Σαῦλος δὲ κ. τ. λ., R.V. joins these words to the conclusion of the previous chapter, and thus brings them into a close and fitting connection with Acts 7:58. So too Wendt, Blass, Nösgen, Zöckler. ἦν συνευδοκῶν : for this characteristic Lucan use of the imperfect of the substantive verb with a parti... [ Continue Reading ]
Spitta connects Acts 8:2 with Acts 11:19-21, and all the intermediate section, Acts 8:5 to Acts 11:19; forms part of his source (so also Sorof, Clemen, who joins his H.H., Acts 8:1 to Acts 11:19; but on the other hand see Hilgenfeld, _Zeitschrift für wissenschaft. Theol._, p. 501 (1895), and Jüngst,... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐλυμαίνετο : deponent verb, used in classical Greek of personal outrage (λύμη), of scourging and torturing, of outraging the dead, of the ruin and devastation caused by an army (Wetstein). In the LXX it is found several times, _cf._ especially Psalms 79 (80):13, of a wild boar ravaging a vineyard, a... [ Continue Reading ]
οἱ μὲν οὖν : marking a general statement, δὲ in following verse, introducing a particular instance (so Rendall, Appendix on μὲν οὖν, _Acts_, p. 162, and see also p. 64). διῆλθον : the word is constantly used of missionary journeys in _Acts, cf._ Acts 5:40; Acts 11:19; Acts 9:32 (Luke 9:6), _cf._ Act... [ Continue Reading ]
φίλιππος δὲ : the Evangelist, _cf._ Acts 21:8, and note on Acts 6:5. εἰς πόλιν : if we insert the article (see above on critical notes), the expression means “the city of Samaria,” _i.e._, the capital of the district (so Weiss, Wendt, Zöckler, see Blass, _in loco_), or _Sebaste_, so called by Herod... [ Continue Reading ]
προσεῖχον … τοῖς λεγ., _cf._ Acts 16:14; 1 Timothy 1:4; Titus 1:14; 2 Peter 1:9, see note on Acts 5:35, used in classical Greek sometimes with νοῦν, and sometimes without as here; frequent in LXX, _cf._ with this passage, Wis 8:12, 1Ma 7:12. ὁμοθυμαδόν, see above on Acts 1:14.... [ Continue Reading ]
πολλῶν γὰρ κ. τ. λ.: if we accept reading in R.V. (see critical notes above), we must suppose that St. Luke passes in thought from the possessed to the unclean spirits by which they were possessed, and so introduces the verb ἐξήρχοντο (as if the unclean spirits were themselves the subject), whereas... [ Continue Reading ]
This detail, and indeed the whole narrative, may have been derived by St. Luke from the information of St. Philip himself, _cf._ Acts 21:8; Acts 24:27, or from St. Paul as he travelled through Samaria, Acts 15:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
Σίμων : very few of the most advanced critics now dismiss Simon as an unhistorical character, or deny that the account before us contains at least some historical _data;_ see McGiffert's note, _Apostolic Age_, p. 100. Hilgenfeld and Lipsius may be reckoned amongst those who once refused to admit tha... [ Continue Reading ]
ἡ δύναμις το͂υ Θεοῦ ἡ μεγάλη : in R.V. the power of God which is called (καλουμένη) Great, see above, critical notes. T.R. may have omitted the word because it appeared unsuitable to the context; but it could not have been used in a depreciatory sense by the Samaritans, as if to intimate that the pe... [ Continue Reading ]
ἱκανῷ χρόνῳ : dative for accusative, _cf._ Acts 13:20, and perhaps Luke 8:29; Romans 16:25 the usage is not classical, Blass, _Grammatik_, p. 118, but see also Winer-Moulton, xxxi. 9 _a_. St. Luke alone uses ἱκανός with χρόνος, both in his Gospel and in Acts (Vogel, Klostermann). μαγείαις : only her... [ Continue Reading ]
εὐαγγελ. περὶ : only here with περί, _cf._ Romans 1:3 (Jos., _Ant._, xv., 7, 2). Amongst the Samaritans Philip would have found a soil already prepared for his teaching, _cf._ John 4:25, and a doctrine of the Messiah, in whom the Samaritans saw not only a political but a religious renewer, and one i... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ αὐτὸς : characteristic of St. Luke, see Friedrich, _Das Lucasevangelium_, p. 37. βαπτισθεὶς ἐβαπτίσθη ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐφωτίσθη (St. Cyril). ἦν προσκαρτερῶν : on ἦν with a participle as characteristic of St. Luke see on Acts 1:10, and Friedrich, _u. s._, p. 12; on προσκαρτ. see on Acts 1:14. Here with d... [ Continue Reading ]
