Acts 4:6
in Acts 4along with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and many others from the high priest’s family.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest.
KJV
And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.
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This verse in Acts 4
Commentary
11 notes on this verseBesides other injustices toward the apostles, they (the rulers, elders, scribes, and chief priests of the Jews) did not even observe the requirements of the law. Pay attention at least to the multitude of chief priests, whereas according to the law there should be one, …
This site's exposition
their rulers, and elders, and scribes
on Acts 4:5-7
On the morrow their rulers, and elders, and scribes, and Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, are gathered together at Jerusalem, the same council and largely the same men who had tried Jesus himself only weeks before. Annas, deposed by Rome years earlier yet still called high priest here, held the office's real influence in his family long after losing its title, a detail the bench reads as accurate to the politics of the period rather than a slip on Luke's part. When they had set them in the midst, they asked, by what power, or by what name, have ye done this, the council's own question naming the two categories, power and name, that Peter's answer will address directly.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
A commentator
Apostolic ConstitutionsApostolic Constitutions (Book V), Section 1, II · Written before 380.
proposed
But do you assist with all diligence those that for the sake of Christ are abused by the ungodly and shut up in prison, or who are given over to death, or bonds, or banishment, in order to deliver your fellow-members from wicked hands. And if any one who accompanies with them is caught, and falls into misfortune, he is blessed, because he is partaker with the martyr, and is one that imitates the sufferings of Christ; for we ourselves also, when we oftentimes received stripes from Caiaphas, and Alexander, and Annas, for Christ's sake, "went out rejoicing that we were counted worthy to suffer such things for our Saviour." Do you also rejoice when you suffer such things, for you shall be blessed in that day.
"And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes, and Annas the High Priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the High Priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem." For now along with the other evils of the times, the Law was no longer observed. And again they set off the business with the form of a tribunal, to constitute them guilty by their iniquitous sentence.
"And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes were gathered together at Jerusalem." Again in Jerusalem: and there it is that men's blood is poured out; no reverence for their city either; "And Annas, and Caiaphas," etc. "And Annas," it says, "and Caiaphas." His maid-servant it was that questioned Peter, and he could not bear it: in his house it was that Peter denied, when Another was in bonds there: but now, when he has come into the midst of them all, see how he speaks!
Indeed the ploy was to bind them before the multitude, but examine them secretly: for they feared those who were bound in the sight of the crowd, and examined them supposedly before a court as lawbreakers; privately, however, that the audience might choose the better …
The Reformation1 voice
John and Alexander, then foremost among the priests, and finally all who belonged to the priestly class, in which at that time the higher each member was in authority, the more wicked he was. Such anxious diligence on the part of the chief men itself …
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Annas the high priest,.... So called, either because he had been an high priest, though he was not now, but Caiaphas his son-in-law; or because he was the Sagan of the high priest, and had all the other priests under his government; and is mentioned first, because he was father-in-law to Caiaphas; See Gill on Luk 3:2 he could not be called so, because he was נשיא, "prince", or president of the council; for not he, but Gamaliel, was president at this time.
This seems to come in here as an aggravation of their sin, that in Jerusalem, where there were so many that looked for redemption before it came, yet there were more that would not look upon it when it did come. How is that faithful city become a harlot! It was in the foresight of Jerusalem's standing in her own light that Christ beheld the city, and wept over it.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Annas - Though this man was not now actually in the office of high priest, yet he had possessed it for eleven years, bore the title all his life, and had the honor of seeing five of his sons fill that eminent place after him - an honor that never happened to any other person from the commencement of the Mosaic institution. He is the same who is called Ananus by Josephus, Ant. b. xx. c.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the captain--of the Levitical guard. of the temple--annoyed at the disturbance created around it. and the Sadducees--who "say that there is no resurrection" (Ac 23:8), irritated at the apostles "preaching through (rather, 'in') Jesus the resurrection from the dead"; for the resurrection of Christ, if a fact, effectually overthrew the Sadducean doctrine.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
16 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| Ἅννας | hannas | Annas | G452 → | |
| ὁ | ho | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἀρχιερεὺς | archiereus | high priest | G749 → | 122 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| Καϊάφας | kaiaphas | Caiaphas | G2533 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| Ἰωάννης | ioannes | John | G2491 → | 134 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| Ἀλέξανδρος | alexandros | Alexander | G223 → | 6 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ὅσοι | hosoi | as many as | G3745 → | 110 times |
| ἦσαν | esan | were | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| ἐκ | ek | of | G1537 → | 911 times |
| γένους | genous | descent | G1085 → | 20 times |
| ἀρχιερατικοῦ, | archieratikou | high-priestly, | G748 → |
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἍνναςAnnas
hannasG452 →
ὁthe
hoG3588 →19766 times
ἀρχιερεὺςhigh priest
archiereusG749 →122 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ΚαϊάφαςCaiaphas
kaiaphasG2533 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἸωάννηςJohn
ioannesG2491 →134 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἈλέξανδροςAlexander
alexandrosG223 →6 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ὅσοιas many as
hosoiG3745 →110 times
ἦσανwere
esanG1510 →2333 times
ἐκof
ekG1537 →911 times
γένουςdescent
genousG1085 →20 times
ἀρχιερατικοῦ,high-priestly,
archieratikouG748 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Luke 3:2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
it leads to
- John 18:24
Then Annas sent Him, still bound, to Caiaphas the high priest.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 26:3
At that time the chief priests and elders of the people assembled in the courtyard of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jonah 1:1
Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying,
- Luke 1:80
And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until the time of his public appearance to Israel.
- Micah 1:1
This is the word of the LORD that came to Micah the Moreshite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—what he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem:
- John 18:24
Through
John 18:24Then Annas sent Him, still bound, to Caiaphas the high priest.
it leads to
- John 18:13
They brought Him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year.
- John 18:13
Through
Matthew 26:3At that time the chief priests and elders of the people assembled in the courtyard of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,
it leads to
- John 11:47–53
Then the chief priests and Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs.
- John 11:47–53
Through
John 11:49But one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all!
it leads to
- John 11:51
Caiaphas did not say this on his own. Instead, as high priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus would die for the nation,
- John 11:51
Where this verse is studied
About Acts
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions (Book V), Section 1, II; Erasmus of Rotterdam, Commentary (church-history corpus); J. A. Alexander, The Acts of the Apostles Explained; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 10; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts and William Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen.