And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles unto them, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

And calling in the apostles, after they had scourged them, they charged them that they should not speak at all in the name of Jesus; and they dismissed them.

And they listened to his advice; and having called the apostles, they beat them, and enjoined them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and dismissed them.

And to him they assented: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

And to him they agreed, and having called near the apostles, having beaten them, they commanded them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go;

His advice carried conviction. So they called the Apostles in, and - after flogging them - ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then let them go.

And he seemed to them to be right: and they sent for the Apostles, and, after having them whipped and giving them orders to give no teaching in the name of Jesus, they let them go.

And calling in the Apostles, having beaten them, they warned them not to speak at all in the name of Jesus. And they dismissed them.

The Council followed his advice, and, calling the apostles in, had them flogged, and then, after cautioning them not to speak in the name of Jesus, set them free.

Having beaten them, they commanded. He saith that Gamaliel's counsel was allowed; yet the apostles are beaten, and forbidden to preach. [1] Hereby we gather how great the rage of the enemies was, who being now pacified, or at least mitigated, do yet, notwithstanding, rage immoderately. [2] And it appeareth also what evil success those doubtful counsels have, wherein men alone are respected, and the truth of God set aside. Gamaliel obtaineth thus much, that the lives of the apostles may be saved; [3] but, in the mean season, the Son of God is blasphemed and slandered in their person; the truth of the gospel is buried in eternal silence, so much as in the enemies lieth, God surely doth by this means wonderfully spread abroad his word; yet that counsel ceaseth not to be evil. Which we must note for this cause, because most men at this day do think, that they do not a little obey God, if they save the lives of those men which come in hazard for the doctrine of the gospel, or somewhat appease [4] the enemies who are otherwise bloody. In the mean season, they are not afraid to drive them unto the wicked denial of Christ, the confessing of whom is far more precious in the sight of God than the life of all men. But what could they do who, casting away all care of godliness, go about to redeem God's favor with the duty of courtesy? [5]

Footnotes

1 - "Docere," to teach.

2 - "Adeo tamen intemperanter se gerunt," yet conduct themselves to intemperately.

3 - "Parcatur," may be spared.

4 - "Flectant ad lenitatem." incline to lenity.

5 - "Humanitatis officio se qpud Deum redimere volunt," would purchase the favor of God to themselves by an act of humanity.

And to him they agreed - Greek: They were "persuaded" by him; or they trusted to him. They agreed only so far as their design of putting them to death was concerned. They abandoned that design. But they did "not" comply with his advice to let them entirely alone.
And beaten them - The usual amount of "lashes" which were inflicted on offenders was 39, 2-Corinthians 11:24. "Beating," or "whipping," was a common mode of punishing minor offences among the Jews. It was expressly foretold by the Saviour that the apostles would be subjected to this, Matthew 10:17. The reason why they did not adopt the advice of Gamaliel altogether doubtless was, that if they did, they feared that their "authority" would be despised by the people. They had commanded them not to preach; they had threatened them Acts 4:18; Acts 5:28; they had imprisoned them Acts 5:18; and now, if they suffered them to go without even the "appearance" of punishment, their authority, they feared, would be despised by the nation, and it would be supposed that the apostles had triumphed over the Sanhedrin. It is probable, also, that they were so indignant, that they could not suffer them to go without the gratification of subjecting them to the public odium of a "whipping." People, if they cannot accomplish their full purposes of malignity against the gospel, will take up with even some petty annoyance and malignity rather than let it alone.

To him they agreed - That is, not to slay the apostles, nor to attempt any farther to imprison them; but their malevolence could not be thus easily satisfied; and therefore they beat them - probably gave each of them thirty-nine stripes; and, having commanded them not to speak in the name of Jesus, they let them go. It was of Jesus they were afraid: not of the apostles. They plainly saw that, if the doctrine of Christ was preached, it must prevail; and, if it prevailed, they must come to nought. It was a wise saying of the popish bishops in the time of Queen Mary - If we do not put down this Printing, it will put us down: They labored to put down the printing, but they could not; and, under God, the printing, by exposing the wickedness of their doctrine and practices, and especially by multiplying copies of the New Testament, did most effectually put them down.

And to him they agreed,.... They were convinced and persuaded by his reasonings, approved of his advice, and agreed to follow it:
and when they had called the apostles; into the council again, having sent their servants for them, or ordered them to be brought in:
and beaten them; or scourged and whipped them with forty stripes save one, whereby was fulfilled what Christ had foretold, Matthew 10:17
they commanded they should not speak in the name of Jesus; as they had strictly commanded them before, Acts 4:18. Perhaps both in this, as well as in bearing the apostles, they did not closely attend to Gamaliel's counsel, who advised them to keep their hands off of them, and not hinder them, but let them alone in what they were about: but this might be thought by them not to their reputation, nor sufficiently asserting their authority, to dismiss them, without saying or doing anything to them:
and let them go; from the council to their own company: they released them, and loosed them from their bonds; they set them at liberty, and let them go where they would; and so far they followed Gamaliel's advice.

beaten them--for disobeying their orders (compare Luke 23:16).

To him they agreed. He carried the Sanhedrim with him.
Called the apostles, and beaten them. While rejecting the punishment of death, they decided to scourge them for disobedience. Scourging was often inflicted even by the rulers of the synagogues. The scourging was on the bare back, and bloody and cruel.