translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: ACT

label: NET study note

text: This is a good example of the Greek verb fill ( πληρόω , plhrow ) meaning “to exercise control over someone’s thought and action” (cf. Eph 5:18 ).


text: Buried. Same day burial was a custom in the Jewish world of the first century (cf. also Deut 21:23 ).


text: This is the first occurrence of the term church ( ἐκκλησία , ekklhsia ) in Acts. It refers to an assembly of people.


text: Unclean spirits refers to evil spirits.


text: They were all being healed. Note how the healings that the apostles provided were comprehensive in their consistency.


text: See the note on Sadducees in 4:1 .


text: This is a parenthetical note by the author.


text: Filled with jealousy. In Acts, the term “jealousy” ( ζήλος , zhlos ) occurs only here and in Acts 13:45 . It is a key term in Judaism for religiously motivated rage (1 Macc 2:24; 1QH 14:13-15 ; m. Sanhedrin 9:5). It was a zeal motivated by a desire to maintain the purity of the faith.


text: Obeying God (see v. 29 ), the apostles were teaching again ( 4:18-20; 5:20 ). They did so despite the risk.


text: The name (i.e., person) of Jesus is the constant issue of debate.


text: To bring this man’s blood on us is an idiom meaning “you intend to make us guilty of this man’s death.”


text: Obey. See 4:19 . This response has Jewish roots ( Dan 3:16-18 ; 2 Macc 7:2; Josephus, Ant. 17.6.3 [17.159].


text: Those who obey. The implication, of course, is that the leadership is disobeying God.


text: The only other use of this verb for anger ( furious ) is Acts 7:54 after Stephen’s speech.


text: Wanted to execute them. The charge would surely be capital insubordination ( Exod 22:28 ).


text: 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, Ant. 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.


text: 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 Mishnah, was given the highest possible title for Jewish teachers, Rabba (cf. John 20:16 ), and was highly regarded in later rabbinic tradition.


text: 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 ; m. Makkot 3:10-14). In Acts 4:18 they were warned. Now they are beaten . The hostility is rising as the narrative unfolds.


text: 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).


text: The name refers to the name of Jesus (cf. 3 John 7 ).