Acts 1:25

τὸν κλῆρον : R.V. τόπον marking the antithesis between the place in the Apostleship and “his own place” to which Judas had gone, Vulg. locum. τῆς διακονίας ταύτης καὶ ἀποστολῆς : as above we have not only the word διακονία used but also ἐπισκοπή, Acts 5:17; Acts 5:20, so here too we have not only διακονία but also ἀποστολή, although no doubt there is a sense in which we may truly say with Dr. Hort (Ecclesia, p. 204) that Apostleship is the highest form of ministration. On the word ἀπόστολος see Acts 13:2-3; the term was undoubtedly used in N.T. to include others besides the Twelve, although there is no reason to suppose that the qualification of having “seen the Lord” was in any case invalidated (cf. Gwatkin, “Apostle,” Hastings' B.D., p. 126). The whole narrative before us which relates the solemn appeal of the Church to her Ascended Lord, and the choice determined upon in immediate sequence to that appeal, is clearly at variance with any conception of Apostleship as other than a divine commission received directly from Christ Himself (Moberly, Ministerial Priesthood, p. 130). παρέβη, “fell away,” R.V. cf. LXX Exodus 32:8, ἐκ τῆς ὁδοῦ, so Deuteronomy 9:12; Deuteronomy 17:20, ἀπὸ τῶν ἐντολῶν (cf. Acts 28:14, A.), so the Heb. סוּר followed by מִן. A.V. following Tyndall renders “by transgression fell,” which lays too much stress upon “fell,” which is not the prominent notion of the Greek verb, elsewhere “transgressed” (Humphry on Revised Version, p. 188 εἰς τὸν τόπον τὸν ἴδιον on τόπος). in the sense of social position, dignity, see Sir 12:12, and also Deissmann, Neue Bibelstudien, p. 95, of succeeding to the vacant place caused by death in a religious community. Here the phrase is usually explained as the place of punishment, Gehenna, cf. Baal Turim on Numbers 24:25 (and Genesis 31:55) “Balaam ivit in locum suum,” i.e., Gehenna, Lightfoot, Hor. Heb., while on the other hand Schöttgen sees no need to explain the expression in this way. In each of the passages in the O.T. the word ἴδιος does not occur in the LXX, although in the still more fanciful comment of the Rabbis on Job 2:11, we have ἐκ τῆς ἰδίας χώρας. That the phrase ἴδιος τόπος may be used in a good or bad sense is plain from Ignat., Magn., v., in a passage which is naturally referred to the verse before us, where a man's “own place” denotes the place of reward, or that of punishment, cf., e.g., εἰς τὸν ὀφειλόμενον τόπον, Polycarp, Phil., ix., where the words refer to the martyrs who were with the Lord, and εἰς τὸν ὀφειλ. τόπον τῆς δόξης said of St. Peter, Clem. Rom., Cor [112] v. Nösgen argues, Apostelgeschichte, pp. 88, 89, that we are not justified in concluding from a few Rabbinical passages which contain such fanciful interpretations of simple words (cf. the comment on Job 2:11, quoted by Wetstein) that St. Peter must have meant “Gehenna”. In his wilful fall from the place chosen for him by God, Judas had chosen in self-will ἴδιος τόπος, and this wilful and deliberate choice St. Peter would emphasise in contrast to the τόπος ἀποστολῆς about to be bestowed, Acts 1:25 (see also Rendall, Acts, p. 174). But however this may be, the words may well indicate a reserve on the part of St. Peter in speaking of the fate and destiny of Judas, characteristic of his reference to him cf. note on Acts 1:16. None of the other explanations offered can be deemed satisfactory, as, e.g., that the word πορευθῆναι κ. τ. λ. refers to the successor of Judas; that Matthias should undertake the Apostolic circuit assigned to Judas (so Oecumenius, and amongst English commentators, Hammond); or, that the words refer to the house or home of Judas, or to his association with the Pharisees, or to his suicide and dishonoured burial, or to the χωρίον mentioned above. Spitta, amongst recent commentators, stands almost alone in referring the words back to Acts 1:16, and holds that they refer to the position of Judas as the guide to those who took Jesus. The sense of the passage is expressed in the reading of A δίκαιον instead of ἴδιον.

[112] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.