Acts 10:1

ἦν omitted with אABCEL. Vulg. has ‘erat.’

1. St Luke now brings to our notice the circumstances which attended the first preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles. The Apostles, though informed by Christ’s commission that they were to ‘teach all nations,’ yet tarried the Lord’s leisure, and waited till the Spirit, who was their constant guide, shewed them a door opened for such extension of their labours. The first Gentile converts seem to have been living in some sort of communion with the Jews of Cæsarea, for Cornelius, the representative figure among them, was ‘of good report among all that nation,’ but yet from the complaints of the brethren at Jerusalem, when they heard what Peter had done, we can see that Cornelius was one of the ‘sinners of the Gentiles.’ ‘Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised and didst eat with them’ expresses the shock which the strict observers of the Law experienced in this new development of the Church; and even Peter himself, though chosen to inaugurate the preaching to the Gentiles, was not always proof against the scruples and remonstrances of his brethren of the Circumcision (Galatians 2:12).

ἀνὴρ δέ τις. The substantive verb is omitted by the best authorities. The rendering would therefore be, Now a certain man … which gave much alms … saw in a vision.

Cæsarea is the same place which is mentioned Acts 8:40, and was usually the residence of the Roman Procurator (see Acts 23:23-26; Acts 25:1-4). The soldiers over whom Cornelius was centurion were the necessary troops to support the state and authority of the Roman representative, who at this time was Herod Agrippa, whom Claudius had made king over Judæa and Samaria.

ὀνόματι Κορνήλιος, by name Cornelius. The name shews he was a Roman, and perhaps he may have been of the famous Cornelian Gens. But there were also many plebeians of this name, for Sulla (Appian B. C. I. 100) bestowed the Roman franchise on 10,000 slaves and called them after his own name, ‘Cornelii.’

ἑκατοντάρχης, a centurion. We find also the Latin word κεντυρίων in N.T. (Mark 15:39; Mark 15:44-45). The centurion’s was not a distinguished office. He was commander of the sixth part of a cohort, i.e. of half a maniple. The name must have been given to such officer when his command was over a hundred men. The Roman legion in these times was divided into ten cohorts, and each cohort into three maniples, so that the nominal strength of the legion would be 6000 men.

ἐκ σπείρης, of the band, i.e. the cohort. See Polyb. XI. 23. 1 λτοῦτο δὲ καλεῖται σύνταγμα τῶν πεζῶν παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις κοόρτις. Such a troop was stationed in Jerusalem at the time of the Crucifixion (Matthew 27:27). σπεῖρα is found in the LXX. used of Jewish troops (Jdt 14:11; 2Ma 8:23; 2Ma 12:20; 2Ma 12:22).

τῆς καλουμένης Ἰταλικῆς, called the Italian band. The name at first would be given to it from the country in which it was raised, but no doubt it would afterwards be recruited from other parts, and yet still retain its original title. Tacitus (Hist. I. 59 &c.) mentions an Italian legion. A centurion of a similar band, which was styled ‘Augustan,’ is mentioned (Acts 27:1) below.