Acts 13 - Introduction
Chapter S 13 14. _ First Missionary Journey of St. Paul._ On the unity of 13 and 14 with the rest of the book see additional note at end of chap. 14.... [ Continue Reading ]
Chapter S 13 14. _ First Missionary Journey of St. Paul._ On the unity of 13 and 14 with the rest of the book see additional note at end of chap. 14.... [ Continue Reading ]
κατὰ τὴν οὖσας ἐκκ.: the word οὖσαν may well be used here, as the participle of εἰμί is often used in Acts to introduce some technical phrase, or some term marked out as having a technical force, _cf._ Acts 5:17; Acts 14:13; Acts 28:17, so that a new stage in the history of the Christians at Antioch... [ Continue Reading ]
λειτουργούντων : “as they ministered to the Lord,” A. and R. V., _ministrantibus Domino_, Vulgate. It would be difficult to find a more appropriate rendering. On the one hand the word is habitually used in the LXX of the service of the priests and Levites (_cf._ Hebrews 8:2; Hebrews 10:11), although... [ Continue Reading ]
τότε probably indicating a new and special act of fasting and prayer. But is the subject of the sentence the whole _Ecclesia_, or only the prophets and teachers mentioned before? Ramsay maintains that it cannot be the officials just mentioned, because they cannot be said to lay hands on two of thems... [ Continue Reading ]
μὲν οὖν answered by δέ in Acts 13:5, so Weiss and Rendall, Appendix on μὲν οὖν, p. 161. Page takes διελ. δέ in Acts 13:6 as the antithesis, see his note on Acts 2:41. ἐκπεμφ., _cf._ Acts 13:2; only in N.T. in Acts 17:10, _cf._ 2 Samuel 19:31, where it denotes personal conduct. Mr. Rendall's note tak... [ Continue Reading ]
Σαλαμῖνι : the nearest place to Seleucia on the eastern coast of Cyprus. A few hours' sail in favourable weather would bring the traveller to a harbour convenient and capacious. The Jewish colony must have been considerable since mention is made of synagogues. κατήγγελλον : “they began to proclaim”... [ Continue Reading ]
διελθόντες δὲ (ὅλην) τὴν ν.: “and they made a missionary progress through the whole island,” Ramsay, _St. Paul_, pp. 72 and 384, and “Words demoting Missionary Travel in Acts,” _Expositor_, May, 1896; on ὅλην, see critical notes. Ramsay gives nine examples in Acts of this use of διέρχεσθαι or διελθε... [ Continue Reading ]
ὃς ἦν σὺν τῷ ἀ., _cf._ Acts 4:13. Nothing was more in accordance with what we know of the _personnel_ of the strange groups which often followed the Roman governors as _comites_, and it is quite possible that Sergius Paulus may have been keenly interested in the powers or assumed powers of the Magia... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀνθίστατο : because he saw that his hope of gain was gone, _cf._ Acts 16:19; Acts 19:27, and the hope of retaining influence with the proconsul; see reading in, _cf._ 2 Timothy 3:8, where St. Paul uses the same verb of the magicians withstanding Moses. Ἐλύμας, see critical notes in answer to Kloster... [ Continue Reading ]
Σαῦλος δέ, ὁ καὶ Παῦλος : since the days of St. Jerome (_De Vir. Ill._, chap. 6, _cf._ Aug [257], _Confess._, viii., 4, etc., _cf._ amongst moderns Bengel, Olshausen, Ewald, Meyer) it has been thought that there is some connection here emphasised by the writer between the name Sergius Paulus and the... [ Continue Reading ]
πλήρης : for an interesting parallel in Plato _cf._ Wetstein, _in loco_, Plato, _Legg._, 908 D. ῥᾳδιουργίας : only here in N.T., _cf._ Acts 18:14, hellenistic, R.V. “villainy,” A.V. “mischief” (so Genevan), but other E. V. “deceit”; the idea of deceit, however, is more properly contained in δόλου R.... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ νῦν ἰδοὺ, _cf._ Hort, _Ecclesia_, p. 179. μὴ βλέπων τὸν ἥλιον : emphasising the punishment, as it would imply that he should be stone-blind (Weiss). ἄχρι καιροῦ : “until a season,” R.V. margin, “until the time” (Rendall), _i.e._, the duly appointed time when it should please God to restore his s... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐπίστευσεν : “the blindness of Elymas opened the eyes of the proconsul” (Felten). If the verb is understood in its full sense, _viz._, that Sergius Paulus became a convert to the faith, Acts 13:48; Acts 2:44; Acts 4:4; Acts 11:21, baptism would be implied, Acts 8:12. ἐκπλησσ., Matthew 7:28; Mark 1:2... [ Continue Reading ]
