Acts 22:1-21
Acts 22:1-21. ST PAUL’S DEFENCE... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 22:1-21. ST PAUL’S DEFENCE... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΚΟΎΣΑΤΈ ΜΟΥ ΤΗ͂Σ ΠΡῸΣ ὙΜΑ͂Σ ΝΥΝῚ�, _hear ye my defence which I now make unto you_. With regard to the construction of the verse, it seems, as in John 12:47, that ἀκούω is here followed by a double genitive of the person and thing, ‘Hear from me the defence &c.’ This is sometimes found also in class... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΚΟΎΣΑΝΤΕΣ ΔΈ, _and when they heard_. The beckoning with the hand (Acts 21:40) had procured silence enough for the Apostle’s first words to be heard, and now they caught the sound of their own dialect. ΜΑ͂ΛΛΟΝ ΠΑΡΈΣΧΟΝ ἩΣΥΧΊΑΝ, _they were the more quiet_. ἡσυχία is stillness as opposed to motion, w... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΓΏ ΕἸΜΙ�, _I am a Jew_. These first words of the Apostle would correct many wrong impressions among the crowd, for we may be sure that many, beside the chief captain, had the notion that St Paul was one of those foreign desperadoes with which Judæa abounded at this time. ΓΕΓΕΝΝΗΜΈΝΟΣ ἘΝ ΤΑΡΣΩ͂Ι ΤΗ... [ Continue Reading ]
ὋΣ ΤΑΎΤΗΝ ΤῊΝ ὉΔῸΝ ἘΔΊΩΞΑ ἌΧΡΙ ΘΑΝΆΤΟΥ, _and I persecuted this Way unto the death_. On ἡ ὁδὸς as the designation of the Christian religion, cf. note on Acts 9:2. We are not told of any Christians who were put to death through Saul’s zealous persecution, for in the case of Stephen he was not a very a... [ Continue Reading ]
ὩΣ ΚΑῚ Ὁ�, _as also the high priest doth bear me witness_. The Apostle refers not to the high priest at the time when he was speaking, but to him who had held that office when (Acts 9:1) in his earnestness against the Christians he had desired a commission from the authorities to carry his persecuti... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΕΡῚ ΜΕΣΗΜΒΡΊΑΝ, _about noon_. The time of the day at which the vision occurred is not noticed in chap. 9, but in chap. 26 the Apostle also mentions that it was ‘at mid-day,’ at which time the heavenly brightness must have been very overpowering to shine above the glare of an Eastern sun.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἬΚΟΥΣΑ ΦΩΝΗ͂Σ, _I heard a voice_. As in chap. Acts 9:4; Acts 9:7, so here, and below in Acts 22:9, the case of the noun is varied, so as to mark that the hearing in St Paul’s case was different from the hearing of his companions. The verb can be connected with either a genitive or accusative case. I... [ Continue Reading ]
Ὁ ΝΑΖΩΡΑΙ͂ΟΣ, _of Nazareth_. This adjective is found only in this one of the three accounts of Saul’s conversion; though in some MSS. to make the one place conform more exactly to the other they have been inserted in Acts 9:5.... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ ἔμφοβοι ἐγένοντο omitted with אABH. Not represented in _Vulg_. 9. The words καὶ ἔμφοβοι ἐγένοντο which appear in the _Text. recept_., but which the chief MSS. omit, are not like other words which have been inserted in various portions of this book. There is nothing like them either in chap. 9 o... [ Continue Reading ]
