John Gill Commentary Acts 4

And as they spoke unto the people
For though only mention is made of Peter's preaching in the preceding chapter, yet doubtless John preached aswell as he; either in turn, or to a part of the people at some distance: and this shows their diligence,faithfulness, and integrity, in the ministration of the word; and it is recorded to their honour, that whilstthey were about their master's business, and discharging the duty of their office,

the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came
upon them ;
by agreement, with great violence, and at unawares: the "priests" might be those who kept the watch in thetemple; for

``in three places the priests kept watch, in the house of the sanctuary; in the house ofAbtines, in the house of Nitsots, and in the house of Moked, and the Levites in one and twenty places<sup>F16</sup> .'' And it now being eventide, they might be about to take their stands; "and the captain ofthe temple" might be he, whom they call, (tyb rh vya) , "the man of themountain of the house"; who was (rv) , a ruler, or governor, and (hnwmm) , a president over all the wards <sup>F17</sup> ; he is sometimes called (rmvm var) , "the head of the ward" <sup>F18</sup> ; and of him it is said<sup>F19</sup> , ``the man of the mountain of the house goes his round through every ward, with burningtorches before him; and every ward that does not stand (is not on his feet), the man of the mountain of thehouse, says to him, peace be to thee; and if he observes that he is asleep, he strikes him with his staff,and he has power to burn his garments.'' The Vulgate Latin and the Oriental versions read in the pluralnumber, as in (See Gill on Luke 22:4), (See Gill on Luke 22:52). The Sadducees were asect among the Jews, that denied the resurrection of the dead; of their rise, name, and tenets, (SeeGill on Matthew 3:7).

FOOTNOTES:

• F16: Misn. Middot, c. 1. sect. 1.
• F17: Bartenora & Yom Tob in ib. sect. 2.
• F18: Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 6. fol. 186. 3.
• F19: Misn. Middot, c. 1. sect. 2.

Being grieved that they taught the people
Any doctrine, and especially that which follows, and which particularly gave uneasiness to the Sadducees, they were exceedingly distressed by it; it pained them to the very heart, and they were filled with wrath and indignation:

and preached through, or in Jesus, the resurrection of the dead ;
they not only preached the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead in general, but gave an instance and proof of it in the resurrection of Christ, affirming that he was risen from the dead; and they also preached up the resurrection of the dead in his name, and asserted, that he would be the author of it, and it would be erected by his power:

so that their doctrine was equally disagreeable to the Pharisees and Sadducees; to the Sadducees, who denied that there was, or would be any resurrection of the dead; and to the Pharisees, who though they believed it, yet were highly offended that it should be said, that Jesus was risen from the dead; and that the general resurrection of the dead should be attributed to him.

And they laid hands on them
The Arabic version renders it, "on both"; on Peter and John; seized them by force, and drew them out of the temple:

and put them in hold unto the next day ;
not in the common public prison, as in (Acts 5:18) but they put them into the hands, and under the care and custody of a set of men, to keep and guard them; that they might not go away, until they had an opportunity of bringing them before the sanhedrim, to be examined and punished by them:

for it was now eventide ;
it was at the ninth hour, or about three o'clock in the afternoon, when Peter and John went up to the temple, where they healed the lame man; after which, both of them preached to the people; so that it must now be evening; at least, as the Syriac version renders it, "the evening was near", or was drawing on.

Howbeit, many of them which heard the word
The doctrine of the Gospel, preached by Peter and John:

believed ;
the report of it, and in Christ, as risen from the dead, which was the sum and substance of it: and this they did, notwithstanding the opposition made by the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, and the violence they used to the apostles; for though they kept their persons in hold, they could not stop the free course of the word, which ran and was glorified:

and the number of the men was about five thousand ;
or "was five thousand", as the Alexandrian copy, the Vulgate Latin, and Ethiopic versions read; that is the number, not of the hearers, but "of them that believed", was so many; and so read the Arabic and Ethiopic versions: there were so many persons converted at this time; for this number does not include the three thousand that were converted under the first sermon, but regards those who now became true believers, and were added to the church; so that there were now eight thousand persons added to it; a great increase indeed! now had Christ the dew of his youth, and now were these fishermen fishers of men indeed: that our Lord's feeding five thousand men with five barley loaves and two fishes, should have any regard to the conversion of these five thousand men, is but a conceit.

And it came to pass on the morrow
The disciples being kept in custody all night:

that their rulers, and elders, and Scribes ;
that is, their ecclesiastical rulers; the chief priests, who, with the Scribes, and elders of the people, made up the great council at Jerusalem, consisting of seventy one persons, so they are called in (Matthew 26:3Matthew 26:57) (27:1) (Mark 14:53) (15:1) .