^5:12Now many miraculous signs²³ and wonders came about among the people through the hands of the apostles. By²⁴ common consent²⁵ they were all meeting together in Solomon’s Portico.²⁶^5:13None of the rest dared to join them,²⁷ but the people held them in high honor.²⁸^5:14More and more believers in the Lord were added to their number,²⁹ crowds of both men and women. ^5:15Thus³⁰ they even carried the sick out into the streets, and put them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow would fall on some of them. ^5:16A crowd of people from the towns around Jerusalem³¹ also came together, bringing the sick and those troubled by unclean spirits.³² They³³ were all³⁴ being healed.

Further Trouble for the Apostles

^5:17Now the high priest rose up, and all those with him (that is, the religious party of the Sadducees³⁵),³⁶ and they were filled with jealousy.³⁷^5:18They³⁸ laid hands on³⁹ the apostles and put them in a public jail. ^5:19But during the night an angel of the Lord⁴⁰ opened⁴¹ the doors of the prison,⁴² led them out,⁴³ and said, ^5:20“Go and stand in the temple courts⁴⁴ and proclaim⁴⁵ to the people all the words of this life.”

Read in Logos

Footnotes

23 The miraculous nature of these signs is implied in the context.
24 Grk “And by.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
25 Or “With one mind.”
26 Or “colonnade”; Grk “stoa.” Solomon’s Portico was a covered walkway formed by rows of columns supporting a roof and open on the inner side facing the center of the temple complex. Located beside the Court of the Gentiles, it was a very public area.
27 Or “to associate with them.” The group was beginning to have a controversial separate identity. People were cautious about joining them. The next verse suggests that the phrase “none of the rest” in this verse is rhetorical hyperbole.
28 Or “the people thought very highly of them.”
29 Or “More and more believers were added to the Lord.”
30 This is a continuation of the preceding sentence in Greek, but because this would produce an awkward sentence in English, a new sentence was begun here in the translation.
31 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
32 Unclean spirits refers to evil spirits.
33 Literally a relative pronoun, “who.” In English, however, a relative clause (“bringing the sick and those troubled by unclean spirits, who were all being healed”) could be understood to refer only to the second group (meaning only those troubled by unclean spirits were being healed) or even that the unclean spirits were being healed. To avoid this ambiguity the pronoun “they” was used to begin a new English sentence.
34 They were all being healed. Note how the healings that the apostles provided were comprehensive in their consistency.
35 See the note on Sadducees in .
36 This is a parenthetical note by the author.
37 Filled with jealousy. In Acts, the term “jealousy” (ζήλος, zēlos) occurs only here and in Acts 13:45. It is a key term in Judaism for religiously motivated rage (1 Macc 2:24; 14:13–15; Sanhedrin 9:5). It was a zeal motivated by a desire to maintain the purity of the faith.
38 Grk “jealousy, and they.” In the Greek text this is a continuation of the previous sentence, but a new sentence has been started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
39 Or “they arrested.”
40 Or “the angel of the Lord.” Linguistically, “angel of the Lord” is the same in both testaments (and thus, he is either “an angel of the Lord” or “the angel of the Lord” in both testaments). For arguments and implications, see ; M. J. Davidson, “Angels,” , ; W. G. MacDonald argues for “an angel” in both testaments: “Christology and ‘The Angel of the Lord’,” Current Issues in Biblical and Patristic Interpretation, 324–35.
41 Grk “opening the doors of the prison.” The participle ἀνοίξας (anoixas) has been translated as a finite verb due to the requirements of contemporary English style.
42 Greek φυλακῆς (phulakēs), a different word from the one in v. 18 (τήρησις, tērēsis, “jail”).
43 Or “brought them out.” Grk “and leading them out, said.” The participle ἐξαγαγών (exagagōn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Led them out. The action by God served to vindicate the apostles. It showed that whatever court the Jewish leaders represented, they did not represent God.
44 Grk “the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.
45 Or “speak.”