if we are examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed,
Parallel Translations
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if we are examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed,
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yf we this daye are examined of the good dede done to the sycke man by what meanes he is made whoale:
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For as much as we this day are examined of the good deede done to the impotent man, to wit, by what meanes he is made whole,
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Acts 4:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Acts 3:7 He took him by the right hand and raised him up. Immediately his feet and his ankle bones received strength.
- 1 Peter 3:15-17 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. Always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, with humility and fear, having a good conscience. Thus, while you are spoken against as evildoers, they may be disappointed who curse your good way of life in Christ. For it is better, if it is God’s will, that you suffer for doing well than for doing evil.
- John 10:32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?”
- John 7:23 If a boy receives circumcision on the Sabbath, that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me, because I made a man completely healthy on the Sabbath?
- 1 Peter 4:14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed; because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. On their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 9. If we be judged. Undoubtedly Peter layeth tyranny…
9. If we be judged. Undoubtedly Peter layeth tyranny to the charge of the priests and the scribes, because they examine them unjustly concerning a benefit which deserveth praise, as if he and his fellow had committed some heinous offense. If, saith he, we be accused for this cause, because we have made a sick man whole. Peter hath in this place more respect unto the wicked affection of the mind than unto the very order of the question. For if, under color of a miracle, the apostles would have drawn away the people from the true and sincere worship of God, they should have been worthily called to answer for themselves; because religion doth far excel all the good things of this present life. But seeing they (having no cause at all) did wickedly make an offense of that which they ought to have honored, Peter, being supported with this confidence, doth at the first gird them wittily with a taunting preface, because they sit as judges to condemn good deeds. Yet he toucheth this point but lightly, that he may pass over unto the matter.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Wolves which succeed true pastors plead their own cause,…
Wolves which succeed true pastors plead their own cause, and not God’s neither the Churches’.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 9 If we this day be examined of the…
9 If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;
Ver. 9. If we this day be examined of the good deed] q.d. Evil times we must needs say they are, when good deeds and evil are dangerous alike; when to cure or to kill is equally criminal. "Should I not visit for these things, saith the Lord?" &c. Bede said of the ancient Britons, immediately before their destruction by the Saxons, that they were come to that height of wickedness, as to cast an odium upon pious and profitable persons, tanquam in adversarios, as if they had been public enemies, not fit to be endured.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Examined; juridically called in question; it is a forensic…
Examined; juridically called in question; it is a forensic word.
Of the good deed; though they disputed not the authority of the court, yet they assert their integrity; that it was no other than a good deed they had done, which rulers ought not to be a terror unto, Rom 8:3.
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By what means, that is, in the words of the question which was propounded unto them, Act 4:7, by what power, or by what name, he is made whole?
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain If we this day be examined of the good…
If we this day be examined of the good deed,.... Or "seeing" we are; for it was not a matter of doubt, but a clear case, that they were brought into court, and were passing under an examination, about the cure of the lame man; which the apostle rightly calls a
good deed, it being done in faith, and to the glory of God, and for the good of the man; and hereby tacitly suggests, that they were dealt very hardly with, to be seized and kept in custody, and be called in question, for doing an action so beneficent and kind, as this was, which was
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done to the impotent man; who could not help himself, nor get his bread any other way, than by begging:
by what means he is made whole; restored to perfect health, and the proper use of his limbs; that is, by what power, and in what name this was done; the answer is ready, and it is as follows.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 9. The good deed done] επι ευεργεσια, The…
Verse 9. The good deed done] επι ευεργεσια, The benefit he has received in being restored to perfect soundness.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain If we this day - If as is the…
If we this day - If as is the fact; or since we are thus examined.
Examined - Questioned; if the purpose is to institute an inquiry into this case, or since it is the purpose to institute such an inquiry.
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The good deed - The act of benevolence; the benefit conferred on an infirm man. He assumes that it was undeniable that the deed had been done.
To the impotent man - To this man who was infirm or lame. The man was then present, Act 4:10, Act 4:14. He may have been arrested with the apostles; or he may have been present as a spectator; or, as Neander supposes, he may have been summoned as a witness.
By what means - This was the real point of the inquiry. The fact that he had been made whole was not denied. The only question was whether it had been done by the authority and power of Jesus of Nazareth, as Peter declared it to be, Act 3:6, Act 3:16.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 9. If we… be—Rather, since we are.
9. If we… be—Rather, since we are.
Good deed—Their misdeed is a good deed. There might seem a gentle sarcasm in this expression, but there was a warning and awakening truth.
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Made whole—The Greek word is Σεσωσται; the same word as is rendered saved in Act_4:12, and should have been so rendered here.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 9. if we this day be examined of the…
9. if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man] Both the nouns are without the article. Read “a good deed done to an impotent man.” Of = concerning, as we still use it in “to speak of.” St Peter’s words imply that perhaps there would be some other charge brought against them, for teachers of a new doctrine who had in a brief space gained five thousand followers must have attracted much notice in Jerusalem. Nor is it long before we hear (Act_6:13) blasphemy “against the Temple and the law” laid to the charge of Stephen, whose preaching (for this accusation precedes Stephen’s defence) must have been of the same character as that of Peter and John.
by what means he is made whole] The Greek has this (man), the demonstrative pronoun, for the man was there in the council-house to be seen by all. See Act_4:14.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (9) If we this day be examined.—The word is…
(9) If we this day be examined.—The word is employed in its technical sense of a judicial inter rogation, as in Luk_23:14. It is used by St. Luke and St. Paul (Act_12:19; Act_24:8; 1Co_2:14-15; 1Co_4:3-4), and by them only, in the New Testament.
Of the good deed.—Strictly, the act of beneficence. There is a manifest emphasis on the word as contrasted with the contemptuous “this thing” of the question. It meets us again in 1Ti_6:2.
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By what means he is made whole.—Better, this man. The pronoun assumes the presence of the man who had been made able to walk. (Comp. Joh_9:15.) The verb, as in our Lord’s words, “Thy faith hath made thee whole” (Mar_10:52; Luk_7:50), has a pregnant, underlying meaning, suggesting the thought of a spiritual as well as bodily restoration.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Are for be, A.V.; concerning a (good deed) for…
Are for be, A.V.; concerning a (good deed) for of the, A.V.; an (impotent) for the, A.V.; this man for he, A.V. We; eraphatic, probably in response to the emphatic "you" at the end of ver. 7. An impotent man. The following outov, this man, makes it necessary to supply the definite article, as the A.V. has done. St. Peter alludes to the good deed, i.e. the benefit done to the lame man, being the subject of a criminal inquiry, as a tacit condemnation of the unrighteousness of such a course.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 9. If we this day be examined of the…
9. If we this day be examined of the good deed. Observe Peter's point, that they are prisoners on trial for a good deed.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain See notes on verse 8
See notes on verse 8
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.