EXCURSUS A. ON THE PENTECOSTAL MIRACLE.
On the day of Pentecost, the first part of the work of the divine
Founder of the Christian Church was completed when the Holy Ghost was
given by the Father to the ‘hundred and twenty' gathered together in
the name of Jesus. A special grace and power was doubtl... [ Continue Reading ]
_Descent of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost,_ 1-4.
Acts 2:1. AND WHEN THE DAY OF PENTECOST WAS FULLY COME. The exact time
when the great miracle took place is specified. The Holy Ghost fell on
the apostles and their company _in_ _the course of the day of the
feast of Pentecost._ The word ‘Pen... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:2-3. THERE CAME FROM HEAVEN a SOUND as OF a RUSHING MIGHTY
WIND, AND IT FILLED ALL THE HOUSE WHERE THEY WERE SITTING. AND THERE
APPEARED UNTO THEM CLOVEN TONGUES LIKE AS OF FIRE, AND IT SAT UPON
EACH OF THEM. The external signs which attended the outpouring of the
Spirit on the chosen band we... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:4. AND THEY WERE ALL FILLED WITH THE HOLY GHOST, AND BEGAN TO
SPEAK WITH OTHER TONGUES, etc. And then those fire-tongues they saw
flaming round their heads a bright and glorious aureole seemed to
speak from each man's heart, and to give utterance in a new strange
language to the thoughts of a... [ Continue Reading ]
_How the Multitude were moved by the Miracle,_ 5-13.
Acts 2:5. AND THERE WERE DWELLING AT JERUSALEM JEWS, DEVOUT MEN, OUT
OF EVERY NATION UNDER HEAVEN.
Dwelling. The Greek word used here (ϰατοιϰοῡτες).
according to classical usage, would convey the notion that the foreign
Jews here alluded to were... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:6. NOW WHEN THIS WAS NOISED ABROAD; or better rendered, ‘And
when this sound was heard.' Calvin, Beza, and the translators of the
English Version have understood these words in the sense of ‘Now
when this report arose;' the meaning of the Greek word, however, leads
us to the right sense of th... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:7. BEHOLD, ARE NOT ALL THESE WHICH SPEAK, GALILEANS? The
frequenters of that house, where the ‘hundred and twenty' were
gathered together, were no doubt well known to the ‘devout men,' who
had made the Holy City their home, to be at least for the most part
from Galilee. Provincials, notorious... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:8. IN OUR OWN TONGUE, WHEREIN WE WERE BORN. Foreign Jews had
long lost their acquaintance with Hebrew and its various dialects. The
translation of the LXX. bore witness to the wide diffusion of the
‘Greek' language among the chosen people, who, born and brought up
in distant lands, were utter... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:9. PARTHIANS, MEDES, ELAMITES. In the Persian kingdom. It was
among these peoples that Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, settled the
captive ten tribes.
MESOPOTAMIA. The country lying between the river Tigris and the river
Euphrates. Here the Jewish captives were left by Nebuchadnezzar.
JUDEA... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:10. PHRYGIA lay on the east of ‘Asia,' but the greater part
of it was then reckoned in that great province.
PAMPHYLIA, a small division extending along the coast of the
Mediterranean Sea, was a tributary district. From these five provinces
of Asia Minor St. Luke passes to the south.
EGYPT... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:11. CRETES AND ARABIANS. In Crete the Jews were very numerous.
Arabia, bordering on the Holy Land, of course counted among its
inhabitants many Israelites. No sufficient reason, however, can be
assigned for these two names occurring _at the end_ of the list.
Hackett considers them ‘an after-t... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:12-13. AND THEY WERE ALL AMAZED... OTHERS MOCKING, SAID, THESE
MEN ARE FULL OF NEW WINE. The effect of the Pentecost miracle was
twofold. Some were convinced, some became inquirers. We read later,
that three thousand were baptized (first - fruits of the Pentecostal
miracle) that very day; whi... [ Continue Reading ]
_St. Peter's First Discourse,_ 14-36.
No doubt the few discourses St. Luke has given us in the ‘Acts,'
represent faithfully the various characteristic features of early
apostolic preaching. They are studiedly simple: the arguments brought
forward are carefully chosen with due regard to the audience... [ Continue Reading ]
_First Division of the Discourse, 14-21._
What they heard was no effect of drunkenness, but the long prophesied
outpouring of the Spirit.
Acts 2:14. BUT PETER, STANDING UP WITH THE ELEVEN, LIFTED UP HIS
VOICE. St. Augustine well calls attention to the marked change in St.
