KJV: And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?
YLT: and Peter having seen, answered unto the people, 'Men, Israelites! why wonder ye at this? or on us why look ye so earnestly, as if by our own power or piety we have made him to walk?
Darby: And Peter, seeing it, answered the people, Men of Israel, why are ye astonished at this? or why do ye gaze on us as if we had by our own power or piety made him to walk?
ASV: And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this man? or why fasten ye your eyes on us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him to walk?
| ἰδὼν | Having seen [it] |
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Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular Root: εἶδον Sense: to see with the eyes. |
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| δὲ | however |
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Parse: Conjunction Root: δέ Sense: but, moreover, and, etc. |
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| ὁ | - |
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Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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| Πέτρος | Peter |
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Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular Root: Πέτρος Sense: one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. |
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| ἀπεκρίνατο | answered |
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Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Middle, 3rd Person Singular Root: ἀποκρίνομαι Sense: to give an answer to a question proposed, to answer. |
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| λαόν | people |
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Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular Root: λαός Sense: a people, people group, tribe, nation, all those who are of the same stock and language. |
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| Ἄνδρες | Men |
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Parse: Noun, Vocative Masculine Plural Root: ἀνήρ Sense: with reference to sex. |
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| Ἰσραηλῖται | Israelites |
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Parse: Noun, Vocative Masculine Plural Root: Ἰσραηλίτης Sense: an Israelite, one of the race of Israel, a name to be held in honour. |
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| τί | why |
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Parse: Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun, Accusative Neuter Singular Root: τίς Sense: who, which, what. |
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| θαυμάζετε | wonder you |
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Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 2nd Person Plural Root: ἐκθαυμάζω Sense: to wonder, wonder at, marvel. |
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| ἐπὶ | at |
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Parse: Preposition Root: ἐπί Sense: upon, on, at, by, before. |
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| τούτῳ | this |
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Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Dative Neuter Singular Root: οὗτος Sense: this. |
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| ἡμῖν | on us |
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Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative 1st Person Plural Root: ἐγώ Sense: I, me, my. |
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| ἀτενίζετε | you look intently |
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Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 2nd Person Plural Root: ἀτενίζω Sense: to fix the eyes on, gaze upon. |
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| ὡς | as if |
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Parse: Adverb Root: ὡς Sense: as, like, even as, etc. |
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| ἰδίᾳ | by [our] own |
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Parse: Adjective, Dative Feminine Singular Root: ἴδιος Sense: pertaining to one’s self, one’s own, belonging to one’s self. |
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| δυνάμει | power |
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Parse: Noun, Dative Feminine Singular Root: δύναμις Sense: strength power, ability. |
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| εὐσεβείᾳ | godliness |
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Parse: Noun, Dative Feminine Singular Root: εὐσέβεια Sense: reverence, respect. |
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| πεποιηκόσιν | [we] have made |
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Parse: Verb, Perfect Participle Active, Dative Masculine Plural Root: ποιέω Sense: to make. |
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| τοῦ | - |
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Parse: Article, Genitive Neuter Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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| περιπατεῖν | to walk |
