Acts 4:17 (DBY)

Passage

But that it be not further spread among the people, let us threaten them severely no longer to speak to any man in this name.

Nearby Context

Acts 4:15 but having commanded them to go out of the council they conferred with one another,

Acts 4:16 saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed an evident sign has come to pass through their means is manifest to all that inhabit Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

Acts 4:17 But that it be not further spread among the people, let us threaten them severely no longer to speak to any man in this name.

Acts 4:18 And having called them, they charged [them] not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.

Acts 4:19 But Peter and John answering said to them, If it be righteous before God to listen to you rather than to God, judge ye;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "further", "spread", "people", "threaten", "severely", "longer", "speak", and "name". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "further" and "spread", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "saying What shall we do to these..." into verse 18's "And having called them they charged them...", so "further" and "spread" 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 "further" and "spread" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.