NOW ABOUT THAT TIME,.... That the famine was in Judea, and Saul and Barnabas were sent thither with what the church at Antioch had collected. HEROD THE KING; not Herod the great that slew the infants at Bethlehem, nor Herod Antipas that beheaded John, but Herod Agrippa; and so the Syriac version ad... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE KILLED JAMES THE BROTHER OF JOHN WITH THE SWORD. This was James, the son of Zebedee, whom our Lord told, that he should be baptized with the baptism he was baptized with, Matthew 20:22 meaning the baptism of martyrdom; and he was the first martyr among the apostles: the death he was put to wa... [ Continue Reading ]
AND BECAUSE HE SAW IT PLEASED THE JEWS,.... That is, as Beza's ancient copy adds, "his stretching out his hands upon the faithful"; this pleased the Jews, a bloodthirsty generation of men, who had killed the prophets, and the Lord Jesus, and who were now greedy after the death of the apostles: it ma... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN HE HAD APPREHENDED HIM,.... When his officers he sent to take him had brought him: HE PUT HIM IN PRISON; in the common prison, very likely where he had been once before, Acts 5:18 AND DELIVERED HIM TO FOUR QUATERNIONS OF SOLDIERS TO KEEP HIM; each quaternion consisted of four soldiers, so tha... [ Continue Reading ]
PETER THEREFORE WAS KEPT IN PRISON,.... Till the feast of the passover was at an end: BUT PRAYER WAS MADE WITHOUT CEASING OF THE CHURCH UNTO GOD FOR HIM; this was not done by them as a body together, but either by them in several bands at different places, or by some of the principal of the church... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN HEROD WOULD HAVE BROUGHT HIM FORTH,.... The next morning; so he had determined not to dismiss him, but to expose him to the people, and to put him to such a death they should choose: THE SAME NIGHT, PETER WAS SLEEPING BETWEEN TWO SOLDIERS; fearless of death, being in a good cause, and havi... [ Continue Reading ]
AND BEHOLD, THE ANGEL OF THE LORD CAME UPON HIM,.... Suddenly and at once, and stood by him; this was one of the ministering spirits sent forth by Christ, to minister to a servant of his: AND A LIGHT SHINED IN THE PRISON; the Syriac version renders it, "in the whole house"; and the word that is use... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE ANGEL SAID UNTO HIM, GIRD THYSELF,.... He slept in his inner garment loose about him; wherefore the angel bids him gird it up with his girdle, and prepare to walk out after him: AND BIND ON THY SANDALS; which were a sort of shoes that covered only the soles of the feet, and were fastened to... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE WENT OUT AND FOLLOWED HIM,.... He came out from between the two soldiers, and out of that apartment in the prison, in which he was, and followed the angel where he led him: AND WIST NOT THAT IT WAS TRUE THAT WAS DONE BY THE ANGEL; not that he thought the angel was a mere apparition, and all... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THEY WERE PAST THE FIRST AND THE SECOND WARD,.... Or watch, which were set within the prison, and might be some of the quaternions of soldiers to whom Peter was delivered; two of them were with him, and others might be placed at these two wards for further security; and these circumstances make... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN PETER WAS COME TO HIMSELF.... For upon his being awaked out of sleep, what with the uncommon light, which shone around him, and with the appearance of the angel, and the chains dropping from his hands, and his surprising escape through the several wards, together with the iron gate opening... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN HE HAD CONSIDERED THE THING,.... The whole of the salvation wrought for him; or rather, where he should go, to what house he should betake himself; ere he was aware, HE CAME TO THE HOUSE OF MARY THE MOTHER OF JOHN, WHOSE SURNAME WAS MARK. This good woman seems to be a widow, no mention bei... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AS PETER KNOCKED AT THE DOOR OF THE GATE, c. The lesser door in the great gate, or the door of the porch through which they entered into the house. So the Jews distinguish between פתח, "the door", and שער, "the gate" see Judges 18:16 where the Septuagint use the same words as here. Kimchi h say... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN SHE KNEW PETER'S VOICE,.... often heard him preach and converse in the family: SHE OPENED NOT THE GATE FOR GLADNESS, filled with joy to hear his voice, and that he was delivered from prison, and in haste to carry the welcome news to the company within, stayed not to open the gate, and let... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY SAID UNTO HER, THOU ART MAD, c. "Or art thou not mad?" as the Ethiopic version, and two of Beza's exemplars read, and some others: they thought the girl must be out of her senses they looked upon the thing impossible; for though they were praying for him, and praying in faith, yet they migh... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT PETER CONTINUED KNOCKING,.... That they might come to him, and let him in; beginning to be impatient, and being very desirous of seeing his friends, as well as being in danger of being taken up, and had to prison again, should any of his enemies come by, who knew him: AND WHEN THEY HAD OPENED T... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT HE BECKONING UNTO THEM WITH THE HAND,.... This is what the Jews call רמיזה, "an hint" m, which is a beckoning, or making signs, either with the head or hand: and this was now made, to hold their peace; to be silent, and not clamorous in their expressions of joy and wonder, lest it should alarm t... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW AS SOON AS IT WAS DAY,.... When it was morning; as soon as there was any light in the prison, by which the guards could discern one another and their prisoners: THERE WAS NO SMALL STIR AMONG THE SOLDIERS: the two between whom Peter slept, and the rest of the quaternions that were employed in th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN HEROD HAD SOUGHT FOR HIM AND FOUND HIM NOT,.... Neither in the prison, nor in any part of the city: HE EXAMINED THE KEEPERS; of the prison, and those that were upon the watch, whether they had not been accessary to his escape: AND COMMANDED THAT THEY SHOULD BE PUT TO DEATH: or brought for... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HEROD WAS HIGHLY DISPLEASED WITH THEM OF TYRE AND SIDON,.... Two cities on the sea coast, in the land of Phoenicia; with the inhabitants of which Herod was so enraged, that though he had not declared war against them, yet he had meditated it in his mind, and intended to do it at a proper time: w... [ Continue Reading ]
AND UPON A SET DAY,.... Either on some feast day of divine appointment, as a feast day was by the Jews called מועד, "a stated day"; or on some day appointed by Herod, for the receiving of the ambassadors of Tyre and Sidon, and of hearing their petitions; or as Josephus r says, it was on the second d... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE PEOPLE GAVE A SHOUT,.... At the end of the oration; these were flatterers, as Josephus says in the place before referred to, who cried out one from another, saluting him as God; saying, be merciful to us, hitherto we have revered thee as a man, henceforward we confess thee somewhat more exce... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IMMEDIATELY THE ANGEL OF THE LORD SMOTE HIM,.... With a disease after mentioned; this angel, according to Josephus, appeared in the form of an owl; for he says, that a little after (the shout of the people) the king looked up, and saw an owl sitting upon a rope over his head; whom he immediately... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THE WORD OF GOD GREW AND MULTIPLIED. The number of those who were converted by it, and embraced and professed it, increased; otherwise the word is the same, whether the professors of it be more or fewer; and this it did, notwithstanding the persecution raised against it by Herod whilst he was li... [ Continue Reading ]
AND BARNABAS AND SAUL RETURNED FROM JERUSALEM,.... Two of Beza's exemplars, the Complutensian edition and the Syriac version, add, "unto Antioch"; and certain it is, that from thence they were sent, and thither they returned, for we find them there in the beginning of the next chapter: WHEN THEY HA... [ Continue Reading ]