AND SAUL YET BREATHING OUT THREATENINGS AND SLAUGHTER,.... The historian having given an account of the dispersion of all the preachers of the Gospel at Jerusalem, excepting the apostles, and of their success in other parts, especially of Philip's, returns to the history of Saul; who, not satisfied... [ Continue Reading ]
AND DESIRED OF HIM LETTERS TO DAMASCUS,.... Damascus was the head or metropolis of Syria, Isaiah 7:8 And so Pliny z calls it Damascus of Syria: it was a very ancient city; it was in the times of Abraham; his servant Eliezer is said to be of it, Genesis 15:2 and some say it was built by him the said... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AS HE JOURNEYED, HE CAME NEAR DAMASCUS,.... Some say it was a mile from Damascus: though, no mention is made of his obtaining letters from the high priest, only of his desiring them; yet there is no doubt but they were granted him; the design of the historian, under a divine direction, being to... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE FELL TO THE EARTH,.... Not being able to bear the light, and still less the divine glory and majesty which he perceived was present; and therefore, in great confusion, amazement, and fear, he fell with his face to the ground, and lay there prostrate and so did also those that were with him, A... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAID, WHO ART THOU, LORD?.... For he knew not whether it was God, or an angel, or who it was that spake to him; he knew not Christ by his form or voice, as Stephen did, when he saw him standing at the right hand of God; he was in a state of ignorance, and knew neither the person, nor voice of... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE TREMBLING AND ASTONISHED,.... At the light and voice, and appearance of Christ, and especially at the words last spoken; he was now pricked to the heart, and filled with a sense of sin, and loaded with guilt, and had dreadful apprehensions of his state and condition, on account of his past wi... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE MEN WHICH JOURNEYED WITH HIM,.... Out of respect to him, to keep him company; or rather to assist him in his designs: STOOD SPEECHLESS: astonished and amazed, they had not power to speak one word, nor to rise from the ground, and move one step forward; they were as if they were thunderstruc... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SAUL AROSE FROM THE EARTH,.... As he was bid by Christ, Acts 9:6 AND WHEN HIS EYES WERE OPENED HE SAW NO MAN; neither Christ, who appeared to him from heaven, whom he had before seen, nor even any of his companions, nor indeed any object: the Syriac version renders it, "he saw nothing"; not any... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE WAS THREE DAYS WITHOUT SIGHT,.... Without bodily sight; for otherwise all this while his spiritual sight was increasing, and Christ was giving him by his Spirit a full view of himself, his state and case, and where his salvation was; and a clear insight into the doctrines of the Gospel, which... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THERE WAS A CERTAIN DISCIPLE AT DAMASCUS,.... Who perhaps came hither upon the persecution at Jerusalem, or rather might have lived here some time; Acts 9:13 that he was more than a private or ordinary disciple of Christ seems manifest, from his being sent to Saul on such an, important affair; f... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SAID UNTO HIM, ARISE,.... Quickly, directly, immediately, from off thy bed; the case required haste and dispatch: AND GO INTO THE STREET WHICH IS CALLED STRAIGHT; a street in the city of Damascus so called; the streets of cities were called by different names, to distinguish them as ou... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HATH SEEN IN A VISION A MAN NAMED ANANIAS,.... Some read this verse in a parenthesis, and take them to be the words of Luke the historian; but it is rather a continuation of the words of Christ, telling Ananias, for his greater encouragement to go to Saul, that he had seen him in a vision, and h... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN ANANIAS ANSWERED, LORD,.... Though Ananias knew that it was the Lord that spoke, and acknowledged his power and dominion, and expressed his readiness to obey his commands; yet there was a timidity in him, and which was the more inexcusable, that it should appear after the Lord had told him of t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HERE HE HATH AUTHORITY FROM THE CHIEF PRIESTS,.... His fury and madness against the saints did not stop at Jerusalem, but he had received a commission from the sanhedrim to go to Damascus, where he now was: TO BIND ALL THAT CALL ON THY NAME; to take up all such persons and put them in bonds, an... