Acts 9:20

And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. AND STRAIGHTWAY (THAT IS, AFTER THE "CERTAIN DAYS" SPENT IN PRIVATE WITH THE DISCIPLES, ), HE PREACHED CHRIST. The true reading here unquestionably is, 'he preached Jesus' [with 'Aleph (') A B C E, etc., and most versions] - in favour of which the internal evidence from is nearly as strong as the external. IN THE SYNAGOGUES. The plurality of synagogues at Damascus, here noted, shows that there must have been a large body of Jews there; and Josephus (as Olshausen remarks) mentions that no fewer than ten thousand of them perished there in the reign of Nero (Jewish Wars, 1: 2, 25). THAT HE IS THE SON OF GOD....

20.Luke declareth now how fruitful Paul’s conversion was, to wit, that he came abroad by and by, (600) and did not only profess that he was a disciple of Christ, but did also set himself against (601) the fury and hatred of the enemies, by defending the gospel stoutly. Therefore, he who of late ran headlong against Christ with furious force, doth now not only submit himself meekly unto his will and pleasure but like a stout standard-bearer fighteth even unto the utmost danger to maintain his glory. Certain it is that he was not so quickly framed by Ananias’ industry, (602) but that so soon as he had learned the first principles by man’s mouth, he was extolled by God unto higher things afterward. He comprehendeth the sum of his preaching briefly, when he saith that Christ was the Son of God. In the same sense, he saith shortly after that he saw C

10-22 A good work was begun in Saul, when he was brought to Christ's feet with those words, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And never did Christ leave any who were brought to that. Behold, the proud Pharisee, the unmerciful oppressor, the daring blasphemer, prayeth! And thus it is even now, and with the proud infidel, or the abandoned sinner. What happy tidings are these to all who understand the nature and power of prayer, of such prayer as the humbled sinner presents for the blessings of free salvation! Now he began to pray after another manner than he had done; before, he said his prayers, now, he prayed them. Regenerating grace sets people on praying; you may as well find a living man without breath, as a living Christian without prayer. Yet even eminent disciples, like Ananias, sometimes stagger at the commands of the Lord. But it is the Lord's glory to surpass our scanty expec...

Verse Acts 9:20. _PREACHED CHRIST IN THE SYNAGOGUES_] Instead of χριστον, _Christ_, ιησουν, _Jesus_, is the reading of ABCE, several others of high importance, together with the _Syriac, Coptic, AEthiopic,_ _Armenian, Slavonic_, and _Vulgate_. The great question to be determined, for the conviction of the Jews, was that JESUS was the Son of God. That the _Christ_, or _Messiah_, was to be the _Son of God_, they all believed. Saul was now convinced that Jesus, whom they had crucified, and who had appeared to him on the way, was the _Son of God_, or _Messiah_; and therefore as such he proclaimed him. The word _Christ_ should be changed for _Jesus_, as the latter is, without doubt, the genuine reading. The first offers of the grace of the Gospel were uniformly made to the Jews. Saul did not at first offe

AND STRAIGHTWAY - Immediately. It was an evidence of the genuineness of his conversion that he was willing at once to avow himself to be the friend of the Lord Jesus. HE PREACHED CHRIST - He proclaimed that Jesus was the Christ. See Acts 9:22. Many manuscripts read here Jesus instead of Christ. Griesbach has adopted this reading. Such is also the Syriac, the Vulgate, and the Ethiopic. The reading accords much better with the subject than the common reading. That Christ, or the Messiah, was the Son of God, all admitted. In the New Testament the names Christ and Son of God are used as synonymous. But the question was whether Jesus was the Christ, and was therefore the Son of God, and this Paul showed to the Jews. Paul continued the practice of attending the synagogues; and in the synagogues anyone had a right to speak who was i

EXPOSITION ACTS 9:1 _But _for _and, _A.V.; _breathing _for _breathing out, _A.V.; _threatening _for _threatenings, _A.V. THREATENING AND SLAUGHTER. The phrase ἐμπνέων ἀπειλῆς κ.τ.λ., is rather a difficult one, and is variously explained. Schleusner takes the genitives in "threatening and slaughter" as genitives of the thing desired, "punting after threatening and slaughter" (comp. Amos 2:7). Meyer explains it "out of the threatenings and murder [in his heart] breathing hard at the disciples"—an expression indicating passion. Alford, taking nearly the sense of the A.V., makes "threatenings and slaughter" to be as it were the very material of his breath, whether breathed out or breathed in. Considering that ἐμπνέω means "to br

AND STRAIGHTWAY HE PREACHED CHRIST IN THE SYNAGOGUES,.... The Syriac version adds, "of the Jews"; that is, which were in Damascus, Acts 9:2 from whence it appears, that he was immediately, as soon as converted, qualified for the work of preaching the Gospel: nor did he confer with flesh and blood, or stand disputing and debating with himself and carnal reason, what was best for him to do; but as soon as he knew Christ himself, he preached him to others, and whom he always made the subject of his ministry; and particularly, THAT HE IS THE SON OF GOD; the only begotten of the Father, the eternal Son of God, truly and properly God, of the same nature and essence with God his Father, and equal to him. His design was to assert and maintain the dignity of his person, which is the foundation of his office, as Mediator, and of all the wonderful things he performed: had he meant no more tha

Acts 9:1. _And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem._ His very breath was hot with malice against the saints, he could not live without venting his spite upon the disciples of Christ. He showed this by the fact that he not only sought to arrest men, but he was equally cruel towards women, who, from their weakness, one would have thought might have been let alone but he expressly desired it to be written in the letters that, «whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.» Acts 9:3. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and sudden

THAT HE IS THE SON OF GOD Compare (Acts 2:36). Peter, while maintaining the deity of Jesus -- "God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ" -- gives especial prominence to His Messiahship. Paul, fresh from the vision of the glory, puts the emphasis on His Deity. Peter's charge was that the Jews had crucified the Son of David (Acts 2:25) Paul's that they had crucified the Lord of glory (1 Corinthians 2:8). In the A.V. the sense is largely lost. The point was, not that the Christ was God, a truth plainly taught by Isaiah. (Isaiah 7:14); ...

ACTS 9:20 VIhsou/n The reading VIhsou/n (î45, 74 a A B C E 61 vg syrp, h copsa, bo _al_) was displaced (probably for doctrinal reasons) by the reading Cristo,n (H L P armmss _al_), which was taken into the Textus Receptus and so into the AV. But, as Alford pointed out long ago, “the following to. o;noma tou/to (ver. Acts 9:21) is decisive for the reading VIhsou/n, and ou-to,j evstin o` cristo,j (ver....