[The posts which follow make extensive use of The Acts of the Apostles, by Madame Cecilia, (Religious of St Andrew's Convent, Streatham), with an Imprimi potest dated 16 October 1907 (Westminster); Burns, Oates & Washbourne Ltd. (London). With grateful prayers for the author and her team:
REQUIEM æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace. Amen.ETERNAL rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.]
Acts XI : 19-30
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| From: Saint Peter and the First years of Christianity. Fouard (1907). |
[20] But some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they were entered into Antioch, spoke also to the Greeks, preaching the Lord Jesus.
[21] And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believing, were converted to the Lord.
[22] And the tidings came to the ears of the church that was at Jerusalem, touching these things: and they sent Barnabas as far as Antioch.
[23] Who, when he was come, and had seen the grace of God, rejoiced: and he exhorted them all with purpose of heart to continue in the Lord.
[24] For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith. And a great multitude was added to the Lord.
[25] And Barnabas went to Tarsus to seek Saul: whom, when he had found, he brought to Antioch.
[26] And they conversed there in the church a whole year; and they taught a great multitude, so that at Antioch the disciples were first named Christians.
[27] And in these days there came prophets from Jerusalem to Antioch: [28] And one of them named Agabus, rising up, signified by the Spirit, that there should be a great famine over the whole world, which came to pass under Claudius.
[29] And the disciples, every man according to his ability, purposed to send relief to the brethren who dwelt in Judea:
[30] Which also they did, sending it to the ancients, by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
[19] Et illi quidem, qui dispersi fuerant a tribulatione, quae facta fuerat sub Stephano, perambulaverunt usque Phoenicen, et Cyprum, et Antiochiam, nemini loquentes verbum, nisi solis Judaeis. [20] Erant autem quidam ex eis viri Cyprii, et Cyrenaei, qui cum introissent Antiochiam, loquebantur et ad Graecos, annuntiantes Dominum Jesum.
[21] Et erat manus Domini cum eis : multusque numerus credentium conversus est ad Dominum. [22] Pervenit autem sermo ad aures ecclesiae quae erat Jerosolymis, super istis : et miserunt Barnabam usque ad Antiochiam. [23] Qui cum pervenisset, et vidisset gratiam Dei, gavisus est : et hortabatur omnes in proposito cordis permanere in Domino : [24] quia erat vir bonus, et plenus Spiritu Sancto, et fide. Et apposita est multa turba Domino. [25] Profectus est autem Barnabas Tarsum, ut quaereret Saulum : quem cum invenisset, perduxit Antiochiam.
[26] Et annum totum conversati sunt ibi in ecclesia : et docuerunt turbam multam, ita ut cognominarentur primum Antiochiae discipuli, christiani. [27] In his autem diebus supervenerunt ab Jerosolymis prophetae Antiochiam : [28] et surgens unus ex eis nomine Agabus, significabat per spiritum famem magnam futuram in universo orbe terrarum, quae facta est sub Claudio. [29] Discipuli autem, prout quis habebat, proposuerunt singuli in ministerium mittere habitantibus in Judaea fratribus : [30] quod et fecerunt, mittentes ad seniores per manus Barnabae et Sauli.
Notes
19. they who had been dispersed. St Luke now recapitulates the narrative begun in ch. viii. 1, and resumes the subject. A new and important subject is treated of in this section, viz. the foundation of the Church in the rich and important city of Antioch, and the reception of many Greek converts.
“ The persecution turned out to be no slight benefit, as to them that love God all things work together for good. If they had made it their express study how best to establish the Church, they would have done no other thing than this, they dispersed the teachers. . . . When Stephen was slain, when Paul was twice in danger, when the apostles were scourged, then the Gentiles received the word, then the Samaritans ” (St John Chrys., Hom., xxv. 1).
persecution. Lit. “ tribulation ” (θλιψις).
on occasion of Stephen. This is the best supported reading (ἐπι Στεφανω), but some MSS. read “in the days of Stephen” (ἐπι Στεφανου). The preposition signifies primarily “over.” The persecution arose “over” Stephen, i.e. on his account, and after his death it was continued against those who held the same faith. It was his intrepidity that provoked the attack.
Phenice. The word signifies “land of palms.” Phœnice maritima is a narrow plain one hundred and twenty miles long, and varying from twelve to twenty miles broad. It lies between the western slope of Lebanon and the Mediterranean. Tyre and Sidon were the chief cities of Phenice (or Phœnicia), which is watered by four rivers.
It was inhabited by Canaanites. The Syro-Phoenician woman, who came to implore our Lord's compassion on her daughter, was a native of Phœnicia (see St Mark vii. 24-80). A Roman road passed along this plain, which facilitated intercourse between Antioch and Judea. This Plain of Phenice is referred to in ch. xv. 3 and xxi. 2. The same name was given to a haven in Crete (infra, xxvii. 12).
Cyprus. See Annot. on iv. 36. This island is also mentioned in xiii. 4, xxi 3, xxvii. 4.
Antioch. The capital of Syria, and the ancient residence of the Seleucidæ. It is situated on the Orontes, about fifteen miles from the port of Seleucia.
speaking the word, — i.e. preaching the Gospel, the word of God.
