Acts 11:29

Acts 11:29. The disciples. This designation of those, whom we have just seen for the first time ‘called Christians,' is found in current use throughout the Acts of the Apostles (see, for instance, Acts 6:1; Acts 9:1; Acts 15:10; Acts 20:7).

Every man according to his ability. This is a very different aspect of giving pecuniary relief from that which we saw in the account of the charity and generosity of the earliest Christians in Jerusalem; and, if we may venture to say so, it is a higher aspect. See notes above (on ch. 1, 4, and 5) on the risk of communism. The principle here acted on, viz. that each should give freely ‘as God had prospered him,' is precisely that which St. Paul afterwards inculcated on the Christians of Galatia and Achaia (1 Corinthians 16:2; see 2 Corinthians 8:12), and it is probable that he had much to do here at Antioch with this active movement of charity in Syria, and with its methodical arrangements.

The brethren which dwelt in Judea. Here we have another designation for the Christians, which also is found repeatedly throughout the Acts of the Apostles (see Acts 9:30; Acts 17:10; Acts 28:14-15). In this place it is probably used to indicate the brotherly feeling which subsisted between the ‘disciples' in Syria and Judaea, and which was exemplified in this charitable work.