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Is*

at £7

THE

Holy Bible

AJ^

ACCORDING TO THE AUTHORIZED VERSION (A.D. 1611%

WITH AN EXPLANATORY AND CRITICAL

€ammtrdxx% AND

BY BISHOPS AND OTHER CLERGY OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH.

EDITED

By F. C. COOK, M.A., Canon of Exeter, PREACHER AT LINCOLN'S INN, CHAPLAIN IN ORDINARY TO THE QUEEN.

NEW TESTAMENT. Vol.

II.

ST JOHN— THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.

NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, 743 amd 745 Broadway.

1880.

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CONTENTS OF VOL. II.

ST JOHN'S GOSPEL. INTRODUCTION.

BY B. F. WESTCOTT, D.D., REGIUS PROFESSOR OF AND CANON OF PETERBOROUGH.

DIVINITY, CAMBRIDGE,

PAGE

FAGS

The Authorship of the Gospel.

The Plan

Internal Evidence

The Style

L Indirect evidence

Historical Exactness

(a)

The author was a Jew

(b) a Jew of Palestine (r)

an eye-witness .

•

(d) an Apostle (e) St John il

(b) xix. 35

External Evidence

The Author

The Occasion and Date

The Object

The Last Discourses

liii

lxiii

xviii

Relation to the Old Testament

lxvi

xxi

The un/blding ofthe Messianic idea

lxix

The Characters

Ixxi

Symbolism

Ixxv

xxv xxv xxv

Relation to the other Apo-

IV.

stolic Writings.

xxviii

The Composition of the Gospel.

II.

.... ....

Characteristics of the Gospel.

xxvii

III.

xxi

Direct evidence (a)

v x

...

xlii

xxxii

Relation to the Synoptic Gospels

».

To the Apocalypse

To the Epistles of St John .

lxxviii

lxxxviii

lxxxiv .

The History of the Gospel.

.... xxxv

The Text

The interpretation of the Gospel

lxxxviii •

xciv

COMMENTARY AND CRITICAL NOTES. BY CANON WESTCOTT. pp.

Additional Notes :

Additional Notes

On chap. On chap, it 11, 24 On chap. On chap. iv. ax On chap. v. 1, 3 On chap. vL On chap. vii. 39 On chap, vil 53 —viii. ix, and chap, i.

iii.

iii. »5, 44

1—307.

28 45

63 79

125

On chap. ix. 35 On chap. x. 16, 22, 29 On chap. xiii. 18 On chap. xiv. 16, 28 On chap, xviii. On chap. xix. On chap. xx. 21 On chap. xxi. • • .

•

150 162 199 211

262 282

298

306

141

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CONTENTS.

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. INTRODUCTION.

BY F. C. COOK, M.A., CANON OF EXETER

THE EDITOR. PACK

PACT Historical character of the Book

336

Tale of the Book

309 310

Discourses in the Acts

•

339

Contents of the Book

311

Sources of information

•

343

Its plan and object

311

Place and time ofpublication

•

345

328

Manuscripts and early Versions

333

Works helpfulfor the Interpretation

General statement .

•

Internal evidences of authorship External evidences

345 346

COMMENTARY AND CRITICAL NOTES. BY WILLIAM JACOBSON, D.D., BISHOP OF CHESTER. pp.

351—534-

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JOHN.

St.

INTRODUCTION. FAGS

The Authorship of the Gospel.

T t v x

Internal Evidence L Indirect evidence

(a) i b)

The author was a Jew • a Jew of Palestine ... .

(A an eye-witness

....

Id) an Apostle (e) il

II.

St John

Direct evidence (a) i. 14

(e) xxi. 34 External Evidence

The Author 2. The Occasion and Date 3. The Object

xxvii

x xviii xxxii

.... xxxv

Internal Evidence. itself forms the proper

a satisfactory inDoubts may be raised as to the early history of the book owing to the nature of the available evidence, but there can be no question that it is impressed with an individual character, and that it contains indications of the circumstances under which it was composed. These indications, therefore, must first be examined: this character must first be defined so far as it illusstarting-point for its

liii

The Last Discourses

III. Characteristics of 1.

THE Gospel quiry into

6. Historical Exactness

The Authorship of the Gospel. 1.

xlii

xxi xxi

The Composition of the Gospel. 1.

The Plan 5. The Style

xviii

xxv xxv xxv

b) xix. 3$

lxiii

the Gospel.

Relation to the Old Testament . . The unfolding of the Messianic idea

lxvi

lxix

3. The Characters 4.' Symbolism

IV.

lxxi

lxxv

Relation to the other Apo*

stolic Writings. Relation to the Synoptic Gospels To the Apocalypse . . 3. To the Epistles of St John 1.

lxxviii

lxxxiv

lxxxviii

V. The History of the Gospel. I.

The Text The interpretation of the Gospel

lxxxviii

xcnr

fourth Gospel itself bears to its authorship, first indirectly, and next directly? These are the two questions which we have to answer before we can go further.

origin.

L The indirect evidence of the Gospel as to its authorship.

In examining the indirect evidence which the fourth Gospel furnishes as to its authorship, it will be most convenient, as well as most satisfactory, to consider

a fair appreciation the value of the his-

the available materials in relation to successive questions which become more and more definite as we proceed. How far then can we infer from the book itself, with more or less certainty, that the author was, or was not, a Jew, a Jew of Palestine, an eye-witness, an Apostle, and, last of all, St John, the son of

torical testimony in support

Zebedee ?

trates the relation

of the writer to the

religious and social circumstances of the first

century ; and when this is done, we

shall be in a position to consider with

of the uniof the Early Church which assigned the work to the Apostle St John. What then is the evidence which the versal

tradition

(a)

The Author of the Fourth Gospel

was a Jew.

A candid examination of

the evidence appears to leave no room

New Test— Vol. II.

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INTRODUCTION TO

for reasonable doubt on this point. The whole narrative shews that the author was a Jew. He is familiar with Jewish opinions and customs, his composition is impressed with Jewish characteristics, he is penetrated with the spirit of the His special knowJewish dispensation.

ledge, his literary style, his religious faith, The point to the same conclusion.

all

few arguments which are urged on the other side derive whatever force they have from the isolation of particular phrases which are considered without regard to the general aspect of the life to which they belong. These statements must be justified in detail.

again, a Jew only who

knew the festival

would be likely to describe " the last day of the feast," which was added to the original seven, as "the great day" (vii. The same familiar and decisive 37). knowledge of the people is shewn in glimpses which are opened on domestic life at the marriage feast (ii. 1 10), and

—

the burial of Lazarus (xi. 17 44). The tumultuary stoning of Stephen (Acts viu 57 ff.), which could not but be a well-known incident in the early church, at

would have hindered any one who had not clear information upon the point from recording the answer of the Jews " It is not lawful for us to put any one to death" (xviii. 31); and so in fact these words were afterwards misunderstood by the Greek fathers. But, on the other hand, it is said that the author of the fourth Gospel was so

(a) The familiarity of the author of the fourth Gospel with Jewish opinions is shewn most strikingly by the outline which he gives of the contemporary Mesignorant of Jewish affairs that he represianic expectations. This subject will be brought before us more in detail after- sents the high-priesthood as an annual wards (hi. § 2). For the present it will be office when he speaks of Caiaphas as enough to refer to the details which are "high-priest in that year" (xi. 49, 51, xviii. 13). It would be sufficient to reply given or implied in i. 21, iv. 25, vi. 14 f., In all these that such ignorance could not be reconvii. 40 ff., xii. 34, &c cases the points are noticed without the ciled with the knowledge already indicated ; but a consideration of the clause least effort as lying within the natural So again solemnly repeated three times shews that circle of the writer's thoughts. he mentions casually the popular esti- the supposed conclusion cannot be drawn mate of women (iv. 27), the importance from it. The emphatic reiteration of the statement forces the reader to connect attached to the religious schools (vii. 15), the disparagement of "the Dispersion" the office of Caiaphas with the part which he actually took in accomplish(vii. 35), the belief in the transmitted punishment of sin (be 2), the hostility ing the death of Christ One yearly of Jews and Samaritans (iv. 9), the su- sacrifice for atonement it was the duty of the high-priest to offer. In that mepercilious contempt of the Pharisees for " the people of the earth " (vii. 49). morable year, when all types were fulThe details of Jewish observances are filled in the reality, it fell to Caiaphas touched upon with equal precision. Now to bring about unconsciously the one sacrifice of* atonement for sin. He it is the law of the sabbath which is shewn to be overruled by the require- was high-priest before and after, but ment of circumcision (vii. 22 f.): now it was not enough for the Evangelist's the ceremonial pollution which is con- purpose to mark this. He was highpriest in that year tracted by entering a Gentile court (xviii. "the year of the The account of the visit to the Lord" (Luke iv. 19), and so in the 28). Feast of Tabernacles only becomes fully way of divine Providence did his apintelligible when we supply the facts at pointed part in causing " one man to die which the writer barely hints, being him- for the people" (xi. 50). self filled with the knowledge of them. (/?) From the contents of the fourth The pouring of water from Siloam upon Gospel we turn now to its form. And the altar of burnt sacrifice, and the it may truly be affirmed that the style of kindling of the lamps in the court of the narrative alone is conclusive as to its the women, explain the imagery of the Jewish authorship. The vocabulary, the structure of the sentences, the symmetry "living water" (vii. 38), and of "the light of the world " (viii. 1 2). And here, and numerical symbolism of the compo-

—

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. shion,the expression and the arrangement of the thoughts, are essentially Hebrew. These points will require to be discussed at greater length when we come to examine the composition of the Gospel (n. § 5). It must suffice now to call attention to such terms as "light," "darkness," "flesh," "spirit," "life," "this world," "the kingdom of God," and the like: to such images as "the shepherd," "the living water," "the woman in travail:" to the simplicity of the connecting particles: to the parallelism and symmetry of the clauses. The source of the imagery of the narrative, to sum up all briefly, is the Old Testament The words are Greek words, but the spirit by which they live is

Hebrew. (y)

The Old Testament is no less

certainly the source of the religious

life

of the writer. His Jewish opinions and hopes are taken up into and transfigured by his Christian faith; but the Jewish foundation underlies his whole narrative. The land of Judaea was " the home " (rd

comp. xvi. 32, xix. 27) of the Incarnate Word, and the people of Judaea were "His own people" (i. 11). This was the judgment of the Evangelist when the Messiah had been rejected by those to whom He came ; and on the other hand, Christ, when He first entered the Holy City, claimed the Temple as being "the house of His Father" ISta;

vii

two characteristic thoughts of the Gospel will become clear when

we consider the

development of the history. Meanwhile it must be noticed that the

general

Evangelist vindicates both for the

and for the people

Law

their just historical'

in the divine economy. The Law could not but bear witness to the truths which God had once spoken

position

through it The people could not do away with the promises and privileges which they had inherited. Side by side with the words of Christ which describe the Law as the special possession of its false interpreters (viii. 17, x. 34, xv. 25), other words of his affirm the absolute authority It is assumed as an of its contents. axiom that The Scripture cannot be broken (x. 35; see v. 18, note). That which is written in the prophets (vi. 45 ; comp. vi.

taken as the true expression of Moses wrote of Christ (v. 46. Comp. L 45). The types of the Old Testament, the brazen serpent (iii. 14), the manna (vi. 32), the water from the rock (vii. 37 f.), perhaps also the pillar of fire (viii. 12), are applied by Christ to Himself as of certain and acknowledged 31)

what shall be.

Abraham saw His day

significance.

was generally to "the Scriptures " that Christ appealed as witnessing of Him. Even the choice of Judas to be an apostle was involved in (viii.

56).

the portraiture of the divine King (xiii. 18, note, that the Scripture might be fultreated in the Fourth Gospel as the filled; comp. xvii. 12); and the hatred It of the Jews was prefigured in the words divine starting-point of Christianity. written in their Law, They hated me is true that the author records discourses in which the Lord speaks to the Jews of without a cause (xv. 25). the Law as being "their Law;" and Such words of Christ must be conthat he uses the name "the. Jews" to sidered both in themselves and in the mark an anti-Christian body; but even consequences which they necessarily these apparent exceptions really illustrate carry with them, if we are to understand his main position. The Pharisees as a the relation of the fourth Gospel to the party strove to keep "the Law" in its Old Testament They shew conclusively widest acceptation, the monument, that that in this Gospel, no less than in the is, of the various revelations to Israel (x. other three, He is represented as offering Himself to Israel as the fulfiller, and 34, xv. 25, notes), for themselves alone, and to bar the progress of the life which not as the destroyer, of " the Law." And In the process it became it follows also, whatever view is taken it enshrined. " their Law." With the same fatal nar- of the authorship of the Gospel, that rowness they reduced the representatives the Evangelist in setting down these and bearers of the ancient revelation to sayings of Christ accepts to the full the a national faction; and "the Jews" em- teaching which they convey. Nor is this all. Just as the words of bodied just that which was provisional and evanescent in the system which they the Lord recorded in the fourth Gospel misunderstood (comp. in. § 1). These confirm the divine authority of the Old (il

16).

From first to last Judaism is

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INTRODUCTION TO Testament, so also the Evangelist, when he writes in his own person, emphasizes

The first public act the same principle. of Christ reminded the disciples, as he relates, of a phrase in the Psalms (ii. The Resurrection, he says, con17). firmed their faith in the Scripture, and the word which

Jesus spake, as

gelist still

records the central truth, true

for all ages, which Christ declared :

—as Jews worship both for —the

were of equal weight In the light of the same event they understood at last what' they had done unconsciously in accordance with prophetic utterances (xii. 14 if.). So again at the close of his record of Christ's public ministry, he points out how the apparent failure of Christ's mission was part of the great scheme of Providence foreshadowed by Isaiah. The experience, and the words of the prophet, made such a result inThis fulfilment of evitable (xii. 37 ff.). the wider teaching of prophecy is further confirmed by examples of the fulfilment of its details. Special incidents of the Passion are connected with the language of the Old Testament The division of the garments, and the casting lots for the seamless robe (xix. 23 f.); the expression of thirst (xix. 28), the linibs left unbroken (xix. 36), the side pierced (xix. significant parallels with the treat37) ment of the paschal lamb give occasion to quotations from the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets ; and these fulfilments of the ancient Scriptures are brought forward as solid grounds of faith (xix.

—

tions may have been popularly drawn from the use of the characteristic title "the Jews" for the adversaries of ChristiWriting as a Christian the Evananity.

