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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
But for and, A.V.; breathing for breathing out, A.V.; threatening for threatenings, A.V. Threatening and slaughter. The phrase ἐμπνέων ἀπειλῆς κ . τ . λ ., is rather a difficult one, and is variously explained. Schleusner takes the genitives in "threatening and slaughter" as genitives of the thing desired, "punting after threatening and slaughter" (comp. Amo_2:7). Meyer explains it "out of the threatenings and murder [in his heart] breathing hard at the disciples"—an expression indicating passion. Alford, taking nearly the sense of the A.V., makes "threatenings and slaughter" to be as it were the very material of his breath, whether breathed out or breathed in. Considering that ἐμπνέω means "to breathe in," as distinguished from ἐκπνέω , "to breathe out," and that these two are opposed to each other in Hippocrates (see Schleusner), the A.V. breathing out cannot be justified; nor is it likely that "Luke the physician" would forget the distinction. The difficulty is to explain the genitive case of "threatenings" and "slaughter." The high priest; probably the same person who is so described in Act_7:1 (where see note). If the year with which we are now dealing was the year A.D. 35, Caiaphas was high priest. But Alford, Lewin, Farrar, and others place Saul's conversion in A.D. 37, when Theophilus, son of Annas or Ananus, was high priest (Chronicles Table in Alford's 'Proleg. to Acts').
Act_9:2
Asked for desired, A.V.; unto for to, A.V.; any that were of the Way for any of this way, A.V.; whether men, etc., for whether they were men, etc., A.V.; to for unto, A.V. To Damascus. No special reason is given why Damascus is singled out. But it is clear from Act_9:10 and Act_9:13 that there was already a considerable number of Christian Jews at Damascus. And this, with the fact of there being a great multitude of Jews settled there, was a sufficient reason why Saul should ask for letters to each of the synagogues at Damascus, directing them to send any Christians who might be found amongst them bound to Jerusalem to be tried there before the Sanhedrim. There may have been thirty or forty synagogues at Damascus, and not less than forty thousand resident Jews. Of the Way; i.e. holding the doctrine of Christ. Thus in Act_18:25, Act_18:26, the Christian faith is spoken of as "the way of the Lord" and "the way of God." In Act_19:9, Act_19:23; Act_22:4; Act_24:14, was the term by which the faith of Christ was spoken of chiefly, perhaps, among the Jews. The term means a peculiar doctrine or sect. Its application to Christians apparently lasted only so long as Christianity was considered to be a modification or peculiar form of Judaism, and its frequent use in the Acts is therefore an evidence of the early composition of the book.
Act_9:3
It came to pass that he drew nigh unto for he came near, A.V.; shone for shined, A.V.; out of for from, A.V. and T.R.
Act_9:4
Fell upon, for fell to, A.V. Some, as Lord Lytlelton and Lewin, from the expressions, "fell to the ground," "fell to the earth," infer that Saul was "himself mounted, and his followers some mounted and some on foot." And Farrar also, far other reasons, supposes that Saul and his companions rode horses or mules. The journey, he says, was nearly a hundred and fifty miles, and the roads rough, bad, and steep; and Saul was traveling as the legate or the high priest. Still it is strange that no one expression should point distinctly to the party being on horseback, which "falling to the earth," or "ground," certainly do not. While, on the other hand, the phrases, "Arise," "stood speechless," "led him by the hand," seem rather to point to his being on foot. Lunge well compares the double invocation, Saul, Saul! with those similar ones, "Abraham, Abraham!" "Samuel, Samuel!" "Jerusalem, Jerusalem!" "Simon, Simon!" (Gen_22:11; 1Sa_3:10; Mat_23:1-39. 27; Luk_22:31).
Act_9:5
He for the Lord, A.V. and T.R. The rest of Act_9:5 in the A.V., "It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks" and the first part of Act_9:6, "And he trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him," are omitted in the R.T. They have, in fact, no manuscript authority (Meyer; Alford); and not much patristic authority, or from versions, and are omitted by all modern editors. They seem to be taken from the parallel narratives in Act_22:8-10; Act_26:14. The proverb, "It is hard," etc., is only found in Act_26:14 (where see note).
Act_9:6
Rise, and enter into the city for Arise, and go, etc., A.V.
Act_9:7
That journeyed for which journeyed, A.V.; the voice for a voice, A.V.; beholding for seeing, A.V. Speechless; ἐννεοί (or rather ἐνεοί ) is found nowhere else in the New Testament, but is not uncommon in the LXX. (e.g. Isa_56:10) and in classical Greek. Here it means speechless from terror, struck dumb. The description here given by St. Luke seems to be contradictory in two particulars to St. Paul's own account in Act_22:9 and Act_26:14. For St. Paul's companions are said here to have "stood speechless;" but in Act_26:14 they were "all fallen to the earth." Here they "hear the voice," but in Act_22:9 they "heard not the voice of him that spake." It is obvious, however, that in such descriptions all depends upon the particular moment of the transaction described which happens to be uppermost in the mind of the speaker or writer at the time, and the particular purpose in relation to which he is giving the description. Thus at one moment the spectators might be standing dumfounded, and at the next they might be prostrate on the ground, or vice versa. Either description of their attitude would be a true one, though not true with regard to the same moment. Again, if the purpose of the speaker was to affirm that the whole company were conscious of both the vision and the sound of a voice speaking, but that only Saul saw the Divine Speaker, the description "hearing the voice, but beholding no man" would be tile natural one. Whereas, if the purpose was to express that Saul alone heard the words spoken to him by the Lord, the description of his companions," They saw indeed the light … but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me," would be equally natural.
