Acts 9:31

Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied. THEN HAD THE CHURCHES. But the true reading here seems to be 'the Church' [ hee (G3588) ekkleesia (G1577), with A B C, etc., and most versions], which Lachmann and Tischendorf adopt (and DeWette, Alford, and Lechler approve, though not Meyer). Indeed, it is hardly conceivable that 'churches,' in any proper sense of the term, should have been formed thus early "throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria." REST, [ eireeneen (G1515)] - or 'peace.' This rest or peace, however, was not so much owing to Saul...

31._Then the Churches. _Luke’s meaning is, that the enemies of the gospel were greatly provoked by Paul’s presence. For why was there such peace made suddenly by his departure, save only because the very sight of him did provoke the fury of the enemies? And yet this is no reproach to him, as if he had been, as it were, some trumpet in war; but Luke doth rather commend him for this, because he made the wicked run mad, only with the smell of him when he was near them. For Christ meant so to triumph in him, that he might be no less a trouble than an ornament to his Church. Therefore we are taught by this example that those are not by and by (629) to be condemned, who inflame the madness of the wicked more than others; which admonition is not a little profitable. For as we are too dainty and too much besotted with the love of our own rest, so we be also sometimes angry with the best and most...

23-31 When we enter into the way of God, we must look for trials; but the Lord knows how to deliver the godly, and will, with the temptation, also make a way to escape. Though Saul's conversion was and is a proof of the truth of Christianity, yet it could not, of itself, convert one soul at enmity with the truth; for nothing can produce true faith, but that power which new-creates the heart. Believers are apt to be too suspicious of those against whom they have prejudices. The world is full of deceit, and it is necessary to be cautious, but we must exercise charity, 1 Corinthians 13:5. The Lord will clear up the characters of true believers; and he will bring them to his people, and often gives them opportunities of bearing testimony to his truth, before those who once witnessed their hatred to it. Christ now appeared to Saul, and ordered him to go quickly out of Jerusalem, for he must...

Verse 31. _THEN HAD THE CHURCHES REST_] Instead of ια εκκλησιαι, _the Churches_, ABC, several others, the _Syriac, Coptic,_ _AEthiopic, Armenian_, and _Vulgate_, have ηεκκλησια, _the Church_. Every assembly of God's people was _a Church_; the aggregate of these assemblies was THE CHURCH. The word ειρηνην, which we translate _rest_, and which literally signifies _peace_, evidently means, in this place, _prosperity_; and in this sense both it and the Hebrew שלום _shalom_ are repeatedly used. But what was the cause of this _rest_ or _success_? Some say, the conversion of Saul, who before made havoc of the Church; but this is not likely, as _he_ could not be a universal cause of persecution and distress, however active and virulent he might have been during the time of his enmity to the Christian Church. Besides his _own persecution_, related above, shows that the opposition to the Gospel c...

THEN HAD THE CHURCHES REST - That is, the persecutions against Christians ceased. Those persecutions had been excited by the opposition made to Stephen Acts 11:19; they had been greatly promoted by Saul Acts 8:3; and they had extended doubtless throughout the whole land of Palestine. The precise causes of this cessation of the persecution are not known. Probably they were the following: (1) It is not improbable that the great mass of Christians had been driven into other regions by these persecutions. (2) He who had been most active in exciting the persecution; who was, in a sort, its leader, and who was best adapted to carry it on, had been converted. He had ceased his opposition; and even he was now removed from Jude

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

THEN HAD THE CHURCHES REST,.... Meaning not spiritual rest in Christ; this they had before, even in tribulation, but rest from persecution; not so much because of the conversion of Saul, the great persecutor of them, for his conversion had been three years before; but rather because of his removal to other parts, the sight of whose person, and especially his ministry, had afresh stirred up the Jews to wrath and fury. The Alexandrian copy, and some others, the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions, read in the singular number, "the church": but the several countries hereafter mentioned shows that more are designed: for it follows, THROUGHOUT ALL JUDEA, AND GALILEE, AND SAMARIA; for by means of the dispersion, on account of persecution, the Gospel was preached in these several places, and churches gathered, and which shared in the persecution until this time, when they began to hav...

Acts 9:1. _And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,-_ Notice that little word «yet.» «Saul yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord;» but there was to be a point beyond which he could not go. I pray God that there may be such a «yet» as that put into the histories of any here who are opposing God and his Christ. «Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter,» as if they were his very breath, as if he only lived to blaspheme the name of Christ, and to persecute his followers, «went unto the high priest,» Acts 9:2. _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._

ACTS 9:31 h` … evkklhsi,a … ei=cen … oivkodomoume,nh kai. poreuome,nh … evplhqu,neto {A} The range and age of the witnesses that read the singular number are superior to those that read the plural. The singular can hardly be a scribal modification in the interest of expressing the idea of the unity of the church, for in that case we should have expected similar modifications in Acts 15:41 and Acts 16:5, where there is no doubt that the plural number evkklhsi,ai is the original text....

CHAPTER 9 __ 1. The vision of Glory on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1). 2. Instructions given to Ananias (Acts 9:10). 3. Saul filled with the Spirit, is baptized and preaches that Jesus is the Son of God (Acts 9:17). 4. Saul persecuted and back in Jerusalem (Acts 9:23). 5. Further Acts of Peter (Acts 9:32). The previous chapter must be looked upon in its main part as a parenthesis. The record now leads us back to the close of the seventh, and the person who was connected with the great tragedy enacted there is prominently brought n