Acts 3:23

23 Everyone who fails to listen to that prophet will be removed from the people and destroyed.'

Acts 3:23 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 3:23

And it shall come to pass, that every soul
Every person, man or woman: which will not hear that prophet;
neither believe what he says, nor do what he commands; or as it is in ( Deuteronomy 18:19 ) "will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name": for he that hears not him, hearkens not to God, in whose name he speaks, and whose word he delivers, shall be destroyed from among the people;
in the Hebrew text it is, "I will require it of him"; the Hebrew word, (wmem) , there used, by having different points, may be rendered "of him", or "from his people", which seems to be the reason of this difference: and requiring often intends punishment, or a cutting off; or as Aben Ezra explains it here,

``death by the hand of heaven;''

that is, immediate destruction from God; and so Maimonides says ^F11, he that transgresses the words of that prophet, is guilty of death by the hand of heaven; and which was remarkably fulfilled in the Jewish nation, for their rejection of Jesus as the true Messiah, and that prophet.

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FOOTNOTES:

F11 Yesod Hattora, c. 9. sect. 4.

Acts 3:23 In-Context

21 He has to remain in heaven until the time comes for restoring everything, as God said long ago, when he spoke through the holy prophets.

22 For Moshe himself said, 'ADONAI will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You are to listen to everything he tells you.

23 Everyone who fails to listen to that prophet will be removed from the people and destroyed.'

24 Indeed, all the prophets announced these days, starting with Sh'mu'el and continuing through all who followed.

25 "You are the sons of the prophets; and you are included in the covenant which God made with our fathers when he said to Avraham, 'By your seed will all the families of the earth be blessed.'