Act_9:8
Nothing for no man, A.V. and T.R.; and for but, A.V. Nothing ( οὐδὲν for οὐδένα ). So the best manuscripts and editions The idea is, not like that in Mat_17:8 that when he opened his eyes the person seen in vision had disappeared, but simply that his eyesight was gone, "for the glory of that light," and he could see nothing, but had to be led like a blind man (see Act_22:11).
Act_9:9
Did neither for neither did, A.V. The same reason, we may venture to think, which caused the interposition of three days' blindness between Saul's conversion and his baptism, led Saul himself to pass those days in a voluntary self-abasement. His sin in persecuting the Church of God and its Divine Head, his guilt in assisting at the death of God's saints, and in rejecting the testimony to Christ's resurrection, had been very great. These three days of blindness and of fasting were therefore a fitting preparation for the grace of forgiveness about to be so freely and fully given to him (1Ti_1:12-16). What thoughts must have passed through Saul's mind during those three days! Before passing on, it may be well to observe that it is to this appearance to him of Jesus Christ that St. Paul undoubtedly refers when he says (1Co_9:1), "Have not I seen Jesus Christ?" and again (1Co_15:8), "Last of all, he was seen of me also," where he puts this appearance of Jesus to himself on a par with those to Peter and James and the other apostles, which made them competent witnesses of the resurrection of Christ. And so in verse 17 of this chapter Ananias says, "The Lord Jesus which was seen by thee" ( ὁ ὀφθείς σοι ); and Barnabas (verse 27), when he brought Saul to the apostles, related "how he had seen the Lord in the way." And in Act_22:14 Ananias says, "God hath appointed thee to see the Righteous One." Moreover the description in Act_22:7 of Saul's fellow-travelers, that they "saw no man," implies, by contrast, that Saul did. The reticence of both St. Paul and St. Luke as to what he saw, and what was the appearance of the Lord Jesus, seems to arise from profound reverence and awe, such as St. Paul speaks of in 2Co_12:4. It may be also worth remarking how this appearance of Christ was deferred till he was quite close to Damascus, according to one tradition only a quarter of a mile from the gates, but according to Porter, whom Farrar and Lewin follow, at a distance of about ten miles, at a village called Caueab. So the intervention of the angel by which Isaac's life was spared was not till Abraham had the knife in his hand to slay his son; and Peter's prison doors were opened not till the very night before he was to have been brought forth to death. Faith and patience are thus strengthened, and God's intervention is more marked. There is not the slightest trace in the narrative of what the fancy of many has suggested, that Saul's uneasy conscience was wrought up into a paroxysm as he approached Damascus, and so prepared the way for the vision of Christ. Even Canon Farrar's eloquent description of what he supposes to have been the thoughts which agitated Saul's mind on his eventful journey seems hardly to rest on any solid base (see 'Life of St. Paul,'vol. 1. Act_10:1-48.).
Act_9:10
Now for and, A.V.; and the Lord said unto him for and to him said the Lord, A.V. Behold, I am here. The regular Hebrew answer (Gen_22:1; 1Sa_3:4, 1Sa_3:6, 1Sa_3:8, etc.).
Act_9:11
To for into, A.V., named for called, A.V.; a man of Tarsus for of Tarsus, A.V. The street; ῥύμη , usually the narrower lanes in a town as distinguished from the πλατεῖαι , or wide streets. So Luk_14:21, "The streets and lanes of the city," and the LXX. in Isa_15:3, couple πλατεῖαι and ρύμαι . Here, however, the term applies to the principal street of the city, which runs quite straight from the east to the west gate, and is a mile long. It still exists, and is called the Sultany Street; but instead of being the wide and splendid street it was in the apostolic age, a hundred feet wide, with colonnades separating the two footways on the side from the central read, and adorned with a triumphal arch, it is contracted into a narrow mean passage.
Act_9:12
He hath seen for hath seen in a vision, A.V. and T.R.; laying his hands for putting his hand, A.V. and T.R.
Act_9:13
But for then, A.V.; from many for by many, A.V.; did for hath done, A.V. Ananias's answer shows his profound astonishment, mixed with doubt and misgiving, at the commission given to him. It shows, too, how the news of Saul's commission had preceded him, and caused terror among the disciples at Damascus. Little did Ananias suspect that this dreaded enemy would be the channel of God's richest blessings to his Church throughout all ages until the coming of Christ. How empty our fears often are l how ignorant are we where our chief good lies hid! But God knows. Let us trust him.
Act_9:14
Upon for on, A.V. That call upon thy name. So also Act_9:21; Rom_10:12, Rom_10:13; 1Co_1:2; and above, Act_7:59, this same phrase describes the believer who makes his prayer to the Lord Jesus and trusts in his Name for salvation.
Act_9:15
A chosen vessel (comp. Gal_2:15; Rom_9:21, Rom_9:22). To bear my name before the Gentiles (see Act_22:21; Act_26:17, Act_26:18; Rom_15:16; Gal_2:7-9, etc.) and kings (Act_25:1-27.; 26.; 2Ti_4:16, 2Ti_4:17, with reference to Nero), and the children of Israel. The Gentiles are named before the children of Israel, because St. Paul's special call was to be the apostle of the Gentiles. But we know that even St. Paul's practice was to preach Christ to the Jews first, in every city where there were Jews.
