(From: ACTS #8 - 5:12-42)

VI. 5:12-42 POWER AND PERSECUTION OF THE EARLY CHURCH

A. 5:12-16 POWER OF THE EARLY CHURCH

a. 5:12 THE POWER AND ACCORD OF THE EARLY CHURCH

DiA de ton cheiRON ton a-poSTOlon eGIne-to seMEIa[4592] kai TEra-ta [5059]polLA en to laO:

And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders done among the people:

kai Esan ho-mo-thu-maDON [3661]PANtes en te StoA [4745]So-loMONtos.

and all were with one accord in the porch of Solomon.

b. 5:13-15 FEAR, ADDITIONS AND MIRACLES IN THE CHURCH

ton de loiPON ouDEIS eTOLma kolLASthai [2853]auTOIS: all', e-meGAlu-nen auTOUS, ho laOS;

But of the rest dared no one join them: the people, however, magnified them;

MALlon de pro-seTIthen-to piSTEUon-tes [4369] to KuRIo, PLEthe[4128]anDRON te kai gu-naiKON:

14 and there were the more added believing on the Lord, multitudes both of men and women:

HOSte kai eis tas plaTEIas [4113]ekPHErein tous as-theNEIS [772],

15insomuch that they even carried out the sick into the streets,

kai tiTHEnai [5087] ePI kli-naRIon [2825]kai kraBATton [2895], HIna, er-choMEnou PEtrou,

and laid themon beds and couches, so that, as Peter came by,

ka' 'n he skiA [4639]e-pi-skiAse [1982]tiNI auTON.

at least his:shadow might overshadow some oneof them.

c. 5:16 WIDESPREAD GATHERING FOR HEALING

suNERche-to de kai to PLEthos ton PErix POle-on Ie-rou-saLEM, PHEron-tes as-theNEIS,

And the multitude also came together from the cities round about Jerusalem, bringing the sick,

kai och-louMEnous [3791] huPO pneuMAton a-kaTHARton: HOIti-nes e-the-raPEUon-to HApan-tes.

and those oppressed with unclean spirits: who were all healed.

B. 5:17-42 CONTINUED MINISTRY IN SPITE OF OPPOSITION

a. 5:17-18 PERSECUTION BY RULERS

AnaSTAS de ho ar-chi-eREUS, kai PANtes hoi sun auTO(he OUsa HAIre-sis ton Sad-douKAIon,

But the high priest rose up, and all those with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees),

ePLESthe-san ZElou [2205],kai ePEba-lon tas CHEIras ePI tous a-poSTOlous,

andthey were filled with zeal, 18and laid :hands on the apostles,

kai Ethen-to auTOUS en teREsei [5084]de-moSIa [1219].

and put them in public ward.

b. 5:19-20 ANGELIC DELIVERANCE

AGge-los de KuRIou diA nukTOS Enoi-xe tas THUras tes phu-laKES [5438],

But the Lord's angel by night opened the doors of the prison,

e-xa-gaGON te auTOUS, EIpen, PoREUes-the, kai staTHENtes laLEIte en tohi-eRO

andbrought them out, andsaid, 20Yougo, and stand andspeak in the temple

to laO PANta ta 'REma-ta [4487] tes zo-ES [2222] TAUtes.

to the people all the words of this :Life.

c. 5:21a And when they heard this, they entered into the temple about :daybreak, and taught.

aKOUsan-tes de, eiSELthon huPO ton ORthron [3722]eis to hi-eRON, kai eDIda-skon.

d. 5:21b RULERS SEND FOR THE APOSTLES IN PRISON

Pa-ra-geNOme-nos de ho ar-chi-eREUS, kai hoi sun auTO,

But the high priest came, and those with him,

su-neKAle-san to suNEdri-on, kai PAsan ten ge-rouSIan [1087] ton huiON Is-raEL,

andcalled the Sanhedrin together, and all the senate of the sons of Israel,

kai aPEstei-lan eis to des-moTEri-on [1201] achTHEnai [71] auTOUS.

and sent to the prison-house to have them brought.

e. 5:22-23 OFFICERS REPORT ABSENCE OF THE APOSTLES

hoi de pa-ra-geNOme-noi hu-peREtai [5257] ouch HEUron auTOUS en te phu-laKE;

But the officers that came found them not in the prison;

a-naSTREpsan-tes de, aPEGgei-lan, LEgon-tes [HOti],

and they returned, andreported, 23 saying [that],

To des-moTEri-on HEUro-men kek-leisMEnon [2808] en PAse as-phaLEIa [803],

The prison-house we found shut in all safety,

kai tous PHUla-kas [5441] heSTOtas ePI ton thuRON: aNOIxan-tes de, Eso ouDEna HEUro-men.

