EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Acts 4:21
21The Jewish leaders were angry. They told Peter and John that they must obey them. Then they let Peter and John go free. All the people there were praising God because of the miracle. So the leaders could not decide how to punish Peter and John.
Acts 4:21 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified God for that which was done.
- New International Version (NIV)After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened.
- New King James Version (NKJV)So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done.
Context of Acts 4:21
19Then Peter and John replied to the leaders, ‘What do you think God wants us to do? Should we obey you? Or should we obey God? You decide! 20We know what is right. We must continue to speak about these things. We must tell people about the things that we have seen and heard.’ The Jewish leaders were angry. They told Peter and John that they must obey them. Then they let Peter and John go free. All the people there were praising God because of the miracle. So the leaders could not decide how to punish Peter and John. 22The man who became well because of this miracle was more than 40 years old. 23After the Jewish leaders let them go free, Peter and John went back to the group of believers. They told them what the leaders of the priests and the important Jews had said.
Read all of Acts 4Acts 4:21 word by word
οἱ δὲ προσαπειλησάμενοι ἀπέλυσαν αὐτοὺς μηδὲν εὑρίσκοντες τὸ πῶς κολάσωνται αὐτούς, διὰ τὸν λαόν, ὅτι πάντες ἐδόξαζον τὸν θεὸν ἐπὶ τῷ γεγονότι.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- Soδέde · thenG1161
- had further threatenedπροσαπειλέωprosapeileō · to threaten furtherG4324
- themαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
- let them goἀπολύωapoluō · to release: releaseG630
- findingεὑρίσκωheuriskō · to find/meetG2147
- nothingμηδείςmēdeis mēdemia mēden · nothingG3367
- howπῶςpōs · how?!G4459
- they might punishκολάζωkolazō · to punishG2849
- because ofὅτιhoti · that/since: sinceG3754
- the peopleλαόςlaos · a peopleG2992
- forδιάdia · through/because ofG1223
- allπᾶςpas · allG3956
- glorifiedδοξάζωdoxazō · to glorifyG1392
- Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
- forἐπίepi · upon/to/againstG1909
- which was doneγίνομαιginomai · to beG1096
Cross-references for Acts 4:21
- Acts 4:17But we do not want any more people to know what has happened. So we must say to these men, “You must stop using the name of Jesus. You must stop teaching people about him.” ’
- Acts 5:40The Jewish leaders agreed with Gamaliel. They told the apostles to come back into the room. They told the police to hit them with whips. Then they said to the apostles, ‘You must not use the authority of Jesus to teach the people.’ After that, they let the apostles go free.
- Acts 5:26So the leader of the police took his men with him to find the apostles. They took hold of the apostles to take them back to the Jewish leaders. But they did not hurt them because they were afraid of the people. They thought that the people might be angry. They might throw stones at them to kill them.
- Matthew 21:46They wanted to take hold of him and put him in prison. But they did not try to do it because they were afraid of the people. The people thought that Jesus was a prophet from God.
- Matthew 26:5They said to each other, ‘We do not want to take hold of him during the Passover festival. If we do that, the people will be angry and they may fight against us.’
- Luke 19:47Jesus was teaching every day in the temple. The leaders of the priests and teachers of God's Law wanted to kill him. Some other important people also wanted to kill him.
- Luke 20:6But we do not want to say that only men gave John his authority. Then all the people would throw stones at us to kill us. They are sure that John really was a prophet from God.’
- Luke 22:2The leaders of the priests and the teachers of God's Law wanted to kill Jesus. They were talking together about how they could do this. It was difficult because they were afraid of the people.
- Acts 3:6Then Peter said to the man, ‘I do not have any money. But I do have something else that I will give to you. Jesus Christ from Nazareth gave me authority to do this. So now I tell you to walk!’
- Matthew 9:33Jesus made the bad spirit go out of the man and leave him. Then the man began to speak again. Everybody there was very surprised. They said, ‘Nobody has seen anything like this happen in Israel before.’
- Matthew 15:31When the large crowd saw all this, they were very surprised. People who could not speak could now speak again. People who could not use their arms or their legs were now well again. Those people who could not walk very well could now walk again. Blind people could now see again. All the people praised God, and they said, ‘God of Israel, you are great.’
- Luke 5:26What had happened surprised everyone. They said, ‘God is great and powerful! We have seen very strange and special things happen today.’
- Luke 13:17These words made the leaders of the meeting place feel ashamed. But the other people there were very happy. They were happy because they had seen Jesus do many good and powerful things.
- John 12:18That is why many people came to meet Jesus. They had heard that he had done this miracle.
Commentaries on Acts 4:21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21When they had farther threatened them - , When they had added to their former threatenings, repeating the former menaces, and adding new penalties. Finding nothing how they might punish them - Or, as the Codex Bezae reads, ̔ , , not finding a cause why they might punish them. This reading is supported by the Syriac and Arabic. Bp. Pearce says, "This is better sense and better Greek." Because of the people - The people saw the miracle, confessed the finger…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21Finding nothing - That is, not being able to devise any way of punishing them without exciting a tumult among the people, and endangering their own authority. The Sanhedrin was frequently influenced by this fear; and it shows that their own authority was much dependent on the caprice of the multitude. Compare Matthew 21:26. All men - That is, the great mass or body of the people. Glorified God - Praised God for the miracle. This implies: (1)That they…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-22Verses 15-22 All the care of the rulers is, that the doctrine of Christ spread not among the people, yet they cannot say it is false or dangerous, or of any ill tendency; and they are ashamed to own the true reason; that it testifies against their hypocrisy, wickedness, and tyranny. Those who know how to put a just value upon Christ's promises, know how to put just contempt upon the world's threatenings. The apostles look with concern on perishing souls…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-22Throughout the Bible, God's people often experienced persecution. God's servants often encountered hostility and opposition (Deuteronomy 30:7; 1 Kings 18:13; Nehemiah 4:1–3; Jeremiah 37–38; Matthew 23:34–37; Luke 11:49–51; 1 Thessalonians 2:14–15). Jesus was also persecuted (Luke 4:29; John 5:16). He warned his disciples to expect similar treatment (Matthew 10:23; 24:9; Mark 13:9; Luke 21:12; John 16:2). However, he promised that the Holy Spirit would…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 18-2218-22. Whether it be right ... to hearken to you more than ... God, judge ye.Read the comment
Topics related to Acts 4:21
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Acts 4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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