to hear (in various senses) · verb — aorist active participle, nominative plural masculine
cut
διεπρίοντοdieprionto
G1282
to saw asunder · verb — imperfect passive indicative, 3rd person plural
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
counsel
βουλεύωbouleúō
G1011
to advise
slay
ἀνελεῖνanelein
G337
to take up · verb — second aorist active infinitive
them
αὐτούς.¶autous
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative 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
Acts 7:54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
Luke 4:28-29 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shal…
Matthew 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
John 16:2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
Genesis 4:5-8 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
Psalms 37:12-15 The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.
Matthew 10:21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and c…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Acts 5:26–end
We are not told what it was that the apostles preached to the people; no doubt it was according to the direction of the angel - the words of this life; but what passed between them and the council we have here an account of; for in their sufferings there appeared more of a divine power and energy than even in their preaching. Now here we have,
I. The seizing of the apostles a second time. We may think, if God designed this, "Why were they rescued from their first imprisonment?" But this was designed to humble the pride, and check the fury, of their persecutors; and now he would show that they were discharged, not because they feared a trial, for they were ready to surrender themselves and ma…
cut to the heart and took--"were taking."
counsel to slay them--How different this feeling and the effect of it from that "pricking of the heart" which drew from the first converts on the day of Pentecost the cry, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" (Act 2:37). The words used in the two places are strikingly different.
Adam Clarke on Acts 5:33
They were cut to the heart - Διεπριοντο, Literally, they were sawn through, from δια through, and πριω, to saw. They were stung to the heart, not with compunction nor remorse, but with spite, malice, and revenge: for, having the murder of Christ thus brought home to their consciences, in the first feelings of their malice and revenge, they thought of destroying the persons who had witnessed their nefarious conduct.
John Gill on Acts 5:33
When they heard that,.... This defence of the apostles, in which they still insisted upon it, that they had been the crucifiers of Christ, and yet that he was raised from the dead, and exalted in heaven, and was a spiritual Saviour of men:
they were cut; to the heart, as if they had been cut asunder with a saw; the Ethiopic version renders it, "they were angry", and "gnashed with their teeth", as if a saw was drawn to and fro; they were filled with rage and madness:
and took counsel to slay them; not in a legal and judicial way, but in a private manner, or by force; stirring up the zealots to rise up against them, and dispatch them at once, as blasphemers and heretics.
The Church Fathers
That he grants forgiveness, and we bear witness, and the Holy Spirit, which would not have come, if first the sins had not been loosened. Humility, moreover, is the nature of such a discourse. For it has not been said to us as a privilege entirely for those who love him, but to the One who imparts it, it has been given in common to all who submit to Him. Therefore, even if they themselves were persuaded, they would not be without a share of his gift, through the lawlessness caused by the cross.
See again these in perplexity, these in pain: but those in quiet and cheerfulness and delight. It is not merely, They were grieved, but "They were cut" to the heart. Truly this makes good that proverb, "Evil do, evil fare:" as we may see in this case. Here were these men in bonds, set at the bar of judgment, and the men that sit in judgment upon them were in distress and helpless perplexity. For as he who strikes a blow upon the adamant, gets the shock of the blow himself, so it was with these men. But they saw that not only was their boldness of speech not stopped, but rather their preaching increased the more, and that they discoursed without a thought of fear, and afforded them no handles against them.
The others on a former occasion "when they heard these things were pricked;" here they were cut as with a saw and desired to slay them. Hearest thou of the forgiveness of sins, O wretched man, and that God doth not demand punishment, and dost thou wish to slay them? What wickedness was this! And yet, either they ought to have convicted them of lying, or if they could not do that, to have believed: but if they did not choose to believe, yet they ought not to slay them. For what was there deserving of death? Such was their intoxication, they did not even see what had taken place. Observe, how everywhere the Apostles, when they have made mention of the crime, add the mention of forgiveness; showing, that while what had been done was worthy of death, that which was given was proffered to them as to benefactors! In what other way could any one have persuaded them?
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
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,…
Gamaliel · .Speech of, before the Sanhedrin — .Speech of, before the Sanhedrin
Sadducees · Persecute the apostles — Persecute the apostles
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).
John Calvin on Acts 5:29-33
Acts 5:29-33
29. And Peter and the apostles answering, said, We ought rather to obey God than men. 30. The God of our fathers hath raised up Jesus, whom ye slew, hanging him upon a tree. 31. Him God hath lifted up with his right hand, to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins. 32. And we are his witnesses of these words [or things,] and the Holy Ghost also, whom God hath given to them that obey him. 33. And when they heard these things, they were cut in sunder, and would slay them.
29. This is the sum of their answer, It is lawful for them, nay, they ought to prefer God before men. God commandeth us to bear witness of Christ; therefore it is in vain f…
