Acts 2:1-13
Acts 2:1-13. THE HOLY GHOST GIVEN AT PENTECOST. EFFECT FIRST PRODUCED THEREBY ON THE DWELLERS AT JERUSALEM... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:1-13. THE HOLY GHOST GIVEN AT PENTECOST. EFFECT FIRST PRODUCED THEREBY ON THE DWELLERS AT JERUSALEM... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΆΝΤΕΣ ὉΜΟΥ͂ with אABC. The _Vulg_. has ‘pariter.’ 1. ἘΝ ΤΩ͂Ι ΣΥΜΠΛΗΡΟΥ͂ΣΘΑΙ. This compound verb is not found in the LXX. (nor in classical Greek in this sense), but the derived noun occurs 2 Chronicles 36:21 of the ‘complete fulfilling’ of a period of time. The simple verb is used both of a period... [ Continue Reading ]
ὭΣΠΕΡ ΦΕΡΟΜΈΝΗΣ ΠΝΟΗ͂Σ ΒΙΑΊΑΣ. Literally ‘as of a mighty wind borne along,’ i.e. _as of the rushing of a mighty wind_. The verb here employed to express the rushing of the wind is used by St Peter (2 Ephesians 1:17-18) of ‘the voice which came from heaven’ at the Transfiguration, also (Acts 1:21) of... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΙΑΜΕΡΙΖΌΜΕΝΑΙ ΓΛΩ͂ΣΣΑΙ ὩΣΕῚ ΠΥΡΌΣ, _tongues like as of fire distributed among them_. Cf. Isaiah 5:24, where the Hebrew has ‘tongue of fire’ (see margin) while the A.V. gives only ‘fire.’ It is also to be noticed that the appearance is not called fire, but only compared to fire. The idea conveyed by... [ Continue Reading ]
4. This verse describes a great miracle, and its simplicity of statement marks it as the record of one who felt that no additional words could make the matter other than one which passed the human understanding. ἬΡΞΑΝΤΟ ΛΑΛΕΙ͂Ν ἙΤΈΡΑΙΣ ΓΛΏΣΣΑΙΣ. These are spoken of as καιναὶ γλῶσσαι, new tongues (M... [ Continue Reading ]
ἮΣΑΝ ΔῈ ἘΝ ἹΕΡΟΥΣΑΛΉΜ. Probably, in addition to the visitors who had come to the feast, many religious Jews from foreign parts were permanent residents in Jerusalem, for it was to the Jew a thing much to be desired, that he might die and be buried near the Holy City. It is said (T. B. _Kethuboth_, 1... [ Continue Reading ]
ΓΕΝΟΜΈΝΗΣ ΔῈ ΤΗ͂Σ ΦΩΝΗ͂Σ ΤΑΎΤΗΣ, _and when this sound was heard_. Φωνή though not the same word as ἦχος which is used for _sound_ in Acts 2:2, yet is never found in the sense of a _report_ or _rumour_, as is given by the A.V. It is used for _crying aloud_, as in the mourning at Rama and Christ’s cry... [ Continue Reading ]
7. πρὸς� omitted with אABC and _Vulg_. 7. ΟΥ̓Χ. This form, though the succeeding word has only the smooth breathing, is supported by the best MS. authority and adopted by Lachmann and Tischendorf. See also Acts 19:23, where οὐχ ὀλίγος is read by Lach.; but not by Tisch. though it has the support of... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΗ͂Ι ἸΔΊΑΙ ΔΙΑΛΈΚΤΩΙ. There is no description here of any jargon or incoherent speech. We are told of utterances tested by the ears of men who had spoken these languages from their youth. Cf. Chrysostom’s words οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς ἐλάλουν, ἀλλά τινα θαυμαστὰ ἔλεγον. The only question on which from St Luke’... [ Continue Reading ]
9, 10. Under all the nationalities mentioned in these verses we are to understand the Jews, either by birth or conversion (as is indicated in the case of Rome), whose homes were in the countries named. ΠΆΡΘΟΙ. A people who occupied a wide extent of country south of the Caspian Sea, from which they... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΡΗ͂ΤΕΣ. Natives of the well-known island which lies south of the Cyclades in the Mediterranean, and is now called _Candia_. Christianity may perhaps have been spread in Crete also from the converts of Pentecost. Titus was made bishop of Crete. ἌΡΑΒΕΣ. Inhabitants of the great peninsula which stret... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΊ ΘΈΛΕΙ with ABCD. _Vulg_. has ‘quidnam vult.’ א reads τί θέλοι without ἄν, which seems to confirm the correctness of the other uncials, θέλοι being only a slip of the scribe for θέλει. 12. ΔΙΗΠΟΡΟΥ͂ΝΤΟ, _were perplexed_. They were in no doubt about the facts. Their eyes and ears were trusty witne... [ Continue Reading ]