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Parse: Verb, Present Infinitive Active Root: περιπατέω Sense: to walk. |
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Greek Commentary for Acts 3:12
First aorist middle indicative. The people looked their amazement and Peter answered that. [source]
Covenant name and so conciliatory, the stock of Israel (Philemon 3:5). At this man (επι τουτωι epi toutōi). Probably so, though it could be “at this thing.” Fasten you your eyes The very verb used about Peter in Acts 3:4. On us (ημιν hēmin). Dative case, emphatic proleptical position before τι ατενιζετε tōi atenizete On us why do ye fasten your eyes? As though ως Hōs with the participle gives the alleged reason, not always the true one. Power (δυναμει dunamei). Instrumental case, causa effectiva. Godliness Causa meritoria. Had made (πεποιηκοσιν pepoiēkosin). Perfect active participle of ποιεω poieō To walk Articular infinitive in the genitive case of result, purpose easily shading off into result (ecbatic infinitive) as here as is true also of ινα hina f0). [source]
Probably so, though it could be “at this thing.” [source]
The very verb used about Peter in Acts 3:4. On us (ημιν hēmin). Dative case, emphatic proleptical position before τι ατενιζετε tōi atenizete On us why do ye fasten your eyes? As though ως Hōs with the participle gives the alleged reason, not always the true one. Power (δυναμει dunamei). Instrumental case, causa effectiva. Godliness Causa meritoria. Had made (πεποιηκοσιν pepoiēkosin). Perfect active participle of ποιεω poieō To walk Articular infinitive in the genitive case of result, purpose easily shading off into result (ecbatic infinitive) as here as is true also of ινα hina f0). [source]
Dative case, emphatic proleptical position before τι ατενιζετε tōi atenizete [source]
ως Hōs with the participle gives the alleged reason, not always the true one. Power (δυναμει dunamei). Instrumental case, causa effectiva. Godliness Causa meritoria. Had made (πεποιηκοσιν pepoiēkosin). Perfect active participle of ποιεω poieō To walk Articular infinitive in the genitive case of result, purpose easily shading off into result (ecbatic infinitive) as here as is true also of ινα hina f0). [source]
Instrumental case, causa effectiva. [source]
Causa meritoria. Had made (πεποιηκοσιν pepoiēkosin). Perfect active participle of ποιεω poieō To walk Articular infinitive in the genitive case of result, purpose easily shading off into result (ecbatic infinitive) as here as is true also of ινα hina f0). [source]
Perfect active participle of ποιεω poieō [source]
Articular infinitive in the genitive case of result, purpose easily shading off into result (ecbatic infinitive) as here as is true also of ινα hina f0). [source]
The question expressed in the people's explanations of surprise. [source]
Lit., men, Israelites. An honorable and conciliatory form of address. The term Israelite gradually gave place to that of Jew; but Israel was the sacred name for the Jews, as the nation of the theocracy, the people under God's covenant, and hence was for the Jew his especial badge and title of honor. “To be descendants of Abraham, this honor they must share with the Ishmaelites; of Abraham and Isaac, with the Edomites; but none except themselves were the seed of Jacob, such as in this name of Israelite they were declared to be. Nor was this all, but more gloriously still, their descent was herein traced up to him, not as he was Jacob, but as he was Israel, who, as a prince, had power with God and with men, and had prevailed” (Trench, “Synonyms”). So Paul, in enumerating to the Philippians his claims to have confidence in the flesh, says he was “of the stock of Israel. ” It is said that the modern Jews in the East still delight in this title. [source]
See on Acts 1:7. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Acts 3:12
Christ responds to Peter's emphatic thou with another, equally emphatic. Peter says, “Thou art the Christ.” Christ replies, “Thou art Peter.” Πέτρος (Peter ) is used as a proper name, but without losing its meaning as a common noun. The name was bestowed on Simon at his first interview with Jesus (John 1:42) under the form of its Aramaic equivalent, CephasIn this passage attention is called, not to the giving of the name, but to its meaning. In classical Greek the word means a piece of rock, as in Homer, of Ajax throwing a stone at Hector (“Iliadvii., 270), or of Patroclus grasping and hiding in his hand a jagged stone (“Iliadxvi., 784).On this rock ( ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ πέρᾳ )The word is feminine, and means a rock, as distinguished from a stone or a fragment of rock ( πέτρος , above). Used of a ledge of rocks or a rocky peak. In Homer (“Odyssey,” ix., 243), the rock ( πέτρην ) which Polyphemus places at the door of his cavern, is a mass which two-and-twenty wagons could not remove; and the rock which he hurled at the retreating ships of Ulysses, created by its fall a wave in the sea which drove the ships back toward the land (“Odyssey,” ix., 484). The word refers neither to Christ as a rock, distinguished