18 kai ti bouletai o aggeloj; A. b.c. Cat. The mod. text substitutes, "And whence did it come into their minds at that time to surmise that it was an Angel?"
19 i. e. It was so ordered (wkonomhto) that the notion of its being his Angel came into their minds before they saw him, in order that it might not be possible for them to think this after he was gone.
20 Pistoutai de autouj kai to en hmera genomenon. i. e. "When it was day there was no small stir among the soldiers," etc. v. 18. The innovator, not perceiving the meaning, substitutes kai to mh en hmera genesuai, "And its not happening by day, confirms their belief."
21 emnhmoneusen. i. e. astonishment would have deprived him of the power of remembering, and afterwards relating the circumstances, v. 17.
22 Here, and on former occasion, v, 19. Hence the plural dieautwn.
23 dia toutwn (the persons assembled in the house of Mary) ekeinoi (James and the brethren), ouk ekeinoi dia toutou. This is corrupt, but the meaning is, James and the more important of the brethren learn the particulars through these inferior persons, not these through those, but through Peter himself. Mod. text, ina dia toutwn ekeinoi manuanwsin, ouk autoi di ekeinwn.
24 Mod. text adds, "thou wilt enjoy all pleasure, being led forthwith to reflect on the Creator."
25 @An diakuyhj eij tou stenwpon. The stenwpoi, angiportus or vici are the lanes or alleys in the quarters formed by intersection of the broad streets, plateiai.
26 Mod. text alla mh genoito mhde/a umwn upekkauma tou puroj ekeinou genesuai: "God forbid that any of you should become the fuel of that fire."
1 perieiden touj aulhtaj apollumenouj: i. e. those (as St. Stephen, St. James) engaged in contending for the heavenly prize. The mod. t. substitutes, "Many are quite at a loss, how God could quietly look on while his children (or servants? touj paidaj, Ben. infantes) were put to death because of Him, and now again," etc. After this sentence, the same inserts from the recapitulation: "But-if the Angel," etc. to
"why did He not rescue him? and besides"-
2 mallon auton epoiei diapriesuai (as in ch. vii 54, cut to the heart with passion) kai katagelaston einai. The last words are either misplaced, or something is wanting; perhaps (after diapriesuai), to diakrouesuai kai katagelaston einai.
3 i. e. what was to be drawn from them by the torture? Had they let him out, they would have contrived appearances, or would themselves have fled. But the reporter's notes of what St. Chrys. said, seem to be very defective, and the arrangement much confused.
4 all ora pwj outoj ou kruptei tauta. In the recapitulation (see note 3, p. 175) he says, that the death of Herod was regarded as a judgment for his having slain James and the soldiers. Here, it seems, he must have said something to that effect; then, "but observe how St. Luke does not conceal the true state of the case, viz. that he was punished not for this, but for the sin which he proceeds to mention." We have transposed the text v. 20-23. mss. and Edd. place it before ou uikron oude touto estin, thus separating these words from their connection with the preceding question,
5 Josephus' narrative of the death of Herod (Ant. xix. 8, 2) is of peculiar interest here on account of its substantial agreement with that of Luke. The following points of agreement may be noted: (1) The place was Caesarea. (2) He was attacked by disease in a public assembly when, arrayed in gorgeous apparel, he received the impious flatteries of the people. (3) His disease and death were a penalty for accepting the flattery of those who accorded to him divine honors. Thus the main outlines are the same. Josephus introduces some historical notices, such as that the occasion was a celebration in honor of the Emperor Claudius, which are wanting in Luke. He also relates that after receiving the people's flattery, Herod observed an owl perced on a rope above him, which he interpreted at once as an omen of the fate which soon befell him. The supernatural element-"an angel smote him"-is wanting in Josephus. The Jewish historian is less specific in describing the disease which he speaks of as violent pains in the bowels and adds that after the attack, Herod lingered five days and died in the fifty-fourth year of his age and the seventh of his reign.-G. B. S.
