XX. (1) PAUL CALLED UNTO HIM THE DISCIPLES, AND EMBRACED THEM... — The latter verb implies a farewell salutation. DEPARTED FOR TO GO INTO MACEDONIA. — We are able from the Epistles to the Corinthians to fill up the gap left in the narrative of the Acts. Having sent Timotheus and Erastus to see afte... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN HE HAD GONE OVER THOSE PARTS. — Here also we can fill up the outline of the narrative from the Epistles. We may take for granted that St. Paul would revisit the churches which he had himself founded at Thessalonica and Beræa, as well as at Philippi. The names in Acts 20:4 indicate that dele... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THE JEWS LAID WAIT FOR HIM... — In sailing for Syria, Cenchreæ would naturally be the port of embarkation, and St. Paul’s presence there may reasonably be connected with the mention of Phœbe, the deaconess of that church, in Romans 16:1. His intention was, however, frustrated. The malignant Jew... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THERE ACCOMPANIED HIM INTO ASIA... — The occurrence of the two names, Timotheus and Sosipater (another form of Sopater) in Romans 16:21 makes it probable that all of those here named were with St. Paul at Corinth. As they were to go with him to Jerusalem, it was indeed natural they should have g... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE GOING BEFORE TARRIED FOR US AT TROAS. — Two motives may be assigned for this arrangement — (1) It enabled St. Paul to keep the Passover with the church at Philippi, starting “after the days of unleavened bread,” and that feast was already assuming a new character as the festival of the Resurre... [ Continue Reading ]
AND CAME UNTO THEM TO TROAS IN FIVE DAYS. — The voyage from Troas to Philippi (see Notes on Acts 16:11) had taken only three days, but the ship had now to contend against the south-west current that set in from the Dardanelles, and probably also against the Etesian winds blowing from the north-east... [ Continue Reading ]
UPON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK... — This and the counsel given in 1 Corinthians 16:2, are distinct proofs that the Church had already begun to observe the weekly festival of the Resurrection in place of, or, where the disciples were Jews, in addition to, the weekly Sabbath. It lies in the nature of... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THERE WERE MANY LIGHTS IN THE UPPER CHAMBER. — We learn from Acts 20:9 that it was on the third floor of the house. In the high narrow streets of Eastern towns the upper storey is often chosen for social or devotional purposes, partly as more removed from the noise of the street, partly as givin... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE SAT IN A WINDOW A CERTAIN YOUNG MAN NAMED EUTYCHUS... — The name, like those of kindred meaning, such as Felix, Felicia, Felicissimus, Syntyche, Epaphroditus, Fortunatus, Faustus, Felicitas, was sufficiently common, especially among the freed-man class. In one instance, in an inscription in th... [ Continue Reading ]
PAUL WENT DOWN, AND FELL ON HIM, AND EMBRACING HIM... — The act reminds us of those of Elijah (1 Kings 17:21), and Elisha (2 Kings 4:34). The close contact, the clasp of warm affection, gave a new intensity to the prayer of faith, and, as a current of vitality passed, as it were, from the one body t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HAD BROKEN BREAD, AND EATEN. — Better, _broken the bread and tasted._ In the early usage of the Lord’s Supper the bread was not made, as in the Latin Church, in the form of circular wafers, nor cut up into small cubes, as in most Reformed Churches. The loaf, probably a long roll, was placed befo... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SAILED UNTO ASSOS. — The port of Assos. lay about twenty-four miles to the south of Troas. We can only conjecture St. Paul’s motives for going thither himself by land while his companions went by sea. In Acts 16:8 we find that he had avoided Mysia to press on to Troas; but he may well have exten... [ Continue Reading ]
WE TOOK HIM IN, AND CAME TO MITYLENE. — This was the capital of Lesbos, and furnished the island with its modern name of _Mitilini._... [ Continue Reading ]
WE SAILED THENCE... — After the usual manner of the Mediterranean navigation of the time, the ship put into harbour, where it was possible, every evening. Each of the stations named — Lesbos, Chios, Samos — has legendary and historical associations of its own, full of interest for the classical stud... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR PAUL HAD DETERMINED TO SAIL BY EPHESUS. — The English phrase is unfortunately ambiguous. What is meant is that he had decided to continue his voyage without going to Ephesus — to pass it by. TO BE AT JERUSALEM THE DAY OF PENTECOST. — The motives for this wish lie on the surface. (1) It was, as h... [ Continue Reading ]
AND FROM MILETUS HE SENT TO EPHESUS, AND CALLED THE ELDERS OF THE CHURCH. — We find, from Acts 20:28, that they were known also as _episcopi_ (“bishops,” or “overseers”), the two names being interchangeable at this period, and the Apostle standing in relation to those who bore them as the later Bish... [ Continue Reading ]
YE KNOW, FROM THE FIRST DAY THAT I CAME INTO ASIA... — No discourse recorded in the Acts is so full of living personal interest. St. Luke would naturally be present at the meeting, and able to take notes of the address, and reproduce it almost, if not altogether, word for word. It bears upon the fac... [ Continue Reading ]
SERVING THE LORD WITH ALL HUMILITY OF MIND... — The participle exactly answers to the epithet of the “servant” or “slave” of Christ which St. Paul so often uses of himself (Romans 1:1; Galatians 1:10; Philippians 1:1; Titus 1:1). The “tears,” too, are characteristic of the Apostle, whose intense sen... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW I KEPT BACK NOTHING THAT WAS PROFITABLE. — The verb is one which belongs to the vocabulary of sailors, and was used for taking in or reefing sails. He, St. Paul seems to say of himself, had used no such reticence or reserve, but had gone on his course, as it were, before the wind, with all his c... [ Continue Reading ]
REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD, AND FAITH TOWARD OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. — These, under all varieties of form, whether speaking to Jews or Gentiles, to philosophers at Athens (Acts 17:30) or peasants of Lystra (Acts 14:15), formed the substance of his teaching. It is obvious, however, that out of these might... [ Continue Reading ]
AND NOW, BEHOLD, I GO BOUND IN THE SPIRIT. — The question meets us as before (see Note on Acts 19:21), whether the words refer to the direct action of the Holy Spirit or to the higher element of St. Paul’s own nature, as in 1 Corinthians 5:3; 2 Corinthians 2:13. On the whole, the latter seems the mo... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HOLY GHOST WITNESSETH IN EVERY CITY. — This can hardly refer to mere internal previsions of the future, but implies, like the analogous phraseology of 1 Timothy 4:1, predictions uttered by the mouth of prophets, such as that which was afterwards spoken by Agabus (Acts 21:11). In every city, Cori... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT NONE OF THESE THINGS MOVE ME... — Literally, _But I take account of nothing, nor do I hold my life_... We note the parallelism with Luther’s famous declaration, when warned by his friends not to go to Worms, “I will go thither, though there should be devils on every house-top.” SO THAT I MIGHT... [ Continue Reading ]
I KNOW THAT YE ALL... SHALL SEE MY FACE NO MORE. — It is clear from these words, as well as from Romans 15:23, that at this time St. Paul did not contemplate any further work in the Roman province of Asia, or in Greece. It is as clear, if we accept the Pastoral Epistles as genuine, that he did revis... [ Continue Reading ]
I AM PURE FROM THE BLOOD OF ALL MEN. — The image was a familiar one in the Apostle’s lips (Acts 18:6). It rested on the language of an older prophet (Ezekiel 3:18; Ezekiel 3:20). He had acted on the teaching of that prophet, and none could require the blood of any man at his hands.... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE NOT SHUNNED TO DECLARE UNTO YOU ALL THE COUNSEL OF GOD. — The words point to a greater degree of receptivity for Divine truth than had been found elsewhere. So in the Epistle to the Ephesians, which, even on the assumption that it was an encyclical letter, was addressed to them principally, h... [ Continue Reading ]
OVER THE WHICH THE HOLY GHOST HATH MADE YOU OVERSEERS. — Better, _in which the Holy Ghost set you as watchers._ The word used is the same as that commonly translated _bishops,_ but, as used here in connection with the idea of the flock, it requires a word less technically ecclesiastical. It will be... [ Continue Reading ]
AFTER MY DEPARTING SHALL GRIEVOUS WOLVES ENTER IN AMONG YOU. — The figurative language followed naturally on the idea of the flock and of the shepherds who keep watch over it. It lies in the nature of the case that the wolf stands primarily for the open enemies of the flock, the persecutors of all a... [ Continue Reading ]
OF YOUR OWN SELVES SHALL MEN ARISE, SPEAKING PERVERSE THINGS. — The Pastoral Epistles, 2 Peter and Jude, supply but too abundant evidence of the clearness of the Apostle’s prevision. Hymenæus and Alexander and Philetus, saying that the resurrection was past already (1 Timothy 1:20; 2 Timothy 2:17);... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE WATCH... — The word was, as it were, an echo from our Lord’s teaching (Matthew 24:42; Matthew 25:13, _et al_.), which could hardly have been unknown to St. Paul. Here, however, it receives a fresh significance from its connection with the term _episcopi._ They who were the bishops, the ove... [ Continue Reading ]
AND NOW, BRETHREN, I COMMEND YOU... — The Greek verb and its derivatives are characteristic of St. Paul’s phraseology. Teachers are to “commit” the truth they have received to others (2 Timothy 2:2), and the truth so committed is the _depositum fidei_ which they thus hold, as it were, in trust (2 Ti... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE COVETED NO MAN’S SILVER, OR GOLD, OR APPAREL. — Comp. the parallel of Samuel’s appeal to the people (1 Samuel 12:3). In each case there was a special reason for what might otherwise seem an uncalled-for boast. Samuel’s sons had been guilty of corrupt practices, taking bribes and the like (1 S... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE HANDS HAVE MINISTERED UNTO MY NECESSITIES. — The words clearly cover the whole three years of the Apostle’s ministry at Ephesus. The partnership with Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:3) continued. Philemon was probably a sharer in it (Philemon 1:17). And the Apostle had not been satisfied with wo... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE SHEWED YOU ALL THINGS. — The words point to his motive in acting as he did. He sought to teach by example, to _indicate in all things_ how others ought to act. TO SUPPORT THE WEAK. — The Greek verb is rightly rendered, but it deserves notice that it is the root of the noun translated “help”... [ Continue Reading ]
HE KNEELED DOWN, AND PRAYED WITH THEM ALL. — The historian who has recorded what we may call the “charge” of St. Paul, shrinks, with a natural reverence, from reporting his prayer. Ephesians 3:14 will enable the thoughtful reader to represent to himself its substance, perhaps even its very thoughts... [ Continue Reading ]
FELL ON PAUL’S NECK, AND KISSED HIM. — We note, as before in Acts 20:19, the absence of any suppression of emotion. As David and Jonathan parted of old (1 Samuel 20:41), so did St. Paul and his fellow-workers part now. In 2 Timothy 1:4 we have a passing reference to another parting scene of perhaps... [ Continue Reading ]