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Now when the high priest and his associates came, they called the Council together, even all the Senate of the sons of Israel, and sent orders to the prison house for them to be brought.</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/newcom.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../vmenus/acts/5-21.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="/bmcom/acts/5-21.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="http://biblehub.com/commentaries/">Commentaries</a> > Acts 5:21</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../acts/5-20.htm" title="Acts 5:20">◄</a> Acts 5:21 <a href="../acts/5-22.htm" title="Acts 5:22">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="topverse">And when they heard <i>that</i>, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.</div><div id="jump">Jump to: <a href="/commentaries/alford/acts/5.htm" title="Henry Alford - Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary">Alford</a> • <a href="/commentaries/barnes/acts/5.htm" title="Barnes' Notes">Barnes</a> • <a href="/commentaries/bengel/acts/5.htm" title="Bengel's Gnomen">Bengel</a> • <a href="/commentaries/benson/acts/5.htm" title="Benson Commentary">Benson</a> • <a href="/commentaries/illustrator/acts/5.htm" title="Biblical Illustrator">BI</a> • <a href="/commentaries/calvin/acts/5.htm" title="Calvin's Commentaries">Calvin</a> • <a href="/commentaries/cambridge/acts/5.htm" title="Cambridge Bible">Cambridge</a> • <a href="/commentaries/chrysostom/acts/5.htm" title="Chrysostom Homilies">Chrysostom</a> • <a href="/commentaries/clarke/acts/5.htm" title="Clarke's Commentary">Clarke</a> • <a href="/commentaries/darby/acts/5.htm" title="Darby's Bible Synopsis">Darby</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ellicott/acts/5.htm" title="Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers">Ellicott</a> • <a href="/commentaries/expositors/acts/5.htm" title="Expositor's Bible">Expositor's</a> • <a href="/commentaries/edt/acts/5.htm" title="Expositor's Dictionary">Exp Dct</a> • <a href="/commentaries/egt/acts/5.htm" title="Expositor's Greek">Exp Grk</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gaebelein/acts/5.htm" title="Gaebelein's Annotated Bible">Gaebelein</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gsb/acts/5.htm" title="Geneva Study Bible">GSB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gill/acts/5.htm" title="Gill's Bible Exposition">Gill</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gray/acts/5.htm" title="Gray's Concise">Gray</a> • <a href="/commentaries/guzik/acts/5.htm" title="Guzik Bible Commentary">Guzik</a> • <a href="/commentaries/haydock/acts/5.htm" title="Haydock Catholic Bible Commentary">Haydock</a> • <a href="/commentaries/hastings/acts/4-12.htm" title="Hastings Great Texts">Hastings</a> • <a href="/commentaries/homiletics/acts/5.htm" title="Pulpit Homiletics">Homiletics</a> • <a href="/commentaries/icc/acts/5.htm" title="ICC NT Commentary">ICC</a> • <a href="/commentaries/jfb/acts/5.htm" title="Jamieson-Fausset-Brown">JFB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/kelly/acts/5.htm" title="Kelly Commentary">Kelly</a> • <a href="/commentaries/king-en/acts/5.htm" title="Kingcomments Bible Studies">King</a> • <a href="/commentaries/lange/acts/5.htm" title="Lange Commentary">Lange</a> • <a href="/commentaries/maclaren/acts/5.htm" title="MacLaren Expositions">MacLaren</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhc/acts/5.htm" title="Matthew Henry Concise">MHC</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhcw/acts/5.htm" title="Matthew Henry Full">MHCW</a> • <a href="/commentaries/meyer/acts/5.htm" title="Meyer Commentary">Meyer</a> • <a href="/commentaries/parker/acts/5.htm" title="The People's Bible by Joseph Parker">Parker</a> • <a href="/commentaries/pnt/acts/5.htm" title="People's New Testament">PNT</a> • <a href="/commentaries/poole/acts/5.htm" title="Matthew Poole">Poole</a> • <a href="/commentaries/pulpit/acts/5.htm" title="Pulpit Commentary">Pulpit</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sermon/acts/5.htm" title="Sermon Bible">Sermon</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sco/acts/5.htm" title="Scofield Reference Notes">SCO</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ttb/acts/5.htm" title="Through The Bible">TTB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/vws/acts/5.htm" title="Vincent's Word Studies">VWS</a> • <a href="/commentaries/wes/acts/5.htm" title="Wesley's Notes">WES</a> • <a href="#tsk" title="Treasury of Scripture Knowledge">TSK</a></div><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="comtype">EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/ellicott/acts/5.htm">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</a></div>(21) <span class= "bld">Early in the morning.