from Simon, a stone, nor to Peter's confession, but to Peter himself, in a sense defined by his previous confession, and as enlightened by the “Father in Heaven.” The reference of πέτρα to Christ is forced and unnatural. The obvious reference of the word is to Peter. The emphatic this naturally refers to the nearest antecedent; and besides, the metaphor is thus weakened, since Christ appears here, not as the foundation, but as the architect: “On this rock will I build.” Again, Christ is the great foundation, the “chief corner-stone,” but the New Testament writers recognize no impropriety in applying to the members of Christ's church certain terms which are applied to him. For instance, Peter himself (1 Peter 2:4), calls Christ a living stone, and, in 1 Peter 2:5, addresses the church as living stones. In Revelation 21:14, the names of the twelve apostles appear in the twelve foundation-stones of the heavenly city; and in Ephesians 2:20, it is said, “Ye are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets (i.e., laid by the apostles and prophets), Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone.” Equally untenable is the explanation which refers πέτρα to Simon's confession. Both the play upon the words and the natural reading of the passage are against it, and besides, it does not conform to the fact, since the church is built, not on confessions, but on confessors - living men. “The word πέτρα ,” says Edersheim, “was used in the same sense in Rabbinic language. According to the Rabbins, when God was about to build his world, he could not rear it on the generation of Enos, nor on that of the flood, who brought destruction upon the world; but when he beheld that Abraham would arise in the future, he said' 'Behold, I have found a rock to build on it, and to found the world,' whence, also, Abraham is called a rock, as it is said' 'Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn.' The parallel between Abraham and Peter might be carried even further. If, from a misunderstanding of the Lord's promise to Peter, later Christian legend represented the apostle as sitting at the gate of heaven, Jewish legend represents Abraham as sitting at the gate of Gehenna, so as to prevent all who had the seal of circumcision from falling into its abyss” (“Life and Times of Jesus”). The reference to Simon himself is confirmed by the actual relation of Peter to the early church, to the Jewish portion of which he was a foundation-stone. See Acts, Acts 1:15; Acts 2:14, Acts 2:37; Acts 3:12; Acts 4:8; Acts 5:15, Acts 5:29; Acts 9:34, Acts 9:40; Acts 10:25, Acts 10:26; Galatians 1:15.Church ( ἐκκλησίαν ) ἐκ out, καλέω , to call or summon. This is the first occurrence of this word in the New Testament. Originally an assembly of citizens, regularly summoned. So in New Testament, Acts 19:39. The Septuagint uses the word for the congregation of Israel, either as summoned for a definite purpose (Acts 7:38); but for this there is more commonly employed συναγωγή , of which synagogue is a transcription; σύν , together, ἄγω , to bring (Acts 13:43). In Christ's words to Peter the word ἐκκλησία acquires special emphasis from the opposition implied in it to the synagogue. The Christian community in the midst of Israel would be designated as ἐκκλησία , without being confounded with the συναγωγή , the Jewish community. See Acts 5:11; Acts 8:1; Acts 12:1; Acts 14:23, Acts 14:27, etc. Nevertheless συναγωγή is applied to a Christian assembly in James 2:2, while ἐπισυναγωγή (gathering or assembling together ) is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:1; Hebrews 10:25. Both in Hebrew and in New Testament usage ἐκκλησία implies more than a collective or national unity; rather a community based on a special religious idea and established in a special way. In the New Testament the term is used also in the narrower sense of a single church, or a church confined to a particular place. So of the church in the house of Aquila and Priscilla (Romans 16:5); the church at Corinth, the churches in Judea, the church at Jerusalem, etc.Gates of hell ( πύλαι ᾅδου )Rev., Hades. Hades was originally the name of the god who presided over the realm of the dead - Pluto or Dis. Hence the phrase, house of Hades. It is derived from ἀ , not, and; ἰδεῖν , to see; and signifies, therefore, the invisible land, the realm of shadow. It is the place to which all who depart this life descend, without reference to their moral character. By this word the Septuagint translated the Hebrew Sheol, which has a similar general meaning. The classical Hades embraced both good and bad men, though divided into Elysium, the abode of the virtuous, and Tartarus, the abode of the wicked. In these particulars it corresponds substantially with Sheol; both the godly and the wicked being represented as gathered into the latter. See Genesis 42:38; Psalm 9:17; Psalm 139:8; Isaiah 14:9; Isaiah 57:2; Ezekiel 32:27; Hosea 13:14. Hades and Sheol were alike conceived as a definite place, lower than the world. The passage of both good and bad into it was regarded as a descent. The Hebrew conception is that of a place of darkness; a cheerless home of a