Acts 3:14

But ye denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted unto you, and killed the Prince of Life; whom God raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses.

Asked for a murderer ... This was another factor that aggravated the guilt of Israel, and it was proper that Peter should have mentioned it here. The choice of Barabbas by the Jewish populace was as tragic an event as ever occurred, for it was part and parcel of the rejection and crucifixion of Jesus. The consequences of it were also of colossal proportions. Within a generation, an entire company of the most reprobate robbers infested Jerusalem, taking charge of the temple itself, and filling the Holy of Holies with dead bodies. This is fully discussed in my Commentary on Mark, Mark 13:2.

The Prince of Life ... This pleasing expression is actually a mistranslation, the true reading being "Author of Life Eternal."[11] McGarvey also supported this translation, pointing out that the word here rendered "Prince" also occurs in Hebrews 5:9,12:2, where it is properly translated "Author."[12]

Whom God raised from the dead ... As always, the burden of apostolic preaching was the resurrection of the Son of God; and here Peter stressed it, together with the fact of the apostles being witnesses of it.

[11] Alexander Campbell, op. cit., p. 22.

[12] J. W. McGarvey, op. cit., p. 53.