[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 XVIII : 12-22
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[13] Saying: This man persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.
[14] And when Paul was beginning to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews: If it were some matter of injustice, or an heinous deed, O Jews, I should with reason bear with you.
[15] But if they be questions of word and names, and of your law, look you to it: I will not be judge of such things.
[16] And he drove them from the judgment seat.
[17] And all laying hold on Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, beat him before the judgment seat; and Gallio cared for none of those things.
[18] But Paul, when he had stayed yet many days, taking his leave of the brethren, sailed thence into Syria (and with him Priscilla and Aquila), having shorn his head in Cenchrae: for he had a vow.
[19] And he came to Ephesus, and left them there. But he himself entering into the synagogue, disputed with the Jews.
[20] And when they desired him, that he would tarry a longer time, he consented not;
[21] But taking his leave, and saying: I will return to you again, God willing, he departed from Ephesus. [22] And going down to Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem, and saluted the church, and so came down to Antioch.
[12] Gallione autem proconsule Achaiae, insurrexerunt uno animo Judaei in Paulum, et adduxerunt eum ad tribunal, [13] dicentes : Quia contra legem hic persuadet hominibus colere Deum. [14] Incipiente autem Paulo aperire os, dixit Gallio ad Judaeos : Si quidem esset iniquum aliquid, aut facinus pessimum o viri Judaei, recte vos sustinerem. [15] Si vero quaestiones sunt de verbo, et nominibus, et lege vestra, vos ipsi videritis : judex ego horum nolo esse.
[16] Et minavit eos a tribunali. [17] Apprehendentes autem omnes Sosthenem principem synagogae, percutiebant eum ante tribunal : et nihil eorum Gallioni curae erat. [18] Paulus vero cum adhuc sustinuisset dies multos fratribus valefaciens, navigavit in Syriam ( et cum eo Priscilla et Aquila), qui sibi totonderat in Cenchris caput : habebat enim votum. [19] Devenitque Ephesum, et illos ibi reliquit. Ipse vero ingressus synagogam, disputabat cum Judaeis. [20] Rogantibus autem eis ut ampliori tempore maneret, non consensit, [21] sed valefaciens, et dicens : Iterum revertar ad vos Deo volente, profectus est ab Epheso. [22] Et descendens Caesaream, ascendit, et salutavit ecclesiam, et descendit Antiochiam.
Notes
12. when Gallio was proconsul. Better, “on Gallio becoming proconsul.” The Jews profited by his arrival to attack St Paul openly.
Gallio was the brother of Seneca, a Roman Stoic philosopher ( 3(?)-65 B.C.), and the uncle of Lucan the poet (39-65 B.C.). His real natue was Marcus Annæus Novatus, but he changed his name to Lucius Junius Gallio when adopted by the rhetorician Gallio.
Seneca describes his brother Gallio as his “ little brother, whom every one loves too little, even he who loves him most.” Statius speaks of him as “ amiable Gallio” (dulcis Gallio). St Luke gives the correct title of proconsul, for Achaia, which under Tiberius was an imperial province (Tacit., Annal, i. 76) governed by a prætor, had been restored to the senate the same year that Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome (circa 49 A.D.). At this time the prefects of provinces were bound by an edict of the emperor to quit Rome before the middle of April. Gallio would therefore start from Rome about the 15th of April, and he must have reached Corinth early in .June.
rose up against Paul. The Bezan text adds, “having spoken together amongst themselves, and laying hands on him.”
the judgment-seat. The Roman proconsuls of the provinces generally held their court on fixed days in the Agora, that all who desired might have an opportunity of exposing their wrongs or their petitions.
13. contrary to the law. These Jews evidently meant the Roman law, by which Judaism was formally tolerated, hut Christianity was not. In the early days of the Church, the Romans made no distinction between the two religions, Gallio, however, chose to take the words in another sense. He had probably heard of difficulties on this subject having arisen in Rome, and therefore declined to treat their complaint seriously.
14. Paul was beginning, etc. St Paul was prepared to make a formal defence, which Gallio prevented.
of injustice. Better, “of injury or violence” (ἀδικημα).
heinous deed. Lit. “a fraudulent transaction” (ῥαδιουργηα πονηρον).
15. questions. The Greek gives the singular (ζητημα).
of ... . names , — i.e. whether Jesus was really the Messias was the point in question. Of such questions the Roman law took no cognizance.
16. he drove them, etc. The lictors cleared the court, and St Paul’s accusers were ignominiously dismissed.
17. all laying hold. Some MSS. add ‘‘the Greeks ” (οἱ Έλληνες), but in א, B, C these words are not found. In all probability it was the Gentile population that attacked Sosthenes. There Avas no good-feeling between the Greeks and the Jews, and therefore the former, seeing that Gallio had dismissed the case contemptuously, treated the leader roughly. It is hardly conceivable that the hostile Jews attacked their own ruler.
beat him, — i.e. buffeted and struck him, not a formal scourging.
Gallio cared for none of these things. The Roman officials were indifferent on the subject of religion. Pilate betrayed the same feeling of indifference when, having asked our Blessed Lord, What is truth ? he did not trouble to wait for the answer.
18. yet many days, — i.e. exclusive of the year and a half referred to in verse 11. St Paul probably spent about two years in Corinth ; he did not gratify his enemies by withdrawing immediately after he was brought before Gallio.
sailed thence into Syria. St Paul sailed from the harbour of Cenchra, in a vessel bound for Syria, via proconsular Asia. His ultimate destination was Antioch.
