17 the God of this people Israel did choose our fathers, and the people He did exalt in their sojourning in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm did He bring them out of it;
for a holy people `art' thou to Jehovah thy God; on thee hath Jehovah thy God fixed, to be to Him for a peculiar people, out of all the peoples who `are' on the face of the ground. `Not because of your being more numerous than any of the peoples hath Jehovah delighted in you, and fixeth on you, for ye `are' the least of all the peoples, but because of Jehovah's loving you, and because of His keeping the oath which He hath sworn to your fathers, hath Jehovah brought you out by a strong hand, and doth ransom you from a house of servants, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
And Israel cometh in to Egypt, And Jacob hath sojourned in the land of Ham. And He maketh His people very fruitful, And maketh it mightier than its adversaries.
He hath sent Moses His servant, Aaron whom He had fixed on. They have set among them the matters of His signs, And wonders in the land of Ham. He hath sent darkness, and it is dark, And they have not provoked His word. He hath turned their waters to blood, And putteth to death their fish. Teemed hath their land `with' frogs, In the inner chambers of their kings. He hath said, and the beetle cometh, Lice into all their border. He hath made their showers hail, A flaming fire `is' in their land. And He smiteth their vine and their fig, And shivereth the trees of their border. He hath said, and the locust cometh, And the cankerworm -- innumerable, And it consumeth every herb in their land, And it consumeth the fruit of their ground. And He smiteth every first-born in their land, The first-fruit of all their strength, And bringeth them out with silver and gold, And there is not in its tribes a feeble one. Rejoiced hath Egypt in their going forth, For their fear had fallen upon them. He hath spread a cloud for a covering, And fire to enlighten the night.
O seed of Abraham, His servant, O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones. He `is' Jehovah our God, In all the earth `are' His judgments. He hath remembered to the age His covenant, The word He commanded to a thousand generations, That He hath made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac, And doth establish it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel -- a covenant age-during, Saying, `To thee I give the land of Canaan, The portion of your inheritance,' In their being few in number, But a few, and sojourners in it.
For He hath remembered His holy word, With Abraham His servant, And He bringeth forth His people with joy, With singing His chosen ones.
Our fathers in Egypt, Have not considered wisely Thy wonders, They have not remembered The abundance of Thy kind acts, And provoke by the sea, at the sea of Suph. And He saveth them for His name's sake, To make known His might, And rebuketh the sea of Suph, and it is dried up, And causeth them to go Through depths as a wilderness. And He saveth them from the hand Of him who is hating, And redeemeth them from the hand of the enemy. And waters cover their adversaries, One of them hath not been left.
In the going out of Israel from Egypt, The house of Jacob from a strange people, Judah became His sanctuary, Israel his dominion. The sea hath seen, and fleeth, The Jordan turneth backward. The mountains have skipped as rams, Heights as sons of a flock. What -- to thee, O sea, that thou fleest? O Jordan, thou turnest back! O mountains, ye skip as rams! O heights, as sons of a flock! From before the Lord be afraid, O earth, From before the God of Jacob, He is turning the rock to a pool of waters, The flint to a fountain of waters!
Who smote the first-born of Egypt, From man unto beast. He sent tokens and wonders into thy midst, O Egypt, On Pharaoh and on all his servants. Who smote many nations, and slew strong kings,
To Him smiting Egypt in their first-born, For to the age `is' His kindness. And bringing forth Israel from their midst, For to the age `is' His kindness. By a strong hand, and a stretched-out-arm, For to the age `is' His kindness. To Him cutting the sea of Suph into parts, For to the age `is' His kindness, And caused Israel to pass through its midst, For to the age `is' His kindness, And shook out Pharaoh and his force in the sea of Suph, For to the age `is' His kindness.
-- And thou, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, Seed of Abraham, My lover, Whom I have taken hold of, from the ends of the earth, And from its near places I have called thee, And I say to thee, My servant Thou `art', I have chosen thee, and not rejected thee.
In all their distress `He is' no adversary, And the messenger of His presence saved them, In His love and in His pity He redeemed them, And He doth lift them up, And beareth them all the days of old. And they have rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit, And He turneth to them for an enemy, He Himself hath fought against them. And He remembereth the days of old, Moses -- his people. Where `is' He who is bringing them up from the sea, The shepherd of his flock? Where `is' He who is putting in its midst His Holy Spirit? Leading by the right hand of Moses, the arm of His glory, Cleaving waters from before them, To make to Himself a name age-during. Leading them through the depths, As a horse in a plain they stumble not. As a beast into a valley goeth down, The Spirit of Jehovah causeth him to rest, So hast Thou led Thy people, To make to Thyself a glorious name.
