CHAPTER 9 PREPARATIONS FOR A GENTILE MISSION—THE CALLING OF A NEW APOSTLE A. The Conversion of Saul. § 1. The Miracle near Damascus; or, the Arrest of the Persecutor (Acts 9:1). § 2. The Mission of Ananias; or, the Baptism of Saul (Acts 9:10). § 3. Saul at Damascus; or, the Persecutor turned... [ Continue Reading ]
_CRITICAL REMARKS_ Acts 9:1. AND should be _but_ directing attention once more to Saul. BREATHING OUT.—_Breathing in_ better renders the verb ἐμπνέων, threatening and slaughter describing the atmosphere inhaled. That Saul, a Pharisee of the straitest sect (Acts 26:5), went unto THE HIGH-PRIEST, a S... [ Continue Reading ]
_CRITICAL REMARKS_ Acts 9:10. That ANANIAS (see on Acts 9:1) was one of the Seventy is an unsupported conjecture; that he was a “devout” man Saul afterwards asserts (Acts 22:12); that he had previously heard of Saul he himself declares (Acts 9:13). Luke styles him A DISCIPLE, but leaves unrecorded... [ Continue Reading ]
_CRITICAL REMARKS_ Acts 9:20. AND STRAIGHTWAY HE PREACHED CHRIST.—Not after his return from Arabia (Plumptre), but after his conversion and during or at the end of the certain days. Paul’s preaching at this stage was not of an apostolic or missionary character, but merely an argumentative setting f... [ Continue Reading ]
_CRITICAL REMARKS_ Acts 9:27. BARNABAS (Acts 4:36) appears here as the patron of Saul, whom he takes by the hand (not literally, but metaphorically), and introduces to the apostles. Acts 9:28, should read: _And he was with them going in and going out—i.e._, publicly and privately,—_at Jerusalem pr... [ Continue Reading ]
_CRITICAL REMARKS_ Acts 9:32. LYDDA.—The Old Testament Lod (Nehemiah 7:37; Nehemiah 11:35; 1 Chronicles 8:12), now called Lucid. Described by Josephus (_Ant._, XX. vi. 2) as a village “not less than a city in largeness.” Named Lydda in 1Ma. 11:34. After the destruction of Jerusalem it is often ment... [ Continue Reading ]
_CRITICAL REMARKS_ Acts 9:36. JOPPA, or _Japho_ (Jonah 1:3), in Assyrian inscriptions Ja-ap-pu; at the present day, Jaffa or Jâfa, meaning “the beautiful,” or, according to another derivation, “the height.” A seaport of great antiquity, twelve miles north-west of Lydda, originally allotted to Dan (J... [ Continue Reading ]