Of the Roman historian Livy it has been said that though “the conflicts and issues and struggles in the story of Rome are, of course apparent to him … they are described in terms of individuals; there are not ‘movements’ or ‘tendencies’ or ‘forces’ at work unattached to men. History,” for Livy, “is the record of ‘doings of men’ ” (R. H. Barrow, p. 87). So also for Luke. He tells his story by means of paradigmatic people and events. The events of this chapter illustrate the opposition that the church soon encountered from the Jewish authorities, and the man on whom the spotlight is focused is Peter.

The narrative that begins here and runs through to 4:22 bears some similarity to the events described in 5:17–42, with their sequence of arrest, threat, defense, release, and rejoicing. This ha…