Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 5:18
And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison.
18. and laid their hands on the apostles ] The best MSS. omit their. The whole of the twelve are now seized, for the authorities are roused to activity. It is clear from this that, though St Luke has only mentioned the speeches of Peter, with some slight notice that John also was a speaker, yet all the Apostles were busy, and could have been quoted as preachers and teachers had it been any part of the compiler’s purpose to write a history of all the Apostles.
and put them in the common prison ] The noun is the same as in Act 4:3, and the notion that of ward, as a place of temporary imprisonment till the formal summoning of the council next day should here be preserved. Read, in public ward. Such confinement was only precautionary and formed no part of the punishment intended by the Sadducees.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The common prison – The public prison; or the prison for the keeping of common and notorious offenders.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 18. Put them in the common prison.] It being too late in the evening to bring them to a hearing. To this verse the Codex Bezae adds, , And each of them went to his own house.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
See Act 4:3.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And laid their hands on the apostles,…. That is, laid hold on them, and took them, and carried them away; at least their servants did so, by their orders:
and put them in the common prison; where malefactors were put; and this both for greater security, and for greater disgrace.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
With jealousy (). Genitive case. Old word from zeo, to boil, our zeal. In itself it means only warmth, ardour, zeal, but for a bad cause or from a bad motive, jealousy, envy, rivalry results (Ac 13:45). Common in the epistles.
In public ward ( ). As in 4:3 only with (public) added, in the public prison, perhaps not the “common” prison, but any prison is bad enough. In verse 19 it is called “the prison” ( ), the guardhouse.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
In the common prison [ ] . Incorrect. Thrhsiv is not used in the sense of prison, but is an abstract term meaning ward or keeping, as in ch. 4 3. There is no article, moreover. Note, too, that another word is used for the prison in the next verse [ ] . Rev., therefore, correctly, in public ward.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And laid their hands on the apostles,”(kai epebalon tas cheiras tous apostolous) “And they laid their hands (harshly) heavily on the apostles,” with anger and in disrespect, the religious mob of rulers, elders, and high priests, Act 4:1-3; Act 4:5; Act 4:8. They demonstrated the divine principle truth stated by Jesus, “He that is not with me is against me,” Mat 12:30; and that the same religious mob would persecute the church Joh 15:20.
2) “And put them in the common prison,” (kai ethento autous en teresei demosia) “And placed them in custody publicly,” in a public prison for the masses to pass by and gaze upon, as objects of public derision and scorn and an example to any who would embrace to espouse their teachings – – While the Sadducee council was made up primarily of skeptics who denied any resurrection, angel, or spirit, the Pharisees, a majority of the religious Jews, believed in all three and therefore were more inclined to give credence to the testimony of the disciples regarding:
1 ) “The resurrection – – even of Jesus Christ.
2) The angels – – who talked to them about Christ as He went up.
3) The Holy Spirit which had empowered them with gifts on Pentecost as Jesus had promised.
In common prison they experienced the blessed presence of the Lord which He had promised them under such experience as He endured, Mat 5:11-12; Joh 15:20; For all that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution,” 2Ti 3:12.
UNSEEN HOSTS
The affairs of men are not bounded by what we can see, and measure, and add up. There are invisible agencies over which we have no control. All the stars fight for God; all the angels of heaven assist the good man. They have always identified themselves with Christian effort. They were with Christ in all the crises of His life; and now they were with Christ’s servants in theirs. Men can shut us up; angels can deliver us. Men can do the destructive work upon our persons and ministry, whether in the pulpit, in the home, or in business; but God can do constructive work, and set up again what has been shattered by violence. To know this is power, emancipation. The great difficulty is to realize the invisible.
– Parker.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(18) Put them in the common prison.The word is the same as the ward of Act. 4:3. The addition of the word common or public perhaps indicates a greater severity of treatment. They were not merely kept in custody, but dealt with as common criminals, compelled to herd with ruffians and robbers and murderers.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18 And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison.
Ver. 18. Put them in the common prison ] Bocardo (when the good bishops were there in Queen Mary’s days) was called a college of quondams (has beens): and almost all other prisons in England were become right Christian schools and Churches, saith Mr Fox.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
18. .] see ch. Act 4:3 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 5:18 . : a phrase used twice in St. Luke’s Gospel, and three times in the Acts, cf. Gen 22:12 . Cf. Hebrew . , “in public ward,” R.V. . used here as an adjective, only found in N.T. in Acts, in the three other passages used as an adverb, Act 16:37 , Act 18:28 , Act 20:20 ( 2Ma 6:10 , 3MMal 2:2 ), cf. Thuc., v., 18, where = the public prison. See note above on Act 4:3 . Hilgenfeld is so far right in pointing out that the two imprisonments, Act 4:3 and Act 5:18 , are occasioned by two different causes, in the first case by the preaching of the Apostles to the people, and in the second by the reverence which their miracles gained from the people.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
common = public. Greek. demosios. Only here, Act 16:37; Act 18:28; Act 20:20.
prison. Same as “hold” in Act 4:3.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
18. .] see ch. Act 4:3.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Act 4:3, Act 8:3, Act 12:5-7, Act 16:23-27, Luk 21:12, 2Co 11:23, Heb 11:36, Rev 2:10
Reciprocal: Gen 42:17 – put 1Ki 22:27 – Put this fellow 2Ch 18:26 – Put Psa 69:33 – his prisoners Isa 43:27 – and thy Jer 20:2 – smote Jer 29:26 – that thou Jer 37:15 – put Act 5:25 – Behold Act 6:12 – and caught Act 8:1 – except Act 12:4 – he put Act 21:27 – and laid Act 26:26 – this thing 2Co 6:5 – imprisonments Jam 2:6 – and
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
8
Act 5:18. It has been a prominent weakness of man from the beginning that if he does not like the teaching someone is giving, the way to stop it is by persecuting the teacher. Jeremiah was put into a dungeon because the king did not like his teaching (Jer 38:6), and John the Baptist was imprisoned and slain because of his teaching that was objectionable to some wicked people (Mat 14:1-11). The Sadducees thought they could stop the preaching of a resurrection by imprisoning the apostles. Common prison means one “belonging to the people or state, public.” It was the kind of detention place where captives in time of war were locked up.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 5:18. The apostles. Peter and others of them. It does not necessarily mean the whole twelve.
In the common prison. This is specially mentioned, that no doubt may rest on the fact of the deliverance by means of an unearthly hand that night. It was no mere temporary confinement in the high priests house, or in a room of the Temple, but in the state prison of the city.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
See notes on verse 17