20. some of them, — i.e. some of those who were dispersed by the persecution.
men of Cyprus and Cyrene. Barnabas and Mnason were Cypriots. Simon and his sons Alexander and Rufus (St Mark xv. 21) and Lucius (infra, xiii. 1) were Cyrenians. These men of Cyprus and Cyrene were Hellenistic Jews.
“As the heralds of Christianity, from Cyprus and Cyrene, entered Antioch what a busy scene must have presented itself to their thoughtful gaze. Here the Prefect of Syria, girt with the sword, the emblem of supreme power, with his legates and procurator, and council or board of advice, selected from the noblest blood of Rome, held his court in the palace where the Seleucidæ had reigned. The market-place was teeming with swarthy Syrians and quickwitted Greeks, and with the children of Abraham, ever distinguishable by their marked physiognomy. Here and there were observed troops of legionary soldiers, the conquerors of the world. The languages that greeted the ear were as diverse as the costumes that met the eye. Syriac and Hebrew, Greek and Latin, were heard In succession. Greek, however, predominated, and formed the ordinary vehicle of communication between such discordant materials” (Lewin, Life and Epistles of St Paul, vol. i. pp. 95-96),
to the Greeks. A textual difficulty presents itself here, since two codices (A and D) and some ancient versions (e.g, Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, Arabic, and Ethiopic) read “Ἑλληνασ ,” i.e. “Greeks,” whereas the other codices (B, 1)2, E, H, L, P) have Ἑλληνιστας, i.e. “ Grecian Jews.” Hence the second reading has the best MS. authority, while the first is more in harmony with the context, as the subjoined arguments prove : —
1. The Hellenists and the Palestine Jews were one people, and were spoken of collectively as “the Jews” ; hence, in verse 19, Hellenists and Hebrews are included in “the Jews” to whom the disciples from Jerusalem preached.
2. If they had only addressed Hellenists, and not Greeks, there was nothing so extraordinary in such a step that it should be reported to the apostles and ancients in Jerusalem, nor was there any need for Barnabas to have visited these converts in Antioch.
Hence we may infer that the Hebrews preached to their compatriots and the Grecian Jews, while the Grecian Jewish converts evangelized the Greeks of Antioch, of whom some were doubtless proselytes of the gate. Eusebius and St John Chrysostom and the majority of modern critics accept Ἑλληνασ, “Greeks,” as the correct word. This view is also supported by the fact that (και) “ also ” or “ even ” is found in Codices A, and B, where we read “also to the Greeks,” as though to emphasize the innovation.
On these variant readings Rackham has an excellent note : “History itself leaves in us no doubt that the right reading is ' Greeks.' The word has already been spoken to Hellenists ; the Church contained a large body of Hellenists ; the Evangelists themselves were Hellenists ; and so there would be little point in the remark that they preached even to the Hellenists. The reason for the confusion is obvious. The condition of the relations between Jews and Gentiles which prevailed at that moment quickly passed away ; and, after two or three hundred years, the distinction between Greek (Hellen) and Grecian (Hellenist) was as little understood as it is by the ordinary reader of to-day ’’ (Acts of the Apostles, p. 166).
preaching the Lord Jesus. Better, “announcing the glad tidings of the Lord Jesus” (εὐαγγελιζομενοι κ.τ.λ.).
21. the hand of the Lord. A Hebraism signifying that God powerfully assisted them ; thus their words bore fruit and, evidently, miracles were worked as in Jerusalem.
Cf. By stretching forth thy hand to cures, and signs, and wonders, to be done by the name of thy holy Son, Jesus (supra, iv. 30). In the Old Testament the same metaphor is found, e.g. Behold the hand of the Lord is not shortened that it cannot save, neither is his ear heavy that it cannot hear (Is. lix. 1).
a great number believing. Better, “having believed” (πιστευσας ). Faith was the condition of their reception into the Church, but the text does not warrant us in asserting that they were baptized. It simply states that “they turned to the Lord” just as the
Samaritans “were very attentive” or “gave heed” to the preaching of Philip (viii. 6). Special stress is laid on the numerous conversions wrought in Antioch among these Greeks (see verses 24 and 26), and ultimately they received baptism, since a “ great multitude was converted to the Lord.”
Note.— It is impossible to ascertain whether these Greeks at Antioch were converted before St Peter baptized Cornelius. In any case, St Peter, by receiving Cornelius, formally authorized the reception of the Gentiles into the Church without exacting that they should conform to the Mosaic Law.
22. the tidings. Better, “ the report ” (ὁ λογος).
touching these things. The Greek word (περι αὐτων) may be masculine or neuter, hence some commentators read “touching them.”
they sent. Lit. “ they sent forth ” ( ἐξαπεστειλαν).
Barnabas. He was sent by the Church on this mission, as St Peter and St John were sent to Samaria.
By this choice of Barnabas, a friend of St Paul, and one drawn to the work of evangelizing the Gentiles (see xiii. 1-2), some commentators consider that the Church in Jerusalem had already heard the account of the conversion of Cornelius from St Peter, and had accepted the conclusion that to the Gentiles also had God granted repentance unto life. “ There is no clue whatever as to the length of time that elapsed between the flight from persecution and the arrival at Antioch, except that Saul had had time to sojourn three years in Arabia, to come to Jerusalem, and from thence to go and settle at Tarsus, where Barnabas found him ; thus leaving abundant time for Peter's operations in Judea and Cesarea ” (Pulpit Comm. in h. 1.).
23. had seen the grace of God. The numerous conversions worked by the grace of God.
all. “ The word ‘ all,’ too, in this passage is not without its significance. It communicates to the narrative an impression of diligent work, large sympathy, and copious success.”
with purpose of heart. Better, “ in the purpose of the heart ” (τη προθεσει της καρδιας ), i.e. with the fixed and determined resolution necessary. He presses home the truth that it is not all to begin well, but that only he who perseveres to the end that shall he saved.
continue in the Lord. The Greek verb (προσμενειν) signifies “ to abide,” “ to persevere in.” These converts had to be prepared to face persecution, and even death, for Christ’s sake.
24. For he was a good man, St Luke gives the character of Barnabas (whom he must have known intimately) much in the same words as that of St Stephen (see supra, vi. 5).
a great multitude. The word “ great ” must be taken relatively. In the original it signifies a sufficient number (ἱκανος ), and is used much as the French employ “ assez,” and, like it, may mean a considerable number, not merely a few. Cf. “ II y avait un assez bon nombre de personnes présentes.”
25. Barnabas went to Tarsus, to seek Saul. From Antioch to Tarsus was a three days’ journey along the Roman road. Saul had been sent to Tarsus, his native city (xxii. 3), by the apostles (ix. 30). That Saul should have evangelized there, was a proof of the sincerity of his conversion, of his intrepidity, and of his zeal for his fellow-countrymen.
26. in the church. In the assemblies where the disciples met for prayer and the reception of the sacraments. The phrase occurs again in the first epistle to the Corinthians : I hear that when you come together in the church, etc. (xi. 18).
a whole year. This is one of the rare notes of time given by St Luke.
a great multitude. See Annot. on verse 24.
named, (χρηματισαι) The use of this verb in the Greek is peculiar. It signifies primarily “to do some business” (Lat. negotiari), but as a man is often called after his trade, it gradually came to be vised as a synonym for “ to be named.”
Christians. This title is only found in two other passages of the New Testament : —
(a) And Agrippa said to Paul ; In a little thou persuadest me to become a Christian (infra, xxvi.
(b) Let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief .... But if as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name (1 Pet. iv. 15-10).
27. in these days. While Saul and Barnabas were evangelizing in Antioch.
prophets. See Annot. on xiii. 1. The gift of prophecy, in accordance with the prediction of Joel (ii. 28), was bestowed both on men and on women in the primitive Church. Some of the brethren, however, were more permanently or more fully inspired than others, and these prophets were held in great esteem, and ranked next to the apostles. Cf. And God indeed hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly doctors, after that miracles (1 Cor. xii. 28). In Acts xiii. 1 we find the names of some of these prophets recorded.
from Jerusalem to Antioch. The Bezan text adds here : “ And there was much gladness, and when we were collected together one of them named Agabus spake and signified,’’ etc.
28. by the Spirit. By a sudden inspiration. Agabus, some twenty years later, also prophesied St Paul’s imprisonment (see xxi. 11).
a great famine over the whole world. Lit. “ the inhabited earth ” (την οἰκουμενην ) i.e. over the whole Roman Empire, though not equally severe in every place at the same time.
During the reign of Claudius, 41-64 A.D., there were several severe famines, and in 53 A.D. the dearth was so great that people died of starvation.
Eusebius states that the famine predicted by Agabus occurred in the fourth year of Claudius’ reign, 45 A.D. Helena, Queen of Adiabene (a province of Assyria), who was then in Jerusalem, greatly alleviated the sufferings of the Jews by procuring them corn from Egypt and figs from Cyprus (Josephus, Antiq., xx, 2, 6).
under Claudius, This is added by St Luke, and from these words we may infer that St Luke wrote after the death of that emperor, and that the prophecy was uttered before he ascended the throne. This is one of the chronological links which help us to determine within certain limits when the Acts of the Apostles was written (see Intro., p. 22).
29. according to his ability. Lit. according as each man was prospering ” (καθως ηεπαρειτο).
proposed to send relief. Lit, “ to send for the service or ministry ” (εἰς διακονιανη πεμψαι). They did not wait for the dearth, but anticipated it in faith and love. “ They no sooner believe but they bear fruit. Such was the good effect of the famine (St John Chrys.) ; it was an occasion of spiritual plenty, another example of good elicited from evil.”
to the brethren who dwelt in Judea. We find the Gentile congregation on other occasions contributing to alleviate the sufferings of the poorer disciples of Jerusalem, e.g . —
It hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a contribution for the poor of the saints that are in Jerusalem (Rom. xv. 26).
Now concerning the collections that are made for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, so do ye also (1 Cor. xvi, 1. Sec also 2 Cor. ix.; Gal. ii. 10 ; etc.).
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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