—

35)-

" The Law," in short, is treated by the

that which we know,

salvation promised the salvation to the world is from the Jews (iv. 22), rising by a divine law out of the dispenNosation intrusted to their keeping. thing which was said at a later time neutralised these words of the Lord in which He identified Himself with the old people of God, and signalised their in-

The knowledge herent prerogatives. which the Jews had was the result of their acceptance of the continuous reve-

of God from age to age; while the Samaritans who refused to advance beyond the first stage of His manifestation, worshipped the true Object of worlation

ship, but ignorantly.

They worshipped

that which they knew not (iv. 22). This was the rightful position of the Jews towards Christ, which is everywhere presupposed in the Gospel, but they failed to maintain it, and when the

Evangelist wrote their

national failure

was past hope. They received Him not But the sources and the kinds of their unbelief were manifold, and the narrative reflects

the varieties of their cha-

racter.

For the people are not, as is commonly assumed to be the case, a' uniform, colourless mass.

On the contrary, dis-

writer of the fourth Gospel, both in his

tinct bodies reveal themselves on a care-

record of the Lord's teaching, and, more comments, as only a Jew could have treated it It was misinterpreted by those to whom it was So far as it given, but it was divine. was held, not only apart from, but in opposition to, its true fulfilment, it lost This character the its true character. Evangelist unfolds. The object with which he wrote was to shew that Jesus was not only the Son of God, but also the Christ, the promised Messiah of the Jews (xx. 31), just as Nathanael, the true representative of Israel (i. 47), had recognised Him at first under this double

ful examination of

especially, in his own

title.

The portraiture of the people in the fourth Gospel is no less indicative of its Jewish authorship, whatever false deduc-

its

the record, each with

own distinctive marks. Two great divi-

sions are portrayed with marked clearness, " the multitude," and " the Jews."

The multitude (6 ox^°*) represents the. general gathering of the Jewish inhabitants of Palestine, Galilaeans for the most part, who are easily swayed to and fro, with no settled policy, and no firm These, when they saw the convictions. had wrought at Jerusalem, received Him in Galilee (iv. 45), and followed Him, and, at a later time, would have made Him King (vL 15). When they went up to the feasts they gathered round Him in expectation and doubt, ignorant of the deadly hostility of their rulers to the new prophet (vii. 20), and inclined to believe (vii. 40; signs which Jesus

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THE GOSPEL OF S. JOHN. compare the whole

chapter).

On the

eve of the Passion they brought Him in triumph into the city (xil 1 2) ; and, in the last scene in which they are presented in the Gospel, listen in dull perplexity to Christ's final revelation of Himself (xii. 29, 34). In the fourth Gospel they do not appear in the narrative of the Trial and the Crucifixion. They may have been used as instruments, but the guilt of this issue did not belong to them as a body. In contrast with "the multitude" 1 stand "the Jews ." Both titles are geincluding various elements neral terms, both have local centres; both express tendencies of religious feeling. Just as "the multitude" reflect the spirit of Galilee, " the Jews " reflect the spirit of Jerusalem (i. 19), and this term is perhaps used exclusively of those who lived in the limited region of Judaea. "The multitude" have vague, fluent, opinions; "the

Jews " hold fast by the popular expectation of a national Messiah, and a national

sovereignty.

From

first

last

they appear as the representatives of the narrow finality of Judaism (ii. 18, xix. They begin their opposition by a 38). charge of the violation of the Sabbath (v. 10 ff. ; comp. xix. 31). Those of them who are present at Capernaum give expression to " murmurings " at the teaching to which "the multitude" had apparently listened with awed respect They (vl 41, 52; comp. vi. 22 40). reduce the wavering multitude to silence If they beat Jerusalem (vii. 13). lieve Christy they do not at once believe on Him^ and while they cling to thenown prejudices yield themselves to the perils of fatal error (viii. 31 ff. note). In their zeal for the Law they would at once stone Christ (viii. 59, x. 31); and to them generally the Crucifixion is attri-

—

n—

buted

(xviii.

12,

14, 31, 36, 38, xix.

7',

"The Jews" thus presented to a writer who looked back from a Christian 1 point of sight upon the events which he described the aggregate of the people whose opinions were opposed in spirit to the work of Christ They were not, as they might have been, " true Israelites" (i. 47 ; comp. v. 31^. But at the same time he does not fail to notice that there were among them two distinct tendencies, which found their expression in the Pharisees and Sadducees respectively.

name

The latter are not mentioned by

the fourth Gospel, but the describes them more characteristically, and with a more direct knowledge, by their social position at the time. They were " the high-priests," the faction of Annas and Caiaphas (Acts v. 17), the reckless hierarchy, whose policy is sharply distinguished in one or two life-like traits from that of the religious zealots, the Pharisees. Several times indeed the two parties appear as acting together in the great Council (vii. 32, 45, in

writer

xL 47, 57, xviii. 3; comp. vii. 26, 48, xii. 42 the rulers\ yet even in these cases the two are only once so grouped as to form a single body (vii. 45 vpo? rovs apxteal <&ap.), and " the chief priests " always stand first as taking the lead in the designs of violence. This is brought out very vividly in the fatal scene in the Sanhedrin after the raising of Lazarus (see xi. 47 note). In other places when the two parties

mentioned separately the contrast between them familiar to the historian

are

underlies the record. The Pharisees are moved by the symptoms of religious disorder: the high priests (Sadducees) by the prospect of ecclesiastical danger. The Pharisees are the true representatives of "the ix.

18, ix.

make

Jews" (i. 19 Hi. 24, ix. 13 ||

inquiries

xii.

42).

They send to

about the

mission of

12, 14).

Yet even these are struck with wonder (vii. 15) and doubt (vii. 35, viii

John (i. 24); they hear, evidently as of something which deeply concerned them,

22); they are divided (x. 19), and ask peremptorily for a clear enunciation of Christ's claim (x. 24); and the defection

of baptism among the followers of the Lord (iv. 1); they scornfully reject the opinion of the illiterate multitude (vii 47); they question the authority of Christ (viii. 13); they condemn His miracles as wrought on the Sabbath (ix.

from among them to Him marks the last crisis in the history (xii. 10 f.; comp. xl 45, 48, ix. 40, xii. 42). of many

1 The term occurs rarely in the discourses of the Lord : iv. «, xiii. 33, xviii. 20, 36. See note on the last passage.

1 The phrase "the Passover of the Jews" evidently implies a familiar Christian Passover 9 ii.

13 note.

Comp. ii. 6, v. 1, vii. 1, xix. 42.

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INTRODUCTION TO 13 ff.); they excommunicate His followers 42 ; comp. ix. 22); but at last they look with irresolute helplessness upon the apparent failure of their opposition (xii. 19). From this point they appear no more by themselves. "The chief priests" take the direction of the end Five times they into their own hands. are mentioned alone, and on each occasion as bent on carrying out a purpose of death and treason to the faith of They plotted the murder of Israel Lazarus because many for his sake bePilate sees in lieved on yesus (xii 1 1 ). them the true persecutors of Christ Thy nation and the chief priests delivered Thee up to me (xviii. 35). Their voices first raise the cry, Crucify, Crucify Him (xix. They make the unbelieving con6). fession, We have no king but Ccesar (xix. 15), and utter a vain protest against the

(xii.

title

which their condemnation was

written (xix. 21, the chief priests of the

Jews). This most significant fact of the de-

of these, which

first

latest in date, the word

probably the

marks a position

In the Acts the title between the notions of privi-

of antagonism. oscillates

lege and of opposition, but the course of the history goes far to fix its adverse

meaning.

The word

comparatively It occurs most commonly (twelve times out of twenty-four) in contrast with "Greek," both alike standing in equal contrast with the idea of Christianity; and for St Paul, "a Hebrew of Hebrews," his countrymen, "Jews by nature" (Gal. ii. are already separated from 15), himself. The name of a race has become practically the name of a sect (Rom. iii. 9 ; 1 Cor. i. 22 ff., ix. 20, x. The 32 ; comp. Gal. ii. 13, L 13 f.). word is not found in the Catholic epistles, but in the Apocalypse it is used twice (ii. 9, iii. 9), evidently to describe those who insisted on their literal descent and ceremonial position, and claimed the prerogatives of Israel outside the is

rare in the Epistles of St Paul.

cisive action of the Sadducaean hierarchy

Church.

compassing the death of the Lord, which is strikingly illustrated by the

the worst enemies of the Gospel ; and a Christian writing at the close of the century could not but speak of the people generally by the title which characterized them to his contemporaries.

and Sadducees to the early Church as described in the Acts, explains the prominent posi-

relative attitude of Pharisees

tion assigned

Annas

Jews were

false-styled

the fourth

Gospel (xviii. 13), Annas was the head of the party. Though he had ceased to be high-priest for many years, he swayed the policy of his successors.

Such

St Luke in

Gospel significantly sets him with Caiaphas as " high-priest " (err* dpxupfa not €7r dpxitptw, iii. 2), as if both were united in one person ; and in the Acts he, and not Caiaphas (iv. 6), is alone called " high- priest" The coincidence is just one of those which reveal the actual as distinguished from the official his

state of things.

One further remark must be made The general use of the term " the Jews " for the opponents of Christ not only belongs necessarily to the position of an apostle at the close of the first century, but it is even possible to trace in the books of the New Testament the gradual change by which it assumed this specific In the Synoptic Gospels it occurs force. only four times except in the title " king of the Jews ;" Matt xxviii. 15; Mark vii. 3; Luke vii. 3, xxiii. 51; and in the

(b)

The Author of the Fourth Gospel

was a Jew of Palestine. The facts which have just been noticed carry us beyond the conclusion which they were alleged to establish. They shew that the writer of the fourth Gospel was not only a Jew, but a Palestinian Jew of the first century. It is inconceivable that a Gentile, living at a distance from the scene of religious and political controversy which he paints, could have realised, as the Evangelist has done, with vivid and unerring accuracy the relations of parties and interests which ceased to exist after the fall of Jerusalem; that he could have marked distincdy the part which the hierarchical class the unnamed Sadducees took in the crisis of the Passion that he could have caught the real

—

points at issue between true

and

false

Judaism, which in their first form had passed away when the Christian society was firmly established that he could have portrayed the growth and conflict of opinion as to the national hopes of :

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. the Messiah side by side with the progress of the Lord's ministry. All these phases- of thought and action, which would be ineffaceably impressed upon the

memory of one who had lived through the events which the history records, belonged to a state of things foreign to the experience of an Alexandrine, or an Asiatic, in the second century. For in estimating the value of these conclusions which we have gained, it must be remembered that the old landmarks, material and moral, were destroyed by the Roman war: that the destruction of the Holy City a true coming of Christ revealed the essential differences of Judaism and Christianity, and raised a barrier between them that at the beginning of the second century the influence of Alexandria was substituted for that of the Jewish schools in the growing Church. (a) And these considerations which apply to the arguments drawn from the religious and political traits of the history, apply also in corresponding degrees to the more special indications that the author of the Fourth Gospel was a Jew of Palestine. Among these, the most convincing perhaps is to be found in his local knowledge. He speaks of places with an unaffected precision, as familiar in every case with the scene which he wishes to recall. There is no effort, no elaborateness of description in his narratives: he moves about in a country which he knows. His mention of sites is not limited to those which are found elsewhere in Scripture, either in the Gospels or in the Old Testament "Cana of Galilee" (Kara tiJs ToXaXatac, ii. i, ii, iv. 46, xxi. 2), thus exactly distinguished, is not noticed by any earlier

—

a sure sign of the genuineness of the

reference, and the defining clause, " near

to Salim," even if the identification were as difficult now as it has been represented to be, shews that the place was 1 clearly present to the writer . Nothing indeed but direct acquaintance with the localities can account for the description added in each of these cases. writer for whom these spots were identified with memorable incidents which were for him turning-points of faith, would naturally add the details which recalled them to his own mind: for another the exact definition could have no interest Other indications of minute knowledge are given in the implied notice of the dimensions of the lake of Tiberias (vi. 19 ; comp. Mark vi. 47), and of the relative posi-

tions of

Cana and Capernaum (ii. 12,

went down). One name, however, has caused much difficulty. The city of Samaria named Syehar (iv. 5) has been commonly identified with Shechem (Sychem, Acts vii. 16), and the changed form has been confidently attributed by sceptical critics to the ignorance of the Evangelist The importance of Shechem, a city with which

no one could have been unacquainted

who possessed the knowledge of Palestine which the writer of the fourth Gospel

certainly had, might reasonably dispose of

such a charge.

And more than this

the

picture with which the name is connected The prosis evidently drawn from life. pect of the corn-fields (v. 35), and of the heights of Gerizim (v. 20), are details which belong to the knowledge of an The notice of the depth eye-witness. of the well (v. 11) bears equally the If then there stamp of authenticity. were no clue to the solution of the prob-

28), a place already forgotten in the time

lem offered by the strange name, it would

of Origen, is obviously distinguished from the familiar Bethany " near Jerusalem," the situation of which is precisely fixed as "about fifteen furlongs" from the city

be right to acquiesce in the belief that Syehar might be a popular distortion of Shechem, or the name of some unknown

Ephraim, again, situated "near the wilderness" (xi. 54) may be identical with Ophrah (1 Sam. xiii. 17), but it is

can be so rendered.

writer.

"Bethany beyond Jordan"

(xl 18).

not otherwise named in Scripture. Once more, ^Enon (iii. 23) is not known from 1 other sources, but the form of the name 1 This is true whether the word be taken as an adjectival form "abounding in springs" (comp. xlviL 17) ; or as a corruption of a dual form

£c

"the two springs, "but it is doubtful whether it It is said that Ainan and Ainaira, "the two springs," are the names of

The Syriac versions several places in Arabia. write the name as two words, "the spring of the dove." 1 Lieut. Conder in the Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration Fund (July, 1874, PP191 f.) identifies it with 'Aynun near to Salim, due east of Nablus. The use of the phrase beyond Jordan (iii. 26) implies that the country was on the West of the river.

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INTRODUCTION TO

Xll

But the case does not stand so absolutely without help towards a decision. The earliest ancient authorities (4th cent.) distinguish Shechem and Shechem could hardly have Sychar. been described as near to the plot of

vented a Bethesda (or Bethzetha) with

village.

its five

caused the Kidron to be described as "the winter torrent "? How long must the name Siloam have been pondered over before the perfectly admissible rendering " Sent " was seen to carry with it a typical significance? The Prcetorium and Golgotha are mentioned by the other evangelists ; but even here the writer of the fourth Gospel sees the localities, if I may so speak, with the vividness of an 1

ground which Jacob gave to Joseph (v. 5). There are, moreover, several references to Sukra, Sukar ain-Sukar ("OD, tTO)D •DID p?) in the Talmud; and a village Askar still remains, which answers to f

the conditions of the narrative.

