2 And while they were doing the Lord's work, and going without food, the Holy Spirit said, Let Barnabas and Saul be given to me for the special work for which they have been marked out by me.
Of which I was made a preacher and an Apostle and a teacher;
But when it was the good pleasure of God, by whom I was marked out even from my mother's body, through his grace,
But the Lord said, Go without fear: for he is a special vessel for me, to give to the Gentiles and kings and to the children of Israel the knowledge of my name:
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, an Apostle by the selection of God, given authority as a preacher of the good news,
And from there they went by ship to Antioch, where they had been handed over to the grace of God for the work which they had not done.
And the Spirit said to Philip, Go near, and get on his carriage.
Do not keep back from one another what is right, but only for a short time, and by agreement, so that you may give yourselves to prayer, and come together again; so that Satan may not get the better of you through your loss of self-control.
In hard work and weariness, in frequent watchings, going without food and drink, cold and in need of clothing.
(Because he who was working in Peter as the Apostle of the circumcision was working no less in me among the Gentiles); When they saw the grace which was given to me, James and Cephas and John, who had the name of being pillars, gave to me and Barnabas their right hands as friends so that we might go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcision;
Of which I was made a preacher, through that grace of God which was given to me in the measure of the working of his power.
Say to Archippus, See that you do the work which the Lord has given you to do.
And the things which I have said to you before a number of witnesses, give to those of the faith, so that they may be teachers of others.
But be self-controlled in all things, do without comfort, go on preaching the good news, completing the work which has been given you to do.
And no man who is not given authority by God, as Aaron was, takes this honour for himself.
Now after these things, the Lord made selection of seventy others and sent them before him, two together, into every town and place where he himself was about to come.
Then Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child became the servant of the Lord under the direction of Eli the priest.
And he put some of the Levites before the ark of the Lord as servants, to keep the acts of the Lord in memory, and to give worship and praise to the Lord, the God of Israel:
So he made Asaph and his brothers keep their places there before the ark of the agreement of the Lord, to do whatever had to be done before the ark at all times day by day: And Obed-edom, the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah, with their brothers, sixty-eight of them, to be door-keepers: And Zadok the priest, with his brothers the priests, before the House of the Lord in the high place at Gibeon; To give burned offerings to the Lord on the altar of burned offerings morning and evening, every day, as it is ordered in the law of the Lord which he gave to Israel; And with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest who were marked out by name to give praise to the Lord, for his mercy is unchanging for ever; And Heman and Jeduthun had horns and brass instruments sounding loudly, and instruments of music for the songs of God; and the sons of Jeduthun were to be at the door. And all the people went away, every man to his house; and David went back to give a blessing to his family.
And turning my face to the Lord God, I gave myself up to prayer, requesting his grace, going without food, in haircloth and dust.
And when you go without food, be not sad-faced as the false-hearted are. For they go about with changed looks, so that men may see that they are going without food. Truly I say to you, They have their reward.
Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees frequently go without food, but your disciples do not? And Jesus said to them, Will the friends of the newly-married man be sad as long as he is with them? But the days will come when he will be taken away from them, and then will they go without food.
Make prayer, then, to the Lord of the grain-fields, that he may send out workers to get in his grain.
She had been a widow for eighty-four years); she was in the Temple at all times, worshipping with prayers and going without food, night and day.
And Aaron is to give the Levites to the Lord as a wave offering from the children of Israel, so that they may do the Lord's work. And the Levites are to put their hands on the heads of the oxen, and one of the oxen is to be offered for a sin-offering and the other for a burned offering to the Lord to take away the sin of the Levites. Then the Levites are to be put before Aaron and his sons, to be offered as a wave offering to the Lord. So you are to make the Levites separate from the children of Israel, and the Levites will be mine.
Then we will give all our time to prayer and the teaching of the word.
And, while Peter was turning the vision over in his mind, the Spirit said to him, See, three men are looking for you.
Then, after prayer and going without food they put their hands on them, and sent them away.
And after they had gone through the land of Phrygia and Galatia, the Holy Spirit did not let them take the word into Asia; And having come to Mysia, they made an attempt to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not let them;
And how will there be preachers if they are not sent? As it is said, How beautiful are the feet of those who give the glad news of good things.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Acts 13
Commentary on Acts 13 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 13
We have not yet met with any things concerning the spreading of the gospel to the Gentiles which bears any proportion to the largeness of that commission, "Go, and disciple all nations.' The door was opened in the baptizing of Cornelius and his friends; but since then we had the gospel preached to the Jews only, ch. 11:19. It should seem as if the light which began to shine upon the Gentile world had withdrawn itself. But here in this chapter that work, that great good work, is revived in the midst of the years; and though the Jews shall still have the first offer of the gospel made to them, yet, upon their refusal, the Gentiles shall have their share of the offer of it. Here is,
Act 13:1-3
We have here a divine warrant and commission to Barnabas and Saul to go and preach the gospel among the Gentiles, and their ordination to that service by the imposition of hands, with fasting and prayer.
Act 13:4-13
In these verses we have,
Act 13:14-41
Perga in Pamphylia was a noted place, especially for a temple there erected to the goddess Diana, yet nothing at all is related of what Paul and Barnabas did there, only that thither they came (v. 13), and thence they departed, v. 14. But the history of the apostles' travels, as that of Christ's, passes by many things worthy to have been recorded, because, if all had been written, the world could not have contained the books. But the next place we find them in is another Antioch, said to be in Pisidia, to distinguish it from that Antioch in Syria from which they were sent out. Pisidia was a province of the Lesser Asia, bordering upon Pamphylia; this Antioch, it is likely, was the metropolis of it. Abundance of Jews lived there, and to them the gospel was to be first preached; and Paul's sermon to them is what we have in these verses, which, it is likely, is the substance of what was preached by the apostles generally to the Jews in all places; for in dealing with them the proper way was to show them how the New Testament, which they would have them to receive, exactly agreed with the Old Testament, which they not only received, but were zealous for. We have here,
Act 13:42-52
The design of this story being to vindicate the apostles, especially Paul (as he doth himself at large, Rom. 11), from the reflections of the Jews upon him for preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, it is here observed that he proceeded therein with all the caution imaginable, and upon due consideration, of which we have here an instance.