Acts 3, 4 Sunday School Notes

Here are some of my notes for Sunday, June 8, 2008 based on the Lifeway Explore the Bible curriculum

 Reference works cited include:

1) The Acts of the Apostles: Greek Text with Introduction and Commentary by F. F. Bruce

2) The Acts of the Apostles: A Social-Rhetorical Commentary by Ben Witherington III 

3)The Acts of the Apostles: Anchor Bible Commentary by Joseph Fitzmyer

 4) The Source New Testament with Extensive Notes by Ann Nyland

 5) Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament by Bruce Metzger 

 6) Greek- English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature by Bauer and Danker

Acts 3:1
Peter and John- together with James son of Zebedee, these three comprised the inner circle of the apostles during Jesus’ ministry. Peter and John are paired in Luke, and several times again in Acts. Their continued presence at the Temple makes one realize that these earliest Christians had not yet worked out all the implications of Jesus’ death and resurrection in relation to the Jewish sacrificial system. John seems more a lay figure than an apostle when beside Peter in Acts ((Witherington, Bruce, Fitzmyer)
anabaino- “go up” to temple, because Jerusalem and the temple within the city sat on an elevation compared to surrounding territory. The Greek term later seems to have become shorthand for going to temple.(Bruce)
ieron- Greek used for entire temple. Naos used by for actual sanctuary. (Bruce)
Prayer time- there were three:
1. daybreak- morning sacrifice
2. Ninth hour- our three pm, the evening sacrifice, called the Tamid, the continual burnt offering.
3. sunset(Bruce)

Acts 3:2
lame from mother’s womb- Greek koilia, which in Luke/Acts describes the womb. Elsewhere in NT used of the stomach, digestive organs. The beggar’s condition limits his participation in Jewish religious life by law (Lev 21:17-20, 2 Sam 5:8).(Witherington)
One must wonder why he was going to the Temple at 3 pm, and not already there to get alms all day.
Beautiful Gate- he thura horaia in Greek, the exact location of this gate disputed. There are three candidates:
1. Shushan Gate in East wall, allowing entrance to the Court of the Gentiles from outside the Temple grounds
2. Nicanor Gate, aka the Corinthian Bronze Gate, separating the Court of Gentiles from the Court of Women
3. “Nicanor” Gate in rabbinic writing, separating the Court of Women from the Court of Israel.
Most today opt for Gate number 2, as that is the one mentioned in Josephus, who actually walked in the Temple.(Fitzmyer)
beg alms- this was the lame man only real possibility of a job. The Law required Jews to give alms, to support the handicapped and other unfortunates.(Fitzmyer)

Acts 3:6
Peter has no money, so presumably the apostles’ position as overseers of the Christian community’s wealth did not necessarily make them the actual keepers of the money, otherwise Peter would have spoken differently. Still, as many have pointed out, Peter and John seem fairly prosperous by ancient standards (they ran a fishing business, apparently, one that didn’t need their immediate attention). of course, the “all things in common” seems to refer to charity for widows and orphans, and emergency funds, not a communal sharing of possessions.(Fitzmyer, Witherington)
“In the name of “- by the authority and/or power of, or on behalf of

Acts 3:7
feet and ankles- basis and sphuron, anatomical terms, showing Luke being careful if not actually medical in his terms(Witherington)

immediately- Greek parachrema. It is an instantaneous, miraculous change

Acts 3:8
walking, jumping- a reference to Is. 35:6, “then shall the lame leap like a deer”.

Acts 3:11
The beggar stays with Peter and John as his immediate saviors.
The location of Solomon’s portico is another geographical mystery in this lesson, so lost early on that two different Greek textual traditions place the portico in different places. The Alexandrian family of manuscripts put the portico inside the Temple courts. The Western family of manuscripts specify that the apostles and the healed beggar go outside the courts to reach the portico.(Metzger)
Interestingly, John 10:23 says Jesus went there to teach and preach. Later in Acts 5:12 the Christian community seems to gather there. Either it was a good location for assembly or perhaps the early Christians went there in memory of Jesus having taught there. (Witherington)
Acts 4:1
priests- Greek iereis. There is a textual variation here for chief priests archiereis. Archiereis is used 122 times in NT, while iereis is used 31 times. Thus textual critics reason that iereis is the earlier reading, replaced by scribes more used to seeing archiereis in the manuscripts. Also, making it chief priests makes Peter and John’s situation seem more serious and dramatic.(Metzger) These priests would of course be members of which ever course was on duty that week in Temple, as the duty roster rotated out each week. (Bruce)
captain of temple- strategos to hierou “officer of the temple”, aka segan hakkohanim, “prefect of priests”, who ranked second after the high priest and was charged with maintaining order in Temple complex. Josephus names Ananus son of Ananias captain of the temple, which would be no surprise, as we shall see. (Bruce, Fitzmyer, Witherington)
Sadducees- Derived the name from Zadok, probably. They emerged into power during Hasmonean times (134-63 BC), a collection of priests and lay aristocrats, very Hellenized. The high priests were drawn from their ranks from Herod the Great’s reign (37-4 BC) to the beginning of the Jewish War (66 AD). They rejected tradition of the elders (proto-Oral law), Pharisaic belief in angelic and demonic hierarchies, bodily resurrection. Though politically powerful and wealthy, they were unpopular compared to the Pharisees.(Bruce)

