Atos 4

ARC · Chapter 4/28

1E, estando elles fallando ao povo, sobrevieram os sacerdotes, e o capitão do templo, e os sadduceos,

2Doendo-se muito de que ensinassem o povo, e annunciassem em Jesus a resurreição dos mortos.

3E lançaram mão d'elles, e os encerraram na prisão até ao dia seguinte, pois era já tarde.

4Muitos, porém, dos que ouviram a palavra crêram, e chegou o numero d'esses homens a quasi cinco mil.

5E aconteceu, no dia seguinte, reunirem-se em Jerusalem os seus principaes, e anciãos e escribas,

6E Annás, o summo sacerdote, e Caiphás, e João, e Alexandre, e todos quantos havia da linhagem do summo sacerdote.

7E, pondo-os no meio, perguntaram: Com que poder fizestes isto, ou em nome de quem?

8Então Pedro, cheio do Espirito Sancto, lhes disse: Principaes do povo, e vós, anciãos d'Israel.

9Visto que hoje somos interrogados ácerca do beneficio feito a um homem enfermo, do modo como foi curado,

10Seja conhecido a vós todos, e a todo o povo d'Israel, que em nome de Jesus Christo, o nazareno, aquelle a quem vós crucificastes e a quem Deus resuscitou dos mortos, em nome d'esse é que este está são diante de vós.

11Este é a pedra que foi rejeitada por vós, os edificadores, a qual foi posta por cabeça d'esquina.

12E em nenhum outro ha salvação, porque tambem debaixo do céu nenhum outro nome ha, dado entre os homens, em que devamos ser salvos.

13Então elles, vendo a ousadia de Pedro e João, e informados de que eram homens sem lettras e indoutos, se maravilharam; e conheciam que elles haviam estado com Jesus.

14Mas, vendo estar com elles o homem que fôra curado, nada tinham que dizer em contrario.

15E, mandando-os sair fóra do conselho, conferenciaram entre si,

16Dizendo: Que havemos de fazer a estes homens? porque a todos os que habitam em Jerusalem é manifesto que por elles foi feito um signal notorio, e não o podemos negar;

17Mas, para que não se divulgue mais entre o povo, ameacemol-os para que não fallem mais n'esse nome a homem algum.

18E, chamando-os, disseram-lhes que absolutamente não fallassem, nem ensinassem, no nome de Jesus.

19Respondendo, porém, Pedro e João, lhes disseram: Julgae vós se é justo, diante de Deus, ouvir-vos antes a vós do que a Deus

20Porque não podemos deixar de fallar do que temos visto e ouvido.

21Mas elles ainda os ameaçaram mais, e, não achando motivo para os castigar, deixaram-n'os ir, por causa do povo; porque todos glorificavam a Deus ácerca do que acontecera:

22Pois tinha mais de quarenta annos o homem em quem se operara aquelle milagre de saude.

23E, soltos elles, foram para os seus, e contaram tudo o que lhes disseram os principaes dos sacerdotes e os anciãos.

24E, ouvindo elles isto, unanimes levantaram a voz a Deus, e disseram: Senhor, tu és o Deus que fizeste o céu, e a terra, e o mar, e todas as coisas que n'elles ha;

25Que disseste pela bocca de David, teu servo: Porque bramaram as gentes, e os povos pensaram coisas vãs?

26Levantaram-se os reis da terra, e os principes se ajuntaram á uma, contra o Senhor e contra o seu Ungido.

27Porque verdadeiramente contra o teu sancto Filho Jesus, que tu ungiste, se ajuntaram, não só Herodes, mas Poncio Pilatos, com os gentios e os povos d'Israel;

28Para fazerem tudo o que a tua mão e o teu conselho tinham anteriormente determinado que se havia de fazer.

29Agora pois, ó Senhor, põe os olhos nas suas ameaças, e concede aos teus servos que fallem com toda a ousadia a tua palavra;

30Estendendo a tua mão para curar, e para que se façam signaes e prodigios pelo nome do teu sancto Filho Jesus.

