Acts 4:4 (LSB)

Passage

But many of those who had heard the message believed, and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

Nearby Context

Acts 4:2 being greatly agitated because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

Acts 4:3 And they laid hands on them and put them in jail until the next day, for it was already evening.

Acts 4:4 But many of those who had heard the message believed, and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

Acts 4:5 Now it happened that on the next day, 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 all who were of high-priestly descent.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "heard", "message", "believed", "number", "came", "five", and "thousand". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "heard" and "message", 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 "Now it happened that on the next...", so "heard" and "message" 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 "message" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.