Ἀναχθέντες, “set sail,” R.V. So in classical use, here in its technical nautical sense so too, in opposite sense, κατάγεσθαι. In this sense thirteen times in Acts, and once in Luke's Gospel, Acts 8:22, but not in the other Gospels at all; it is only used once, in another sense, by St. Matthew among... [ Continue Reading ]
διελθόντες : in this journey northwards to Antioch the Apostles would probably follow the one definite route of commerce between Perga and that city; the natural and easy course would lead them to Adada, now _Kara Bavlo_, and the dedication there of a church to St. Paul may point to the belief that... [ Continue Reading ]
τὴν ἀνάγ. τοῦ ν. καὶ τῶν π.: the first and second lesson, Edersheim, _u. s._, p. 278, _History of the Jewish Nation_, p. 443; Schürer, _Jewish People_, div. ii., vol. ii., p. 79 ff., E.T., the first from the Pentateuch, and the second a paragraph from the Prophets, including the older historical boo... [ Continue Reading ]
κατασείσας, see above on Acts 12:17, and cf. Acts 19:33; Acts 21:40 (Acts 26:1), “made a gesture with his hand,” a gesture common to orators, “nam hoc gestu olim verba facturi pro contione silentium exigebant,” and here a graphic touch quite characteristic of Acts. The speech which follows may well... [ Continue Reading ]
τούτου : this points back to Ἰσρ.: an appeal to ‘the national pride of the people in their theocratic privileges and names, _cf._ 2 Corinthians 11:22; Romans 9:6. ἐξελ. so often in LXX of God's choice of Israel. ὕψωσεν : “exalted,” A. and R.V. Weiss and Wendt, with Bethge and Blass, restrict its mea... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐτροποφόρησεν, see critical notes. ἐτροπ., “suffered he their manners,” so A. and R.V. ἐτροφ., “bare he them as a nursing father,” R.V. margin. This latter rendering is supported by Bengel, Alford, Bethge, Nösgen, Hackett, Page, Farrar, Plumptre, etc., as more agreeable to the conciliatory drift of... [ Continue Reading ]
καθελὼν, _cf._ Deuteronomy 7:1. In LXX the stronger verb ἐξαίρειν is used, but καθαιρεῖν in LXX often means to destroy, Jeremiah 24:6; Psalms 27:5, and so in classical Greek. Weiss prefers the force of the verb as in Luke 1:52, to cast down, _i.e._, from their sovereignty. - κατεκληροδότησεν, see cr... [ Continue Reading ]
If we follow the best attested reading, see critical notes, we may connect the dative of time ἔτεσι, _cf._ Acts 8:11, closely with the preceding words as signifying the period within which an event is accomplished. The κληρονομία was already assured to the fathers as God's chosen, Acts 7:5, and the... [ Continue Reading ]
κἀκεῖθεν : only here of time in N.T. as in later Greek. Weiss even here interprets the expression to mean that they asked for a king from him, _i.e._, Samuel, in his character as prophet. ἔτη τεσσαράκοντα : not mentioned in O.T., but _cf._ Jos., _Ant._, vi., 14, 9. The period does not seem much too... [ Continue Reading ]
μεταστήσας, Luke 16:4 : refers here to Saul's deposition from the throne, 1 Samuel 15:16, _cf._ Daniel 2:21 1Ma 8:13, not as Bethge thinks to his removal from the presence of God, _cf._ 2 Kings 17:23, nor to his death, Malachi 3:1; Malachi 3:1; 3Ma 6:12. Saul therefore could not have been the bringe... [ Continue Reading ]
κατʼ ἐπαγγελίαν : phrase only found in Galatians 3:29; 2 Timothy 1:1 : the Messianic promises generally, or more specifically 2 Samuel 7:12; Psalms 132:11; Isaiah 11:1; Isaiah 11:10; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Zechariah 3:8. In the last prophecy the LXX read the verb ἄγω which is found in the verse before u [ Continue Reading ]