In that thou hast done signs and wonders in the land of Egypt unto this day, and in Israel, and among men, and Thou dost make for Thee a name as `at' this day. `And Thou bringest forth Thy people Israel from the land of Egypt, with signs and with wonders, and by a strong hand, and by a stretched-out arm, and by great fear,
`Hast thou not considered what this people have spoken, saying: The two families on which Jehovah fixed, He doth reject them, And my people they despise -- So that they are no more a people before them! Thus said Jehovah: If My covenant `is' not daily and nightly, The statutes of heaven and earth I have not appointed -- Also the seed of Jacob, and David My servant, I reject, Against taking from his seed rulers For the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, For I turn back `to' their captivity, and have pitied them.'
According to the days of thy coming forth out of the land of Egypt, I do shew it wonderful things. See do nations, and they are ashamed of all their might, They lay a hand on the mouth, their ears are deaf.
and he said, `Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken: The God of the glory did appear to our father Abraham, being in Mesopotamia, before his dwelling in Haran, and He said to him, Go forth out of thy land, and out of thy kindred, and come to a land that I shall shew thee. `Then having come forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, he dwelt in Haran, and from thence, after the death of his father, He did remove him to this land wherein ye now dwell, and He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a footstep, and did promise to give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him -- he having no child. `And God spake thus, That his seed shall be sojourning in a strange land, and they shall cause it to serve, and shall do it evil four hundred years, and the nation whom they shall serve I will judge, said God; and after these things they shall come forth and shall do Me service in this place. `And He gave to him a covenant of circumcision, and so he begat Isaac, and did circumcise him on the eighth day, and Isaac `begat' Jacob, and Jacob -- the twelve patriarchs; and the patriarchs, having been moved with jealousy, sold Joseph to Egypt, and God was with him, and did deliver him out of all his tribulations, and gave him favour and wisdom before Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he did set him -- governor over Egypt and all his house. `And there came a dearth upon all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great tribulation, and our fathers were not finding sustenance, and Jacob having heard that there was corn in Egypt, sent forth our fathers a first time; and at the second time was Joseph made known to his brethren, and Joseph's kindred became manifest to Pharaoh, and Joseph having sent, did call for his father Jacob, and all his kindred -- with seventy and five souls -- and Jacob went down to Egypt, and died, himself and our fathers, and they were carried over into Sychem, and were laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in money from the sons of Emmor, of Sychem. `And according as the time of the promise was drawing nigh, which God did swear to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt, till another king rose, who had not known Joseph; this one, having dealt subtilely with our kindred, did evil to our fathers, causing to expose their babes, that they might not live; in which time Moses was born, and he was fair to God, and he was brought up three months in the house of his father; and he having been exposed, the daughter of Pharaoh took him up, and did rear him to herself for a son; and Moses was taught in all wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in words and in works. `And when forty years were fulfilled to him, it came upon his heart to look after his brethren, the sons of Israel; and having seen a certain one suffering injustice, he did defend, and did justice to the oppressed, having smitten the Egyptian; and he was supposing his brethren to understand that God through his hand doth give salvation; and they did not understand. `On the succeeding day, also, he shewed himself to them as they are striving, and urged them to peace, saying, Men, brethren are ye, wherefore do ye injustice to one another? and he who is doing injustice to the neighbour, did thrust him away, saying, Who set thee a ruler and a judge over us? to kill me dost thou wish, as thou didst kill yesterday the Egyptian? `And Moses fled at this word, and became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he begat two sons, and forty years having been fulfilled, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai a messenger of the Lord, in a flame of fire of a bush, and Moses having seen did wonder at the sight; and he drawing near to behold, there came a voice of the Lord unto him, I `am' the God of thy fathers; the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. `And Moses having become terrified, durst not behold, and the Lord said to him, Loose the sandal of thy feet, for the place in which thou hast stood is holy ground; seeing I have seen the affliction of My people that `is' in Egypt, and their groaning I did hear, and came down to deliver them; and now come, I will send thee to Egypt. `This Moses, whom they did refuse, saying, Who did set thee a ruler and a judge? this one God a ruler and a redeemer did send, in the hand of a messenger who appeared to him in the bush; this one did bring them forth, having done wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years; this is the Moses who did say to the sons of Israel: A prophet to you shall the Lord your God raise up out of your brethren, like to me, him shall ye hear. `This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the messenger who is speaking to him in the mount Sinai, and with our fathers who did receive the living oracles to give to us; to whom our fathers did not wish to become obedient, but did thrust away, and turned back in their hearts to Egypt, saying to Aaron, Make to us gods who shall go on before us, for this Moses, who brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, we have not known what hath happened to him. `And they made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands, and God did turn, and did give them up to do service to the host of the heaven, according as it hath been written in the scroll of the prophets: Slain beasts and sacrifices did ye offer to Me forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? and ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan -- the figures that ye made to bow before them, and I will remove your dwelling beyond Babylon. `The tabernacle of the testimony was among our fathers in the wilderness, according as He did direct, who is speaking to Moses, to make it according to the figure that he had seen; which also our fathers having in succession received, did bring in with Joshua, into the possession of the nations whom God did drive out from the presence of our fathers, till the days of David, who found favour before God, and requested to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob; and Solomon built Him an house. `But the Most High in sanctuaries made with hands doth not dwell, according as the prophet saith: The heaven `is' My throne, and the earth My footstool; what house will ye build to Me? saith the Lord, or what `is' the place of My rest? hath not My hand made all these things? `Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and in ears! ye do always the Holy Spirit resist; as your fathers -- also ye; which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? and they killed those who declared before about the coming of the Righteous One, of whom now ye betrayers and murderers have become, who received the law by arrangement of messengers, and did not keep `it'.'
