“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. — the authorities' amazement (thaumazō, amazed, wondered) at the apostles' parrēsia (bold speech, forthrightness) is deepened by their recognition of the men's lack of formal education (agrammatos, unschooled, illiterate, without letters) and ordinary status (idiōtēs, private citizen, common person, layperson). The inference is irresistible: 'these men had been with Jesus' (synēsan tō Iēsou, were with Jesus, lived with Jesus, stayed with Jesus). The transformation from timid disciples to bold witnesses is explicable only through Jesus' presence and teaching.
Church Fathers on Acts 4:13
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13 The two unlearned men beat down with their rhetoric them and the chief priests. For it was not they that spoke, but the grace of the Spirit.
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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