ἝΤΕΡΟΙ ΔῈ Κ.Τ.Λ., _but others mocking said_: _They are full of new wine_. ΓΛΕΥ͂ΚΟΣ, not a common word, is found in LXX. of Job 32:19. In the above description of the events of the day of Pentecost, the meaning which St Luke intends to convey is very plain in every respect, except that we cannot with... [ Continue Reading ]
SKETCH OF ST PETER’S SERMON. REFUTATION OF THE MOCKERS... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΈΤΡΟΣ ΣῪΝ ΤΟΙ͂Σ ἝΝΔΕΚΑ. The Twelve naturally take the leading place among the disciples, and Peter, who is usually the spokesman in the Gospels, begins the general address now, directing it principally to those who were dwellers in Jerusalem and the neighbouring country, for it was more likely to b... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜΕΘΎΟΥΣΙΝ. Wine was drunk by the Jews with flesh only, and, founding the custom on Exodus 16:8, they ate bread in the morning, and flesh in the evening, and so took no wine till late in the day. So Ecclesiastes 10:16-17, by the ‘princes who eat _in the morning_’ are meant those who eat to the full o... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΙᾺ ΤΟΥ͂ ΠΡΟΦΉΤΟΥ, _through the prophet_. διὰ is the preposition generally used in such phrases, and denotes that the prophet was the instrument by whose intervention God spake. Joel himself (Acts 1:1) calls his prophecy ‘the word of the Lord that came unto Joel.’ The quotation is from Joel 2:28-32.... [ Continue Reading ]
17. ἘΝΥΠΝΊΟΙΣ with אABCD. There is the like variation between accusative and dative in the MSS. of the LXX. 17. ἘΝ ΤΑΙ͂Σ ἘΣΧΆΤΑΙΣ ἩΜΈΡΑΙΣ. In the language of the Old Testament prophets these words signify the coming of the Messiah (Cf. Isaiah 2:2; Micah 4:1).... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑΊ ΓΕ may be rendered, _Yea and_, or _And truly_. Cf. Acts 17:27 where καί γε is the correct reading. The _Vulg_. gives ‘et quidem.’ ΠΡΟΦΗΤΕΎΣΟΥΣΙΝ. Fulfilled also in the case of Agabus (Acts 11:28), and of the Ephesian converts (Acts 19:6), and of the daughters of Philip the Evangelist (Acts 21:9... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΈΡΑΤΑ. Even when the Kingdom of Christ shall have come mighty troubles will still prevail. Christ Himself gave the same lesson (Matthew 24:21-30).... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΠΙΦΑΝΗ͂, _notable_. The Hebrew word in Joel means _terrible_. But the Hebrew verbs _to fear_ and _to see_ are often confounded in the LXX. version, with which the quotation in the text agrees. The prophecy of Joel had a partial fulfilment in the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, but it al... [ Continue Reading ]
ΣΩΘΉΣΕΤΑΙ. Eusebius (_H. E_. III. 5. 3) tells how the Christians were warned to leave Jerusalem before its destruction, and went into a city of Perea called Pella.... [ Continue Reading ]
22. Omit καὶ before ΑΥ̓ΤΟῚ with אABCDE and numerous cursives. The _Vulg_. inserts ‘et.’ 22. ἌΝΔΡΕΣ ἸΣΡΑΗΛΙ͂ΤΑΙ. As the prophecies which St Peter is about to put forward were given before the nation was rent into two parts, he calls them by a name which points to their union and common descent from... [ Continue Reading ]
RECITAL OF GOD’S TESTIMONY BY THE RESURRECTION TO THE MESSIAHSHIP OF JESUS... [ Continue Reading ]
