Acts 13:27

Act_13:27-32

For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew Him not.

The rejection of Christ

I. Its ground.

1. Ignorance of Christ Himself.

(1) Of His Divine Sonship.

(2) His mediatorial authority.

(3) His saving mission. Had they known all this, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

2. Deafness to the voices of the prophets who predicted Him. Here we have the two-fold ground of all rejection of Christ. If men only knew Him, and recognised the force of those many prophecies which find their fulfilment only in Him, the acceptance of His Person and saving benefits would be inevitable.

II. Its inexcusableness.

1. Christ was with them, and demonstrated His Divine personality and mission by many infallible proofs--His sinless humanity, His miraculous works, His wonderful teaching. Christ is not with us in the same sense; but we have the record of His life, which renders His modern rejection none the less inexcusable.

2. They heard the prophecies frequently read; and had they listened without prejudice, they must have seen how they all converged in Him. So now.

3. There was no cause for His rejection (Act_13:28). He did them no harm, but ever strove to do them good. Why do you reject Him? Is it not because you will not come to Him that you may have life?

III. Its frustration.

1. Their rejection, in its most aggravated form, only fulfilled the prophecies which went before on Him (Act_13:27; Act_13:29).

2. God reversed the humiliation of death which they inflicted on Him by raising Him from the dead. What to them was the end of His mission, proved only its beginning.

3. Their rejection proved the origin of that gospel which Paul was now preaching to the wide world. Nor is this rejection any more successful now. Whosoever falleth on this stone shall be broken, etc. (J. W. Burn.)

Nor the voices of the prophets.

The voices of the prophets

Some men ask, If the prophets spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, why did they not all speak in the same manner? Why these varieties of style? I will answer that by asking another question: Why do not all the pipes of the organ give one and the same sound? What awakens all the sounds but one and the same blast from the wind chest? If there be a monoblast, why is there not a monotone? Because the pipes are of different shapes and sizes; the awakening breath is one; the intonation varies with the shape and size of the pipe. The inspiration was one, but the style and manner varied with the disposition and character of the individual employed. (H. McNeile, D. D.)

Messianic prophecy: its characteristics

Christ is the only Person whose life was written beforehand; as, e.g., in the time, place, and manner of His birth; in the kind of life He was to lead, the kind of teaching He was to give, the kind of death He was to die. The strength of prophecy lies in its chain of references to Christ, from the first mention of the seed of the woman to the virgin-born Immanuel; from the sufferer whose heel is bruised in terms of the earliest promise, to the Man of Sorrows in Isa_53:1-12; from the peace-giving lawgiver of a yet uncrowned tribe to the heir of David, who enters the long established seat of rule as a king. Even the predictions that bear on the Church of God and its universal progress are but the sequel to those which foretell the personal Christ, and they then reflect the light of His exaltation; nor can the judgments of the Jewish nation be dissociated, as the depth of their fall is but the measure of the grace and truth that were in Christ, and for rejecting which they were to be cast away. (Principal Cairns.)

Messianic prophecy: its fulfilment

When we see the predicted mission of the Messiah so faithfully fulfilled; when we see the great worlds history bending itself to the birth of Jesus in the anno domini of its dates and superscriptions; when we see that the world has moved as in deepest sympathy with the humble Nazarene, working ever in His behalf; when we behold all events marching onwards through the centuries to the beat of time, preserving, as Napoleon thought, a celestial order, to accomplish one given result, the universal and final ascendency of the Son of David; when we see that all opposing systems can no longer hold comparison with the religion given to the world by Him than can the pale, thin, extended crescent ring of the setting moon hold comparison to the full blaze of the unclouded noonday sun; when we discover that this mighty One issued from the House of David before its fall, and from Bethlehem in the days of Herod, must we not acknowledge that He is the Being whom the prophets declared to be one with the Father Almighty? As we see Him standing alone among the millions of the race, the only pattern of absolute perfection, whose entire life, without inclining a hairs breadth to either side, pointed straight upwards to heaven--as all the separate and wandering rays of prophecy that had sparkled through the Divine Word are combined and concentrated, and rest, as with a sacred halo, on His head--how can we do otherwise than proclaim our convictions in that prophetic, startling, and sublime word, Immanuel!--God with us? (Credo.)

