Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then the captain went with the officers, and brought them without violence, for they were afraid that the people might stone them.
- BSB At that point, the captain went with the officers and brought the apostles—but not by force, for fear the people would stone them.
- NKJV Then the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned.
- NASB Then the captain went along with the officers and proceeded to bring them back without violence (for they were afraid of the people, that they might be stoned).
- NLT The captain went with his Temple guards and arrested the apostles, but without violence, for they were afraid the people would stone them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The captain brings the apostles without force, fearing the people might stone them. The leaders are restrained by their fear of the crowd.
Overview
The authorities' caution shows how highly the people now regarded the apostles. Their fear of public reaction, not respect for the apostles, governs their restraint. God uses even the leaders' political calculations to protect His witnesses from violence.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Acts 5:13And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them.
- Acts 4:21So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified God for that which was done.
- Matt 21:26But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.
- Acts 5:24Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow.
- Matt 14:5And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.
- Luke 22:2And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people.
- Matt 26:5But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.
- Luke 20:19And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them.
- Luke 20:6But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
How Acts 5:26 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.