6 At this point (ch. xiii.) begins the second part of the Book of Acts which has chiefly to do with the missionary labors of Paul. It is a reasonable supposition that the previous chapters rest upon different documents from those which follow. From chapter xvi. onward occur the so-called "we" passages (e. g. xvi. 10; xx, 6. xxi. 1; xxvii. 1) in which the writer, identifying himself with his narratives, indicates that he writes from personal knowledge and experience. The appointment of Barnabas and Saul at Antioch for missionary service, marked an epoch in the history of the early church and practically settled the questions relating to the admission of the Gentiles to the Christian community.-G. B. S.
7 mss. and Edd. di anurwpwn, but the singular is implied below in oux upo toude. In the old text, b.c. Cat. "Not from men nor by men? Because not man called nor brought him over: that is, neither by men; therefore he says, that he was not sent (B., I was not sent) by this," etc. The mod. text "Not from men neither by men. The one, not from men, he uses to show that not man, etc.: and the other, neither by men, that he was not sent by this (man), but by the Spirit. Wherefore," etc.
8 Here he further answers the question raised in the opening of the discourse, The mod. text transposes it to that place, beginning the recapitulation with, "`And when it was day there was no small stir among the soldiers because of Peter, and having put the keepers to thio question, he ordered them to be led away to execution.0' So senseless was he, outwj ouk hsueto, that he even sets about punishing them unjustly." The latter clause is added by the innovator. For hsueto Cat. has preserved the true reading, Usuonto.
9 anarpastoj o anurwpoj gegone. Ben. homo ille raptus non est.
10 i. e. of the circumstances related v. 22, 23.-Below, plhn alla kai h agnoia wfelei, i. e. to the believers: and yet, as he says above, the writer does not conceal the facts: see note 3, p. 174.
11 mss. and Edd. onden toiouton eipgasato: ote de toutouj, loipon en afasia hn: what this means, is very obscure, only the last clause seems to be explained by the following, ate oun hporhkwj kai aisxunomenoj, i. e. not knowing what to think of it, he withdrew from Jerusalem. Ben. quando illos, nihil dicebat. Erasm., et quando alios, nihil de illis traditur.-Below, 'Emoi dokei kai ekeinouj proj thn apologian enagwn apagagein wrgizeto gar ekeinoij, toutouj outw qerapeuwn. By ekeinouj, ekeinoij, he means the Tyrians and Sidonians: apagagein, sc. eauton, to have withdrawn himself from Jerusalem, to Caesarea, nearer to Tyre and Sidon. The innovator substitutes, 'Emoi dokei kai ekeinouj apagagein boulomeno, proj apologian hlqe toutwn: wrgizeto gar k. t. l. which Ben. renders Mihi videtur, cum illos abducere vellet, ad hos venisse ut sese purgaret.
12 ouk aposthsomen <\=85_an mh eteron antisthswmen paqoj (Mod. text proj et. and to paqoj), i. e. unless, as Solomon does in the last clause of the text cited, we set against this lust a different affection. viz. vanity, especially female vanity, regard to personal appearance. Hence that last clause might be better transposed to the end of this sentence.
1 That Barnabas and Saul preached first to the Jews for the reason mentioned by Chrysostom is wholly improbable. The mission to the Gentiles entrusted to them never cancelled, in their minds, their obligation to the Jews as having in the plan of God an economic precedence. Paul not only maintained throughout his life an ardent love and longing for his people (Rom. ix.) and a confident hope of their conversion (Rom. xi.), but regarded them as still the people of privilege, on the principle: "To the Jew first, and also to the Greek?" (Rom. i. 16.) This view, together with the fact that they were Jews, constitutes a sufficient explanation for their resort to the synagogues. Additional reasons may be found in the fact that in the synagogues might be found those who were religiously inclined-of both Jewish and Gentile nationality-and who were therefore most susceptible to the influence of Christian truth, and in the fact that the freedom of speech in the synagogue-service offered the most favorable opportunity to expound the Gospel.-G. B. S.