Ignorance of prophecy

I was visited by a very distinguished young Israelite, who had seen me distributing the sacred volume, and I proposed that we should read a portion of Scripture together. He agreed on the condition that it should be from the Old Testament; and I read the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah. But, said he, that is in the New Testament. No, no, I replied. There, take the book. Read it with that true heart which I perceive in you, and you will find what you seek. He has found his Saviour, has accepted Him, and confesses Him with joy. (Pasteur Hirsch.)

Necessity of an unprejudiced study of prophecy

It is evident from this, and from Luk_23:34 and Act_3:17, that the predictions of Holy Scripture may be accomplished before the eyes of men, while they are unconscious of that fulfilment; and that the prophecies may be even accomplished by persons who have the prophecies in their hands and do not know that they are fulfilling them. Hence also it is clear that men may be guilty of enormous sins when they are acting according to their own consciences and with a view to Gods glory, and while they hold the Bible in their hands and hear its voice sounding in their ears; and that therefore it is of unspeakable importance, not only to hear the words of Scripture, but to mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, with humility and prayer, in order to understand their true meaning. Therefore the Christian student has great reason to thank God that He has given in the New Testament a Divinely-inspired interpretation of the Old, and has also sent the Holy Spirit, the Divine Interpreter, to abide with the Church. If the Jews and their rulers had not been swayed by prejudice, but, in a careful, candid, and humble spirit, had considered the evidence before them, they would have known that their promised Messiah was to be the Son of God, and that He was thus revealed as such in their own Scriptures, and thus His miracles would have had their due effect upon their minds. (Bp. Chr. Wordsworth.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 13:27-28. Καὶ τὰς—καὶ μηδεμίαν) Καὶ, καὶ, as well, as also: φωνὰς depends on ἐπλήρωσαν, not on ἀγνοήσαντες.—τὰς φωνὰς, the voices) clear, harmonious, numerous.—ἀναγινωσκομένας, which are read) The hearers are hereby admonished. With this comp. Act 13:15, “If ye have any word of exhortation.”—κρίναντες) in having condemned Him in judgment.—ἐπλήρωσαν) The compound follows, ἐκπεπλήρωκε Act 13:33 (32 in Bengal’s text), with Epitasis (the emphatic addition of the ἐκ).

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act_13:27. Γάρ] Chrysostom leads to the correct interpretation: δίδωσιν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν ἀποσχισθῆναι τῶν τὸν φόνον τετολμηκότων. In accordance with the contrast: ὑμῖν and οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐν Ἱερουσ., the logical sequence is: To you was the doctrine of salvation sent; for in Jerusalem the Saviour has been rejected; therefore the preaching must be brought to those outside in the διασπορά, such as you are. It does not conflict with this view, that at all events the preaching would come to them as Jews (objection of de Wette); since the fundamental idea rather is, that, because Jerusalem has despised Christ, now in place of the inhabitants of Jerusalem the outside Jews primarily are destined for the reception of salvation. They are to step into the place of those as regards this reception of salvation; and the announcement of salvation, which was sent to them, was withdrawn from those and their rulers, the members of the Sanhedrim, on account of the rejection of the Saviour. Thus there is in γάρ the idea of divine retribution, exercised against the seat of the theocracy, and resulting in good to those outside at a distance (comp. τοῖς εἰς μακράν, Act_2:39); the idea of a Nemesis, by which those afar off are preferred to the nearest children of the kingdom. Comp. Mat_21:43. Most of the older commentators are silent on γάρ here. According to Erasmus, it is admonitory, according to Calvin, exhortatory to yet greater compliance; but in this case the special point must first be read between the lines. Contrary to the contrast of ὑμῖν and οἱ κατοικ. Ἱερουσ., γάρ, according to de Wette, is designed to introduce the exposition of the idea of σωτηρία; according to Baumgarten, to convey the hint that the informal (?) way, outwardly considered, in which the λόγος had reached Antioch, had its reason in the fact that the centre of the theocracy had resisted Jesus.

