Acts 4:9

Act 4:9. Εἰ, if) i.e. since. He means the ἀνάκρισις, examination, now going forward.—ἀνακρινόμεθα, we be examined) By judicial process.—εὐεργεσίᾳ, a good deed) whereas ordinarily it is persons who have done an evil deed, that must submit to examination. The article is not added; but there follows, in Act 4:12, ἡ σωτηρία, the salvation, where the article forms an Epitasis [emphatic addition to the previous enunciation, viz. to the εὐεργεσίᾳ without the article]. Christ was σωτὴρ καὶ εὐεργέτης, a most beneficent Saviour. See Chrysost. de Sacerd. p. 208.—ἐν τίνι, by what) The rulers had asked, by what power (virtue), and by what name. This Peter takes up, changing the adjective [substituting τίνι for ποίᾳ, ποίῳ], in order to make his reply the more definite: and immediately also replies concerning the authority and name, Act 4:10.—οὗτος, this man) who is here present, Act 4:10; Act 4:14.—σέσωσται, is made whole) To this word is to be referred ἡ σωτηρία, σωθῆναι, the salvation, be saved, Act 4:12, from the notation (signification) of the name Jesus, Act 4:10. [The health of the body is as it were a type and mirror of the health of the soul.—V. g.]

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

Act 4:9 . εἰ : chosen not without oratorical nicety, if, as is the case = ἐπεὶ ἡμεῖς , expressing at the same time the righteous indignation of the Apostles in contrast to the contemptuous ὑμεῖς of Act 4:7 , and their surprise at the object of the present inquiry; so too in ἐπʼ εὐεργεσίᾳ St. Peter again indicates the unfairness of such inquisitorial treatment (“cum alias dijudicari debeant, qui malum fecerunt ,” Bengel). ἀνακρινόμεθα : used here of a judicial examination, see Act 12:19 and Luk 23:14 , and cf. Act 24:8 ; Act 28:18 , and 1Co 9:3 , although the strictly technical sense of ἀνάκρισις as a preliminary investigation cannot be pressed here. ἐπʼ εὐεργ . ἀ . ἀσθενοῦς : “concerning a good deal done to an impotent man” the omission of the articles in both nouns adds to St. Peter’s irony; “he hits them hard in that they are always making a crime of such acts, finding fault with works of beneficence,” Chrys., Hom. , x.; ἀνθρώπου on the objective genitive, Winer-Schmiedel, pp. 260 and 267. ἐν τίνι : “by what means,” R.V.; “in whom,” margin. The neuter instrumental dative, cf. Mat 5:13 , is supported by Blass, Weiss, Holtzmann, and others, as if the expression embraced the two questions of Act 4:7 . Rendall, following the older commentators, regards the expression as masculine. οὗτος : the healed man is thought of as present, although nothing is said of his summons; “this man,” R.V. σέσωσται : the word familiar to us in the Gospels, Luk 7:50 , Mar 10:52 , with the pregnant meaning of health for body and soul alike.

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

Wolves which succeed true pastors plead their own cause, and not God’s neither the Churches’.

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

Verse 9. The good deed done] επι ευεργεσια, The benefit he has received in being restored to perfect soundness.

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

9. If we be judged. Undoubtedly Peter layeth tyranny to the charge of the priests and the scribes, because they examine them unjustly concerning a benefit which deserveth praise, as if he and his fellow had committed some heinous offense. If, saith he, we be accused for this cause, because we have made a sick man whole. Peter hath in this place more respect unto the wicked affection of the mind than unto the very order of the question. For if, under color of a miracle, the apostles would have drawn away the people from the true and sincere worship of God, they should have been worthily called to answer for themselves; because religion doth far excel all the good things of this present life. But seeing they (having no cause at all) did wickedly make an offense of that which they ought to have honored, Peter, being supported with this confidence, doth at the first gird them wittily with a taunting preface, because they sit as judges to condemn good deeds. Yet he toucheth this point but lightly, that he may pass over unto the matter.

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.

(9) If we this day be examined.—The word is employed in its technical sense of a judicial inter rogation, as in Luk_23:14. It is used by St. Luke and St. Paul (Act_12:19; Act_24:8; 1Co_2:14-15; 1Co_4:3-4), and by them only, in the New Testament.

Of the good deed.—Strictly, the act of beneficence. There is a manifest emphasis on the word as contrasted with the contemptuous “this thing” of the question. It meets us again in 1Ti_6:2.

By what means he is made whole.—Better, this man. The pronoun assumes the presence of the man who had been made able to walk. (Comp. Joh_9:15.) The verb, as in our Lord’s words, “Thy faith hath made thee whole” (Mar_10:52; Luk_7:50), has a pregnant, underlying meaning, suggesting the thought of a spiritual as well as bodily restoration.

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

9. if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man] Both the nouns are without the article. Read “a good deed done to an impotent man.” Of = concerning, as we still use it in “to speak of.” St Peter’s words imply that perhaps there would be some other charge brought against them, for teachers of a new doctrine who had in a brief space gained five thousand followers must have attracted much notice in Jerusalem. Nor is it long before we hear (Act_6:13) blasphemy “against the Temple and the law” laid to the charge of Stephen, whose preaching (for this accusation precedes Stephen’s defence) must have been of the same character as that of Peter and John.

by what means he is made whole] The Greek has this (man), the demonstrative pronoun, for the man was there in the council-house to be seen by all. See Act_4:14.

