EXCURSUS A. On the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles. It seems proper, before this commentary closes, that some slight notice should be taken of a literature which is in one sense parallel with the Acts of the Apostles. Just as Apocryphal Gospels exist, if not in rivalry with, yet in contrast with,... [ Continue Reading ]
_St. Paul's Stay of Three Months in MelitaMiracles wrought there by the Apostle,_ 1-10. Acts 28:1. WHEN THEY WERE ESCAPED. The original verb here and in Acts 28:4 is the same that is translated ‘save' in Acts 27:43, and ‘escaped all safe' in Acts 27:44. See note on the former of these passages. T... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:2. THE BARBAROUS PEOPLE SHOWED US NO LITTLE KINDNESS. ‘No _common_ kindness' would be a more correct translation. The Greek word, too, for ‘kindness' (φιλανθρωπι ́ α) is worthy of remark. It denotes the kindness that is shown on the general ground of humanity, irrespective of differences of... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:3. WHEN PAUL HAD GATHERED A BUNDLE OF STICKS. More exactly, ‘had twisted together a large quantity of sticks.' We see the apostle here helping with his own hands to improve the fire , as we saw him before (Acts 27:19) in the storm helping with his own hands to lighten the ship by throwing ‘t... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:4. WHEN THE BARBARIANS SAW THE VENOMOUS BEAST HANG ON HIS HAND. Our translators have added the adjective ‘venomous.' The word θήριον is exactly that which would be naturally used for a snake. There is a curious illustration of this in the word ‘treacle,' which is derived from (θκριακόν [or θ... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:5. FELT NO HARM. We see here part of the fulfilment of the promise in Mark 16:12, words which were doubtless fulfilled in other instances likewise.... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:6. SWOLLEN, OR FALLEN DOWN DEAD SUDDENLY. Either of these results might have followed from the bite of a poisonous serpent. It should be noted, however, that the former word denotes inflammation rather than swelling. AFTER THEY HAD LOOKED A GREAT WHILE. Again we should remark the singular... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:7. IN THE SAME QUARTERS. The traditional place is Città Vecchia, where is the country residence of the present British governor of the island. THE CHIEF MAN OF THE ISLAND, WHOSE NAME WAS PUBLICS. The name is Latin, and doubtless he was a Roman or an Italian. The title given to him (τω ͂ͅ πρ... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:8. LAY SICK OF A FEVER AND OF A BLOODY FLUX. He was suffering, in fact, from dysentery, attended with fever. We meet here with another of the fantastic objections which have been brought against the identification of Melita. It has been contended that dysentery is never found in Malta. It mi... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:9. OTHERS ALSO WHICH HAD DISEASES. More accurately, ‘the rest (οι ̔ λοιποι ̀) who had diseases.' It is probable that all the sick persons in the island who could be moved were brought to St. Paul. The population was scanty, the island was small, and the apostle remained there three months. T... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:10. HONOURED US WITH MANY HONOURS. In 1 Timothy 5:3; 1 Timothy 5:17 , the word (τιμή) used here is employed to denote the material support of religious ministers; and whatever else may be included, we need not exclude that meaning here. St. Paul did not refuse elsewhere to accept the gifts w... [ Continue Reading ]
_Voyage from Malta to Puteoli,_ 11-14. Acts 28:11. AFTER THREE MONTHS. Probably it was now February. The earliest opportunity which the weather permitted would be taken. This is one of the indications of time which are to be taken into account in estimating the relative chronology of St. Paul's lif... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:12. LANDING AT SYRACUSE. Or rather, ‘putting into harbour at Syracuse.' This was in their direct course. The distance is about eighty miles to the north of Malta. THREE DAYS. From what follows, it seems probable that they were waiting for a fair wind.... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:13. FROM THENCE WE FETCHED A COMPASS. The meaning of this English phrase is (as in 2 Kings 3:9), that they did not sail in a straight course; and from the mention of a fair wind presently afterwards which enabled them to do so, it is natural to conclude that they were forced to tack or beat... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:14. WHERE WE FOUND BRETHREN. We know from Romans 16, and indeed from the mere existence of the Epistle to the Romans, that the Christian ‘brethren' were at this time numerous in the metropolis. Hence there must have been Christians at Puteoli, which was the place of communication by sea with... [ Continue Reading ]