τοῦτον ἀγνοήσαντες κ.τ.λ.] not having known Him (i.e. Jesus, as the self-evident subject), they have also (καί, the also of the corresponding relation) fulfilled by their sentence (by the condemnation of Jesus) the voices of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath day. This fulfilment they effected involuntarily in their folly. But the prophecies had to be fulfilled, Luk_24:35 f.; 1Co_15:3.

ἀγνοήσαντες] a mild judgment, entirely in the spirit of Jesus (Luk_23:34). Comp. on Act_3:17; see also 1Co_2:8. Therefore not too lenient for Paul (Schneckenburger). Luther, Calvin, Grotius, Rosenmüller, Kuinoel, Hackett, and others refer ἀγνοήσ. not only to τοῦτον, but also to καὶ τὰς φ. τ. προφ.: qui hunc non norant, nec prophetarum oracula … intelligebant, eo condemnando effecerunt, ut haec eventu comprobarentur. Unnecessarily harsh, as κρίναντες and ἐπλήρ. require different supplements.

τὰς κ. π. σάββ. ἀναγινωσκ.] a mournful addition; what infatuation!

κρίναντες] judging, namely, Jesus. Following Homberg, others have referred it to the φωνὰς τ. πρ.: and although judging, correctly valuing the voices of the prophets, they nevertheless fulfilled them. Incorrect, because at variance with history, and because the resolution of the participle by although is not suggested by the context, but rather (τοῦτον ἀγνοήσαντες) forbidden.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 13:27 . Both A. and R.V. take ἀγνοήσαντες as governing τοῦτον and τὰς φωνάς . But καί may be not copulative but intensive not only did they not recognise the Christ, but even condemned Him to death; so Rendall. Meyer rendered καί = “also,” and makes τὰς φωνάς the direct object of ἐπλήρ . Wendt renders as A. and R.V., see critical notes. ἀγνοήσαντες , cf. Act 3:14 , it is very doubtful how far we can see in the expression an excuse in the former passage, and guiltiness here. Paul speaks of himself as acting ἀγνοῶν and yet obtaining mercy, 1Ti 1:13 , cf. also for the use of the word by Paul Act 17:23 , and frequently in his Epistles.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

All things came to pass to Christ, which the Prophets foretold of Messiah: so that hereby also it appeareth that he is the true and only Savior: and yet notwithstanding they are not to be excused which did not only not receive him, but also persecute him most cruelly although he was innocent.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, &c.--The apostle here speaks as if the more immediate guilt of Christ's death lay with the rulers and people of the metropolis, to which he fondly hoped that those residing at such a distance as Antioch would not set their seal.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 27. Because they knew him not] A gentle excuse for the persecuting high priests, c. They did not know that Jesus was the Christ, because they did not know the prophets: and why did they not know the prophets, which were read every Sabbath day? Because they did not desire to know his will and therefore they knew not the doctrine of God: nor did they know that, in condemning Christ, they fulfilled those very Scriptures which were read every Sabbath day in their synagogues.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

27. He doth wisely, and in due time, prevent an offense which might have been a great hindrance to their faith, [men’s faith.] For Jerusalem was God’s sanctuary, the king’s seat, the fountain of truth, and the light of the whole world; but Christ was put to death there. Furthermore, nothing could seem more absurd to look to than to receive him who was cast out of the temple of God; and to seek the doctrine of salvation any where else than there whence God himself had testified it should come. Moreover, by believing in Christ, they seemed to make a departure from the Church; and, therefore, this one objection was strong enough to refute all Paul’s sermon, Why dost thou force upon us, under color of God’s covenant, a man whom the principal part of the holy people condemned? This objection doth Paul answer, lest it hinder the course of the gospel; and not that only, but he turneth it also to the contrary part; for seeing that the author of life was despised and rejected at Jerusalem, Paul exhorteth the men of Antioch, at least those who among them feared God, that they receive him so much the more joyfully; for this doth the causal word declare, as if he should have said, Seeing that Jerusalem knew not her good, it behoveth you to be the more awakened and inflamed, lest the same unthankfulness and forwardness be found in you.