`And I have established My covenant between Me and thee, and thy seed after thee, to their generations, for a covenant age-during, to become God to thee, and to thy seed after thee; and I have given to thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, the whole land of Canaan, for a possession age-during, and I have become their God.'
and the sons of Israel have been fruitful, and they teem, and multiply, and are very very mighty, and the land is filled with them. And there riseth a new king over Egypt, who hath not known Joseph, and he saith unto his people, `Lo, the people of the sons of Israel `is' more numerous and mighty than we;
And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Now dost thou see that which I do to Pharaoh, for with a strong hand he doth send them away, yea, with a strong hand he doth cast them out of his land.' And God speaketh unto Moses, and saith unto him, `I `am' Jehovah, and I appear unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as God Almighty; as to My name Jehovah, I have not been known to them; and also I have established My covenant with them, to give to them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojournings, wherein they have sojourned; and also I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, whom the Egyptians are causing to serve, and I remember My covenant. `Therefore say to the sons of Israel, I `am' Jehovah, and I have brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and have delivered you from their service, and have redeemed you by a stretched-out arm, and by great judgments, and have taken you to Me for a people, and I have been to you for God, and ye have known that I `am' Jehovah your God, who is bringing you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians; and I have brought you in unto the land which I have lifted up My hand to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and have given it to you -- a possession; I `am' Jehovah.' And Moses speaketh so unto the sons of Israel, and they hearkened not unto Moses, for anguish of spirit, and for harsh service. And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, `Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he doth send the sons of Israel out of his land; and Moses speaketh before Jehovah, saying, `Lo, the sons of Israel have not hearkened unto me, and how doth Pharaoh hear me, and I of uncircumcised lips?' And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and chargeth them for the sons of Israel, and for Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt. These `are' heads of the house of their fathers: Sons of Reuben first-born of Israel `are' Hanoch, and Phallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these `are' families of Reuben.
Then singeth Moses and the sons of Israel this song to Jehovah, and they speak, saying: -- `I sing to Jehovah, For triumphing He hath triumphed; The horse and its rider He hath thrown into the sea. My strength and song is JAH, And He is become my salvation: This `is' my God, and I glorify Him; God of my father, and I exalt Him. Jehovah `is' a man of battle; Jehovah `is' His name. Chariots of Pharaoh and his force He hath cast into the sea; And the choice of his captains Have sunk in the Red Sea! The depths do cover them; They went down into the depths as a stone. Thy right hand, O Jehovah, Is become honourable in power; Thy right hand, O Jehovah, Doth crush an enemy. And in the abundance of Thine excellency Thou throwest down Thy withstanders, Thou sendest forth Thy wrath -- It consumeth them as stubble. And by the spirit of Thine anger Have waters been heaped together; Stood as a heap have flowings; Congealed have been depths In the heart of a sea. The enemy said, I pursue, I overtake; I apportion spoil; Filled is my soul with them; I draw out my sword; My hand destroyeth them: -- Thou hast blown with Thy wind The sea hath covered them; They sank as lead in mighty waters. Who `is' like Thee among the gods, O Jehovah? Who `is' like Thee -- honourable in holiness -- Fearful in praises -- doing wonders? Thou hast stretched out Thy right hand -- Earth swalloweth them! Thou hast led forth in Thy kindness The people whom Thou hast redeemed. Thou hast led on in Thy strength Unto Thy holy habitation. Peoples have heard, they are troubled; Pain hath seized inhabitants of Philistia. Then have chiefs of Edom been troubled: Mighty ones of Moab -- Trembling doth seize them! Melted have all inhabitants of Canaan! Fall on them doth terror and dread; By the greatness of Thine arm They are still as a stone, Till Thy people pass over, O Jehovah; Till the people pass over Whom Thou hast purchased. Thou dost bring them in, And dost plant them In a mountain of Thine inheritance, A fixed place for Thy dwelling Thou hast made, O Jehovah; A sanctuary, O Lord, Thy hands have established; Jehovah reigneth -- to the age, and for ever!' For the horse of Pharaoh hath gone in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and Jehovah turneth back on them the waters of the sea, and the sons of Israel have gone on dry land in the midst of the sea. And Miriam the inspired one, sister of Aaron, taketh the timbrel in her hand, and all the women go out after her, with timbrels and with choruses; and Miriam answereth to them: -- `Sing ye to Jehovah, For Triumphing He hath triumphed; The horse and its rider He hath thrown into the sea!'
