Acts 4:2 kjv
Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
Acts 4:2 nkjv
being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
Acts 4:2 niv
They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.
Acts 4:2 esv
greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
Acts 4:2 nlt
These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead.
Acts 4 2 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Psa 2:1-2 | Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed... | Opposition against God's anointed and His messengers. |
| Mt 23:29-36 | "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them...'" | Religious leaders persecuting prophets, anticipating persecution of disciples. |
| Lk 6:22-23 | "Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven..." | Suffering for Christ's name and message. |
| Jn 7:48-49 | "Has any of the authorities or any of the Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed." | Scorn of religious leaders towards the common people believing in Jesus. |
| Jn 11:47-48 | "What are we to do? For this Man performs many signs. If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." | Fear of losing control due to Jesus's influence on the people. |
| Jn 16:2-3 | "They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And these things they will do because they have not known the Father, nor me." | Persecution arising from religious ignorance and zeal. |
| Acts 1:8 | "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." | Empowered witness, contrasting with the opposition they faced. |
| Acts 2:24 | "God raised Him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it." | Peter's prior emphasis on God's act of resurrection. |
| Acts 2:32 | "This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses." | Peter's consistent witness to the resurrection. |
| Acts 3:15 | "and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses." | Peter directly confronts the authorities about their role in killing Jesus. |
| Acts 5:28 | "We strictly charged you not to teach in this Name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this Man's blood upon us." | The Sanhedrin's command against teaching and the disciples' defiance. |
| Acts 5:40 | "...and they called in the apostles and flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go." | Continued official efforts to silence the proclamation of Jesus. |
| Acts 5:42 | "And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ." | The disciples' persistence in teaching despite persecution. |
| Acts 7:51-53 | "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?..." | Stephen's indictment of the Jewish leadership's history of rejecting God's messengers. |
| Acts 13:45 | "But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling Him." | Similar reaction of jealousy and opposition to public teaching. |
| Acts 17:18 | "Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also encountered Him. And some said, 'What does this babbler wish to say?' Others said, 'He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign divinities'—because He was preaching Jesus and the resurrection." | The teaching of resurrection as controversial, even among Gentiles. |
| Acts 23:6-8 | "But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, He cried out in the council, 'Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.'" | The doctrinal split between Sadducees and Pharisees on resurrection. |
| Acts 24:15 | "...having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust." | Belief in resurrection, a core Christian and some Jewish tenet. |
| Acts 26:23 | "that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, He would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles." | Resurrection as central to Christ's identity and mission. |
| 1 Cor 1:23 | "but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles," | The message of Christ (including resurrection) as offensive to many. |
| 1 Cor 15:3-4 | "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures..." | Resurrection as a foundational truth of the Christian faith. |
| 1 Pet 4:12-16 | "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you... If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed..." | Expectation of suffering for bearing Christ's name. |
| 2 Tim 3:12 | "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted," | Persecution as an expected reality for those following Christ. |
Acts 4 verses
Acts 4 2 Meaning
Acts 4:2 states the core reasons for the severe displeasure of the temple authorities and Sadducees: Peter and John were actively engaged in publicly instructing the common people and emphatically declaring the reality of the resurrection from the dead, specifically grounded in the person of Jesus. This act challenged the religious establishment's control over teaching, defied their specific theological stance on resurrection, and powerfully affirmed the central claim of Jesus's Messiahship through His victory over death.
Acts 4 2 Context
This verse immediately follows the description of the temple guards, Sadducees, and leading priests confronting Peter and John in the temple courts. The preceding events in Acts 3 highlight the miraculous healing of a lame man by Peter and John "in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth," followed by Peter's bold sermon to the amazed crowd. In this sermon, Peter explicitly charges the Jewish leaders with the death of Jesus, whom God resurrected. Therefore, the authorities' arrival is not arbitrary; it's a direct reaction to the public display of divine power and the confrontational message. Their anger stems from two primary points detailed in this verse, which directly threaten their authority, theological framework (especially the Sadducees' denial of resurrection), and social control within Judaism. This anger leads directly to Peter and John's arrest and interrogation.
Acts 4 2 Word Analysis
- being greatly annoyed (Greek: διαπονούμενοι, diaponoumenoi): This word is a strong participle, conveying deep vexation, annoyance, or even anguish. It suggests not just slight displeasure, but an intense internal churning and indignation. The authorities felt this disturbance acutely, seeing the disciples' actions as a direct affront. It implies a sense of burdensome pain or trouble caused by the disciples.
