Acts 4:7 (WEB)

Passage

When they had stood Peter and John in the middle of them, they inquired, “By what power, or in what name, have you done this?”

Nearby Context

Acts 4:5 In the morning, their rulers, elders, and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem.

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

Acts 4:7 When they had stood Peter and John in the middle of them, they inquired, “By what power, or in what name, have you done this?”

Acts 4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “You rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,

Acts 4:9 if we are examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "stood", "peter", "john", "middle", "inquired", "power", "name", and "done". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "stood" and "peter", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 6's "Annas the high priest was there with..." into verse 8's "Then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit...", so "stood" and "peter" 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 "stood" and "peter" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.