And Jehovah saith unto Abram, `Go for thyself, from thy land, and from thy kindred, and from the house of thy father, unto the land which I shew thee. And I make thee become a great nation, and bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing. And I bless those blessing thee, and him who is disesteeming thee I curse, and blessed in thee have been all families of the ground.'
`Thou `art' He, O Jehovah God, who didst fix on Abraham, and didst bring him out from Ur of the Chaldeans, and didst make his name Abraham, and didst find his heart stedfast before Thee, so as to make with him the covenant, to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, to give `it' to his seed. `And Thou dost establish Thy words, for Thou `art' righteous, and dost see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and their cry hast heard by the sea of Suph, and dost give signs and wonders on Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land, for Thou hast known that they have acted proudly against them, and Thou makest to Thee a name as `at' this day. And the sea Thou hast cleaved before them, and they pass over into the midst of the sea on the dry land, and their pursuers Thou hast cast into the depths, as a stone, into the strong waters. And by a pillar of cloud Thou hast led them by day, and by a pillar of fire by night, to lighten to them the way in which they go.
O God, in holiness `is' Thy way, Who `is' a great god like God? Thou `art' the God doing wonders. Thou hast made known among the peoples Thy strength, Thou hast redeemed with strength Thy people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah. The waters have seen Thee, O God, The waters have seen Thee, They are afraid -- also depths are troubled. Poured out waters have thick clouds, The skies have given forth a noise, Also -- Thine arrows go up and down. The voice of Thy thunder `is' in the spheres, Lightnings have lightened the world, The earth hath trembled, yea, it shaketh. In the sea `is' Thy way, And Thy paths `are' in many waters, And Thy tracks have not been known. Thou hast led as a flock Thy people, By the hand of Moses and Aaron!
Before their fathers He hath done wonders, In the land of Egypt -- the field of Zoan. He cleft a sea, and causeth them to pass over, Yea, He causeth waters to stand as a heap.
They have not remembered His hand The day He ransomed them from the adversary. When He set His signs in Egypt, And His wonders in the field of Zoan, And He turneth to blood their streams, And their floods they drink not. He sendeth among them the beetle, and it consumeth them, And the frog, and it destroyeth them, And giveth to the caterpillar their increase, And their labour to the locust. He destroyeth with hail their vine, And their sycamores with frost, And delivereth up to the hail their beasts, And their cattle to the burning flames. He sendeth on them the fury of His anger, Wrath, and indignation, and distress -- A discharge of evil messengers. He pondereth a path for His anger, He kept not back their soul from death, Yea, their life to the pestilence He delivered up. And He smiteth every first-born in Egypt, The first-fruit of the strong in tents of Ham. And causeth His people to journey as a flock, And guideth them as a drove in a wilderness, And He leadeth them confidently, And they have not been afraid, And their enemies hath the sea covered.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Acts 13
Commentary on Acts 13 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 13
PAUL'S FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY:
In Company with Barnabas.
Ac 13:1-14:28.
Ac 13:1-3. Barnabas and Saul, Divinely Called to Labor among the Gentiles, Are Set Apart and Sent Forth by the Church at Antioch.
The first seven chapters of this book might be entitled, The Church among the Jews; the next five (chapters eight through twelve), The Church in Transition from Jews to Gentiles; and the last sixteen (chapters thirteen through twenty-eight), The Church among the Gentiles [Baumgarten]. "Though Christianity had already spread beyond the limits of Palestine, still the Church continued a stranger to formal missionary effort. Casual occurrences, particularly the persecution at Jerusalem (Ac 8:2), had hitherto brought about the diffusion of the Gospel. It was from Antioch that teachers were first sent forth with the definite purpose of spreading Christianity, and organizing churches, with regular institutions (Ac 14:23)" [Olshausen].
