[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 XVI : 16-25
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| Paul & Silas in prison. William Hatherell (1855-1928). Wikigallery. |
[17] This same following Paul and us, cried out, saying: These men are the servants of the most high God, who preach unto you the way of salvation.
[18] And this she did many days. But Paul being grieved, turned, and said to the spirit: I command thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, to go out from her. And he went out the same hour.
[19] But her masters, seeing that the hope of their gain was gone, apprehending Paul and Silas, brought them into the marketplace to the rulers.
[20] And presenting them to the magistrates, they said: These men disturb our city, being Jews;
[21] And preach a fashion which it is not lawful for us to receive nor observe, being Romans.
[22] And the people ran together against them; and the magistrates rending off their clothes, commanded them to be beaten with rods.
[23] And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the gaoler to keep them diligently.
[24] Who having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
[25] And at midnight, Paul and Silas praying, praised God. And they that were in prison, heard them.
[16] Factum est autem euntibus nobis ad orationem, puellam quamdam habentem spiritum pythonem obviare nobis, quae quaestum magnum praestabat dominis suis divinando. [17] Haec subsecuta Paulum, et nos, clamabat dicens : Isti homines servi Dei excelsi sunt, qui annuntiant vobis viam salutis. [18] Hoc autem faciebat multis diebus. Dolens autem Paulus, et conversus, spiritui dixit : Praecipio tibi in nomine Jesu Christi exire ab ea. Et exiit eadem hora. [19] Videntes autem domini ejus quia exivit spes quaestus eorum, apprehendentes Paulum et Silam, perduxerunt in forum ad principes : [20] et offerentes eos magistratibus, dixerunt : Hi homines conturbant civitatem nostram, cum sint Judaei :
[21] et annuntiant morem, quem non licet nobis suscipere, neque facere, cum simus Romani. [22] Et cucurrit plebs adversus eos : et magistratus, scissis tunicis eorum, jusserunt eos virgis caedi. [23] Et cum multas plagas eis imposuissent, miserunt eos in carcerem, praecipientes custodi ut diligenter custodiret eos. [24] Qui cum tale praeceptum accepisset, misit eos in interiorem carcerem, et pedes eorum strinxit ligno. [25] Media autem nocte Paulus et Silas orantes, laudabant Deum : et audiebant eos qui in custodia erant.
Notes
16. to prayer. They went to the place set apart for prayer— to the proseuche. This incident did not immediately follow the conversion of Lydia, but it happened on a sabbath-day, or some other time especially devoted to prayer.
a pythonical spirit. According to an Oriental legend, Apollo killed a famous serpent or “ python ” near the shrine of Delphi. Hence the name of “Pythius” was bestowed on Apollo as the god of divination. In course of time it was applied to all who made a profession of sooth-saying, or of calling up spirits and of delivering oracular replies. The name of “ pythones ” (πυθωνες) was given to them because the Python or oracle was supposed to speak from the stomach of a medium, and to emit words without the medium using his own organs of speech. Naturally, those who professed to be pythones found the science of ventriloquism very useful, and they practised it frequently ; consequently such mediums came to he known as ventriloquists. This girl, however, was certainly more than a ventriloquist, since, when St Paul had driven out the evil spirit, she no longer possessed the power of divination. That she had foretold future events at times is certain from the fact that her soothsayings were a considerable source of profit to her masters.
St Luke adapts his language to the people about whom he is speaking. In a pagan city such a girl was known as a pythoness, in a Jewish city she would have been known as one “ possessed by a devil.”
her masters. It was not uncommon in the East for several masters to own one slave, especially one who was a source of gain. These masters may have been brothers.
gain. Lit. “work done” ( ἐργασιαν), and consequently the “profit” which accrued.
divining, —i.e. soothsaying. The Greek word employed here (μαντευομενη) does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament, but we find it in the Septuagint, where it is invariably applied to false prophets or to those who practised witchcraft ; e.g. Saul’s servants said to him : There is a woman that hath a divining spirit at Endor (1 Kings xxviii. 7).
17. These men are the servants, etc. The evil spirit in this girl bore testimony to the servants of Christ, as they had done to Christ Himself, e.g. —
There was in their synagogue, a man with an unclean spirit ; and he cried oat, saying : What have we to do with thee, Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus threatened him saying: Speak no more, and go out of the man (St Mark i, 23-25).
most high God. We frequently find the evil spirits acknowledging the sovereignty of God in these words, e.g. What have I to do with thee, Jesus, Son of the most high God ? (St Mark v. 7 ; see also i. 24).
“Satan sometimes speaks the truth, in order that he may lie with greater success. See Mark i. 25, where it will be seen that, in repudiating the homage of 'the father of lies' even when he spoke the truth, St Paul imitated the example of Christ" (Wordsworth, p. 81). “ Since he saw them becoming famous, here also he plays the hypocrite; by this means he thought to be allowed to remain in the body if he should preach the same things. But if Christ receive not testimony from man, meaning John, much less from a demon. Praise is not comely in the mouth of a sinner, much less from a demon ” (St John Chrys.).
unto you. This is the correct reading. A few MSS. read “ unto us,” but these words are inadmissible, as coming from the evil spirit.
the way of salvation. Those truths which pertain to men's salvation.
18. being grieved, St Paul was full of holy indignation and “ worn out with vexation’’ (διαπονηθεις ). This evil spirit disturbed the apostle in his preaching and tended to discredit it, as eulogies coming from such a source were no recommendation.
said to the spirit. St Paul deals not with the girl, but with the evil spirit. It is possible that there was a dual consciousness in the girl, and that in her more lucid moments she recognized St Paul and his companions as true servants of God. Nothing is related of her subsequent career.