31E, tendo orado, moveu-se o logar em que estavam reunidos; e todos foram cheios do Espirito Sancto, e fallavam com ousadia a palavra de Deus.

32E era um o coração e a alma da multidão dos que criam, e ninguem dizia que coisa alguma do que possuia era sua propria, mas todas as coisas lhes eram communs.

33E os apostolos davam, com grande poder, testemunho da resurreição do Senhor Jesus, e em todos elles havia abundante graça.

34Não havia pois entre elles necessitado algum; porque todos os que possuiam herdades ou casas, vendendo-as, traziam o preço do vendido, e o depositavam aos pés dos apostolos.

35E repartia-se por cada um, segundo a necessidade que cada um tinha.

36Então José, cognominado pelos apostolos Barnabé (que, traduzido, é Filho de consolação), levita, natural de Chypre,

37Possuindo uma herdade, vendeu-a, e trouxe o preço, e o apresentou aos pés dos apostolos.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Peter and John are arrested by the religious leaders for preaching the resurrection, but boldly defend their faith before the Sanhedrin. Released, they return to the community, which prays and remains united, sharing everything.

Explanation

The Sadducees, who didn't believe in the resurrection, were especially troubled by the apostolic message. The Sanhedrin recognizes the authority of the message even while seeing that Peter and John were 'unschooled, ordinary men,' showing that their transformation came from having 'been with Jesus,' not from formal education. Peter's statement — 'we must obey God rather than men' — became a central principle for persecuted Christians throughout history. The sharing of goods described at the end of the chapter wasn't mandatory communism, but voluntary generosity in the face of fellow believers' needs.