Peter now that the Holy G... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:15. THESE ARE NOT DRUNKEN, AS YE SUPPOSE, SEEING IT IS BUT THE
THIRD HOUR OF THE DAY. The division of the day into twelve hours seems
to have come into general use among the Jews during the captivity at
Babylon. It is first mentioned by Daniel. The third hour here alluded
to was about nine in... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:16. THIS IS THAT WHICH WAS SPOKEN BY THE PROPHET JOEL. _This,_
namely, the wonderful utterances of praise, the crowds from so many
nations had been just listening to. The quotation, with a few
unimportant variations (which will be noticed in their places), is
from the LXX., Joel 3:1-5, Hebrew... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:17. _In_ THE LAST DAYS. The LXX. here reads μετὰ
ταῡτα, _after these things._ The great Jewish commentator Rabbi
D. Kim chi says these two expressions mean the same thing. ‘And it
shall be after these things,' is the same as, ‘And it shall be in
the last days' (R. D. Kimchi in Lightfoot, _Hor... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:18. AND ON MY SERVANTS AND ON MY HANDMAIDENS I WILL POUR OUT IN
THOSE DAYS OF MY SPIRIT. This has been understood as a reference to
the number of slaves and persons of the lowest rank who became
Christians, and suffered and endured such great things for the sake of
Jesus during the first age... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:19-20. AND I WILL SHOW WONDERS IN HEAVEN ABOVE, AND SIGNS IN
THE EARTH BENEATH; BLOOD, FIRE, AND VAPOUR OF SMOKE... BEFORE THAT
GREAT AND NOTABLE DAY OF THE LORD COME. The Messianic dispensation,
however, has two aspects the one characterized by grace and mercy, the
other by judgment and puni... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:21. AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, THAT WHO-SO EVER SHALL CALL ON
THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED. St. Peter here winds up the first
division of his discourse, turning from theology to life, telling men
and women of all races and ages the name of Him who could save them in
all and through all... [ Continue Reading ]
_Second Division of St. Peter's Discourse,_ 22-28.
St. Peter declares the name of that Lord who will save all the
children of men who choose to call upon Him.
Acts 2:22. JESUS OF NAZARETH. The words ‘of Nazareth' are added as
His usual designation among the Jews, the name ‘Jesus' not being an
unco... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:23. HIM, BEING DELIVERED BY THE DETERMINATE COUNSEL AND
FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD. This was not man's work, St. Peter says; but all
this was done strictly in accordance with God's own design _all_ had
been settled, had been foreseen by Him.
FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD. This indirectly appeals for suppor... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:24. WHOM GOD HATH RAISED UP. ‘Resurrection.' Peter had been
leading up all the time to this great fact the resurrection of Jesus;
the remainder of his discourse (thirteen verses) dwells exclusively on
this theme. So much hung on it. (1) It was the centre of that grand
redemption scheme Peter... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:25. FOR DAVID SPEAKETH CONCERNING him. To show it was no new
idea of his, that death could not hold the ‘Holy One of God,' St.
Peter quotes the words of Psalms 16, where David writes of the sure
hope of a joyous future life with God. This sure hope of immortality
is the spirit of the Psalm; b... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:26. THEREFORE DID MY HEART REJOICE. These words describe
Messiah's glad consciousness on earth of His oneness with the Father;
for an expression of this, compare the words of Jesus on the occasion
of the raising of Lazarus (St. John, John 11:42), ‘I know that Thou
hearest me always.'
AND MY... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:27. BECAUSE THOU WILT NOT LEAVE MY SOUL IN HELL. This was the
Redeemer's sure confidence during the days of His earthly life. It
may, if we will, be _ours_ too; for after a little while the joyful
resurrection of the Lord, of body as well as soul, will be the
inheritance of all holy and humbl... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:28. THOU HAST MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE. The thoughts
of the Redeemer on earth are still being expressed. To Him in His deep
humiliation were made known by the Father those mysterious ways which
lead through death to life. He knew when He had endured the pain and
agony of the cross, w... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:29. LET ME FREELY SPEAK UNTO YOU OF THE PATRIARCH DAVID. Freely
(‘frei und offen,' Meyer and Ewald), without fear of being thought
unjust to the great memory of the royal patriarch, the founder of the
kingly house of Judah.
THAT HE IS BOTH DEAD AND BURIED, AND HIS SEPULCHRE IS WITH US. This... [ Continue Reading ]
_Third Division of St. Peter's Discourse,_ 29-36.
The preacher shows that that great Psalm which he has used as a
bulwark of his argument respecting Messiah, could not by any
possibility refer to David, or in fact to any one but Jesus.... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:30. THEREFORE BEING A PROPHET. ‘In the stricter sense, a
foreteller of future events by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit'
(Alford). Jesus Himself expressly speaks of David writing ‘in the
Spirit' (Matthew 22:43).
AND KNOWING THAT GOD HAD SWORN WITH AN OATH TO HIM, THAT OF THE FRUIT
OF HIS... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:31. HE SEEING THIS BEFORE SPAKE OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST,
THAT HIS SOUL WAS NOT LEFT in HELL, NEITHER DID HIS FLESH SEE
CORRUPTION. David as a seer looking (παίδων) into the far
future, wrote of this great Descendant of his of whom the prophet
Nathan had spoken as establishing the throne... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:32. THIS JESUS HATH GOD RAISED UP. Looking back to Acts 2:24,
this Jesus whom you all knew about so well as David's descendant has
fulfilled all the varied details of this marvellous prophecy; for as
_you_ know He was dead, He is risen again.
WHEREOF WE ARE ALL WITNESSES. No doubt here poin... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:33. THEREFORE BEING BY THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD EXALTED. Render
instead, THEREFORE BEING EXALTED TO THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD. The
quotation from the prophecy of Psalms 16, which related in so
strangely an accurate way Messiah's calm, joyful confidence that death
should have no abiding power over ei... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:34-35. FOR DAVID IS NOT ASCENDED INTO THE HEAVENS: BUT HE SAITH
HIMSELF, THE LORD SAID UNTO MY LORD, SIT THOU ON MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL
I MAKE THY FOES THY FOOTSTOOL. The preacher, here fearful lest any
should still suspect that King David was the One spoken of throughout
the great passage he h... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:36. LET ALL THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL KNOW ASSUREDLY. Conclusion of
the discourse. The whole of this first apostolic sermon was addressed
to f _etus._ St. Peter in his argument lays little stress on the
miracles of the Lord. He only alludes to them in passing, and argues
alone from fulfilled prophe... [ Continue Reading ]
_Effect of the First Discourse of St. Peter, 37-41._
‘St. Luke here relates what was the fruit of the sermons, that we
may know that the Holy Spirit was displayed not merely in the variety
of tongues, but in the hearts too of those who heard' (Calvin).
Acts 2:37. Now when they heard this, they wer... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:38. BE BAPTIZED. The rite of baptism was well known to the
Jews: they used to baptize proselytes and their children.
IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST. Their belief in Jesus was the ground on
which they were to be baptized (Meyer). Here only do we find the
expression ‘to be baptized _in_ the name'... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:38-40. The exquisite tact and courtesy so marked in all the
early Christian writings, and especially in the apostolic letters and
sermons we possess, is very remarkable in this little _resume_ of the
first great Christian address. St. Peter forbears all reproach, for
they were fully conscious... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:39. For the promise is unto you. The promise contained in the
prophecy of Joel, viz. the miraculous gifts and influences of the
Spirit a characteristic, as far as regards the miraculous gifts, of
the first days of the age of Messiah.
AND TO YOUR CHILDREN. Hackett explains ‘your children' as... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:40. WITH MANY OTHER WORDS. ‘The words cited appear to be the
concluding and inclusive summary of St. Peter's many exhortations'
(Alford). SAVE YOURSELVES FROM THIS UNTOWARD GENERATION. This should
be rendered (as σώθητε is passive): _Be ye saved_ (by God),
Lasset each rotten (De Wette).
FRO... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:41. THEN THEY THAT GLADLY RECEIVED HIS WORD WERE BAPTIZED: AND
THE SAME DAY THERE WERE ADDED TO THEM ABOUT THREE THOUSAND SOULS.
Several commentators remark here, that as during the course at least
of that day three thousand persons received baptism, this great
multitude could not have been _... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:42. AND THEY CONTINUED STEDFASTLY. The three thousand souls
converted after the Pentecost feast. The _whole_ church is not
especially mentioned in Acts 2:44.
In the apostles' doctrine. Those who had just joined the little
company of believers in Jesus naturally sought to know more and more... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Church of the First Days in Jerusalem,_ 42-47.
St. Luke gives us in these few verses a vivid and a beautiful picture
of the beginnings of the faith. The believers were no mere handful of
men and women now. A large proportion of the three thousand who had
been baptized at Pentecost doubtless wer... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:43. AND FEAR CAME UPON EVERY SOUL. The general impression on
the public mind. A feeling of awe was excited even among those who did
not join the company of believers. AND MANY WONDERS AND SIGNS WERE
DONE BY THE APOSTLES. The healing of the lame man by Peter and John,
related in the 3d chapter... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:44-45. The question of ‘community of goods in the early
Church' is discussed in Excursus (B) at the end of this chapter.
AND ALL THAT BELIEVED WERE TOGETHER. This means that they assembled
together. There were probably, even at this early period, several
places of assembly for the followers... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:46. AND THEY, CONTINUING DAILY WITH ONE ACCORD IN THE TEMPLE.
The wisdom of the Church of the first days was conspicuously shown in
their reverent love for the temple of their fathers. This no doubt, in
no small degree contributed to their _having_ (as we read in the next
(Acts 2:47) verse) _... [ Continue Reading ]
Acts 2:47. ADDED TO THE CHURCH. The balance of authorities is rather
against admitting ‘to the church' in the text. The sense of the
passage, if the word be omitted, would remain unaltered. The word
ἰϰϰλησία, _church,_ is a favourite one with the author of the
Acts. It occurs in this book (says Word... [ Continue Reading ]