Acts 3:7

3:1-11 The apostles and the first believers attended the temple worship at the hours of prayer. Peter and John seem to have been led by a Divine direction, to work a miracle on a man above forty years old, who had been a cripple from his birth. Peter, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, bade him rise up and walk. Thus, if we would attempt to good purpose the healing of men's souls, we must go forth in the name and power of Jesus Christ, calling on helpless sinners to arise and walk in the way of holiness, by faith in Him. How sweet the thought to our souls, that in respect to all the crippled faculties of our fallen nature, the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth can make us whole! With what holy joy and rapture shall we tread the holy courts, when God the Spirit causes us to enter therein by his strength!

He took (πιάσας) The verb means originally to press or squeeze; and hence implies taking hold with a firm grasp. Feet (βάσεις) A peculiar, technical word, used by Luke only, and described by Galen as the part of the foot lying beneath the leg, upon which the leg directly rests, as distinguished from the ταρσὸς, the flat of the foot between the toes and heel, and πεδίον, the part next the toes. Ankle-bones (σφυρά) Only here in New Testament. Also technical. Some of the best texts read σφυδρά, but the meaning is the same. Received strength (ἐστερεώθησαν) Used by Luke only. Compare "the churches were established (Acts 16:5), and the kindred noun στερέωμα, steadfastness (Colossians 2:5). In medical language applied to the bones in particular.

He took him by the right hand; not disdaining to take hold of a poor cripple or beggar; as also being fully persuaded of Christ’s presence with him for his cure. And immediately, that it might the more evidently appear that this was the work of God, who can without means, and on a sudden, bring aught to perfection, his feet and ankle bones, whence his lameness did proceed, received strength: thus God can say unto the weak, Be strong.

Acts 3:7 . Αὐτὸν , him ) It was the part of the blind man merely to give himself up to the power which was entering into him.— αἱ βάσεις καὶ τὰ σφυρὰ ) As to both Greek words there is much disputation. Luke implies that all the parts in the lame man were strengthened, so as to enable him to walk. Βάσεις are the Feet , which have their principal strength in the knees: σφυρὰ , by a catachresis, are used to express the ankles , as in Callimachus, οὐδὲν ἐπὶ σφυρὸν ὀρθὸν ἀνέστη : strictly, little mallets, or the lowest parts of the leg. Luke, as being a physician , expressed himself accurately. Comp. Psalm 18:36 , “Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet (margin, ankles ) did not slip.”

7 . his feet and ankle bones ] The words in the original are found nowhere else in the N. T. They are of a technical character, and their use, together with the other features of exact description of the cripple’s case, indicate that we have before us the language of the physician ( Colossians 4:14 ). And it is hardly possible to dwell too strongly on indications of this kind, which indirectly mark in the history something which is likewise noted in the Epistles. Those who would assign the second century as the date of the composition of the Acts, must assume for their supposed writer the keenest appreciation of every slight allusion in the letters of St Paul, and at the same time an ability to let his knowledge peep out only in hints like that which we find in this verse. Such persons, while rejecting all that is miraculous in the story as we have it, ask us to believe in such a writer as would himself be almost a miracle, for his powers of observation and the skill with which he has employed them. received strength ] Though from want of use, they must have been withered before.

Acts 3:7-8 . Αὐτὸν τῆς δεξιᾶς ] comp. Mark 9:27 , and see Valckenaer, ad Theocr. iv. 35. ἐστερεῶθησαν ] his feet were strengthened , so that they now performed their function, for which they had been incapacitated in the state of lameness, of supporting the body in its movements. αἱ βάσεις are the feet , as in Wis 13:18 ; Joseph. Antt. vii. 5. 5; Plat. Tim. p. 92 A, and in later Greek writers. τὰ σφυρά : the anklebones, tali (very frequent in the classics), after the general expression subjoining the particular. ἐξαλλόμενος ] springing up , leaping into the air. Xen. Cyr. vii. 1. 32; Anab. vii. 3. 33; LXX. Isaiah 55:12 . Not: exsiliens , videlicet e grabbato (Casaubon), of which last there is no mention. καὶ εἰσῆλθε … τὸν θεόν ] This behaviour bears the most natural impress of grateful attachment (comp. Acts 3:11 ), lively joy ( περιπατ . καὶ ἁλλόμενος ,—at the same time as an involuntary proof of his complete cure for himself and for others), and religious elevation. The view of Thiess—that the beggar was only a pretended cripple who was terrified by the threatening address of Peter into using his feet, and afterwards, for fear of the rage of the people, prudently attached himself to the apostles—changes the entire narrative, and makes the apostle himself ( Acts 3:12 ; Acts 3:16 ; Acts 4:9-10 ) the deceiver.

Peter had wrought the cure in the possession of that miraculous power of healing which Jesus had imparted to His apostles ( Luke 9:1 ), and the supernatural result cannot in that case, any more than in any other miracle, warrant us to deny its historical character , as is done by Zeller, who supposes that the general χωλοὶ περιπατοῦσιν , Luke 7:22 , Matthew 15:31 , has here been illustrated in an individual instance.

(7) His feet. —Better, his soles. The precision with which the process is described is characteristic of the medical historian. Both this term and the “ankle bones” employed are more or less technical, as is also the word rendered “received strength,” literally, were consolidated, the flaccid tissues and muscles being rendered firm and vigorous.

And he took him - He took hold of his hand. To take hold of the hand in such a ease was an offer of aid, an indication that Peter was sincere, and was an inducement to him to make an effort. This may be employed as a beautiful illustration of the manner of God when he commands people to repent and believe. He does not leave them alone; he extends help, and aids their efforts. If they tremble, and feel that they are weak, and needy, and helpless, his hand is stretched out and his power exerted to impart strength and grace. His feet and ankle-bones - The fact that strength was immediately imparted; that the feet, long lame, were now made strong, was a full and clear proof of miraculous power.