2 Chrysostom here hints at the most probable explanation of the change of name in the Acts from Saul to Paul, although that change is not strictly simultaneous with his ordination which occurred at Antioch (v. 3), whereas the first use of the name "Paul" is in connection with his labors at Paphos, after he had preached for a time in Salamis. It seems probable that, as in so many cases, Paul, a Hellenist, had two names, in Hebrew Saul, and in Greek Paul, and that now when he enters distinctively upon his mission to the Gentiles, his Gentile name comes into exclusive use. (So, among recent critics, De Wette, Lechler, Alford, Neander, Gloag.) Other opinions are: (1) that he took the name Paul-signifying little-out of modesty (Augustin); (2) that he was named Paul, either by himself (Jerome), by his fellow-Christians (Meyer) or by the proconsul (Ewald), in honor of the conversion of Sergius Paulus.-G. B. S.
3 It can hardly be meant that the smiting of Elymas with blindness was not a judicial infliction to himself; but that the proconsul should see it rather on its merciful side as being only axri kairou. The Hebraistic use of Xeir Kuriou clearly implies a divine judgment upon Elymas as does the whole force of the narrative.-G. B. S.
4 Kai ta onomata de legei: epeidh prosfatwj egrafon: ora k. t. l. A. b.c. N. Cat. It is not clear whether this relates to the two names, Barjesus and Elymas, (if so we might, read egrafen, "since he wrote just before, (whose name was Barjesus, but now Elymas, for so is his name interpreted,") or to the change of the Apostle's name "Then Saul, who is also called Paul," (and then perhaps the sense of the latter clause may be, Since the change of name was recent: epeidh prosfatwj metegrafh or the like.) The mod. text substitutes, "But he also recites the names of the cities: showing that since they had but recently received the word, there was need (for them) to be confirmed, to continue in the faith: for which reason also they frequently visited them."
5 Mod. text omits this sentence. The connection is: Paul inflicts this blindness upon him, not in vengeance, but in order to his conversion, remembering how the Lord Himself had dealt with him on the way to Damascus. But it was not here, as then-no "light shown round about him from heaven."
6 Kai (Eita mod.) (ora C. N. Cat.) thn phrwsin (Cat. purwsin) o anq. kai (om. Cat.) monoj episteusen (mod. euquj pisteuei). The reading in Cat. is meant for emendation: "And mark the fervor (or kindling, viz. of the proconsul's mind): the proc. alone believed" etc.
7 Mod. text adds, "but, the ways of the Lord, which is more: that he may not seem to pay court."
8 ou gar toutou hn. "Down. renders it non enim iroe deditus erat, he was not the man for this (anger): or perhaps, For he (John) was not his, not associated by him, but by Barnabas." Ben. But the meaning should rather be, "So great a work was not for him (Mark); he was not equal to it." The connection is of this kind: "Paul knew how great grace had been bestowed on him, and on his own part he brought corresponding zeal. When Mark withdrew, Paul was not angry with him, knowing that the like grace was not bestowed on him, therefore neither could there be the like spoudh on his part."
9 In mss. and Edd. this portion, to the end of the paragraph, is placed after the part relating to Elymas, "He first convicted," etc. and immediately before the Morale, as if the occasion of the invective against filarxia and kenodocia were furnished by the conduct of the rulers of the synagogue: but see above, p. 178, in the expos. of v. 8, pantaxou h kenodocia kai h filarxia aitiai twn kakwn, and below, the allusion to the blindness of Elymas.
10 kai ouden ap authj karpoumenouj, i.e. reaping no fruit from it (the glory which they sought here) where they are now. Mod. text ouden ap antwn karpwsamenouj: "reaped no fruit while here, from their money which they squandered"-mistaking the meaning of the passage, which is, "They got what they sought, but where is at now?"
