ἀτενίσας, see on chap. Acts 1:10, “looking stedfastly,” R.V. The word denotes the fixed stedfast gaze which may be fairly called a characteristic of St. Paul. On this occasion the Apostle may well have gazed stedfastly on the Council which condemned Stephen, and although many new faces met his gaze,... [ Continue Reading ]
Ἀναν.: not the Ananias of Acts 4:7; Luke 3:2; John 18:13, but the son of Nebedæus, appointed to his office by Herod of Chalcis, high priest from _c._ 47 59. He was sent to Rome on account of the complaints of the Samaritans against the Jews, but the Jewish cause prevailed, and there is no reason to... [ Continue Reading ]
Wetstein sees in the words the customary formula of malediction among the Jews. But we need not regard Paul's words as an imprecation of evil on the high priest, but only an expression of the firm belief that such conduct would meet with punishment, _cf._ Knabenbauer, _in loco._ The terrible death o... [ Continue Reading ]
τὸν ἀρχ. τοῦ Θεοῦ : of God, emphatic, _i.e._, sitting on the judgment-seat as God's representative, _cf._ Deuteronomy 17:8 ff., and also the name Elohim, by which the priestly and other judges were sometimes known, Exodus 21:6; Exodus 22:8-9; Psalms 81:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
οὐκ ᾔδειν : the subject of ἐστιν is not expressed as in A. and R.V., in the Greek it is simply “I wist not that it was the high priest (who spoke)”. If it be said that St. Paul could scarcely have been ignorant that Ananias was high priest, we must bear in mind that not even the high priest wore a d... [ Continue Reading ]
γνοὺς … τὸ … ἓ τὸ δὲ ἕτερον. On ἕν … ἕτερον : see Simcox _Language of the N.T._, pp. 71, 72. That Pharisees and Sadducees alike had seats in the Sanhedrim during this period is borne out not only by the N. T., but by Jos., _Ant._, xx., 9, 1, _B.J._, ii., 17, 3, _Vita_, 38, 39. It is possible that th... [ Continue Reading ]
στάσις : There is no difficulty in supposing that this dissension took place in the Assembly; it may have been no sudden result, because the Apostle had evidently said much more than is mentioned in the preceding verse (see above), and there is good evidence that one of the fundamental differences b... [ Continue Reading ]
ἄγγελον … πνεῦμα : are joined together by the speaker as one principal conception, so that the following ἀμφότερα presents no difficulty, see Winer-Moulton, Leviticus, 6, Page, _in loco._ πνεῦμα would include the spirits of the dead, to one of which Paul would appear to have appealed, Acts 22:7; Act... [ Continue Reading ]
κραυγὴ μεγ.: “there arose a great clamour,” R.V., so A.V. in Ephesians 4:31; the noun also denotes not only the loud cry of partisan applause as here, but of joyful surprise, Luke 1:42, of grief, Revelation 21:4, of anger, Ephes. _u. s._, Westcott on Hebrews 5:7, _cf._ LXX, Exodus 12:30, Jdt 14:19,... [ Continue Reading ]
εὐλ., see critical note. μὴ : after verbs of _fear_ and _danger_ in classical Greek, with subjunctive after primary tenses, with optative (more usually) after secondary tenses, but in N.T. only the subjunctive, Burton, p. 95, and Viteau, _Le Grec du N.T._, p. 83 (1893), Acts 27:17 2 Corinthians 11:3... [ Continue Reading ]
τῇ ἐπι. νυκτί., see Knabenbauer's note, p. 385, on Hilgenfeld's strictures; and below on the need and fitness of the appearance of the Lord on this night. ἐπιστὰς, _cf._ Acts 12:7, and Acts 18:9. ὁ κ., evidently Jesus, as the context implies. θάρσει : only in the imperative in N.T. (seven times); th... [ Continue Reading ]
