Acts 3:17

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 3:17-18

Man's ruling and God's overruling. St. Peter admits that the rejection of Christ was done through ignorance, but he does not allow that this is a sufficient excuse. Ignorance has many degrees, and may arise from many causes. It may be willful. It may be a consequence of cherished prejudices, and then it is guilty ignorance. "The Jewish multitude were ignorant from want of teaching, their rulers from mental perverseness in looking only on one part of the prophecies concerning the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Acts 3:17

And now, brethren - Though they had been guilty of a crime so enormous, yet Peter shows the tenderness of his heart in addressing them still as his brethren. He regarded them as of the same nation with himself; as having the same hopes, and as being entitled to the same privileges. The expression also shows that he was not disposed to exalt himself as being by nature more holy than they. This verse is a remarkable instance of tenderness in appealing to sinners. It would have been easy to have... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Acts 3:17-18

Acts 3:17-18. And now, brethren A word full of courtesy and compassion; I wot That is, I know: here he speaks to their hearts; that through ignorance ye did it Which lessened, though it could not annihilate, the guilt of your conduct; as did also your rulers The prejudice lying from the authority of the chief priests and elders, he here endeavours to remove, but with great tenderness. He does not call them our, but your rulers. For as the Jewish dispensation ceased at the death... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Acts 3:1-26

3:1-5:42 RAPID GROWTH AND GREAT POPULARITYPreaching in the temple (3:1-26)On one of their visits to the temple, Peter and John healed a crippled beggar. The man had been lying at the gate that led from the outer public court to the inner courts where only Jews were allowed, but as soon as he was healed he followed the apostles into the temple, jumping and praising God (3:1-10).After prayer the three men returned to the public court, where they found that a crowd of curious onlookers had... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Acts 3:17

wot = know, as in Acts 3:16 . through = according to. Greek. kata. App-104 . did also, &c. = your rulers also (did). Compare Luke 23:34 . read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Acts 3:17

And now, brethren, I know that in ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. But the things which God foreshadowed by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, be thus fulfilled.In ignorance ye did it ... This extenuation of the guilt of Israel was mentioned by Peter for the sake of a more persuasive appeal to his hearers; and, of course, what Peter said of their being ignorant is true. However, Peter was not specific about the area of their ignorance, which was limited,... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Acts 3:17

Acts 3:17. I wot that through ignorance— I know,—I am sensible, &c. Probably if it had not been so, they would have been immediately destroyed, or reserved to vengeance, without any offer of pardon. Yet it is plain that their ignorance, being in itselfhighly criminal, amid such means of information, did not excuse them from very great guilt. See the note on John 9:41. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Acts 3:17

17-21. And now, brethren—Our preacher, like his Master, "will not break the bruised reed." His heaviest charges are prompted by love, which now hastens to assuage the wounds it was necessary to inflict. I wot—"know." through ignorance ye did it—(See marginal references, Luke 23:34; Acts 13:27; Acts 26:9). read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Acts 3:1-31

1. External opposition 3:1-4:31Opposition to the Christians’ message first came from external sources, particularly the leaders of Judaism. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Acts 3:11-26

Peter’s address in Solomon’s colonnade 3:11-26As is often true in Acts, an event led to an explanation (cf. ch. 2)."It seems strange, at first glance, that in his narrative Luke would place two such similar sermons of Peter so close together. But his putting the Pentecost sermon in the introductory section of Acts was evidently meant to be a kind of paradigm of early apostolic preaching-a paradigm Luke seems to have polished for greater literary effectiveness. As for the Colonnade sermon, Luke... read more

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