1 i.e. for one of the congregation to expound or preach: or perhaps rather, to preach standing, not sitting, as Christian bishops did for their sermons. We have transposed the comment to its proper place.-Mod. text adds, "Wherefore he too in accordance with this discourses to them."
2 oper hn sumforaj onoma, in regard that a proselyte might be deemed inferior to a Jew of genuine descent, "a Hebrew of the Hebrews."
3 kai mhn tounantion gegonen. Here also we have transposed the comment to the clause to which it belongs. In the Edd. it comes after "And with a high arm," etc. whence Ben. mistaking its reference says, "i.e., if I mistake not, God brought them out of Egypt, that he might bring them into the Landor Promise: but, for their wickedness, the contrary befell: for the greatest part of them perished in the wilderness." It plainly refers to uywsen-i. e. how is it said, that He exalted them in Egypt, where, on the contrary, they were brought low? This is true-but He did exalt them by increasing them into a great multitude, and by the miracles which He wrought on their behalf.
4 Upon the reading of the T. R. (A. V.) the period of the Judges is here stated to have been 450 years. This agrees with the chronology of the book of Judges and of Josephus, but conflicts with 1 Kings vi. 1 where we are told that "in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, he began to build the house of the Lord." This would give but 331 years for the period of the Judges. It is the view of many critics that Paul has here followed a different chronology from that of 1 Kings which was also in use among the Jews and was followed by Josephus (so Meyer.) But if the reading of Tischendorf, Lechler, and Westcott and Hort (R. V.) is adopted-and it is sustained by A. b.c. )
-the difficulty, so far as Acts xiii. 21 is concerned, disappears. This reading places meta tauta after wj etesin sq. and inserts a period after penthkonta. Then the translation would be, "He gave them their land for an inheritance for about four hundred and fifty years. And after these things He gave them judges," etc. On this reading the 450 years is the period of their inheritance, approximately stated, up to the time of the judges. The point from which Paul reckoned is not stated and is uncertain. This is the preferable reading and explanation.-G. B. S.
5 Kai poqen oti anesth fhsi kai martuej eisin. Eita palin apo twn grafwn, followed by v. 29-37. We read, kai poqen\ oti taj fwnaj twn prof., krinantej touton eplhrwsan. Eita palin apo t. gr. v. 29-31, ending, kai marturej autou eisin proj ton laon oti anesth. The mod. text "And that no man may say, And whence is this manifest that He rose again? He says that (word), And are His witnesses. Then again He presses them from the Scriptures, v. 29-37."
6 This comment, which in the mss. and Edd. is inserted after v. 37, refers to the following verses 38, 39, i.e. to what is there said of the insufficiency of the Law for justification: we have therefore transposed it.
7 In the old text the parts lie in the order here shown by the letters a, b, etc. The confusion may be explained by the scribe's copying in the wrong order from the four pages of his tablets: viz. in the first place, in the order 1, 3, 2, 4: then 2, 4, 1, 3: and lastly, 2, 1. In the modern text, a different arrangement is attempted by which all is thrown into worse confusion. Thus it was not perceived that Chrys. having in a cursory way read through v. 24-41, begins his exposition in detail with the remark of the Apostle's passing and repassing from the Old to the New Test. and vice versa, viz. alleging first the Promise, then John, then the Prophets, then the Apostles, then David and Isaiah, v. 24-34; then comments upon the matters contained in these and the following verses, and then as usual goes over the whole again in a second exposition. Now the renovator makes the recapitulation begin immediately after (a), commencing it at v. 26, and collecting the comments in this order: v. 26-32: v. 24-36: v. 17-41.
8 The transposition of the part (c), makes this read in the mss. and Edd. as if it were parallel with apo twn parontwn (i.e. New Testament facts), apo twn Profhtwn (Old Testament testimonies).