23. Omit λαβόντες with אABC and _Vulg_. 23. ἜΚΔΟΤΟΝ. Given up onto you as God had decreed He should be, for the sake of man’s redemption. ΔΙᾺ ΧΕΙΡῸΣ�, _by the hand of wicked_ (lit. lawless) _men_. διὰ χειρός is a literal translation of a Hebrew expression = by means of. Cf. Leviticus 8:36 ‘Things w... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤᾺΣ ὨΔΙ͂ΝΑΣ ΤΟΥ͂ ΘΑΝΆΤΟΥ. The expression occurs in LXX. Psalms 17:5, &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΑΥΕῚΔ Κ.Τ.Λ. The passage which St Peter quotes is from Psalms 16:8-11, and he argues that it could not be of himself that the Psalmist there spake, for they had evidence that the words could not be truly said of him. But having regard to God’s promise David spake of Him who was to be born from his... [ Continue Reading ]
Ἡ ΓΛΩ͂ΣΣΆ ΜΟΥ. The Hebrew = my glory. For this exposition of _glory_, cf. Psalms 108:1, where the A.V. has, according to the Hebrew, I will give praise even _with my glory_,’ while the Prayer-Book Version renders ‘with the best member that I have.’ If however we are to be guided by the Hebrew parall... [ Continue Reading ]
ΕἸΣ ἍΙΔΗΝ, _in Hades_, i.e. in the unseen world. So too in Acts 2:31 where we have the more usual expression εἰς ᾅδου (understanding δόμον), but in the Psalm from which quotation is made, the best text of the LXX. gives the accusative there too. ΔΏΣΕΙΣ, _Thou wilt suffer_ [lit. give]. ΤῸΝ ὍΣΙΌΝ ΣΟ... [ Continue Reading ]
28. ΠΛΗΡΏΣΕΙΣ Κ.Τ.Λ. This is an example of how the LXX. sometimes paraphrases. The Hebrew text literally translated is, ‘in thy presence is fulness of joy.’... [ Continue Reading ]
29. ἘΞῸΝ ΕἸΠΕΙ͂Ν. Here ἔστι is the verb to be supplied. Render ‘It is allowed me = I _may_ freely _say_ unto you concerning the patriarch David that _he both died and was buried_.’ Here St Peter begins his argument with a statement which none of them will gainsay. St Paul makes use of the selfsame a... [ Continue Reading ]
30. τὸ κατὰ σάρκα� omitted with אABCD. The _Vulg_. does not represent these words. The omitted words seem like a marginal exposition which in time made its way into the text. 30. ὍΡΚΩΙ ὬΜΟΣΕΝ. See Psalms 132:11 ‘Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.’ ἘΚ ΚΑΡΠΟΥ͂ Κ.Τ.Λ. Render, _of th... [ Continue Reading ]
31. ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ omitted with אABCD and _Vulg_. They appear to have been added to balance Ἡ ΣᾺΡΞ in the following clause. 31. ΠΕΡῚ ΤΗ͂Σ�, _of the resurrection of the Christ_, i.e. the Messiah, Jehovah’s Anointed. ὍΤΙ ΟΥ̓́ΤΕ ἘΓΚΑΤΕΛΕΊΦΘΗ, _that neither was He left in Hades nor did His flesh_, &c. T... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΝΈΣΤΗΣΕΝ, _raised up_ (from the dead). The word takes up the ἀνάστασις of the previous verse. The English cannot mark by similarity of word the forcible character of the Greek, which would be given in sense somewhat thus: ‘David spake of a _resurrection_, which manifestly was not his own, but here... [ Continue Reading ]
33. νῦν omitted with אABCD and _Vulg_. 33. ὙΨΩΘΕΊΣ, _exalted_ (into heaven), for the Apostles are witnesses not only of the Resurrection but of the Ascension also. ΤΉΝ ΤΕ ἘΠΑΓΓΕΛΊΑΝ ΠΝ. Τ. ἉΓ. Called in Acts 1:4 ἡ ἐπαγγελία τοῦ πατρός. The promise was made by the Father, and the Holy Ghost was the... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟΥ̓ … ἈΝΈΒΗ, _he ascended not_. He went down to the grave, and ‘slept with his fathers.’ ΛΈΓΕΙ ΔΈ. The passage is from Psalms 110:1. David saith, speaking as a prophet, and concerning the same person, whom though He is to be born of the fruit of his loins, he is yet taught by the Spirit to call his... [ Continue Reading ]
ὙΠΟΠΌΔΙΟΝ. To put the foot on the neck of a prostrate enemy was in the Eastern world a token of complete conquest. (Cf. Joshua 10:24.)... [ Continue Reading ]