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THE LORD SAID UNTO HIM, GO THY WAY,.... The Syriac version reads, "arise, go thy way"; make no delay, nor any excuse, there is no reason for it; nothing is to be feared from him: FOR HE IS A CHOSEN VESSEL UNTO ME; a choice and excellent one, full of the heavenly treasure of the Gospel, full of... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR I WILL SHOW HIM,.... In vision, and by prophecy, either now, or hereafter; or by facts, as they come upon him: HOW GREAT THINGS HE MUST SUFFER FOR MY NAME'S SAKE; such as weariness, pain, and watchings, hunger, thirst, fastings, cold, and nakedness, perils on various accounts, and from differen... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ANANIAS WENT HIS WAY,.... He arose from off his bed or seat, where he was, went out of his house, and on the way to the place where Saul was; he had nothing more to say, his objections were answered; there was no room to excuse himself, nor did he now desire it, but quietly yields, and cheerfull... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IMMEDIATELY THERE FELL FROM HIS EYES, AS IT HAD BEEN SCALES,.... Which were little thin skins or films, like the scales of fishes, which were formed from the defluxions that fell from his brain, through the excessive light that shone around him, and the surprise he was thrown into by it: these,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN HE HAD RECEIVED MEAT,.... Which was set before him when he had received his sight, and after he was baptized, of which he had not tasted for three days: HE WAS STRENGTHENED; in body, being before very weak and feeble; not so much through fatigue of his journey, as through the fear and surp... [ Continue Reading ]
AND STRAIGHTWAY HE PREACHED CHRIST IN THE SYNAGOGUES,.... The Syriac version adds, "of the Jews"; that is, which were in Damascus, Acts 9:2 from whence it appears, that he was immediately, as soon as converted, qualified for the work of preaching the Gospel: nor did he confer with flesh and blood, o... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT ALL THAT HEARD HIM WERE AMAZED,.... Not the disciples that believed in Christ, but the unbelievers, as appears from their words: AND SAID, IS NOT THIS HE THAT DESTROYED THEM THAT CALLED ON THIS NAME IN JERUSALEM? they do not express the name of Christ, out of malice and ill will; which shows wh... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT SAUL INCREASED THE MORE IN STRENGTH,.... Not of body, but of mind; his gifts and graces, and spiritual light and knowledge increased; his abilities were greater; his fortitude of mind, boldness, and freedom of speech, every day increased: he got more, and new, and fresh arguments, by which he hi... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AFTER THAT MANY DAYS WERE FULFILLED,.... This phrase is used by the Septuagint on Exodus 2:11 for a considerable length of time, for many years. The Jewish writers observe t, that the phrase, "many days", signify at least three days; for by "days", in the plural number, two must be designed, and... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THEIR LAYING AWAIT WAS KNOWN OF SAUL,.... Either by divine revelation, or by some friends, who had got knowledge of it, and gave him information, as in Acts 23:16 and they watched the gates night and day to kill him; that is, the Jews, together with the governor of the city, and the garrison of... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN THE DISCIPLES TOOK HIM BY NIGHT,.... The Alexandrian copy reads, "his disciples"; the disciples of Saul, such as he had been instrumental in making at Damascus: but it is not usual for the saints to be called in Scripture the disciples of any man; therefore the common reading is best, and desig... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN SAUL WAS COME TO JERUSALEM,.... After he had escaped out of Damascus, in the manner before related, and which was three years after his conversion: HE ASSAYED TO JOIN HIMSELF TO THE DISCIPLES; not to the private members of the church, or ordinary disciples, as distinct from the apostles, b... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT BARNABAS TOOK HIM, AND BROUGHT HIM TO THE APOSTLES,.... To Peter and James, the brother of our Lord, for no other apostles did he see at this time, Galatians 1:18. It is probable that Barnabas had been at Damascus, and had there related to him, the whole account of Saul's conversion and entrance... [ Continue Reading ]
