Acts 17:5

But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. BUT THE JEWS WHICH BELIEVED NOT, MOVED WITH ENVY (or 'jealousy') - seeing their influence likely to be destroyed [Tischendorf omits all these words; but though the manuscripts vary considerably, the three oldest-'Aleph (') A B with E etc.-have the principal part of the clause, and the reasons for its exclusion seem scarcely sufficient] -- TOOK UNTO THEM CERTAIN LEWD FELLOWS OF THE BASER SORT, [ toon (G3588) agoraioon (G60) tinas ...

− 5._And being moved with envy. _We see how Paul could nowhere erect the kingdom of Christ without some conflict, for so soon as any fruit of doctrine appeared, there arose persecution therewithal; but because he knew that he was to war against Satan and the wickedness of the world, he was not only hardened against all assaults, but he was more encouraged more courageously to proceed. Therefore, all the servants of Christ must be content with this one example of him, if they see that their labor doth yield some fruit, they must recompense all manner of persecutions with this reward. And this place teacheth that the zeal wherewith the unbelievers are carried headlong, and set on fire, is nothing else but furious force, − (250) because it is not governed by the prudence of the Spirit, neither yet with righteousness or equity. And though they do always pretend the name of God for an excuse...

1-9 The drift and scope of Paul's preaching and arguing, was to prove that Jesus is the Christ. He must needs suffer for us, because he could not otherwise purchase our redemption for us; and he must needs have risen again, because he could not otherwise apply the redemption to us. We are to preach concerning Jesus that he is Christ; therefore we may hope to be saved by him, and are bound to be ruled by him. The unbelieving Jews were angry, because the apostles preached to the Gentiles, that they might be saved. How strange it is, that men should grudge others the privileges they will not themselves accept! Neither rulers nor people need be troubled at the increase of real Christians, even though turbulent spirits should make religion the pretext for evil designs. Of such let us beware, from such let us withdraw, that we may show a desire to act aright in society, while we claim our righ...

Verse Acts 17:5. _THE JEWS WHICH BELIEVED NOT, MOVED WITH ENVY, TOOK UNTO_ _THEM_] Instead of this sentence, the most correct MSS. and versions read simply, προσλαβομενοι δε οἱ Ιουδαιοι. _But the Jews taking_, c., leaving out the words, ζηλωσαντες, απειθουντες, _which_ _believed not, moved with envy_: these words do not appear to be genuine there is the strongest evidence against them, and they should be omitted. _CERTAIN LEWD FELLOWS OF THE BASER SORT_] This is not a very intelligible translation. The original is, των αγοραιων τινας ανδοας πονηρους. The word αγοραιοι, which we translate the _baser_ _sort_, is by Hesychius explained, οἱ εν αγορᾳ αναϚρεφομενοι, those who transact business in courts of justice. The same word is used by the Jews in Hebrew letters to signify judges; and אגוריאות של גוים agorioth shel g

MOVED WITH ENVY - That they made so many converts, and met with such success. CERTAIN LEWD FELLOWS OF THE BASER SORT - This is an unhappy translation. The word “lewd” is not in the original. The Greek is, “And having taken certain wicked people of those who were about the forum,” or market-place. The forum, or market-place, was the place where the idle assembled, and where those were gathered together that wished to be employed, Matthew 20:3. Many of these would be of abandoned character, the idle, the dissipated, and the worthless, and, therefore, just the materials for a mob. It does not appear that they felt any particular interest in the subject; but they were, like other mobs, easily excited, and urged on to any acts of violence. The pretence on which the mob was excited was, that they had everywhere produced distu

EXPOSITION ACTS 17:1 AMPHIPOLIS. This was the ancient capital of that division of Macedonia (Macedonia Prima); see Acts 16:12, note. It was situated on the Via Egnatia, thirty-four miles southwest from Philippi, and three miles from the AEgean Sea. It lay in a peninsula, surrounded on three sides by the Strymon, whence its name, _Amphipolis; _its modern name is _Neokhoria, _now a village. Its original name was Ἐννέα ̔οδοί, The Nine Ways. Originally a Thracian city, it was conquered by the Athenians, then by the Lacedaemonians, then fell under the dominion of Philip of Macedon, and finally, with the rest of Macedonia, became part of the Roman empire. APOLLONIA; now probably _Polina, _thirty miles due west

BUT THE JEWS WHICH BELIEVED NOT,.... The Alexandrian copy, the Vulgate Latin, and Syriac versions leave out the words, "which believed not"; but whether this character is expressed or not, it is certain that the unbelieving Jews are here intended: MOVED WITH ENVY; at the success of the apostles, many of their own people and of their proselytes, and some of the better sort being converted by them: or "with zeal"; for what they called the glory of God, but it was not according to knowledge; it was a blind and ignorant zeal, a zeal for the rites and ceremonies of the law of Moses, and for the traditions of the elders: TOOK UNTO THEM CERTAIN LEWD FELLOWS OF THE BASER SORT; or of the market folks, who sat and sold things in the market, and were generally of the meaner and vulgar sort, as the word may signify; or who stood idle in the market place, squandering away their time in an idle mann...

ACTS 17:5 zhlw,santej de. oi` VIoudai/oi kai. proslabo,menoi Part of the distinctive reading of codex Bezae, oi` de. avpeiqou/ntej VIoudai/oi sunstre,yante,j tinaj a;ndraj tw/n avgorai,wn ponhrou.j evqorubou/san th.n po,lin (“But the Jews _who disbelieved assembled_ some wicked fellows of the rabble and set the city in an uproar”), is preserved in the later Byzantine text, proslabo,menoi de. oi` VIoudai/oi oi` avpeiqou/ntej (_al_ oi` avpeiq) VIoud)) (H L P most minuscules), and in the Textus Receptus, zhlw,santej de. oi` avpeiqou/ntej VIoudai/oi kai. proslabo,menoi (a reading that lacks any significant support in the manuscripts). On the verb sustre,fein, see the final commen...

CHAPTER 17 _ 1. The Gospel in Thessalonica (Acts 17:1)._ 2. The Gospel in Beroea (Acts 17:10). 3. Paul in Athens (Acts 17:15). Three cities in which the Gospel is next preached are before us in this chapter. But there is a marked difference between these three places. In Thessalonica there was much hostility, the result of the success of the Gospel. In Beroea a more noble class of Jews were found. Their nobility consisted in submission to the Scriptures, the oracles of God, and in a ready mind. There was a still greater blessing among the Jews and the Gentiles. In Athens the Apostle Paul met idolatry, indifference and ridicule. An interesting fact is learned concerning the activity of the apostl

THESSALONICA (_cf._ 1 Thessalonians 2:2). From Philippi to Amphipolis is a distance of 30 miles, from Amphipolis to Apollonia 29, from Apollonia to Thessalonica 35 miles, all on the _Via Egnatia_ which connected the Adriatic and the Hellespont. Why there was no preaching at Amphipolis and Apollonia, we cannot tell; probably there was no synagogue at either place. Thessalonica (p. 876), on the Thermaic Gulf, made the capital of Macedonia by the Romans 146 B.C., and a free city after the Second Civil War, had a parliament (the people; _demos,_ Acts 17:5) and magistrates (_politarchs,_ 6) of its own. That it had a Jewish population the text shows. Salonika is still a populous city. [Since this was written it has again become famous. A. S. P.]...