“But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.”
The heinousness of their crime is brought out by contrast. They denied the Holy and Righteous One -- they refused to listen to the One Who taught and did only what was good, and chose rather the survival of a murderer. They killed -- the source and sustainer of Life. In further contrast while they killed Him, God demonstrated what He thought of their action by raising Him up. Thus while He was spurned by Israel He was vindicated by God (see Isaiah 50:4-9; Isaiah 53:10-12), as they, the Apostles, can all bear witness to.
‘The Holy and Righteous One.' For the ‘Holy One' compare Acts 2:27; Acts 4:27; Psalms 16:10. He is God's Anointed. ‘The Holy One of Israel' was also Isaiah's favourite title for God. For ‘the Righteous One' compare especially Isaiah 53:11 LXX; Zechariah 9:9 LXX. He was both Servant and King. See also Isaiah 24:16 (RV; RSV). and compare Acts 7:52; Acts 22:14; James 5:6; 1 Peter 3:18. In Jewish apocalyptic literature The Righteous One had become a Messianic title (Enoch 38:2; 53:6).
The Holy One was the One Who above all was set apart as God's. The Righteous One was the One Who epitomised in Himself all righteousness, The One Who had fulfilled all righteousness, the One Whose life shone bright and purely in God's eyes. He was the very opposite of what the word ‘murder', the dark side of man, conveyed (compare the contrast of the righteous Abel with the murderer Cain - Hebrews 11:4). We note the stress here on the sinlessness of the One of Whom Peter speaks.
Note in the construction of the passage the parallel with the Prophet like Moses (Acts 3:22-23). Those who would refuse to listen to Him would themselves be cut off.
‘Killed the Prince (archegos) of Life.' The contrast is almost unbelievable. The One Who was the Source, Author, Originator, Provider, Sustainer and Revealer of Life, Who came offering it to all men, ready to be their Guide and Trek Leader in leading them through to eternal life, was taken by them and killed. They were seeking to destroy the core of life itself. And in doing so they had rejected the One Who had come to bring it to them. For archegos compare Acts 5:31; Hebrews 2:10; Hebrews 12:2. The idea behind the word is of one who originates and carries through an enterprise, both as its source and its very heart, like a Wagon-train Boss, or a Safari leader. It is used of the eponymous Heroic founders of ancient cities. It pictures the one who heads the march of triumph as both its originator and object. It represents a Prince in its best and noblest sense, active on his nation's behalf. And Israel's folly in killing Him was evidenced by the fact that God had raised Him from the dead. That was God's verdict on Him, and on what they had done. They had turned their thumbs down and declared Him worthy of death. But God had emphatically turned His thumb upwards, ensuring that He lived.