1. there were … certain prophets—(See on Ac 11:27).
and teachers; as Barnabas, &c.—implying that there were others there, besides; but, according to what appears the true reading, the meaning is simply that those here mentioned were in the Church at Antioch as prophets and teachers.
Simeon … Niger—of whom nothing is known.
Lucius of Cyrene—(Ac 2:20). He is mentioned, in Ro 16:21, as one of Paul's kinsmen.
Manaen—or Menahem, the name of one of the kings of Israel (2Ki 15:14).
which had been brought up with—or, the foster brother of.
Herod the tetrarch—that is, Antipas, who was himself "brought up with a certain private person at Rome" [Josephus, Antiquities, 17.1,3]. How differently did these two foster brothers turn out—the one, abandoned to a licentious life and stained with the blood of the most distinguished of God's prophets, though not without his fits of reformation and seasons of remorse; the other, a devoted disciple of the Lord Jesus and prophet of the Church at Antioch! But this is only what may be seen in every age: "Even so, Father, for so it seemeth good in Thy sight.' If the courtier, whose son, at the point of death, was healed by our Lord (Joh 4:46) was of Herod's establishment, while Susanna's husband was his steward (Lu 8:3), his foster brother's becoming a Christian and a prophet is something remarkable.
and Saul—last of all, but soon to become first. Henceforward this book is almost exclusively occupied with him; and his impress on the New Testament, on Christendom, and on the world is paramount.
2. As they ministered to the Lord—The word denotes the performance of official duties of any kind, and was used to express the priestly functions under the Old Testament. Here it signifies the corresponding ministrations of the Christian Church.
and fasted—As this was done in other cases on special occasions (Ac 13:3, 14, 23), it is not improbable that they had been led to expect some such prophetic announcement at this time.
the Holy Ghost said—through some of the prophets mentioned in Ac 13:1.
Separate me—So Ro 1:1.
for the work whereunto I have called them—by some communication, perhaps, to themselves: in the case of Saul at least, such a designation was indicated from the first (Ac 22:21). Note.—While the personality of the Holy Ghost is manifest from this language, His supreme divinity will appear equally so by comparing it with Heb 5:4.
3. laid their hands on them—(See on Ac 6:6)—"recommending them to the grace of God for the work which they had to fulfil" (Ac 14:26).
sent them away—with the double call—of the Spirit first, and next of the Church. So clothed, their mission is thus described: "They being sent forth by the Holy Ghost." Have we not here for all time the true principle of appointment to sacred offices?
Ac 13:4-12. Arriving in Cyprus They Preach in the Synagogues of Salamis—At Paphos, Elymas Is Struck Blind, and the Governor of the Island Is Converted.
4, 5. departed unto Seleucia—the seaport of Antioch, from which it lay nearly due west fifteen miles, and five from the Mediterranean shore, on the river Orontes.
thence sailed to Cyprus—whose high mountain summits are easily seen in clear weather from the coast [Colonel Chesney in Howson]. "Four reasons may have induced them to turn in first to this island: (1) Its nearness to the mainland; (2) It was the native place of Barnabas, and since the time when Andrew found his brother Simon, and brought him to Jesus, and "Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus," family ties had not been without effect on the progress of the Gospel. (3) It could not be unnatural to suppose that the truth would be welcomed in Cyprus when brought by Barnabas and his kinsman Mark, to their own connections or friends. The Jews were numerous in Salamis. By sailing to that city, they were following the track of the synagogues; and though their mission was chiefly to the Gentiles, their surest course for reaching them was through the proselytes and Hellenizing Jews. (4) Some of the Cypriotes were already Christians. Indeed, no one place out of Palestine, except Antioch, had been so honorably associated with the work of successful evangelization" [Howson].
5. and when they were at Salamis—the Grecian capital of the island, on the eastern side, and not many hours' sail from Seleucia. At this busy mercantile port immense numbers of Jews were settled, which accounts for what is here said, that they had more than one synagogue, in which Barnabas and Saul preached, while other cities had one only.
they had … John—Mark.
to their minister—"for their officer". (See on Lu 4:20). With what fruit they preached here is not said. Probably their feeling was what Paul afterwards expressed at Antioch in Pisidia (Ac 13:46).
6. when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos—on the opposite or west side of the island, about one hundred miles by land, along the south coast; the Roman capital, where the governor resided.
they found a … sorcerer—one of a numerous class of impostors who, at this time of general unbelief, were encouraged even by cultivated Romans.