dull, joyless, shadowy life. See Psalm 6:5; Psalm 94:17; Psalm 115:17; Psalm 88:5, Psalm 88:6, Psalm 88:10; Job 10:21; Job 3:17-19; Job 14:10, Job 14:11; Ecclesiastes 9:5. Vagueness is its characteristic. In this the Hebrew's faith appears bare in contrast with that of the Greek and Roman. The pagan poets gave the popular mind definite pictures of Tartarus and Elysium; of Styx and Acheron; of happy plains where dead heroes held high discourse, and of black abysses where offenders underwent strange and ingenious tortures. There was, indeed, this difference between the Hebrew and the Pagan conceptions; that to the Pagan, Hades was the final home of its tenants, while Sheol was a temporary condition. Hence the patriarchs are described (Hebrews 11:16) as looking for a better, heavenly country; and the martyrs as enduring in hope of “a better resurrection.” Prophecy declared that the dead should arise and sing, when Sheol itself should be destroyed and its inmates brought forth, some to everlasting life, and others to shame and contempt (Isaiah 26:19; Hosea 13:14; Daniel 12:2). Paul represents this promise as made to the fathers by God, and as the hope of his countrymen (Acts 26:7). God was the God of the dead as well as of the living; present in the dark chambers of Sheol as well as in heaven (Psalm 139:8; Psalm 16:10). This is the underlying thought of that most touching and pathetic utterance of Job (Job 14:13-15), in which he breathes the wish that God would hide him with loving care in Hades, as a place of temporary concealment, where he will wait patiently, standing like a sentinel at his post, awaiting the divine voice calling him to a new and happier life. This, too, is the thought of the familiar and much-disputed passage, Job 19:23-27. His Redeemer, vindicator, avenger, shall arise after he shall have passed through the shadowy realm of Sheol. “A judgment in Hades, in which the judge will show himself his friend, in which all the tangled skein of his life will be unravelled by wise and kindly hands, and the insoluble problem of his strange and self-contradicting experience will at last be solved - this is what Job still looks for on that happy day when he shall see God for himself, and find his Goel (vindicator) in that Almighty Deliverer” (Cox, “Commentary on the Book of Job”). In the New Testament, Hades is the realm of the dead. It cannot be successfully maintained that it is, in particular, the place for sinners (so Cremer, “Biblico-Theological Lexicon”). The words about Capernaum (Matthew 11:23), which it is surprising to find Cremer citing in support of this position, are merely a rhetorical expression of a fall from the height of earthly glory to the deepest degradation, and have no more bearing upon the moral character of Hades than the words of Zophar (Job 11:7, Job 11:8) about the perfection of the Almighty. “It is high as heaven - deeper than Sheol. ” Hades is indeed coupled with Death (Revelation 1:18; Revelation 6:8; Revelation 20:13, Revelation 20:14), but the association is natural, and indeed inevitable, apart from all moral distinctions. Death would naturally be followed by Hades in any case. In Revelation 20:13, Revelation 20:14, the general judgment is predicted, and not only Death and Hades, but the sea give tip their dead, and only those who are not written in the book of life are cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). The rich man was in Hades (Luke 16:23), and in torments, but Lazarus was also in Hades, “in Abraham's bosom.” The details of this story “evidently represent the views current at the time among the Jews. According to them, the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life were the abode of the blessed. We read that the righteous in Eden see the wicked in Gehenna and rejoice; and similarly, that the wicked in Gehenna see the righteous sitting beatified in Eden, and their souls are troubled (Edersheim, “Life and Times of Jesus”). Christ also was in Hades (Acts 2:27, Acts 2:31). Moreover, the word γέεννα , hell (see on Matthew 5:22), is specially used to denote the place of future punishment. Hades, then, in the New Testament, is a broad and general conception, with an idea of locality bound up with it. It is the condition following death, which is blessed or the contrary, according to the moral character of the dead, and is therefore divided into different realms, represented by Paradise or Abraham's bosom, and Gehenna. The expression Gates of Hades is an orientalism for the court, throne, power, and dignity of the infernal kingdom. Hades is contemplated as a mighty city, with formidable, frowning portals. Some expositors introduce also the idea of the councils of the Satanic powers, with reference to the Eastern custom of holding such deliberations in the gates of cities. Compare the expression Sublime Porte, applied to the Ottoman court. The idea of a building is maintained in both members of the comparison. The kingdom or city of Hades confronts and assaults the church which Christ will build upon the rock. See Job 38:17; Psalm 9:13; Psalm 107:18; Isaiah 38:10. [source]