‘‘From Corinth to Ephesus, the voyage was among the islands of the Greek Archipelago. ... No voyage across the Ægean was more frequently made than that between Corinth and Ephesus. They were the capitals of the two flourishing and peaceful provinces of Achaia and Asia, and the two great mercantile towns on opposite sides of the sea. If resemblances may again be suggested between the ocean and the Mediterranean, and between ancient and modern times, we may say that the relation of these cities of the Eastern and Western Greeks to each other was like that between New York and Liverpool. Even the time taken up by the voyages constitutes a point of resemblance. Cicero says that, on his eastward passage, which was considered a long one, he spent fifteen days, and that his return was accomplished in thirteen ” (Conybeare and Howson, Life and Epistles of St Paul, cli. xii.),
Priscilla and Aquila. Silas and Timothy also accompanied him, but St Luke calls attention to the departure of Priscilla and Aquila in order to explain their presence in Ephesus.
Cenchra. “After descending from the low table-land on which Corinth was situated, the road which connected the city with its eastern harbour extended a distance of eight or nine miles across the Isthmian plain. Cenchra has fallen with Corinth ; but the name still remains to mark the place of the port, which once commanded a large trade with Alexandria and Antioch, with Ephesus and Thessalonica, and the other cities of the Ægean. That it was a town of some magnitude may be inferred from the attention which Pausanias devotes to it in the description of the environs of Corinth, and both its mercantile character and the pains which had been taken in its embellishment are well symbolized in the coin, which represents the port with a temple on each enclosing promontory and a statue of Neptune on a rock between them. From this port St Paul began his voyage to Syria ” (Conybeare and Howson, Life and Epistles of St Paul, p. 330).
For he had a vow. Although grammatically the pronoun “he” might he taken as referring to Aquila, yet most modern commentators, following the opinion of the early Fathers, apply the words to St Paul. It is evident that they apply to the apostle, for the context shews that he, and not Aquila, paid a visit to Jerusalem, and this was the last act exacted by a vow of devotion such as St Paul had taken, for there the sacrifice was offered on the expiration of the period covered by the vow.
19. And he came. This reading is found in Codex D, and the A.V. retained it. The R.V. follows the better supported reading “they came” of A, B, and E.
left them there. These words are generally regarded as a parenthesis referring to Aquila and Priscilla remaining in Ephesus, while St Paul went on to Jerusalem.
A few commentators apply them in connection with St Paul’s preaching, and explain them as meaning that he left them in the city and went out of it to the synagogue, where he disputed with the assembled Jews.
disputed. The aorist tense (διαλεχθη ) seems to imply that he only preached once in this synagogue. It was probably on a Sabbath-day. The ships carrying pilgrims to Jerusalem often put into some port on the Sabbath-day to allow them to attend the synagogue services. The prohibition to preach the Gospel in Asia, imposed some two or three years earlier, was now evidently withdrawn.
the Jews. They were, an influential body, since Josephus records that on several occasions their rights and religions privileges were formally conceded to them both by Roman governors and by Ephesian rulers.
20. they desired him, etc. These Jews of Ephesus were well disposed, and in this city St Paul had little opposition from his compatriots compared with what he had experieuced in Antioch, Iconium, etc. Consequently, when he visited the city again, he planted a flourishing church.
he consented not. (οὐκ ἐπενευσεν) This word is not found elsewhere in the New Testament. It signifies to bend the head forward, to assent by nodding.
21. and saying. A few MSS. add a clause here : “For I must by all means celebrate the coming feast in Jerusalem.” It is difficult to explain why they should have been inserted, and the numerous variant readings in the MSS. in which this clause is wanting point rather to an omission. The words throw a light on the clause “he went up,” and harmonize with what has been said concerning his vow. It was probably the Feast of Pentecost to which reference is made.
I will return, etc. St Paul redeemed this promise on his third missionary journey (see infra, xix. 1).
God willing. To the apostles, as to men in general, God revealed His will gradually, and often by circumstances.
On another occasion, St Paul made a like conditional promise to the Corinthians : For I will not see you now by the way, for I trust that I shall abide with you some time, if the Lord permit (1 Cor. xvi. 7).
St James recommends Christians to use this expression as an act of dependence and submission ; For that you should say : If the Lord will, and, if we shall live, we will do this or that (James, iv. 15).
22. going down to Cesarea. The Greek verb employed (κατερχομαι) signifies here to reach a place by sea. This verse covers a period of some weeks, during which several important incidents happened. It has been suggested that one of the three shipwrecks mentioned by St Paul (2 Cor. xi. 25) took place on this journey. Cesarea was the Roman capital of Judea, and it possessed a safer harbour than Joppe ; also, it was nearer to Jerusalem.
he went up. The words “to Jerusalem” are not found in the Greek, but the expression “to go up” (ἀναβαινω) was always used of a journey to the capital (see xi. 2, xv. 2, xxi. 12, 15, xxiv. 11, xxv. 1, 9) ; also, “the church” can only refer to the Mother Church in Jerusalem. St. Paul always went to Jerusalem to give an account of his missionary labours.
saluted the church. As on previous occasions, the elders and brethren gave him a hearty welcome, and listened with intense interest to his narration of the numerous conversions among both Jews and Gentiles. St Paul also joined in the services in the Temple, and fulfilled his vow. At this time St Peter was probably at Antioch, as the decree for the expulsion of the Jews was still in force.
came down to Antioch. This marks the end of his second missionary journey. Antioch, the first Gentile Church, was always his base.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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