Fun facts

  • The Sanhedrin was the supreme Jewish court, with 71 members among priests, elders, and scribes — the same council that had judged Jesus just weeks earlier.
  • Annas and Caiaphas, mentioned here, are the same high priests involved in Jesus' trial in the Gospels, showing the continuity of religious opposition to the Christian movement.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Atos 4:1The Sadducees were a Jewish religious group tied to the wealthiest priestly families, who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. That is why they become troubled when the apostles announce the resurrection of Jesus.
  2. Atos 4:2The priests and Sadducees become troubled specifically because of the message of the resurrection, since the Sadducees, as a religious group, did not believe in life after death.
  3. Atos 4:3Peter and John are arrested and held until the next day simply because it was already late, showing a practical detail of the judicial process of the time.
  4. Atos 4:4Despite the leaders’ arrest, the preaching had already convinced many people: the text marks a jump in the number of believers, reaching about five thousand men.
  5. Atos 4:5The next day, the chief religious authorities of Jerusalem gather—rulers, elders, and scribes—forming the same kind of council (the Sanhedrin) that had tried Jesus before.
  6. Atos 4:6Annas had been high priest before and remained influential even after losing the official office to his son-in-law Caiaphas; that is why both names appear together. This is the same Caiaphas from Jesus’ trial.
  7. Atos 4:7Set in the middle of the council, Peter and John are questioned about the source of the authority used to heal the lame man: by what power, or in whose name, they had done it.
  8. Atos 4:8Peter answers filled with the Holy Spirit, without hesitation, before the same authorities who had condemned Jesus a short time before.
  9. Atos 4:9Peter notes the irony of the situation: they are being tried precisely for having done a good deed, healing a sick man, not for any crime.
  10. Atos 4:10Peter uses the interrogation as an opportunity to preach: he declares openly that the healing happened in the name of Jesus, the very one the leaders present there had ordered crucified.
  11. Atos 4:11The image of the rejected stone comes from a psalm, about a stone discarded by the builders that ends up becoming the most important piece of the building. Peter applies this to Jesus, rejected by the authorities but essential to God’s plan.
  12. Atos 4:12This is Peter’s most direct statement about Jesus as the only way of salvation, spoken right in front of the same council that had condemned Jesus to death.
  13. Atos 4:13“Unlearned and ignorant men” means that Peter and John had no formal training in rabbinic schools—they were fishermen. The council’s astonishment is precisely at seeing people without that training speaking with such confidence.
  14. Atos 4:14With no argument to counter it, the council is left without options because the very man who had been healed was standing right there, living proof of what Peter was saying.
  15. Atos 4:15The authorities order Peter and John to leave the room so they can discuss the case privately, away from the ears of the accused.
  16. Atos 4:16Among themselves, the leaders admit they cannot deny the miracle, since it was known to everyone in Jerusalem; their only problem was how to contain the fallout.
  17. Atos 4:17The solution they find is to threaten Peter and John so they stop speaking about Jesus, trying to keep the news from spreading any further.
  18. Atos 4:18The council formally orders the two of them to stop speaking or teaching at all in the name of Jesus, a direct ban they are about to defy right afterward.
  19. Atos 4:19Peter and John answer with a rhetorical question, putting it to the judges themselves to decide whether it is right to obey men rather than obey God.
  20. Atos 4:20Their justification is simple: they cannot stop speaking about what they have personally seen and heard, referring to the resurrection and the teachings of Jesus.
  21. Atos 4:21The council releases them without punishment because it finds no legal grounds, and also out of fear of the people’s reaction, since everyone was praising God for the miracle.
  22. Atos 4:22Luke highlights the age of the healed man, over forty years old, making clear that this was not a recent problem, nor one easy to fake or exaggerate.
  23. Atos 4:23As soon as they are released, Peter and John return to the group of believers and report everything the chief priests and elders had said and threatened.
  24. Atos 4:24The community reacts to the threat not with fear but with a united prayer, beginning by acknowledging God as the maker of everything, from heaven to earth to the sea.
  25. Atos 4:25The prayer quotes a psalm attributed to David that speaks of nations raging and peoples plotting vain things against God, used here as a picture of the persecution they were suffering.
  26. Atos 4:26The quotation continues: kings and rulers uniting against the Lord and against “his Christ”—the Messiah—applied directly to the alliance between Jewish and Roman authorities against Jesus.
  27. Atos 4:27The prayer names those actually responsible for Jesus’ death: Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles themselves (the Romans), and the people of Israel, all gathered together against Him.
  28. Atos 4:28Even with so many humans responsible, the prayer affirms that everything happened within the plan God had already determined beforehand, without removing the responsibility of those who acted.
  29. Atos 4:29Instead of asking for protection or revenge against the threats, the community’s request is for courage to keep speaking the message with boldness.
  30. Atos 4:30Along with courage, they ask that God keep confirming the message with healings and signs done in the name of Jesus, like what had just happened with the lame man.
  31. Atos 4:31The answer is immediate and physical: the very place where they were gathered shakes, and everyone is filled with the Holy Spirit, going on to speak with even greater boldness.
  32. Atos 4:32The idea of having all things in common repeats what already appeared in chapter 2: the first Christians of Jerusalem shared their possessions voluntarily, driven by generosity and the sense of living through a special moment, not by a permanent rule.
  33. Atos 4:33The apostles keep publicly testifying about the resurrection of Jesus with great power, and the text describes “great grace” upon the whole community.
  34. Atos 4:34No one in the community was in need, because those who owned lands or houses sold them voluntarily to help the other members.
  35. Atos 4:35The money from the sales was handed over to the apostles, who distributed it according to each person’s actual need, not in fixed equal shares.
  36. Atos 4:36“Barnabas” was a nickname given by the apostles, meaning something like “son of consolation,” or encourager. He was a native of Cyprus, a Jew of the diaspora who later became Paul’s traveling companion.
  37. Atos 4:37Barnabas, introduced in the previous verse, becomes the first named example of this generosity: he sells a piece of land, following the same pattern described for the whole community.

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