Some

has been felt in identifying 'Askar with Sychar, since it is written at present with an initial 'Ain, but in a Samaritan Chronicle of the 12th century, the name appears in a transitional form with an initial Yod ("OD*), and the Arabic translation of the Chronicle gives 'Askar difficulty

as the equivalent.

porches, and exact locality (v. 2)?

What except habitual usage would have

actual spectator.

The Jews crowd round

the Praetorium which they will not enter, and Pilate goes in and out before them (xviii.

28 ff.).

Golgotha is "nigh to the

city" where people pass to and fro, and "there was a garden there" (xix. 17, 20,

And the fourth Evangelist alone 41). notices the Pavement, the raised plat-

The description [of

John], Lieut Conder writes, " is most accurately applicable to 'Askar. ... It is merely a modern mud village, with no great indications of antiquity, but there are remains of ancient tombs near the road beneath it" {Report of the Palestine Exploration Fund, 1877, pp. 149 f., 1876,

Gabbatha (xix. 1 3). The places Bethesda and Gabbatha are not, in fact, mentioned anywhere except in the fourth Gospel, and the perfect simplicity with which they are introduced in the narrative, no

p. 197.)

less

form of judgment, with its Hebrew title,

than the accuracy of form in the titles (whatever be the true reading of Bethesda), marks the work of a Palestinian Jew, who had known Jerusalem before its fall.

The notices of the topography of Je-

Aramaic

in the fourth Gospel are still more conclusive as to its authorship than the notices of isolated places in Palestine. The desolation of Jerusalem after its capture was complete. No creative genius can call into being a lost site. And the writer of the fourth Gospel is evidently at home in the city as it was before its fall. He knows much that we learn from independent testimony, and he knows what is not to be found elsewhere. But whether he mentions spots known from other sources, or named only by himself, he speaks simply

rusalem contained

The allusions to the Temple shew no less certainly the familiarity of the writer

—

As he recalls a familiar scene he lives again in the past, and forand certainly.

gets the desolation which had fallen upon the place which rises before his eyes. " There is, 11 he writes, " at Jerusalem a

pool called Bethesda" (v. 2), and by the form of the sentence carries us back to the time when the incident first became " Bethesda by the sheep-gate," history. "the pool of Siloam" (ix. 7), "the brook Kidron" (xviii. 1), which are not named by the other evangelists (yet see Luke xiii. 4), stand out naturally in his narrative. What imagination could have in-

with the localities in which he represents Christ as teaching. The first scene, the cleansing of the Temple, is in several details more lifelike than the similar passages in the Synoptists (ii. 14 16). It is described just as it would appear to an eye-witness in its separate parts, and not as the similar incident is summed up briefly in the other narratives. Each group engaged stands out distinctly, the sellers of oxen and sheep, the moneychangers sitting at their work, the sellers of doves ; and each group is dealt with individually. Then follows, in the course of the dialogue which ensues, the singularly exact chronological note, "Forty and six years was this Temple in building"

•

(it 20).

The incidents of the Feast of Taber1 For the discussion of the reading see note on xviii. 1. If the reading "the torrent of thg Cedars" be adopted, the argument is not

affected.

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. nacles (which are given in chapters vii. and viii.) cannot be understood, as has been already noticed, without an accurate acquaintance with the Temple ritual.

—

commemorating the typical miracles of the wilderness the outpouring of water on the altar of sacrifice, and the kindling the golden lamps at night, furnish the The Evangegreat topics of discourse.

The two symbolic ceremonies

—

list is

familiar with the facts, but he does

not pause to dwell upon them. Only in one short sentence does he appear to call attention to the significance of the " These things? he says, "Jesus events. spake in the treasury\ as he taught in the Temple" (viii. 20). The mention of the exact spot carried with it to minds familiar with the Herodian Temple a clear revelation of what was in the Apostle's mind. For the treasury was in the court of the women where the great candelabra were placed, looking to which Christ said,

—

"/ am the light" not of one people, or of one city, but "of the world? And there is still another thought suggested by the mention of the place. The meeting-hall of the Sanhedrin was in a chamber adjacent to it We can understand, therefore the hasty attempts of the chief priests and Pharisees to seize Christ, and

the force of the words which are added, that even there, under the very eyes of the popular leaders, " no man Mid hands

on Him? The next visit to Jerusalem, at the Feast of Dedication, brings a new place "// was winter? we read, before us. "and Jesus was walking in Solomon* Porch" (x. 22), a part of the great eastern cloister suiting in every way the scene with which it is connected. Once again, as I believe, we have a significant allusion to the decoration of the Temple. On the eve of the Passion, at the close of the discourses in the upper chamber, the Lord said, "Arise, let us go hence" (xiv. 31). Some time after we read that when He had finished his High-priestly prayer, He went forth with His disciples over the brook Kidron. It seems to be impossible to regard this

the fulfilment of the former The house, therefore, roust have been left before, as is clearly implied in the narrative, and the walk to the Mount of Olives might well include notice

as'

command.

xiii

a visit to the Temple ; and over the gate of the Temple was spread the great vine of gold, which was reckoned among its noblest ornaments. Is it then a mere fancy to suppose that the image of the vine and its branches was suggested by the sight of this symbolic tracery, lighted by the Paschal moon, and that the Highpriestly prayer was offered under the

shadow of the Temple walls ?

However this may be, it is inconceivable that any one, still more a Greek or a Hellenist, writing when the Temple was rased to the ground, could have spoken of it with the unaffected certainty which appears in the fourth Gospel It is monstrous to transfer to the second century the accuracy of- archaeological research which is one of the latest acquirements of modern art The Evanit may be safely said, speaks of what he had seen. (P) The arguments which have been already drawn from the political, social, religious, and local knowledge of the author of the fourth Gospel, shew beyond all doubt, as it appears, that he was a

gelist,

Palestinian Jew. A presumption in favour of the same conclusion may be derived from the quotations from the Old Testament which are contained in the Gospel These shew at least so much that the writer was not dependent on the LXX. and they suggest that he was acquainted with the original Hebrew. A rapid summary of the facts will enable the student to estimate the weight of this additional evidence. (1)

Quotations &y the Evangelist. 17.

ii.

...ycypa/ificVov

iartv *0 {fXof

tov olxov arov jcara<^aycrai Ps. lxix. (Ixviii.) 9. KaTffvdXbxrt).

XU.

fi€.

icaTc^ayc (Symm.

So Hebr

(1)

Kadax; iariy ytypafiftivov 15. Mr} <f>oftovf dvyd-njp Saw* IBov o fiaat14,

Xcvs arov cpxcrcu, Kadtjfxcvo^ M. v<ZXor ovov. Zach. ix. 9. Xcupe <r^o8pa, Bvyartp SuJv, l&ov 6 /fturiAcv? arov ip^rai. {«- 1@€prjK(os iwi ...muXo? viov. (All the Greek versions have hri^firjKiik. Theodotion has iwl ovov kou nu>\ov viov oyov.) . .

. .

Hebr. nuntrp wton *norr^. (*) Xli 38. ...lv*o\oyo%'H*atov...TkitfH*&§

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INTRODUCTION TO

XIV

or ctrcv Kypu, rk iwiOTcwrcr rg a#cor} Tjfi&v; #cat o fipa\iu¥ tcvpiov tiki dircjca-

Symm. Theodot

KaTt/ityakivfirj

/tov).

Hebr. spy <fo ^Up

(11)

xv. 25. bra irA. o X6yo<:...*Efiurqadv fit Is. liiL i (exact)

(3)

ooipcaV.

Tctv^Acdkcv avrwv tovs d^aX/xovs #cal cV»pm&tv avTwv ttJk tcapoTa?, tva /tij toWi?

SojpcdV.

40.

xii.

ctrcv 'Hooia?

ort

...

roif 64>6aXfxoU kol voTjcruaiv rjj Kapbla

mu <TTpa</)u><rtv, #cat laa-opai avrovs. Is.vi.io. cVaxvvli; 1; xapoYa tow Xaov rovTov...#cai rov? o^daA./u>vs Inapt fivaav, /*i/

itotc

scapSta

toWi tois o^laA/iot? *ai

crvvcacri

. . .

#cal

tjJ

Iwicrrpiiftiacri

#cal

(The version of Symm, uses the same words generally as LXX.) tdaroftai

avrovc

Comp. Matt xiii. 13 ff.; Mark iv. 12. . Lva

XIX. 24.

-.•;••••

ypatyj vXrfpw&Q Aic/tcpuravro rd i/xarta /aov cavrot? *cat cVi tov if

ifLarurfiov fiov c/?aXov «cX^pov.

(5)

fva 17 ypa<f>r) vkrjpw&jj 'Oorovv

ov owTptfitj<rcrat axrrov. Ex. xii. 46. oVjtovk ov owrpfycTC aw* avrov (aL owrptycrcu). Num. ix. 12. a

©v

(Twrpiipovariv

av. (aL awrptij/erai).

Cf. Ps. xxxiv. (xxxiii.) 20

(6)

xix. 3 7. cVcpa ypa<f>rj Acyci *(tyovrcu cfc tv l(tK€VT7)(rav. Hebr. ITpl.

Zach. avff

<Lv

xii.

IO.

iiriftktyovrai

KaTupxn<T*vTo

Aq.

cfcKc'roprav.

(3)

xxxiv. (xxxv.) 19. ol fuaovvTc; ftc Ps. lxviii. (lxix.) 5 (12)

Other quotations.

By John the Baptist i.

cy<o </x*>n; floQvTos cV rjj

23.

cWf^P

Ev^vvarc njv o6ov Kvpiov. Is. xl. 3. 4to ifiacraTc...cv0cias trotcirc Ta« rplpovs rov ^cov tJ^wv (Aq. Theodot

Symm. cvrpcirurarc). ...(13)

airoo-fccvaaaTC

By Galilaeans. 31. KaBiik iariv ycypa/i/xcVov "Aprov

vi.

$k rov ovpavov tSwK€v avTois <f>ay€iv. Ps. lxxviii. (lxxvii.) 24... (ftawa ^ayctv)

aprov ovpavov coWev avrots. Ex. xvi. Via aprov? Ik rov ovpavov ... ovros d apros oV loWc Kvptos vp.lv <f>ayt2v. #cot

Ps. xxii. (xxi.) 18 (exact) xix. 36.

Ps.

trpos

(Theodot

Symm.

p.€

cis

c*£c#ccVnyaav,

br€(€K€VTVfO'av).

4, 15.

. . .

(14)

The triumphal cry (xii. 13

;

Ps. cxvii

25) can hardly be treated as a quotation. In preserving the Hebrew form Hosanna St John agrees with the Synoptic Evangelists and differs from the LXX.

An examination of these fourteen cita-

—

7 by the Evangelist; 8 12 by the Lord; 13, 14 by others) shews that they fall into the following groups

tions (1

Comp. Rev. i. 7

(7)

Some agree with the Hebrew and

LXX., where these both agree (2)

(3), (5), (10), (12).

Quotations in the Lord's discourses.

VL 45.

cotu> ytypa/JLfiivov cV rots irpo-

^tfrai? Kat co-oirai iravrcs Si8a*Tol Otov. Is. liv. 13.

*cat (flrja'ut)

2. Others agree against the LXX.

the

Hebrew

(7), (8), (11).

iravra? tov* vtov?

crov Stoaxrov? 0cov.

with

Others differ from the Hebrew and LXX. where these both agree 3.

The words are not connected as in

LXX. with v. 12, but treated as in the Hebrew, independently vii.

38.

T17?

cVc

#ca0w9 ctircv

avrov

icoiAia?

(8) rj

ypa^rj irorapoi

pcvaovaw v&ito?

Others differ from the Hebrew and

LXX. where they do not agree (2), (4).

{cuvrof.

There is no exact parallel.

The re-

ference is probably general (9) X. 34. ov* €<mv yeypafifiivov...*Eyu) cTira €>cot cVrc

ywv

ftov

ypa<j>rj

(10)

wkrjpioOj} 'O Tp»-

toV aprov hrrjptv

c*/i)

nyv

wripvav axrrov. Ps. xll (xl) 9 (10). ...o ftov c/AcyaXwcv

(6). (9), (i3), (i4)-

But there is no case where a quotation agrees with the

Ps. lxxxii. (lxxxi.) 6 (exact) xiiL 18. fva

Free adaptations

cV&W aprovf

cV c/ii vTcpyur/ioV.

(Aq.

LXX. against the

Hebrew. (y) There is yet another argument to be noticed in support of the Palestinian authorship of the fourth Gospel, which appears to be of great weight, though it

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. has commonly been either passed over, or even regarded as a difficulty. The doctrine of the Word, as it is presented in the Prologue, when taken in connexion with the whole Gospel, seems to shew clearly that the writer was of Palestinian

and not of Hellenistic training. In considering St John's teaching on the Logos, " the Word," it is obvious to remark, though the truth is very often neglected in practice, that it is properly a question of doctrine and not of nomenclature. It constantly happens in the history of thought that the same terms and phrases are used by schools which have no direct affinity, in senses which are essentially distinct, while they have a Such terms (& g. superficial likeness. idea) belong to the common dialect of speculation ; and it is indeed by the peculiar force which is assigned to them that schools are in .many cases most readily new teacher necesdistinguished. sarily uses the heritage which he has received from the past in order to make his message readily understood. It may then be assumed that St John, when he speaks of " the Word," " the Only-begotten," and of His relations to God and to the world, and to man, employs a vocabulary and refers to modes of thought which were already His teaching current when he wrote. would not have been intelligible unless the general scope of the language which he employed, without explanation or pre-

paration, had been familiar to his readers. When he declares with abrupt emphasis

that " the Word was in the beginning," and that " the Word became flesh," it is evident that he is speaking of "a

Word" already known in some degree by the title, though he lays down new His being. He does not speak, as in the Apocalypse (xix. 13 comp. Heb. iv. 12) of "the Word of God," but of "the Word" absolutely. Those whom he addressed knew of he was speaking, and were able to understand that which it was his office In this to make known about Him. case, as in every other similar case, the thoughts of men, moving in different directions under the action of those laws of natural growth which are the expression of the divine purpose, prepared the medium and provided the appropriate truths as to

Whom

means for the revelation which was to be conveyed in the fulness of time. In this respect the manifold forms of speculation, Western and Eastern, ful-

a function in respect to Christian philosophy similar to that which was fulfilled in other regions of religious experience by the LXX. ; and th6 results which were gained were embodied in Greek modes of speech, which were ready at last for the declaration of the divine message. It becomes then a question of peculiar and yet of subordinate interest to determine from what source St John derived his language. It is admitted on filled

hands that

all

central affirmation,

his

" the Word became flesh," which under-

he wrote, is absolutely new and A Greek, an Alexandrine, a Jewish doctor, would have equally Tt~ fused to admit such a statement as a legitimate deduction from his principles, or as reconcileable with them. The message completes and crowns " the hope of Israel," but not as " the Jews " expected It gives stability to the aspirations of humanity after fellowship with God, but not as philosophers had supposed, by " unclothing " the soul. St John had been enabled to see what Jesus of Naza-

lies

all

unique.

reth was, " the Christ "

of God " :

and " the Son

remained for him to bring

home his convictions to others (xx. 31). The Truth was clear to himself: how could he so present it as to shew that it gave reality to the thoughts with which his contemporaries were busied? The answer is by using with necessary modifications the current language of the highest religious speculation to interpret a fact, to reveal a Person, to illuminate the fulness of actual life. Accordingly he transferred to the region of history the phrases in which men before him

had spoken of "the Logos"— "the Word," " the Reason " in the region of metaphysics. St Paul had brought home

—

the divine majesty of the open the unchanged majesty of "Jesus come in the flesh." to

believers

glorified Christ : St John laid

But when

this

laid

down it

still

remains to

determine in which direc* tion we are to look for the immediate source from which St John borrowed the cardinal term Logos, a term which en*

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INTRODUCTION TO

XVI

shrines in itself large treasures of theo-

Word " was employed in connexion with

logical speculation.