Act_9:16
Many for great, A.V. St. Paul's whole life was the fulfillment of this word of Christ (see 2Co_11:23-27; 2Co_6:4-10).
Act_9:17
Departed for went his way, A.V.; laying for putting, A.V.; who appeared for that appeared, A.V.; which thou earnest for as, etc., A.V.; mayest for mightest, A.V. The laying on of hands is the medium of conveying any special grace. Here it precedes the baptism, and was the channel of restoring sight to his eyes. Doubtless he did not receive the Holy Ghost till after his baptism (see Act_2:38.)
Act_9:18
Straightway for immediately, A.V.; as it were for as it had been, A.V.; received his sight for received sight forthwith, A.V. and T.R.; he arose for arose, A.V. As it were scales ( λεπίδες ); scales, or flakes; any thin substance which peals off; a frequent term in Greek medical writers. And was baptized. It is a curious difference between St. Paul and the other apostles that, if they were baptized at all, which is doubtful, they must have been baptized by Christ himself; whereas St. Paul received his baptism at the hands of Ananias. This is one mark of his being "born out of due time." And yet he was not behind the very chiefest apostles.
Act_9:19
He took food and for when he had received meat he, A.V.; and he was for then was Saul, A.V. and T.R. Some commentators would interpose the journey to Arabia (mentioned Gal_1:17) between Act_9:19 and Act_9:20; and this seems to be the intention of the A.V., where the clause commencing with Then (Act_9:19) seems to wind up and close the preceding narrative. This too is the view strongly supported by Canon Farrar, vol. 1. ch. 11., and by Lewin. Alford places the journey to Arabia in the time comprised in Act_9:22; others before Act_9:22; Neander, Meyer, and others, in the time comprised in the "many days" of Act_9:23. And this last is undoubtedly the easiest, were it not for the considerations urged by Farrar with great force as to the probability of St. Paul seeking a period of retirement after his conversion before commencing any public preaching, and the further countenance given to this view by Gal_1:17, where St. Paul certainly says of himself that εὐθέως , immediately, after his conversion he "went away to Arabia." Taking all things into consideration, and supposing that either Luke was not aware of the sojourn in Arabia, or that he omitted from his notes some brief notice of it immediately preceding the description of Saul's preaching in Damascus, which explained the following εὐθέως , it seems best to understand the latter part of verse 19 and all that follows as subsequent to his return from Arabia; and to conclude that he only stayed at Damascus ἡμέρας τίνας , a few days, after his conversion, and then retired to Arabia. It may be observed, too, that this interpretation gives a significance to the mention of the "certain days" which otherwise it has not. There is a further difference of opinion as to what is meant by Arabia. The most common view is that Auranitis, bordering upon Arabia Deserts, and reckoned as part of Arabia, not above two days' journey from Damascus, is the country meant. But others understand it in its more strictly Hebrew sense of the Peninsula of Sinai. This view is decidedly strengthened by the fact that, in the fourth chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians, St. Paul clearly means by Arabia the Peninsula of Arabia, where Sinai was (Gal_4:25). On the assumption that the Sinaitic Peninsula is meant, Bishop Lightfoot says, "He was attracted thither by a spirit akin to that which formerly had driven Elijah to the same region. Standing on the threshold of the new covenant, he was anxious to look upon the birthplace of the old; that, dwelling for a while in seclusion in the presence of the mount that burned with fire, he might ponder over the transient glories of the ministration of death, and apprehend its real purpose in relation to the more glorious covenant which was now to supplant it." His journey to Arabia need not necessarily have occupied more than two or three mouths. It seems certain that he did not preach there, because he says (Act_26:20), "I declared to them at Damascus first," etc. (see another coincidence between the Acts and the Epistle to the Galatians in Act_13:2, note).
Act_9:20
In the synagogues he proclaimed Jesus for he preached Christ in the synagogues, A.V. and T.R. The preponderance of manuscript authority, and the ὄνομα of Act_9:21, and the ὅτι οὖτός ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός of Act_9:22, seem conclusive in favor of Jesus rather than Christ. As regards the expression straightway, we must understand it as descriptive of Saul's action upon his return from Arabia. Is it possible that St. Luke uses it with the same meaning as he may have heard St. Paul use it in when speaking of his Damascus preaching, in the same sense as St. Paul actually does speak in Gal_1:17, viz. as expressing that he did not wait for authority from the apostles, but at once, fresh from the Divine call, and having a direct commission from Christ himself, entered upon his apostolic ministry? If the Epistle to the Galatians was written A.D. 58, it would be just about the time that St. Luke joined St. Paul, and might be commencing to collect materials for his history. So that the phrase in the Galatians and the phrase in this twentieth verse might really be the expression of one thought committed to paper by St. Paul on the one hand, and uttered in the ear of Luke on the other. It is a confirmation of this view that in 2 Corinthians, written about the same time, there is also an account of Saul's escape from Damascus. In the synagogues; the very synagogues (verse 2) to which the letters of the high priest were addressed, empowering him to arrest either man or woman who called upon the Name of Jesus, and bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem to be tried before the Sanhedrim. No wonder they were amazed.