But he useth another reason to remove the offense, to wit, that their ungodliness was so far from diminishing any whit of Christ’s divine excellency, that it ought rather to serve to prove and establish the same, for whereby doth Christ better appear than because all that was fulfilled in him which had been foretold in the law and prophets? (Luke 24:25, 26.) Furthermore, what got the enemies of Christ, save only that in him shined the plain truth of the Scripture? It must needs be that Christ should be rejected of the chief, for it was so foretold,

“The stone which the builders refused hath God made the head of the corner,” (Psalm 118:22.)

Christ must needs have been condemned among the wicked, that he might acquit us before God; it was expedient that sins should be laid upon him, that he might make satisfaction for the same; that he should be offered upon the cross, that the shadowish sacrifices of the law might cease; for even the Scripture contained these things, (Isaiah 53:4, 5; Daniel 9:26.)

Therefore, the more violently the captains of the people sought to extinguish Christ, they did in very deed prove him to be Christ, and the Lord did wonderfully deceive [frustrate] them, so that their obstinate impiety doth more edify the faith of the godly than destroy it. Of the same sort are almost all offenses which lead away weak and inconstant souls from Christ; for if they would thoroughly ponder the whole process of the work of God, there should be matter of confirmation where they faint. Therefore it cometh to pass, for the most part, that we be troubled with offenses and stumbling-blocks, because, whilst we behold those things which belong to Christ with purblind eyes, we imagine that to be black which is white; and we see how far Paul is from dissimulation, and how freely he professeth the truth of the matter, that Christ was hated not only of the common sort, but also of the chief chieftains; and that he was not hissed at by a few, but oppressed by the wicked conspiracy of all the people. That was hard and hateful at the first conflict; but Paul opposeth a more strong engine, that God used them against their wills as a touchstone, whereby he might try his Son. Seeing that the gospel standeth in the same state at this day, let us not be ashamed, with Paul, to confess that the proud princes of the world, and those who bear the greatest sway in the Church, are the deadly enemies of Christ, seeing that doth rather turn to Christ’s praise than reproach; for by this means is the Scripture fulfilled.

Seeing they knew him not. Though deliberate malice did enforce the rulers to oppress Christ, yet doth Paul truly impute it to ignorance, because otherwise they would never have crucified the Lord of glory, (1 Corinthians 2:8.) For the malice of the wicked is like to raging madness, and in seeing it doth not see. Undoubtedly, we need not doubt of this, that they were deprived of a sound mind and the light of the Spirit, who were not afraid to fight against God to their own destruction. Again, he hitteth them in the teeth with ignorance of the Scripture; and lest any should object that he speaketh of some dark and unknown manner; he addeth also, that he doth speak of no other prophecies than of those which are read every Sabbath day; as if he should say, that the oracles of Scripture are most plain and known to the most ignorant, and yet they knew them not. Thus doth Paul teach how monstrous their unbelief was, that he may make the hearers loathe it; and by this example are we taught, that although the Lord appears to us by the Scripture, yet all men have not eyes. After that also the blockishness of the nation waxed more gross, as Paul saith elsewhere, that there is a veil put before their face, that they cannot see Moses when he is present, (2 Corinthians 3:15.) In the mean season, we must note that we are recalled to the Scripture, lest the authority of great men deceive us, neither is there any cause why any man, inventing to himself a prejudice according to the wicked meaning of other men, should think that he is acquitted; for Paul exhorteth the men of Antioch to judge out of the Scripture against the visored governors of the Church; for this cause is it given, that it may be read; and reading is not appointed in vain by the Lord; but that all godly men may thereby profit and judge what is right.