God. They were most probably not committed to writing in the shape in which we now have them, till some time

The scantiness of contemporary religious literature makes the answer more difficult

than it might have been if the had not shrunk

great Jewish teachers

from committing their lessons to writing.

And, in one sense, the difficulty is increased by the fact that a striking aspect of Jewish thought has been preserved in the copious writings of Philo of Alexandria (born c. b. c 20), who is naturally regarded as the creator of teaching, of which he is in part only the representa-

view may be from the truth, the works of Philo furnish at least a starting-point for our inquiry. This typical Alexandrine Jew speaks constantly of " the divine Logos"

However far

tive.

this

language which offers parallels with the epistle to the Hebrews and. St Paul. The divine Logos is "Son of God," (o 0ctos Xdyos) in

striking,

partial,

"firstborn Son" (irpwrdyovos, 1. 414), "image of God" (cucwv $€ov, 1. 6), "God" (1. 655), "high-priest" (apXtc-

after the Christian aera; but all evidence goes to shew that they embody the interpretations which had been orally current from a much earlier time. In the Targum of Onkelos on the Pentateuch, which is the oldest in date, the action of God is constantly though not consistently referred to " His Word " (Memra, 10*0, fcOD*D). Thus it is said that " the

Lord protected Noah by His word, when he entered the ark" (Gen. vil 16): that He "made a covenant between Abraham and His word" (Gen. xvii. 2); that the word of the Lord was with Ishmael in the wilderness (xxi. 20). At Bethel Jacob made a covenant that " the Word of the Lord should be His God (Gen. xxviii. 21). Moses at Sinai "brought forth the people to meet the Word of

God " (Exod. xix. 17). And in Deuteronomy the Word of the Lord appears as a consuming fire talking to His people,

pw, 1. 653), " man of God," " archetypal and fighting for them against their eneman" (av0/xiwro« $€ov, 1. 411, d #caT* mies (Deut. iii. 2, iv. 24). head of comp. 1. 121), " through whom the world was created "

€uc6va ithe

»(ii.

avOpwrros,

body"

(1.

427), "the

640;

225).

At first sight it might seem that we have here beyond all doubt the source of But the ambiguity St John's language. of the Greek term Logos, which means both Reason and Word, makes it necessary to pause before adopting this conWhen Philo speaks of "the divine Logos" his thought is predominantly of the divine Reason and not of the divine Word. This fact is of deciThe conception of a sive importance. divine Word, that is, of a divine Will sensibly manifested in personal action, is not naturally derived from that of a divine Reason, but is rather complementary to it, and characteristic of a different school of thought Is it then possible to find any clear traces of a doctrine of a divine Logos elsewhere than at Alexandria ? clusion.

The Targums furnish an

instructive

answer to the question. These paraphrases of the Hebrew Scriptures have preserved, as it appears, the simplest and earliest form in which the term "the

Such examples might be multiplied and it may be noticed that the term Debura (mm) occurs in this indefinitely ;

sense as well as Memra.

Thus it is said

in the Jerusalem Targum

on Numb. vii.

89, the word (mm) was talking with him; and again Gen. xxviii. 10, thi word (t) desired to talk with him. In connexion with this usage it must also be observed that " a man's word " is used as a periphrasis for " himself." So we read Ruth iii. 8 ('Targ. Jon.'), "between his word (i.e. himself) and Michal" (Buxtorf and Levyjj. v.). The " word " is in fact the active expression of the rational character, and so may

well stand for the person from whom it As applied to God, the term

issues.

was free from any rude anthropomorphism, while it preserved the reality of a divine fellowship for man. One striking difference between the

Aramaic and Greek terms will have been Logos, as we have seen, is remarked. ambiguous, and may signify either reason or word, but Memra (Debura) means

word only.

If now we return to Philo, the importance of this fact becomes obvious. With Philo the Palestinian sense

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. of word sinks entirely into the background, if it does not wholly disappear. He has borrowed a term which was already current in the Greek Scriptures, and filled it with a new meaning. Three currents of thought in fact meet in Philo's doctrine of " the Logos," the Stoic, the Platonic, and the Hebraic He was nothing less than a creative genius. He felt rightly that the revelation of the Old Testament contained implicitly the harmony of the manifold speculations of men, and he therefore adopted boldly the thoughts of Greek philosophy for the interpretation He found a " Logos" of its language. in the Greek Bible which he accepted as the record of revelation, and he applied to that what Greek writers had said of the " Logos," without thinking it necessary to inquire into the identity of the At one time he borrows from terms. Plato when he speaks of the Logos as " the archetypal idea " (' de spec, leg.' 36, 11. p. 333 f.), or as bearing " the idea of ideas " ('de migr. Abr.' 18, 1. p. 452 m.). More commonly he uses the Stoic conception of the Logos, as the principle of reason, which quickens and informs matter. At the same time, while it appears that Philo borrowed both the title of the Logos as Reason, and the most prominent features of His office, from Hellenic sources, he sought the confirmation of his views in the Old Testament ; and in

doing this he shews that he was not unacquainted with Jewish speculations on But in spite of the unwaverthe Word. ing faith with which he found in the letter of the law the germ and the proof of the teaching which he borrowed from Greece, he abandoned the divine posiThe whole scope of tion of the Jew. the writers of the Old Testament is religious. They move in a region of life and history. Their idea of God is that of the Lord who rules the world and His chosen people, not simply as the Author of existence, but as One who stands in a moral relation to men, "speaking" to them. The whole scope of Philo on the other hand is metaphysical. He moves in a His region of abstraction and thought With him idea of God is pure being. the speculative aspect of the Logos-doctrine overpowers the moraL He does not

xvii

place the Logos in connexion with the Messiah, nor even specially with Jewish history. It is perhaps of less significance that he speaks of it now as if it were personal, and again as if it were impersonal now as an attribute, and now as "a second god." If now we ask with which of these two conceptions of the Logos, current respectively in Palestine and Alexandria, the teaching of St John is organically connected, the answer cannot be uncertain. Philo occupied himself with the abstract conception of the divine Intelligence, and so laid the foundations of a philosophy. The Palestinian instinct seized upon the concrete idea of "the Word of God," as representing His personal action, and unconsciously prepared the way for a Gospel of the Incarnation. St John started from the conception of "the Word;" and by this means in the end he gave reality to the conception of " the Reason." The development of the action of the Logos, the Word, in the Prologue to the fourth Gospel places the contrast between Philo and the Evangelist in the However wavering and broadest light complex Philo's description of the Logos may be, it is impossible not to feel that he has in every case moved far away from the idea of an Incarnation. No one, it is not too much to say, who had accepted his teaching could without a complete revolution of thought accept the state:

ment "the Logos became flesh."

The

doctrine of the personality of the Logos, even if Philo had consistently maintained it, would not have been in reality a step towards such a fact On the other hand, in the Prologue the description of the Logos is personal from the first (rjv irpos t. $.), and

His creative energy is at once connected with man. "The Life was the light of men." " The Light was coming into the world (fy.. ipx-)-" And in due time "the Logos became flesh." Thought follows thought naturally, and the last event is seen to crown and complete the history which leads up to it. Philo and St John, in short, found the same term current, and used it according to their respective apprehensions of the-

Philo, following closely in thetrack of Greek philosophy, saw in the Logos the divine Intelligence in relation truth.

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INTRODUCTION TO

XVlil

to the universe : the Evangelist, trusting firmly to the ethical basis of Judaism, sets forth the Logos mainly as the revealer of God to man, through creation, through theophanies, through prophets, through the Incarnation. The Philonean Logos, to express the same thought differently, is a later stage of a divergent interpretation of the term common to

Hebrew and Hellenist It is however very probable that the teaching of Philo gave a fresh impulse to the study of the complementary conception of the Logos as the divine Reason, which was shadowed forth in the Biblical doctrine of Wisdom (<ro«£ta). Nor is there any difficulty in supposing that the

apostolic writers borrowed from him either directly or indirectly forms of language which they adapted to the essentially new announcement of an In-

carnate Son of God.

So it was that the

treasures of Greece were

made

contri-

butory to the full unfolding of the Gospel But the essence of their doctrine has no The speculations of affinity with his. Alexandria or Ephesus may have quickened and developed elements which otherwise would have remained latent in Judaism. But the elements were there and in this respect the evangelic message "the Word became flesh/' is the complete fulfilment of three distinct lines of preparatory revelation, which were severally connected with "the Angel of the Presence " (Gen. xxxii. 24 ff. ; Exod. xxxiii. 12 ff., xxiii. 20 f. ; Hos. xii. 4 f.; Isai. vi. 1 [John xii. 41], lxiii. 9; Mai. iii. 1); with "the Word" (Gen. i. 1; Ps. xxxiii. 6, cxlvii.

15 ; Isai. lv. 11 ; comp.

15); and with "Wisdom" (Prov. viii. 22 ff., iii. 19; Ecclus. i. 1

Wisd.

xviii.

10, xxiv. 9 (14) ; Bar. iii 37, iv. 1 comp. Wisd. vii. 7 n). In short, the teaching of St John is characteristically Hebraic and not Alex-

—

andrine. It is intelligible as the final coordination through facts of different modes of thought as to the divine Being and the divine action, which are conAnd on tained in the Old Testament the other hand it is not intelligible as an application or continuation of the teach-

ing of Philo. The doctrine of the Logos has been An excellent very frequently discussed. account of the literature up to 1870 is

given by Dr Abbot in his appendix to the article on " the Word " in the American edition of the Dictionary of the Bible.' Several later works are included in the list given by Soulier, ' La Doctrine du Logos chez Philon <f Alexandrie/ Turin, 1876. The works of Gfroerer, 'Philo u. d. Jud.-Alex. Theosophie/ 1835; Daehne, 'Jud.-Alex. ReligionsPhilosophie/1854; Dorner, 'The Person of Christ' (Eng. Trans.); Jowett, 'St Paul and Philo* ('Epistles of St Paul/ 1. 363 ff.) ; Heinze, Die Lehre v. Logos '

in Griech. Philosophic,

1872 ; Siegfried,

'Philo v. Alex./ 1875, may be specially mentioned. Grossmann has given a complete summary of the word " Logos" in Philo, in his 'Quaestiones Philonea/ 1829. (c) The Author of the fourth Gospel was an eye-witness of what he describes. The particularity of his knowledge, which has been already noticed summarily, leads at once to the next point in our inquiry. The writer of the Gospel was an eye-witness of the events which he

His narrative is marked by minute details of persons, and time, and number, and place and manner, which cannot but have come from a direct experience. And to these must be added various notes of fact, so to speak, which seem to have no special significance where they stand, though they become describes.

intelligible

when referred to the impresmade upon the memory

sion originally

of the Evangelist (a) Persons. The portraiture of the chief characters in the Gospel will be noticed afterwards. In this connexion it is sufficient to observe the distinctness with which the different actors in the history There is no rise before the writer. purpose, no symbolism to influence his The names evidently belong to record. the living recollection of the incidents. The first chapter is crowded with figures which live and move John with his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter, Philip, Nathanael. Momentous questions are connected with definite persons. He saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, t/iatthese may eat f. .Philip answered him...(\\. 5, 7; comp. Matt. xiv. 14 ff. and parallels). Certain Greeks said to :

Philip, Sir,

cometh

and

we would see Jesus. Philip lelleth Andrew: Andrew

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. Cometh and Philip and they tell Jesus Thomas saith unto Him, 21 f.). (xii. Lord> we know not whither thou gpest how do we know the way t (xiv. 5). Philip saith, Lord, shew us the Father, and it Judas saith, not sufficeth us (xiv. 8). Jscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself to us, and not unto the

world7

(xiv.

22).

The

disciple

whom

Jesus loved., falling back upon His breast, saith, Lord, who is it? (xiii. 25; comp. xxi.

20).

Nicodemus

xix.

39),

Lazarus

(xi.

(iil 1

ff.,

ff., vii.

50,

xii.

ff.),

Simon the father of Judas Iscariot* (vi. 71, xii. 4, xiii. 2, 26), and Malchus are mentioned only in the fourth Gospel. The writer of this Gospel alone mentions the relationship of Annas (xviii.

10),

to Caiaphas (xviii. 13), and identifies one of those who pointed to Peter as the

kinsman of him whose ear Peter cut off (xviii. 26).

Time. The details of time be(P) long perhaps more obviously to the plan of the narrative than the details of The greater seasons, even persons. though they are not noted in the Synoptists, may be supposed to have been preserved in tradition, as the first Passover (ii. 13, 23), the Feast of the New Year (v. 1), the Second Passover (vi. 4), the Feast of Tabernacles (vii. 2), the Feast of Dedication (x. 22); but other specifications of date can only be referred to the knowledge of actual experience. Such are the indications of the two marked weeks at the beginning and end of Christ's ministry (i. 29, 35, 43, ii. 1, xii. 1, 12 (xiii. 1), xix. 31, xx. 1), of the week after the Resurrection (xx. 26), the enumeration of the days before the raising of Lazarus (xi. 6, 17, 39), the note of the duration of Christ's stay in Samaria

morning

(xviii.

xix

28,

xx.

xxi.

