μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα : in continuation of the narrative, _cf._ Luke 10:1. χωρισθεὶς : in Acts 1:4 with ἀπό, and so usually only here with ἐκ, departure from Athens emphasised, because events had compelled the Apostle to alter his intended plan (Ramsay, _St. Paul_, p. 240, and Blass, _in loco_), _cf._ 1 Chr... [ Continue Reading ]
Ἀκύλαν, _cf._ Acts 18:18; Romans 16:3; 1 Corinthians 16:19; 2 Timothy 4:19 : the Latin _Aquila_ in its Greek form; the name may have been assumed, as often the case, in place of the Jewish name. It is altogether unreasonable to suppose that Luke made a mistake and that this Aquila's name was Pontius... [ Continue Reading ]
διὰ τὸ ὁμότεχνον : the word is peculiar to St. Luke, and although it is found in classical Greek and in Josephus, it is not used in the LXX, and it may be regarded as a technical word used by physicians of one another; the medical profession was called ἡ ἰατρικὴ τέχνη, physicians were ὁμότεχνοι; thu... [ Continue Reading ]
διελέγετο δὲ … ἔπειθέ τε : “and he used to discourse … and tried to persuade,” so Ramsay, marking the imperfects, see also Hackett's note. Ἐλληνας : proselytes, since they are represented as in the synagogue, _cf._ Acts 14:1. The heathen are not addressed until Acts 18:6. McGiffert considers that th... [ Continue Reading ]
See note on Acts 17:15; McGiffert, _Apostolic Age_, p. 269, recognises this among the striking points of contact between Acts and the Epistles to the Corinthians. Here Silas and Timothy are said to have been with St. Paul in Corinth, _cf._ St. Paul's own statement in 2 Corinthians 1:19, to the fact... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀντιτασσ.: classical use, of an army ranged in hostile array, or of those opposed to each other in opinion, Thuc., iii., 83. So in later Greek, in Polyb-generally to oppose, to resist. Ramsay renders “and when they began to form a faction against him,” but _cf._ Romans 13:2; James 4:6; James 5:6; 1... [ Continue Reading ]
μεταβὰς ἐκεῖθεν, _i.e._, from the synagogue, _cf._ Luke 10:7, “he removed,” Rendall; “he changed his place _from the synagogue_,” Ramsay: the verb is found three times with ἐκεῖθεν in St. Matthew, and in each place “departed” R.V., this gives perfectly good sense: _cf._ Ramsay, _Church in the Roman... [ Continue Reading ]
Κρίσπος, _cf._ 1 Corinthians 1:14, coincidence with, admitted by McGiffert, p. 269 (so too by Holtzmann), “no reason to doubt that he is the man whose conversion Luke reports,” according to tradition he became Bishop of Ægina, _Const. Apost._, vii., 46. Though a Jew he bore a Latin name, _cf._ for a... [ Continue Reading ]
So at other crises in the Apostle's life, _cf._ Acts 22:17; Acts 27:23. ὁ Κ., _i.e._, Jesus. μὴ φοβοῦ, _cf._ Isaiah 42:6; Isaiah 43:2, and for the phrase Luke 1:13; Luke 2:10; Luke 5:10; Luke 8:50; Luke 12:7;... [ Continue Reading ]
διότι ἐγώ : _fundamentum fiduciæ_, Bengel. ἐπιθ.: only here in this sense, but so in LXX, _aggrediri, cf._ Genesis 43:18; Exodus 21:14; 2 Chronicles 23:13; Judges 16:7. τοῦ κακῶσαι : infinitive with τοῦ, probably to express conceived or intended result, Burton, p. 157 and also p. 148, _i.e._, an eve... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐκάθισε, see critical note, “he dwelt,” R.V., _cf._ Luke 24:49, but not elsewhere in N.T. in this sense, but constantly in LXX, 1MMalachi 2:1; 1Ma 2:29. Rendall renders “he took his seat,” _i.e._, as a teacher, a Rabbi, and see also the remarks of Ramsay on the way in which St. Paul was evidently re... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀνθ., _cf._ Acts 13:7, another proof of St. Luke's accuracy, Achaia from B.C. 27 (when it had been separated from Macedonia, to which it had been united since B.C. 146, and made into a separate province) had been governed by a proconsul. In A.D. 15 Tiberius had reunited it with Macedonia and Mysia,... [ Continue Reading ]
λέγοντες : in the set accusation which follows there is probably an indication that the Jews could not stir up the crowd against Paul as at Philippi and Thessalonica, for already he had gained too good an influence over the common people (Weiss). ἀναπείθει : only here in N.T., “persuadendo excitare,... [ Continue Reading ]
μέλλοντος : Lucan; see Burton, p. 71, on οὖν, see critical note and Alford, _in loco_, for its retention. ἀδίκημα, _cf._ Acts 24:20, only once elsewhere in N.T., Revelation 18:5, here it may perhaps mark a legal wrong, a wrong against the state the word is used in classical Greek of a breach of law... [ Continue Reading ]
