Acts 4:16

“Saying, what shall we do to these men? etc.] Whether they should punish them by scourging them, or detain them longer in custody, or commit them to prison, or dismiss them: for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them: they were convicted that a miracle was wrought; that it was a clear case, a well known thing, of which there was no room to doubt, and that it was done by the apostles; but this was not all the difficulty, had it been a thing only within their knowledge, and which they could have concealed, it would have given them no uneasiness; but, as they observe, it is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem: for the man having been so long lame, and had lain so long at…”

“a notable miracle . . . done by them is manifest to all . . . in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it--And why should ye wish to deny it, O ye rulers, but that ye hate the light, and will not come to the light lest your deeds should be reproved?”

“What shall we do to these men? - The object which they had in view was evidently to prevent their preaching. The miracle was performed, and it was believed by the people to have been made. This they could not expect to be able successfully to deny. Their only object, therefore, was to prevent the apostles from making the use which they saw they would to convince the people that Jesus was the Messiah. The question was, in what way they should prevent this; whether by putting them to death, by imprisoning them, or by scourging them; or whether by simply exerting theft authority and forbidding them. From the former they were deterred, doubtless, by fear of the multitude; and they therefore…”

“4:16-18 They recognized the miracle but still stubbornly tried to prevent the message. Jesus had encountered similar resistance (Matt 19:8; Mark 10:5; see also Deut 10:16; 30:6; Jer 4:4).”

“What: Joh 11:47, Joh 11:48, Joh 12:18 a notable: Act 3:9, Act 3:10; Dan 8:5, Dan 8:8; Mat 27:16 and we: Act 6:10; Luk 6:10, Luk 6:11, Luk 21:15 Acts 4:17”