NOW THERE WERE IN THE CHURCH THAT WAS AT ANTIOCH,.... This was Antioch in Syria, where was a Gospel church, and where the disciples were first called Christians; from whence Saul and Barnabas had been sent to Jerusalem, with a supply for the poor saints there, in a time of famine, and from whence th... [ Continue Reading ]
AS THEY MINISTERED TO THE LORD,.... That is, the five prophets and teachers before mentioned; and whose ministry lay in preaching the Gospel, teaching the people the doctrines of it, and expounding prophecies, and also in prayer; to which latter the Syriac version restrains their ministry, rendering... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THEY HAD FASTED AND PRAYED,.... Not when they had done fasting and praying, at the time the Holy Ghost made an impulse on their minds, to separate two of their brethren to a work they were appointed to; but at another time, which was fixed for that purpose; when they fasted and prayed, not... [ Continue Reading ]
SO THEY BEING SENT FORTH OF THE HOLY GHOST,.... This is said, lest it should be thought they were sent by men; it was the Holy Ghost that moved the prophets at Antioch to separate them from them, and to send them away; and who inclined their minds to go, and directed them what course to steer: and a... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THEY WERE AT SALAMIS,.... A chief city of Cyprus; and so Herodotus f calls it Salamis of Cyprus; and in this island it is placed by Pliny g and Ptolomy h: it was built by Teucer, the son of Telamon, after his return from the Trojan war; and so called by him, from his native country Salamine... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THEY HAD GONE THROUGH THE ISLE UNTO PAPHOS,.... The Alexandrian copy, and the Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions read, "the whole isle"; for through the midst of the whole island they must go, to go from Salarnis to Paphos; for Salamis was on the east, and Paphos on the west of the islands q... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH WAS WITH THE DEPUTY OF THE COUNTRY, c. Or the Roman governor of the island who very likely dwelt at Paphos, it being a principal, if not the principal city in the island, since Pliny mentions it first of all the cities in it, as before observed: and with this governor, or proconsul, as the wor... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT ELYMAS THE SORCERER, FOR SO IS HIS NAME BY INTERPRETATION,.... Not that Magus a sorcerer is by interpretation Elymas; as if Luke was interpreting the Persic word "Magus", which is sometimes used in a good sense, for a wise man, as in Matthew 2:1 by an Arabic word "Elim", which signifies knowing;... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SAUL (WHO ALSO IS CALLED PAUL),.... He was called by both these names; as he was a Jew by birth, his parents called him Saul, that was his Jewish name, and by which he went among the Jews; and as he was a citizen of a Roman city, Tarsus in Cilicia, he went among the Romans, or Gentiles, by the... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SAID, O FULL OF ALL SUBTLETY AND ALL MISCHIEF,.... Which may have regard both to his general character as a sorcerer, and a false prophet; in acting up to which he used much deceit and cunning among the people, and did much mischief to them; to which there was a promptness and readiness in him,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND NOW BEHOLD THE HAND OF THE LORD IS UPON THEE,.... That is, the power of God was just ready to be exerted on him in a way of punishment, by striking him with blindness: AND THOU SHALL BE BLIND, NOT SEEING THE SUN FOR A SEASON: so blind as not to see the sun, when it shined ever so brightly: this... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN THE DEPUTY, WHEN HE SAW WHAT WAS DONE,.... That Elymas was struck with blindness immediately, and that the hand of God was manifestly in it, and there was no juggle nor magic art in the case; it was a plain fact, which was certain and visible: HE BELIEVED; in the Lord Jesus Christ, whom the ap... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW WHEN PAUL AND HIS COMPANY LOOSED FROM PAPHOS,.... Which was upon the sea coast: so Jerom y says, that Paphos was "urbs maritima", a city on the sea coast of the island of Cyprus; it was on the western part of the island, to the west of which lay the sea of Pamphylia, over which the apostle, and... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WHEN THEY DEPARTED FROM PERGA,.... Where they seemed not to make any long stay; nor is there any account of what they did there; though it is certain here was a church of Christ in after times, and very likely planted by the apostles; for after this Paul and Barnabas preached the word in this pl... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AFTER THE READING OF THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS,.... Which was done every sabbath day, Acts 15:21 The five books of Moses, which are meant by the law, were divided into sections: Genesis was divided into twelve, Exodus into eleven, Leviticus into ten, Numbers into ten, and Deuteronomy into ten, wh... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN PAUL STOOD UP,.... Not so much that he might be heard; or merely out of reverence and respect to the rulers, and the people; but to show that he accepted the invitation; as also in order to take his proper place in the synagogue, and sit down and teach, as was their custom: AND BECKONING WITH... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GOD OF THIS PEOPLE OF ISRAEL CHOSE OUR FATHERS,.... Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their seed after them, to be a peculiar people to himself; wherefore he is often, as here, styled their God, and whom he distinguished and blessed with many blessings, civil and religious, above all people upon th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ABOUT THE TIME OF FORTY YEARS,.... From their coming out of Egypt, to their entrance into the land of Canaan: SUFFERED HE THEIR MANNERS IN THE WILDERNESS; which were very perverse and provoking; as their murmuring for water, their rebellion against Moses and Aaron, their idolatry and the ill re... