Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary (4 vols)

Acts 11:11

Acts 11:11. Behold, there were three men already come. He notes, and calls his hearers to note, the startling coincidence of this arrival. The exclamation ‘Behold!' has its significance. Once more it is instructive to compare his mode of presenting the history at Jerusalem with the narrative as given by St. Luke. The apostle says nothing of the trouble taken by the messengers in inquiring for the house of Simon the Tanner, and of their manner of presenting themselves before the gate. These were facts external to the experience of St. Peter himself. Nor does he say anything of the intense mental consideration in which he was engaged when the messengers suddenly arrived. For himself at the moment this had been all-important. But that which it is essential for the ‘apostles and elders' to mark is the visible presence of God's hand in the transaction. This was an argument, the overpowering force of which they could not easily resist.

Unto the house where I was. Where this house was, and what was the name of its owner, were questions foreign to St. Peter's mode of making his statement (see notes on Acts 10:6; Acts 10:42).

Sent from Cæsarea unto me. The naming of the place was of consequence (see notes above on the naming of Joppa, Acts 11:5). The words ‘unto me' are emphatic (see above on Acts 10:5; Acts 10:22; Acts 10:32; and comp. Acts 15:7).

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Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary (4 vols)

Acts 11:11

Old Testament

New Testament