ὯΝ ΤΈΤΑΚΤΑΊ ΣΟΙ ΠΟΙΗ͂ΣΑΙ, _which are appointed for thee to do_. On the attraction of the relative into the case of its antecedent, see on Acts 1:1. God had explained to Ananias (see Acts 9:15) what Saul’s future work should be: how he was a chosen vessel to bear His name before Gentiles and kings an... [ Continue Reading ]
ὩΣ ΔῈ ΟΥ̓Κ ἘΝΈΒΛΕΠΟΝ�, _and when I could not see for the glory of that light_. This explanation of the reason of the Apostle’s blindness is only given in this place. ἐμβλέπω is found Mark 8:25 of sight returned after blindness.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΝΑΝΊΑΣ ΔΈ ΤΙΣ, ἈΝῊΡ ΕΥ̓ΛΑΒῊΣ ΚΑΤᾺ ΤῸΝ ΝΌΜΟΝ, _and Ananias, a devout man according to the Law_. The Apostle neglects nothing in his address which can conciliate his audience, and so he tells them that the messenger whom God sent to him was ‘well reported of by all the Jews that dwelt in Damascus.’ ... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑῚ ἘΠΙΣΤΆΣ, _and standing by me_. The Apostle in his blindness was seated, no doubt, and the messenger came and stood over him. ἈΝΆΒΛΕΨΟΝ … ἈΝΈΒΛΕΨΑ ΕἸΣ ΑΥ̓ΤΌΝ, _receive thy sight … I looked up upon him_. For the two renderings of the verb, cf. Luke 19:5, where ἀναβλέψας is used of Jesus _looking... [ Continue Reading ]
Ὁ ΘΕῸΣ ΤΩ͂Ν ΠΑΤΈΡΩΝ ἩΜΩ͂Ν, _the God of our fathers_. Ananias spake naturally as one Jew to another. At the commencement of the Christian Church there was no thought of a rupture with Judaism, and nothing is more to be noticed in the Acts than the gradual advance made by the Apostles and their compan... [ Continue Reading ]
ὍΤΙ ἜΣΗΙ ΜΆΡΤΥΣ ΑΥ̓ΤΩ͂Ι, _for thou shalt be His witness_. Thus the commission of the later-called Apostle was exactly in the same terms in which Christ (Acts 1:8) had spoken to the Eleven before his Ascension. ΠΡῸΣ ΠΆΝΤΑΣ�, _unto all men_. Paul, with his usual discretion, does not utter the word ‘G... [ Continue Reading ]
ΑΥ̓ΤΟΥ͂ for τοῦ κυρίου with אABE. _Vulg_. ‘ipsius.’ 16. ΚΑῚ ΝΥ͂Ν ΤΊ ΜΈΛΛΕΙΣ; _and now why tarriest thou?_ According to the narrative in Acts 9:15, the message of Ananias had already proclaimed the gift of the Holy Ghost to Saul, and the favour of God had been shewn in the recovery of his sight. So... [ Continue Reading ]
ὙΠΟΣΤΡΈΨΑΝΤΙ ΕἸΣ ἹΕΡΟΥΣΑΛΉΜ, _when I had returned to Jerusalem_. This refers to that visit of the Apostle recorded in Acts 9:26 seqq. We learn from Galatians 1:18 that three years had elapsed between the conversion of Saul and this visit to Jerusalem, which period is supposed to have been consumed i... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑῚ ἸΔΕΙ͂Ν ΑΥ̓ΤῸΝ ΛΈΓΟΝΤΆ ΜΟΙ, _and saw Him saying unto me_. In Acts 9:29-30 no mention is made that a vision had appeared to Saul commanding him to depart from Jerusalem. It is only said that ‘the disciples’ sent him away. But these two statements are not inconsistent with each other. Saul might be... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΎΡΙΕ, ΑΥ̓ΤΟῚ ἘΠΌΣΤΑΝΤΑΙ, _Lord, they know_. The effect of the expressed pronoun is not to be reproduced in English. These are, he thinks, the very men to whom he can best appeal. Saul is confident that he will be known by many to whom he would speak, and that his zealous persecution of the Christia... [ Continue Reading ]