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN HE HAD DESTROYED SEVEN NATIONS IN THE LAND OF CANAAN,.... The Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites, and Girgashites; and the name of seven nations is what they are usually called by in Jewish writings; and though they were not utterly destroyed, or everyone of them... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AFTER THAT HE GAVE UNTO THEM JUDGES,.... As Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Abimelech, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, Samson, and Eli: ABOUT THE SPACE OF FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS; not that from the division of the land of Canaan among the tribes, to Samuel the prophet, was such a... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AFTERWARD THEY DESIRED A KING,.... 1 Samuel 8:5 which the Jews w say, was in the tenth year of Samuel; that is, of his government over Israel, or of his judging them: AND GOD GAVE UNTO THEM SAUL; whose name signifies one that is asked; he was THE SON OF CIS; so the Septuagint read and pronounc... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN HE HAD REMOVED HIM,.... Either by death, or rejected him from being king while he was living; 1 Samuel 15:23 HE RAISED UP UNTO THEM DAVID TO BE THEIR KING; who was of the tribe of Judah, and who was raised from a very mean condition, from keeping of sheep, to sit upon the throne of Israel:... [ Continue Reading ]
OF THIS MAN'S SEED HATH GOD, ACCORDING TO HIS PROMISE,.... In 2 Samuel 7:12 raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus; even Jesus of Nazareth, whose name signifies a Saviour, who is the son of David, according to the flesh; the word "Jesus" is left out in some copies, and so it is in the Syriac and Ethiop... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN JOHN HAD FIRST PREACHED BEFORE HIS COMING,.... Or, "before the face of his entrance"; that is, on his public ministry; for John did not preach before the coming of Christ in the flesh, being born but half a year before him; but before he came forth and was manifest to Israel; before he entered... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AS JOHN FULFILLED HIS COURSE,.... Or race, the work of the ministry he was called to; as he was preaching and baptizing, which were the race set before him to run, and in which he ran well; he made full proof of his ministry. The life of every Christian is a race, and especially of a minister of... [ Continue Reading ]
MEN AND BRETHREN, CHILDREN OF THE STOCK OF ABRAHAM,.... This address is made to them in the synagogue, who were Jews by birth, and in a form very grateful and pleasing; he calls them "men", perhaps not only from the common nature of mankind in them, but because they took this name peculiarly to them... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THEY THAT DWELT AT JERUSALEM, AND THEIR RULERS,.... The inhabitants of that city, and the great sanhedrim which sat there: because they knew him not; that is, either Jesus the Saviour, whom God had raised of the seed of David, and to whom John bore witness; and which must be understood, not of a... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THOUGH THEY FOUND NO CAUSE OF DEATH IN HIM,.... That is, no crime that deserved death; they sought for such, but could find none; they suborned false witnesses, who brought charges against him, but could not support them; wherefore Pilate, his judge, several times declared his innocence, and wou... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THEY HAD FULFILLED ALL THAT WAS WRITTEN OF HIM,.... When they had vilified and reproached him in the most opprobrious manner; buffeted and scourged him, and pierced his hands and his feet, by nailing him to the cross; when they had crucified him between two thieves, and parted his raiment a... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT GOD RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD. Though his life was taken away by man, and it was a clear case that he was certainly dead, and he was taken down from the cross as such, and buried; yet he could not be held with the cords of death, but God the Father raised him from the dead by his power. The Vulga... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE WAS SEEN MANY DAYS,.... Forty days, at certain times, OF THEM WHICH CAME UP WITH HIM FROM GALILEE; which though true of several women who followed him from Galilee, and to whom he appeared after his resurrection, as Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and Salome the mother of... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WE DECLARE UNTO YOU GLAD TIDINGS,.... The whole of the Gospel, concerning the incarnation, obedience, sufferings, death, and resurrection of Christ, and the benefits arising from thence, as peace, pardon, righteousness, life, and salvation; all which are good news and glad tidings to sensible si... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD HATH FULFILLED THE SAME UNTO US THEIR CHILDREN,.... The natural descendants of them, as Paul and Barnabas, and the Jews in the synagogue, were: IN THAT HE HATH RAISED UP JESUS AGAIN; which may not be understood of his resurrection from the dead, since the promise made, and now fulfilled, has no... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AS CONCERNING THAT HE RAISED HIM UP FROM THE DEAD,.... This, as it is differently expressed from the raising him up, spoken of in the preceding verse, so seems to be a distinct article from it, and is supported by other passages of Scripture: the apostle having shown that God had fulfilled his p... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE HE SAITH ALSO IN ANOTHER PSALM,.... Psalms 16:10 or "in another place", as the Syriac version supplies; or "in another section", as the Arabic version; or "elsewhere", as Beza's most ancient copy, the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions, read: THOU SHALT NOT SUFFER THINE HOLY ONE TO SEE C... [ Continue Reading ]