</span>—Probably at day-break, when the worshippers would be going up to the Temple for their early devotions, or, though less probable, at the third hour, the time of the morning sacrifice.<p><span class= "bld">They that were with him.</span>—Probably those named in <a href="/acts/4-6.htm" title="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.">Acts 4:6</a>, who seem to have acted as a kind of cabinet or committee.<p><span class= "bld">All the senate</span>. . . .—Literally the word means, like senate, the assembly of old men, or elders. They are here distinguished from the Sanhedrin, which itself included elders, in the official sense of the word, and were probably a body of assessors—how chosen we do not know—specially qualified by age and experience, called in on special occasions. They may have been identical with the “whole estate of the elders” of <a href="/acts/22-5.htm" title="As also the high priest does bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters to the brothers, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound to Jerusalem, for to be punished.">Acts 22:5</a>.<p><a name="mhc" id="mhc"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/mhc/acts/5.htm">Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary</a></div>5:17-25 There is no prison so dark, so strong, but God can visit his people in it, and, if he pleases, fetch them out. Recoveries from sickness, releases out of trouble, are granted, not that we may enjoy the comforts of life, but that God may be honoured with the services of our life. It is not for the preachers of Christ's gospel to retire into corners, as long as they can have any opportunity of preaching in the great congregation. They must preach to the lowest, whose souls are as precious to Christ as the souls of the greatest. Speak to all, for all are concerned. Speak as those who resolve to stand to it, to live and die by it. Speak all the words of this heavenly, divine life, in comparison with which the present earthly life does not deserve the name. These words of life, which the Holy Ghost puts into your mouth. The words of the gospel are the words of life; words whereby we may be saved. How wretched are those who are vexed at the success of the gospel! They cannot but see that the word and power of the Lord are against them; and they tremble for the consequences, yet they will go on.<a name="bar" id="bar"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/barnes/acts/5.htm">Barnes' Notes on the Bible</a></div>Early in the morning - Greek: at the break of day. Compare <a href="/luke/24-1.htm">Luke 24:1</a>; <a href="/john/8-2.htm">John 8:2</a>.<p>Called the council together - The Sanhedrin, or the Great Council of the nation. This was clearly for the purpose of "trying" the apostles for disregarding their commandments.<p>And all the senate - Greek: "eldership." Probably these were not a part of the Sanhedrin, but were people of age and experience, who in <a href="/acts/4-8.htm">Acts 4:8</a>; <a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/25-15.htm">Acts 25:15</a>, are called "elders of the Jews," and who were present for the sake of counsel Canal advice in a case of emergency. <a name="jfb" id="jfb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/jfb/acts/5.htm">Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary</a></div>21. entered into the temple, &c.—How self-possessed! the indwelling Spirit raising them above fear.<p>called … all the senate, &c.—an unusually general convention, though hastily summoned.<div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/poole/acts/5.htm">Matthew Poole's Commentary</a></div> <span class="bld">When they heard that; </span> having received a command from God, they resolved to obey him rather than man. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">Early in the morning; </span> taking the first opportunity, though they could not but be sensible of the danger they ran into. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">The council; </span> the sanhedrim, or great council. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">The senate; </span> the judges of their inferior courts, or the chief amongst the priests or senators; either living in the city, or coming thither upon that festival occasion. