Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 5:35
And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men.
35. Ye men of Israel ] It has been remarked upon the frequent occurrence of this and similar formul in the introduction of speeches in the Acts, that they are evidence that the speeches themselves are the composition of the writer of the book, and are only his own thoughts of the matter put into the mouths of the various speakers. After what has been said on the character of all the speeches, that they make no attempt to set before us all that was said on each occasion, but only the substance of what St Luke had received from eye and ear-witnesses, it can in no wise detract from the substantial veracity of all that is reported, if we find the compiler of the Acts, who was himself a Greek, giving the usual Greek form of introduction to the speeches of which he has shewn so often that he intends to supply only an outline.
take heed to yourselves ] The phrase implies that thought is required before any action be taken. It is not, as the English words are sometimes taken to be, a warning against some danger which was impending.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 35. What ye intend to do] , What ye are about to do: they had already intended to destroy them; and they were now about to do it.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
A wise and good caution; for he that injures another brings the worse mischief upon himself, both in the sense of having done evil, and in being exposed to the revenging hand of God, whose property vengeance is, Heb 10:30.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
35-39. Theudasnot the samewith a deceiver of that name whom JOSEPHUSmentions as heading an insurrection some twelve years after this[Antiquities, 20.5.1], but some other of whom he makes nomention. Such insurrections were frequent.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And said unto them, ye men of Israel,…. This he said after the apostles were put out, when the council was by themselves; and he addressed them as “men of Israel”; not as distinct from the priests and Levites in the council, but because they were all of the stock of Israel; for this council did not consist of Israelites only, as distinct from priests and Levites, as appears from Ac 5:21. A sanhedrim commonly consisted of each of these; though if only of Israelites it was a lawful one. Maimonides says c,
“they did not use to appoint any in the sanhedrim, but priests, Levites, and Israelites, that were genealogized and fit to be married into the priesthood—and that it was a command, that in the great sanhedrim there should be priests and Levites; as it is said, “thou shalt go to the priests and Levites”; but if they are not found, if they are all Israelites, lo, this is lawful,”
or a proper sanhedrim. His speech to them follows,
take heed to yourselves; consider well, do not act a rash and precipitant part; do not give way to passion and wrath, and hastily lay hands on these men, and destroy them; lest ye bring yourselves into disgrace and danger, and bring upon yourselves the ill-will and resentment of men, and the wrath of God: take time to consider of the matter, and deliberately consult
what ye intend to do as touching these men; what punishment to inflict upon them, whether imprisonment, scourging, or death; do nothing rashly.
c Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 2. sect. 1. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Take heed ( ). Hold your mind (, unexpressed) for or on yourselves (dative case), the usual idiom.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And said unto them,” (eipen te pros autous) “Then he addressed them,” as follows:
2) “Ye men of Israel,” (andres Israelitai) “Ye men of Israel, men of responsible age,” men of official positions to interpret and influence morals and ethics in Israel; Men of zeal, but lacking, blind, in knowledge, Rom 10:1-4; 2Co 4:3-4.
3) “Take heed to yourselves,” (prosechete heautois) “Hold yourselves together,” control yourselves; to yourselves take heed, caution; The persecutor always injures himself more than others. Gamaliel even seemed to be more concerned about the council than the apostles. Men must take heed both “what” and “how” they hear, Mar 4:24; Luk 8:18; Rom 10:17.
4) “What ye intend to do as touching these men,” (epi tois anthropois toutois ti mellets prassein) “What you all intend (purpose or are about) to practice upon these men,” to do to the apostles. They had lynching, and murder in their hearts against the apostles, Mat 5:11-12; 2Ti 3:12.
PICTURES OF WICKLIFFE’S BIBLE
There is a picture frontispiece in Wickliffe’s [sic] Bible which was issued contrary to the commands of the Church authorities. There is a fire burning and spreading rather rapidly, representing true Christianity. Around this spreading fire are congregated a number of significant individuals, all trying to devise methods whereby they can put the fire out. One with horns and tail represents Satan. Another is the Pope with his red-coated cardinals, who forbade the promulgating of the Bible among the common people. Another represents infidelity. At length one suggests that they all make a united effort to blow in the fire till they blow it out. “The resolution is adopted, and there they are, with swollen cheeks and. extended lips, blowing upon the fire with all their might, but, instead of blowing it out, they are blowing it up, and they only blow themselves out of breath. The fire is inextinguishable.”
– Richard Roberts.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(35) Ye men of Israel.We note the more familiar address of a man in high authority as compared with St. Peters Rulers of the people, and elders of Israel (Act. 4:8).
