CHAPTER X. _An angel appears to Cornelius, a centurion, and directs him to_ _send to Joppa, for Peter, to instruct him in the way of_ _salvation_, 1-6. _He sends accordingly_, 7, 8. _While the messengers are on their way to Joppa, Peter has a_ _remarkable vision, by which he is taught how he s... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:2. A _DEVOUT_ MAN] ευσεβης, from ευ, _well_, and σεβομαι, _I worship_. A person who _worships the true God_, and is no _idolater_. _ONE THAT FEARED GOD_] φοβουμενος τον θεον, One who was acquainted with the true God, by means of his word and laws; who respected these laws, and would n... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:3. _HE SAW IN A VISION EVIDENTLY_] The text is as plain as it can be, that an angel of God _did appear_ to Cornelius. This was in a _vision_, i.e. _a supernatural_ representation; and it was φανερως, _manifestly, evidently made_; and at such a time too as precluded the possibility of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:4. _THY PRAYERS AND THINE ALMS ARE COME UP FOR A MEMORIAL_] Being all performed in simplicity and godly sincerity, they were acceptable to the Most High. _Come up for a memorial_: This form of speech is evidently borrowed from the sacrificial system of the Jews. Pious and sincere pray... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:6. _SIMON A TANNER_] Acts 9:43, Acts 9:43. _WHAT THOU OUGHTEST TO DO._] From this it appears that matters of great moment had occupied the mind of Cornelius. He was not satisfied with the state of his own soul, nor with the degree he possessed of religious knowledge; and he set apart... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:7. _AND A DEVOUT SOLDIER_] It has already been remarked that Cornelius had taken care to instruct his family in Divine things; and it appears also that he had been attentive to the spiritual interests of his regiment. We do not find that it was then, even among the Romans, considered a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:8. _HE SENT THEM TO JOPPA._] It has been properly remarked, that from Joppa, Jonah was sent to preach to the _Gentiles_ of Nineveh; and from the same place Peter was sent to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles at Caesarea.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:9. _ON THE MORROW, AS THEY WENT ON THEIR JOURNEY_] From Joppa to Caesarea was about twelve or fifteen leagues; the messengers could not have left the house of Cornelius till about two hours before sunset; therefore, they must have travelled a part of the night, in order to arrive at Jo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:10. _HE BECAME VERY HUNGRY_] It seems that this happened about dinner-time; for it appears that they were _making ready_, παρασκευαζοντων, _dressing the victuals_ for the family. The _dinner_ among the ancients was a very slight meal; and they had no _breakfast_: their _supper_ was the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:11. _AND SAW HEAVEN OPENED_] His mind now entirely spiritualized, and absorbed in heavenly contemplation, was capable of discoveries of the spiritual world; a world which, with its πληρωμα, or _plenitude_ of inhabitants, surrounds us at all times; but which we are incapable of seeing... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:12. _ALL MANNER OF FOUR-FOOTED BEASTS_, c.] Every species of _quadrupeds_, whether _wild_ or _domestic_ all _reptiles_, and all _fowls_. Consequently, both the _clean_ and _unclean_ were present in this visionary representation: those that the Jewish law allowed to be sacrificed to God... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:13. _RISE, PETER, KILL AND EAT._] θυσον και φαγε, _Sacrifice_ _and eat_. Though this verb is sometimes used to signify the _slaying_ of animals for _food_, yet, as the proper notion is to _slay_ for the purpose of _sacrifice_, it appears to me to be better to preserve that meaning her... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:14. _COMMON OR UNCLEAN._] By _common_, κοινον, whatever was in _general use_ among the _Gentiles_ is to be understood; by ακαθαρτον, _unclean_, every thing that was _forbidden_ by the Mosaic law. However, the one word may be considered as explanatory of the other. The rabbins themselve... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:15. _WHAT GOD HATH CLEANSED_] God, who made at first the distinction between Jews and Gentiles, has a right to remove it, whenever and by whatever means he pleases: he, therefore, who made the distinction, for wise purposes, between the clean and the unclean, now pronounces all to be _... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:16. _THIS WAS DONE THRICE_] For the greater certainty, and to make the deeper impression on the apostle's mind. _AND THE VESSEL WAS RECEIVED UP AGAIN INTO HEAVEN._] Both Jews and Gentiles came equally _from_ God; and to him, _both_, by the preaching of the Gospel, shall again _return_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:17. _WHILE PETER DOUBTED - THE MEN - STOOD BEFORE THE GATE_] In all this we find an admirable display of the economy of Providence. Cornelius prays, and has a vision which prepares him to receive instruction from Peter: Peter prays, and has a vision which prepares and disposes him to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:21. _WHICH WERE SENT UNTO HIM FROM CORNELIUS_] This clause is wanting in almost every MS. of worth, and in almost all the versions. _BEHOLD, I AM HE WHOM YE SEEK_] A sudden, unexpected speech, like the address of AEneas to Dido; when the cloud in which he was involved suddenly dissipa... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:22. _CORNELIUS THE CENTURION_, c.] They gave him the simple relation which they had received from their master. For the character of Cornelius, see the comment, Acts 10:2, Acts 10:2. _TO HEAR WORDS OF THEE._] But of what kind they could not as yet tell.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:23. _THEN CALLED HE THEM IN_, c.] They had already walked a long journey in a short time, and needed refreshment and it was thought expedient they should rest that night with Simon the tanner. _CERTAIN BRETHREN FROM JOPPA_] They were _six_ in number, as we learn from Acts 11:12. It wa... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:24. _HIS KINSMEN AND NEAR FRIENDS._] συγγενεις, His, _relatives_, and αναγκαιους φιλους, his _necessary friends_; but the Syriac makes αναγκαιους an epithet as well as συγγενεις, and thus the passage may be read, _his kinsmen, his domestics_, and _his_ _friends_. It appears that he had... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:25. _FELL DOWN AT HIS FEET, AND WORSHIPPED_ HIM.] As Peter's coming was announced by an _angel_, Cornelius might have supposed that Peter himself was an angel, and of a superior order; seeing he came to announce what the first angel was not employed to declare: it was, probably, in co... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:26. _I MYSELF ALSO AM A MAN._] "I am not an _angel_; I am come to you simply, on the part of God, to deliver to you the doctrine of eternal life.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:27. _AND AS HE TALKED WITH HIM_] Cornelius had met Peter at some short distance from his house, and they conversed together till they went in.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:28. _YE KNOW HOW THAT IT IS AN UNLAWFUL THING_, c.] He addressed the whole company, among whom, it appears, there were persons well acquainted with Jewish customs probably some of them were Jewish proselytes. _BUT GOD HATH SHOWED ME_, c.] He now began to understand the import of the v... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 29. _I ASK - FOR WHAT INTENT YE HAVE SENT FOR ME?_] Peter had been informed of this by the servants of Cornelius, Acts 10:22; but, as all the company might not have been informed of the circumstances, he, as it were, invites him to tell his story afresh, that his friends, c., might be the bett... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 30. _FOUR DAYS AGO I WAS FASTING UNTIL THIS HOUR_] It was then about three o'clock in the afternoon; and it appears that Cornelius had continued his fasts from three o'clock the preceding day to three o'clock the day following; not that he had fasted four days together, as some supposes for ev... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 31. _THY PRAYER IS HEARD_] Acts 10:4, Acts 10:4. Cornelius _prayed, fasted_, and gave _alms_. It was in this _way_ he looked for salvation; not to _purchase_ it: a thought of this kind does not appear to have entered into his mind; but these were the _means_ he used to get his soul brought to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 33. _ARE WE ALL HERE PRESENT BEFORE GOD_] Instead of _before_ _GOD_, the _Codex Bezae, Syriac, AEthiopic, Armenian_, and _Vulgate_, read _before THEE_. The people were all waiting for the preacher, and every heart was filled with expectation; they waited as _before_ _God_, from whose messenger... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 34. _GOD IS NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS_] He does God esteem a _Jew_, because he is a _Jew_; nor does he detest a _Gentile_ because he is a _Gentile_. It was a long and deeply rooted opinion among the Jews, that God never would extend his favour to the _Gentiles_; and that the descendants of Jaco... