AND WHEN THEY WERE ESCAPED,.... From the danger they were exposed to by shipwreck, and were got safe to land; this is omitted in the Syriac version: THEN THEY KNEW THAT THE ISLAND WAS CALLED MELITA; an island toward the African shore, where it is placed both by Pliny g, and Ptolomy h; in which, the... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE BARBAROUS PEOPLE SHOWED US NO LITTLE KINDNESS,.... The inhabitants of this island are called barbarians, not from the country of Barbary, near to which they were; nor so much on account of their manners, for, though Heathens, they were a civil and cultivated people, being, as appears from th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN PAUL HAD GATHERED A BUNDLE OF STICKS,.... Had picked up some sticks, and put them in a bundle fit for the fire, as everyone was busy to assist in this extremity; nor did the apostle think such an action below him, who in all things was a man of great humility and condescension: AND LAID TH... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THE BARBARIANS SAW THE VENOMOUS BEAST,.... The viper is called "Therion", a beast, it being of the viviparous kind; and hence comes "Theriaca", or "Venice treacle", the foundation of which composition is vipers' flesh; and it is called venomous, because it is of all serpents the most venomo... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SHOOK OFF THE BEAST INTO THE FIRE,.... Having held it a while, and as being master of it, and as not being afraid of it, though it was the ready way to provoke it to fasten on him again: AND FELT NO HARM; it having not bit him, nor infected him with its poison; and hereby was fulfilled what... [ Continue Reading ]
HOWBEIT THEY LOOKED WHEN HE SHOULD HAVE SWOLLEN,.... With the venomous bite of the viper; swelling is one of the symptoms following the bite of this creature; and if the bite does not issue in death, yet the swelling continues inflamed for some time. The symptoms following the bite of a viper are sa... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE SAME QUARTERS WERE POSSESSIONS OF THE CHIEF MAN OF THE ISLAND,.... Or "the first man of the island"; so the governor of Melita used to be called, as appears by an inscription mentioned by Bochart, wherein a Roman knight is called πρωτος μελιταιων, "the first of the Melitians"; for this island... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT CAME TO PASS THAT THE FATHER OF PUBLIUS,.... So that Publius was not an old man, though of so much dignity and wealth: the Arabic version, contrary to all copies, and other versions, reads, "the son of Publius": LAY SICK OF A FEVER; or fevers, of different sorts, a complication of them, whic... [ Continue Reading ]
SO WHEN THIS WAS DONE,.... This miracle was wrought, and the fame of it spread over the island: OTHERS ALSO WHICH HAD DISEASES IN THE ISLAND CAME: from all parts of it, to the apostle: AND WERE HEALED; of whatsoever diseases they were afflicted with.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO ALSO HONOURED US WITH MANY HONOURS,.... Not with divine honours, with religious adorations, as if they had been so many deities; for these they would not have received, nor have recorded them, to the commendation of the inhabitants; but civil honours, expressions of respect and gratitude; and pa... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AFTER THREE MONTHS WE DEPARTED,.... From Melita; here they stayed the three winter months, which were unseasonable for navigation; but now the spring coming on, and the weather agreeable, they left the island, and sailed IN A SHIP OF ALEXANDRIA; Acts 27:6; WHICH HAD WINTERED IN THE ISLE; perha... [ Continue Reading ]
AND LANDING AT SYRACUSE,.... A famous city in the isle of Sicily, now called Saragossa: it is placed by Ptolomy c on the east side of the island, in the Adriatic sea; it was 180 furlongs, or two and twenty miles and a half in circuit, and formerly had a marble haven and triple wall, and as many towe... [ Continue Reading ]
AND FROM THENCE WE FETCHED A COMPASS,.... About the isle of Sicily, from Syracuse to Pachinus, the promontory of the island: AND CAME TO RHEGIUM; a city in Calabria, called by Ptolomy k Regium Julium; it was built, as Solinus l says, by the Chalcidensians, and was formerly a city of the Brutians m;... [ Continue Reading ]
WHERE WE FOUND BRETHREN,.... Christians; which is not to be wondered at, since it was a port much frequented, and where many came and went, of different countries and nations; particularly there were many Jews here, to whom the Gospel was first preached, and to some of them it was the power of God u... [ Continue Reading ]