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="gil" id="gil"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gill/acts/5.htm">Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible</a></div>And when they heard that,.... Or "his word", as the Arabic version supplies; that is, the word of the angel, the orders enjoined them by him, to go to the temple, and there preach the Gospel; this clause is left out in the Syriac version: <p>they entered into the temple early in the morning; they were obedient to the command of the angel, believing him to be a messenger of God, who declared his will, which they readily complied with, and were indeed eager of doing it; and therefore early in the morning, as soon as ever the temple doors were opened, and there were any people got together, they went in: <p>and taught; as the Ethiopic version adds, "the people, this word of life"; the doctrine or doctrines of the Gospel which the angel had bid them teach: <p>but the high priest came, and they that were with him: as before, to the place where the sanhedrim used to meet; either the chamber Gazith, or the shops, or some other place in Jerusalem; See Gill on <a href="/acts/4-15.htm">Acts 4:15</a>. <p>and called the council together; the sanhedrim, consisting of seventy one, which usually met at the time of the morning daily sacrifice; perhaps on this occasion they might be called together sooner, and everyone of them summoned to attend; for otherwise it was not necessary that every particular member should be present, but when there was any business of importance which required it, they were all gathered together (o): <p>and all the senate of the children of Israel; or the elders, as the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions read, the rest of the elders of the city, besides those of the great sanhedrim. Dr. Lightfoot thinks, that the two other sanhedrim, or courts of judicature in Jerusalem, which consisted of twenty three persons apiece, are designed; and who, as he rightly observes from Maimonides (p), sat the one in the gate of the court, the other in the gate of the mountain of the house; so that all the courts in Jerusalem were called together at this time; and if they all met, they made up a hundred and seventeen men: <p>and sent to the prison to have them brought; that is, "the apostles", as the Syriac version reads. The sense is, that the high priest, and those that were with him at the same time that they convened all the courts of judicature in Jerusalem together, sent their officers to the prison, to fetch the apostles; or else the sanhedrim, and senate of Israel being met, they ordered their officers to go to the common jail, and bring the apostles before them, to be examined, tried, and judged by them. <p>(o) Maimon. Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 2. sect. 1, 2.((p) Maimon. Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 1. sect. 2.<a name="gsb" id="gsb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gsb/acts/5.htm">Geneva Study Bible</a></div><span class="cverse2"><span class="cverse3">{6}</span> And when they heard <i>that</i>, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.</span><p>(6) God mocks his enemies attempts from above.</div></div><div id="centbox"><div class="padcent"><div class="comtype">EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/meyer/acts/5.htm">Meyer's NT Commentary</a></div><a href="/context/acts/5-21.htm" title="And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought....">Acts 5:21-23</a>. <span class="greekheb">Ὑπὸ τὸν ὄρθρον</span>] <span class="ital">about the dawn of day</span>. On <span class="greekheb">ὄρθρος</span>, see Lobeck, <span class="ital">ad Phryn.</span> 275 f.; and on <span class="greekheb">ὑπό</span>, used of nearness in time, see Bernhardy, p. 267. Often so in Thuc.; see Krüger on i. 100. 3. Comp. 3Ma 5:2; <a href="http://apocrypha.org/tobit/7-11.htm" title="I have given my daughter in marriage to seven men, who died that night they came in unto her: nevertheless for the present be merry. But Tobias said, I will eat nothing here, till we agree and swear one to another.">Tob 7:11</a>. The <span class="greekheb">ἀκούσαντες</span> is simply a continuation of the narrative: <span class="ital">after they heard that</span>, etc., as in <a href="/acts/2-37.htm" title="Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brothers, what shall we do?">Acts 2:37</a>, <a href="/acts/11-18.htm" title="When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then has God also to the Gentiles granted repentance to life.">Acts 11:18</a>, and frequently.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="greekheb">παραγενόμενος</span>] namely, <span class="ital">into the chamber where the Sanhedrim sat</span>, as is evident from what follows. They resorted thither, unacquainted with the liberation of the apostles which had occurred in the past night, and caused the Sanhedrim and the whole eldership to be convoked, in order to try the prisoners.