Acts 13:3

And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. AND WHEN THEY HAD FASTED AND PRAYED. As they were ministering to the Lord and fasting when this supernatural direction came to them, so now, in fulfilling it, they engage in the same exercises. AND LAID THEIR HANDS ON THEM (see the note at ) - "recommending them (as we afterward learn that they did, ) to the grace of God for the work which they had to fulfil." THEY SENT THEM AWAY - that is, this church itself did so. And thus did they go forth with a double call: they were summoned forth to this work by the Holy Spirit, and by the church at Antioch they were 'sent away.' Accordingly, the historian adds --...

3._When they had fasted and prayed. _That they may obey the oracle, they do not only send Paul and Barnabas away; but also with a solemn rite they appoint them to be the apostles of the Gentiles; it is without question that this was a public fast. Luke said before, that they were fasting, forasmuch as they were busied in their ministry: it might be that that was according to the custom; but now there is another reason, for in appointing a public fast, which used to be done in hard matters and of great importance, they provoke both themselves and others unto an earnest ferventness in prayer, for this is oftentimes added in Scripture as a help to prayer; but (it was a matter of such weight to erect the kingdom of Christ amongst the Gentiles) the teachers of Antioch do not without cause earnestly pray the Lord, that he will enable his servants; (780) and that was not the end of their prayer...

1-3 What an assemblage was here! In these names we see that the Lord raises up instruments for his work, from various places and stations in life; and zeal for his glory induces men to give up flattering connexions and prospects to promote his cause. It is by the Spirit of Christ that his ministers are made both able and willing for his service, and taken from other cares that would hinder in it. Christ's ministers are to be employed in Christ's work, and, under the Spirit's guidance, to act for the glory of God the Father. They are separated to take pains, and not to take state. A blessing upon Barnabas and Saul in their present undertaking was sought for, and that they might be filled with the Holy Ghost in their work. Whatever means are used, or rules observed, the Holy Ghost alone can fit ministers for their important work, and call them to it....

Verse Acts 13:3. _AND WHEN THEY HAD FASTED AND PRAYED, AND LAID_ THEIR _HANDS ON THEM_] 1. _They fasted_: this was probably done by the whole Church. 2. _They prayed_, that God would bless and prosper them in their work. 3. _They land hands upon them_; thus solemnly appointing them to that particular work. But was it by this fasting, praying, and imposition of hands that these men were qualified for this work? No. God had already _called_ them to it, Acts 13:2, and he who called them had qualified them. Both their call and their qualification came from God; but he chose that they should have also the sanction of that Church of which they had been members; and therefore he said, _Separate me_, c. The ordination of elders among the Jews was b

AND WHEN THEY HAD FASTED - They were fasting when they were commanded to set them apart. Yet this probably refers to an appointed day of prayer, with reference to this very purpose. The first formal mission to the Gentiles was an important event in the church, and they engaged in this appointment with deep solemnity and with humbling themselves before God. AND PRAYED - This enterprise was a new one. The gospel had been preached to the Jews, to Cornelius, and to the Gentiles at Antioch. But there had been no solemn, public, and concerted plan of sending it to the Gentiles, or of appointing a mission to the pagan. It was a new event, and was full of danger and hardships. The primitive church felt the need of divine direction and aid in the great work. Two missionaries were to be sent forth among strangers, to be exposed to perils by sea and land; and the commencement of the enterprise dema...

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 WHEN THEY HAD FASTED AND PRAYED,.... Not when they had done fasting and praying, at the time the Holy Ghost made an impulse on their minds, to separate two of their brethren to a work they were appointed to; but at another time, which was fixed for that purpose; when they fasted and prayed, not for direction, who they were to set apart and send; for the persons were before pointed out to them, but that they might have every needful gift and qualification for the work, and be succeeded in it: AND LAID THEIR HANDS ON THEM; not as ordaining them, for this was not an ordination; the Apostle Paul particularly was not ordained an apostle by man, but by Jesus Christ; who personally appeared to him, and made and ordained him his minister and apostle; and much less by men inferior to himself, as Simeon, Lucius, and Manaen were; but this was a gesture and ceremony used among the Jews, when th...

ACTS 13:3 proseuxa,menoi The addition of pa,ntej after proseuxa,menoi in codex Bezae is a typical Western expansion. The omission of avpe,lusan by the same manuscript must be accounted a scribal blunder, for its absence ruins the syntax. (Blass and Clark retain the word in their editions.) After avpe,lusan E vg copsa, bo syrp, h with obelus add auvtou,j....

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

THE CHURCH AT ANTIOCH: THE SENDING OUT OF BARNABAS AND SAUL. Prophets and teachers are mentioned by Paul (1 Corinthians 12:28) after apostles; at Antioch there are no apostles, the prophets and teachers act as the instrument of the Spirit. Barnabas has remained at Antioch (Galatians 2:13), interested in the Gentile mission (Acts 11:19). For LUCIUS OF CYRENE, _ cf._ _ACTS 11:20_ *. MANAEN, FOSTER-BROTHER, _ or_ PLAYMATE, OF HEROD ANTIPAS, must have been brought up at Rome (Josephus, _Ant._ XVII. i. 3). Saul comes last; he is not a young man at this time, but would be about forty-f