_Journey from Puteoli and Arrival in Rome,_ 15. Acts 28:15. WHEN THE BRETHREN HEARD OF US. During the week spent at Puteoli there would be abundant time for the intelligence to travel to Rome; nor would a moment be lost in announcing the arrival of the wonderful writer of the Epistle to the Romans.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Paul at RomeHis work in the Capital,_ 16-31. Acts 28:16. DELIVERED THE PRISONERS TO THE CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD. This officer (στρατοπεδαρχηής _, prefect of the prætorian guard)_ is named in the singular; and this circumstance has been used by Wieseler and others, in conjunction with additional evide... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:17. AND IT CAME TO PASS, THAT AFTER THREE DAYS PAUL CALLED THE CHIEF OF THE JEWS TOGETHER. The Book of the ‘Acts' tells us of the loving, restless activity of Paul to the last. Before the prisoner's arrival at the imperial city, some of the Christians of Rome had met him at Appii Forum and t... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:18. WHO, WHEN THEY HAD EXAMINED ME, WOULD HAVE LET ME GO, BECAUSE THERE WAS NO CAUSE OF DEATH IN ME. All the great Roman officials, before whose tribunals, at different periods of his career, Paul had been brought, through the enmity of his countrymen, had acquitted him of sedition and wrong... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:19. BUT WHEN THE JEWS SPAKE AGAINST IT, I WAS CONSTRAINED TO APPEAL UNTO CÆSAR; NOT THAT I HAD OUGHT TO ACCUSE MY OWN NATION OF. He presses this point upon them, being most anxious to show them he was there not as an accuser of, or an enemy to, ‘the people' the people whom he loved better th... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:20. FOR THIS CAUSE THEREFORE HAVE I CALLED FOR YOU, TO SEE YOU, AND TO SPEAK WITH YOU. His love to his own people was so great that the ever-recurring suspicions of his work and conduct on the part of the Jews were the occasion of the most bitter grief to him. He longed to set himself right... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:21. AND THEY SAID UNTO HIM, WE NEITHER RECEIVED LETTERS OUT OF JUDÆA CONCERNING THEE, NEITHER ANY OF THE BRETHREN THAT CAME SHOWED OR SPAKE ANY HARM OF THEE. This reply of the Roman Jews was more courteous than honest. It was probably the fact that no _official_ communication from the Sanhed... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:22. BUT WE DESIRE TO HEAR OF THEE WHAT THOU THINKEST: FOR AS CONCERNING THIS SECT, WE KNOW THAT EVERYWHERE IT IS SPOKEN AGAINST. The leading Jews of Rome who accepted the prisoner Paul's invitation to visit him in his confinement, were naturally anxious to hear what such an one, notoriously... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:23. AND WHEN THEY HAD APPOINTED HIM A DAY, THERE CAME MANY TO HIM INTO HIS LODGING. The word in the original translated ‘many' is a comparative form, and implies either that more of the Roman Jews came to hear Paul than on the first occasion, or else that more of these leading Jews presented... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:24. AND SOME BELIEVED THE THINGS THAT WERE SPOKEN, AND SOME BELIEVED NOT. The number of those who rejected the salvation of the Messiah evidently far exceeded the number of those who were convinced by Paul's pleading. The melancholy and indignant tone of the apostle's words, with which he cl... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:25. AND WHEN THEY AGREED NOT AMONG THEMSELVES, THEY DEPARTED. Evidently the assembled Jews openly expressed their difference of opinion. A remnant seems to have believed, but the large majority clearly expressed themselves with extreme bitterness, and with hearts full of envy and hatred. The... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:26. SAYING, GO UNTO THIS PEOPLE, AND SAY. HEARING YE SHALL HEAR, AND SHALL NOT UNDERSTAND; AND SEEING YE SHALL SEE, AND NOT PERCEIVE. The stern prediction originally occurs in a sublime passage (Isaiah 6), which relates how, under circumstances of extraordinary solemnity, the Divine commissi... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:29. AND WHEN HE HAD SAID THESE WORDS, THE JEWS DEPARTED, AND HAD GREAT REASONING AMONG THEMSELVES. The whole of this verse is wanting in the more ancient MSS. and versions, and must be considered spurious. It was, however, probably added in early times by some scribe, to soften down the appa... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:30. AND PAUL DWELT TWO WHOLE YEARS IN HIS OWN HIRED HOUSE, AND RECEIVED ALL THAT CAME IN UNTO HIM. We must remember that all this time the apostle was a close prisoner of state, although, through the indulgence of the praetorian praefect, allowed to reside in a lodging of his own instead of... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 28:31. NO MAN FORBIDDING HIM. Literally, ‘without hindrance' (α ̓ κωλυ ́ τως). Wordsworth remarks ‘that there is something musical in the cadence of this word reserved for the end of the Book. It commences with a short syllable followed by three long ones, happily adapted to express rest after... [ Continue Reading ]