προκηρύξ. not in LXX or Apocrypha, but in classical Greek, _cf._ also Josephus, _Ant._, x., 5, 1, and also in Plut., Polyb. πρὸ προσώπου τῆς εἰσόδου : “before the face of his entering in,” R.V. margin, _cf._ Luke 1:76; here used temporally, really a Hebraistic pleonasm, _cf._ Malachi 3:1, an express... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐπλήρου : “ _i.e._, non multo ante finem vitæ,” Blass, _cf._ Acts 7:23. δρόμον : “Paulum sapit,” _cf._ Acts 20:24; 2 Timothy 4:7; Galatians 2:2. ὑπονοεῖτε : three times in Acts, _cf._ Acts 25:18; Acts 27:27; nowhere else in N.T., but see Jdt 14:14, Tob 8:16, Sir 23:21. Note this free reproduction of... [ Continue Reading ]
ἄνδρες ἀδελφοί : the address of Acts 13:16 is here renewed in more affectionate tones, and here as in Acts 13:16 both Jews and proselytes are two classes, here both regarded by Paul as ἀδελφοί. ὑμῖν, see critical notes. Some take it as marking a sharp antithesis between the Jews of Antioch and those... [ Continue Reading ]
Both A. and R.V. take ἀγνοήσαντες as governing τοῦτον and τὰς φωνάς. But καί may be not copulative but intensive not only did they not recognise the Christ, but even condemned Him to death; so Rendall. Meyer rendered καί = “also,” and makes τὰς φωνάς the direct object of ἐπλήρ. Wendt renders as A. a... [ Continue Reading ]
ὡς δὲ ἐτέλεσαν ἅπαντα : St. Paul was evidently acquainted with the details of the Passion as well as with the main facts of the death and burial, _cf._ 1 Corinthians 11:23; and for the verb used here Luke 18:31; Luke 22:37; John 19:28; John 19:30; only here in Acts, Weiss regards the subject of ἐτέλ... [ Continue Reading ]
ὤφθη, see Milligan's note on the word, _Resurrection of our Lord_, p. 265; _Witness of the Epistles_ (1892), pp. 369, 377, 386; and Beyschlag, _Leben Jesu_, i., p. 434 (second edition), _cf._ Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 15:5 ff. ἐπὶ : with accusative of duration of time, _cf._ Acts 16:18; Acts 18:20;... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ ἡμεῖς, _cf._ 1 Corinthians 15:11, “whether it were I or they,” etc., “ut illi illis, sic nos vobis”. εὐαγγελ., see above on p. 210, and Simcox, _u. s._, pp. 78, 79. τὴν πρὸς τοὺς π. ἐπαγγελίαν γεν., _cf._ Romans 15:8; Acts 26:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐκπεπλήρωκε : “hath fulfilled to the utmost,” _cf._ Malachi 1:2; Malachi 1:2; 3Ma 1:22, Polyb., i., 67, 1, τὰς ἐπαγγελίας ἐκπ. τοῖς τέκνοις αὐτῶν ἡμῖν, see critical notes. ἀναστήσας : “in that he raised up Jesus,” R.V.; “in that he hath raised up Jesus again,” A.V. The former rendering is quite comp... [ Continue Reading ]
μηκέτι μ. ὑποσ. εἰς διαφθ., _cf._ Romans 6:9, “no more to return to corruption,” does not of course mean that Christ had already seen corruption, so that there is no need to understand διαφθ. of the place of corruption, _sepulchrum_, with Beza, Kuinoel. Hilgenfeld refuses to follow Jüngst, Sorof, Cl... [ Continue Reading ]
γὰρ : David is contrasted with Christ by St. Paul as by St. Peter, Acts 2:29. ἰδίᾳ γενεᾷ ὑπηρ.: “after he had in his own generation served the counsel of God, fell on sleep,” R.V., but in margin the rendering of A.V. is practically retained. It seems best to take ἰδίᾳ γενεᾷ as a dative of time, _cf.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἤγειρεν : more than resurrection from the dead, “hic non notatur resuscitatio ex mortuis; quippe quæ ipsa in conclusione evincitur: sed _quem Deus suscitavit_ est _Sanctus Dei_, Acts 13:35, ut hæc Subjecti descriptio contineat ætiologiam,” Bengel.... [ Continue Reading ]
γνωστὸν οὖν : “incipit adhortatio quæ orationem claudit,” Blass. ἄφεσις ἁμαρ.: the keynote of St. Paul's preaching, _cf._ Acts 26:18, as it had been of St. Peter's, Acts 2:38; Acts 5:31; Acts 10:43; and as it had been of the preaching of the Baptist, and of our Lord Himself. διὰ τούτου, _i.e._, Chri... [ Continue Reading ]