Act_9:21
And for but, A.V.; that in Jerusalem made havoc of for that destroyed them (which called on this Name) in Jerusalem, A.V.; and he had come hither for this intent for and came hither for that intent, A.V., differently stopped; before for unto, A.V. The chief priests. The plural seems to mark how the high priesthood at this period was passed from one to another. Caiaphas, Annas, Jonathan, and Theophilus would all be included under the term.
Act_9:22
The Christ for very Christ, A.V. The repetition of the phrase ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν (Act_9:20 and Act_9:22) is remarkable. As already observed, it presupposes the mention of Jesus, of whom it is thus predicated that he is both "the Son of God" and "the Christ" (comp. Act_2:32, Act_2:36; Act_4:11, etc.). Observe the incidental proof of the general expectation of the Jews that Christ should come in this description of the apostolic preaching as directed to the one point that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ.
Act_9:23
When for after that, A.V.; took counsel together for took counsel, A.V. The phrase many days is quite elastic enough to comprehend whatever time remained to make up the three years (Gal_1:18) which St. Paul tells us intervened between his conversion and his visit to Jerusalem (see Act_9:43; Act_18:18; 37:7; Act_14:3). Luke frequently uses ἱκανός for "many" (Luk_7:11; Luk_8:27; Luk_23:8). So in Hebrew, îéáÌÇøÇ îéîÄéÈ , many days, is applied to considerable portions of time. In I Kings Luk_2:38, Luk_2:39, it is applied to three years.
Act_9:24
Their plot ( ἐπιβουλή ) became known for their laying await was known, A.V.; to Saul for of Saul, A.V.; the gates also for the gates, A.V. and T.R.; that they might for to, A.V.; a colon instead of full point at end of verse.
Act_9:25
But for then, A.V.; his disciples for the disciples, A.V. and T.R.; through for by, A.V; lowering him in for in, A.V. Lowering him, etc. The A.V. gives the sense freely; and combining the verb καθῆκαν with the participle χαλάσαντες , translates both by the one word "let him down." The by of the A.V. seems preferable to the through of the R.V., as through suggests the idea, which cannot be intended, of making a hole in the wall. The escape of the spies from Jericho, as described in Jos_2:15, was exactly in the same way, except that they had only a rope to descend by, whereas St. Paul had a rope-basket. In the description of his escape given by St. Paul to the Corinthians (2Co_11:33), he uses the same word for "let down" ( ἐχαλάσθην ), tells us he was let down "by the wall," R.V. διὰ τοῦ τείχους , with the additional particular that he got out through the window, διὰ θυρίδος , and that it was a σαργάνη , a basket made of ropes (which describes the kind of basket somewhat more accurately than the σπυρίς here used) in which he was let down (see note on Jos_2:20). The passage in 2 Corinthians gives us a further interesting account of how the Jews went about to accomplish their purpose of killing Paul. It seems that at this time, either in revolt against the Romans or by permission of Caligula (it is not known certainly which), a certain Aretas, or Hareth, King of Arabia Petrea, included Damascus in his dominions for a time, i.e. through the reigns of Caligula and Claudius. He appointed an ethnarch, who was doubtless a Jew, to rule the large Jewish population according to their Law, and who was the ready tool of the unbelieving Jews, using his power as governor to have the gates kept day and night so as to prevent Saul's escape. But he that keepeth Israel neither slumbered nor slept, and by his watchful providence Saul escaped from their hands. As regards the R.Y., his disciples for the disciples, Alford adopts the reading λαβόντες δὲ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτόν , and holds αὐτοῦ of the R.T. to be simply a mistake for αὐτόν , caused by the situation of αὐτόν after λαβόντες . The R.T. cannot be right. "The disciples" is St. Luke's regular expression for "Christians" (Act_6:1, Act_6:2, Act_6:7; Act_9:10, Act_9:19, Act_9:26; Act_14:22; Act_21:16), and is our Lord's name for his followers, but is never used by an apostle of his own followers (see 1Co_1:12, 1Co_1:13; 1Co_3:4-7).
Act_9:26
He for Saul, A.V. and T.R.; and they were for but, etc., A.V.; not believing for and believed not, A.V. The narrative thus far exactly agrees with Gal_1:17, Gal_1:18, which, however, supplies the motive of the journey to Jerusalem, which is not here mentioned, viz. to see Peter. It seems strange to some commentators that the news of Saul having become a zealous Christian should not have reached Jerusalem after an interval of three years. But first, we do not know. how much of those three years was spent in Arabia, nor how much the unsettled state of Damascus may have interrupted the usual communication between Jerusalem and Damascus, nor how suspicious of evil the poor persecuted disciples at Jerusalem may have been. They knew of the fierceness of Saul's zeal as a persecutor by their own experience; they knew of him as a disciple only by report. It may have been only an instance of the truth of Horace's maxim, "Segnius irritant animos demissa per aures quam quae sunt occults subjecta fidelibus."
