ἤμην δὲ ἀγν. The correct translation is not I was unknown (as our versions render it), but I was becoming unknown. At the beginning of this period he was a familiar figure in Jerusalem, but in the course of ten years' absence he gradually became a stranger to the Christians of Judæa. ἐκκλησίαις. This passage speaks of the Churches of Judæa in the plural, as does also 1 Thessalonians 2:14. In the Acts the Church throughout Judæa, Galilee and Samaria is described as a single Church according to the text of the best MSS. (Acts 9:31): the funds contributed for the relief of the poor Christians in Judæa are handed over to the Elders at Jerusalem (Acts 11:29, (Acts 12:25); brethren from Judæa are censured as members of their own body by the assembled Church at Jerusalem (Acts 15:1; Acts 15:24). It would seem from this that an effective unity of administration and control existed in Jerusalem side by side with local organisation of the several Churches of Judæa.

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Old Testament