Acts 13:50

But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts. BUT THE JEWS STIRRED UP THE DEVOUT [AND] HONOURABLE WOMEN. The bracketed word and is an addition to the genuine text. The class meant is one-the female proselytes of distinction, unhappily jaundiced against the new preachers by those Jewish ecclesiastics to whom they had learned to look up as the interpreters of the lively oracles in which they had found the only true repose. The potent influence of the female character, both for against the truth, may be seen in the Church history of every age. AND THE CHIEF MEN OF THE CITY, AND RAISED PERSECUTION AGAINST PAUL AND BARNABAS, AND EXPELLED THEM OUT OF THEIR COASTS - an easier thing than to refute them....

50.Nevertheless, he declareth that that was done not without great pains and trouble. Therefore, the beginning of the calling of the Gentiles was joyful and prosperous, neither could Satan hinder the course of the grace of God; but in the mean season, it stood Paul and Barnabas upon (whom God had brought forth into the field (840)) to strive. And we must mark what Luke saith, that the religious and honest women, together with the chief men of the city, were enforced to persecute the servants of Christ. For this was no small offense to the rude, and those who were as yet scarce begotten in Christ, when they saw all those men and women which were of any account or estimation set against Christ, and also whatsoever was praise-worthy according to men. A great multitude of men received Christ, but it was but the multitude and the offscourings of men. Against them were set the chief men of the...

42-52 The Jews opposed the doctrine the apostles preached; and when they could find no objection, they blasphemed Christ and his gospel. Commonly those who begin with contradicting, end with blaspheming. But when adversaries of Christ's cause are daring, its advocates should be the bolder. And while many judge themselves unworthy of eternal life, others, who appear less likely, desire to hear more of the glad tidings of salvation. This is according to what was foretold in the Old Testament. What light, what power, what a treasure does this gospel bring with it! How excellent are its truths, its precepts, its promises! Those came to Christ whom the Father drew, and to whom the Spirit made the gospel call effectual, Romans 8:30. As many as were disposed to eternal life, as many as had concern about their eternal state, and aimed to make sure of eternal life, believed in Christ, in whom Go...

Verse Acts 13:50. _DEVOUT AND HONOURABLE WOMEN_] It is likely that these were _heathen matrons_, who had become _proselytes_ to the Jewish religion; and, as they were persons of affluence and respectability, they had considerable influence with the _civil_ magistracy of the place, and probably their husbands were of this order; and it is likely that they used that influence, at the instigation of the Jews, to get the apostles expelled from the place....

BUT THE JEWS STIRRED UP - Excited opposition. HONOURABLE WOMEN - See the notes on Mark 15:43. Women of influence, and connected with families of rank. Perhaps they were proselytes, and were connected with the magistrates of the city. AND RAISED PERSECUTION - Probably on the ground that they produced disorder. The aid of “chief men” has often been called into oppose revivals of religion, and to put a period, if possible, to the spread of the gospel. OUT OF THEIR COASTS - Out of the regions of their country; out of their province....

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

BUT THE JEWS STIRRED UP THE DEVOUT AND HONOURABLE WOMEN,.... These seem not to be Jewish women; could they be thought to be such, they might easily be concluded to be of the sect of the Pharisees, which was the strictest and most devout sect among the Jews; for there were women Pharisees, as well as men; so we read of אשה פרושה, "a woman Pharisee" b; but these were Gentile women, proselyted to the Jewish religion, and were in their way very religious and devout, and were also "honourable": the word used signifies, not only that they were of a comely form, of a decent habit, and of good manners, as it is by some interpreted; but that they were persons of figure and distinction, of good families; the Syriac version renders it "rich", whose husbands were the principal men of the city; wherefore the Jews applied to these women, and stirred up them to work upon their husbands, who seem to be...

ACTS 13:50 diwgmo,n Codex Bezae, partly supported by E, adds qli/yin mega,lhn kai, before diwgmo,n (“… stirred up _great affliction and_ persecution against Paul and Barnabas”); for a similar Western expansion, see 8.1....

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 RESULT: THE MISSIONARIES LEAVE ANTIOCH. Acts 13:42 reads as if the congregation as a whole invited the preachers to speak to them again on the following Sabbath, but a meeting or meetings at once took place at the instance of many Jews and proselytes in some place not mentioned. The first statement is followed up in Acts 13:44; to account for the crowded synagogue, D and a few other authorities add to Acts 13:43, and it came to pass that the word of God passed through the whole city. There is something awkward in the statement; in the synagogue the Jews need not have allowed the missionaries to speak at all; the scene was possibly elsewhere. The speech which follows is an apology for the Gentile mission which occurs repeated