Acts 5:40 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Acts 5:40
And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
properly · verb — aorist active participle, nominative plural masculine
commanded
παρήγγειλανparēngeilan
G3853
to transmit a message · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
should
λαλεῖνlalein
G2980
to talk · verb — present active infinitive
not
μὴmē
G3361
(adverb) not · particle — negative
speak
λαλέωlaléō
G2980
to talk
in
ἐπὶepi
G1909
properly · preposition
name
ὀνόματιonomati
G3686
a "name" (literally or figuratively) (authority · noun — dative singular neuter
Jesus
ἸησοῦIēsou
G2424
Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua) · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
and
καίkaí
G2532
and
let
ἀπέλυσανapelusan
G630
to free fully · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
them
αὐτόςautós
G846
the reflexive pronoun self
go
ἀπολύωapolýō
G630
to free fully
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 10:17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
Proverbs 12:10 A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.
Mark 13:9 But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought be…
John 19:1-4 Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.
Acts 4:17-21 But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name.
Acts 5:28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and…
2 Corinthians 11:24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
Isaiah 30:10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
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…
beaten them--for disobeying their orders (compare Luk 23:16).
Adam Clarke on Acts 5:40
To him they agreed - That is, not to slay the apostles, nor to attempt any farther to imprison them; but their malevolence could not be thus easily satisfied; and therefore they beat them - probably gave each of them thirty-nine stripes; and, having commanded them not to speak in the name of Jesus, they let them go. It was of Jesus they were afraid: not of the apostles. They plainly saw that, if the doctrine of Christ was preached, it must prevail; and, if it prevailed, they must come to nought. It was a wise saying of the popish bishops in the time of Queen Mary - If we do not put down this Printing, it will put us down: They labored to put down the printing, but they could not; and, under…
And to him they agreed,.... They were convinced and persuaded by his reasonings, approved of his advice, and agreed to follow it:
and when they had called the apostles; into the council again, having sent their servants for them, or ordered them to be brought in:
and beaten them; or scourged and whipped them with forty stripes save one, whereby was fulfilled what Christ had foretold, Matthew 10:17
they commanded they should not speak in the name of Jesus; as they had strictly commanded them before, Acts 4:18. Perhaps both in this, as well as in bearing the apostles, they did not closely attend to Gamaliel's counsel, who advised them to keep their hands off of them, and not hinder them, bu…
The Church Fathers
But if they were persuaded, how were they beaten? They were persuaded to refrain from the slaughter. For this was raging wildly among the lazy. And they beat them so that they would not rashly be driven to boast and act beyond bounds. And in truth, one thing was that their violence was to be abolished, another that the virtue of the adviser was to be chastised, and another that the scourge was to curb the madness of those who had been advised.
The prisons there, and the bonds, and the scourges, and the big stones, and the swords, and the onsets by the Jews, and the assemblies of the heathen, and the indictments by tribunes, and the hearing of causes by kings, and the judgment-seats of proconsuls and the name of Caesar, do not need an interpreter. That Peter is struck, that Stephen is overwhelmed by stones, that James is slain as is a victim at the altar, that Paul is beheaded has been written in their own blood.
"And they were persuaded by him." How were they persuaded? So as not to slay them, but merely to scourge. For, it says, "And when they had called the Apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go." See after what great works they are scourged! And again their teaching became more extended: for they taught at home and in the temple. They reverenced the high character of the man. Such was the incontrovertible justness of his speech, they could not look it in the face; nevertheless, they sated their own animosity; and again they expected to terrify them in this way.
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,…
Beating · As a punishment — As a punishment
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
Persecution · OF THE RIGHTEOUS — OF THE RIGHTEOUS
Prisoners · The apostles — 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).
Acts 5:40-42
40. And they obeyed him. And when they had called the apostles, having beaten them, they commanded them that they should not speak in the name of Jesus; and they let them go. 41. Therefore they went rejoicing from the face of the council, because they were counted worthy to suffer reproach for his name. 42. And they did not cease daily in the temple, and in every house, to teach and preach Christ Jesus.
40. Having beaten them, they commanded. He saith that Gamaliel's counsel was allowed; yet the apostles are beaten, and forbidden to preach. [293] Hereby we gather how great the rage of the enemies was, who being now pacified, or at least mitigated, do yet, notwithstanding, rage…
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.