4),

the

evening (vi. 16, xx. 19), by night (hi. 2). Number. The details of number, (y) though fewer, are hardly less significant It is unnatural to refer to anything except experience such definite and, as it appears, immaterial statements as those in which the writer of the fourth Gospel mentions the two disciples of the Baptist (i. 35), the six waterpots (ii. 6), the five loaves and two small fishes (vi. 9), the five-and-twenty furlongs (vi. 19), the four soldiers (xix. 23. Cp. Acts xii. 4), the two hundred cubits (xxi. 8), the

hundred andfifty and three fishes (xxi. 1 1). The number of the loaves and fishes is preserved in the Synoptic narrative, but this single parallel does not in any way lessen the value of the whole group of examples as a sign of immediate observation in the Evangelist Other records of number shew the clearness if not the directness of the writer's information, as the five husbands (iv. 18), the thirty and eight years sickness (v. 5), the estimate of three hundred pence (xii. 5 ; comp. Mark xiv. 5), the weight of a hundred

pounds (xix. 39). Place. Many of the local details (8) characteristic of the fourth Gospel have

been already noticed.

Here it is only necessary to observe that the manner in which the scenes of special acts and utterances are introduced shews that they belong to the immediate knowledge of the writer. We cannot naturally account for the particularity except on the supposition that the place was an integral part of the recollection of the incidents. Thus the scenes of John's baptism are given at Bethany and /Enon (i. 28, iii. 23 comp. x. 40). The son of the nobleman was sick at Capernaum while Jesus ;

43 ; compare also vi. 22, vii. Still more remarkable is the mention of the hour or of the time of day which occurs under circumstances likely to have impressed it upon the mind of the writer, as the tenth hour (L

was at Cana (iv. 46 f.). Jesus found the paralytic whom He had healed in the

the sixth hour (iv. 6), the seventh hour (iv. 52), about the sixth hour (xix.

40 ff.). When Mary came to Him He had not yet come to the village, but was in the place where Martha met Him He spent the interval between (xi. 30). the raising of Lazarus and His return to Bethany on the eve of the Passion in the country near the wilderness, in a city

(iv.

40,

*4> 37)-

40),

14), it

was night (xiii. 30), in the early

1 In this connexion it is interesting to notice that the writer of the fourth Gospel knew that the title Iscariot was a local or family name. He applies it both to Judas and to his father Simon: vi. 71, xiii. a, 30, xii. 4, xiv. si

Temple (v. 14). He gained many adherents when He went towards the close of His ministry beyondJordan to the place where John was at first baptizing (x.

called Ephraim (xl 54).

The people as

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INTRODUCTION TO

they stood in the Temple speculated on five thousand are barley loaves which His reappearance (xi. 56). a boy has (vi 9; comp. v. 13); when So again Christ spoke certain memor- Mary came to Jesus she fell at His feet able words in a solemn gathering (cv (xi. 32; contrast w. 20 f.); after the ointment was poured out the house was arwaytoyij) at Capernaum (vi. 59, note), in the treasury (viil 20), in Solomon's filled from its fragrance (xii. 3) ; the porch (x. 23), before crossing the Cedron branches strewn in the way of Jesus were (xviii. 1). taken from the palm-trees which were by (c) Manner. More impressive still the road-side (xii. 13) ; it was night when are the countless small traits in the de- Judas went forth (xiiL 30^ ; Judas brings a band of Roman soldiers as well as scriptions which evince either the skill of a consummate artist or the recollec- officers of the priests to apprehend Jesus tion of an observer. The former alter- (xviii. 3) ; Christ's tunic was without seam, native is excluded alike by the literary woven from the top throughout (xix. 23) the napkin which had been about His head spirit of the first and second centuries and by the whole character of the Gospel. was wrapped together in a place by itself The writer evidently reflects what he had (xx. 7) ; Peter was grieved because Jesus seen. This will appear most clearly to said to him the third time, Lovest thou any one who takes the record of a special me? (xxi. 17). scene and marks the several points which Compare also xiii. 24, xviii. 6, xix. 5, seem to reveal the impressions of an xxi. 20. Each phrase is a reflection of a definite external impression. They bring eye-witness, as (for example) the calling the scenes as vividly before the reader of the first disciples (i. 35 51), or the as they must have presented themselves foot- washing (xiii. 1 20), or the scene in the high-priest's court (xviii. 15 to the writer. 27), If it be said that we can conceive that or the draught of fishes (xxi. 1 14). In each one of these narratives, and they these traits might have been realised by are simply samples of the nature of the the imagination of a Defoe or a Shakeswhole narrative, it is almost impossible peare, it may be enough to reply that the narrative is wholly removed from to overlook the vivid touches which correspond with the actual experience of this modern realism ; but besides this, one who had looked upon what he de- there are other fragmentary notes to scribes. Thus, to take a single illustra- which no such explanation can apply. tion from the first (i. 35 Sometimes we find historical details 51), we cannot but feel the life (so to speak) of the given bearing the stamp of authenticity,

—

opening picture. John is shewn standing, in patient expectation of the issue, as the

tense implies

(ctonfitcc,

xviii. 5, 16, 18, xix.

comp.

vii.

37,

25, xx. 11), with two

of his disciples. As Christ moves away, now separate from him, he fixes his eyes upon Him (fyi/JAc^a*, comp. v. 43), so as to give the full meaning to the phrase which he repeats, in order that his dis^ ciples may now, if they will, take the Each word tells lesson to themselves. each person occupies exactly the position which corresponds to the crisis. And the description becomes more significant when contrasted with the notice of the corresponding incident on the former day (i. 29 ff.). Not to dwell at length on these scenes, one or two detached phrases may be quoted which will serve to shew the kind of particularity on which stress is laid. The loaves used at the feeding of the

which represent minute facts likely to cling to the memory of one directly concerned (i. 40), though it is in fact difficult for us now to grasp the object of the writer in preserving them. It is equally impossible to suppose that such details were preserved in common tradition or supplied by the imagination of the writer. Examples are found in the exact account of Andrew finding first his own brother Simon (i. 41), of the passing visit to Capernaum (ii. 12), of John's baptism (iii. 23), of the boats from Tiberias (vi. 22 f.), of the retire-

ment to Ephraim (xi. 54). Sometimes the detail even appears to be

in conflict with the context or with the current (Synoptic) accounts, though the discrepancy vanishes on a fuller realisation of the facts, as when the words Arise let us go hence (xiv. 31) mark the separation between the discourses in y

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. the upper chamber and those on the way to the garden (compare i. 21 with Matt xi. 14; iii. 24 with Matt. iv. 12). Elsewhere a mysterious saying is left wholly unexplained. In some cases the obscurity lies in a reference to a previous but unrecorded conversation, as when the Baptist says to the disciples who had followed him, Behold the Lamb of God (i.

29; comp.

haps,

36, xil 34), or, perunknown local circumstances

vi.

In others it lies in a personal but unexpressed revelation, as in the words which carried sudden conviction (i.

46).

to Nathanael, Before Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw Apparent contradictions thee (i 48). are left without any comment, as v. 31 compared with viii 14; xiii. 36 compared with xvi. 5 ; xiv. 19 compared with xvi. 19 ; and, on the other hand, an explanation is given which, though it might appear superfluous at a later time, becomes at once natural in one who in the process of narration is carried back to the scene itself with all its doubts and perplexities, as when it is said in interpretation of the words, ye are clean, but not all; " for He knew him that betrayed (was betraying) Him ; for this reason He said, Ye are not all clean" (xiii. 11). (d) The Author of the fourth Gospel was an Apostle, Such touches as those

which have been now enumerated, and every page of the Gospel will supply examples, shew that the writer was an eye-witness of many at least of the scenes which he describes. The age of minute

romance had not yet come fourth Gospel was written, even if such a record could possibly be

(ii.

11,

16,

xiii.

xxiv.

their

17,

22,

iv.

22, 28,

xxi 27, vi

xxi.

19, 60

f.,

xiL

12; comp. Luke

8; Matt xxvi. 75). He recalls words spoken among themselves

(iv. 33, xvi. 17, xx. 25, xxi. 3, 5) as to their Lord (iv. 31, ix. 2, xi. 8, 12, xvi 29).

He is familiar with their places of resort (xi. 54, xviii 2, xx. 19).

He is acquainted with imperfect or erroneous impressions received by them at one time, and afterwards corrected (ii. 21 f., xi 13, xii 16, xiii. 28, xx. 9, xxi. 4).

And yet more than this, the writer of the fourth Gospel evidently stood very near to the Lord. He was conscious of His emotions (xi. 33, xiii. 21). He was in a position to be well acquainted with the grounds of His action (ii. 24 f, iv. all ;

Nor is this he speaks as one to whom the mind

v. 6, vi.

15, vii. 1, xvi.

19).

of the Lord was laid open. Before the feeding of the five thousand he writes, This He (Jesus) said trying him, for He Himself knew what He was about to do (vi. 6). Jesus knew in Himself the murmurings of the disciples (vi. 61) ; He knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who it was that would betray Him (vi 64) ; He knew the hour of His Passion (xiii. 1, 3), and who should betray Him (xiii. 11); He knew indeed all the things that were coming

upon Him (xviii. 4) ; He knew when all things were accomplished (xix. 28). (e) The Author of the fourth Gospel was tfie Apostle John. Such statements when they are taken in connexion with

historical

the absolute simplicity of the narrative

when the

necessarily leave the impression that the

brought within the category. A further examination of the narrative shews that the eye-witness was also an aposde. This follows almost necessarily from the character of the scenes which he describes, evidently as has been shewn from his own knowledge, the call of the first disciples (L 19 34), the journey through Samaria (iv.), the feeding of the five thousand (vi.), the successive visits to Jerusalem (vii. ix. xi.), the Passion, the appearances after the Resurrection. But

Evangelist was conscious of having had the opportunity of entering, more deeply even than others, into the conditions of the Lord's life. And this reflection brings If the writer of the us to the last point. fourth Gospel was an apostle, does the narrative indicate any special apostle as the writer? In the Epilogue (xxi. 24) the authorship of the book is assigned, as we shall see afterwards, to the disciple % whom Jesus loved (Sv rjyaira 6 ltf(Tov%). This disciple appears under the same title twice in the narrative of the Passion (xiii 23, xix. 26), as well as twice after-

—

the fact

further indicated

mate acquaintance

which

by the intihe exhibits

with the feelings of " the disciples." He knows their thoughts at critical moments

wards (xxi.

20), and

once in connex-

ion with St Peter under a title closely resembling it (xx. 2, ov tyika 6 'IiproCs).

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INTRODUCTION TO

XX11

He is known to the high-priest (xviiL 15), and stands in very close relationship with St Peter (xiii. 24, xx. 2, xxi. 7; comp.

the second disciple was St John. Another peculiarity of the Gospel confirms the inference.

Though his natne 15; Acts iii.). is not mentioned, there is nothing mysHe moves terious or ideal about him. about among the other apostles quite the enumeration naturally, and from (xxi. 2 ; comp. i. 35 ff.) of those present at the scene described in the last chapter,

The Evangelist is for the most part singularly fexact in defining the names in

follows that he must have been either one of the sons of Zebedee, or one of the two other disciples not described more

three times out of four further marked by the correlative Greek name Didymus (xi. 16, xx. 24, xxi. 2), which is not found in the Synoptists. Judas Iscariot is de-

xviii.

•

particularly.

If now we turn to the Synoptic narrative we find three disciples standing in a

special sense near to Jesus, Peter and the sons of Zebedee, James and John. There is then a strong presumption that the Evangelist was one of these. St Peter Of the two sons is out of the question. of Zebedee, James was martyred very early (Acts xii. 2), so that he could not have been the author of the Gospel. John therefore alone remains; and he completely satisfies the conditions which are required to be satisfied by the writer, that he should be in close connexion with St Peter, and also one admitted to peculiar intimacy with the Lord. Does then this definite supposition that St John was the anonymous disciple who wrote the fourth Gospel find any subsidiary support from the contents of the history? The answer cannot be doubtful. St John is nowhere mentioned by name in the Gospel ; and while it appears incredible that an apostle who stands in the Synoptists, in the Acts (iii. 1, iv. 13, &c), and in St Paul (Gal. ii. 9), as a central figure among the twelve, should find no place in the narrative, the nameless disciple fulfils the part which would naturally be assigned to St John. Yet further, in the first call of the disciples one of the two followers of the Baptist is expressly named as Andrew (i. 40) ; the other is left unnamed. Andrew, it is said, found first his own brother Simon (i. 41). The natural interpretation of the words suggests that the brother of some other person, and if so, of the second disciple, was also found. reference to the last scene at the sea of Galilee (xxi. 2) leads to the certain inference that these two brothers were the sons of Zebedee, and so that

his Gospel.

He never mentions Simon

after his call (L 42 f.) by the simple name, is done in the other Gospels, but always by the full name Simon Peter, or

by the new name

Thomas

Peter.

scribed as the son of a Simon not elsewhere noticed (vi. 71, xii. 4, xiii. 2, 26). The second Judas is expressly distinguished from Iscariot even when the latter had left the eleven (xiv. 22). Nicodemus is identified as he that came to

Jesus by night (xix. 39 [vii. 50]). Caiaphas on each of the two separate occasions where he is introduced is qualified by the title of his office as the high-priest of that year (xi. 49, xviii. 13). But in spite of this habitual particularity the Evangelist never speaks of the Baptist, like the three other Evangelists, as "John the Baptist," but always simply as "John." It is no doubt to be noticed that in most places the addition of the title would have been awkward or impossible ; but elsewhere such an identification

might have been expected

(i.

15 and v. 33, 36 ; comp. Matt iii. 1, xi. 11 ff.). If however the writer of the Gospel were himself the other John of the Gospel history, it is perfectly natural that he should think of the Baptist, apart 1 from himself, as John only But it is said that if it is admitted that the Apostle John is to be identified with the nameless disciple of the fourth Gospel, the second of the two disciples of the Baptist, the companion of St Peter, the disciple whom Jesus loved ; it is still impossible, in spite of the attestation of the Epilogue, that he could have written the Gospel. The Gospel, such is the contention, must have been written by some one else, for it is argued that the author could not have spoken .

1 It is also to be observed that the writer of the fourth Gospel does not give the name of Salome, the wife of Zebedee (xix. 15. Comp. Matt, xxvii. 56), or of James (xxi a), or of the Mother of the Lord.

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. of himself as the disciple whom Jesus lovedy claiming in this way for himself, and not as he might reasonably have done for another whom he took as his hero, a pre-eminence over his fellowapostles ; and (it is further urged in parthat St John would not have "studiously elevated himself in every way above the Apostle Peter" as this ticular)

xxm

him (xx. 2); he first sees the certain signs that Christ had risen (xx. 7) ; he directs the action of the group of apostles during their time of suspense (xxi. 3) he is the first to join the Lord upon the seashore, and the chief in carrying out

His command (xxi. at

last

the

Great

11); he receives (xxi

Commission

15 ff.).

