Acts 13:20

And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. AND AFTER THAT HE GAVE UNTO THEM JUDGES ABOUT THE SPACE OF FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS. Since this appears to contradict , various solutions have been proposed. Taking the words as they stand in the Greek-thus, 'after that, by the space of four hundred and fifty years, he gave judges'-the meaning may be, that about 450 years elapsed from the time of the covenant with Abraham until the period of the judges; which is historically correct, the word "about" showing that chronological exactness was not aimed at. But taking the sense to be as in our version-that it was the period of the judges itself which lasted about 450 years-this statement also will appear historically correct, if we include in it the interval of subjection to foreign powers w...

20._He gave them judges. _Under this name the Scripture comprehendeth rulers and governors; and here is another testimony of the infinite goodness of God toward the Jews, in that he pardoned so many backslidings in them. For it is likely that Paul handled those things more at large, which Luke gathereth briefly. And we know what was the estate of the people during all that time, seeing that through untamed wantonness they did ever now and then shake off the yoke. They were often punished with most grievous plagues, yet so soon as they were once humbled, God delivered them from the tyranny of their enemies. So that he saved the body thereof alive, amidst many deaths, four whole ages and one-half. And hereby it appeareth how unworthy they were of the favor of God, which they did despise and reject so often, unless the constancy of the election had gotten the victory. For how is it that God...

14-31 When we come together to worship God, we must do it, not only by prayer and praise, but by the reading and hearing of the word of God. The bare reading of the Scriptures in public assemblies is not enough; they should be expounded, and the people exhorted out of them. This is helping people in doing that which is necessary to make the word profitable, to apply it to themselves. Every thing is touched upon in this sermon, which might best prevail with Jews to receive and embrace Christ as the promised Messiah. And every view, however short or faint, of the Lord's dealings with his church, reminds us of his mercy and long-suffering, and of man's ingratitude and perverseness. Paul passes from David to the Son of David, and shows that this Jesus is his promised Seed; a Saviour to do that for them, which the judges of old could not do, to save them from their sins, their worst enemies....

Verse Acts 13:20. _AND AFTER THAT HE GAVE UNTO THEM JUDGES ABOUT THE_ _SPACE OF FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS_] This is a most difficult passage, and has been termed by Scaliger, _Crux Chronologorum_. The apostle seems here to contradict the account in 1 Kings 6:1: _And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after_ _the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the_ _fourth year of Solomon's reign, he began to build the house of the_ _Lord_. _Sir Norton Knatchbull_, in his annotations upon difficult texts, has considered the various solutions proposed by learned men of the difficulty before us; and concludes that the words of the apostle should not be understood as meaning _how long_ God gave them judges, but

HE GAVE UNTO THEM JUDGES - Men who were raised up in an extraordinary manner to administer the affairs of the nation, to defend it from enemies, etc. See Judges 2:16. ABOUT THE SPACE OF FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS - This is a most difficult passage, and has exercised all the ingenuity of chronologists. The ancient versions agree with the present Greek text. The difficulty has been to reconcile it with what is said in 1 Kings 6:1, “And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel ...he began to build the house of the Lord.” Now if to the 40 years that the children of Israel were in the wilderness there be added the 450

EXPOSITION ACTS 13:1 _At Antioch., in the Church that was there _for _in the Church that was at Antioch, _A.V.; _prophets, _etc., for _certain prophets, _etc., A.V. and T.R.; _Barnabas, _etc., for _as Barnabas, _etc., A.V.; _Symeon _for _Simeon, _A.V.; _the foster-brother of _for _which had_ _been brought up with, _A.V. AT ANTIOCH, IN THE CHURCH, etc. Κατὰ τὴν οὖσαν ἐκκλησίαν rather means "the existing Church," just as at αἱ οὖσαι ἐξουσίαι_ _means "the existing powers," "the powers that be," in Romans 13:1, A.V. and T.R. _The then Church _seems mere the meaning than _the Church there. _Luke writes from the standpoint of

AND AFTER THAT HE GAVE UNTO THEM JUDGES,.... As Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Abimelech, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, Samson, and Eli: ABOUT THE SPACE OF FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS; not that from the division of the land of Canaan among the tribes, to Samuel the prophet, was such a space of years; for from the coming of the children of Israel out of Egypt, to the year that Solomon began to build the temple, were but four hundred and fourscore years, 1 Kings 6:1 and out of these must be taken the forty years the children of Israel were in the wilderness, and seven years in subduing the land of Canaan, before the division of it, which reduce this number to four hundred and thirty and three; and from hence must be deducted the time of Samuel's judging Israel, the reigns of Saul and David, and three years of Solomon's, which reduced the years of the judges to les

Acts 13:13. _Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem. But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down._ They would be noticed as strangers who had come thither. The synagogue did not generally contain a very large assembly, and the Jews of the place would be well known to one another, and they would notice that two or three men had come in whom they had not been accustomed to see in their company. Acts 13:15. And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. Then Paul stood up, and

ACTS 13:20 w`j e;tesin … meta. tau/ta {C} The problems of verses Acts 13:19 and Acts 13:20 are both textual and exegetical. The Textus Receptus (following Db E P Y and most minuscules) speaks of the period of the judges following the division of Canaan: “and after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet” (AV). On the other hand the Alexandrian text transfers the temporal clause to the end of ver....

PART III The Witness to the Gentiles. The Apostle to the Gentiles; his Ministry and Captivity. Chapter s 13-28 CHAPTER 13 _ 1. The Divine Choice. Barnabas and Saul separated unto the work (Acts 13:1)._ 2. The Beginning of the Journey and the events in Cyprus (Acts 13:4). 3. The Gospel in Galatia. Paul's Address (Acts 13:13). 4. The Gospel rejected by the Jews (Acts 13:42). The thirteenth chapter is the beginning of the third part of this book. The second great center of Christianity comes to the front. It is no longer Jerusalem, but the city of Antioch. The gospel which had been preached in