Acts 3:2

τις, by its position as in Luke 11:27 directs attention to this man, “the man was conspicuous both from the place and from his malady” Chrys., Hom., viii. χωλὸς … ὑπάρχων : “a certain man that was lame” R.V., otherwise ὑπάρχων is not noticed, fittingly used here in its classical sense expressing the connection between the man's present state and his previous state, see on Acts 2:30. ἐβαστάζετο : imperf., expressing a customary act, the man was being carried at the hour of worship when the Temple would be filled with worshippers (Chrysostom); or the verb may mean that he was being carried in the sense that the bearers had not yet placed him in the accustomed spot for begging, cf. 2 Kings 18:14, Sir 6:25, Bel and the Dragon, ver. 36; Theod. ὃν ἐτίθουν : the imperfect used of customary or repeated action in past time, Burton, Syntax of Moods and Tenses, etc., p. 12, on the form see Winer-Schmiedel, p. 121; Blass, Grammatik des N. G., p. 48: in Acts there are several undoubted instances of the way in which the imperfect 3rd plural of verbs in μι was often formed as if from a contract verb, cf. Acts 4:33; Acts 4:35; Acts 27:1 πρὸς τὴν θύραν : R.V. “door,” although in Acts 3:10 we have not θύρα but πύλη · τὴν λεγ. Ὡραίαν : it may have been the gate of Nicanor (so called because Judas Maccabæus had nailed to the gate the hand of his conquered foe, 1Ma 7:47). The description given of it by Josephus, B. J., v., 5, 3, marks it as specially magnificent, cf. also Hamburger, Real-Encycl., ii., 8, p. 1198. This view was held by Wetstein, see, in loco, Nicanor's gate. Another interpretation refers the term to the gate Shushan, which was not only close to the Porch of Solomon, but also to the market for the sale of doves and other offerings, and so a fitting spot for a beggar to choose (Zöckler). The gate may have been so called because a picture of the Persian capital Susa was placed over it (Hamburger, u. s.), i.e., Town of Lilies. Cf. Hebrew Shushan, a lily, the lily being regarded as the type of beauty. Wendt suggests that the title may be explained from the decoration on the pillars of lily work מַעֲשֵׂה שׁוּשַׁן, Mr. Wright, Some N.T. Problems, 1898, has recently argued that the eastern gate of the Court of the Women is meant, p. 304 ff. (so too Schürer, Jewish People, div. ii., vol. i., p. 180, E.T.). This court was the place of assembly for the services, and a beggar might naturally choose a position near it. The decision as to which of these gates reference is made to is rendered more difficult by the fact that, so far as we know, no gate bore the name “Beautiful”. But the decision apparently lies between these alternatives, although others have been proposed, cf. John Lightfoot, Hor. Heb., in loco, and Wright, u. s. In such notices as the mention of the Beautiful Gate, Solomon's Porch, Feine sees indications of a true and reliable tradition. τοῦ αἰτεῖν : genitive of the purpose, very frequent in this form, genitive of the article with the infinitive both in the N.T. and in the LXX, cf. Genesis 4:15; 1 Kings 1:35; Ezekiel 21:11; Luke 24:16, see especially Burton, Syntax of Moods and Tenses, p. 159. It is very characteristic of St. Luke, and next to him of St. Paul probably indicates the influence of the LXX, although the construction is found in classical Greek, cf. Xen., Anab., iii., 5, see Viteau, Le Grec du N. T., p. 172 (1893). It was a common thing for beggars amongst the Jews as amongst the Christians (just as amongst the Romans, Martial, i., 112) to frequent the Temple and Churches for alms. St. Chrysostom notes the custom as common as it is today in continental cathedrals or modern mosques. ἐλεημοσύνην : common in the LXX but not classical, sometimes used for the feeling of mercy (ἔλεος), Proverbs 3:3; Proverbs 19:22, and constantly through the book; and then for mercy showing itself in acts of pity, almsgiving, Tob 1:3; Tob 12:8, cf. Acts 9:36; Acts 10:2, where it is used in the plural, as often in the LXX. Our word alms is derived from it and the German Almosen, both being corruptions of the Greek word.