But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name.
17. In threatening let us threaten. Here may we see what a deadly evil power void of the fear of God is. For when that religion and reverence which ought doth not reign, the more holy the place is which a man doth possess, the more boldly “Audacius,” audaciously. doth he rage.
The council ordered Peter and John out so they would not hear what follows, eager to hide their shame. But their private schemes are recorded here for all time. If these rulers had bowed to the power of truth, they would have made the apostles their teachers; instead, men who refuse conviction will always find themselves at a loss what to do.
AI summary
Commenting on Acts 4:15-22
But that it spread no further among the people,.... Meaning not in Jerusalem; for the fame of this miracle was spread among all the inhabitants of that city; but in other parts of the nation: let us straitly threaten them; or "in threatening threaten them"; that is, severely threaten them with imprisonment, or with the scourging of forty stripes save one, or with death itself.