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Acts 5:24

in Acts 5

When the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard this account, they were perplexed as to what was happening.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were much perplexed concerning them whereunto this would grow.

KJV

Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow.

This verse in Acts 5

Commentary

10 notes on this verse

A commentator

Bede

Retractions on Acts · Written before 735.

But when the temple magistrates and the chief priests heard these words, they were perplexed about what was to happen concerning them. And here "magistrate" should be read in singular form, as also in the following passages where it says: Then the magistrate went into …

This site's exposition

did not find them there

on Acts 5:22-26

The officers find the jail securely locked with the guards at the doors, yet no one inside. The captain brings the apostles back without force, for fear the people would stone them, the crowd's favor now a shield.

This site's exposition

they were perplexed

Barnes explains that the word for perplexed describes someone who has lost his way. Clarke suggests the rulers could not decide whether the apostles escaped by magic or by a real miracle. Bede says malice hardened them even against clear signs.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Homily on Acts 13 · Written before 407.

proposed

It is well ordered that the information was not brought to them at once, but they are first utterly at a loss what to think, that when they have considered it well and seen that there is a Divine Power in the case, then they may learn the whole state of the case.

A commentator

Oecumenius

Commentary on Acts · Written before 550.

proposed

When these things were completed by the apostles, and the multitude was increased by the preaching, and the number of the faithful was already growing great by the daily distribution; the high priest, he says, having risen, that is, being aroused and stirred by what …

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Acts · Written before 735.

proposed

They were in doubt about what would happen to them. They were not willing to give themselves to faith even in this way. For inborn malice hardens an unfaithful heart even against manifest signs.

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on Acts · Written before 1107.

proposed

But why did the chief priests and the rest not learn immediately that the apostles had left the prison? This was so that, remaining for some time in perplexity, they might more easily be able to comprehend and understand that this was an act of …

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Now when the high priest,....
2 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

They doubted of them whereunto this would grow - They did not know what to think of the apostles, whether they had saved themselves by magic, or whether they were delivered by a real miracle; and they were at a loss to tell what the issue of these things would be.
The captain of the temple - See the notes on Act 4:1. Doubted of them - They were in “perplexity” about these things. The word rendered “doubted” denotes “that state of anxiety which arises when a person has lost his way, or when he does not know what to do to escape from a difficulty.” See Luk 9:7. Whereunto this would grow - What this “would be”; or, what would be the result or end of these events. For: (1) Their authority was disregarded. (2) God had opposed them by a miracle. (3) The doctrines of the apostles were gaining ground. (4) Their efforts to resist them had been in vain. They need “not” have doubted; but sinners are not disposed to be convinced of the truth of religion.

The words behind it

21 Greek words

Every 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.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Acts 4:21

    After further threats they let them go. They could not find a way to punish them, because all the people were glorifying God for what had happened.

    it leads to

    • Acts 5:26

      At that point, the captain went with the officers and brought the apostles—but not by force, for fear the people would stone them.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Luke 22:2

      and the chief priests and scribes were looking for a way to put Jesus to death; for they feared the people.

  • Through

    Acts 4:1

    While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them,

    it leads to

    • Luke 22:4

      And Judas went to discuss with the chief priests and temple officers how he might betray Jesus to them.

    • Acts 23:6–9

      Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. It is because of my hope in…

    • Acts 6:12

      So they stirred up the people, elders, and scribes and confronted Stephen. They seized him and brought him before the Sanhedrin,

  • Through

    John 12:19

    Then the Pharisees said to one another, “You can see that this is doing you no good. Look how the whole world has gone after Him!”

    it leads to

    • Acts 17:6

      But when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have now come here,

    • Psalms 22:27

      All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD. All the families of the nations will bow down before Him.

    • Acts 4:16–17

      “What shall we do with these men?” they asked. “It is clear to everyone living in Jerusalem that a remarkable miracle has occurred through them, and we cannot deny it.

Where this verse is studied

About Acts

The Pentecost, El Greco, about 1600, Museo del Prado. Public domain.
The Pentecost, El Greco, about 1600, Museo del Prado. Public domain.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on Acts; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Retractions on Acts; Bede, Commentary on Acts; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 13; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts.