Acts 4 is the fourth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

of the Christian

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

. The book containing this chapter is anonymous but early Christian tradition affirmed that Luke composed this book as well as the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Together with the Acts of the Apostles, it makes up a two-vol ...

. This chapter records the aftermath of a healing by

Simon Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupation ...

and his preaching in Solomon's Portico, that

Sanhedrin The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Aramaic: סַנְהֶדְרִין; Greek: , ''synedrion'', 'sitting together,' hence ' assembly' or 'council') was an assembly of either 23 or 71 elders (known as "rabbis" after the destruction of the Second Temple), ...

arrested the apostles, but had to let them go.Halley, Henry H. ''Halley's Bible Handbook'': an abbreviated Bible commentary. 23rd edition. Zondervan Publishing House. 1962.

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

and is divided into 37 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: *

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(AD 325–350) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...

(330–360) *

Papyrus 8 Papyrus 8 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), signed by or α 8 (von Soden), is an early copy of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the Acts of the Apostles, it contains Acts 4:31–37; 5:2–9; 6:1–6.8–15. The manuscr ...

(4th century; extant verses 31–37) *

Codex Bezae The Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis, designated by siglum D or 05 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 5 (in the von Soden of New Testament manuscript), is a codex of the New Testament dating from the 5th century writ ...

(~400) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(400–440) * Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (~450; extant verses 1–2) *

Codex Laudianus Codex Laudianus, designated by Ea or 08 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), α 1001 ( von Soden), called ''Laudianus'' after the former owner, Archbishop William Laud. It is a diglot Latin — Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament, palae ...

(~550)

Old Testament references

* Acts 4:11:

Psalm The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...

* :

New Testament references

* Acts 4:11: ; ; ;

Conflicting reactions (4:1–4)

Peter's speech ( Acts 3) was interrupted by the temple authorities who come to silence the apostles, but behind the scenes, more people join the church.

Arrest and trial (4:5–12)

The apostles spent a night in jail (verse 5) and brought before a full session of

the next morning.

Verse 10

: imon Peter said ''"let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole."'' Peter replies to the question of the council (verse 7) on the origin of the healing power by identifying it with Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Verse 11

: imon Peter said ''This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’'' Citing Psalm 118:22.

Verse 12

: imon Peter said ''"Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."'' In his last sentence, Peter "goes further than anything he has yet said: Christ is the only mean of salvation."

Deliberation of the council (4:13–22)

Here Luke gives a glimpse of "the inner workings of the Sanhedrin", especially the elitist perspective: perceiving the apostles in verse 13 as 'uneducated and untrained' (not the sense of illiterate but the sense of not having the education level of the elders and the scribes) as well as displaying 'us' and 'them' attitude toward 'the people' (verses 16, 17, 21).

A prophetic prayer (4:23–31)

This section gives a glimpse of "the apostolic circle at prayer", and this particular prayer provides a "theological framework" for "legitimate exercise of free speech in the face of a tyrannical abuse of authority" (verse 29).

Common church life (4:32–37)

A slightly more detailed than in 2:44-45, it notes how money raised from the property sale was "channelled through the apostles" (verse 35) to emphasize "the sense of centralized authority".

Verses 32–35

: ''All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.''

Verses 36–37

:''And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.'' * "

Barnabas Barnabas (; arc, ܒܪܢܒܐ; grc, Βαρνάβας), born Joseph () or Joses (), was according to tradition an early Christian, one of the prominent Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jew. Name ...

" would later play an important role in the early ministry of Apostle Paul (; Acts 11), and, "with typically Lukan economy" of literary device, is introduced here as a character who displays "a positive example of the ideal use of wealth". *"Son of Encouragement": The el, υἱὸς παρακλήσεως, translit=hyios paraklēseōs, can also mean "son of consolation". One theory is that this is from the

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

, ', meaning 'son (of) consolation'. Another is that it is related to the Hebrew word (, arc, nebī) meaning "prophet". In the Syriac Bible, the phrase "son of consolation" is translated .

References

Sources

* * *

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Acts of the Apostles 04