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="greekheb">καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γερουσίαν</span>] The importance which they assigned to the matter (comp. on <a href="/acts/4-6.htm" title="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.">Acts 4:6</a>) induced them to summon not only those elders of the people who were likewise members of the Sanhedrim, but <span class="ital">the whole body of elders</span> generally, the whole council of representatives of the people. The well-known term <span class="greekheb">γερουσία</span> is fittingly[170] transferred from the college of the Greek <span class="ital">gerontes</span> (Dem. 489. 19; Polyb. xxxviii. 5. 1; Herm. <span class="ital">Staatsalterth.</span> § 24. 186) to that of the Jewish presbyters. Heinrichs (following Vitringa, <span class="ital">Archisynag</span>. p. 356) considers <span class="greekheb">πᾶσ</span>. <span class="greekheb">τ</span>. <span class="greekheb">γερουσ</span>. as equivalent to <span class="greekheb"><span class="bld"><span class="ital">ΤῸ ΣΥΝΈΔΡΙΟΝ</span></span></span>, to which it is added as <span class="ital">honorificentissima compellatio</span>. Warranted by usage (<a href="http://apocrypha.org/1_maccabees/12-6.htm" title="Jonathan the high priest, and the elders of the nation, and the priests, and the other of the Jews, unto the Lacedemonians their brethren send greeting:">1Ma 12:6</a>; <a href="http://apocrypha.org/2_maccabees/1-10.htm" title="In the hundred fourscore and eighth year, the people that were at Jerusalem and in Judea, and the council, and Judas, sent greeting and health unto Aristobulus, king Ptolemeus' master, who was of the stock of the anointed priests, and to the Jews that were in Egypt:">2Ma 1:10</a>; <a href="http://apocrypha.org/2_maccabees/4-44.htm" title="Now when the king came to Tyrus, three men that were sent from the senate pleaded the cause before him:">2Ma 4:44</a>; <a href="http://apocrypha.org/judith/4-8.htm" title="And the children of Israel did as Joacim the high priest had commanded them, with the ancients of all the people of Israel, which dwelt at Jerusalem.">Jdt 4:8</a>; <a href="http://apocrypha.org/judith/11-14.htm" title="For they have sent some to Jerusalem, because they also that dwell there have done the like, to bring them a licence from the senate.">Jdt 11:14</a>; <a href="http://apocrypha.org/judith/15-8.htm" title="Then Joacim the high priest, and the ancients of the children of Israel that dwelt in Jerusalem, came to behold the good things that God had shewed to Israel, and to see Judith, and to salute her.">Jdt 15:8</a>; Loesner, p. 178); but after the quite definite and well-known <span class="greekheb">τὸ συνέδριον</span>, the addition would have no force.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/acts/5-23.htm" title="Saying, The prison truly found we shut with all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within.">Acts 5:23</a> contains quite the artless expression of the official report.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>[170] Although nowhere else in the N. T.; hence here, perhaps, to be derived from the <span class="ital">source</span> used by Luke.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/egt/acts/5.htm">Expositor's Greek Testament</a></div><a href="/acts/5-21.htm" title="And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.">Acts 5:21</a>. <span class="greekheb">ὑπὸ τὸν ὄρθρον</span>, “about day-break,” R.V., <span class="ital">i.e.</span>, without delay they obeyed the angel’s command (Weiss). The words may also indicate the customary usage of Palestine where the heat was great in the daytime. The people rose early and came to our Lord to hear Him, <a href="/luke/21-38.htm" title="And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, for to hear him.">Luke 21:38</a> (<a href="/john/8-2.htm" title="And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him; and he sat down, and taught them.">John 8:2</a>). <span class="greekheb">ὑπὸ</span> = <span class="ital">sub, circa</span> (of time), so in classical Greek, Blass, <span class="ital">Grammatik des N. G.</span>, p. 132. The first sacrifice took place in the Temple very early, Edersheim, <span class="ital">Temple and its Services</span>, p. 132, and it may be that the Apostles went to catch the people at the hour of their early devotions (Plumptre).—<span class="greekheb">ὑπό</span> is used nowhere else in the N.T. with an accusative in this sense, <span class="ital">cf.