- because (Greek: διά, dia + accusative): A clear indicator of causality. The anger was directly caused by what followed, establishing a strong cause-and-effect relationship.
- they were teaching (Greek: διδάσκειν, didaskein): Implies an ongoing, public activity of instruction. The disciples weren't just making a statement; they were actively educating. This challenged the Sanhedrin's exclusive right to authorize teaching within the temple precincts and the Jewish community, especially on matters of divine truth.
- the people (Greek: τὸν λαόν, ton laon): Refers to the common folk, the general populace, not just a select group of followers. The fact that the disciples were teaching the people signifies a widespread influence that concerned the authorities, as popular movements could lead to unrest or challenge the established order.
- and proclaiming (Greek: καταγγέλλειν, katangellein): This verb means "to declare fully," "to proclaim loudly," or "to announce definitively." It denotes a public, authoritative, and unambiguous declaration of news or truth. It complements "teaching" by emphasizing the nature of their message – it was a bold public announcement.
- in Jesus (Greek: ἐν τῷ Ἰησοῦ, en tō Iēsou): This prepositional phrase indicates the person in whom, by whom, or on account of whom the resurrection occurred and was proclaimed. It stresses that Jesus Himself was the subject, the proof, and the foundation of this resurrection message. It points to Christ as the object and source of this particular resurrection, making it profoundly different from any theoretical resurrection doctrine.
- the resurrection from the dead (Greek: τὴν ἀνάστασιν τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν, tēn anastasin tēn ek nekrōn): This phrase names the central, controversial doctrine. "Resurrection" (anastasis) literally means "standing up again." "From the dead" (ek nekrōn) emphasizes a genuine return from a state of death. The Sadducees explicitly denied the resurrection of the dead (Acts 23:8), a core belief of the Pharisees and foundational to Christian theology. The public proclamation of this specific truth, linked directly to Jesus, was therefore a direct theological challenge to the Sadducees.
Acts 4 2 Bonus section
- Sadducee Opposition: The Sadducees' specific opposition to the resurrection was primarily theological, but it also had socio-political implications. As the ruling priestly class, they collaborated with Roman authorities and sought to maintain stability, fearing any Messianic movement or new doctrine that might incite unrest. The resurrection of Jesus, affirming His Messiahship, was viewed as profoundly disruptive.
- Polemics against Contemporary Beliefs: This verse exemplifies a direct theological polemic against the Sadducean denial of the afterlife. It was not merely a differing opinion but a challenge to their core doctrinal framework and source of power.
- Challenge to Official Narratives: The authorities had attempted to suppress the truth about Jesus's resurrection, even bribing the guards who witnessed it (Mt 28:11-15). The apostles' public teaching directly undermined this narrative control.
- God's Kingdom vs. Human Systems: The disciples were acting under divine commission and Spirit-empowerment (Acts 1:8, Acts 2:4). The authorities were reacting out of fear and human desire to maintain power, illustrating the inevitable conflict between God's advancing kingdom and resistant human religious systems.
Acts 4 2 Commentary
The profound annoyance of the Jewish religious authorities in Acts 4:2 arose from a clash of authority, theology, and power. Firstly, Peter and John, mere fishermen from Galilee, presumed to "teach" the crowds within the Temple, a privilege the Sanhedrin considered exclusively theirs. This was an affront to their established order and control over religious instruction. Secondly, the specific content of their teaching, "the resurrection from the dead," was highly contentious. The dominant faction within the priestly class, the Sadducees, explicitly denied any form of resurrection, angels, or spirits, basing their theology solely on the Pentateuch. The assertion of a real, personal resurrection, particularly that of Jesus, not only directly contradicted their fundamental doctrine but also validated the very "Christ" they had condemned and crucified. The resurrection of Jesus was the pivotal event that affirmed His divine identity and mission, rendering the authority of those who denied it obsolete. The fact that they proclaimed it "in Jesus" highlighted that He was not merely a teacher who died, but the Lord over life and death, empowering the apostles and sparking faith in the common people. This public proclamation, coupled with a miracle (Acts 3:6-8) attributed to this very risen Jesus, posed an existential threat to their religious, political, and social dominance over the Jewish populace.