4:4 Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the {b} number of the men was about five thousand.
(b) While they thought to diminish the number, they actually increased it.
4:4 Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed. Became converts. This ( believed ) is a usual scriptural expression for the whole change wrought by belief. Faith comes by hearing... the word of God (Ro 10:17), and faith leads to obedience.
The number of the men was about five thousand. It is probable that the meaning is that the number of men was now increased to five thousand. The term in the Greek ( andres ) does not properly include women, so that this is the number of male believers. It is probable that most of the converts of Pentecost and of this occasion were men. Oriental women were not likely to attend in large numbers on such public occasions.
4:4 The number of the men - Beside women and children, were about five thousand - So many did our Lord now feed at once with the bread from heaven!
4:1-4 The apostles preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. It includes all the happiness of the future state; this they preached through Jesus Christ, to be had through him only. Miserable is their case, to whom the glory of Christ's kingdom is a grief; for since the glory of that kingdom is everlasting, their grief will be everlasting also. The harmless and useful servants of Christ, like the apostles, have often been troubled for their work of faith and labour of love, when wicked men have escaped. And to this day instances are not wanting, in which reading the Scriptures, social prayer, and religious conversation meet with frowns and checks. But if we obey the precepts of Christ, he will support us.