This they fulfilled. So that we see that not only creatures void of understanding, but even the very devil, and also the wicked, are subject to the power of God, that he may execute by them that which with himself he hath decreed. The same had we in the third and fourth chapters, (Acts 3:23; Acts 4:28,) that when the enemies of Christ did most of all rage to destroy him, yet could they not obtain their purpose; but rather they brought that to pass with their own hands which God had in his counsel determined; which thing maketh not a little for commendation of God’s truth, because he is not only of sufficient power to perform those things which he hath promised; but also those who go about to bring his counsels to nought do their endeavor to establish them, though it be against their will. For how should not the truth of God stand which the chiefest enemies are enforced to fulfill? Yet wisdom is necessary here, lest we join God and Satan together.

For the Jews are not therefore excusable, because they fulfilled the Scriptures; because we must consider their wicked will, and not the event, which they did not look for, yea, which ought to be counted a miracle. If we look into their work by itself, it is quite contrary to God; but as God doth, in the sun and other planets, by wonderful cunning, temper contrary motions, and such as strive among themselves, so he directeth the perverse endeavors of the wicked, by his secret power, unto another end than they thought upon and did desire, lest they should do any thing but that which he would. They, indeed, as touching themselves, do contrary to his will; but it falleth out according to the will of God after an incomprehensible manner. Forasmuch as this course is contrary to nature, no marvel if the wisdom of the flesh see it not. Therefore, it must be discerned with the eye of faith, or rather it must be reverenced; and those dogs who bark against it must be despised with their wantonness.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(27) For they that dwell at Jerusalem.—The implied reason of the mission to the Gentiles and more distant Jews is that the offer of salvation had been rejected by those who would naturally have been its first recipients, and who, had they received it, would have been, in their turn, witnesses to those that were “far off,” in both the local and spiritual sense of those words.

The voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day.—See Note on Act_13:15. The Apostle appeals to the synagogue ritual from which the discourse started, as in itself bearing witness, not to the popular notions of a conquering Messiah, but to the true ideal of the chief of sufferers, which had been realised in Jesus.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27. they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not] Cp. the very similar language of St Peter at the Temple gate (Act_3:17), “I wot that through ignorance ye did it as did also your rulers.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him,.... When they had vilified and reproached him in the most opprobrious manner; buffeted and scourged him, and pierced his hands and his feet, by nailing him to the cross; when they had crucified him between two thieves, and parted his raiment and cast lots on his vesture; when they had pierced his side, and it was sufficiently evident that his life was taken from the earth; all which were written of him in the Psalms and Prophets:

they took him down from the tree; the cross, on which he was crucified: it may be rendered impersonally, "he was taken down from the tree"; for not the same persons that desired he might be slain, and fulfilled all that was written of him, took him down, but others; though they were some of the rulers, as Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus, yet such as did not consent to his death:

and laid him in a sepulchre; in a new one, in which never man lay; a sepulchre which Joseph had hewed out of a rock for himself, and which was both sealed and guarded.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

27 For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.

Ver. 27. Read every sabbath] Many live in places of great knowledge, and yet remain grossly ignorant, understand no more what they read or hear than a cowherd doth the most abstruse precepts of astronomy.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Because they knew him not - The statement in this verse is designed, not to reproach the Jews at Jerusalem, but to introduce the fact that Jesus had died, and had risen again. With great wisdom and tenderness, Paul speaks of the murderers of the Saviour in such a manner as not to exasperate, but, as far as possible, to mitigate their crime. There was sufficient guilt in the murder of the Son of God to fill the nation with alarm, even after all that could be said to mitigate the deed. See Act 2:23, Act 2:36-37. When Paul says, “They knew him not,” he means that they did not know him to be the Messiah (see 1Co 2:8); they were ignorant of the true meaning of the prophecies of the Old Testament; they regarded him as an impostor. See the notes on Act 3:17.

Nor yet the voices of the prophets - The meaning of the predictions of the Old Testament respecting the Messiah. They expected a prince and a conqueror, but did not expect a Messiah that was poor and despised; that was a man of sorrows and that was to die on a cross.