ΑΥ̓ΤῸΝ placed after ΚΎΡΙΟΝ with אABC. The _Vulg_. has ‘dominum eum et Christum.’ 36. ΓΙΝΩΣΚΈΤΩ. This appeal could only be made to Israel, for they alone knew of the promises and prophecies in which the Christ had been foretold. ὍΤΙ ΚΑῚ Κ.Τ.Λ. Render, _that God hath made Him both Lord and Christ, e... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑΤΕΝΎΓΗΣΑΝ ΤῊΝ ΚΑΡΔΊΑΝ. The verb, without the following noun, is found LXX. Genesis 34:7 (_were grieved_ A.V.) and κατανενυγμένον τῇ καρδίᾳ, Ps. 108:16 of one ‘broken in heart.’ The sense here is, they were stung with remorse at the enormity of the wickedness which had been committed in the crucifi... [ Continue Reading ]
EFFECT OF ST PETER’S SERMON... [ Continue Reading ]
38. ἔφη omitted with אAC, which however add, what the _Vulg_. appears to have read, φησίν after ΜΕΤΑΝΟΉΣΑΤΕ. There is much variation in the word as well as in its position in the different MSS. and versions. Add ὙΜΩ͂Ν after ἉΜΑΡΤΙΩ͂Ν with אABC and _Vulg_. 38. ΜΕΤΑΝΟΉΣΑΤΕ. This was in accordance wi... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΠΑΓΓΕΛΊΑ must be taken to embrace the same gifts which it included in Acts 1:4 and Acts 2:33. ΚΑῚ ΤΟΙ͂Σ ΤΈΚΝΟΙΣ. As under the old covenant the promises were made (Galatians 3:16) ‘to Abraham and his seed,’ so is it to be under the new dispensation. ΤΟΙ͂Σ ΕἸΣ ΜΑΚΡΆΝ. Peter knew from the first, we s... [ Continue Reading ]
ἙΤΈΡΟΙΣ ΤΕ ΛΌΓΟΙΣ ΠΛΕΊΟΣΙΝ. This is a very important statement. We learn from it that there is no attempt made by the writer of the Acts to produce more than the substance and character of what was here said. And we may be sure that he uses the same rule always. We need not therefore be startled if... [ Continue Reading ]
41. ἀσμένως omitted with אABCD and _Vulg_. 41. ΠΡΟΣΕΤΈΘΗΣΑΝ. Render, _there were added on that day about three thousand souls_, i.e. to the hundred and twenty who composed the community when the day began. In Acts 2:47 it is said ‘_the Lord_ added.’... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FIRST CONVERTS AND THEIR BEHAVIOUR... [ Continue Reading ]
42. Omit καὶ after ΚΟΙΝΩΝΊΑΙ with אABCD. The _Vulg_. has ‘et communicatione fractionis panis,’ which also supports the omission of καί. 42. ΠΡΟΣΚΑΡΤΕΡΟΥ͂ΝΤΕΣ. This means that they allowed nothing to interfere with the further teaching which the Apostles no doubt gave to the newly baptized. The conv... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΆΣΗΙ ΨΥΧΗ͂Ι. Even the mockers were afraid to continue their jeers in the face of such preaching and such lives. ΤΈΡΑΤΑ ΚΑῚ ΣΗΜΕΙ͂Α. See note on Acts 2:22. The purposes now chiefly aimed at by the miracles were to arrest attention and bear evidence to the new teaching. So they are not here spoken o... [ Continue Reading ]
ἮΣΑΝ ἘΠῚ ΤῸ ΑΥ̓ΤῸ Κ.Τ.Λ. With the words of the angels still in their ears (Acts 1:11) ‘This same Jesus shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven,’ the disciples were no doubt full of the thought that the return of Jesus was not far distant. Such an opinion spreading among the n... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΤΉΜΑΤΑ … ὙΠΆΡΞΕΙΣ. The _Vulg_. distinguishes the words by rendering ‘possessiones et substantias.’ The former of the Greek words seems to imply those means which were at the time actively employed in the acquisition of more wealth; this would include farming and trade stock, &c., while ὕπαρξις refe... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑΘ' ἩΜΈΡΑΝ ΤΕ Κ.Τ.Λ., _and day by day attending continually with one accord_, &c. At the Temple they were likely to meet with the greatest number of devout listeners; and we shall find that the first Christians did not cease to be religious Jews, but held to all the observances of their ancient fa... [ Continue Reading ]
47. Omit τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, and add from the commencement of the next chapter ἘΠῚ ΤῸ ΣΥ̓ΤΌ after ἩΜΈΡΑΝ, so that chap. 3 will begin Πέτρος δέ. This reading is given by אABCG and is confirmed by the _Vulg_. and many other versions. 47. ΧΆΡΙΝ, _favour_. As it was said of Christ, ‘The common people heard Hi... [ Continue Reading ]