Acts 3:23

3:23 Refusing to heed Jesus, God’s final Prophet, would have disastrous consequences (John 3:16, 17, 36).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Act 3:23. Ἔσται δὲ, moreover it shall come to pass) והיה, a modal [See Append. on ‘Modalis’] formula, exciting attention.—ἥτις ἐὰν, whatsoever) It is implied that many are about to hear this Prophet, and many not about to hear Him.—ἐξολοθρευθήσεται, shall be utterly destroyed, or exterminated) Instead of the Hebrew, “I will require it of him” (Deu 18:19), is put that customary formula concerning כרת, utter cutting off. As death is the wages of sin; so a violent death, that is, utter destruction, is the wages of violent (heinous) sin.

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

Act 3:23 . ἔσται δὲ , cf. Act 2:17 . The expression, which is not in the Hebrew. seems to call attention to what follows. ἐξολεθρευθήσεται ἐκ τοῦ λαοῦ : “shall be utterly destroyed” ( ἐξ ), R.V. In the LXX, Deu 18:19 , following the Hebrew, the words are ἐγὼ ἐκδικήσω ἐξ πὐτοῦ , “I will require it of him”. But the phrase which St. Peter uses was a very common one, from Gen 17:14 , for the sentence of death, cf. also Exo 12:15 ; Exo 12:19 , Lev 17:4 ; Lev 17:9 , Num 15:30 . Here again the quotation is evidently made freely or from memory. The strong verb, although frequent in the LXX, is found only here in the N.T. It is used by Josephus and by Philo, but not in classical Greek. The warning is evidently directed against wilful disobedience, and is expressed in terms signifying the utterness of the destruction from the people. But in their original meaning in the O.T. they need not refer to anything more than the penalty of the death of the body, and it is not necessary to see in them here any threat of eternal punishment in Gehenna (so Wendt, Holtzmann, Felten). If the word has any eschatological bearing it would support the theory of annihilation more easily. Grotius explains ἐξολεθ ., “morte violenta aut immatura,” and he adds “mystice etiam Rabbini hoc ad poenas post hanc vitam referunt,” but this is quite apart from the primary meaning of the word.

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

23. Every soul. Here, by a most grievous punishment against the rebellious, the authority of all the prophets, but most of all of Christ, is established; and that for good causes. For seeing there is nothing that God doth account more precious than his word, it cannot be that he should suffer the same to be freely contemned. Therefore, if any man despised the law of Moses, he was adjudged to die the death. And hereunto Moses had respect when he said, “He shall be put away from among the people.” For God had adopted the stock and kindred of Abraham unto himself, upon this condition, that this might be sufficient for them unto the chiefest felicity to be reckoned in that number, as it is said in the Psalm, “Blessed is the people whose God is the Lord.” And in another place, “Blessed is the nation whom the Lord hath chosen to be his inheritance.” Wherefore it is not to be doubted, but that he pronounceth that he shall be blotted out of the book of life whosoever shall refuse to hear Christ. For he is not worthy to be accounted one of the Church, whosoever he be that refuseth to have him to be his Master, by whom alone God doth teach us, and by whom he will have us to hear himself; and he cutteth himself away from the body, whosoever he be that refuseth to be under the Head.

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.

(23) Shall be destroyed from among the people.—The original has it, “I will require it of him” (Deu_18:19). The words which St. Peter substitutes are as an echo of a familiar phrase which occurs in Exo_12:15; Exo_12:19; Lev_17:4; Lev_17:9, et al. This, again, looks like a citation freely made.

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

And it shall come to pass, that every soul,.... Every person, man or woman:

which will not hear that prophet; neither believe what he says, nor do what he commands; or as it is in Deu 18:19 "will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name": for he that hears not him, hearkens not to God, in whose name he speaks, and whose word he delivers,

shall be destroyed from among the people; in the Hebrew text it is, "I will require it of him"; the Hebrew word, there used, by having different points, may be rendered "of him", or "from his people", which seems to be the reason of this difference: and requiring often intends punishment, or a cutting off; or as Aben Ezra explains it here,

"death by the hand of heaven;''

that is, immediate destruction from God; and so Maimonides says (k), he that transgresses the words of that prophet, is guilty of death by the hand of heaven; and which was remarkably fulfilled in the Jewish nation, for their rejection of Jesus as the true Messiah, and that prophet.

