Acts 10:1

Cæsarea and Cornelius, 1, 2.

Acts 10:1. There was a certain man. In the Authorised Version there is no equivalent to the little particle δὶ but this little particle is not without its importance. It serves to connect what we read here with what we read in the latter part of the preceding chapter. The work and miracles of Peter at Lydda and elsewhere were the preparation for what is now about to be recounted. His residence at Joppa was locally the starting-point for the momentous mission presently to be undertaken. All this sacred history, both in its outward circumstances and in the apostle's personal experience, is arranged on a providential plan.

It is not easy, nor is it necessary, to fix the precise relations as to time between the preaching and acceptance of Christianity among the Gentiles at Antioch, the account of which meets us in the tatter part of the eleventh chapter, and that great story of the conversion of Cornelius, which is the subject of the tenth and the earlier part of the eleventh. The exact chronological order of these events is not of essential moment. When a great providential change is about to occur, premonitory indications may be expected; and if the change is one that affects all mankind, such symptoms may be looked for simultaneously in various places. Reuss gives precedence, in point of time, to the events which occurred at Antioch: and certainly the first Gentile Church was there; the name ‘Christian' came into existence there; and Antioch became the Jerusalem of Gentile Christianity. But this priority in time cannot be proved. More will be said on this subject when we come to that part of the history. Meantime it is an undoubted fact that CÆSAREA is set before us as the scene of the bright beginning of that revelation of the ‘mystery of the reception of the Gentiles on equal terms with the Jews, in which St. Paul afterwards so much gloried (Ephesians 3:3-6; Colossians 1:26-27), and our attention is pointedly fixed upon Cornelius as the first typical example of Gentile Christendom. We are brought at this part of the history to an event so remarkable, that we must lay emphatic stress both upon the man and the place. They harmonize with and are correlative to one another. Cæsarea is the appointed and proper frame for the portrait of Cornelius.

In Cæsarea. Some notice of this place has been already given on the occasion of the first mention of it (Acts 8:40; see also Acts 9:30), where Philip the Evangelist is described as arriving there from Azotus, after the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch. But the importance of Cæsarea in connection with Cornelius is so great that the following circumstances may be added. This city is very conspicuous in the Acts of the Apostles. For instance, not to refer again to what has preceded, St. Paul closed at this place his second and his third missionary journeys (Acts 18:22; Acts 21:8). To this place he was sent, after the uproar at Jerusalem, that he might be safe, and that he might appear before the governor (Acts 23:23); and from this port he sailed on his voyage to Italy (Acts 27:1). This prominence of Cæsarea in the Acts of the Apostles could not be otherwise, if the history is a true one. It was a city of the utmost importance at this time, partly in connection with the Roman road along the coast, but still more because of its harbour, by which it communicated with all the West. This harbour is said by Josephus to have rivalled that of the Piraeus. Its great breakwater may be compared with that of Cherbourg in our own day. Tacitus says that Cæsarea was ‘the head of Judæa.' Moreover it was specially a Gentile city. The Jews were relatively less numerous there than in any other part of Palestine. It was a Pagan metropolis in the Holy Land. Above all things it is to be noted that, when Palestine was a Roman province, the governor resided here. Felix and Festus after this date, and, no doubt, Pontius Pilate previously, had their official palace at Cæsarea. Here, too, were the chief quarters of the soldiers, who kept this land in subjection, whether under Herodian kings or under Roman governors. Tholuck (Die Glaub-würdigkeit der Evangelischen Geschichte, p. 174) remarks on the presence of the ‘Italian cohort' at this place as an indication of the natural truthfulness of the history. And the same remark might be made concerning the presence of the ‘Augustat cohort' in this place (Acts 27:1; see note on that passage). In its very name, as in the character of its buildings, Cæsarea was a reflection of imperial Rome. Thus this city was an expression of the relation of Palestine to the empire, and of the condition of things under which the Gospel was propagated. We should not fail to notice this particular form of the connection between the Holy Land and the Heathen world at large. It was a Gentile capital of Judæa with which we have to do in the Acts of the Apostles. There was something providential, if we may say so, in the fact that Jerusalem never became the Roman capital, but always retained its Hebrew character.

Galled Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band. In these two verses we have information as to what he was (1) nationally and officially, and (2) in personal character; and we naturally wish to know all we can about the man who occupies so remarkable a place in the sacred history of the world.

His was a true Roman name, and a very distinguished one. No gens was better known in the Roman annals than the Cornelian. The name of Cornelius probably points to the fact that he was a true-born Italian.

As to his position in life, he was a centurion a military officer holding a responsible position. It is worth while to remark here, in passing, on the honourable character of all the centurions who come specially before us in the New Testament two in the Gospels, and two in the Acts. The close connection of the history of the founding of Christianity with military subjects is remarkable and instructive. We have here, in the case of Cornelius, an anticipation of the intimate association of St. Paul with the Roman army. It does not follow from this that war is a good thing. Rather we ought to say that it is a bad thing overruled for good, and made subservient to missionary purposes. In illustration of St. Paul's frequent use of military metaphors, derived from this connection, see especially Ephesians 6:11-18.

The cohort to which Cornelius belonged was the Italic cohort. The phrase τῆς καλουμενης may denote a popular appellation of this body of troops (see Acts 27:14). However this may be, the title seems to indicate a cohort of true-born Italians. Wherever other cohorts quartered in Cæsarea or in other parts of Palestine may have been recruited, this was recruited in Italy. The Latin character of the corps is strongly marked; and this is in harmony with all the circumstances of the case. Gloag and Alexander compare the position of this cohort in Judæa with that of a British regiment in India, as distinguished from Sepoy or native troops. Gloag suggests that it may have been ‘the body-guard of the Roman governor,' and valuable to him as ‘formed of troops on whom he could depend in disputes with the natives.' But here this useful commentator is in error. Judæa was not at this time a province under a Roman governor, such as Pilate, or Felix, or Festus, but a Kingdom under Herod Agrippa I. (see Acts 12:1, and especially Acts 12:19). This fact has some bearing on the question whether the Italic cohort was a detached body of troops, or a part of a legion. The former is more likely. The relation of the Roman army to petty dependent sovereigns under the empire is full of interest, and derives some illustration from what we read concerning the soldiers of Herod Antipas in Luke 23:11. It is highly probable that the corps under consideration was identical with a cohort of Italian volunteers in Syria, which is mentioned in an ancient inscription adduced by Akerman Numismatic Illustrations of the New Testament, p. 33, an unpretending treatise which ought not to be overlooked in any commentary on this book of the Bible).