</span> <a href="http://apocrypha.org/tobit/7-11.htm" title="I have given my daughter in marriage to seven men, who died that night they came in unto her: nevertheless for the present be merry. But Tobias said, I will eat nothing here, till we agree and swear one to another.">Tob 7:11</a>, , <span class="ital">al</span>; <span class="greekheb">ὑπὸ τὴν νύκτα</span>, 3Ma 5:2—<span class="greekheb">παραγενόμενος</span>: having come, <span class="ital">i.e.</span>, to the place where the Sadducees met, not merely pleonastic; the verb may fairly be regarded as characteristic of St. Luke in both his writings—it occurs eight times in his Gospel and thirty in the Acts, and frequently absolutely as here—elsewhere in N.T. only eight or nine times, frequent in LXX.—<span class="greekheb">τὸ συνέδριον καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γερουσίαν</span>: does <span class="greekheb">γερουσία</span> represent an assembly or body in addition to the <span class="greekheb">συνέδριον</span>, or do the two words represent the same Court? The word <span class="greekheb">γερ</span>. appears nowhere else in the N.T., but in the LXX it is used in several places of the Jewish Sanhedrim, <a href="http://apocrypha.org/1_maccabees/12-6.htm" title="Jonathan the high priest, and the elders of the nation, and the priests, and the other of the Jews, unto the Lacedemonians their brethren send greeting:">1Ma 12:6</a>, <a href="http://apocrypha.org/2_maccabees/1-10.htm" title="In the hundred fourscore and eighth year, the people that were at Jerusalem and in Judea, and the council, and Judas, sent greeting and health unto Aristobulus, king Ptolemeus' master, who was of the stock of the anointed priests, and to the Jews that were in Egypt:">2Ma 1:10</a>; <a href="http://apocrypha.org/2_maccabees/4-44.htm" title="Now when the king came to Tyrus, three men that were sent from the senate pleaded the cause before him:">2Ma 4:44</a>; <a href="http://apocrypha.org/2_maccabees/11-27.htm" title="And the letter of the king unto the nation of the Jews was after this manner: King Antiochus sendeth greeting unto the council, and the rest of the Jews:">2Ma 11:27</a>, <a href="/judges/4-8.htm" title="And Barak said to her, If you will go with me, then I will go: but if you will not go with me, then I will not go.">Jdg 4:8</a>; <a href="/judges/14-4.htm" title="But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.">Jdg 14:4</a>; <a href="/judges/15-8.htm" title="And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelled in the top of the rock Etam.">Jdg 15:8</a>. In the N.T. the Sanhedrim is also called <span class="greekheb">πρεσβυτέριον</span>, <a href="/luke/22-66.htm" title="And as soon as it was day, the elders of the people and the chief priests and the scribes came together, and led him into their council, saying,">Luke 22:66</a>, <a href="/acts/22-5.htm" title="As also the high priest does bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters to the brothers, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound to Jerusalem, for to be punished.">Acts 22:5</a>. If the two words denote the same body <span class="greekheb">καὶ</span> must be regarded as merely explicative (so Wendt as against Meyer) to emphasise the solemn importance and representative nature of the assembly (so Grimm-Thayer to signify the full Sanhedrim <span class="ital">sub v.</span> <span class="greekheb">γερ</span>. and so apparently Blass). If we adopt Rendall’s view <span class="greekheb">καί</span> may still be explicative, but in another way, specifying the comprehensive character of this meeting as compared with the hasty and informal gathering in <a href="/context/acts/4-5.htm" title="And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes,...">Acts 4:5-6</a> (<span class="ital">cf.</span> Kuinoel’s view, <span class="ital">in loco</span>). The difficulty has caused others to suggest that <span class="greekheb">γερ</span>. refers to men of age and experience who were asked to join the Council as assessors, or to some other assembly larger than the Sanhedrim and only summoned on special occasions. For the former view, Lumby and Plumptre (see also Page’s note) refer to Mishna, <span class="ital">Joma</span>, i., 1, where mention is made of “the chamber of the assessors,” <span class="ital">parhedrin</span> = <span class="greekheb">πάρεδροι</span>. Further we may note, Schürer, <span class="ital">Jewish People</span>, div. ii., vol. i., p. 172, E.T., in a note on this passage points out that as there can be no doubt as to the identity of the two conceptions <span class="greekheb">συνέδριον</span> and <span class="greekheb">γερουσία</span> (so too Zöckler and Weiss, <span class="ital">in loco</span>), <span class="greekheb">καί</span> must be taken as explanatory, or St. Luke makes a mistake in assuming that the <span class="greekheb">συνέδριον</span> was