AND FROM THENCE,.... That is, from Rome, whither they were going: WHEN THE BRETHREN HEARD OF US; when the Christians at Rome heard that the apostle and his friends were landed at Puteoli, and were on their journey to Rome: these were the members of the church at Rome; for there was a church state h... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN WE CAME TO ROME,.... To the city itself: THE CENTURION DELIVERED THE PRISONERS TO THE CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD; or general of the army; or, as some think, the governor of the "praetorian" band of soldiers, who attended the emperor as his guards: his name is thought to have been Burrhus Afraniu... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT CAME TO PASS, THAT AFTER THREE DAYS,.... From his first coming to Rome, when he had hired himself a house, or lodging, and was settled in it, and was rested from the fatigue of his voyage and journey: PAUL CALLED THE CHIEF OF THE JEWS TOGETHER: he sent to the principal men among them; for th... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO WHEN THEY HAD EXAMINED ME,.... About the things laid to his charge, had heard what his accusers had to object to him, and the defence he made for himself: WOULD HAVE LET [ME] GO; released him from his bonds, and set him at liberty to go where he pleased: BECAUSE THERE WAS NO CAUSE OF DEATH IN... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WHEN THE JEWS SPAKE AGAINST IT,.... His being cleared and dismissed, and desired he might be sent back to Jerusalem, to be tried and judged there, to which Festus seemed inclined: I WAS CONSTRAINED TO APPEAL TO CAESAR; to prevent the design of the Jews upon him, which was to way lay him and kil... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THIS CAUSE THEREFORE HAVE I CALLED FOR YOU,.... To let them know the true state of his case; that though he was a prisoner, it was not for any crime he had done, much less any of a capital nature; and that as he was no scandal to his country, so neither did he intend to raise any against it, or... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY SAID UNTO HIM,.... That is, the chief men of the Jews at Rome, whom Paul had called together, replied; either in a lying and dissembling way, or as expressing matter of fact; which last may be allowed: WE NEITHER RECEIVED LETTERS OUT OF JUDEA CONCERNING THEE: which was very much, that the... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WE DESIRE TO HEAR OF THEE WHAT THOU THINKEST,.... What was his opinion and judgment, concerning the Messiah, whether he was come or not, and whether Jesus of Nazareth was he; and concerning other principles relating to him, embraced by the Christians; and what he had to say for the clearing up,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THEY HAD APPOINTED HIM A DAY,.... When they should meet together, and when both sides might be better prepared to enter into a conversation on the subject of Christianity; and when there might be an opportunity for a more numerous assembly to hear: THERE CAME MANY TO HIM INTO HIS LODGING;... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SOME BELIEVED THE THINGS WHICH WERE SPOKEN,.... By him, concerning the kingdom of God and Jesus Christ; even as many as were ordained unto eternal life, and to whom it was given to believe; for faith is the gift of God, and which comes by hearing of the word, when it is attended with a divine po... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THEY AGREED NOT AMONG THEMSELVES,.... One part believing what was said, and the other disbelieving; and such a division is the usual effect of the Gospel ministry; see Luke 12:51. Or this may be understood of the unbelieving party, who though they agreed in the main that Jesus was not the... [ Continue Reading ]
SAYING, GO UNTO THIS PEOPLE, AND SAY,.... A message sent in wrath and judgment to the people of Israel, rejected from being the people of God, a "lo ammi" being written upon them; and therefore God does not call them "his", but "this" people: and this message was sent by an evangelical prophet, who... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE IS WAXED GROSS,.... Or fat; stupefied with notions of carnal and temporal things, and become hardened against, and unsusceptible of, divine and spiritual things: AND THEIR EARS ARE DULL OF HEARING; the Gospel, and its joyful sound; to which they stop their cars, as the... [ Continue Reading ]
BE IT KNOWN THEREFORE UNTO YOU,.... Unbelievers and despisers, take this along with you at parting, and do not say you were never acquainted with it: THAT THE SALVATION OF GOD IS SENT UNTO THE GENTILES; meaning the Gospel, which is a publication and declaration of that salvation, which God contrive... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN HE HAD SAID THESE WORDS,.... Cited the prophecy of Isaiah, and declared the mission of the Gospel to the Gentiles, and their calling by it; both which must greatly gravel and disturb the unbelieving part of his audience: THE JEWS DEPARTED; much displeased and uneasy: AND HAD GREAT REASONI... [ Continue Reading ]
AND PAUL DWELT TWO WHOLE YEARS IN HIS OWN HIRED HOUSE,.... In a house which he hired with his own money; in which his friends Luke, Aristarchus, and others, dwelt with him; where he was guarded by a soldier: whether at the expiration of these two years he was set at liberty, and for ten years afterw... [ Continue Reading ]
PREACHING THE KINGDOM OF GOD,.... That is, the Gospel, as in Luke 4:43; he preached up Jesus as the King Messiah, and declared that his kingdom was come, and opened the nature of it; that it consisted not in meats and drinks, but in righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost; which is the ki... [ Continue Reading ]