Acts 4:2
provoked, grieved, annoyed- diaponeomai: be greatly disturbed, annoyed, provoked by someone else’s activity (BDAG)

Acts 4:3
Jewish authorities at this time could arrest people for offending Jewish law or misconduct in temple area. The death penalty was reserved to the juridiction of the Roman governor, except for violations of temple sanctity, for which the Sanhedrin could try and execute offfenders.(Bruce)

Acts 4:4
some who heard believed…. and the number of men was about 5000- some have thought this the number of men converted by Peter’s second sermon at Solomon’s Portico, making the total number 8000 believers. Most interpret the statement to mean the total number of believers reached 5000, an addition of about 2000 from the portico sermon. Further, while the term “ton andron” literally means “men”, in much ancient Greek literature it is something more like “ladies and gentlemen”, a respectful term for a mixed group of men and women (Nyland)

Acts 4:5
Sanhedrin “assembly, court” made up of three groups:
1. kohanim gedolim/ archiereis- “chief priests” erigning high priest, ex-high priests, and member of high priestly families, in this day chiefly the families of Ananias and Boethuis
2. zeqenim/presbuteros- “elders” general term for Sanhedrin, the “elders of Israel”
3. sopherim/grammateis- “scribes” aka nomikoi “lawyers”- professional students and teachers of the Law. Most at this time were Pharisees, who were prominent and popular in all synagogues. Some of them taught in the Temple courts just like Jesus and the Apostles.(Bruce)
Acts 4:6
Annas, Ananias, Ananon- versions of Hebrew Hanan or Hanin. Josephus calls him the son of Sethi. He was appointed high priest by P. Sculpicius Quirinius (yes, Quirinius of the obscure census in Luke) when he become Roman legate of Syria in 6 AD. He stepped down in 14-15 AD when Valerius Gratus became prefect of Judea (15-26 AD) and appointed Ishmael ben Phiabi in as high priest. Annas was the senior ex-high priest and apparently ruled behind the scenes through his sons and relatives for decades, as seen in the list of high priests after him:
1. Eleazar (16-17) son
2. Joseph Caiaphas (18-36) son in law
3. Jonathan (36-7) son
4. Theophilus (37-41) son
5. Matthias (42) son
6. Annas (61) son
7. Matthias, son of Theophilus (65-6?) grandson (Bruce)

Joseph Caiaphas- appointed high priest by V. Gratus in 18 AD. Longest running high priest of NT times. Jewish sources hint at political scheming and unfair distribution of sacrifices among priests during his reign. His tomb was found about 1990, and reveals his wealth and social standing by its splendor.
Ioannes- John son of Theophilus? If Codex Bezae is correct in changing the name to Ionathas, perhaps Jonathan son of Annas. Jonathan was high priest in AD 36, and was subsequently killed by the sicarii, the Jewish revolutionary nationalist assasins, during the governorship of Felix (52-9 AD)
and all who were of high priestly lineage- chiefly from Annas and Boethius’ families at this time.

Acts 4:9
sozo- “save”, often used of both physical and spiritual health, something like “rescue and preserve”. Often associated with divine action in dealing with life-threatening situations or illnesses/injuries, as in Homer, Euripides, and Galen (Nyland)

Acts 4:10
hugies- healthy, whole, true. Restored to original undamaged state, frequently used of the god Asklepios healing/restoring the sick (Nyland)
you crucified, God raised- again the bold accusation of Jewish culpability in Messiah’s death, and the assurance of God’s foreknowledge.

