Acts 4:35

And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
laid	ἐτίθουν etithoun	G5087	to place (in the widest application · verb — imperfect active indicative, 3rd person plural
down	τίθημι títhēmi	G5087	to place (in the widest application
at	παρὰ para	G3844	properly · preposition
apostles’	ἀποστόλων, apostolōn	G652	a delegate · noun — genitive plural masculine
feet	πόδας podas	G4228	a "foot" (figuratively or literally) · noun — accusative plural masculine
and	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
made	διεδίδετο diedideto	G1239	to give throughout a crowd · verb — imperfect passive indicative, 3rd person singular
man	ἑκάστῳ hekastō	G1538	each or every · adjective — dative singular masculine
as	καθότι kathoti	G2530	and G3739 (ὅς) and G5100 (τὶς) · conjunction
he	τις tis	G5100	some or any person or object · indefinite pronoun — nominative singular masculine
had	εἶχεν.¶ eichen	G2192	to hold (used in very various applications · verb — imperfect active indicative, 3rd person singular
need	χρείαν chreian	G5532	employment · noun — accusative singular feminine

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

Acts 5:2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
Acts 2:45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
2 Corinthians 8:20-21 Avoiding this, that no man should blame us in this abundance which is administered by us:
Acts 4:37 Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
Acts 3:6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
Acts 6:1-6 And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because the…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 4:32–end

We have a general idea given us in these verses, and it is a very beautiful one, of the spirit and state of this truly primitive church; it is conspectus saeculi - a view of that age of infancy and innocence. I. The disciples loved one another dearly. Behold, how good and how pleasant it was to see how the multitude of those that believed were of one heart, and of one soul (Act 4:32), and there was no such thing as discord nor division among them. Observe here, 1. There were multitudes that believed; even in Jerusalem, where the malignant influence of the chief priests was most strong, there were three thousand converted on one day, and five thousand on another, and, besides these, there wer…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 4:35

laid . . . at the apostles' feet--sitting, it may be, above the rest. But the expression may be merely derived from that practice, and here meant figuratively.

Adam Clarke on Acts 4:35

Laid ...down at the apostles' feet - To show how cordially and entirely they parted with them. And they entrusted the management of the whole to those men to whom they found God had entrusted the gifts of his Holy Spirit, and the doctrine of the kingdom of heaven.

John Gill on Acts 4:35

And laid them down at the apostles' feet,.... Showing great veneration and respect to the apostles, and a sort of neglect and contempt of their worldly substance; and signifying that they entirely delivered them to the apostles, and subjected them to their disposal: and distribution was made unto every man, according as he had need; though they had all things in common, yet there was an order observed; a man might not go to the common stock and take out of it what he would; but as all was committed to the care of the apostles, and was in their power; the distribution was made by them, to every man, to the original proprietors, as well as to others, and that not as much as a man would have,…

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The Church Fathers

Then, as you know, believers sold their possessions and brought the prices of them and laid them down at the apostles' feet: a symbolic act designed to show that people must trample on covetousness.
— Jerome, LETTER 71.4

Placing honors at the feet of the apostles, but not on their hands, shows the great honor and reverence of those who brought them. The fact that they did not dare to give them to the hands indicates that they made them stewards and dispensers, as if consuming from common funds, and not as personal gifts through their hands. Moreover, what was placed at the feet constituted honor toward them and removed the reproach of the poverty of those supported. And they gave as if from common funds being administered.
— Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts

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

Alms · .The early Christians — .The early Christians
Beneficence · .The first Christians — .The first Christians
Communism · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Unselfishness · .The disciples — .The disciples

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).

Acts 4:35

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 4:32–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 4:35

Adam Clarke on Acts 4:35

John Gill on Acts 4:35

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Acts 4:35

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 4:32–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 4:35

Adam Clarke on Acts 4:35

John Gill on Acts 4:35

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Acts 4:32–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Acts 4:32-35