(k) Yesod Hattora, c. 9. sect. 4.

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

23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.

Ver. 23. Shall be destroyed] As it justly befell the refractory Jews; wrath came upon them to the uttermost, 1Th 2:16.

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.

And it shall come to pass - It shall be, or shall occur. This is not the usual word rendered “it shall come to pass.” It is a word commonly expressing “futurity,” but here it conveys the notion of “obligation.” In this verse Peter has not quoted the passage in Deuteronomy literally, but he has given the sense.

Every soul - Every “person” or “individual.” Soul is often put for the whole man by the Hebrews, Act 7:14; Jos 10:28.

Hear that Prophet - That is, obey his instructions. He shall have authority to declare the will of God; and he that does not obey him refuses to obey God. Compare Luk 10:16; Joh 13:20.

Shall be destroyed - This quotation is made according to the sense, and not literally. In the Hebrew the expression is Deu 18:19, “I will require it of him,” that is, I will hold him answerable or responsible for it; I will punish him. This expression the Septuagint has rendered by “I will take vengeance on him.” The idea of the passage is, therefore, that God would publish the man that would not hear the prophet, without specifying the particular way in which it should be done. The usual mode of punishing such offences was by cutting the offender off from among the people, Exo 30:33; Exo 12:15; Exo 9:15; Num 15:31; Num 19:13; Lev 7:20-21, Lev 7:25, Lev 7:27, etc. The sense is, that he should be punished in the usual manner; that is, by excision, or by being destroyed from among the people. The word translated “shall be destroyed” means properly “to exterminate, wholly to devote to ruin,” as of a wicked people, a wicked man whose life is taken, etc.

To be destroyed from among the people means, however, to be excommunicated, or to be deprived of the privileges of a people. Among the Jews this was probably the most severe punishment that could be inflicted. It involved the idea of being cut off from the privileges of sacrifice and worship in the temple and in the synagogue, etc., and of being regarded as a pagan and an outcast. The idea which Peter expressed here was, that the Jews had exposed themselves to the severest punishment in rejecting and crucifying the Lord Jesus, and that they should, therefore, repent of this great sin, and seek for mercy. The same remark is applicable still to people. The Scriptures abundantly declare the truth, that if sinners will not hear the Lord Jesus, they shall be destroyed. And it becomes each individual to inquire with honesty whether he listens to his instructions and obeys his Law, or whether he is rejecting him and following the devices and desires of his own heart. It will be a solemn day when the sinner shall be called to render a reason why he has rejected the teachings and laws of the Son of God!

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

Which will not hear that prophet. St. Peter’s argument is this. If disobedience to the ordinances of God by the voice of Moses, was punishable with death, how much more severe will be the punishment of those, who refuse obedience to the doctrines of Jesus, to whom all the prophets bore testimony, and whom the apostles then preached. How different is this system of submission to the teaching of the prophets, and apostles, from that libertinism, which undermines the whole fabric of religion, by taking away from the Church the power of commanding, and from the disciple the necessity of obeying. By what wonderful and progressive shades of light was the prediction of this great prophet made to man! From the fall of Adam, it was predicted, that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head. Many ages after, God manifested that from Abraham’s loins the Redeemer should spring, "in whom all nations shall be blessed." The promise is renewed to Isaac, and that he is to spring from his son, but not from Esau, but from Jacob; and of the twelve sons of Jacob, the posterity of Juda is to have the privilege of bestowing a Messias to the world, and the token of its accomplishment is, "the failure of the sceptre in the posterity of Juda." After a long series of events, and of ages, an humble shepherd is chosen in the tribe of Juda: he is led to the throne; and to this man, David, it is repeated, that from him the Messias shall spring, and that his kingdom shall have no end. The oracle is so explicit in the psalms of that king, and in the writings of successive prophets, that it not only expresses the race, the tribe, the family, but also the character of the mother, the place of his birth, the precise period of the event, the ministry, the power, the dignity, the circumstances of his death, the change of the covenant, and conversion of the world. The particular prophecies, in their accomplishment, were a visible earnest to the Jews of the accomplishment of the prophecies relative to the Messias. Hence Pascal very justly remarks: "The prophets mingle particular prophecies with those of the Messias; that the prophecies regarding the Messias may not be without proof, and that the particular prophecies may not be without effect." (Pensees. xv.) --- These oracles, which during a period of four thousand years, have been delivered to the world, and which have been completely and visibly fulfilled, still exist in books, scrupulously preserved by the greatest enemies of Christ, and of his holy religion, and satisfactorily demonstrate Jesus Christ to be the great prophet, and the Christian religion to be the new covenant, which had been announced so many ages before, in so many different manners.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Every soul; that is every one.