It may be asked why St Paul deferred casting out the evil spirit, and allowed it to speak for “many days.” To this we reply that St Paul awaited the inspiration of God before casting it out. The apostles did not and could not heal all the sick with whom they came in contact, nor deliver all the possessed. See Annot. on ch. xiv. 10. There are other occasions recorded of St Paul having exorcised (see infra, xix. 12 and 16).
and he went out the same hour. Note how promptly the evil spirit obeyed the command given in the name of Jesus. St Paul had the same supernatural gifts as the other apostles.
Cf. Having called his twelve disciples together, he gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of diseases, and all manner of infirmities (St Matt.x. 1).
19. the hope of their gain was gone. St Paul commanded the evil spirit to go forth out of the girl, the evil spirit “ went forth out’’ of her, and with it the masters’ hope of profit “ had gone forth.’’ In the original the same verb is used in each of these phrases (ἐξελθειν).
“The priesthood in all its branches, Flamens, Augurs, Haruspices, contemplated the advance of Christianity with dismay. It emptied their temples, curtailed their sacrifices, reduced their profits, exposed their frauds’’ (Blunt’s Lectures, quoted by Wordsworth lu h. 1,).
brought. Better, “dragged” (εἰλκυσαν). The girl’s masters used violence.
Paul and Silas.Though St Luke and others were present, yet only St Paul and Silas were seized. They were the leaders, and consequently more exposed to the owners’ vengeance.
market-place. The “agora,” answering to the Roman forum, was the place of assembly for the citizens. It was also the seat of justice.
the rulers. (ἀρχοντας .) St Luke here employs a general term for any governors.
20. the magistrates. Here the historian uses the correct technical term (στρατηγοις ) when referring to the prætors or military rulers who had charge of the Roman colony of Philippi. These rulers of the colonies were formerly called “duumviri.” There were originally no prætors out of the city of Rome, but this title soon came to be generally used in the provinces. Wetstein states that the prefect of Messina is still called a “stradigo,” which is a corruption of the Greek word for a military magistrate (στρατηγος). Lit. it signifies a “general.” Lightfoot cites two inscriptions in which the duumviri of Philippi are mentioned.
these men disturb our city, etc. Lit. “trouble exceedingly” (ἐκταρασσουσιν). The accusation was twofold : —
(a) These men were seditious.
(b) They taught a religion which was not authorized.
The same spirit which prompted our Lord’s accusers is manifest here. He was accused of sedition and teaching doctrines against the Law of Moses. The magistrates of Philippi had power to try such cases, and were quite independent of the provincial governors.
The Romans tolerated the Jewish faith; for the Israelites it was a “ religio licita,” but to make proselytes was a crime punishable by the Roman laws. “A severe law, if not in force at this time, certainly enacted shortly after, sternly forbade anyone not a Jew undergoing the rite of circumcision. Any ‘citizen of Rome’ who was circumcised was liable to perpetual exile and the confiscation of his goods. A master who allowed his slaves to submit themselves to this rite exposed himself to a like penalty. 'I'he surgeon who circumcised them was to be put to death. Even a Jew who caused his slaves who were not Jews to be circumcised was guilty of a capital offence. Gentle and tolerant though the policy of the Empire on the whole was to foreign religions, still, if the votaries of a foreign religion shewed themselves in earnest and wishful to convert others to their faith, at once the State regarded such men as public enemies ” (Schaff, Comm. Acts, p. 430).
As Christianity originated with the Jews, the Romans included Christians under the same laws, and this conservative spirit of the Romans was often exploited by the enemies of Jews and of Christians.
being Jews. The Romans had a supreme contempt for Jews, and in the classical authors we find numerous satires against them. St Paul and his companion were persecuted as Jews, not as Christians, but the Jews also hated and persecuted the followers of Christ, and, consequently, Christianity had two implacable foes, both of whom were ultimately defeated.
21. a fashion. Better, “ customs ” (ἐθη), as it is rendered in xxvi. 3. The word here refers to religious observances.
being Romans. In their accusation, these men conceal the true ground of their enmity, and appeal to their own patriotism and that of their fellow-citizens.
Some Jewish observances interfered with the obligations of a soldier and the discharge of certain public state functions, many of which involved certain idolatrous rites. “ The rumour of disloyalty to the sacred name of Roman was enough to rouse up the mob of “ Romans" in the market-place as one man ; the hint of treason would cast magistrates and all alike into a panic” (Rackham).
22. against them. Codex D adds the graphic touch “crying out.”
magistrates. They probably commanded their lictors in the usual formula: “Lictors, strip off their garments, let them be scourged.” Those who were to endure this punishment were stripped to the waist. There was no trial whatever in this case, hence the punishment was illegal as well as cruel.
23. many stripes. There was no limit as regards the number of stripes, as with the Jews.
This was one of the three scourgings which St Paul underwent. Cf. Thrice was I beaten with rods (2 Cor. xi. 25) He also refers to this scourging in another epistle : But having suffered many things before, and been shamefully treated (as you know) at Philippi, we had confidence in our God, etc. (1 Thess. ii. 2). Had St Paul and Silas at once pleaded their right as Roman citizens to exemption from this punishment, they could have escaped it, but they were willing, out of love to their Divine Master, to suffer for His Name.
keep them diligently. The precautions taken bring out more clearly the miracle of their deliverance.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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