συστροφήν, Acts 19:40. ἀνεθεμάτισαν ἑαυτούς : literally “they placed themselves under an anathema,” _i.e._, declared themselves liable to the direst punishments of God unless, etc. In N.T. the verb is only used in this passage, _cf._ 14, 21 and once by St.Mark, Mark 14:71, _cf._ the use of the verb... [ Continue Reading ]
τοῖς ἀρχ., _cf._ Acts 4:23, see critical note on reading in [373] (Blass). ἀναθέματι ἀνεθεμ.: “we have bound ourselves under a great curse,” thus representing the emphatic Hebrew idiom, _cf._ Acts 5:28, and for the same phrase _cf._ Deuteronomy 13:15; Deuteronomy 20:17. The conspirators may have bee... [ Continue Reading ]
νῦν οὖν : only in Acts in N.T., where it occurs four times, frequent in LXX. ἐμφανίσατε : “signify” in A. and R.V.; this rendering apparently conveys a wrong idea, for it implies that the Council had the authority, whereas this lay with the Roman officer, _cf._ Acts 24:1; Acts 25:2; Acts 25:15. In L... [ Continue Reading ]
ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀδελφῆς : whether he and his mother lived in Jerusalem, as Ewald conjectured, we are not told. Probably not, as the mother is not otherwise mentioned. Paul's nephew may have been a student in Jerusalem, as the Apostle had been in his earlier days. Edersheim, _Jewish Social Life_, p. 227,... [ Continue Reading ]
τὸν νεανίαν τοῦτον, see on Acts 7:58 and previous note above. The narrative gives the impression that he was quite a young man, if we look at his reception by the chiliarch and the charge given to him.... [ Continue Reading ]
ὁ δέσμιος Π.: used by Paul five times of himself in his Epistles, here for the first time in Acts with reference to him.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐπιλαβ.: “ut fiduciam adolescentis confirmaret,” Bengel, so Knabenbauer; on ἐπιλ. see note, Acts 17:19. τῆς χειρὸς αὐτοῦ, _cf._ Luke 8:54, Winer-Moulton, xxx. 8 d; see Calvin's note on the _humanitas_ (as he calls it) of the centurion in thus receiving the young man. ἀναχ.: used also in Acts 26:31,... [ Continue Reading ]
συνέθεντο, Luke 22:5; John 9:22, so in classical Greek in middle, _cf._ 1 Samuel 22:13, Dan. (Th.) Acts 2:9. τοῦ ἐρωτῆσαι : the word certainly points to a certain equality with the person asked (not αἰτέω), see above on Acts 23:15 but still a request, not a demand. μέλλοντες, see critical note; if p... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐνεδρ.: only in Luke in N.T., Luke 11:54, with the accusative also in classical Greek, and several times in LXX, 1Ma 5:4, Jos., _Ant._, v., 2, 12. καὶ νῦν, see on Acts 20:22. προσδεχ.: only once elsewhere in Acts, Acts 24:15, probably in same sense as here, so R.V. text. In the Gospels, the word is... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐκλαλῆσαι, Jdt 11:9 (but _al_ [374]), “to divulge,” here only in N.T., but in classical Greek, and in Philo. As in i. 4, transition to _oratio recta_, _cf._ Luke 5:14; Mark 6:9, etc., very common in Greek prose, Winer-Moulton, lxiii., ii., 2, Blass, _Gram._, p. 280. [374] Alford's _Greek Testament_... [ Continue Reading ]
See critical note; if we place τινάς before δύο, Blass, Weiss, Knaben bauer take it of two centurions whom he could specially trust, see their notes _in loco_, and Blass, _Gram._, p. 174. In Luke 7:19 the order is different, Blass compares Herman, _Vis._, i., 4, 3, δύο τινὲς ἄνδρες (but see on the o... [ Continue Reading ]