Hear that prophet; that is believe and obey him.

Shall be destroyed from among the people; as those that disobeyed Moses were destroyed, many perishing by strange and sudden deaths: we read of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and all that belonged to them, swallowed up for this sin, Num 16:1-50. The apostle demands, How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation? Heb 2:3. For a greater than Moses is here, and God hath undertaken to require it of every one that will not hearken unto him, Deu 18:19.

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

23. Destroyed from among—In the Hebrew, I will require it of him. Both expressions designate destruction under the divine wrath. Compare 2Th_1:9.

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

Shall be for come to pass, A.V.; shall not hearken to for will not hear, A.V.; utterly destroyed for destroyed, A.V. Utterly destroyed. The Greek ejxoloqreuw occurs frequently in the LXX for the Hebrew phrase," cut off from his people"; (Gen_17:14) but in Deu_18:19, the phrase is quite different, "I will require it of him." St. Peter hero gives the sense, not the ipsissima verba, and thereby marks the extreme gravity of the sin of unbelief. (see Joh_3:18)

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

Every soul who will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people - One cannot imagine a more masterly address than this, to warn the Jews of the dreadful consequence of their infidelity, in the very words of their favourite prophet, out of a pretended zeal for whom they rejected Christ.

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

TRIBULATION

23. “And it shall come to pass that whosoever may not hear that prophet will be cut off from the people.” “May hear” in this verse is in the subjunctive mood, revealing contingency, which is peculiar to man alone, as there are no contingencies with God. While we all fully recognize human free agency, yet the present dispensation, like all of her predecessors, is fast hardening into infidelity, grieving the Holy Spirit away, passing the dead line and ripening for destruction. God knows every person who will hear His Son when He comes in His glorious kingdom. He equally well knows every one who will reject Him. During the great tribulation, when the Ancient of Days shall descend on the throne of His righteous retributive judgments (Dan 7:9), He will hackle out of the world everything that will not do for the coming kingdom; so that when the Son rides down on the throne of His millennial glory, He will find none but the elect, i. e., saved and savable people, on the earth. The first work of the transfigured saints will be the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom to all the survivors of the tribulation on the whole face of the earth (Act 15:17). Then shall be verified that notable prophecy, “A nation shall be born in a day.” This verse is clear and unequivocal that the non-elect, i. e., the people who have crossed the dead-line and are unsavable, shall all be cut off during the tribulation.

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

See notes on verse 22

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.

23. Shall be destroyed. The Jews could be saved only by hearing Christ. Nor can we be saved otherwise.

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.

23. ἐξολεθρ.] LXX ἐγὼ ἐκδικήσω ἐξ αὐτοῦ. This word, only known to later Greek, is often found in the LXX. See besides reff., Gen 17:14; Deu 9:3; Ps. 17:40; 72:27. In most places where it occurs, the readings vary between -ολοθρ- and -ολεθρ-; see var. readd.

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

Shall be destroyed [εξολοθρευθησεται] . Only here in New Testament. Rev., "utterly destroyed," giving the force of ejx out.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.