And when they had set them in the midst
Of the assembly, as the Ethiopic version adds; in the middle of
the sanhedrim, which sat in a semicircular form; or as the Jews
express it, as the half of a round corn floor, or as a half moon,
and not in a perfect circle; because it was necessary that the
contending parties, and the witnesses, might go in and speak
before them all {b}; so that those that were set before them,
were placed in the middle of them: and here Peter and John were
set; so the Arabic version renders it, "when they set both": they
sent for them out of the hold, or custody, where they had been
all night, and ordered them to be brought before them, to be
examined about their doctrine and practice:
they asked, by what power, or by what name have ye done
this?
they inquired of them, whether it was by a natural, or by a
divine, or by a diabolical power, that they had wrought the cure
upon the lame man? whether it was by the use of medicine, or by
the help of magic art, and the assistance of the devil, which
they were very ready to charge Christ and his disciples with? or
whether they pretended to a divine and supernatural aid? and also
what name they had made use of, and by whose authority they
acted?
F2 Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 4. sect. 3. & Bartenora in ib.