So far the words represent the entire harmony between the preaching of St. Peter and St. Paul, and there is no reason to attribute this verse, as also Acts 10:43, with Jüngst, to any reviser; δικαιοῦσθαι ἀπό _only_ elsewhere in Romans 6:7. But _if_ St. Paul's next words seem to imply that within cer... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐν τοῖς προφ., _cf._ Luke 24:44, and Acts 24:14; John 6:45. ἐπέλθῃ : quite Lucan in this sense, _cf._ Acts 8:24; Luke 11:22; Luke 21:26 (James 5:1).... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 13:41.Habakkuk 1:5, but here slightly different from the Hebrew “behold, ye among the nations,” in LXX through the possible mistake of reading the Hebrew noun as if = deceitful ones (with the idea perhaps of impudence, shamelessness). On βλέπ. μὴ ἐπέλ. see Burton, pp. 85, 89; Viteau, p. 83 (189... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐξιόντων : “and as they went out,” _i.e._, the Apostles, before the synagogue broke up the congregation of Jews and proselytes besought them not “when they had gone out,” which would introduce a confusion of time; see critical notes. Wendt refers to Acts 13:15, and takes ἀρχισυ. as the subject of πα... [ Continue Reading ]
λυθ. δὲ : Paul and Barnabas had gone out before the synagogue was formally broken up; δέ marks the contrast in the case of those who followed them to hear more. τῶν δεβ. προσ.: only here. σεβ. τὸν Θεόν or φοβ. τὸν Θεόν : used elsewhere of the uncircumcised Gentiles who joined the Jewish synagogue, w... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐρχ., see critical notes. σχεδὸν, _cf._ Acts 19:26; Hebrews 9:22, each time before πᾶς, and in 2Ma 5:2, 3Ma 5:14; 3Ma 5:45. In classical use as in text, often with πᾶς. συνήχθη, _i.e._, in the synagogue, not, as some have thought, before the lodging of the Apostles.... [ Continue Reading ]
οἱ Ἰ.: not the proselytes with them (Ramsay, _St. Paul_, p. 101). τοὺς ὄχλους, _cf._ Acts 13:48, τὰ ἔθνη. ἀντιλ. καὶ, see critical notes; if retained, participle emphasises finite verb: “not only contradicting but blaspheming”; see Simcox, _Language of the N. T._, p. 130. βλασ.: nomen Christi, xviii... [ Continue Reading ]
παῤῥησιασάμενοι, see on Acts 9:27. ἦν ἀναγκαῖον, _cf._ on Acts 13:14. ἐπειδὴ δὲ, see critical notes. δέ marks the contrast, but its omission emphasises it even more vividly and sternly. ἀπωθεῖσθε : “ye thrust it from you,” R.V.; _repellitis_, Vulgate; only in Luke and Paul, _cf._ 1 Timothy 1:19; Rom... [ Continue Reading ]
γὰρ : this action of the Apostles in turning to the Gentiles was not arbitrary. Τέθεικα, _cf._ Isaiah 49:6 (Luke 2:32). In LXX [265] reads δέδωκα instead of Τέθ., and inserts after it εἰς διαθήκην γένους; not in Hebrew. σε really refers to the Servant of the Lord, the Messiah; _cf._ Delitzsch, _Das... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐδόξ. τὸν λ. τοῦ Κ.: δοξ. τὸν Θ.; frequent in Luke and Paul, _cf._ 2 Thessalonians 3:1 for the nearest approach to the exact phrase here. ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγ.: there is no countenance here for the _absolutum decretum_ of the Calvinists, since Acts 13:46 had already shown that the Jews had acted through... [ Continue Reading ]
διεφέρετο; _divulgabatur_, “was spread abroad,” R.V.; not only by the preaching of the Apostles themselves, but by small knots of Christians in other towns, see Ramsay, _St. Paul_, p. 105, and so Blass, _in loco_; only here in N.T. in this sense, so in (Wis 18:10) Plut.; Lucian; imperfect, a certain... [ Continue Reading ]
παρώτρυναν : “urged on,” R.V.; only here in N.T., not in LXX or Apocrypha; so in Pind., Lucian, and so too in Josephus, _Ant._, vii., 6, 1, and also in Hippocrates and Aretaeus. ἐπήγειραν, _cf._ Acts 14:2; nowhere else in N.T., several times in LXX, and also frequently in Hippocrates and Galen, Hoba... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐκτιναξάμενοι, _cf._ Matthew 10:14; Luke 10:11; Mark 6:11. The symbolic act would be understood by the Jews as an intimation that all further intercourse was at an end. There is no reason to see in the words a late addition by the author of Acts to the source; the disciples mentioned in Acts 13:52 n... [ Continue Reading ]
χαρᾶς, _cf._ 1 Thessalonians 1:6; Romans 14:17; 2 Timothy 1:4.... [ Continue Reading ]