Only here in the New Testament. The kindred word, θεοσέβεια , godliness, occurs only at 1 Timothy 2:10. Compounded with Θεός , God, and σέβομαι , to worship, the same verb which appears in εὐσεβής , devout (Acts 10:2, Acts 10:7; Acts 22:12), and εὐσέβεια , godliness (Acts 3:12; 1 Timothy 2:2, etc.). See on 2 Peter 1:3. These two latter words, while they may mean reverence toward God, may also mean the due fulfillment of human relations; while θεοσεβὴς , worshipper of God, is limited to piety towards God. [source]
Literally, truly an Israelite. An Israelite not merely in descent, but in character, according to the ideal laid down in God's law. The word Israelite itself was an honorable designation. See on men of Israel, Acts 3:12, and compare remarks on Jews, John 1:19. [source]
Compare Acts 1:10; Acts 3:4, Acts 3:12; Acts 6:15; and see on Luke 4:20. [source]
See on Acts 3:12. [source]
This personal touch Peter adds from his own experience. See Luke 4:20 and Acts 3:4, Acts 3:12 for this striking verb atenizō to stretch the eyes towards, first aorist active participle here. [source]
First aorist (ingressive) passive participle of ατενισας pimplēmi with the genitive case. A special influx of power to meet this emergency. Here was a cultured heathen, typical of the best in Roman life, who called forth all the powers of Paul plus the special help of the Holy Spirit to expose the wickedness of Elymas Barjesus. If one wonders why the Holy Spirit filled Paul for this emergency rather than Barnabas, when Barnabas was named first in Acts 13:2, he can recall the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit in his choice of agents (1 Corinthians 12:4-11) and also the special call of Paul by Christ (Acts 9:15; Acts 26:17.). Fastened his eyes (atenisas). As already in Luke 4:20; Luke 22:56; Acts 3:4, Acts 3:12; Acts 6:15; Acts 10:4. [source]
As already in Luke 4:20; Luke 22:56; Acts 3:4, Acts 3:12; Acts 6:15; Acts 10:4. [source]
See note on this word Acts 1:10; note on Acts 3:12; Acts 6:15; Acts 7:55; Acts 13:9. Paul may have had weak eyes, but probably the earnest gaze was to see if he recognized any faces that were in the body that tried Stephen and to which he apparently once belonged. [source]
See on Acts 3:12. [source]
See on Acts 3:12, and compare Philemon 3:5, and the phrase Israel of God, Galatians 6:16, and an Israelite indeed, John 1:48. [source]
Selecting the most honorable title to describe the Jew. See on Acts 3:12. The reference is to the spiritual rather than to the national distinction. In being separated from Christ, they were separated from that commonwealth in which, according to the promise, Christ would have been to them, as to the faithful Israelites, the object of their faith and the ground of their salvation. [source]
Not a proselyte, but of the original stock ( γένους ); not grafted into the covenant race. A descendant of Jacob, not an Idumaean nor an Ishmaelite. For Israel, see on Acts 3:12, and compare Romans 9:4; Romans 11:1; John 1:47. Descended not from Jacob, the supplanter, but from Israel, the prince of God. See Genesis 32:28. [source]
First aorist middle indicative of προσευχηι proseuchomai and the instrumental case πευγειν πυγηι proseuchēi (cognate substantive), after idiom for intensity in classical Greek, like του μη βρεχαι pheugein phugēi to flee with all speed Genitive of the articular infinitive (μη brexai first aorist active of ενιαυτους τρεις και μηνας εχ brechō old verb, to moisten, Luke 7:38, to rain, Matthew 5:45) with negative mē used either for direct purpose, for an object clause as here and Acts 3:12; Acts 15:20, or even for result.For three years and six months Accusative of extent of time. [source]
Genitive of the articular infinitive (μη brexai first aorist active of ενιαυτους τρεις και μηνας εχ brechō old verb, to moisten, Luke 7:38, to rain, Matthew 5:45) with negative mē used either for direct purpose, for an object clause as here and Acts 3:12; Acts 15:20, or even for result. [source]
Used only by Peter (Acts 3:12), and in the Pastoral Epistles. It is from εὐ , well, and σέβομαι , to worship, so that the radical idea is worship rightly directed. Worship, however, is to be understood in its etymological sense, worth-ship, or reverence paid to worth, whether in God or man. So Wycliffe's rendering of Matthew 6:2, “that they be worshipped of men;” and “worship thy father and thy mother,” Matthew 19:19. In classical Greek the word is not confined to religion, but means also piety in the fulfilment of human relations, like the Latinpietas. Even in classical Greek, however, it is a standing word for piety in the religious sense, showing itself in right reverence; and is opposed to δυσσέβεια , ungodliness, and ἀνοσιότης , profaness. “The recognition of dependence upon the gods, the confession of human dependence, the tribute of homage which man renders in the certainty that he needs their favor - all this is εὐσέβεια , manifest in conduct and conversation, in sacrifice and prayer” (Nägelsbach, cited by Cremer). This definition may be almost literally transferred to the Christian word. It embraces the confession of the one living and true God, and life corresponding to this knowledge. See on 2 Peter 1:2. [source]