Acts 4:12
soteria- salvation, delivery of humans from evil: spiritual, physical, political, etc, and restoration of human wholeness

no other name given for salvation- given by God, as a universal means of salvation. Is this a play on words, since Jesus is the short form of Yehoshua, which means “God saves”?(Fitzmyer)

Acts 4:13
boldness, fearlessness, outspokeness- Greek parrhesia. Originally both this frankness in speech, and then a legal term in ancient Greek democracy. The ancient Greco-Roman political ideal was what some call the “parrhesian contract”, where a powerful ruler without truth would promise no reprisal for a citizen who spoke the blunt truth of corruption within the government. It was the special privilege of the greatest Greek citizens. Later the word became use of an ideal in Cynic philosophy for the capacity of a person to be morally free and make independent choices. It is an important term in the whole of Acts. (Nyland, Fitzmyer, Bruce)

agrammatoi- “unlettered, unschooled” Not illiterate, but rather uneducated, not formally schooled.
idiotai- “private person, layman”- equivalent to Hebrew hedyot “unskilled, commoner”. An amateur, untrained in public speaking according use of Josephus and Paul. (Bruce, Fitzmyer)

Acts 4:15
Sanhedrin- Greek term transliterated to Hebrew and Aramaic. Traditionally identified with the 70 elders of Israel appointed by Moses, but historically only traceable to Hellenistic times. Some Jewish scholars have suggested there were two Sanhedrin, a religious one and a political one, and blame Jesus’ execution on the politcal one. The evidence for this has not convinced most scholars. (Bruce)

Acts 4:17
it- Does this refer to the miraculous healing, or incipient Christianity?
that name- Sanhedrin refuse to say “Jesus” now they consider him the basis of a new cult.

Acts 4:18
katholou- “wholly, completely, totally”- absolute forbidding of teaching or preaching in the name of Jesus. This ruling will form the basis of legal charges against Christians later on, no doubt.

Acts 4:20
unable to stop speaking-
1. as men, who can only testify to what they see and hear,
2. as witnesses of miraculous things,
3. as apostles, commissioned agents of their teacher, Jesus.

Acts 4:23
“having been released, they went to their own”- Can’t very well include all 5000. Must mean the apostles, the 120, or some gathering of these and others. .

reported all- especially in regard to the threat for proselytizing, but also a first hand account of the miracle and Peter’s inspiration by the Spirit.

Acts 4:29
consider, behold, note… their threats- The idea being that if God sees, God acts. See threats, help us.

speak with all boldness- there’s that parrhesia in the Greek again.

slaves- Greek doulos, but as I’ve noted often before, a slave was not the same as an American slave. Some slaves were quite well-to-do, as well as some in horrible circumstance, and people did sell themselves into slavery in ancient times as debt relief. Slaves were household members, not simply property, in ancient times.

Acts 4:30
servant/slave/child Jesus- servant translates pais, which can mean child or slave. Servant/slave is common early Christian designation of Jesus in prayer, and grammatically makes better sense because pais is used of David in same prayer in verse 4:25, who is probably not termed God’s son.

The Christian community asks for more healings, signs and wonders to accompany and authenticate their preaching “in the name of Your hold servant Jesus”, which is a direct rejection of the Sanhedrin’s order.

The whole prayer of Acts 4:24-30 is based upon Psalm 2.

Acts 4:31
place trembled- sign of God’s presence, as the mountain shook with God’s presence at Sinai.

Acts 4:32
literally “heart and soul of the multitude of believers was one”
held all things in common- This doesn’t give details such as whether this was a permanent state (likely not) or if all Christians gave (likely not). It seems to be based on the Greek proverb “among friends all is common”.

Acts 4:33
and great grace was on them all- Is this
1. God’s favor in signs and wonders
2. God’s grace in their unity and firmness of resolve in face of Sanhedrin threat
3. Presence of Holy Spirit
4. Christian community’s acceptance among the populace?

Acts 4:34
there was not a needy person among them- this matches De. 15:4, 11’s ideal, which Acts says was achieved among these early Christians.

those who owned land or property sold them and brought proceeds to feet of the apostles- Presumably everything that was paid in sales, as subsequent chapter suggests. But it also seems plain that not everything was sold, nor did everyone sell all they owned. Instead, it seems to say here and in Acts 2 that whenever there was a need in the Christain community, some well-off Christians would sell some of their possessions in order to meet the need, keeping back none of the proceeds of what was sold to meet a need.

distributed to each as had a need- so rich supported the poor, as Scripture always demanded, and the apostles oversaw this. The oversight would soon become such a job that the apostles would give that job up to deacons, in order to concentrate on preaching.