AND BE WAS WITH THEM,.... Peter and James, and the rest of the disciples; he lived with them, conversed with them, and joined with them in all religious exercises; which is signified by his COMING IN AND GOING OUT AT JERUSALEM; no one of the apostles or disciples forbidding or hindering him.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SPAKE BOLDLY IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS,.... He spoke the Gospel of Christ boldly, as it ought to be spoken; he spoke it openly, publicly, freely, and faithfully, not fearing the faces or revilings of any: the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions add, "to the Gentiles"; but this is not in a... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH WHEN THE BRETHREN KNEW,.... When the members of the church heard of it, by some means or another: THEY BROUGHT HIM DOWN TO CAESAREA; not that which was before called Strato's tower, the same as in Acts 8:40 but Caesarea Philippi, mentioned in Matthew 16:13 the Syriac version adds, "by night",... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN HAD THE CHURCHES REST,.... Meaning not spiritual rest in Christ; this they had before, even in tribulation, but rest from persecution; not so much because of the conversion of Saul, the great persecutor of them, for his conversion had been three years before; but rather because of his removal t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT CAME TO PASS, AS PETER PASSED THROUGH ALL QUARTERS,.... The Arabic version reads, "all the foresaid places", as Judea, Galilee, and Samaria; through which he took a tour, in order to visit the new churches here planted, fix pastors over them, and confirm the Gospel by miracles, which they had... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THERE HE FOUND A CERTAIN MAN,.... In a house in that city, into which he entered: NAMED AENEAS; which is a Gentile name, and so might the person be; though there is mention made of this name among the Jews. We read of one R. Samuel Bar, אנייא "Aenea, or Aeneas" l; but it was more common among t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND PETER SAID UNTO HIM, AENEAS, c. He called him by his name, which he might without divine revelation know, though he was a stranger to him, by the people of the house, where he was: JESUS CHRIST MAKETH THEE WHOLE Peter knew, by some secret impulse upon his mind, that Christ would cure this man b... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ALL THAT DWELT AT LYDDA AND SARON,.... Saron, which is here joined to Lydda, is the name of a fruitful country on the borders of the Mediterranean sea, between Joppa and Caesarea, beginning at Lydda. There were two countries in the land of Israel called Saron, as Jerom observes n; there was one... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW THERE WAS AT JOPPA,.... The same with Japho, Joshua 19:46 a sea port town in the tribe of Dan, said by some historians w to be a very ancient one, even before the flood. It is now called Jaffa, and its name, in the Hebrew tongue, signifies beauty: some say it had its name from Jope, the daughter... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT CAME TO PASS IN THOSE DAYS,.... While Peter was in those parts, and particularly at Lydda, which was near: THAT SHE WAS SICK AND DIED; fell ill with some disorder, and died of it: WHOM, WHEN THEY HAD WASHED; as was the manner of the Jews; and this they did, even though it was on a sabbath d... [ Continue Reading ]
AND FORASMUCH AS LYDDA WAS NIGH TO JOPPA,.... Some say it was six miles distant, but it must be eight; since from Jerusalem to Joppa were forty miles, and from Jerusalem to Lydda thirty two, and therefore it must be eight miles from thence to Joppa: AND THE DISCIPLES HAD HEARD THAT PETER WAS THERE;... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN PETER AROSE AND WENT WITH THEM,.... After the messengers had delivered their message, and made their request to Peter in the name of the brethren, he at once agreed to go with them, and accordingly did; whether he went to restore Dorcas to life, whose death the messengers had informed him of, a... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT PETER PUT THEM ALL FORTH,.... As he had seen his Lord and Master do, when he raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead, Luke 8:54 AND KNEELED DOWN AND PRAYED; it may be, as yet, he had not the mind of God in this matter, and therefore betook himself to prayer, in which he chose to be private... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE GAVE HER HIS HAND, AND LIFT HER UP,.... Off of the bed or bier where she was: AND WHEN HE HAD CALLED THE SAINTS AND WIDOWS; the disciples, brethren and sisters, who were come together on this occasion, as well as the poor widows she had been kind to; the Ethiopic version reads without a copu... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT WAS KNOWN THROUGHOUT ALL JOPPA,.... The report of such a miracle, and wrought upon a person of note, was soon spread all over the place, which was very large, for it was a city, as it is called, Acts 11:5, and it had, as Josephus q says, villages and little towns or cities round about it; all... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT CAME TO PASS,.... Or so it was; THAT HE TARRIED MANY DAYS IN JOPPA; conversing with the saints, confirming the disciples, and preaching the Gospel, to the conversion of sinners; and his abode WAS WITH ONE SIMON A TANNER; it seems as if persons of this trade used to dwell in towns near the s... [ Continue Reading ]