and the keepers standing at the doors: but on opening, found no one within.

f. 5:24 PERPLEXITY: RESULT OF THIS REPORT

hos de Ekou-san tou LOgous TOUtous HO te stra-teGOS [4755] tou hi-eROU kai hoi ar-chi-eREIS,

Now when both the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these :words,

di-ePOroun [1280] peRI auTON ti an GEnoi-to TOUto.

they were perplexed concerning them to where this would come.

g. 5:25 ANOTHER REPORT: APOSTLES FOUND PREACHING IN THE TEMPLE

Pa-ra-geNOme-nos de tis aPEGgei-len auTOIS [HOti]

And one came andreported [that]

I-DOU, hoi ANdres hous Ethes-the en te phu-laKE

Lo, the men whom you put in the prison

eiSIN en to hi-eRO heSTOtes kai diDAskon-tes ton laON.

are in the temple standing and teaching the people.

h. 5:26 OFFICERS BRING APOSTLES TO RULERS

TOte a-pelTHON ho stra-teGOS sun tois hu-peREtais, Egen auTOUS, ou meTA BIas [970];

Then the captain went with the officers, andbrought them, without violence;

e-phoBOUNto [5399] gar ton laON, me li-thasTHOsin [3034].

for they feared the people, lest they be stoned.

i. 5:27a And when they had brought them, they set them before the Sanhedrin.

a-gaGONtes de auTOUS, Este-san en to su-neDRIo.

j. 5:27b-28 HIGH PRIEST REBUKES THE APOSTLES

kai e-peROtesen [1905] auTOUS ho ar-chi-eREUS,

And the high priest asked them,

leGON, Pa-rag-geLIa paregGELla-men [3853] huMIN me diDAskein ePI to oNOma-ti TOUto:

28saying, With a charge we had charged you not to teach in this :name:

kai iDOU, pe-pleROka-te ten Ie-ru-saLEM tes di-daCHES huMON,

and lo, you have filled :Jerusalem with your :teaching,

kai BOUles-the [1014] e-pa-gaGEIN eph' heMAS to HAIma tou anTHROpou TOUtou.

and intend to bring the blood of this :man upon us.

k. 5:29 OBEDIENCE TO GOD PRECEDES OBEDIENCE TO RULERS

a-po-kriTHEIS de ho PEtros kai hoi aPOsto-loi EIpan,

But Peter and the apostles answered andsaid,

Pei-tharCHEIN [3980] dei TheO MALlon e anTHROpois.

Onemust obey God rather than men.

l. 5:30 PETER REMINDS THEM: GOD RESURRECTED JESUS WHOM THEY CRUCIFIED

ho TheOS ton pa-teRON heMON Egei-ren IeSOUN,

The God of our :fathers raised :Jesus,

hon huMEIS di-e-cheiRIsas-the [1315], kreMAsan-tes [2910] ePI XUlou [3586].

whom YOU slew, hanging himon a tree.

m. 5:31 JESUS AT GOD'S RIGHT HAND - NOW REMITS SINS

TOUton ho TheOS ar-cheGON [747] kai soTEra [4990] HUpso-sen [4312] te deXIa auTOU,

Him did :God exalt with his :right handas Prince and Savior,

tou DOUnai meTAnoi-an [3341] to Is-raEL, kai Aphe-sin [859] ha-mar-tiON.

to :give repentance to :Israel, and remission of sins.

n. 5:32 A MOST SIGNIFICANT VERSE

kai heMEIS es-men MARtu-res ton 'reMAton TOUton; kai to PNEUma to HAgi-on,

And WE are witnesses of these :sayings; also the Holy :Spirit,

ho Edo-ken ho TheOS tois pei-tharCHOUsin [3980] auTO.

whom :God has given to them that obey him.

o. 5:33 But they, when they heard this, were greatlycut, and intended to slay them.

hoi de, aKOUsan-tes, di-ePRIon-toi [1282], kai eBOUlon-to [1011]a-neLEIN [337]auTOUS.

p. 5:34 GAMALIEL: REQUESTS PRIVATE SANHEDRIN MEETING

A-naSTAS de tis en to su-neDRIo Pha-riSAIos [5530],

But a certain Pharisee stood up in the Sanhedrin,

oNOma-ti Ga-ma-liEL, no-mo-diDAska-los[3547] TImi-os [5093] panTI to laO,

Gamaliel by name, a law teacher honored by all the people,

eKEleu-sen Exo braCHU [1024] tous anTHROpous poiEsai.

andhe commanded to put the men forth a little while.

q. 5:35 GAMALIEL: WARNS THE SANHEDRIN

EI-PEN te pros auTOUS, ANdres Is-ra-eLEItai,

And he said unto them, Men of Israel,

proSEche-te [4337] he-auTOIS ePI tois anTHROpois TOUtois, ti MELle-te PRASsein [4238].

