^5:22But the officers⁵³ who came for them⁵⁴ did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported,⁵⁵^5:23“We found the jail locked securely and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them,⁵⁶ we found no one inside.” ^5:24Now when the commander⁵⁷ of the temple guard⁵⁸ and the chief priests heard this report,⁵⁹ they were greatly puzzled concerning it,⁶⁰ wondering what this could⁶¹ be. ^5:25But someone came and reported to them, “Look! The men you put in prison are standing in the temple courts⁶² and teaching⁶³ the people!” ^5:26Then the commander⁶⁴ of the temple guard⁶⁵ went with the officers⁶⁶ and brought the apostles⁶⁷ without the use of force⁶⁸ (for they were afraid of being stoned by the people).⁶⁹

^5:27When they had brought them, they stood them before the council,⁷⁰ and the high priest questioned⁷¹ them, ^5:28saying, “We gave⁷² you strict orders⁷³ not to teach in this name.⁷⁴ Look,⁷⁵ you have filled Jerusalem⁷⁶ with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood⁷⁷ on us!” ^5:29But Peter and the apostles replied,⁷⁸ “We must obey⁷⁹ God rather than people.⁸⁰^5:30The God of our forefathers⁸¹ raised up Jesus, whom you seized and killed by hanging him on a tree.⁸²^5:31God exalted him⁸³ to his right hand as Leader⁸⁴ and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.⁸⁵^5:32And we are witnesses of these events,⁸⁶ and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey⁸⁷ him.”

^5:33Now when they heard this, they became furious⁸⁸ and wanted to execute them.⁸⁹^5:34But a Pharisee⁹⁰ whose name was Gamaliel,⁹¹ a teacher of the law who was respected by all the people, stood up⁹² in the council⁹³ and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time. ^5:35Then he said to the council,⁹⁴ “Men of Israel,⁹⁵ pay close attention to⁹⁶ what you are about to do to these men. ^5:36For some time ago⁹⁷ Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men joined him. He⁹⁸ was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and nothing came of it.⁹⁹^5:37After him Judas the Galilean arose in the days of the census,¹⁰⁰ and incited people to follow him in revolt.¹⁰¹ He too was killed, and all who followed him were scattered. ^5:38So in this case I say to you, stay away from these men and leave them alone, because if this plan or this undertaking originates with people,¹⁰² it will come to nothing,¹⁰³^5:39but if¹⁰⁴ it is from God, you will not be able to stop them, or you may even be found¹⁰⁵ fighting against God.” He convinced them,¹⁰⁶^5:40and they summoned the apostles and had them beaten.¹⁰⁷ Then¹⁰⁸ they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them. ^5:41So they left the council rejoicing because they had been considered worthy¹⁰⁹ to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.¹¹⁰^5:42And every day both in the temple courts¹¹¹ and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the good news¹¹² that Jesus was the Christ.¹¹³

