0' he speaks it not as meaning the days immediately following. but `those
0' in which the things he relates were about to take place. For it is the custom of Scripture to use this mode of speech, and at one time to expound in their sequence the things successively taking place, at another to relate as in immediate succession the things about to take place afterwards. And he well says that Herod the king did this, for this was not he of Christ's time:" as if Chrys. meant, He does right to call him king, for this was not the tetrarch of the Gospel history. But this is merely a parenthetic remark: the point to which the kalwj legei refers is this-that the persecution is now raised by a king, not by the Jews: "he does well to designate Herod as the king, thereby showing that the trial here was of a different kind, more severe, as the power wielded against them was greater."
2 en de kairw toioutw toiauta epratton. So mss. and Edd. But the Catena has en de kairw toioutw prattein ouk hqelon. "They had no objection to killing, but they had rather not do it at such a time."
3 This seems more suitable to the clause, "And his chains fell off from his hands: but see below in the recapitulation, p. 170.
4 i. e. so unexpected was it, so entirely had he made up his mind that he was to be put to death, that he thought it all a dream.
5 i. e. on the morrow, to be led out to execution, and then and there deliver him.
6 touto de piston egeneto. That would have astonished: this was calculated to obtain belief. E. D. F. Edd. touto de uper autwn egeneto. "But this was done for their sakes for they would not have been counted human beings, if he had done all after the manner of God, ei qeoprepwj panta epoiei."
7 In the old text this sentence and the next are transposed. The mod. text has restored the true order, but for hdonhn has apallaghn, "his deliverance to come to him all at once."-The connection may be thus supplied, "When he came to himself, he found himself there at large, and with his hands no longer chained. And this circumstance again is a strong evidence that he had not fled."
8 The order in mss. and Edd. is a, b, c. Auth, in the beginning of (c) evidently refers to thj parainesewj thj Iam. in (a).
9 James the brother of John was the son of Zebedee, commonly called the "elder" James. He was the first of the apostles to suffer martyrdom. The other James, called "the Lord's brother" (Gal. i, 19.) mentioned in v. 17 (cf. Acts xv. 13; Acts xxi. 18) was the Bishop of Jerusalem, a man of much importance and influence in the apostolic church, whom Paul reckons among the "pillars" (Gal. ii. 9). Chrys. gives no opinion here concerning him. Three views have prevailed in the church: (1) that he was the same as the apostle, James the son of Alphaeus and is called the "brother" of Jesus in the loose sense of that word in which it is taken as equivalent to "relative." (2) That he was the son of Joseph by a former marriage. (3) That he was the son of Joseph and Mary-the real brother of Jesus and is called an apostle in Gal. i. 19, in the more comprehensive sense which that word acquired according to which it was applied also to Paul and Barnabas (Acts xiv. 14). This view seems to me the correct one. There were also other brothers (Matt. xii. 46; Matt xiii. 55, Matt xiii. 56) Joses, Simon and Judas, and sisters who are not personally named. Chrys. seems to have held view (2) in his earlier writings, but to have adopted view (1), following Jerome. (Cf. Lightfoot on Galatians, pp. 289, 290).-G. B. S.
10 A. b.c. kakia, asebeia. Cat fonoj adikoj kakiaj; asebeia taij k. t. l. Mod. text substitutes for these two words, Pollh h anoia tou 9Hrwdou.
11 Kaqwj de wonto A. b.c. Either this is out of its place, or the sentence is incomplete. The mod. text substitutes, "And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison."
12 ouk estasiasan, ouk eforubhqsan: alluding perhaps to the factious and turbulent proceedings, which in his time often ensued when a Bishop was removed or at the point of death. But possibly estaj. is corrupt.-Below, Touto de hn uper Petrou, etc. the meaning seems to be, "That Herod was permitted to do this, and that Peter was delivered into his hands, not withdrawing upon the death of James, was all the better for Peter: it gave fresh proof of his worth, it showed how courageous he was in himself, independently of supernatural aid."
