properly · verb — present active indicative, 1st person singular
you
ὑμῖνhymîn
G5213
to (with or by) you
Refrain
ἀπόστητεapostēte
G868
to remove · verb — second aorist active imperative, 2nd person plural
from
ἀπὸapo
G575
"off · preposition
these
τούτωνtoútōn
G5130
of (from or concerning) these (persons or things)
men
ἀνθρώπωνanthrōpōn
G444
from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι)) · noun — genitive plural masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
let
ἐάωeáō
G1439
to let be
them
αὐτούς,autous
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative plural masculine
alone
ἐάωeáō
G1439
to let be
for
ὅτιhoti
G3754
demonstrative · conjunction
if
ἐὰνean
G1437
a conditional particle · conditional particle
this
τούτωνtoutōn
G3778
the he (she or it) · demonstrative pronoun — genitive plural masculine
counsel
βουλὴboulē
G1012
volition · noun — nominative singular feminine
or
ἢē
G2228
disjunctive · conjunction
this
τοῦτοtoûto
G5124
that thing
work
ἔργονergon
G2041
toil (as an effort or occupation) · noun — nominative singular neuter
be
ὦō
G5600
(may
of
ἐξex
G1537
literal or figurative · preposition
men
ἀνθρώπωνanthrōpōn
G444
from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι)) · noun — genitive plural masculine
nought
καταλυθήσεται·kataluthēsetai
G2647
to loosen down (disintegrate) · verb — future passive indicative, 3rd person singular
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
Matthew 15:13 But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.
Lamentations 3:37 Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?
Isaiah 8:9-10 Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be…
Job 5:12-14 He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
Psalms 33:10-11 The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.
Proverbs 21:30 There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.
Isaiah 7:5-7 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying,
Nehemiah 4:15 And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of…
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…
if . . . of men, it will come to naught--This neutral policy was true wisdom, in the then temper of the council. But individual neutrality is hostility to Christ, as He Himself teaches (Luk 11:23).
Adam Clarke on Acts 5:38
Refrain from these men - Do not molest them, leave them to God; for if this counsel and work be of man it will come to nought, like the rebellion of Theudas, and that of Judas of Galilee: for whatever pretends to be done in the name of God, but is not of him, will have his curse and not his blessing. He whose name is prostituted by it will vindicate his injured honor, and avenge himself.
John Gill on Acts 5:38
And now I say unto you,.... This is the sum of my advice upon the observation of these and other instances:
refrain from these men, and let them alone; keep your hands off of them, do not attempt to take away their lives, but dismiss them quietly, nor go about to hinder them, in what they are concerned:
for if this counsel, or this work be of men; if the doctrine these men preach is an human device; or this business they are engaged in is only an human affair, projected by men, and carried on upon selfish principles, and worldly views, seeking only themselves, and their secular interests, and not the glory of God:
it will come to nought; as did the designs of Theudas and Judas.
The Church Fathers
And now therefore I say to you: Depart from these men, and leave them alone. In the Greek, it is added: Not defiling your hands.
Then what is there, he would say, to hinder you to be overthrown? For, says he, "lest haply ye be found even to fight against God." He would dissuade them both by the consideration that the thing is impossible, and because it is not for their good. And he does not say by whom these people were destroyed, but that there they "were scattered," and their confederacy fell away to nothing. For if, says he, it be of man, what needs any ado on your part? but if it be of God, for all your ado you will not be able to overcome it. The argument is unanswerable.
Gamaliel did not say that it is from God, but neither that the work is human. For with regard to what is from God, those men would immediately have opposed it, whereas what is from humans made them bolder against the apostles. Therefore observe the carefulness of the man Gamaliel, wisely managing his speech. He commands to wait for the outcome. Nor did he say, "And if you do not destroy it, know that it is from God," but "if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow it." Let the former be attributed to the recklessness of those men, the latter to the power of God. They were persuaded that these things were spoken not in the presence of the apostles but apart. Moreover, since he was regarded as sharing their views and fearing the outcome as if it might actually occur, he imposed the matter upon them as well. Furthermore, the sweetness of his words combined with righteousness to help him persuade.
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
Gamaliel — Reward of God. (1.) A chief of the tribe of Manasseh at the census at Sinai (Num. 1:10; 2:20; 7:54, 59). (2.) The son of rabbi Simeon, and grandson of the famous rabbi Hillel. He was a Pharisse, and…
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,…
Scribes — Anciently held various important offices in the public affairs of the nation. The Hebrew word so rendered (sopher) is first used to designate the holder of some military office (Judg. 5:14; A.V.,…
Court · .COMPOSITION OF, AND MO — .COMPOSITION OF, AND MO
Courts Of Justice · Judges of: Conferred together before giving judgment — Judges of: Conferred together before giving judgment
Gamaliel · .Speech of, before the Sanhedrin — .Speech of, before the Sanhedrin
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 5:34-39
Acts 5:34-39
34. And a certain Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, precious to all the people, rising in the council, commanded the apostles to be carried out a little space. 35. Then he said unto them, Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves, what ye intend to do touching these men. 36. For before these days there arose one Theudas, saying, that he was some great man, to whom consented a number of men, about four hundred, who perished; and they were all scattered abroad which had obeyed him, and were brought to nought. 37. After him arose one Judas of Galilee, in the days of the tribute, and led away much people after him, and he likewise perished; and all which had obeyed him we…
This Theudas is otherwise unknown, although Josephus mentions a different man by that name who raised a revolt some years later (see Josephus, Antiquities 20.5.1). Theudas was a common Jewish name. • Judas of Galilee appears in Josephus as a rebel who opposed giving tribute to Caesar about AD 6 or 7, following the census of Quirinius (see Josephus, Antiquities 20.5.2; cp. Luke 2:2). His resistance, too, was crushed.