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 35. _BUT IN EVERY NATION HE THAT FEARED HIM_, c.] _In every_ _nation he_ who, according to his light and privileges, _fears_ God, worships him alone, (for this is the true meaning of the word,) _and worketh righteousness_, abstains from all evil, gives to all their due, injures neither the bo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 36. _THE WORD WHICH GOD SENT_, c.] Few verses in the New Testament have perplexed critics and divines more than this. The ancient copyists seem also to have been puzzled with it as the great variety in the different MSS. sufficiently proves. A foreign critic makes a good sense by connecting th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 37. _THAT WORD - YE KNOW_] This account of Jesus of Nazareth ye cannot be unacquainted with; because it has been proclaimed throughout all Judea and Galilee, from the time that John began to preach. Ye have heard how he was anointed with the Holy Ghost, and of the miracles which he performed;... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 38. _GOD ANOINTED JESUS OF NAZARETH_] Here the apostle refers to Christ as the promised _Messiah_; for, as Messiah signifies _the anointed one_, and _Christ_ has the same signification in Greek, and the Messiah, according to the prophets, and the expectation of the Jews, was to work miracles,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 39. _WE ARE WITNESSES OF ALL_] In this speech St. Peter may refer, not only to the twelve apostles, but to the six brethren whom he had brought with him. _WHOM THEY SLEW_] As the truth of the _resurrection_ must depend on the reality of the _death_ of Christ, it was necessary that this should... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 40. _HIM GOD RAISED UP THE THIRD DAY_] He lay long enough under the power of death to prove that he was dead; and not too long, lest it should be supposed that his disciples had time sufficient to have practiced some deceit or imposture; and, to prevent this, the Jews took care to have the tom... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 41. _NOT TO ALL THE PEOPLE_] In the order of Divine providence, the public were to be no longer instructed by Jesus Christ _personally_; but it was necessary that those who were to preach redemption in his name should be thoroughly furnished to this good and great work; therefore, the time he... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 42. _AND HE COMMANDED US TO PREACH_] By thus assuring them that Jesus Christ was appointed to _judge the world_, he at once showed them the necessity of _subjection_ to him, that they might stand in the day of his appearing. _THE JUDGE OF QUICK AND DEAD._] The word _quick_ we retain from our... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 43. _TO HIM GIVE ALL THE PROPHETS WITNESS_] See Isaiah 9:6; Isaiah 52:7; Isaiah 53:5; Isaiah 59:20; Jeremiah 31:34; Daniel 9:24; Micah 7:18, c. and Zechariah 13:1. As Jesus Christ was the _sum_ and _substance_ of the law and the Mosaic dispensation, so all the prophets bore testimony, eith... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 44. _WHILE PETER YET SPAKE_] It in not very likely that the words recorded by St. Luke are _all_ that the apostle spoke on this occasion; but, while he continued to discourse with them on this subject, _the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word_; and his descent was known by their be... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:45. _THEY OF THE CIRCUMCISION - WERE ASTONISHED_] Because it was a maxim with them that the _Shechinah_ or Divine influence could not be revealed to any person who dwelt beyond the precincts of the promised land. Nor did any of them believe that the Divine Spirit could be communicated... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:46. _AND MAGNIFY GOD._] They had got _new hearts_ as well as _new tongues_; and, having believed with the heart unto righteousness, their tongues made confession unto salvation; and God was magnified for the mercy which he had imparted.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:47. _CAN ANY MAN FORBID WATER_] These had evidently received the _Holy Ghost_, and consequently were become members of the mystical body of Christ; and yet St. Peter requires that they shall receive baptism by _water_, that they might become members of the Christian Church. In other c... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Acts 10:48. _TO BE BAPTIZED IN THE NAME OF THE LORD._] That is, in the name of Jesus Christ; which implied their _taking upon them the_ _public profession of Christianity_, and believing on Christ Jesus as their Saviour and Sovereign; for, as they were baptized _in his_ _name_, they professed... [ Continue Reading ]