9 It is probable that Chrys. has pointed out the true connection of thought as established by gar (27). "The word of this salvation is sent unto you (of the dispersion) on the ground that the Jews at Jerusalem have rejected it." (So Meyer, Gloag.) The more common explanation is: The word is sent unto you because the Jews have fulfilled the prophecies which spoke of the rejection of the Messiah and have thus proved that He is the Messiah. (De Wette, Hackett, Lechler.)-G. B. S.
10 i. e. Though not one of the original witnesses. v. 31, yet, being one who has been moved or raised up, kekinhmenon, by the Spirit of Christ Himself, he preaches as they did, insisting much on the Passion, etc.
11 'Anti tou, Oi andrej oi sunanabantej k. t. l. Perhaps the sense may be supplied thus: 'Anti tou, Ou pantej hmeij esmen marturej, ii. 32, ou hmeij mart. esmen, iii. 15. Instead of saying as Peter does, "Whereof we are witnesses."
12 Kai ouk egxronizei toutoij, as in the recapitulation on v. 40, 41. kai ora, traxu on pwj upotemnetai. Hence it is clear that toutoij refers not to "the sure mercies of David," as in mss. and Edd. (end of e), but to the threats and terrors (end of h). Below, for all' epiteinei thn kolasin the sense of epiteinei (not as Ben. minatun, but intentat, "makes much of, aggravates, dwells upon the greatness of)", and the whole scope of the passage, require us to read oude. Then, kai meterxetai with the negative extending to the whole clause, "and (like Stephen) assail that which is dear to them, (viz. their preëminence as Jews,) by showing the Law on the point of being cast out:" then, alla (so we restore for kai) tw sumf. endiatr., but dwells, etc.
13 Edd. "But let us hear ti kai legontej oi 'Apost. epeisan, oti estaurwqh, by saying what, by what announcement, the Apostles persuaded (men) that He was crucified." For ti toutou apiq. B. has to t. a. "(yea), what is more incredible still." Both clauses must be read interrogatively, The scope of the whole passage (which is obscure in the original) is, the supreme importance of the article of the Resurrection, Leave that out, and see what the preaching of the Apostles would have been; how it would have been received.
14 The reading: "In the Second Psalm" is the best attested and is followed by the T. R., R. V. and Wescott and Hort. Prwtw is found in D. and is supported by the Fathers. It is the more difficult reading and for this reason is preferred by Tischendorf, Lachmann, Meyer, Afford and Gloag. If it is correct, we must suppose that what we now call the first psalm was considered introductory and that our second psalm was counted as the first. In some Heb. mss. this order actually occurs. The reading deuterw, however, is better supported. The expression: "this day have I begotten thee" refers evidently to the resurrection of Christ. (Cf. Heb. i. 5; Rom. i. 4.) The resurrection is conceived as the solemn inauguration of Christ into his office as theocratic king represented under the figure of begetting.-G. B. S.
15 We have transposed this clause from before, "Behold," etc. preceding.
16 Mod. text needlessly adds, Kai katafronoumen; "And do we make light of these things?"
17 Touto kai ef hmwn genesqai, eteran epeisaxqhnai sunhqeian. Morel. Ben. af' hmwn. "By our means," idque unum probandum, Ed. Par. but ef' hmwn is not as he renders it, in nobis; the meaning is, "where habit works, this is the effect (in the case of habit): I wish it were so in the case of us (where we work)."
18 Mod. text "Having been so sufficiently spoken, that ye are able to correct others, eige apontwn wfeleia tij umin prosegineto, since in their absence some benefit accrued to you."
19 opwj eij 'Ekklhsian embalhte, all opwj ti kai labontej anaxwrhte. (Above we had the phrase paraballein th sunacei.) Here the metaphor is taken from an invading army, So below, p. 188, mh embalhj eij agoran.
1 mss. and Edd. apartisai kai oikeiwsai eautw. The Catena has preserved the true reading anarthsai. in the sense, to make them hang upon (him for further communications).-Below, tw panta aqroon eij taj ekeinwn riyai yuxaj, the ekeinwn distinguishes the first hearers from the people generally: if he had spoken all at once to those, the consequence would have been xaunoterouj ergasasqai, not that "nearly the whole city" should assemble on the following sabbath.