παραστῆσαι : depending on ειπεν, Acts 23:23; a change to indirect speech, _cf._ references in Acts 23:22. κτήνη (κτάομαι): _jumenta_, Vulgate, almost always in plural, property in general, herds or flocks, cattle; in LXX, where it is very frequent, and in N.T. it is used of beasts of burden or for r... [ Continue Reading ]
περιέχουσαν, see critical note above. τύπον : “form,” R.V., a précis or summary of the contents of a letter, 3Ma 3:30. Such a letter would be called _elogium_, Alford, _in loco_, Renan, _Saint Paul_, p. 532. It is quite true that τύπος does not demand that the letter should have been given verbally,... [ Continue Reading ]
κρατίστῳ, see note on Acts 1:1. χαίρειν (λεγει or κελεύει), _cf._ Acts 15:23.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἄνδρα, not ἄνθρωπον : Bengel and Wendt take the word to indicate a certain degree of respect. συλλ.: used in various senses, but in all four Gospels of the capture of Jesus, and in Luke, where the word is frequent, often of the capture of prisoners, Acts 1:16; Acts 12:3; Acts 26:21; Luke 22:54 (Plum... [ Continue Reading ]
δέ : if we read τε Weiss regards it as closely connecting the wish of the chiliarch with the previous rescue affected by him, and as hoping to veil his conduct in the interim which was so open to censure. ἐνεκάλουν αὐτῷ, Acts 19:38, with dative of the person as here, and in classical Greek, _cf._ Si... [ Continue Reading ]
ζητημάτων, _cf._ Acts 18:14-15, “a contemptuous plural” (Page). ἔγκλημα ἔχοντα : phrase only here in N.T., _criminis reum esse, accusari_, as in classical Greek, _cf._ Thuc., i., 26; the noun occurs again in Acts 25:16, but not elsewhere in N.T., not found in LXX.... [ Continue Reading ]
A mingling of two constructions, Blass, _Gram._, p. 247, Winer-Moulton, lxiii., 1, 1. ἔσεσθαι : on the future infinitive denoting time relatively to the time of the principal verb see Burton, pp. 48, 52. ἔπεμψα : epistolary aorist, _cf._ 1 Corinthians 5:11; Philippians 2:28; Ephesians 6:22; Colossia... [ Continue Reading ]
οἱ μὲν οὖν … τῇ δὲ ἐπαύριον : Rendall, appendix on μὲν οὖν, p. 162. Page finds the antithesis in μετὰ δὲ, Acts 24:1, referring the five days there not to Paul's arrival in Cæsarea, but to his despatch from Jerusalem by Lysias, “so then the soldiers, etc.… but after five days …” (see also note below)... [ Continue Reading ]
τῇ δὲ ἐπ.: not necessarily the morrow after they left Jerusalem, but the morrow after they arrived at Antipatris. In this interpretation διὰ νυκτὸς might be taken to mean _by night_ in distinction to _by day_, so that they may have occupied two nights on the road, see Hackett's note, _in loco_. ἐάσα... [ Continue Reading ]
οἵτινες : “and they when they …” R.V., _sc._ ἱππεῖς. ἀναδόντες : not elsewhere in N.T., or in LXX in this sense, of delivering a letter. Zahn, following Hobart, sees in the phrase ἀναδ. τὴν ἐπιστολήν a phrase characteristic of a medical man, since Hippocrates, _Epis._, 1275, uses the verb instead of... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀναγνοὺς, see reading in [376] text. ποίας : of what kind of province, imperial or senatorial, as the governor desired to complete the report, _cf._ Acts 23:27. Blass takes it as simply = τίνος, as in Acts 4:7. It appears that during the first century, although perhaps with variations from time to t... [ Continue Reading ]
διακούσομαί σου : “I will hear thy cause,” R.V., the word implies a judicial hearing (_cf._ LXX, Deuteronomy 1:16 (Job 9:33)), and so in classical Greek of hearing thoroughly. The word is used of a judicial hearing, Dio Cassius, xxxvi., 53 (36), and Deissmann, _Neue Bibelstudien_, p. 57, gives examp... [ Continue Reading ]