Act_9:27
How at Damascus he had preached boldly for how he had preached boldly at Damascus, A.V. As regards the statement that Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, which some have thought inconsistent with Gal_1:18 19, it is obvious to remark that St. Luke's account is fully justified by the fact that St. Paul did, on Barnabas's introduction, make the acquaintance of Peter, and, as it seems, pass fifteen days as his guest (Gal_1:18); and while there, did also see James the Lord's brother. The other apostles were probably absent from Jerusalem during that fortnight; but Barnabas did, it seems, at a Church assembly, in the presence of James and, no doubt, the elders of the Church, give the astonishing narrative of Saul's conversion. This removed their suspicious and their fears, and he was freely, during the rest of his brief stay, admitted as a brother to their assemblies, and took part in preaching the gospel in the synagogues.
Act_9:28
Going in for coming in, A.V.
Act_9:29
Preaching boldly, etc, the and of the T.R. is omitted, and this clause connected with the preceding one; the Lord for the Lord Jesus, A.V. and T.R.; he spake for he spake boldly, A.V. (The παῤῥησιαζόμενος (translated preaching boldly) ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου , is in the R.T. separated from ἐλάλει ); the Grecian Jews for the Grecians, A.V., as in Act_6:1; to kill for to slay, A.V. The Grecian Jews; or, Hellenists (margin). St. Stephen was a Hellenist, and it was among the Hellenists that his evangelical labors elderly lay and from whose enmity he met his death. Saul showed his dauntless spirit, and perhaps his deep compunction at the part he had taken in Stephen's death, by thus encountering their bitter and unrelenting enmity.
Act_9:30
And when the brethren knew it for which when the brethren knew, A.V. St. Paul gives another reason for his hasty departure from Jerusalem in his speech from the castle stairs (Act_22:17-21). Caesarea, when standing alone, means Caesarea Stratonis, or Παράλιος , or Sebaste, the seaport and Roman garrison of that name, as distinguished from Caesarea Philippi (see Alford's note on Act_8:30), and is always so used by St. Luke (Luk_8:40; Luk_10:1, Luk_10:24; Luk_18:22; Luk_21:8, Luk_21:16; Luk_23:23, Luk_23:33; 25:1, 4, 6; 27:1, 2, showing it was a seaport). There is no reasonable doubt that it means the same place here. A seaport, near to Jerusalem, and with Roman protection, affording access to Tarsus either by sea or land as should seem best, was the natural place for Paul's friends to take him to. If further proof were wanting, it could be found in the phrase, "brought him down," as compared with the converse, "gone up" (Act_18:22), "ascended "(Act_25:1), when the journey was from Caesarea to Jerusalem. To Tarsus. A glance at the map will show that, starting from Caesarea, a person might either go by land along the sea-coast of Phoenicia, through Acre, Tyre, Sidon, Beyrout, Tripolis, Antioch, Issus, to Tarsus; or by sea to any of the intermediate ports between Caesarea and Tarsus; or rather the artificial harbor at the mouth of the Cydnus which formed the seaport of Tarsus. It is not improbable that Paul landed at Selcucia, since he says (Gal_1:21) that he came at this time "into the regions of Syria and Cilicia," which is exactly what he would have done if he had landed at Seleucia, the seaport of Antioch.
Act_9:31
So the Church … had peace, being edified for then had the Churches rest,… and were edified, A.V. and T.R.; was multiplied for were multiplied, A.V. and T.R. It is thought that the attention of the Jews to the progress of the faith of Jesus Christ was diverted at this time, and their active hostility stayed, by the still greater danger to the Jews' religion which arose from Caligula's intention of placing a statue to himself as a god in the holy of holies. Thus did God's gracious providence intervene to give rest to his harassed saints, and to build up his Church in numbers, in holiness, and in heavenly comfort. Especially Paul had another breathing-time, which may have been the more required if, as is thought, one at least of the five scourgings mentioned in 2Co_12:1-21 :24 had been inflicted at Damascus, and one of the three shipwrecks alluded to in the same passage and been undergone in the dangerous coasting voyage from Caesarca to Scleucia.
Act_9:32
Went for passed, A.V.; all parts ( διὰ πάντων ) for all quarters, A.V. All parts. Afford, following Meyer, understands "through all the saints," which is scarcely so well. The current of St. Luke's narrative is here temporarily diverted from St. Paul, in order to trace that portion of St. Peter's apostolic work, which led immediately to that opening of the door of faith to the Gentiles in which Peter was to have the priority in point of time (Mat_16:18, Mat_16:19), but Paul the chief burden of labour and danger (Gal_2:7-9; Rom_11:13), and which was also the main subject of St. Luke's history. He came down; Lydda (afterwards called Diospolis, now Ludd), being more than half-way between Jerusalem and the sea-coast at Joppa.
Act_9:33
For he was palsied for and was sick of the palsy, A.V.
Act_9:34
Healeth thee for maketh thee whole, A.V.; straightway he arose for he arose immediately, A.V. Jesus Christ healeth thee. The juxtaposition, ἰᾶταί δε Ἰησοῦς , looks almost like an intentional play upon the sound. Some of the Fathers who did not know Hebrew derived the name Ἰησοῦς from ἰάομαι , and the Anglo-Saxon name for the Savior Haelend, the Healer, seems to have the same origin. Arise and make thy bed. Not (says Meyer), "Henceforth make thine own bed," but, as the force of the imperative script requires, make thy bed now, both as a token of his miraculous cure, and that he might carry it away (Mar_2:9-12). AEneas is a Greek name, not identical with AEneas ( Αἰνείας ), but occurring in Thucydides and elsewhere. If it was a Hebrew name, it might be derived from îçÈ ðéÄòÇ , "(whom) the eye spareth." It is uncertain whether AEneas was a disciple or not.