2 Edd. from E .F. autoj eautou instead of tou Paulou. We have restored the comments to their proper clauses in the Scripture text.
3 The order of the exposition in the mss. and Edd. marked by the letters a, b, etc. is much confused, but not irremediably. The matter falls into suitable connection, when the parts are taken in the order c, a, d, b.
4 all ora thn tarrhsian meta metrou ginomenhn. A. meta to metrou. Mod. text metrw. If this be not corrupt, it may be explained by the clause at the end of c, pollhj epieikeiaj h parr. gemousa, but then the connection with the following ei gar Petroj k. t. l. is obscure. Perhaps from A. we may restore meta to Petrou: "the boldness coming to them after the affair of Peter."
5 wj ek thj ekeinwn spoudhj mh (om. A. B. ) tugxanonta twn agaqwn.
6 The expression: "As many as were ordained to eternal life believed," has been both minimized and exaggerated. Chrys. points the way to its correct interpretation in saying: "set apart for God" and adding later: "not in regard of necessity." The writer is by no means seeking to define a doctrine of the divine plan in its bearing upon human self-determination, but pointing out a historical sequence. Those who became believers were as truly so in God's plan as they are so in fact. The passage says nothing of the relation of God's ordainment to the believer's choice. It is an example of the Pauline type of thought which grounds salvation upon the eternal purpose of God. Whoever are saved in fact, were saved in God's purpose. If as matter of fact they are saved on condition of faith and not through the enforcement of a decretum absolutum, then it is certain that their salvation as foreseen in God's purpose does not exclude their self-determination and personal acceptance.-G. B. S.
7 diefereto, was published, E. V. diaferein aggeliaj, "to bear tidings," and diaferetai o logoj, "the saying is bruited," are classical, but perhaps the expression was not familiar to Chrysostom's hearers.
8 Anti tou, ouk esthsan mexri tou zhlou. As in the mss. this clause follows that at the end of a, a, anti tou, diekomizeto, the anti tou may be only an accidental repetition. At the end of this clause, the mss. have ora palin pwj (om. A. C. Cat.) diwkomenoi, and then, pwj (C. Cat.) etera katask. (beginning of c.) The former clause, as the conclusion of b, may be completed with "they extend the preaching," or the like. But probably diwkomenoi is due to the scribes, who seem to have understood by zhlou here the zeal of the Apostles, not the envy of the Jews. v. 45.
9 ek pollhj periousiaj omwj anairousin autwn thn apologian. The sense is evidently as above, but anair. will hardly bear this meaning, and perhaps was substituted for some other word by the copyist, who took it to mean, "They leave the Jews no excuse."-The connection is, It was not because they were less bold than when they said, "We turn unto the Gentiles," that they still went to the Jews first: but ex abundanti they enabled themselves to say to their brethren at Jerusalem, We did not seek the Gentiles, until repulsed by the Jews.
10 twn shmeiwn hn. A. has shmeion hn. In the preceding clause, C. mexri pollou shmeia poiousi, the rest ou poiousi. The antithesis thn men (om. A.) parrhsian ...to de pisteusai must be rendered as above: not as Ben. immo fiduciam addebat ipsorum alacritas. ...Quod autem auditores crederent inter signa reputandum.
11 Here all the mss. have kai megalh th fwnh (to which mod. text acids kai pwj, akoue.) then the text 8, 9, 10, followed by Dia ti, meg. th f. and so all the Edd. But in fact that clause is only the reporter's abbreviation of the Scripture text, kai !en Lustroij. ...to] megalh th fwnh, followed by its comment.
12 Mod. text adds, touto gar esti to hkousen.-Below pareblabh is an expression taken from the foot-race: this was a race in which his lameness was no hindrance.