Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 5:13

"But of the rest durst no man join himself to them: howbeit the people magnified them;" — Acts 5:13 (ASV)

Of the rest.—We are left to conjecture who these were who are contrasted with the Apostles on the one side and with the people on the other. Does it mean that the Apostles stood aloof in an isolated majesty, so that none of the other disciples dared associate with them? Or is this St. Luke’s way of speaking of the Pharisees and other teachers, who also resorted to the portico but, as in the days of our Lord’s ministry (John 7:48; John 12:42), did not have the courage to attach themselves to those with whom they really sympathized?

The latter view seems in every way more probable. Thus, the passage stands parallel with those which tell us how the people heard our Lord gladly and came early to hear him (Luke 21:38).