7. Which was with the deputy—properly, "the proconsul." This name was reserved for the governors of settled provinces, which were placed under the Roman Senate, and is never given in the New Testament to Pilate, Felix, or Festus, who were but procurators, or subordinate administrators of unsettled, imperial, military provinces. Now as Augustus reserved Cyprus for himself, its governor would in that case have been not a proconsul, but simply a procurator, had not the emperor afterwards restored it to the Senate, as a Roman historian [Dio Cassius] expressly states. In most striking confirmation of this minute accuracy of the sacred historian, coins have actually been found in the island, stamped with the names of proconsuls, both in Greek and Latin [Akerman, Numismatic Illustrations of the New Testament]. (Grotius and Bengel, not aware of this, have missed the mark here).
Sergius Paulus, a prudent man—an intelligent man, who thirsting for truth, sent for Barnabas and Saul, desiring ("earnestly desiring") to hear the Word of God.
8-12. But Elymas—or "the wise."
for so is his name by interpretation—the word is from the Arabic.
withstood them—perceiving, probably, how eagerly the proconsul was drinking in the word, and fearing a dismissal. (Compare 2Ti 3:8).
9. Then Saul … also … called Paul—and henceforward Paul only; a softening of his former name, in accommodation to Roman ears, and (as the word signifies "little") probably with allusion as elsewhere to his insignificance of stature and appearance (2Co 10:1, 10) [Webster and Wilkinson].
filled with the Holy Ghost—the Spirit coming mightily upon him.
set his eyes on him and said—Henceforward Barnabas sinks into the background. The whole soul of his great colleague, now drawn out, as never before, shoots, by the lightning gaze of his eye, through the dark and tortuous spirit of the sorcerer. What a picture!
10. full of all subtlety—referring to his magic arts.
and all malice—The word signifies "readiness for anything," knavish dexterity.
thou child of the devil … enemy of all righteousness—These were not words of passion, for immediately before uttering them, it is said he was "filled with the Holy Ghost" [Chrysostom].
wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord—referring to his having to that hour made a trade of leading his fellow creatures astray.
11. the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind for a season—the judgment being mercifully designed to lead him to repentance. The tradition that it did is hardly to be depended on.
there fell on him a mist, &c.—This is in Luke's medical style.
12. Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord—so marvellously attested; compare Mr 1:27. What fruit, if any, followed this remarkable conversion, or how long after it the missionaries remained at Paphos, we know not.
Ac 13:13-52. At Perga John Mark Forsakes Them—At Antioch in Pisidia, Paul Preaches with Glorious Effect—The Jews, Enraged, Expel Them Out of Them Coasts.
13. they came to Perga in Pamphylia—The distance from Paphos to Attalia, on the Gulf of Pamphylia (see on Ac 14:25), sailing in a northwest direction, is not much greater than from Seleucia to Salamis on the east. Perga was the metropolis of Pamphylia, on the river Cestrus, and about seven miles inland from Attalia.
and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem—As Paul afterwards peremptorily refused to take Mark with him on his second missionary journey, because he "had departed [or 'fallen off'] from them and had not gone with them to the work" (Ac 15:38), there can be no doubt that he had either wearied of it or been deterred by the prospect of the dangers which lay before him. (But see on Ac 15:37, &c.).
14. departed from Perga—apparently without making any stay or doing any work: compare the different language of Ac 14:25, and see immediately below.
came to Antioch in Pisidia—usually so called, to distinguish it from Antioch in Syria, from which they had started, though it actually lies in Phrygia, and almost due north from Perga. It was a long journey, and as it lay almost entirely through rugged mountain passes, while "rivers burst out at the base of huge cliffs, or dash down wildly through narrow ravines," it must have been a perilous one. The whole region was, and to this day is, infested by robbers, as ancient history and modern travels abundantly attest; and there can be but little doubt that to this very journey Paul many years after alludes, when he speaks amidst his "journeyings often," of his "perils of rivers" (as the word is), and his "perils of robbers" (2Co 11:26). If this journey were taken in May—and earlier than that the passes would have been blocked up with snow—it would account for their not staying at Perga, whose hot streets are then deserted; "men, women, and children, flocks, herds, camels, and asses, all ascending at the beginning of the hot season from the plains to the cool basin-like hollows on the mountains, moving in the same direction with our missionaries" [Howson].
15-17. Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand—as was his manner on such occasions (Ac 21:40; and see Ac 26:1).
Men of Israel, and ye that fear God—by the latter expression meaning religious proselytes, who united with the Jews in all acts of ordinary worship.
and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in Egypt—by marvellous interpositions for them in their deepest depression.
18-22. forty years suffered he their manners—rather, according to what appears the true reading, "cherished he them" (as a nurse the infant in her bosom).
