a sovereign (abstractly · noun — nominative plural masculine
earth
γῆςgēs
G1093
soil · noun — genitive singular feminine
up
παρέστησανparestēsan
G3936
to stand beside · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
rulers
ἄρχοντεςarchontes
G758
a first (in rank or power) · noun — nominative plural masculine
gathered
συνήχθησανsunēchthēsan
G4863
to lead together · verb — aorist passive indicative, 3rd person plural
together
ἐπὶepi
G1909
properly · preposition
against
κατὰkata
G2596
(prepositionally) down (in place or time) · preposition
Lord
κυρίουkuriou
G2962
supreme in authority · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
against
κατὰkata
G2596
(prepositionally) down (in place or time) · preposition
his
αὐτὸauto
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular neuter
Christ
χριστοῦchristou
G5547
anointed · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
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
Psalms 2:2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
Revelation 17:12-14 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast…
Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make re…
Psalms 83:2-8 For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.
Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the…
Hebrews 1:9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellow…
Joel 3:9-14 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Acts 4:23-31
We hear no more at present of the chief priests, what they did when they had dismissed Peter and John, but are to attend those two witnesses. And here we have,
I. Their return to their brethren, the apostles and ministers, and perhaps some private Christians (Act 4:23): Being let go, they went to their own company, who perhaps at this time were met together in pain for them, and praying for them; as Act 12:12. As soon as ever they were at liberty, they went to their old friends, and returned to their church-fellowship. 1. Though God had highly honoured them, in calling them out to be his witnesses, and enabling them to acquit themselves so well, yet they were not puffed up with the honour do…
by the mouth of . . . David--to whom the Jews ascribed the second Psalm, though anonymous; and internal evidence confirms it. David's spirit sees with astonishment "the heathen, the people, the kings and princes of the earth," in deadly combination against the sway of Jehovah and His Anointed (his Messiah, or Christ), and asks "why" it is. This fierce confederacy our praying disciples see in full operation, in the "gathering together of Herod and Pilate, the Gentiles (the Roman authority), and the people of Israel, against God's holy Child ('Servant') Jesus." (See on Act 3:13). The best ancient copies read, after "were gathered together," "in this city," which probably answers to "upon my ho…
Against the Lord and against his Christ - Κατα του Χριστου αυτου should be translated, against his Anointed, because it particularly agrees with ὁν εχρισας, whom thou hast Anointed, in the succeeding verse.
John Gill on Acts 4:26
The kings of the earth stood up,.... Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee, sometimes called a king, Mark 6:14 and Pilate the Roman governor, who represented his master Caesar; these stood, or rose up in an hostile manner, and set themselves against, and opposed themselves to the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth:
and the rulers were gathered together; the Jewish rulers, Annas, Caiaphas, and the rest of the members of the sanhedrim, who met together more than once; and particularly at the high priest's palace, to consult how they should take Jesus and put him to death; and who also gathered together at the same place, when he was taken, to arraign, examine, and condemn him. And this opposition, and t…
The Church Fathers
Scripture is wont thus to speak of one as of many. "For of a truth, Lord, against Thy Holy Child Jesus, Whom Thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, etc." Observe how, even in prayer, they circumstantially describe the Passion, and refer all to God.
The kings of the earth have taken their stand, and the rulers have gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ. It speaks of the leaders of the Jews and Pilate himself; but it mentions kings in the plural because of Herod the tetrarch, as the subsequent words of the apostles testify. Although it can be rightly interpreted by the plural appellation of kings to refer to Herod the tetrarch who consented with Pilate in the Lord's death, as well as that one of the same name and malice who, after the Lord's birth, killed the children in Bethlehem. Even though they did not live at the same time, with the same hatred and wickedness of mind, they took their stand and gathered together with the leaders of the Jews against the Lord. It is also noteworthy that the clauses of these verses are such that the first takes the closing phrase from the second, which says "against the Lord and against His Christ," and the second takes the introductory adverb "why" from the first, so that the position of each is complete: Why did the nations rage, and the people devise futile things against the Lord and against His Christ? Why did the kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers gather together as one, against the Lord and against His Christ? He says "kings of the earth" to distinguish them from those for whom, while they are pilgrims on earth, the kingdom is preserved in heaven.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Acts 4:24-31
24. And when they had heard it, they lifted up their voice unto God with one accord, and said, Lord,, thou art God, which hast made heaven and earth, the sea, and all things which are therein; 25. Which by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why have the heathen raged together, and why have the people imagined vain things? 26. The kings of the earth have stood up, and the rulers have met together against the Lord, and against his Christ. 27. For of a truth, Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, have come together in this city against thy holy Son, Jesus, 28. That they might do whatsoever thine hand and thy counsel had decreed before to be…
The Hebrew term Messiah (“anointed one”) originally referred to Israel’s anointed king; it came to refer to the Messiah, the coming King of Israel who would establish God’s Kingdom forever (2 Sam 7:14-16; Ps 89:36-37; Isa 9:6-7; 11:1-9; 61:1; Jer 23:5-6; 33:14-16; Luke 1:32-33).