Which are read every sabbath-day - In the synagogues. Though the Scriptures were read so constantly, yet they were ignorant of their true meaning. They were blinded by pride, and prejudice, and preconceived opinions. People may often in this way read the Bible a good part of their lives and never understand it.

They have fulfilled them ... - By putting him to death they have accomplished what was foretold.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

They; the common people, and their rulers; great council, both had a hand in our Saviour’s death. But if so great a fault was capable of any alleviation, the apostle gladly mentions it. that it was done out of ignorance; they knew neither Christ the Word, nor the word (of the Gospel) concerning Christ, though, that they may be made sensible that this their ignorance was not invincible, he minds them that it was their sin, having had means whereby they might have come unto the knowledge of Christ.

Fulfilled them: see Act 4:28; Luk 24:25,26.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

27. They that dwell at Jerusalem—Paul here touches with delicate skill upon a critical point. Have the hierarchy at our spiritual capital accepted this Jesus? And, if not, shall we in the distant wilds of Pisidia, accepting this stranger’s word, pretend to know better than they?

Voices of the prophets—In these beautiful words does the apostle refer them to a higher authority than himself, or even the hierarchy of the day. The voices of the prophets speaking from the holy record are resounding through the world in the synagogue service of every sabbath day—even in this synagogue of Pisidian Antioch. The rulers knew not this Jesus aright, because they understood not the sweet utterances of those old prophetic voices.

They have fulfilled them—They have not only not known the prophecies, but they have actually in their ignorance fulfilled them. And here the apostle is a true Protestant. He appeals from the hierarchy and the pontiff to the private judgment and the individual conscience.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In for at, A.V.; nor for nor yet, A.V.; sabbath for sabbath day, A.V.; fulfilled by for they have fulfilled in, A.V. For they, etc. It is not clear what is the force of the gar in this verse. Meyer (following Chrysostom), Alford, and others, make it mark the contrast between the Jews addressed by Paul and the Jews at Jerusalem. "This salvation is sent forth to you according to Bengel, "from Jerusalem," according to others, "from God", for the Jerusalem Jews have rejected Christ. And in consequence of their rejection, you, who had no share in crucifying the Lord of glory, are invited to take their place. But it maybe taken as expressing the cause why this salvation is complete and capable of being offered to them. This salvation is preached to you because, through the instrumentality of those that dwell at Jerusalem, all that was written in the Scriptures concerning Christ has been fulfilled. Christ has been crucified and raised from the dead, and so now remission of sins is proclaimed to you through him. (vers. 38, 39; comp. Act_3:13-20) Which are read every sabbath. Note the value of the constant reading of Holy Scripture in the congregation.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers - He here anticipates a strong objection, "Why did not they at Jerusalem, and especially their rulers, believe?" They know not him, because they understood not those very prophets whom they read or heard continually. Their very condemning him, innocent as he was, proves that they understood not the prophecies concerning him.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Observe here, 1. The apostle declares the ignominious death, the glorious resurrection, of the Lord Jesus, whom he proves to be the true and promised Messias.

For his ignominious death, the Jews hanged him upon a tree. The Son of God was not only put to death, but to the worst of deaths, even the death of the cross, by the wicked Jews: yet the apostle acknowledges, that neither the Jewish rulers nor people did understand him to be the Messias, as they might have done, had they considered the predictions of the prophets; and therefore their ignorance would not excuse them; for the ignorance and heedlessness of men enjoying the means and opportunities of knowledge, will certainly bring destruction upon them. To sin blindly without knowledge, or to sin wilfully against knowledge, is a damnable sin: The rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets, have fulfilled them in condemning him.

Observe, 2. To take away the scandal of the cross, the apostle shows, that our Saviour’s resurrection was as glorious, as his death was ignominious. God wiped away the reproach of the cross by raising up Christ from the grave; and declared him to be his Son with power, by the resurrection from the dead; and accordingly the apostle applies that prophecy to Christ, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Psa 2:7 As if the Father had said, "Now thou hast again recovered thy glory, and thy resurrection-day is to thee as a new birth-day."

