Acts 4:2

2 They were upset because the two apostles were teaching the people and were preaching that people will rise from the dead through the power of Jesus.

Acts 4:2 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 4:2

Being grieved that they taught the people
Any doctrine, and especially that which follows, and which particularly gave uneasiness to the Sadducees, they were exceedingly distressed by it; it pained them to the very heart, and they were filled with wrath and indignation:

and preached through, or in Jesus, the resurrection of the dead;
they not only preached the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead in general, but gave an instance and proof of it in the resurrection of Christ, affirming that he was risen from the dead; and they also preached up the resurrection of the dead in his name, and asserted, that he would be the author of it, and it would be erected by his power: so that their doctrine was equally disagreeable to the Pharisees and Sadducees; to the Sadducees, who denied that there was, or would be any resurrection of the dead; and to the Pharisees, who though they believed it, yet were highly offended that it should be said, that Jesus was risen from the dead; and that the general resurrection of the dead should be attributed to him.

Acts 4:2 In-Context

1 While Peter and John were speaking to the peo- ple, Jewish priests, the captain of the soldiers that guarded the Temple, and Sadducees came up to them.

2 They were upset because the two apostles were teaching the people and were preaching that people will rise from the dead through the power of Jesus.

3 The Jewish leaders grabbed Peter and John and put them in jail. Since it was already night, they kept them in jail until the next day.

4 But many of those who had heard Peter and John preach believed the things they said. There were now about five thousand in the group of believers.

5 The next day the Jewish rulers, the older Jewish leaders, and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem.