Acts 5:24 - Exposition

The captain of the temple for the high priest and the captain, etc., A.V. and T.R.; words for things, A.V.; were much perplexed concerning them for doubted of them, A.V. The captain of the temple , etc. Meyer, followed by Alford, retains the T.R., in which the word for the high priest is ὁ ἱερεὺς . It is true that this word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament for "the high priest." But in the Old Testament נהֵךֹ is very frequently used to designate the high priest, as Exodus 29:30 ; Exodus 35:19 ; Numbers 3:32 ; 2 Chronicles 22:11 ; 2 Kings 22:10 ; I Kings 2 Kings 1:8 , etc.; and in such places is represented by ἱερεὺς in the LXX . So that St. Luke may very probably have used it here where the context made the meaning clear, and where he intended to use the word ἀρχιερεῖς for "the chief priests." For the captain, see above ( Acts 4:1 , note). He was especially interested as being, probably, the officer who had arrested the apostles the day before. Were much perplexed concerning . The verb ( διαπορέω ), which only occurs in the New Testament here and Acts 2:12 , Acts 10:17 , Luke 9:7 , and (in the middle voice) Luke 24:4 , means properly "to be in doubt which road to take," hence generally to be in doubt, perplexity. Them may apply either to the words, the strange things just reported to them, or to the apostles about whom the things were reported. It seems most natural to refer it to the words. They were in doubt and perplexity as to what it would all grow to.