The representative official precedence The last objection may be disposed of of St Peter thus really underlies the first. The notion that the author of the whole narrative of the fourth Gospel. The nearness of St John to the Lord is fourth Gospel wishes to present St John writer does.

the victorious rival of St Peter,

based mainly upon the incident at the Last Supper, where St Peter beckoned to St John to ask a question which he did not put himself (xiii. 24 ff.) ; and it is asserted that the same idea is supported by the scenes in the court of the High Priest, and by the Cross. It would be sufficient to reply that all these incidents

belong to details of personal relationship,

and not to official position, and St John was (as it appears) the son of the sister of the Mother of the Lord. But if we go into details an examination of the narrative as a whole shews that it lends

no support whatever to the theory of any thought of rivalry or comparison between St Peter and St John existing in the writer's mind. St John stands, just as he stands in the Acts, silent by the side of the Apostle to whom the office of founding the Church was assigned (cf. xxi. 21; Acts iii. 1). And as for the incident at the Last Supper, the person who occupied the third and not the second place would be in a position to act the part assigned to St John (John xiii. 23, note). Here then St Peter takes the precedence ; and elsewhere he occupies exactly the same place with regard to the Christian Society in the fourth Gospel as in the other three. He receives the promise of his significant surname (L 42); he gives utterance to the critical confession of Christ's majesty (vl 68) ; he is placed first (as it seems) at the foot-washing during the Last Supper (xiii 6); he is conspicuous at the betrayal in defence of his Lord (xviii. 10) ; he stands patiently without the high priest's door till he is able to obtain admission (xviii. 16); the message of the Resurrection is brought to him and to " the other disciple " only as second to

a relation of sympathy, so

to speak,

different in kind.

But

of a special reladisciple to the Lord as the disciple whom Jesus loved, with a feeling at once general {rjyava) and personal (c^iXct, xx. 2), requires in

tion

this ascription

of the

itself careful

unnamed

consideration.

And if it

were true, as is frequently assumed, that St John sought to conceal himself by the use of the various periphrases under which his name is veiled, there might be some difficulty in reconciling the use of this exact title with the modest wish to be unnoticed. But in point of fact the writer of the fourth Gospel evidently insists on the peculiarity of his narrative as being that of a personal witness. He

speaks with an authority which has a be recognised. It is taken for granted that those whom he addresses right to will

know who he is, and acknowledge

he ought to be heard. In this respect the fourth Gospel differs essentially from the other three. They are completely impersonal, with the exception of the short preface of St Luke. can then imagine that St John as an eye-witness might either have written his narrative in the first person throughout, or he might have composed an impersonal record, adding some introductory sentences to explain the nature of the book, or he might have indicated his own presence obliquely at some one or other of the scenes which he describes. There is no question of self-concealment in the choice between these alternatives; and there can be also no question as to the method which would be most natural to an apostle living again, as it were, in the divine history of his youth. The direct personal narrative and the still more formal personal preface to an imthat

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INTRODUCTION TO

XXIV

personal narrative seem to be alien from the circumstances of the composition. On the other hand, the oblique allusion corresponds with the devout contemplation from a distance of events seen only after a long interval in their full significance. The facts and the actors alike are all separated from the Evangelist as he recalls them once more in the centre 1 of a Christian Society But if it be admitted that the oblique form of reference to the fact that the writer of the fourth Gospel was an eyewitness of what he describes was generally the most natural, does it appear that this particular form of oblique reference, to which objection is made, was itself natural? The answer must be looked for in the circumstances under which it is used. After the distinct but passing claim to be an eye-witness (L 14), the Evangelist does not appear personally in the Gospel till the scenes of He may be discovered in the Passion. the call of the disciples (i. 41), but only by a method of exhaustion. So far there was nothing to require his explicit attestation. But in the review of the issue of .

Christ's work it might well be asked whether the treachery of Judas was indeed foreseen by Christ. St John shews how deeply he felt the importance of the question (vi. 70, 71, xiii. 11; comp. xiii.

18 f.). It was then essential to his plan that he should place on record the direct statement of the Lord's foreknowledge on the authority of him to whom

That communication was it was made. a special sign of affection. Can we then be surprised that, in recalling the memorable fact that it was made to himself, he should speak of himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved (yydira) ? The words express the grateful and devout acknowledgment of something received, and In illustration of this view, reference may be made to Mr Browning's noble realisation of the situation in his 'Death in the Desert' 1

"...much that at the first, in deed and word,

Lay simply and sufficiently exposed, Had grown (or else my soul was grown to match,

Fed through such years,

familiar with such

light,

Guarded and guided still to see and speak) Of new significance and fresh result What first were guessed as points I now knew stars."

contain no assumption of a distinction above others. Christ loved all (xiii. 1, 34, xv. 9) ; St John felt, and confesses, that Christ loved him, and shewed His The same love in this signal manner. thought underlies the second passage

where the phrase occurs (xix. 26). The charge to receive the Mother of the

Lord almost necessarily calls out the same confession. In the last chapter (xxi. 7, 20) the title seems to be repeated with a distinct reference to the former

passages, and no difficulty can be the repetition.

The remaining

passage

(xx.

felt at

and ought not to have been confounded with those already noticed. There can be no doubt that if the words she cometh to Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved, had stood alone, the reader would have included St Peter under the description ; the word " other " has no meaning except on But this interpretation (contrast xxi. 7). it has been assumed that the entirely different,

different

phrase

used here (oV

c«£iA.ci)

must be identical with that used elsewhere of St John alone (of ijycwra), and the passage has been accordingly misunderstood. Yet the contrast between the two words equally translated " love," gives the clue to the right meaning. St Peter and St John shared alike in that peculiar nearness of personal friendship

may so speak) which is expressed by the former word (<£iAciV, see xi. 3, 36), while St John acknowledges for himself the gift of love which is implied in the latter; the first word describes that of which others could judge outwardly; the second that of which the individual soul alone is conscious. The general conclusion is obvious. If that phrase (oV c<£i\€i 6 *Ii?o-ovs) had been used characteristically of St to Christ (if we

John which is in fact used in relation to St Peter and St John, there might have been some ground for the charge of an apparent assumption of pre-eminence on the part of the Evangelist ; as it is, the phrase which is used is no affectation of honour ; it is a personal thanksgiving for a blessing which the Evangelist had experienced, which was yet in no way peculiar to himself. As far therefore as indirect internal evidence is concerned, the conclusion

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. towards which all the lines of inquiry converge remains unshaken, that the fourth Gospel was written by a Palestinian Jew, by an eye-witness, by the disciple whom Jesus loved, by John the son of Zebedee. We have now to consider the direct evidence which the

Gospel offers upon the question. ii

The direct evidence of the Gospel as to its authorship.

Three passages of the Gospel appear to point directly to the position and person of the author: i. 14, xix. 35, xxi. 24. Each passage includes some difficulties and uncertainties of interpretation which must be noticed somewhat at length. •

(a)

Ch. i. 14.

The Word became flesh

and dwelt (tabernacled) among us, and we beheld His glory... (6 Adyos <rdp( iyikcto, kcu iatajvisxrev cv rjfiiv, kqx iOtacrdfttda

tqv 86(av avrov...). The main question here is as to the sense in which the

words we beheld are to be taken. Are we to understand this "beholding" of the historical sight of Christ, so that the writer claims to have been an eye-witness of that which he records ? or can it be referred to a spiritual vision, common to all believers at all times ?

Our reply cannot but be affected by the consideration of the parallel passage in the beginning of the first Epistle of was written, it' may cerbe assumed, by the same author as the Gospel That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we beheld, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life... (1 John i. 1, o rjv aV

XXV

the Gospel. It may also be added further, that the original word (OtaaOai) is never used in the New Testament of 1

mental vision (as flcoipco') The writer then ,(such must be our conclusion) claims to have be/ield that glory which his record unfolds. But it is said that the phrase among us cannot be confined to the apostles or immediate disciples of Christ exclusively, and that it must be taken to include all Christians (Luke i. 1), or even all men. If however this interpretation of among us admits the wider interpretation of the pronoun, it does not exclude the apostles, who are in this connexion the representatives of the Church and of humanity, and it does not therefore touch the meaning of the following clause, in which the sense of beheld is fixed independently. The whole point of the passage is that the Incarnation was historical, and that the sight of the Incarnate Word was historical. The words cannot without violence be made to give any other testimony. The objection is thus, on a view of the context, wholly invalid ; and the natural interpretation of the phrase in question, which has been already given, remains unshaken. The writer professes to have been an eye-witness of Christ's .

ministry*. (b) Ch. xix. 35. This second passage, which, like the former one, comes

St John, which

into the narrative parenthetically,

tainly

some respects more remarkable.

apX*)** o dxrjKoafuv, o itDpajcafi€v rots 6<f>-

0aAfu>4?, o iOtcurafitOa kcu at

X€ *P €S Vf1 ***

rov Aoyov rrjs faafji...). Now there cannot be any doubt that the "beholding" here, from the connexion in which it stands (we have seen with our eyes, our hands handled), must be underLanguage cannot be stood literally. plainer. The change of tense moreover emphasizes the specific historical reference (we beheld, and not as of that which ideally abides, we have beheld [1 hfrrjKa<fyfi<Tav, irepl

John iv. 14; John i. 32, n.]). This being so, the same word in the same tense and in the same general connexion cannot reasonably be understood otherwise in

After speaking of the piercing of the Lord's side, the writer adds, And forthwith came there out blood and water. And he that hath seen hath borne witness, and his witness is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye also may believe. For these things came to pass that. (kol 6 £ay>a#c<tf? fX€fxaprvpT]K€v xoi akiqOivrj avrov ccrrlv 17 . .

fxaprvpia, teal exctvos oTScv ort dXrjBr} Xryct

iva

koI

vfict?

irurT€vrjT€..

John xix. 35 ff.).

cycvcTO

yap...

One point in this pas-

sage, the contrast between the two words true, cannot be given adequately in an English version. The wit-

rendered

The word occurs in John i. 3a, 38, iv. 35,

vi. 5, xi. 1

45 ;

John i. 1, iv. \i, 14.

The significant variation of language in v. 16 supports the view which has been given. The Apostolic we is distinguished from the Christian we all. The use of the direct form in these two cases (we beheld, we received) is remarkable. Contrast xz. 30 {itninr. ru* /ta0.).

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INTRODUCTION TO

XXVI

ness is described as " fulfilling the true conception of witness" (aAijflivos), and not simply as being correct (dAi^'s) ; it is true to the idea of what witness should be, and not only true to the fact in this special instance (comp. viii. 16, note) so far as the statement is true. There is therefore no repetition in the original in the two clauses, as there appears to be in the English version. This detail is not without significance for the right understanding of the whole comment It brings out clearly the two conditions which testimony ought to satisfy, the first that he who gives it should be competent to speak with authority, and the second that the account of his experience should be exact. But the main question to be decided is whether the form of the sentence either suggests or admits the belief that the eye-witness to whose testimony appeal is made is to be identified with the writer of the Gospel The answer to this question has been

commonly made

to turn upon a false has been argued, with a profusion of learning, that the use in the second clause of the pronoun which expresses a remote, or rather an isolated personality (^ctvos), is unfavourable to the identification of the Evangelist and the eye-witness, or, at least, lends no support to the identification. It has also issue.

been asserted, as might have been expected, by less cautious scholars, that the use of this pronoun is fatal to the identification. On the other hand, it has

been shewn by examples from classical authors and also from St John's Gospel (ix. 37) that a speaker can use this pronoun of himself 1 But in reality the problem contained in the passage must be solved at an earlier stage. If the author of the Gospel could use the first clause {he that hath seen, &c.) of himself, there can be no reasonable doubt that he could also use of himself the particular pronoun which occurs in the second clause ; and to go even further, there can be no reasonable doubt that according to the common usage of St John he would use this particular pronoun to resume and emphasize the .

1 The most complete discussion of this part of the problem is to be found in a set of papers in the 'Studien u. Kritiken,* 1859, i860, by Steitz on the one side, and by Ph. Buttmann on the other.

No one, in reference (i. 18, v. 39, 37). other words, with any knowledge of St John's style can seriously dispute the fact that the "he" of the second clause is the same as the " witness " of the first clause.

This being so, only two interpretations of the passage are possible. The Evangelist either makes an appeal to an eyewitness separate from himself, but not

more definitely described, who is said to be conscious of the truth of his own testimony; or he makes an appeal to his own actual experience, now solemnly recorded for the instruction of his readers.

We are thus brought to

the right the fact that the second alternative is, as has been confidently affirmed, excluded by the nature of the case? Is it the fact that we cannot suppose that St John, if he were the issue.

writer,

would have referred to

his

own

experience obliquely ? On the contrary, if we realise the conditions under which the narrative was drawn up, it will be seen that the introduction of the first person in this single place would have been more strange. The Evangelist has been already presented as a historical figure in the scene (w. 26, 27) ; and it is quite intelligible that an Apostle who had pondered again and again, as it may well have been, what he had gradually shaped, should pause at this critical point, and, dwelling upon that which he incident, should felt to be a crucial separate himself as the witness from his

immediate position as a writer. In this mental attitude he looks from without

upon himself (ImIvos) as affected at that memorable moment by the fact which he records, in order that it may create others the present faith (wwttcvttc) it had created in his own soul. The comment from this point is therefore perfectly compatible with the identification of the witness and the author. in

which

We may however go further. The comment is not only compatible with the identification;

favours the identifica-

indeed by the use of the particular pronoun, which tells neither one way nor the other, but by the whole conThe witness is struction of the passage. spoken of as something which abides after it has been given; he hath borne tion, not

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. witness; and, more than this, the witness is given still ; he knoweth that he saith true; and, yet again, the giver of the witness sets himself in contrast with his readers; he hath given his witness... that ye may believe. It is not possible then to doubt that the words taken in their context assert that the eye-witness was still living when the record was written ; and if so, it is most natural to suppose that his present utterance, to which appeal is made, is that contained in the Gospel itself. It is difficult to appreciate the evidential force of an appeal to the consciousness of an undefined witness. In this connexion another point must be observed. If the author were appealing to the testimony of a third person he would almost necessarily have used an aorist and not a perfect, he that saw bore witness, and not he that hath seen hath borne witness. For the mere narrator the testimony centres in the moment at which it was rendered ; for the witness himself it is a continuous part of his own 1

life.

The conclusion to which these remarks converge will appear still more certain if the comment be reduced to its simplest If it had stood, He that hath elements. seen hath borne witness, that ye also may believe, no ordinary reader would have doubted that the writer was appealing to his own experience, recorded in the history, since no other testimony is quoted. But the intercalated clauses do not in any way interfere with this interpretation. They simply point out, as has been already noticed, the relation in which this special statement stands to its attestation.

