hebrew word denotes a…
Sadducees — The origin of this Jewish sect cannot definitely be traced. It was probably the outcome of the influence of Grecian customs and philosophy during the period of Greek domination. The first time they…
Sanhedrim — More correctly Sanhedrin (Gr. synedrion), meaning “a sitting together,” or a “council.” This word (rendered “council,” A.V.) is frequently used in the New Testament (Matt. 5:22; 26:59; Mark 15:1,…
Caiaphas · Peter and other disciples accused before — Peter and other disciples accused before
Intolerance, Religious · .In persecuting the disciples — .In persecuting the disciples
Jerusalem · Persecution of the Christian church commenced at — Persecution of the Christian church commenced at
Resurrection · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Sadducees · Persecute the apostles — Persecute the apostles
Sadducees, The · Persecuted the Christians — Persecuted the Christians
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
on Acts 4:1-4
Acts 4:1-4
1. And as they spoke unto the people, the priests and the governor of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, 2. Taking it grievously that they taught the people, and preached, in Jesus' name, the resurrection from the dead. 3. And they laid hands on them, and they put them in prison until the morrow. For it was now even. tide. 4. And many of those which heard the word believed; and the number of men there was about five thousand.
1. And as they spoke Hereby it appeareth how watchful the wicked be, because they are always ready at an inch to stop the mouth of the servants of Christ. And, undoubt edly, they came together, as it were, to quench some great fire; which thing…
Persecution was a common experience of God’s people throughout the Bible. God’s servants often faced hostility and opposition (Deut 30:7; 1 Kgs 18:13; Neh 4:1-3; Jer 37–38; Matt 23:34-37; Luke 11:49-51; 1 Thes 2:14-15). Jesus himself was persecuted (Luke 4:29; John 5:16), and he told his disciples to expect the same kind of treatment (Matt 10:23; 24:9; Mark 13:9; Luke 21:12; John 16:2), but he promised that the Holy Spirit would provide strength (Acts 1:8; Luke 12:11-12; 21:15). Acts records frequent times of persecution (Acts 4:3; 5:17-41; 7:54–8:3; 9:1-2; 11:19; 12:2; 13:50; 14:19; 16:19-24), but Acts also reiterates that the Holy Spirit empowers disciples to bear witness in such circumsta…