Act_9:35
In Sharon for at Saron, A.V.; they turned for turned, A.V. In Sharon. The Greek represents the Hebrew ðåÉøùÑÈ , Sharon, which is the name of the rich plain which stretches from Joppa to Caesarea (see Isa_33:9). The name still lingers in the village of Saron. They turned; manifestly an improvement on the A.V., as giving the sense of οἵτινες , viz. that all who saw the paralytic walking, turned, as a consequence, to the Lord, in whose Name the wonderful miracle had been wrought. A very extensive conversion of the people of Lydda and of Sharon is signified.
Act_9:36
Joppa; now Jaffa, the ancient seaport of Jerusalem (Jon_1:3; 2Ch_2:16). It was in the tribe of Dan (Jos_19:46). A certain disciple; a female disciple, as the word means; μαθήτρια only occurs here in the New Testament and rarely elsewhere. Tabitha; the Aramean form of the Hebrew éáÄõÀ , a gazelle, or in Greek Dorcas. The beauty and grace of the gazelle made it an appropriate name for a woman. Some have thought, with probability, that she was a deaconess of the Church. The thirty-eighth verse shows that there was already a Church at Joppa About half the population of seven thousand are said to be still Christians. Compare the qualifications of a widow as set forth by St Paul (1Ti_5:10). The phrase, good works, is quite Pauline (Eph_2:10; Col_1:10; Tit_2:7; 1Ti_2:10). Almsdeeds. The word alms (from ἐλεημοσυνή ) is one of those Greek words which has been domiciled in the English language through the Church. So bishop, priest, deacon, Κύριε ἐλέητον , trisagion, stole, Paschal, Litany, Liturgy, and many others.
Act_9:37
Fell sick for was sick, A.V.; and when they had washed her for whom when they had washed, A.V. For the phrase in those days, comp. Act_6:1. The days here meant are those while Peter was in those parts. An upper chamber ( ὑπερώον ), as in Act_1:13. The upper chamber was much more private and quiet than a room on the ground floor (see 2Ki_4:10, 2Ki_4:11).
Act_9:38
As for forasmuch as, A.V.; unto for to, A.V.; the disciples, hearing … sent for and the disciples had heard … they sent, A.V.; two men unto him for unto him two men, A.V.; entreating for desiring, A.V.; delay not to come on unto us for that he would not delay to come to them, A.V. and T.R. It is impossible to say whether any vague hope that Dorcas might be restored to life by Peter's prayers animated those who sent for Peter, and who had either seen or heard of the miracles wrought by him at Jerusalem before the persecution (Act_5:15), or whether it only was that they felt the need of comfort and support in so great a sorrow. Two men; so Act_10:7. Cornelius sends two of his household servants (comp. Act_13:2; Act_15:22). In unsafe times and by dangerous roads, it was customary to send two messengers, both for mutual protection and that, if anything happened to one, the other might still deliver the message. It was also a security against fraud.
Act_9:39
And for then, A.V.; and when for when, A.V. All the widows. The article may denote all the widows for whom Dorcas had made garments, which the middle voice ( ἐπιδεικνύμεναι ), found only here, indicates perhaps that they had on them at the time. But it is quite as probable that αἱ χῆραι means the Church widows, as in Act_6:1 and 1Ti_5:9, and that we have here an indication that the model of the Jerusalem Church was followed in all the daughter Churches. Dorcas's almsdeeds would naturally have for their first object the widows of her own communion. As naturally would they all come to meet the apostle at her house.
Act_9:40
Turning for turning him, A.V.; he said for said, A.V. Peter's action in putting them all forth seems to have been framed on the model of that scene at which he had been present when Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus. Privacy for the more earnest concentrated prayer was doubtless what he sought. Kneeled down; θεὶς τὰ γόνατα . The same expression as in Act_7:60; Act_20:36; Act_21:5; Luk_22:41. It occurs also in Mar_15:19. Tabitha, arise. Exactly the same address as our Lord's "Talitha cumi" (Mar_5:40), but, as Lange observes, with this difference, that in the case of Peter it was preceded by prayer; comp. also Luk_7:14 (where the Aramean address was probably in the same form); Joh_11:43.
Act_9:41
Raised for lifted, A.V.; calling for when he had called, A.V.; he presented for presented, A.V. The saints and widows; by which we learn that others of the Christians of Joppa besides the widows had come to meet Peter, as was to be expected.
Act_9:42
It became known for it was known, A.V.; on for in, A.V. As in Act_9:35, the result of the healing of the palsied man at Lydda was that very many "turned to the Lord," so here the like effect was produced at Joppa by the restoration of Dorcas to life. Many believed on the Lord. And St. John tells us (Joh_20:31) that the very purpose of the record which he wrote of the miracles of Christ is "that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing we may have life in his Name."
Act_9:43
Abode for tarried, A.V. Many days ( ἡμέρας ἱκανάς ); the same phrase as Act_9:23; spoken of a time of indeterminate length. Here probably it means some months, luring which Peter would be evangelizing the whole neighborhood. The Jews are said to have considered the trade of a tanner unclean; but if this were so, it would not be safe to infer that Peter was already indifferent to ceremonial uncleanness. We know he was not so (Act_10:14), but probably in his line of life he could not act up to all the nicer distinctions of the strictest Pharisees.