ἡ Σαμ.: here the district; Weiss traces the revising hand of St. Luke (but see on the other hand Wendt, _in loco_). There is nothing surprising in the fact that the preaching of the Gospel in the town should be regarded by the Apostles at Jerusalem as a proof that the good news had penetrated throug... [ Continue Reading ]
οἵτινες : on this form of the relative see Rendall, _in loco;_ Blass however regards it as simply = οἵ, _Grammatik_, p. 169, _cf._ Acts 12:10. καταβάντες, _cf._ Acts 24:1 (Luke 2:42), Acts 11:2; Acts 21:12; Acts 21:15. Wendt defends the historical character of this journey to Samaria as against Zell... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐπιπεπτωκός : the verb is characteristic of St. Luke, and used by him both in his Gospel and in Acts of the occurrence of extraordinary conditions, _e.g._, the sudden influence of the Spirit, _cf._ Luke 1:12; Acts 10:44; Acts 11:15; Acts 19:17, _cf._ Revelation 11:11 (Acts 10:10 cannot be supported,... [ Continue Reading ]
There cannot be any reason to doubt the validity of St. Philip's baptism, and it is therefore evident that the laying on of hands (_cf._ Acts 19:6) is here distinct from baptism, and also from the appointment to any Church office (as in Acts 6:6; Acts 13:3), or the bestowal of any special power of h... [ Continue Reading ]
θεασάμενος : the word would seem to point on (so ἰδών, see critical notes) to some outward manifestation of the inward grace of the Spirit, so Weiss, Wendt, Zöckler; so Felten, although he does not of course limit the reception of the Holy Spirit to such outward evidences of His Presence. The word m... [ Continue Reading ]
ἵνα ᾧ ἐὰν ἐπιθῷ : “that on whomsoever I lay my hands,” _i.e._, quite apart from any profession of faith or test of character; no words could more plainly show how completely Simon mistook the essential source and meaning of the power which he coveted.... [ Continue Reading ]
τὸ ἀργύριόν σου κ. τ. λ.: the words are no curse or imprecation, as is evident from Acts 8:22, but rather a vehement expression of horror on the part of St. Peter, an expression which would warn Simon that he was on the way to destruction. Rendall considers that the real form of the prayer is not th... [ Continue Reading ]
μερὶς οὐδὲ κλῆρος, _cf._ Deuteronomy 12:2; Deuteronomy 14:27; Deuteronomy 14:29; Deuteronomy 18:1; Isaiah 57:6, and instances in Wetstein, see on Acts 1:17. λόγῳ τούτῳ : both A. and R.V. “in this matter,” _i.e._, in the power of communicating the Holy Spirit, but Grotius, Neander, Hackett, Blass, Re... [ Continue Reading ]
κακίας : not used elsewhere by St. Luke, but it significantly meets us twice in St. Peter, _cf._ 1Pe 2:1; 1 Peter 2:16. ἀφεθ.: if we read above, Κυρίου, the meaning will be the Lord Jesus, in whose name the Apostles had been baptising, Acts 8:16, and ἀφεθ. may also point to the word of the Lord Jesu... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰς γὰρ χολὴν : The passages in LXX generally referred to as containing somewhat similar phraseology are Deuteronomy 29:18; Deuteronomy 32:32; Lamentations 3:15. But the word χολή is found in LXX several times, and not always as the equivalent of the same Hebrew. In Deuteronomy 29:18; Deuteronomy 32... [ Continue Reading ]
Δεήθητε : the verse is often taken (as by Meyer and others) as a further proof of the hollowness of Simon's belief, and his ignorance of the way of true repentance he will not pray for himself, and he only asks for deliverance from fear of the penalty and not from hatred of the sin (so Bengel). But... [ Continue Reading ]
οἱ μὲν οὖν : the μὲν οὖν and δέ in Acts 8:26 may connect the return of the party to Jerusalem and the following instructions to Philip for his journey, and so enable us to gather for a certainty that Philip returned to Jerusalem with the Apostles, and received there his further directions from the L... [ Continue Reading ]
ἄγγελος : on the frequency of angelic appearances, another characteristic of St. Luke, see Friedrich, _Das Lucasevangelium_, pp. 45 and 52 (so Zeller, _Acts_, ii., 224, E.T.), _cf._ Luke 2:9 and Acts 12:7; Luke 1:38 and Acts 10:7; Luke 24:4 and Acts 1:10; Acts 10:30. There can be no doubt, as Wendt... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ ἀναστὰς ἐπορεύθη : immediate and implicit obedience. καὶ ἰδού, see on Acts 1:11; _cf._ Hort, _Ecclesia_, p. 179, on the force of the phrase; used characteristically by St. Luke of sudden and as it were providential interpositions, Acts 1:10; Acts 10:17; Acts 12:7, and see note on Acts 16:1. εὐνο... [ Continue Reading ]