13 A. b.c. Cat. kai to <\dq_en taxei,<\|dq_ wste mh raqumhsai: kai eplhen auton: (C. kai ekplhcij hn eij auton) outw baqewj ekaqeuden. Perhaps C. has preserved the true reading, see on v. 11. If so, it should be transposed with the part marked (a), viz. "-by the Angel: and it was an amazement to him, so deeply did he sleep: but he thought he saw a vision." The letters as usual denote the order of parts in the mss. Before (b), the clause, "And he passed the first and second ward," is inserted. It is not easy to see what can be the reference of the question, Pwj; pou eisin oi airetikoi; it can hardly be meant for the mention of the sandals and cloak, v. 8, for the persons who objected to the Christians, that, according to Christ's command, they ought to have no shoes, nor two coats, etc. were not heretics, but heathens: see Hom. in illud, Salutate Prisc. et Aq. t. iii. 181. and Hom. in. in Philip. t. xi. 272 (the latter cited in the Catena here).
14 A. b.c. Cat. apisthunai, "be disbelieved?" But this is evidently corrupt.
15 iswj ekeinoj o aei autoij sunwn. Oecumen, may have read ouk ekeinoj, for he has, ina deich oti ou tou aei sunontoj autoij 'Iwannou thn mhtera fhsin: "to show that he does not mean the mother of John (the Apostle) who was always with them, he adds his distinctive name."
16 en autoij toij adikousin. Perhaps it may mean, He brings it home to the conviction of the wrong-doers themselves, etc. 'Ekeinwn, i. e. the enemies. But adikoumenoij would suit the meaning better than adikousin, and then ekeinwn would be right: otherwise it should be autwn.
17 The interpretation of Chrys, regarding the idea of the company assembled in Mary's house expressed by: "It is his angel," is doubtless correct. Others interpret: "It is his messenger"-a messenger sent by Peter to them, but it is said that Rhoda recognized Peter's voice (14). Others understand angel in the sense of spirit-a view which is not sanctioned by linguistic usage. Their idea was that Peter's guardian angel who had taken on his form and appearance was before the door. The belief in guardian angels attending individuals was common in later Jewish theology as well as in the Greek and Roman religions. It was doubtless stimulated in the early church by the saying of Jesus concerning children: "In heaven their angels do alwavs behold the face of my Father who is in heaven" (Matt. xvii. 10), which seems to sanction the idea (cf. Heb. 1. 14).-G. B. S.
18 kai ti bouletai o aggeloj; A. b.c. Cat. The mod. text substitutes, "And whence did it come into their minds at that time to surmise that it was an Angel?"
19 i. e. It was so ordered (wkonomhto) that the notion of its being his Angel came into their minds before they saw him, in order that it might not be possible for them to think this after he was gone.
20 Pistoutai de autouj kai to en hmera genomenon. i. e. "When it was day there was no small stir among the soldiers," etc. v. 18. The innovator, not perceiving the meaning, substitutes kai to mh en hmera genesuai, "And its not happening by day, confirms their belief."
21 emnhmoneusen. i. e. astonishment would have deprived him of the power of remembering, and afterwards relating the circumstances, v. 17.
22 Here, and on former occasion, v, 19. Hence the plural dieautwn.
23 dia toutwn (the persons assembled in the house of Mary) ekeinoi (James and the brethren), ouk ekeinoi dia toutou. This is corrupt, but the meaning is, James and the more important of the brethren learn the particulars through these inferior persons, not these through those, but through Peter himself. Mod. text, ina dia toutwn ekeinoi manuanwsin, ouk autoi di ekeinwn.
24 Mod. text adds, "thou wilt enjoy all pleasure, being led forthwith to reflect on the Creator."
25 @An diakuyhj eij tou stenwpon. The stenwpoi, angiportus or vici are the lanes or alleys in the quarters formed by intersection of the broad streets, plateiai.
26 Mod. text alla mh genoito mhde/a umwn upekkauma tou puroj ekeinou genesuai: "God forbid that any of you should become the fuel of that fire."