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Footnotes

53 The Greek term ὑπηρέτης (hupēretēs) generally means “servant,” but in the NT is used for many different types of servants, like attendants to a king, the officers of the Sanhedrin (as here), assistants to magistrates, and (especially in the Gospel of John) Jewish guards in the Jerusalem temple (see L&N 35.20).
54 The words “for them” are not in the Greek text but are implied.
55 Grk “reported, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated.
56 The word “them” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
57 Or “captain.”
58 Grk “the official of the temple,” a title for the commander of the Jewish soldiers guarding the temple (thus the translation, “the commander of the temple guard”). See L&N 37.91.
59 Grk “heard these words.”
60 Grk “concerning them,” agreeing with the plural antecedent “these words.” Since the phrase “these words” was translated as the singular “this report,” the singular “concerning it” is used here.
61 The optative verb here expresses confused uncertainty.
62 Grk “the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.
63 Obeying God (see v. 29), the apostles were teaching again (4:18–20; 5:20). They did so despite the risk.
64 Or “captain.”
65 Grk “the official [of the temple],” a title for the commander of the Jewish soldiers guarding the temple (thus the translation, “the commander of the temple guard”). See L&N 37.91.
66 The Greek term ὑπηρέτης (hupēretēs) generally means “servant,” but in the NT is used for many different types of servants. See the note on the word “officers” in v. .
67 Grk “brought them”; the referent (the apostles) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
68 Or “without violence.” It is clear, as well, that the apostles did not resist arrest.
69 Grk “for they feared lest they be stoned by the people.” The translation uses a less awkward English equivalent. This is an explanatory note by the author.
70 Or “the Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).
71 Or “interrogated,” “asked.”
72 The majority of , including a few important witnesses (א2 D E [Ψ] 1739 𝔐 sy sa), have the negative particle οὐ (ou) here, effectively turning the high priest’s words into a question: “Did we not give you strict orders not to teach in this name?” But the earliest and most important , along with some others (𝔓74 א* A B 1175 lat bo), lack the particle, making this a strong statement rather than a question. Scribes may have been tempted to omit the particle to strengthen the contrast between official Judaism and the new faith, but the fact that v. 27 introduces the quotation with ἐπηρώτησεν (epērōtēsen, “he questioned”) may well have prompted scribes to add οὐ to convert the rebuke into a question. Further, that excellent witnesses affirm the shorter reading is sufficient ground for accepting it as most probably authentic. includes the particle in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.
73 Grk “We commanded you with a commandment” (a Semitic idiom that is emphatic).
74 The name (i.e., person) of Jesus is the constant issue of debate.
75 Grk “And behold.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
76 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
77 To bring this man’s blood on us is an idiom meaning “you intend to make us guilty of this man’s death.”
78 Grk “apostles answered and said.”
79 Obey. See 4:19. This response has Jewish roots (Dan 3:16–18; 2 Macc 7:2; Josephus, 17.6.3 [17.159].
80 Here ἀνθρώποις (anthrōpois) has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).
81 Or “ancestors”; Grk “fathers.”
82 Or “by crucifying him” (“hang on a tree” is by the time of the first century an idiom for crucifixion). The allusion is to the judgment against Jesus as a rebellious figure, appealing to the language of Deut 21:23. The Jewish leadership has badly “misjudged” Jesus.
83 Grk “This one God exalted” (emphatic).
84 Or “Founder” (of a movement).
85 Or “to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.”
86 Or “things.” They are preaching these things even to the hostile leadership.
87 Those who obey. The implication, of course, is that the leadership is disobeying God.
88 The only other use of this verb for anger (furious) is Acts 7:54 after Stephen’s speech.
89 Wanted to execute them. The charge would surely be capital insubordination (Exod 22:28).
90 A Pharisee was a member of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.
91 Gamaliel was a famous Jewish scholar and teacher mentioned here in v. 34 and in Acts 22:3. He had a grandson of the same name and is referred to as “Gamaliel the Elder” to avoid confusion. He is quoted a number of times in the , was given the highest possible title for Jewish teachers, Rabba (cf. John 20:16), and was highly regarded in later rabbinic tradition.
92 Grk “standing up in the council, ordered.” The participle ἀναστάς (anastas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
93 Or “the Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).
94 Grk “said to them”; the referent (the council) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
95 Or “Israelite men,” although this is less natural English. The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anēr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context, it is highly unlikely that this is a generic usage, since Gamaliel was addressing the Sanhedrin, the Jewish high council, which would have been exclusively male.
96 Or “men, be careful.”
97 Grk “For before these days.”
98 Grk “who.” The relative pronoun was replaced by the pronoun “he,” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point.
99 Grk “and they came to nothing.” Gamaliel’s argument is that these two insurrectionists were taken care of by natural events.
100 Or “registration.”
101 The verb ἀφίστημι (aphistēmi) as a transitive means “cause to revolt” as used in Josephus, 8.7.5 (8.198), 20.5.2 (20.102); see 1.
102 Here ἀνθρώπων (anthrōpōn) has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).
103 Or “it will be put to an end.”
104 This is expressed in a first class condition, in contrast to the condition in v. 38b, which is third class. As such, v. 39 is rhetorically presented as the more likely option.
105 According to L&N 39.32, the verb εὑρεθῆτε (heurethēte, an aorist passive subjunctive) may also be translated “find yourselves”—“lest you find yourselves fighting against God.” The Jewish leader Gamaliel is shown contemplating the other possible alternative about what is occurring.
106 Grk “They were convinced by him.” This passive construction was converted to an active one (“He convinced them”) in keeping with contemporary English style. The phrase “He convinced them” is traditionally placed in Acts 5:40 by most English translations; the standard Greek critical text (represented by and ) places it at the end of v. 39.
107 Had them beaten. The punishment was the “forty lashes minus one,” see also Acts 22:19; 2 Cor 11:24; Mark 13:9. The apostles had disobeyed the religious authorities and took their punishment for their “disobedience” (Deut 25:2–3; Makkot 3:10–14). In Acts 4:18 they were warned. Now they are beaten. The hostility is rising as the narrative unfolds.
108 The word “Then” is supplied as the beginning of a new sentence in the translation. The construction in Greek has so many clauses (most of them made up of participles) that a continuous English sentence would be very awkward.
109 That is, considered worthy by God. They “gloried in their shame” of honoring Jesus with their testimony (Luke 6:22–23; 2 Macc 6:30).
110 The name refers to the name of Jesus (cf. 3 John 7).
111 Grk “temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper and has been translated accordingly.
112 Grk “teaching and evangelizing.” They were still obeying God, not men (see 4:18–20; 5:29).
113 Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” See the note on Christ in .