Acts 3:8

8 And leaping up, he stood and began walking around and entered into the temple [courts] with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

Acts 3:8 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 3:8

And he leaping up
From off the bed or couch, or ground on which he lay:

stood and walked;
stood firm and strong upon his feet, and walked about; by which it was abundantly manifest to himself and others, that he had a perfect cure. The Ethiopic version is a very ridiculous one, "and he went with them catching fishes"; as if upon this, before they went into the temple, he and the apostles went a fishing together, which has not the least foundation in the text:

and entered with them into the temple;
to join with them in divine worship, to acknowledge the goodness of God to him, and to show respect to the instruments he made use of in his cure:

and leaping;
for joy of the mercy, and that it might appear to all that he was thoroughly cured of his lameness: and thus the prophecy in ( Isaiah 35:6 ) "then shall the lame man leap as an hart", was literally fulfilled:

and praising God;
and not the apostles; for he knew that this was owing to the power of God, and could never have been done by man; though he might not be ungrateful to the instruments.

Acts 3:8 In-Context

6 But Peter said, "Silver and gold {I do not possess}, but what I have, this I give to you--in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!"

7 And taking hold of him by the right hand, he raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.

8 And leaping up, he stood and began walking around and entered into the temple [courts] with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God,

10 And they recognized him, that this one was the one who used to sit [asking] for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with awe and astonishment at what had happened to him.

Footnotes

• [a]. *The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here ("began walking around")
• [b]. *Here "[courts]" is supplied to distinguish this area from the interior of the temple building itself