[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 XXI : 8-17
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[9] And he had four daughters, virgins, who did prophesy.
[10] And as we tarried there for some days, there came from Judea a certain prophet, named Agabus.
[11] Who, when he was come to us, took Paul's girdle: and binding his own feet and hands, he said: Thus saith the Holy Ghost: The man whose girdle this is, the Jews shall bind in this manner in Jerusalem, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.
[12] Which when we had heard, both we and they that were of that place, desired him that he would not go up to Jerusalem.
[13] Then Paul answered, and said: What do you mean weeping and afflicting my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but to die also in Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord Jesus.
[14] And when we could not persuade him, we ceased, saying: The will of the Lord be done.
[15] And after those days, being prepared, we went up to Jerusalem.
[16] And there went also with us some of the disciples from Caesarea, bringing with them one Mnason a Cyprian, an old disciple, with whom we should lodge.
[17] And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.
[8] Alia autem die profecti, venimus Caesaream. Et intrantes domum Philippi evangelistae, qui erat unus de septem, mansimus apud eum. [9] Huic autem erant quatuor filiae virgines prophetantes. [10] Et cum moraremur per dies aliquot, supervenit quidam a Judaea propheta, nomine Agabus.
[11] Is cum venisset ad nos, tulit zonam Pauli : et alligans sibi pedes et manus, dixit : Haec dicit Spiritus Sanctus : Virum, cujus est zona haec, sic alligabunt in Jerusalem Judaei, et tradent in manus gentium. [12] Quod cum audissemus, rogabamus nos, et qui loci illius erant, ne ascenderet Jerosolymam. [13] Tunc respondit Paulus, et dixit : Quid facitis flentes, et affligentes cor meum? Ego enim non solum alligari, sed et mori in Jerusalem paratus sum propter nomen Domini Jesu. [14] Et cum ei suadere non possemus, quievimus, dicentes : Domini voluntas fiat. [15] Post dies autem istos praeparati, ascendebamus in Jerusalem.
[16] Venerunt autem et ex discipulis a Caesarea nobiscum, adducentes secum apud quem hospitaremur Mnasonem quemdam Cyprium, antiquum discipulum. [17] Et cum venissemus Jerosolymam, libenter exceperunt nos fratres.
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Notes
8. we came to Cesarea. A good road joined the two seaports. The T.R., instead of “we,” has “those of Paul’s company,” but this insertion was probably due to the passage being chosen for public, reading in the Church, and this phrase rendered the narrative more intelligible to the hearers.
For Annot. on Cesarea, see ch. viii. 40. This was St Paul’s third recorded visit to Cesarea. (Sec ix. 30 and xviii. 22.) The next time he visited this seaport he was a prisoner (see xxiii. 28), when he dwelt there two years.
Philip the evangelist. St Paul may have met Philip on his earlier visits to Cesarea. Philip, one of the seven deacons (see supra, vi. 5), was the first to evangelize the Samaritans.
By an “ evangelist” we must understand not a writer of a gospel as we now restrict the term, but an itinerant preacher of the Gospel. St Paul speaks of the office and work of the Evangelists as follows:— And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and other some evangelists, and other some pastors and doctors, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (Ephes. iv. 11-12). He also exhorts Timothy to do the work of an evangelist (2 Tim. iv. 5).
we abode with him. During this time St Luke doubtless learned from Philip the deacon many incidents which are related in the earlier sections of the Acts.
9. four daughters virgins. Both virgins and widows in the early Church often consecrated themselves to the service of God.
10. some days. As St Paul was so near Jerusalem, he could remain for a few days at Cesarea, and still be in time to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost in Jerusalem.
Agabus. He is undoubtedly the same prophet spoken of in ch. xi. 28. The name, office, and place of residence are identical.
11. Paul’s girdle. The long flowing tunic of the Oriental was held up by a girdle, which also served as a purse. This was taken off when resting (see xii. 8).
his own feet. Agabus’ own hands and feet, not St Paul’s.
Thus saith the Holy Ghost. In the Old Testament the prophets usually prefaced their predictions with the words, Thus saith the Lord.
The man whose girdle, etc. Agabus, like the prophets of the Old Testament, had recourse to symbolic acts. Thus Jeremias hid his girdle in a rock and left it there till it rotted, as a sign that God would cause the pride of Jerusalem to rot (Jerem. xiii. 6-9).
the Jews shall bind. We are not told that the Jews actually bound St Paul, but they delivered him up to the Romans who bound him (see verse 33).
12. both we and they that are of that place. St Paul’s companions and the Christians of Cesarea alike tried to dissuade him from going to Jerusalem. Philip, Cornelius, and his friends would be among those “ of that place.”
13. What do you mean ? Lit. “ what do ye ? ” The same idiom occurs in St Mark’s gospel, What do you loosing the colt ? (xi. 5).
I am ready . ... to die. The brave soldier of Christ was ready to lay down his life for his Lord. But the end was not yet at hand, his course was not yet accomplished, nor was it to end in Jerusalem. When, later, St Paul was a prisoner in Rome, as he looked forward to his approaching martyrdom, he expresses the same generous disposition of soul Cf. For I am now ready to he sacrificed, and the time of my dissolution is at hand (2 Tim. iv. C).
14. The will of the Lord be done. The petitions of the Lord’s prayer were familiar to the disciples.
15. being prepared. The MSS. vary here, but the best supported reading is “having packed our baggage” (ἐπισκευασαμενοι), which is found in A, B, E, G, and numerous cursives. The Vulgate gives the same sense, and St John Chrysostom also gives “having received the supplies necessary for our journey” (Hom., xiv.). They would form a large caravan, and as they had the alms of the converts, Gentile beasts of burden had to be employed.
16. some of the disciples. The Greek reads simply “ of the disciples,” and omits “some.”
bringing with them, etc. Some commentators render this verse thus : “ Bringing (sc. “ us ”) to Mnason, with whom we should lodge.” Either of these readings is justified by the Greek, but the first is more generally accepted.
The Bezan text favours this view. It runs thus : “ These (i.e. the brethren of Cesarea) brought with us those with whom we should lodge, and we came to a certain village and wore (lodged) with Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, and departing we came to Jerusalem.” Hence some commentators infer that as the Journey from Cesarea to Jerusalem, a distance of about seventy miles, took two days to perform, the brethren brought Mnason with them, because his house was in a village on the road, and there the party could receive hospitality for the night. Most commentators, however, think that Mnason dwelt In Jerusalem, and on this subject Ellicott remarks ; “ This arrangement seems to have been made as the best course that could be taken to minimise the inevitable danger to which the apostle was exposing himself. In that house, at least, he might be sure of personal safety, and the men from Cesarea would form a kind of escort as he went to and fro in the city ” (Comm., h. 1., ]>. 147).
an old disciple. Not an aged disciple, but one who bad accepted the Gospel when the Church was founded at Pentecost ; he may have been a disciple of Christ and have known Him personally.
17. we were come to Jerusalem. This was St Paul’s fifth visit since his conversion. He probably made it circa A.D. 58, on the eve of the Feast of Pentecost.
the brethren. Those who had gathered to greet the travellers. St Paul saw St James the bishop of Jerusalem and the ancients on the following day.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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