Take heed to yourselves.Compare our Lords use of the same formula (Mat. 6:1; Mat. 7:15; Mat. 10:17), and St. Pauls (1Ti. 1:4; 1Ti. 4:13; Tit. 1:14).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘And he said to them, “You men of Israel, take heed to yourselves as touching these men, what you are about to do.” ’
Thus he suggested that a little wisdom was needed here. He was clearly unsure in himself whether these men were of God or not, but appeared possibly to be leaning in their favour. So he advised caution. Perhaps these men were of God after all. Time would tell. Despite the opposition of some of them to Jesus the Pharisees tended to be the more moderate face of Judaism.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Act 5:35 . . ] in respect of these men (Bernhardy, p. 251) might be joined to (Lachm.), as Luther, Castalio, Beza, and many others have done (whence also comes the reading . . . in E); yet the currency of the expression (Wolf and Kuinoel in loc. , Matthiae, p. 927) is in favour of its being construed with . The emphasis also which thus falls on . is appropriate.
(not ): agere , what procedure ye will take. Comp. Act 3:17 , Act 19:36 ; and see on Rom 1:32 . Gamaliel will have nothing (Act 19:36 ) done; therefore they must be on their guard ( . .).
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
35 And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men.
Ver. 35. Take heed to yourselves ] Anger is an evil counsellor; do nothing rashly. Alexander slew those in his heat whom afterwards he would have revived with his life blood. Ambrose, absolving Theodosius the emperor; enjoined him to stay the execution of whatsoever statute, till thirty days were over.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
35 .] The words . . . may be joined either with . ., or with . . The latter would give the more usual construction: and the transposition of words is not unexampled in the Acts, see ch. Act 1:2 ; Act 19:4 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 5:35 . , see on Act 2:22 . : phrase only found in St. Luke, cf. Luk 12:1 ; Luk 17:3 ; Luk 21:34 , and Act 20:28 . without the pronoun is found six times in Matthew alone of the Evangelists, but in LXX frequently used in the phrase . The phrase may be connected with , “as touching these men, what you are about to do,” R.V., hence the reading , etc., E. Or we may take it with , “what you are about to do to these men”. In favour of the latter it may be said that the construction is very common, whereas is never found in construction with , and that this rendering rightly marks the evidently emphatic position of (so Weiss, Wendt, Holtzmann, Hackett). , quid acturi sitis , Vulgate. Burton, N. T. Moods and Tenses , p. 36, never found with future infinitive except in the phrase used in Acts, almost always has a present infinitive, although its force is akin to that of the future (Grimm-Thayer); also Simcox, Language of the N. T. , p. 120. is used over thirty times in Acts in all its parts, and is found very often in St. Luke’s Gospel.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Ye men of Israel = Men, Israelites. See note on Act 1:11.
intend = are about.
as touching = upon, or in the case of. App-104.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
35.] The words . . . may be joined either with . ., or with . . The latter would give the more usual construction: and the transposition of words is not unexampled in the Acts, see ch. Act 1:2; Act 19:4.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
take: Act 19:36, Act 22:26, Jer 26:19, Mat 27:19
Reciprocal: 2Ch 19:6 – Take Act 2:14 – Ye men Act 2:22 – men Act 5:38 – Refrain
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
5
Act 5:35. Gamaliel advised the council to be careful how they proceeded against the apostles. But he did not ask them to act solely on his general suggestion; he proposed to support it with some facts with which they were evidently acquainted, or at least which they accepted as true due to their respect for Gamaliel.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 5:35. Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men. Gamaliel here, as a wise and far-seeing man, persuades the angry and unreasoning zealots in the council, who would have taken the lives of the teachers of the new sect, to consider well what they were doing; and in confirmation of what he was advancing, appeals, as we shall see in Act 5:36-37, to the experience which past history teaches. He names two well-known political agitators whose enterprises utterly failed, and that without any interference on the part of the Sanhedrim; but while he mentions Theudas and Judas of Galilee, another name, well loved by the accused and persecuted teachers, is in his mind, though not on his lips. He argued, if these things, which then so powerfully exercised their thoughts, were merely derived from a human source, like the matter of Theudas and Judas of Galilee, they would soon simply fade away into contempt and be forgotten. Let them pause then awhile before they proceeded to any extreme measures.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
See notes on verse 34
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
After the apostles had left the meeting room, Gamaliel addressed his colleagues with the traditional designation "Men of Israel" (cf. Act 2:22). He warned his brethren to do nothing rash. He pointed to two similar movements that had failed when their leaders had died. Historians do not know anything about this Theudas, though he may have come to prominence shortly after Herod the Great’s death (ca. A.D. 4). [Note: See Longenecker, p. 228, or any of the conservative commentaries for discussion of the problem of this Theudas’ identification.] Josephus referred to a revolt led by one Theudas, but this occurred more than a decade after Gamaliel’s speech. [Note: Josephus, Antiquities of . . ., 20:5:1.]