“And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.”
At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told. When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin - the Sanhedrin (synedrion) is the full council of seventy, the supreme Jewish governing body. The fact that they convene the full council shows the escalating seriousness of the threat the apostles are perceived to pose. Luke emphasizes the apostles' obedience ('as they had been told,' kathos eirēkei) in dramatic counterpoint to the Sanhedrin's reaction.
Church Fathers on Acts 5:21
But the Angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. Acts 5:19-21 This was done both for the encouragement of the disciples, and for the benefit and instruction of the others. And observe how the proceeding in the present instance is just the same as in what Christ Himself did.…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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