20. after that he gave … judges … about the space of four hundred and fifty years—As this appears to contradict 1Ki 6:1, various solutions have been proposed. Taking the words as they stand in the Greek, thus, "after that, by the space of four hundred fifty years, He gave judges," the meaning may be, that about four hundred fifty years elapsed from the time of the covenant with Abraham until the period of the judges; which is historically correct, the word "about" showing that chronological exactness was not aimed at. But taking the sense to be as in our version, that it was the period of the judges itself which lasted about four hundred fifty years, this statement also will appear historically correct, if we include in it the interval of subjection to foreign powers which occurred during the period of the judges, and understand it to describe the whole period from the settlement of the tribes in Canaan to the establishment of royalty. Thus, from the Exodus to the building of the temple were five hundred ninety-two years [Josephus, Antiquities, 8.3.1]; deduct forty years in the wilderness; twenty-five years of Joshua's rule [Josephus, Antiquities, 5.1.29]; forty years of Saul's reign (Ac 13:2); forty of David's and the first four years of Solomon's reign (1Ki 6:1), and there remain, just four hundred forty-three years; or, in round numbers, "about four hundred fifty years."
21. God gave … them Saul … of the tribe of Benjamin—That the speaker was himself of the same name and of the same tribe, has often been noticed as in all likelihood present to the apostle's mind while speaking.
forty years—With this length of Saul's reign (not mentioned in the Old Testament), Josephus coincides [Antiquities, 6.14.9].
22. I have found David, &c.—This quotation is the substance of Ps 89:20; 1Sa 13:14; and perhaps also of Ps 78:70-72.
23-25. Of this man's seed hath God, according to … promise, raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus—The emphasis on this statement lies: (1) in the seed from which Christ sprang—David's—and the promise to that effect, which was thus fulfilled; (2) on the character in which this promised Christ was given of God—"a Saviour." His personal name "Jesus" is emphatically added, as designed to express that very character. (See on Mt 1:21).
26-31. children … of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God—Gentile proselytes.
to you is the word of this salvation sent—both being regarded as one class, as "the Jew first," to whom the Gospel was to be addressed in the first instance.
27. For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, &c.—The apostle here speaks as if the more immediate guilt of Christ's death lay with the rulers and people of the metropolis, to which he fondly hoped that those residing at such a distance as Antioch would not set their seal.
28. found no cause of death—though they sought it (Mt 26:59, 60).
29. they took him down … and laid him in a sepulchre—Though the burial of Christ was an act of honor and love to Him by the disciples to whom the body was committed, yet since His enemies looked after it and obtained a guard of soldiers to keep watch over it as the remains of their own victim, the apostle regards this as the last manifestation on their part of enmity to the Saviour, that they might see how God laughed all their precautions to scorn by "raising Him from the dead."
31. he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, &c.—that is, by those who, having gone out and in with Him in closest intimacy during all His public ministry, which lay chiefly in Galilee, and having accompanied Him on His last journey to Jerusalem, could not possibly be mistaken as to the identity of the risen One, and were therefore unexceptionable and sufficient witnesses.
33. God hath fulfilled the same—"hath completely fulfilled."
in that he hath raised up Jesus again—literally, "raised up"; but the meaning is (notwithstanding the contrary opinion of many excellent interpreters) "from the dead"; as the context plainly shows.
as it is written in the second psalm—in many manuscripts "the first Psalm"; what we call the first being regarded by the ancient Jews as only an introduction to the Psalter, which was considered to begin with the second.
this day have I begotten thee—As the apostle in Ro 1:4 regards the resurrection of Christ merely as the manifestation of a prior Sonship, which he afterwards (Ac 8:32) represents as essential, it is plain that this is his meaning here. (Such declarative meaning of the verb "to be" is familiar to every reader of the Bible). See Joh 15:8, "So shall ye be," that is, be seen to be "My disciples." It is against the whole sense of the New Testament to ascribe the origin of Christ's Sonship to His resurrection.
34-37. now no more to return to corruption—that is, to the grave where death reigns; and compare Ro 6:9, "Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over him."
I will give you the sure mercies of David—(Isa 55:3). The word rendered "mercies" is peculiar, denoting the sanctity of them, as comprehending the whole riches of the new covenant; while the other word, "sure," points to the certainty with which they would, through David's Seed, be at length all substantiated. See on Joh 1:14. But how do these words prove the resurrection of Christ? "They presuppose it; for since an eternal kingdom was promised to David, the Ruler of this kingdom could not remain under the power of death. But to strengthen the indefinite prediction by one more definite, the apostle adduces Ps 16:10, of which Peter had given the same explanation (see on Ac 2:27; Ac 2:30, 31), both apostles denying the possibility of its proper reference to David" [Olshausen].
36. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God—rather, "served," in his own generation, the will (or "counsel") of God; yielding himself an instrument for the accomplishment of God's high designs, and in this respect being emphatically "the man after God's own heart." This done, he "fell asleep, and was gathered to his fathers, and saw corruption." David, therefore (argues the apostle), could not be the subject of his own prediction, which had its proper fulfilment only in the resurrection of the uncorrupted body of the Son of God, emphatically God's "Holy One."
38-41. the forgiveness of sins—the first necessity of the sinner, and so the first experienced blessing of the Gospel.
39. by him all that believe are justified from all things—The sense requires that a pause in the sentence be made here: "By him the believer is absolved from all charges of the law." What follows,
from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses—is not an exceptional but an explanatory clause. The meaning is not, "Though the law justifies from many things, it cannot justify from all things, but Christ makes up all deficiencies"; but the meaning is, "By Christ the believer is justified from all things, whereas the law justifies from nothing." (Note.—The deeper sense of justification, the positive side of it, is reserved for the Epistles, addressed to the justified themselves: and whereas it is the resurrection of Christ here, and throughout the Acts chiefly, which is dwelt on, because the first thing in order to bring peace to the guilty through Christ was to establish His Messiahship by His resurrection, in the Epistles to believers His death as the way of reconciliation is fully unfolded).
40. Beware, therefore, &c.—By this awful warning of the Old Testament the apostle would fain "shut them up unto the faith."
41. ye will not believe though a man declare it unto you—that is, even on unexceptionable testimony. The words, from Hab 1:5, were originally a merciful but fruitless warning against the approaching destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans and the Babylonish captivity. As such nothing could more fitly describe the more awful calamity impending over the generation which the apostle addressed.
42, 43. And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath—rather (according to what is beyond doubt the true reading), "Now, as they were going out [of the synagogue], they besought"—that is, not the Gentiles, whose case comes in afterwards, but the mixed congregation of Jews and proselytes, to whom the discourse had been addressed, entreated to have another hearing of such truths; those of them, that is, who had been impressed. "And after the breaking up of the synagogue, many of" both classes, Jews and religious; proselytes, followed Paul and Barnabas (observe, from this time forward, the inverted order of these names; except Ac 14:14; 13:7; 12:25; see on Ac 14:14; Ac 13:7; Ac 12:25). These names evidently been won to the Gospel by what they had heard, and felt a clinging to their spiritual benefactors.
43. who, speaking to them—following up the discourse in the synagogue by some further words of encouragement.
persuaded them to continue in the grace of God—which they had experienced through the Gospel. (Compare Ac 11:23).
44-48. the next sabbath came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God—the intervening days having been spent in further inquiry and instruction, and the excitement reaching the Gentiles, who now for the first time crowded, along with the usual worshippers, into the synagogue.
45. But when the Jews—those zealots of exclusive Judaism.
saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy—rather, "indignation," and broke out in their usual manner.
contradicting and blaspheming—There is nothing more awful than Jewish fury and execration of the name of Jesus of Nazareth, when thoroughly roused.
46. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, &c.—This is in the highest style of a last and solemn protestation.
It was necessary that the word should first have been spoken to you—See the direction of Christ in Lu 24:47; also Ro 1:16.
since ye judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life—pass sentence upon yourselves.
47. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, &c.—These and other predictions must have been long before this brought vividly home to Paul's mind in connection with his special vocation to the Gentiles.
I have set thee—that is, Messiah; from which Paul inferred that he was but following out this destination of his Lord, in transferring to the Gentiles those "unsearchable riches" which were now by the Jews rejected and despised.
48. when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad—to perceive that their accession to Christ was a matter of divine arrangement as well as apostolic effort.
and glorified the word of the Lord—by a cordial reception of it.
and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed—a very remarkable statement, which cannot, without force, be interpreted of anything lower than this, that a divine ordination to eternal life is the cause, not the effect, of any man's believing.
49-52. And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region—implying some stay in Antioch and missionary activity in its vicinity.
50. the devout and honourable women—female proselytes of distinction, jaundiced against the new preachers by those Jewish ecclesiastics to whom they had learned to look up. The potent influence of the female character both for and against the truth is seen in every age of the Church's history.
expelled them—an easier thing than to refute them.
51. shook off the dust of their feet against them—as directed (Mt 10:14).
came unto Iconium—a populous city about forty-five miles southeast from Pisidian Antioch: at the foot of Mount Taurus; on the borders of Lycaonia, Phrygia, and Pisidia; and in later times largely contributing to the consolidation of the Turkish empire.
52. the disciples—who, though not themselves expelled, had to endure sufferings for the Gospel, as we learn from Ac 14:22.
were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost—who not only raised them above shame and fear, as professed disciples of the Lord Jesus, but filled them with holy and elevated emotions.