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Acts 5 · a question people ask

Gamaliel says, "if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow it" (5:39). Is that a way to tell what is of God?

In the text

Those are Gamaliel's words, said in the council. Acts calls him "a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, honored by all the people" (5:34), and he said, "You men of Israel, be careful concerning these men, what you are about to do." (5:35), and, after his two examples (5:36-37), "Now I tell you, withdraw from these men and leave them alone. For if this counsel or this work is of men, it will be overthrown. But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow it, and you would be found even to be fighting against God!" (5:38-39). Acts tells what the council did next, "They agreed with him." (5:40), and adds no comment of its own on his words. These notes don't make them a rule of their own, and apply them to no group or movement today.

From Favor's study of Acts 5

Acts 5: All the words of this life

The angel said, "Go stand and speak in the temple" (5:20). The officers found "the guards standing before the doors" (5:23) and no one inside; then someone came and said the apostles were in the temple, "standing and teaching the people" (5:25): in Acts's Greek, one verb all three times.

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Last reviewed October 7, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions