Acts 3:9-11 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

And all the people Who were there present; saw him walking In the court of the temple; and heard him praising God In this uncommon ecstasy of delight; and they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate, &c. He had sat there so long, that they all knew him; and for that reason he was chosen to be a vessel of mercy. Now they were not so perverse as to make any doubt whether he was the same man that had sat begging, as the Pharisees had questioned concerning the blind man that Christ cured, John 9:18; for they saw him walking and praising God, and probably took notice of a change in his mind, for he was now as loud in praising God, as he had used to be in begging relief. And they were filled with wonder and amazement Greek, θαμβους και εκστασεως, with astonishment and ecstasy; they felt emotions, resembling those of the person healed; at that which had happened to him At the miracle wrought for him. It is worth observing here, that this effect appears to have been produced by the late effusion of the Spirit; the people, at least those in Jerusalem, were more affected with the miracles which the apostles wrought, than they had been with those of the same kind that had been performed by Christ himself. And as the lame man held Peter and John Full of gratitude for the great blessing he had received through their instrumentality; and while he walked on between them, sometimes, probably, taking hold of them by the hand; and sometimes embracing them as his great benefactors; all the people In the neighbouring parts; ran together unto them Some only to gratify their curiosity with the sight of men that had such power; others, perhaps, with a desire to hear them preach, concluding that the doctrine must needs be of divine origin, which had thus a divine confirmation: in the porch that is called Solomon's A spacious and celebrated portico of the temple. See note on John 10:23. Hither the people flocked to see this great sight.