_Deeply wounded._――In the Greek, διεπριοντο, (dieprionto,) from διαπριω, “to saw through;” in the passive, of course, “to be sawn through,” or figuratively, “deeply wounded in the moral feelings.” This is the commonly translated, “cut to the heart,” which I have adopted, with such a variation of the words as will assimilate it most nearly to common modern forms of expression. But Kuinoel prefers the peculiar force of the middle voice, (where this word can be made, owing to the identity of the imperfect tenses of the two voices,) given by Hesychius, “to gnash the teeth,” doubtless taken from the similarity of sound between “sawing,” and “grating the teeth.” This sense being also highly appropriate here, to men in a rage, makes the passage perfectly ambiguous, and accordingly great authorities divide on the point. In such cases, it seems to me perfectly fair to consider the phrase as originally intended for an equivoque. Luke was Grecian enough, doubtless, to know the two meanings of this form, and must have been very careless if he did not think of it as he wrote it down; but either meaning is powerfully expressive of the idea here, and why should he reject or explain it? It is rather an advantage and a charm than otherwise, in a language, to possess this ambiguity, making occasionally a richly expressive play of meanings. It seems, however, more in accordance with Luke’s ordinary expressions, to prefer the passive sense, as in Acts vii. 54, ταις καρδιαις (“to their hearts”) is added, there, of course, requiring the passive. For similar forms of expression, see Luke ii. 35: Acts ii. 37.――Consult Bretschneider in loc. In favor of the passive sense, see Bloomfield, Rosenmueller, Wolf, Hammond and Gataker. On the middle sense, Kuinoel, Beza and Wetstein. _Gamaliel._――I shall give a full account of this venerable sage, in the beginning of the life of Paul. _In the temple and in private houses._――Acts vi. 42. In the Greek, κατ’ οἶκον, (_kat’ oikon_,) the same expression as in ii. 46, alluded to in my note on pages 139, 140. Here too occurs precisely the same connection with ἐν τῳ ἱερῳ, (_en to hiero_,) with the same sense of opposition in place, there alluded to. The indefinite sense, then, rather than the _distributive_, is proper here as there, showing that they preached and taught not only in their great place of assembly, under the eastern colonnade of the temple, (v. 12,) but also in private houses, that is, at their home, or those of their friends. The expression “from house to house,” however, is much less objectionable _here_, because in this passage it can give only an _indefinite_ idea of place, without any particular idea of _rotation_; but in the other passage, in connection with “the taking of food,” it makes an erroneous impression of their mode of life, which the text is meant to describe.