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.

If we this day be examined of the good deed,.... Or "seeing" we are; for it was not a matter of doubt, but a clear case, that they were brought into court, and were passing under an examination, about the cure of the lame man; which the apostle rightly calls a

good deed, it being done in faith, and to the glory of God, and for the good of the man; and hereby tacitly suggests, that they were dealt very hardly with, to be seized and kept in custody, and be called in question, for doing an action so beneficent and kind, as this was, which was

done to the impotent man; who could not help himself, nor get his bread any other way, than by begging:

by what means he is made whole; restored to perfect health, and the proper use of his limbs; that is, by what power, and in what name this was done; the answer is ready, and it is as follows.

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

9 If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;

Ver. 9. If we this day be examined of the good deed] q.d. Evil times we must needs say they are, when good deeds and evil are dangerous alike; when to cure or to kill is equally criminal. "Should I not visit for these things, saith the Lord?" &c. Bede said of the ancient Britons, immediately before their destruction by the Saxons, that they were come to that height of wickedness, as to cast an odium upon pious and profitable persons, tanquam in adversarios, as if they had been public enemies, not fit to be endured.

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.

If we this day - If as is the fact; or since we are thus examined.

Examined - Questioned; if the purpose is to institute an inquiry into this case, or since it is the purpose to institute such an inquiry.

The good deed - The act of benevolence; the benefit conferred on an infirm man. He assumes that it was undeniable that the deed had been done.

To the impotent man - To this man who was infirm or lame. The man was then present, Act 4:10, Act 4:14. He may have been arrested with the apostles; or he may have been present as a spectator; or, as Neander supposes, he may have been summoned as a witness.

By what means - This was the real point of the inquiry. The fact that he had been made whole was not denied. The only question was whether it had been done by the authority and power of Jesus of Nazareth, as Peter declared it to be, Act 3:6, Act 3:16.

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

Examined; juridically called in question; it is a forensic word.

Of the good deed; though they disputed not the authority of the court, yet they assert their integrity; that it was no other than a good deed they had done, which rulers ought not to be a terror unto, Rom 8:3.

By what means, that is, in the words of the question which was propounded unto them, Act 4:7, by what power, or by what name, he is made whole?

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

9. If we… be—Rather, since we are.

Good deed—Their misdeed is a good deed. There might seem a gentle sarcasm in this expression, but there was a warning and awakening truth.

Made whole—The Greek word is Σεσωσται; the same word as is rendered saved in Act_4:12, and should have been so rendered here.

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

Are for be, A.V.; concerning a (good deed) for of the, A.V.; an (impotent) for the, A.V.; this man for he, A.V. We; eraphatic, probably in response to the emphatic "you" at the end of ver. 7. An impotent man. The following outov, this man, makes it necessary to supply the definite article, as the A.V. has done. St. Peter alludes to the good deed, i.e. the benefit done to the lame man, being the subject of a criminal inquiry, as a tacit condemnation of the unrighteousness of such a course.

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

See notes on verse 8

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.

9. If we this day be examined of the good deed. Observe Peter's point, that they are prisoners on trial for a good deed.

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.

9. εἰ. This conjunction followed as here by the verb in the indicative = if, as is really the case; and so in sense is equivalent to ἐπεὶ, since, but may still be rendered ‘if.’

ἀνακρινόμεθα κ.τ.λ. Render, we are examined concerning a good deed done to an impotent man. Both the nouns are without the article. This of itself however is not conclusive, as may be seen below in Act 4:11, εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας. Not unfrequently after a preposition the article is omitted even where a definite sense is required. But in this verse the definiteness begins in the οὖτος which follows immediately.

εὐεργεσία very often means well-doing, kindness of spirit, generally, but it is used of a concrete act, as here, in 2Ma 9:26, ἀξιῶ μεμνημένους τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν, ‘I claim that ye should remember my good actions.’

ἐν τίνι οὗτος σέσωσται, by what means this man is made whole. The demonstrative pronoun should be expressed in the translation (it is not so in A.V.) for it is emphatically inserted in the Greek. The man was there for all to see (cf. Act 4:14) and probably St Peter pointed him out as he spake.

σέσωσται. The verb σώζω primarily refers to the body, and means the keeping of that safe and sound, and out of peril of death. Then it is used for healing, bringing the body into a sound state out of an unsound one. But as disease and death are the consequences of sin, the scriptural use of the word was elevated, and it meant in the end the salvation of the soul.

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.

9.] εἰ, if, with an implication of the fact being so: see ch. 11:17.

ἐν τίνι, not ‘by (in) whom,’—this is not yet brought forward: but wherein, in what, as the conditional element. No person had been mentioned in the question, ver. 7,—nor does Peter afterwards say ἐν Ἰησοῦ χρ., but ἐν τῷ ὀνόμ. Ἰ. χρ. On the other hand, ἐν τούτῳ, ver. 10, may very well be masculine, as referring to Ἰησοῦς χρ. Himself, included in the previous words τῷ ὀν. Ἰ. χρ.:—it may also be neuter, ‘in this Name:’ but the masc. is preferable, on account of οὗτος following so soon in ver. 11.

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