I. AS AN EVIDENCE OF THE TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY. St. Paul lived. He preached the gospel with astonishing vigor and success. Numerous Churches were founded by him in Asia and Europe. These are facts as certain as facts can be. He wrote Epistles also to different communities of Christians, and these writings are extant at the present day. By these writings we can form an accurate judgment of St. Paul's intellectual faculties, of the force of his character, of the extent of his knowledge. By these writings we can form an estimate of his moral qualities. We can judge for ourselves whether, on the one hand, he was a fanatic, an impostor, or a knave; and, on the other, whether he was one of the noblest, sincerest, and most high-minded men with whom we have ever come in contact. These writings, besides exhibiting an unquenchable zeal for the Christian faith, lasting through years of toil and suffering, tell us also distinctly, though incidentally, of a time when the writer was as vehemently opposed to the Christian faith as he afterwards became attached to it. They contain, too, clear evidences of that education in the Jews' religion, and that impregnation with Jewish doctrine and tradition, which were likely to have had the same influence upon his mind which the same causes had upon the minds of so many of his ablest and most learned fellow-countrymen. They also display those qualities of disinterestedness, courage, and decision, which make it to the highest degree improbable that he should have changed his mind lightly or without conviction or due cause for doing so. But he did change from a vehement and fierce persecutor to a preacher of unrivalled zeal and power, and a daily martyr of unsurpassed patience and constancy. But these same Epistles also tell us, still incidentally but also still distinctly, the cause of this change. It was nothing less than the visible appearing and the audible voice of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, of him whom he knew to have been crucified, but whom he now saw and heard in his effulgent glory, living and potent in ineffable majesty. It was that sight, too bright for mortal eyes, and that voice of exquisite tenderness in its complaint, which had in an instant overborne his unbelief and melted his obdurate heart, even as his body was swayed in terror to the ground. Did St. Paul know, or did he not know, the cause of his conversion? Did he invent a lie, or did he speak the truth, when he wove this history, or allusions to it, into his Epistles to the Galatians, the Corinthians, the Philippians, and Timothy? But even if it were possible to doubt the man whom we know as we know St. Paul, we have his account corroborated and developed by a contemporary writer of unimpeached and unimpeachable accuracy and truth. He gives us in this chapter his own account of this wonderful conversion, and he reports to us two several accounts of it given by St. Paul himself—when on his defense before the people at Jerusalem, and again when on his trial before King Agrippa at Caesarea. Did St. Luke write a lie when he reported these utterances of his noble and saintly friend? or did he speak the truth which he had such abundant opportunities of accurately knowing? There is no fact in history more certain than St. Paul's conversion, and there is no more unanswerable evidence of the truth of Christ's gospel than this same conversion grounded upon the revelation in the way to Damascus.
II. WE MAY SEE IN ST. PAUL'S CONVERSION VIVIDLY PORTRAYED THE LEADING DOCTRINES OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH. What was it which arrested the persecutor in his furious course, which turned back the whole current of his thoughts, which wrought in him that noble inconsistency, that holy apostasy from his previous convictions, which have placed him at the head of Christian teachers and confessors? It was the clear knowledge conveyed to him by his own senses of sight and hearing that Jesus Christ of Nazareth was risen, was alive, was glorified. He knew that he had been tried at the bar of Pilate, condemned, crucified, buried. He had thought that sentence a just one. He had thought that that life, closed in ignominy and shame, was closed for ever, and that his own Jews' religion had thereby triumphed and been confirmed. Now he knew that God had reversed that sentence, and had raised Jesus from the dead, and declared him in so doing to be his own eternal Son, both Lord and Christ. His previous convictions were thus refuted by the fact of the life and glory and Godhead of the Lord Jesus. The truth of the mission of Jesus Christ was thus in an instant established by irrefragable proof. Henceforth Jesus Christ was his Lord, his Guide, his Teacher, his Master, his almighty Savior. Henceforth his own body and soul, his life, and all his powers, his whole capacity of doing and suffering, were Christ's, wholly and only Christ's. Here then we see, as in a glass, what our own religion must be. It must consist in a full assurance of faith that Jesus Christ is risen and lives for ever in the power of his Godhead, and in the consecration of ourselves to his service in the power of a personal love, devotion, and attachment—those of a person to a Person—to last while life lasts, and to be perfected in the life
III. CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL GIVES US ALSO A VIVID PORTRAITURE OF THE MIND AND CHARACTER OF GOD, AS THEY SHINE IN THE FACE OF JESUS CHRIST. This is St. Paul's own view of it: "For this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting" (1Ti_1:16). We have here a pattern of the infinite, eternal mercy of God. The threatening and slaughter of the persecutor are met and overcome by love. The ignorance and unbelief which caused the blasphemies and injuries are taken note of, and these are weighed in the scales of mercy and are forgiven. The electing grace, the predestinating love, brushes aside these obstacles, and the blaspheming tongue is made eloquent with adoration and praise, and the breath which was once all threatening and slaughter now breathes nothing but the word of peace and salvation. Such is the mercy and wondrous grace of God our Savior.
