The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.

ACTS 5:30KJV
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Acts 5:30 (KJV)

What does Acts 5:30 mean?

Acts 5:30 says that the God worshiped by the ancestors of the Jewish people brought Jesus back to life after he was killed by being put to death on a tree. The verse points out that those hearing the message were responsible for Jesus’s death, but God reversed that outcome by raising him up.

Peter, one of Jesus’s closest followers, is speaking to the Jewish council (the Sanhedrin) after being arrested for teaching about Jesus. Peter directly connects Jesus to the God of Israel (“the God of our fathers”) and uses strong language to confront the council with their role in Jesus’s crucifixion. The mention of Jesus being “hanged on a tree” is a way of describing crucifixion, which carried a sense of shame and curse in Jewish thinking.

The Greek behind Acts 5:30

  • θεός (theos, G2316): This is the Greek word for “God.” Peter emphasizes that the same God their ancestors worshiped is the one who raised Jesus, making a direct link between Israel’s history and Jesus.
  • ἀνέστησεν (anestēsen, G1453): Translated here as “raised up,” this Greek word often means to “raise from the dead.” It highlights that God actively brought Jesus back to life, not just figuratively but literally.
  • ξύλον (xylon, G3586): This word means “tree” or “wood.” In this context, it refers to the wooden cross used in crucifixion. For Jewish listeners, being “hanged on a tree” echoed Deuteronomy 21:23, which associated such a death with being under God’s curse, adding weight to Peter’s accusation and God’s vindication of Jesus.

Why Acts 5:30 matters

  • Acts 5:30 clarifies that the resurrection of Jesus is not a break from Jewish tradition but a fulfillment of it, tying Jesus’s story to the God of “our fathers.”
  • The verse confronts the listeners with their responsibility in Jesus’s death, but also shows that God’s power and purpose overrule human actions.
  • By calling the cross a “tree,” Peter uses language that would have reminded his Jewish audience of Old Testament law, deepening the impact of his message and showing the shame and reversal involved in Jesus’s death and resurrection.

Where else these words appear

“slew” Greek G1315 · used in 2 verses

  • Acts 26:21 For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me.

“hanged” Greek G2910 · used in 7 verses

  • Matthew 18:6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
  • Luke 23:39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
  • Acts 28:4 And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.

“tree” Greek G3586 · used in 17 verses

  • Matthew 26:47 And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people.
  • Luke 23:31 For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?
  • Galatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

“up” Greek G1453 · used in 135 verses

  • Matthew 2:13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
  • Mark 12:26 And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?
  • Acts 10:40 Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;