Ver. 36 FOR DAVID, AFTER HE HAD SERVED HIS OWN GENERATION,.... Or the men of that age and generation in which he lived, the subjects of his kingdom; by governing them with wholesome laws, protecting them in their rights and properties, defending them against their enemies, and regulating and promoti... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT HE WHOM GOD RAISED AGAIN,.... The Vulgate Latin version adds, "from the dead"; meaning the Lord Jesus Christ, who was raised from the dead by God the Father: and SAW NO CORRUPTION; he did not lie so long in the grave as to corrupt and putrefy, but was raised from the dead the third day; wherefo... [ Continue Reading ]
BE IT KNOWN UNTO YOU, THEREFORE, MEN AND BRETHREN,.... The apostle having discoursed concerning the incarnation of Christ, his death and resurrection, proceeds to take notice of some particular benefits and blessings of grace arising from thence, which are published and made known to the sons of men... [ Continue Reading ]
AND BY HIM ALL THAT BELIEVE ARE JUSTIFIED FROM ALL THINGS,.... Christ, as God, is not only the justifier of his people, who pronounces them righteous in the sight of God; but his righteousness imputed to them is the matter of their justification, or that by which they are justified; and not the work... [ Continue Reading ]
BEWARE THEREFORE,.... Of rejecting the Gospel, and those excellent truths of it; since forgiveness of sin and a justifying righteousness are said to be had in no other way, but in and through Christ; take heed therefore, LEST THAT COME UPON YOU, WHICH IS SPOKEN OF IN THE PROPHETS: some think that t... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, YE DESPISERS,.... In Habakkuk 1:5 from whence these words are taken: we render it with others, "behold ye among the Heathen"; as if the word בגוים, was compounded of ב "in", and גוים, "nations" or "Heathens"; and so reads the Chaldee paraphrase, "look among the people"; but the Septuagint v... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THE JEWS WERE GONE OUT OF THE SYNAGOGUE,.... The time of worship there being over; or being offended at the apostle's discourse concerning Jesus: the words will bear to be rendered, "when they were gone out of the synagogue of the Jews"; and the sense be, when Paul and Barnabas were come ou... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW WHEN THE CONGREGATION WAS BROKEN UP,.... Or "the synagogue"; not the place, but the people that met in it; when they were "dismissed", as the Vulgate Latin and Arabic versions render it; either in a disorderly manner, through the offence the Jews took at Paul's preaching; or if in an orderly way... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE NEXT SABBATH DAY,.... The same which is before called the "sabbath between", which was between the first and tenth of Tisri, or between the beginning of the year, and the day of atonement: CAME ALMOST THE WHOLE CITY TOGETHER. The Syriac and Ethiopic versions leave out the word "almost", and... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WHEN THE JEWS SAW THE MULTITUDES,.... The vast number of people, the inhabitants of the city, the Gentiles, that were assembled together to hear the word. This must be understood of the unbelieving Jews, who came with no good design: THEY WERE FILLED WITH ENVY; at the Gentiles, that they should... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN PAUL AND BARNABAS WAXED BOLD,.... They were not at all daunted at the opposition they met with, but rather grew more courageous, and used great liberty of speech, and spoke out freely, plainly, and openly: and said, IT WAS NECESSARY THAT THE WORD OF GOD SHOULD FIRST HAVE BEEN SPOKEN TO YOU; as... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR SO HATH THE LORD COMMANDED US,.... For though Christ in his first commission restrained his disciples from going into the Gentiles, and preaching to them, yet when he enlarged their commission after his resurrection, he bid them go into all nations, and preach the Gospel to every creature; and t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THE GENTILES HEARD THIS,.... That it was the will of God, and the command of Christ, that the Gospel should be preached to them; by whom are to be understood the Pisidians, the inhabitants of Antioch, who had never been proselytes to the Jewish religion: THEY WERE GLAD; not that the Jews w... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE WORD OF THE LORD WAS PUBLISHED THROUGHOUT ALL THE REGION. That is, of Pisidia, in which Antioch was; not by the Apostles Paul and Barnabas, who seem to go directly to Iconium, after they were expelled the city and suburbs of Antioch; but by some of those who were converted under their minist... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THE JEWS STIRRED UP THE DEVOUT AND HONOURABLE WOMEN,.... These seem not to be Jewish women; could they be thought to be such, they might easily be concluded to be of the sect of the Pharisees, which was the strictest and most devout sect among the Jews; for there were women Pharisees, as well as... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THEY SHOOK OFF THE DUST OF THEIR FEET AGAINST THEM,.... As Christ directed his apostles to do; Matthew 10:14. AND CAME UNTO ICONIUM, a city in Lycaonia; here it is placed both by Ptolomy c and Strabo d; Pliny says e, that "there was a tetrarchy granted out of Lycaonia, on that part which borde... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE DISCIPLES WERE FILLED WITH JOY,.... Meaning either the "apostles", as the Ethiopic version renders it, Paul and Barnabas; who rejoiced, both at the success they had met with, and because they were counted worthy to suffer reproach and persecution for the sake of Christ and his Gospel: or rat... [ Continue Reading ]