They shew that this testimony satisfies the two conditions, which must be ratified for the establishment of its authority, relation to its it is adequate in source, and that it is correct in its actual details. For a witness may give true

that

evidence and yet miss the essential features of that of which he speaks. Hence the writer affirms the competency of the witness, while he affirms also that the testimony itself was exact On the whole therefore the statement which we have considered is not only compatible with -the identity of the eyewitness and the writer of the Gospel, 1 This conclusion holds good to whomsoever the comment be referred.

xxvn

but it also suggests, even

if it

does not

necessarily involve, the identification of

the two. On the other hand, the only other possible interpretation of the passage is wholly pointless. It supposes that an appeal is made with singular emphasis to an unknown witness, who is said to be

conscious of the truthfulness of his own Such a comment could find testimony. no place in the connexion in which the words stand. (c) Ch. xxi. 24. The third passage which occurs in the appendix to the Gospel (ch. xxi.) is different in character from the other two. After the narrative of the Lord's saying with regard to " the disciple whom he loved," the record continues : this is the disciple who witnesseth concerning these things, and who wrote these things; and we know that his witness is true (ovrds iariv 6 p.adryn)s 6 fiaprvpuiv 7T€pl TOVTUiV KO.I 6 ypdlffCLS TCLVTOL, KOI OlSafACV on dXrjOrjs avrov 17 fiaprvpla iariv). There can be no doubt as to the meaning of the words. The writing of the Gospel is distinctly assigned by them to " the beBut it is not at loved disciple" (v. 21). once obvious to whom the words are to be assigned. Is the author of the Gospel himself the speaker? or must the note be referred to others who' published his Gospel, as, for example, to the Ephesian elders? Before we attempt to answer this question it must be observed that whichever view be taken, the sentence contains a declaration as to the authorship of the Gospel contemporaneous with its publication, for there is not the least evidence that the Gospel was ever circulated in the Church without the And yet further, the epilogue (ch. xxi). declaration extends both to the substantial authorship (he that witnesseth concerning these things) and also to the literal authorship of the record (he that wrote these things). So much is clear; but perhaps it is impossible to press the present tense (he that witnesseth) as a certain proof that the author was still alive when the work was sent forth. The form as it stands here by itself may simply indicate the vital continuity of

However this may be, his testimony. the note at least emphasizes what was felt to be a real presence of the writer in the society to which he belonged. If we now proceed to fix the author-

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INTRODUCTION TO

XXV111

ship of the note, it will at once appear that the passage (xix. 35) which has been already considered practically decides The contrast between the the question. two notes is complete. In that the note is given in the singular and in the third person; in this it is given in the plural and In that the witness in the first person. is regarded as isolated and remote (he that... and he...); in this the witness is If we regarded as present (this is...). believe that the former is, as has been shewn, a personal affirmation of the writer himself, it seems almost impossible to believe that this is a personal affirmation also. No sufficient reason can be given for the complete change of position which he assumes towards his own work. The plural (we knoiv) by itself would be capable of explanation, but the transition from the historical singular (this is...) to the direct plural (we know. is so harsh and sudden as to be all but inadmissible ; and the difficulty is aggravated by the occurrence of the first person singular (/ suppose) in the next sentence. On the other hand, if we bear in mind that the Gospel as originally composed ended with xx. 31, to which xxi. 25 may have been attached, and that the narratives in xxi. 1 23 were drawn up by the same author at a .

—

later time

under circumstances which

some authoritative interpretaof a mistaken tradition, we can

called for tion

understand how the note was added to the record by those who had

readily

sought for this additional explanation of the Lord's words, and preserved when the completed Gospel was issued to the Church. At the same time, if v. 25 formed the last clause of the original Gospel, it would naturally be transferred to the end of the enlarged record. The general result of the examination of these passages is thus tolerably distinct. The fourth Gospel claims to be written by an eye-witness, and this claim is attested by those who put the work in

for the authorship of the Fourth Gospel,

necessary to bear in mind the conunder which it must be sought. It is agreed on all hands that the Gospel was written at a late date, towards the close of the first century, when the Evangelic tradition, preserved in complementary forms in the Synoptic Gospels, had gained general currency, and from its wide spread had practically determined the popular view of the life and teaching of the Lord. And further, the substance of the record deals with problems which belong to the life of the Church and to a more fully developed fa ; th. On both grounds references to the contents of this Gospel would naturally be rarer in ordinary literature than references to the contents of the other Gospels. Express citations are made from all about the same time. Christian theological literature practically begins for^us with Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian, and these writers use the four Gospels as fully and decisively as any modern writer. it

ditions

The few letters and apostolic treatises and fragments which represent the earlier of the second century give very little scope for the direct use of the New Testament. But it is most significant that Eusebius, who had access to many works which are now lost, speaks without reserve of the Fourth Gospel as the unquestioned work of St John, no less than those three great representative Fathers who sum up the teaching of the century. If he had known of any doubts as to its authorship among ecclesiastical writers, he would without question have mentioned these, as he has quoted the criticism of Dionysius of Alexandria on the Apocalypse. We start then with the undeniable fact that about the last quarter of the second century, when from the nature of the case clear evidence can first be obtained, the Gospel was accepted as authoritative by heretical writers like Ptolemaeus and literature

circulation. authorities

which are quoted.

But it

may be

said, once for all, that the passages which are set

External evidence as to the author-

down are used after a careful examination of all that has been urged against their validity. The

ship.

original texts

In considering the external evidence

have been discussed in detail by

Dr Sanday (*The Gospels in the Second Century/ 1876) and by Dr Light foot in the Contemporary Review,' 1875, f, who have noticed at length *

The

character of the present Introduction necessarily excludes detailed criticism of the

the most recent literature on the subject

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. Heracleon, and used by the opponents of Christ like Celsus, and assigned to St John by Fathers in Gaul, Alexandria, and North Africa, who claimed to reproduce the ancient tradition of their churches, and this with perfect naturalness, there being evidently no trace within their knowledge of a contrary

Autol.'

11.

XXIX

Athenagoras

22).

(c.

176

a. d.) paraphrases and combines

the language of the Gospel in such a way as to shew that it was both familiar and authoritative, and had been carefully weighed by him "The Son of God is the Word of the Father in idea and actually (cv tScp kqX cvcpycip). For all things were made in dependence on Him and through :

It is true that the Gospel was not received by Marcion, but there is no Him (tt/jos avrov [Acts xxvii. 34] kolI &' evidence to shew that he was influenced ovtov), the Fatlier and the Son being One. by anything but subjective considera- But since the Son is in the Father and the Father in the Son, by unity and power tions in the formation of his collection of Scriptures. Irenaeus also mentions an of the Spirit {kvomfn koX 3wa/i« wvevfiaros), the Son of God is the Mind and earlier sect, of doubtful affinity, which, claiming for itself the possession of pro- Word of the Father" ('Leg.' 10; comp. phetic gifts, rejected the Gospel of St John i. 3, x. 30, xvii. 21). About the John and its characteristic promises of same time Claudius Apollinaris, bishop of Hierapolis, speaking of the the Paraclete (Iren. *c Haer.' in. u. 9, "Alii ut donum Spiritus frustrentur different opinions as to the day of the quod in novissimis temporibus secundum Last Supper, evidently treats "the displacitum Patris effusum est in humanum agreement of the Gospels" (*".*. the Sygenus, illam speciem non admittunt noptists and St John) as something quae est secundum Joannis evangelium, really out of the question (Routh, 'RehV in qua Paracletum se missurum Dominus 1. 167 ff.; comp. Hist of N. T. Canon/ promisit; sed simul et evangelium et pro- p. 224) ; and he gives an explanapheticum repellunt Spiritum"). But the tion of John xix. 34 (see note), which language of Irenaeus lends no support to shews that the incident had become a the supposition that this sect questioned subject of deep speculation. Still earlier the authority of the Gospel on critical Tatian, the scholar of Justin (c. 160 grounds. At the same time it must be a. d.), quotes words of the Gospel as well known "This is in fact," he says, "that noticed that Epiphanius ('Haer.' u. 3) and Philastrius (' Haer.' 60) assert that which hath been said The darkness apa body of men whom they call Alogi prehendeth not the light" f'Orat.' 13, assigned the authorship of the Gospel tovto eortv apa to €iprjfi€vov [Acts ii. 1 6] and of the Apocalypse to Cerinthus. •q anoxia, to <£<os ov KaraAa/mj&xi'Cc, John The statement as it stands is scarcely i. 5 ; comp. John i. 3 with Orat/ 19) and the latest criticism confirms the old intelligible ; and it seems to have arisen from the mistaken extension to the belief that his ' Diatessaron was conauthorship of the Gospel, by way of ex- structed from the texts of the four Canonplaining its rejection, of a late conjecture ical Gospels (Lightfoot, ' Contemporary Review,' May, 1877). as to the authorship of the Apocalypse. Such an exception can have no weight So far the line of testimony appears against the uniform ecclesiastical tradito be absolutely beyond doubt. The This traces of the use of the fourth Gospel tion with which it is contrasted. in the interval between 100 160 a.d. tradition can be carried still further back are necessarily less clear; but as far as than Irenaeus, who is its fullest exponent The first quotation of the Gospel by they can be observed they are not only name is made by Theophilus of An- in perfect harmony with the belief in its apostolic origin, but materially strengthen tioch (c 181 A.D.): " ...The holy Scripthis belief. tures teach us, and all the inspired men The Epistle of Clement to the (01 irvcv/iaro^dpoc), one of whom John Corinthians was probably written before saith : In the beginning was the Word, 1 and the Word was God, .Afterwards he the Gospel of St John, but already this writing shews traces of the forms of saith: and the Word was God'; all things were made through Him, and without thought which are characteristic of the Him was not even one thing made (' ad book (cc. vii. xxxvi. ' Hist, of Canon of

opinion.

—

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INTRODUCTION TO

XXX

T.' pp. 25 f.). The Epistle of Barnabas again offers some correspondences and more contrasts with the teach-

ing of St John in the common region of "mystical" religious thought. In the

Letters of Ignatius, which even if they are not authentic certainly fall within the first half of the century, the influence of the teaching, if not demonstrably of the writings, of St John is more direct The true meat of the Christian, for example, is said to De the " bread of God, the bread of heaven, the bread of life, which is the flesh ofJesus Christ? and his drink is " Christ's blood, which is love incorruptible " (' ad Rom. vii.; comp. John vi. 32, 51, 53). And

again " The Spirit is not led astray, as being from God. For it knoweth whence it cometh and whither it goeth, and testeth (Ac'yx") that which is hidden " ('ad :

comp. John iii. 8, xvi. 8). however with Polycarp and

Philad.' vii. ; It

is 1

Papias that the decisive testimony to the authenticity of St John's writings

Recent investigations, begins. independent of all theological interests, have fixed the martyrdom of Polycarp 6 a.d. (See Lightfoot, Conin 155 temporary Review,' 1875, p. 838.) At the time of his death he had been a really

—

Christian

for

Polyc.' c. ix.).

eighty-six

years

('Mart.

for

the

introduction

new

writings

under the name of St John. Irenaeus cannot with any reason be supposed to have assigned to the fourth Gospel the place which he gives to it unless he had received it with the sanction of Polycarp. The person of Polycarp, the living sign of the unity of the faith of the first and second centuries, is in itself a sure proof of the apostolicity of the Gospel Is it conceivable that in his lifetime such a revolution was accomplished that his disciple Irenaeus was not only deceived as to the authorship of the book, but was absolutely unaware that the continuity of the tradition in which he

boasted had been completely broken? One short letter of Polycarp, with which Irenaeus was acquainted (Iren. /. r.), has been preserved. In this there is a striking coincidence with the language of " Every one," he writes, " who 1 John :

doth not confess that Jesus Christ hath

come

in the flesh,

is antichrist "

('ad

comp. 1 John iv. 2, 3). The sentence is not a mere quotation, but a Phil.' vii.;

reproduction

of St John's thought in

compressed language which is all borrowed from him (iras, 0% av, o/txoAoyctv *I.

X. iv aapKL i\rj\v$€vai

dvTixpiOTOs).

He must then have been The words of St John have, so to speak,

alive during the greater part of St John's

residence in Asia, and there is no reason for questioning the truth of the statements that he "associated with the Apostles in Asia (e.g. John, Andrew, Philip; comp. Lightfoot's ' Colossians/ pp. 45 f.), and was entrusted with the oversight of the Church in Smyrna by those who were eye-witnesses and ministers of the Lord" (Euseb. ' H. E.* in. 36 ; comp. Iren. c. Haer.' in. 3. 4). Thus, like St John himself, he lived to When already old he unite two ages. used to speak to his scholars of "his intercourse with John and the rest of '

those. who had seen the 1

/. c.\ comp. 'c. Haer.' in. 3. 4). There is no room in this brief succession

(Iren

Lord"

(Iren.

Ep. ad Flor.' § 2) ; and Irenaeus, in his

later years, vividly recalled the teaching

which he had heard from him as a boy 1 For a complete discussion of the historical position of these two Fathers in regard to early Christian teaching and literature, see the articles of Dr Lightfoot in the 'Contemporary Review'

for May, August and October, 1875.

been shaped into a popular formula. And if it be said that the reference to the Epistle shews nothing as to the Gospel, the reply is that the authorship of the two cannot reasonably be separated. A testimony to one is necessarily by inference a testimony to the other. The testimony of Papias to the Gospel of St John, is, like that of Polycarp, secondary and inferential. Papias, according to Eusebius, " used testimonies from the former epistle of John " (Euseb. ' H. E.' in. 39). The mention of this fact, as the epistle was universally received, is remarkable ; but the Catholic Epistles formed an exceptional group of writings, and it is perhaps on this account that Eusebius goes beyond his prescribed rule in noticing the use which was made even of those among them which were "acknowledged." At any rate the use of the Epistle by Papias points to his acquaintance with the Gospel. Several minute details in the fragment of the

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. preface to his " Exposition of Oracles of the Lord" tend in the same direction. And there is a remarkable tradition found in a preface to a Latin MS. of the Gospel which assigns to Papias an account of the composition of the Gospel similar to that given in the Muratorian fragment (see 'Canon of N. TV p. 76, n.).

