Acts 4:4 (ASV)

Passage

But many of them that heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

Nearby Context

Acts 4:2 being sore troubled because they taught the people, and proclaimed in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

Acts 4:3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in ward unto the morrow: for it was now eventide.

Acts 4:4 But many of them that heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

Acts 4:5 And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem;

Acts 4:6 and Annas the high priest [was there], and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "heard", "word", "believed", "number", "came", "five", and "thousand". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "heard" and "word", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "And they laid hands on them and..." into verse 5's "And it came to pass on the...", so "heard" and "word" belong inside that flow. In Acts context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "heard" and "word" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.