Take heed to yourselves as to these :men, what you are about to do.

r. 5:36 GAMALIEL: REMINDS SANHEDRIN OF THEUDAS

pro gar TOUton ton he-meRON aNEste TheuDAS, LEgon EI-NAI ti-na he-auTON;

For before these :days rose up Theudas, saying he was somebody;

ho pro-seKLIthe [4347] anDRON a-rithMOS [706], hos te-tra-koSIon:

whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined:

hos a-neREthe; kai PANtes, HOsoi ePEIthon-to auTO, dieLUthe-san, kai eGEnon-to eis ouDEN.

who was killed; and all, as many as obeyed him, were dispersed, and came to nothing.

s. 5:37 GAMALIEL: REMINDS SANHEDRIN OF JUDAS THE GALILEAN

meTA TOUton aNEste IOUdas ho Ga-liLAIos en tais heMErais

After this man rose up Judas the Galilean in the days

tes a-po-graPHES [582], kai aPEste-se [868] laON oPIso auTOU:

of the enrollment, and drew away apeople after him:

ka' 'KEInos aPOle-to [3694]; kai PANtes, HOsoi ePEIthon-to auTO, di-e-skorPISthe-san [1287].

HE also perished; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered abroad.

t. 5:38-39 GAMALIEL: HIS COUNSEL TO THE SANHEDRIN

kai ta nun LEgo huMIN, aPOste-te [868] aPO ton anTHROpon TOUton, kai Aphe-te [1439] auTOUS

And :now I say to you, Desist from these :men, and let them go

(HOti eAN e ex anTHROpon he bouLE [1012] HAUte e to ERgon TOUto,

(for if this :counsel or this :work be of men,

ka-ta-luTHEse-tai [2647]: 39 ei de ek TheOU es-tin, ou duNEses-the ka-taLUsai [2647] auTOUS);

it will be overthrown: 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them);

ME po-te kai The-oMAchoi [2311] heu-reTHEte.

lest by chance you be found even fighting God.

u. 5:40 GAMALIEL'S COUNSEL ACCEPTED

ePEISthe-san de auTO: kai pros-ka-leSAme-noi tous a-poSTOlous,

And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles unto them,

DEIran-tes[1194] paREGgei-lan [3853] me laLEIN ePI to oNOma-ti tou IeSOUS, kai aPElu-san.

they beat and charged themnot to speak in the name of :Jesus, and dismissed them.

v. 5:41 THE ATTITUDE OF THE APOSTLES

hoi men oun e-poREUon-to, CHAIron-tes [5463], aPO proSOpou tou su-neDRIou,

They therefore departed from the presence of the Sanhedrin,

HOti ka-te-xiOthe-san [2661] huPER tou oNOma-tos a-ti-masTHEnai [818].

rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name.

w. 5:42 CONTINUING TEMPLE MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLES

PA-SAN te heMEran, en to hi-eRO kai kat' OIkon,

And every day, in the temple and at home,

ouk ePAUon-to [3973] diDAskon-tes kai eu-ag-ge-liZOme-noi [2097] ton ChrisTON IeSOUN.

they ceased not to teach and to preach Jesus as the Christ.

NOTE: 5:19-21 - Angelic ministry in the Book of Acts has a significant part. This continued to take place during church history whenever times of revival occurred. We are approaching, and even now in the beginning of - the world's last great Visitation just prior to the return of our Lord. We can then, expect a repetition of the appearance of angels.

H. A. Baker in his various books, recounts the working of angels in human affairs on earth. “Heaven and Angels” has many historical instances of this time. See in this particular instance in the above passage, how the apostles were in wisdom able to confound their persecutors because of direct guidance of God to them through angels.

Note the boldness of Peter in answering the charges of the High Priest and Sanhedrin in 5:29-32. His answer was so effective that murder filled the hearts of his hearers.

But then in 5:34-40, Gamaliel demonstrated such wisdom, that he cooled the ardor of his murderous compatriots, and defused a most volatile situation. The apostle Paul prior to his conversion, sat at the feet of Gamaliel, which no doubt set him in good stead in the times following his conversion.

“Power and Persecution” in the Early Church - this passage indeed is a window giving us an insight into the beginning days of the church. The first converts were all Jews. During the days of Paul later on, Gentiles in ever increasing numbers came into God's Kingdom, and eventually became the dominant force within the church. - J.A.W.