Atos 4

BLIVRE · Chapter 4/28

1E enquanto eles ainda estavam falando ao povo, vieram sobre eles os sacerdotes, e o oficial do Templo, e os saduceus,

2Muito incomodados por eles ensinarem ao povo, e anunciarem no [nome] de Jesus a ressurreição dos mortos.

3E puseram as mãos sobre eles, e os puseram na prisão até o dia seguinte, porque já era tarde.

4E muitos dos que ouviram a palavra, creram; e era o número dos homens de cerca de cinco mil.

5E aconteceu no dia seguinte, que os chefes, e anciãos, e escribas, se reuniram em Jerusalém;

6E Anás, o sumo sacerdote, e Caifás, e João, e Alexandre, e todos quantos havia da linhagem do governo sacerdotal.

7E pondo-os no meio, perguntaram [-lhes] : Por meio de que poder ou por qual nome vós fizestes isto?

8Então Pedro, cheio do Espírito Santo, lhes disse: Chefes do povo, e anciões de Israel,

9Se hoje somos interrogados quanto a uma boa ação [feita] a um enfermo, pela qual este foi curado;

10Seja conhecido a todos vós, e a todos o povo de Israel, que pelo nome de Jesus Cristo, o nazareno, aquele que vós crucificastes, ao qual Deus ressuscitou dos mortos, por ele este [homem] está são diante de vós.

11Este é a pedra que foi desprezada por vós, edificadores; a qual foi feita por cabeça de esquina.

12E em nenhum outro há salvação; porque nenhum outro nome há abaixo do céu, dado entre os seres humanos, em quem devemos ser salvos.

13E eles, ao verem a ousadia de Pedro, e de João; e informados que eles eram homens sem instrução e ordinários, maravilharam-se; e eles sabiam que eles tinham estado com Jesus.

14E vendo estar com eles o homem que tinha sido curado, nada tinham a dizer contra [eles] .

15E mandando-os saírem do supremo conselho, discutiam entre si,

16Dizendo: O que faremos a estes homens? Porque um sinal notório foi feito por eles, manifesto a todos os que habitam em Jerusalém, e não podemos negar.

17Mas para que [esta notícia] não seja ainda mais divulgada entre o povo, façamos sérias ameaças a eles, para que nunca mais falem a ninguém neste nome.

18E chamando-os, ordenaram-lhes que nunca mais falassem nem ensinassem no nome de Jesus.

19Mas, respondendo Pedro, e João, disseram-lhes: Julgai se é justo diante de Deus, ouvir a vós mais do que a Deus;

20Porque nós não podemos deixar de falar daquilo que temos visto e ouvido.

21Mas eles, tendo os ameaçado ainda mais, nada acharam [de motivo] para os castigar, e os deixaram ir por causa do povo; porque todos glorificavam a Deus pelo que tinha acontecido.

22Porque era de mais de quarenta anos o homem em quem este milagre de cura tinha sido feito.

23E eles, tendo sido soltos, vieram aos seus [companheiros] , e lhes contaram tudo o que os chefes dos sacerdotes e os anciãos tinham lhes dito.

24E eles, ao ouvirem [isto] , levantaram concordantes a voz a Deus, e disseram: Senhor, tu és o Deus que fizeste o céu, a terra, o mar, e todas as coisas que neles há;

25Que pela boca de teu servo Davi disseste: Por que os gentios se irritam, e os povos gastam seus pensamentos em coisas vãs?

26Os reis da terra se levantaram, e os príncipes se juntaram em um mesmo [propósito] contra o Senhor, e contra o seu Ungido.

27Porque verdadeiramente contra teu Santo Filho Jesus, ao qual tu ungiste, se ajuntaram, tanto Herodes, como Pôncio Pilatos, com os gentios e os povos de Israel.

28Para fazerem tudo o que a tua mão e o teu conselho desde antes tinha determinado para acontecer.

29E agora, Senhor, observa as ameaças deles, e dá a teus servos, que com toda ousadia falem tua palavra;

30Estendendo tua mão para a cura, e que se façam sinais e milagres pelo nome de teu Santo filho Jesus.

31E tendo orado, agitou-se o lugar em que eles estavam juntos, e foram todos cheios do Espírito Santo, e falavam a palavra de Deus com ousadia.

32E a multidão dos que criam, era de um só oração e uma só alma; e ninguém dizia ser próprio coisa alguma de seus bens, mas todas as coisas lhes eram comuns.

33E com grande poder os apóstolos davam testemunho da ressurreição do Senhor Jesus; e em todos eles havia grande graça.

34Porque também nenhum necessitado havia entre eles; porque todos os que possuíam propriedades de terras, ou casas, vendendo [-as] , traziam o valor das coisas vendidas, e [o] depositavam junto aos pés dos apóstolos.

35E a cada um se repartia segundo cada qual tinha necessidade.

36E José, chamado pelos apóstolos pelo sobrenome de Barnabé (que traduzido é filho da consolação), levita, natural do Chipre,

37Tendo ele uma propriedade de terra, vendeu [-a] , e trouxe o valor, e [o] depositou junto aos pés dos apóstolos.

📖 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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