IV. WE HAVE HERE A STUDY IN PSYCHOLOGY. Ignorance may be real. Prejudices, blinding prejudices, may be real, and unbelief may have some excuse, or at least some palliation. It is not, indeed, blameless—it never can be, because the single eye of a pure heart ought always to discern the true light from Heaven wheresoever it shines. Still, it may be that, with real conscientiousness, and under a mistaken view of duty, and with a blinding devotion to certain tenets of philosophy or religion which have been received without due care, and concurrently with a zeal for God and for supposed truth, a man may reject and even hate the truth. He may mistake his own opinions for Divine truth, and so be bitterly opposed to whatever opposes them. And he may misconceive of the truth and ignorantly believe that it sanctions this or that error inconsistent with the fundamental principles of righteousness and godliness. Had St. Paul from the first really known Jesus Christ, and had he known the worthlessness of Levitical or Pharisaic righteousness, he would never have been found in the ranks of the enemies of Christ. But he acted in ignorance and in unbelief. When the scales fell off the eyes of his understanding, the rebound of his spirit toward his Lord was instantaneous. From this we learn a lesson of caution in judging even the unbeliever. There may be some cause of his unbelief which we know not of, but which God knows, and will perhaps some day remove. Then the skeptic will come with a bruised and humble spirit to Christ, and the Ethiopian will change his skin.
Act_9:32-43
I. A HUMAN SOUL PURSUING ITS OWN WRONG COURSE. Paul was moving with the whole force of his strong and ardent nature in the direction of active persecution of the friends of Christ (Act_9:1, Act_9:2, Act_9:5). Sin sometimes takes this special form now. More often it takes the shape of
(1) guilty indulgence, or
(2) utter worldliness, or
(3) confirmed unbelief and rejection of the truth, or
(4) indecision and procrastination.
But whatever particular form it takes, its essential nature is this—that the soul which was created to love, honor, and please God is pursuing another and an opposite path; it is found in highways or byways of evil. It is not with God, with Christ, but against him (Mat_12:30). It itself is not in active sympathy with him, rejoicing in him, delighting in his truth and happy in his service; and all the influences, both those which (as in the case of Saul at this time) are the direct result of conscious effort, and those which flow spontaneously and unconsciously from the life, are hostile to his truth and to his kingdom.
II. THE DIVINE ARREST. (Act_9:3-5.) Paul tells us (Php_3:12) that he was "apprehended of Christ Jesus." Christ laid hold upon him as he was going on his guilty way, arrested him in his own name, and charged him to turn round and pursue another and a better course. The Savior's interposition in his case was unusually sudden, and it was exceedingly striking in its form (see Act_9:3-5). It is seldom that the hand of the heavenly Lord is laid so manifestly, so powerfully, on the human heart. Yet it is being continually laid upon us, and we now are being arrested by him, with effectual power in redeeming love.
1. Christ's arrest of us is sometimes sudden, but more often gradual. Sometimes a man who has been proceeding far in some way of folly and of sin is instantly convinced that he is guilty and foolish; in an hour, in a moment, the truth of God flashes into his soul and lights up the dark depths within, and it shines upon and illumines the dreary and fatal path before him, and he stops and turns. More frequently the Lord of love and power works gradually in the heart; by degrees he insinuates his heavenly truth, and gradually makes the soul to see and to feel that the way of selfishness and of sin is a path which must no longer be pursued, from which it must escape for its life.
2. The Divine arrest is sometimes by extraordinary but usually by ordinary means. Occasionally God comes in power to the human soul, by some vision of the night or of the day, or by some very remarkable ordering of his providence, by some experience which is shared by no other or by a very few; but commonly the hand of his renewing power is laid upon us by ordinary means, by the gracious influences of a Christian home, by the appeals of the Christian minister or teacher, by the sickness which brings death and judgment into full view, or by the loss which compels us to feel that we do need and must secure a Divine Friend who can succor and console in the drear and lonely hour of life.
III. THE SOUL'S SUBMISSION TO THE DIVINE WILL. The first result of feeling the pressure of the Divine hand may be, perhaps generally is, spiritual agitations. We may be "trembling and astonished" (Act_9:6), or, if not moved so powerfully, we shall be agitated, earnestly concerned, exceedingly solicitous; we shall be as those thoroughly awakened who have been partially asleep, our spiritual faculty of inquiry will be called into fullest exercise. But the main and all-important result is spiritual submission—readiness and eagerness to accept the rule of Christ. The question of Saul will be the question of our heart, now reduced to loyalty and self-surrender, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" Christ will tell us that he wants us to trust him, to follow him, to work for him. And these three things we shall gladly do. But the victory is gained, the one supreme step is taken, death is left behind, and the gates of life are before us, when, responding to his merciful and mighty touch, we submit ourselves to his sovereign will, when we turn round in spirit and say, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?"—C.
Act_9:6
I. THE PREVALENCE OF INWARD STRUGGLE. Few things more pathetic have come down to us from ancient times than that lament of the Roman poet, "I see the better things and approve; I follow the worse." How many have to make the same sorrowful confession now! Around us are souls struggling
(1) with passion,
(2) with earthly ambition,
(3) with pride,
(4) with disposition to wait for some favorable future.
These find themselves urged by the goads of God—conscience, the sacred Scriptures, human ministry, the Divine Spirit—to take the better course, but their lower instincts and evil habits cause them to strive against these higher impulses.
II. ITS PROFOUND MISTAKE.
1. It is a