Acts 5:12 - Exposition

By the hands of the apostles, etc. Two things are here remarkable. The one that Christianity at its beginnings was mightily helped and advanced by miracles done in the Name of Jesus Christ. The other that the authority of the apostles as the rulers of the Church was greatly strengthened by these miracles being wrought exclusively by their hands. We cannot understand either the external relations of the Church to the world, or the internal relations of the people to their spiritual rulers, unless we duly take count of these two things. With one accord (see Acts 4:24 , note). In Solomon's porch (see Acts 3:11 , note). It is quite true to nature that Solomon's porch, having been the scene of the miracle, became the place of frequent concourse. There is a difference of opinion among commentators as to whether the all refers to the whole Christian laity as in Acts 2:1 , or to the apostles only. Alford thinks the latter, Meyer the former. The opinion that the whole body of Christians is meant seems most probable, both from the use of the words in Acts 2:1 and from the phrase ὁμοθυμαδὸν (especially in connection with ἅπαμτες ) , which seems more applicable to a mixed multitude than to twelve colleagues like the apostles. You could hardly say that all the queen's ministers met in a Cabinet Council with one accord. There is no need for the parenthesis as in the A.V.