Acts 4:26

26 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His Anointed One.’ ^[a]

Acts 4:26 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 4:26

The kings of the earth stood up
Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee, sometimes called a king, ( Mark 6:14 ) and Pilate the Roman governor, who represented his master Caesar; these stood, or rose up in an hostile manner, and set themselves against, and opposed themselves to the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth: and the rulers were gathered together;
the Jewish rulers, Annas, Caiaphas, and the rest of the members of the sanhedrim, who met together more than once; and particularly at the high priest's palace, to consult how they should take Jesus and put him to death; and who also gathered together at the same place, when he was taken, to arraign, examine, and condemn him. And this opposition, and these conspiracies and consultations, were against the Lord:
Jehovah, the Father of Christ, who sent him, and anointed him; so that what was done against Christ, was done against the Lord, their views and designs, their interest and glory, being the same: and against his Christ;
or anointed one, who was anointed by him, with the Holy Ghost, from his birth, and at his baptism, to be prophet, priest, and King.

Acts 4:26 In-Context

24 When the believers heard this, they lifted up their voices to God with one accord. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “You made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them.

25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Your servant, our father David: ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

26 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His Anointed One.’

27 In fact, this is the very city where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed.

28 They carried out what Your hand and will had decided beforehand would happen.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or His Christ or His Messiah; Psalms 2:1–2