ἄρματος : the chariot was regarded as a mark of high rank: very frequent word in LXX, but in N.T. only here, and in Revelation 9:9; cf. Revelation 18:13. “Chariot,” Hastings' B.D., properly in classics a war-chariot, but here for ἁρμάμαξα, a covered chariot (Blass), Herod., vii., 41. ἀνεγίνωσκεν : e... [ Continue Reading ]
τὸ πνεῦμα εἶπεν : nothing inconsistent with the previous statement that an angel had spoken to him, as Weiss supposes by referring the angel visit to a reviser. There was no reason why the angel should accompany Philip, or reappear to him, whilst the inward guidance of the Spirit would be always pre... [ Continue Reading ]
προσδραμὼν δὲ : rightly taken to indicate the eagerness with which Philip obeyed. Αρά γε the γε strengthens the ἆρα, dost thou really understand? _num igitur?_ ἆρα without γε is only found elsewhere in Luke 18:8, and in Galatians 2:17 (W.H [218], and also Lightfoot, _Galatians, l.c._), see Blass, _i... [ Continue Reading ]
γὰρ; “elegans particula hoc sensu _quid quaeris?_ ” implies, Why do you ask? for how should I be able? (_cf._ Matthew 27:23; Mark 15:14; Luke 23:22); see Simcox, _Language of N. T. Greek_, p. 172; Grimm-Thayer, _sub v._, I. ἂν δυναίμην : optative with ἂν; occurs only in Luke, both in his Gospel and... [ Continue Reading ]
περιοχὴ τῆς γραφῆς “the contents of the passage of Scripture” _i.e._, the one particular passage, Isaiah 53:7-8 (so Meyer-Wendt, Holtzmann, Hackett), _cf._ Acts 1:16, and 1 Peter 2:6 : περιέχει ἐν τῇ γραφῇ and ταύτης in Acts 8:35 below; περιοχή has been taken to mean a _section_, as in Cicero, _Epis... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐν τῇ ταπεινώσει κ. τ. λ., _cf._ Isaiah 53:7-8, “in his humiliation his judgment was taken away” (LXX), so A. and R.V., generally taken to mean by his humbling himself his judgment was cancelled, _cf._ Philippians 2:6-7, so Wendt in seventh and eighth editions: _cf._ Grimm-Thayer, _sub v._, κρίσις,... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀποκ., see above Acts 3:12; Acts 5:8. It has been sometimes supposed that the eunuch was acquainted with the tradition that Isaiah had been sawn asunder by Manasseh Felten, see Wetstein on Hebrews 11:37.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀνοίξας τὸ στ. αὐτοῦ : the phrase is used to introduce some weighty and important utterance, _cf._ Acts 10:34; Acts 18:14, and Luke 1:64, so too Matthew 5:2; 2 Corinthians 6:11, also frequent in LXX; “aperire os in Scriptura est ordiri longum sermonem de re gravi et seria. Significat ergo Lucas coep... [ Continue Reading ]
ἰδοὺ ὕδωρ : “intus _fides_, foris _aqua_ præsto erat” Bengel. According to Jerome (_Epist._, ciii.) and Eusebius (περὶ τόπων), the site of the baptism was placed at Bethsura (Bethzur, Joshua 15:28; 2 Chronicles 11:17; Nehemiah 3:16, etc.), about twenty miles from Jerusalem, and two from Hebron. Robi... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰς τὸ ὕδωρ : even if the words are rendered “unto the water” (Plumptre), the context ἀνέβησαν ἐκ indicates that the baptism was by immersion, and there can be no doubt that this was the custom in the early Church. St. Paul's symbolic language in Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12, certainly seems to presu... [ Continue Reading ]
Πνεῦμα Κ. ἥρπασε : although the expression is simply Πνεῦμα Κ. the reference is evidently to the same divine power as in Acts 8:29, and cannot be explained as meaning an inward impulse of the Evangelist, or as denoting a hurricane or storm of wind (as even Nösgen and Stier supposed). The article is... [ Continue Reading ]
εὑρέθη εἰς Ἄ.: _constructio prægnans_ = was borne to and found at, _cf._ Acts 21:13; or, as εἰς means more than ἐν, implying that he had come _into_ the city and was staying there, _cf._ Esther 1:5; marg. Hebrew “found,” A. V., εὑρίσκω, מָצָא, is very often found in the LXX in similar phrases, _e.g.... [ Continue Reading ]