of a less comprehensive character than the <span class="greekheb">γερουσία</span>, “the Sanhedrin and all the elders of the people together”. Schürer prefers the latter alternative, but the former may reasonably be maintained not only from the Greek text but also because St. Luke’s information admittedly derived from a Jewish-Christian source is not likely to have been inaccurate. Hilgenfeld agrees with Weiss that in the source the O.T. expression <span class="greekheb">γερουσία</span>, <a href="/exodus/3-16.htm" title="Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt:">Exodus 3:16</a>; <a href="/exodus/4-29.htm" title="And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel:">Exodus 4:29</a>; <a href="/exodus/12-21.htm" title="Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said to them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover.">Exodus 12:21</a>, stood alone, but that the reviser prefixed the usual expression <span class="greekheb">συνέδριον</span> which in <a href="/acts/5-27.htm" title="And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,">Acts 5:27</a>; <a href="/acts/5-34.htm" title="Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space;">Acts 5:34</a> is found without any addition. On “Synhedrion,” see Hamburger, <span class="ital">Real-Encyclopädie des Judentums</span>, ii., 8, 1149, and “Aelteste,” i., 1, pp. 59, 60, and O. Holtzmann, <span class="ital">Neutestamentliche Zeitgeschichte</span>, pp. 175, 176 (1895).—<span class="greekheb">δεσμωτήριον</span>, <a href="/acts/16-26.htm" title="And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.">Acts 16:26</a>; Thuc. vi. 60 and LXX, <a href="/context/genesis/39-20.htm" title="And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison....">Genesis 39:20-23</a>; <a href="/context/genesis/40-3.htm" title="And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound....">Genesis 40:3-5</a>. On the jurisdiction of the Sanhedrim and its right to order arrests by its own officers, and to dispose of cases not involving capital punishment, Schürer, <span class="ital">Jewish People</span>, div. ii., vol. i., 187, 188, E.T., O. Holtzmann, <span class="ital">u. s.</span>, p. 173.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/cambridge/acts/5.htm">Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges</a></div><span class="bld">21</span>. <span class="ital">early in the morning</span>] The words indicate a time as soon as possible after day dawn. They lost no time in obeying the command. How early it was possible for them to come to the Temple we find from the directions in the Talmud concerning the morning sacrifice. It is said (Mishna <span class="ital">Joma</span> iii. 1), “The Memunneh (see note on <a href="/acts/4-1.htm" title="And as they spoke to the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came on them,">Acts 4:1</a>) said to them: Go ye out (on to the Temple wall or roof) and see whether the time for killing the sacrifice has arrived. If it had arrived, the out-looker said, ‘It has flashed forth’ (i.e. day has dawned). Matthia ben Shemuel said [that the form of question was] ‘Has the whole face of the east become lit up as far as to Hebron? And the man answered, Yes.’ So that the first sacrifice took place at the very peep of day.” A like explanation is found Mishna <span class="ital">Tamid</span> iii. 2.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">But the high priest came</span>] i.e. into the council chamber, to consult on what should be done with the prisoners, of whose release they had as yet heard nothing.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">called the council together</span>] This was evidently deemed a case of the utmost consequence, and all pains are bestowed to gather to the hearing the combined wisdom of the whole authorities, for now, as is seen from Gamaliel’s presence, not Sadducees alone were called. The word here rendered <span class="ital">council</span> means probably the smaller Sanhedrin.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">and all the senate of the children of Israel</span>] Senate is here used in its original sense = the older men, and is a literal rendering of the Greek <span class="ital">gerousia</span>, meaning the great Sanhedrin of 71 elders. The name indicates that these were assessors added to the council by reason of their age and weight of character. We find from the Jewish literature that such assessors were often appointed. In the extract Mishna <span class="ital">Joma</span> i. 1, quoted on <a href="/acts/4-6.htm" title="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.">Acts 4:6</a>, the word for “assessors” is <span class="ital">parhedrin</span>, i.e. the Greek <span class="greekheb">πάρεδροι</span>, and the adoption of such a word into the Jewish vocabulary shews that the office was not Jewish in origin but had become so firmly grafted among them as to justify the adoption of a foreign expression to describe it.