Three ways is Christ said to be begotten:

1. Of the essence of the Father before all worlds.

2. When his body was formed of the substance of the Virgin’s flesh.

3.When God raised him from the dead: This day have I begotten thee; that is, declaratively, for he was the Son of God before, even from all eternity; but whilst he was in a suffering condition, his divinity was veiled: whereas after his resurrection, it was more apparent, and he was then declared to be the Son of God; not then made the Son of God, but then made manifest to be the Son of God, by the resurrection from the dead.

Learn, That the Lord Jesus Christ was the Son of God antecedent to his resurrection, even from all eternity; he was declared and manifested, but not made or constituted, the Son of God by the resurrection. Then it was that his divinity brake forth as the sun after it had been shut up under a dark and thick cloud. Christ was the eternal Son of God: but his resurrection was a declaration and full manifestation of it to the world. Declared to be the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead. Rom 1:4

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27. Paul shows how the Jews and Romans all fulfilled the Messianic prophecies in the crucifixion of Jesus, quoting those wonderful predictions of David, which were only fulfilled in David’s greater Son.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27-29. After claiming that the Messiahship of Jesus was so well authenticated, it was necessary to give some explanation of the singular fact, that the Jews, who knew him well, had put him to death as an impostor. This he does in a way that not only removes all objection, but furnishes additional evidence in his favor. (27) " For they who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, not knowing him and the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath-day, fulfilled them in condemning him. (28) And though they found not the least cause of death in him, they requested Pilate that he should be put to death. (29) And when they had completed all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a sepulcher. " Thus, his rejection and death at the hands of Jews, which might have appeared to Paul's hearers an argument against his claims, are made to tell mightily in his favor, by the fact that this was but the fulfillment of what the prophets had written concerning the Messiah.

In this brief statement of the death and burial of Jesus, Paul makes no distinction between those who put him to death and those who "took him down from the tree, and laid him in the sepulcher." But this omission is entirely justifiable; for, although his friends, Joseph and Nicodemus, performed the last two acts, they did it by the express permission of Pilate, and it may be regarded as, in a proper sense, the act of his enemies.

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

27–37. Paul now recapitulates the facts of the Gospel, viz: (1) Christ rejected by the rulers; (2) the Scriptures that they read every Sabbath fulfilled by condemning him; (3) the demand upon Pilate to slay him, when he had declared there was no cause of death; (4) the Scriptures fulfilled in his death; (5) the abundantly attested resurrection; (6) he declares that the promise made the fathers was now fulfilled to their children (see Gen. 12:3; 22:18, etc.)

Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. See Psa. 2:7. Paul gives the thought in Rom. 1:4: “He was declared to be the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead.”

No more to return to corruption. Never more to endure death. I will give you the sure mercies of David. The mercies promised to David, one of which was a descendant whose throne should be everlasting. See Isa. 55:3, and compare 2 Sam. 7:10.

Thou wilt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost. See Acts 2:27–31, notes.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

27. τοῦτον ἀγνοήσαντες, because they knew Him not. Cf. the very similar language of St Peter at the Temple (Act 3:17), ‘I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers,’ and see note there.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27.] The position of ἡμῖν at the commencement of its clause in the last verse shews the emphasis to be on it, and now the reason is given—for the Jews in Jerusalem have rejected it. See ch. 22:18-21.

τὰς φωνάς is not governed by ἀγνοήσαντες, which makes the sentence an unusually harsh one in construction, requiring αὐτόν to be supplied after κριν., and αὐτάς after ἐπλήρωσαν. The καί, as often, merely introduces, without the emphasis implied by our ‘even,’ a new element into the sentence. It is perhaps hardly possible to find in our language or the Latin any one word which may give exactly this slight shade of meaning, and no more: paraphrased, the sense might be (but imperfectly and clumsily) thus represented: in their ignorance of Him (not only rejected His salvation, but) by judging Him, fulfilled the voices of the prophets, &c.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.