Acts 4:1

While Peter and John ¹  were speaking to the people, the priests and the commander ²  of the temple guard ³  and the Sadducees ⁴  came up ⁵  to them,

The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people.

As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them,

While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the leading priests, the captain of the Temple guard, and some of the Sadducees came over to them.

While Peter and John were addressing the people, the priests, the chief of the Temple police, and some Sadducees came up,

And while they were talking to the people, the priests and the captain of the Temple and the Sadducees came up to them,

While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came to them,

Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them,

While Peter and John ¹  were speaking to the people, the priests and the commander ²  of the temple guard ³  and the Sadducees ⁴  came up ⁵  to them,

¹ tn Grk “While they”; the referents (Peter and John) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Or “captain.”

³ tn Grk “the official of the temple,” a title for the commander of the Jewish soldiers guarding the temple (thus the translation, “the commander of the temple guard”). See L&N 37.91.

sn The commander of the temple guard was the title of the officer commanding the Jewish soldiers responsible for guarding and keeping order in the temple courts in Jerusalem.

⁴ sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). See also Matt 3:7; 16:1-12; 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 5:17; 23:6-8.

⁵ tn Or “approached.” This verb often denotes a sudden appearing (BDAG 418 s.v. ἐφίστημι 1).