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/bengel/acts/5.htm">Bengel's Gnomen</a></div><a href="/acts/5-21.htm" title="And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.">Acts 5:21</a>. <span class="greekheb">Γερουσίαν</span>) A word of the Septuagint.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="pul" id="pul"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/pulpit/acts/5.htm">Pulpit Commentary</a></div><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 21.</span> <span class="accented">- This</span> for t<span class="accented">hat</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">about day. break</span> for <span class="accented">early in the morning</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">prison-house</span> for <span class="accented">prison</span>, A.V. About daybreak. In the hot climate of Jerusalem people are about very early in the meriting (comp. <a href="/matthew/26-57.htm">Matthew 26:57, 75</a>). But the high priest, etc. The narrative would run more clearly if the passage were translated more literally, <span class="accented">Now when the high priest and they that were with him were come</span> (to the council-chamber the next day) <span class="accented">they called together</span>, etc. The narrative is taken up from vers. 17, 18. Having (ver. 18) put the apostles in prison, they met the next morning to decide how to punish them. The council (<span class="greek">τὸ συνέδριον</span>); <span class="accented">i.e.</span> in the Hebraeo-Greek, <span class="accented">the Sanhedrim</span>, the great council of the nation, consisting of seventy-two members, usually presided over by the high priest. It is frequently mentioned in the New Testament (<a href="/matthew/5-22.htm">Matthew 5:22</a>; <a href="/matthew/26-59.htm">Matthew 26:59</a>; <a href="/mark/14-55.htm">Mark 14:55</a>, etc.; and <a href="/acts/22-30.htm">Acts 22:30</a>; <a href="/acts/23-1.htm">Acts 23:1</a>, etc.; above <a href="/acts/4-15.htm">Acts 4:15</a>). On the present occasion, besides the members of the Sanhedrim, there were gathered together <span class="cmt_word">all the senate</span> (<span class="greek">γερουσία</span>) <span class="accented"><span class="cmt_word"></span>of the children of Israel</span>, an expression which occurs only here, but which seems to comprise all the <span class="accented">elders</span> of the Jews, even though they were not members of the Sanhedrim. But some (Schleusner, Heinrich, etc.) understand it as merely another phrase for the Sanhedrim, added for explanation and amplification. The council, of course, were ignorant of the escape of the prisoners. The prison-house (<span class="greek">δεσμωτήριον</span>); "prison" (A.V.) represents <span class="greek">φυλακή</span> in the next verse. Acts 5:21<a name="vws" id="vws"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/vws/acts/5.htm">Vincent's Word Studies</a></div>Early in the morning (ὑπὸ τὸν ὄρθρον)<p>Ὑπό, beneath, is often used in the sense of just about, or near. Ὄρθρον, is from ὄρνυμι, to cause to arise: the dawn. See on <a href="/luke/24-1.htm">Luke 24:1</a>. Render as Rev., about daybreak.<p>Taught (ἐδίδασκον)<p>Imperfect: began teaching.<p>The council (συνέδριον)<p>The Sanhedrim.<p>The senate (γερουσίαν)<p>From γέρων, an old man, like the Latin senatus, from senex, old. Taking on very early an official sense, the notion of age being merged in that of dignity. Thus in Homer γέροντες are the chiefs who form the king's council. Compare the Latin patres, fathers, the title used in addressing the Roman senate. The word in this passage is the name of the Spartan assembly, Gerousia, the assembly of elders, consisting of thirty members, with the two kings. "The well-known term," as Meyer remarks, "is fittingly transferred from the college of the Greek gerontes to that of the Jewish presbyters." They summoned, not only those elders of the people who were likewise members of the Sanhedrim, but the whole council (all the senate) of the representatives of the people.<p>Prison (δεσμωτήριον)<p>Still another word for prison. Compare <a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/5-18.htm">Acts 5:18</a>, <a href="/acts/5-19.htm">Acts 5:19</a>. Rev., prison-house. The different words emphasize different aspects of confinement. Τήρησις is keeping, as the result of guarding. See on <a href="/acts/5-18.htm">Acts 5:18</a>. 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