If we read the plural ζητήματα we may regard it as expressing contempt: “a parcel of questions,” Alford; but if they are questions of word (teaching) not deed (opposite ἔργον, _factum_) and of names not things, _verba_, opposite πράγματα (Blass); _i.e._, the arguments as to whether Jesus could right... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀπήλασεν : probably by his lictors who would be commanded to clear the court. This interpretation of the word is in accordance with the next verse, which describes the crowd of Greeks as prepared to follow up the decision of Gallio by similar treatment of a leading Jew on their own account. See crit... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐπιλαβ. δὲ : of hostile action, Acts 17:19; Acts 16:19. οἱ Ἕλληνες, see critical note. If πάντες alone is read it seems clear from the context that only the Jews could be meant, and Weiss supposes that when they had failed so ignominiously they vented their rage on their own leader, Sosthenes, who a... [ Continue Reading ]
ἔτι προσμείνας : this may be an addition to the year and a half, or may be included in it; on ἔτι see critical note. ἱκανάς, Lucan, see on Acts 8:11, etc. the expression shows how little the attack upon the Apostle had injured his prospects of evangelising the city and neighbourhood. ἀποταξ., Vulgat... [ Continue Reading ]
κατήντησε, see critical note. εἰς Ἔφεσον : a voyage of two or three days with unfavourable wind. Cicero mentions two occasions when the voyage from Ephesus to Athens took two weeks, _Ad Attic._, vi., 8, 9; iii., 9, but in both instances extraordinary delays were the cause of the lengthy voyage; on E... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐπένευσεν : only here in N.T., but _cf._ 2Ma 4:10; 2Ma 11:15; 2Ma 14:20, frequent in classical Greek. St. Paul must have had some very pressing reason for refusing such an invitation from his own countrymen.... [ Continue Reading ]
See critical note. The Feast, as Ramsay maintains, _St. Paul_, p. 264 (so Ewald, Renan, Zöckler, Rendall, Blass and others), was the Passover, the one which seems most reconcilable with the chronology; others maintain Pentecost, so Anger, Alford, Wieseler, Plumptre see Alford, _in loco_, and Turner,... [ Continue Reading ]
κατελθὼν εἰς κ., _i.e._, Cæsarea Stratonis, _i.e._, came down from the high sea to the coast, the shore, _cf._ Acts 27:5 (Acts 21:3), so in Homer, and also of coming down from the high land to the coast, see Grimm-Thayer, _sub v._ ἀναβὰς, _i.e._, to Jerusalem, the usual expression for a journey to t... [ Continue Reading ]
ποιήσας χρόνον τινὰ : St. Paul would naturally have spent some time in a place so associated with the origin of Gentile Christianity, and with his own labours, the starting place of each of his missionary journeys; on the phrase in St. Luke see Friedrich, _cf._ Acts 15:33; Acts 20:3; James 4:13; Rev... [ Continue Reading ]
Ἀλεξ., _cf._ Acts 6:9, Schürer, _Jewish People_, div. ii., vol. ii., p. 226, E.T. At Alexandria the LXX was written and Philo lived; here too was the magnificent mosque of which it was said that he who had not worshipped in it had not witnessed the glory of Israel, Edersheim, _History of the Jewish... [ Continue Reading ]
See critical note on the proposed omission of the verse and reading also in. κατηχ., _cf._ Luke 1:4, “taught by word of mouth,” R.V., margin;. adds ἐν τῇ πατρίδι, and Blass holds that we may learn from this that some form of Gospel teaching had already been known in Egypt. But how far had Apollos be... [ Continue Reading ]
παῤῥησιάζεσθαι, see above on p. 242; whatever was the exact form of the belief of Apollos, he had at all events the courage of his convictions. ἀκούσαντες showing that Priscilla and Aquila had not separated themselves from their fellow-countrymen. προσελάβοντο, _cf._ Acts 17:5, _i.e._, for instructi... [ Continue Reading ]
διελθεῖν εἰς, _cf._ Luke 8:22; Mark 4:35, Latin, _trajicere_. προτρεψ.… ἔγραψαν : “encouraged him and wrote,” R.V., so Chrysostom, Erasmus, Grotius, Bengel, Felten, Lumby, Rendall, Knabenbauer: “currentem incitantes” Bengel. But others refer it to the disciples, “wrote exhorting the disciples,” _i.e... [ Continue Reading ]
εὐτόνως : “powerfully,” only in Luke, _cf._ Luke 23:10, “vehemently,” like Latin, _intente, acriter_, Joshua 6 (7):8 (- νος, 2Ma 12:23, 4Ma 7:10, A R); found also in classical Greek, and may be one of the “colloquial” words common to the N.T. and Aristophanes, _cf. Plutus_, 1096 (Kennedy, p. 78). Bu... [ Continue Reading ]