τῇ� omitted with אABE. Not represented in _Vulg_. 20. ΣΤΕΦΆΝΟΥ ΤΟΥ͂ ΜΆΡΤΥΡΌΣ ΣΟΥ, _of Stephen, thy witness_. The Greek word μάρτυς had not yet come to be applied, as it afterwards was, to those Christians who _bore witness_ to the truth by their death. ΣΥΝΕΥΔΟΚΩ͂Ν, _consenting_. On the force of ἤμ... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΓῺ ΕἸΣ ἜΘΝΗ ΜΑΚΡᾺΝ ἘΞΑΠΟΣΤΕΛΩ͂ ΣΕ, _I will send thee forth far hence unto the Gentiles_. We need not understand the command as implying that the Apostle’s missionary labours were to begin from that moment, but that God’s work for him was now appointed, and would begin in His own time; and it would... [ Continue Reading ]
ἌΧΡΙ ΤΟΎΤΟΥ ΤΟΥ͂ ΛΌΓΟΥ, _unto this word_, i.e. Gentiles. It is probable that here and there in the speech the Apostle may not have entirely pleased them. Their feelings however could not be restrained when the hated name was spoken to them by one who professed to be bearing abroad the message of Jeh... [ Continue Reading ]
FURY OF THE JEWS. THE CHIEF CAPTAIN ORDERS PAUL TO BE SCOURGED, BUT ON HEARING THAT HE IS A ROMAN, RECALLS THE ORDER IN ALARM... [ Continue Reading ]
ῬΙΠΤΟΎΤΩΝ ΤᾺ ἹΜΆΤΙΑ, _casting off their clothes_, i.e. the loose upper robe which could easily be laid aside, and which in such an excitement would interfere with their movements. Compare the conduct of the crowd when our Lord rode into Jerusalem, and also the behaviour of Jehu’s friends, 2 Kings 9:... [ Continue Reading ]
Ὁ ΧΙΛΊΑΡΧΟΣ ΕἸΣΆΓΕΣΘΑΙ ΑΥ̓ΤῸΝ with אABCDE. _Vulg_. ‘tribunus induci eum.’ 24. ἘΚΈΛΕΥΣΕΝ Ὁ ΧΙΛΊΑΡΧΟΣ ΕἸΣΆΓΕΣΘΑΙ ΑΥ̓ΤῸΝ Κ.Τ.Λ., _the chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle_. Probably the chief captain understood nothing of what St Paul had been saying, and would be surprised at the... [ Continue Reading ]
ὩΣ ΔῈ ΠΡΟΈΤΕΝΑΝ ΑΥ̓ΤῸΝ ΤΟΙ͂Σ ἹΜΑ͂ΣΙΝ, _and when they had tied him up with the thongs_. The person to be scourged was stretched forward (προτείνειν) so that he might be in a position to receive the blows. Some have translated ‘for the thongs,’ but ἱμάς is nearly always used for straps employed for st... [ Continue Reading ]
26 ὍΡΑ omitted with אABC. Not represented in _Vulg_. 26. ΤΊ ΜΈΛΛΕΙΣ ΠΟΙΕΙ͂Ν _what art thou about to do?_ It was forbidden under a heavy penalty, by the _Lex Porcia_, to scourge a Roman citizen (Liv. x. 9).... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤῊΝ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΕΊΑΝ ΤΑΎΤΗΝ ἘΚΤΗΣΆΜΗΝ, _obtained I this citizenship_. It was the Roman boast ‘I am a Roman _citizen_’ (Cic. _in Verr._ v. 63). The sale of the freedom of Rome was at times the perquisite of some of the Imperial parasites and favourites, who made what they could of such a privilege. ἘΓῺ ΔΈ... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟἹ ΜΈΛΛΟΝΤΕΣ ΑΥ̓ΤῸΝ�, _those who were about to examine him_. The verb is used here euphemistically for the scourging which it had been proposed to inflict on the Apostle. ΑΥ̓ΤῸΝ ἮΝ ΔΕΔΕΚΏΣ, _he had bound him_, i.e. bound him for the purpose of scourging. To be bound with a chain as a prisoner was no... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀπὸ τῶν δεσμῶν omitted with אABCE. Not represented in _Vulg_. αὐτῶν after ΣΥΝΈΔΡΙΟΝ omitted with אABCE. Not represented in _Vulg_. 30. THE CHIEF CAPTAIN BEINGS PAUL BEFORE THE SANHEDRIN 30. ΒΟΥΛΌΜΕΝΟΣ ΓΝΩ͂ΝΑΙ, _desiring to know_. The chief captain was anxious, as a Roman officer, that justice sho... [ Continue Reading ]