But it is said that if Papias had used the Gospel Eusebius would not have neglected to notice the fact The statement rests on a complete misunderstanding of what Eusebius professed to do. He did not undertake to collect references to "the acknowledged books," among which he placed the four Gospels, so that however often Papias might have quoted St John's Gospel, Eusebius would not according to his plan have noticed the fact, unless something of special interest had been added to the reference (comp. 'Hist of N. T. Canon, pp. 229 f. ; Lightfoot, ' Contemporary Review,' 1

1875, pp. 169 ff.). The object of Papias was, as has been shewn elsewhere, to illustrate the evangelic records by such information as he could gain from the earliest disciples; and it is by no means unlikely that the "history of the woman taken in adultery," which has found a place in the Gospel of St John, was recorded by him in illustration of John viii. 15 (see note

ad loc).

the apostolic body. He conversed at Hierapolis with two daughters of the Apostle Philip (Euseb. ' H. E.' m. 39 Lightfoot, Colossians,' 45 ff.). Nor were these two men alone. There were many about them, like the elders quoted by Irenaeus, who shared in the same life. The succession was afterwards continued at Sardis through Melito, at Ephesus '

through Polycrates (comp. Euseb. 'H. E.' v. 22), at Hierapolis through Claudius Apollinaris, at Lyons through Pothinus

and Irenaeus (compare also the Epistle of the Churches of Vienne and Lyons,' c. 4, 177 a.d.); and the concordant testi*

mony of the

at the same time his description of " the Memoirs " as written "by the Apostles and those who followed

them" ('Dial.' 103), exactly answers to our present collection of four. And though the coincidences of language between Justin and St John are not such as to establish beyond question Justin's

this at least

Comp. Luke ii. 49).

The

quotation is anonymous, but it is taken from a writing and not from tradition and the context makes it at least highly probable that the passage was quoted

from Papias* * Exposition.* Whatever may be thought of the passing references of Polycarp and Papias to the writings of St John, the main value of their testimony lies in the fact that

they represent what can justly be called a school of St John. Papias like Polycarp may himself have heard the Apostle At least he studied (Iren. v. 33. 4). And he had with Polycarp (Iren. /. c). still another point of connexion with

in these

anonymous; but

Tot? tou warpos fiov fiovas clvai ttoAAcl?.

John xiv. 2.

latest witnesses

Churches is a sure proof that they preserved the belief which had been held from the first by the school to which they belonged (comp. Lightfoot, 'Contemporary Review,' August, 1876). The testimony to the Gospel of St John is, as might have been expected on the assumption of its authenticity, most clear among the writers who stood in the closest connexion with his teaching. But it is not confined to them. Justin Martyr certainly appears to have been acquainted with the book. His evidence is somewhat obscure. All his references to the Gospels are different

In close connexion with Papias stand " the elders " quoted by Irenaeus, among whose words is one clear reference to St John (Iren. v. 36. 2) " for this reason [they taught] the Lord said, there are many mansions in my Father's home (cV :

XXXI

dependence on the Evangelist, is the most natural explanation of the similarity (' Hist of N. T. Canon,' this,

166,

n.).

And more than

his acquaintance with the

Valen-

35; comp. Iren. in. 11. " qui a Valentino sunt eo [Evangelio] 7,

tinians ('Dial'

quod

est

secundum Iohannem

plenis-

sime utentes...") shews that the fourth Gospel could not have been unknown to him. Justin's teaching

on the Word is per-

haps a still more important indication of This teaching the influence of St John. presupposes the teaching of St John, and in many details goes beyond it Thoughts which are characteristically Alexandrine, as distinguished from He-

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INTRODUCTION TO

XXX11

a place in Justin; and he shews not only how little power there was in the second century to fashion such a doctrine as that of the fourth

braic, find

Gospel, but also how little Christian speculation was able to keep within the limits laid down by the Apostles.

The Shepherd of Hermas offers an instructive example of the precariousThe ness of the argument from silence. book contains no definite quotations from the Old or New Testament. The allu-

sions

which have been found

the characteristic teaching of St John are I believe real, but they are not unquestionable. Yet it is certain from an independent testimony, that the Gospel was accepted as one of the four Gospels almost at the same date when the book was written, and probably in the same place. The Muratorian Fragment notices

Shepherd was written "very lately (c 170 a.d.) in our times, in the city of Rome," and at the same time speaks of the Gospel according to St John as " the fourth" Gospel in such a way as that

the

to mark its general recognition ('Hist, of

N. T. Canon,' pp. 211 ff. § 2).

;

see below, 11.

To the same date also must be refer-

red the two great translations of the East and West, the Syriac and Latin, in which the four Gospels stand without rivals. Outside the Church the testimony to the general use of St John's Gospel is both early and decisive. In the quotations from early heretical writers the references to it are comparatively frequent. In many cases its teaching formed the starting-point of their partial and erroneous conclusions. The first Commentary on the Gospel was written by Heracleon (c. 175 a.d.); and his copy of the book had already been defaced by At an earlier date the false readings. Gospel was used by the author of the Clementine Homilies, by Valentinus and his school, by the Ophites, and by Basilides ('Hist, of N. T. Canon,' 282 ff., Sanday, 'The Gospels in the Second Century,' pp. 292 ff.). The testimony of Basilides is of singuThe Refutation of Heresies,' lar interest. attributed to Hippolytus, which was first published in 1851, contains numerous quotations from his writings and from the writings of his school. In one passage at least where there can be no reason'

able doubt that the author of the c Refutation' is quoting Basilides himself (c. 130 a.d.), a phrase from the Gospel of St John is used as the authoritative basis for a mystical explanation ('Ref. Haer.,' vii. 22).

In reviewing these traces of the use of the Gospel in the first three-quarters of a century after it was written, we readily admit that they are less distinct and numerous than those might have expected who are unacquainted with the character of the literary remains of the period. But it will be observed that all the evidence points in one direction. There is not, with one questionable exception, any positive indication that doubt was anywhere thrown upon the authenticity of the book. It is possible to explain away in detail this

piece of evidence and that, but the acceptance of the book as the work of the Apostle adequately explains all the phenomena without any violence; and hitherto all the new evidence which has come to light has supported this universal belief of the Christian Society, while it has seriously modified the rival theories which have been set up against it. II.

The Composition of the Gospel. 1.

The Author.

The facts bearing upon the life of St John which are recorded in the New Testament are soon told. He was the apparently the younger son, of Zebedee and Salome (Mark xv. 40, xvi. 1, compared with Matt, xxvii. 56). Salome, as it appears from John xix. 25 (see note), was the sister of "the Mother of the Lord," so that St John was the cousin of the Lord "according to the flesh." He was probably younger than the Lord and than the other apostles. son,

It is therefore easily intelligible that his

near connexion by birth, combined with the natural enthusiasm of youth, offered the outward occasion for the peculiar closeness in which he stood to Christ.

Of his father Zebedee, a fisherman probably of Bethsaida or the neighbourhood (John i. 41 ff.), nothing is known except that he was sufficiently prosperous to have hired servants (Mark i. 20). At a later time Salome appears as one of the women who followed the Lord* and

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. "ministered to Him of their substance" (Mark xv. 40 f., compared with Luke viii. 3). And it is clear from John xix. 27 that the apostle had some means. Like the other apostles, with the single exception of Judas Iscariot, St John was a Galilaean. The fact has a moral value. When the rest of the Jewish nation was

drawn partly to political intrigues, partly to speculations of the schools, the people of Galilee retained much of the simple faith and stern heroism of earlier times. It was made a reproach to them that they were unskilled in the traditions, and kept to the letter of the Law (comp. vil 52, note). The rising of Judas "in the days of the taxing" (Acts v. 37) may have been a hopeless outburst of fanaticism, but at least it shewed that there were many in Galilee who were ready to die for the confession that they had " no

lord

or master but God."

The same

spirit appears in the multitude who would have " taken Jesus by force " at the lake

of Tiberias and made Him king (vi. 14 f.). They were ready to do and to suffer something for their eager if mistaken Messianic hope. It was amidst the memories of such conflicts, and in an atmosphere of passionate longing, that St John grew up. And in some measure he shared the aspirations of his countrymen if he avoided their errors. When the Baptist proclaimed the advent of Christ, St John was at once ranged among his disciples. And more than this though " simple and unlettered" (Acts iv. 13), he appears to have grasped with exceptional power the spiritual import of the Baptist's message, who directed him immediately to :

Christ as " the Lamb of God." St John obeyed the sign, and followed without delay the Master who was mysteriously pointed out to him. Thus from the first the idea of sovereignty was mingled with that of redemption, the issue of victory with the' way of suffering, in the conception of the work of the Messiah whom

he welcomed.

The ardour of the Galilaean temper remained in the apostle.

St John with his brother St James, received from the Lord (Mark iii. 17) the remarkable surname, Boanerges, "sons of thunder." Thunder in the Hebrew idiom is "the voice of God;" and the sons of Zebedee

appear to have given swift, startling, ve-

hement utterance

XXXlll to

the

divine truth

which they felt within them.

Theirs was not characteristically the decisive action, but .the sudden moving word which witnessed to the inner fire. It may have

been some stern voice which marked St James as the first martyr among the apostles. Certainly the sayings of St John which are recorded by St Luke correspond with the prophetic energy which the title indicates (Luke ix. 49 Mark ix. 38; comp. Num. xi. 28; Luke ix. 54). His zeal was undisciplined, but it was loyal and true. He knew that to be with Christ was life, to reject Christ was death ; and he did not shrink from ex||

pressing the thought in the spirit of the old dispensation. He learnt from the Lord, as time went on, a more faithful patience, but he did not unlearn the burning devotion which consumed him. To the last, words of awful warning, like the thunderings about the throne, reveal the presence of that secret fire. Every page of the Apocalypse is inspired with the cry of the souls beneath the altar, "How long" (Rev. vi. 10); and nowhere is error as to the Person of Christ denounced more sternly than in his Epistles (2 John 10; 1 John iv. 1 ff.). The well-known incident which occurred on the last journey to Jerusalem reveals the weakness and the strength of St John's character. His mother, interpreting the desire of her sons, begged of Christ that they might sit, the one on His right hand and the other on His left, in His Kingdom (Matt xx. 20 ff., comp. Mark x. 35 ff.). So far they mis-

understood the nature of that especial closeness to their Lord which they sought But the reply shewed that they were ready to welcome what would be only a prerogative of suffering. To be near Christ, even if it was "to be near the fire" and " near the sword," was a priceless blessing. And we can feel that the prayer was already granted when Salome and St John waited by the Cross (John xix. 2 S ff.).

This last scene reveals St John nearest of all the apostles to Christ, as "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (ch. xiii. 23, note). Together with his brother St James and St Peter, he was one of the three admitted to a closer relationship with Christ than the other apostles (Luke viii

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INTRODUCTION TO

XXXIV

51, ix. 28; Mark xiv. 33); and of the three his connexion was the closest He followed Christ to judgment and to death (John xviii. 15, xix. 26), and received from Him the charge of His Mother as

more at their several meetings than this, At 'Little children, love one another/ length," Jerome continues, "the disci-

her own son (xix. 27, note). After the Ascension St John remained at Jerusalem with the other apostles. He was with St Peter at the working of his first miracle ; and afterwards he went with him to Samaria (Acts i. 13, iii. 1 ff., At the time of St Paul's first viii. 14). visit to Jerusalem he seems to have been absent from the city (Gal. i. 18); but on a later occasion St Paul describes him as one of those accounted to be "the pillars of the Church" (Gal. ii. 9). At what time and under what circumstances he left At the Jerusalem is wholly unknown. opening of the Apocalypse (i. 9) he speaks of himself as "in the island called Patmos, for the word and the testimony of

Master, why dost thou always say this ?' is the Lord's command,' was his worthy reply, ' and if this alone be done, it is enough.'" (Hieron. 'Comm. in Ep.

Beyond this there is no .further Jesus." notice of him in the New Testament . When we pass beyond the limits of 1

John is still presented to us under, the same character, as the Son of Thunder, the prophetic interpreter of Now it is related the Old Covenant. that he refused to remain under the same roof with Cerinthus (or according to another account "Ebion"), who denied the reality of the Incarnation: "Let us fly," he said, "lest the bath fall on us, since Cerinthus is within, the enemy of the truth" (Iren. in. 3. 4; comp. Epiph. 'Haer.' xxx. 24). Now he is described as a " priest wearing the plate (or diadem)" prescribed by the law (Ex. xxxix. 30 f.) for the high-priest (Polycrates ap. Euseb. 'H. E/m. 31, v. 24; comp. ch. xviii. 15, mote). Now he is shewn, in one of the most beautiful of early histories, seeking Scripture, St

out the lost and enforcing the obligation of ministerial duty (Euseb. 'H. E.' m. 23, on the authority of Clement of Alexandria).

Once again we read that "when

he tarried at Ephesus to extreme old age, and could only with difficulty be carried to the church in the arms of his disciples, and was unable to give utterance many words, he used to say no <to 1 This is not the place to discuss the authorship of the Apocalypse. Its doctrinal relation to the Gospel of St John, which will be discussed afterwards, appears to be decisive in support of the early date of the banishment.

ples and fathers who were there, wearied with hearing always the same words, said, '

'It

ad Gal.' vi. io)'. These traditions are in all probability substantially true, but it is impossible to set them in a clear historical

framework.

Nothing is better attested in early Church history than the residence and work of But the dates of St John at Ephesus. its

commencement and of its close are

unknown. It began after the final departure of St Paul, and it lasted till about the close of the first century (Iren. 11. 22. 5, p*xp l ™y Tpauivov xpovtav, a.d. 98 This may be affirmed 117). with confidence ; but the account of his sufferings at Rome (Tert. 'de Praescr. Haer.' 36... "in oleum demersus nihil passus est;" comp. Hieron. 'ad Matt' xx. 23), and of the details of his death at Ephesus, are quite untrustworthy. One legend, which is handed down in various forms, is too remarkable to be wholly omitted. It was widely believed that St John was not dead, but sleeping in his grave ; and that he would so remain till alike

—

Christ came.

Meanwhile,

was said,

"he shewed that he was alive by the movement of the dust above, which was by the breath of the saint" "I think it needless," Augustine adds, " to contest the opinion. Those who know the place must see whether the soil is so affected as it is said ; since I have heard the story from men not unworthy of credence" ("revera non e levibus hominibus id audivimus." Aug. 'In Joh. Tract' cxxiv. 2). These words of Augustine are part of his commentary on the mysterious saying of the Lord which, as is seen from the Gospel (xxi. 21 ff), was perceived to mark in some way the future work of the apostle "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee ?" St John stirred

1 These traditions are collected in a very agreeable form in Dean Stanley's ' Sermons and Essays on the Apostolic Age.' The later legends are given by Mrs Jameson, in her ' Sacred and Le

gendary Art,' 1.

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. did most truly "tarry till the Lord came." It is impossible for us to realise fully what was involved in the destruction of the Holy City for those who had been trained in Judaism. It was nothing else than the close of a divine drama, an end of the world. The old sanctuary, " the joy of the whole earth," was abandoned. Henceforth the Christian Church was the sole appointed seat of the presence of God. When Jerusalem fell Christ came, and with His coming came also the work of St John. During the period of conflict and fear and shaking of nations which preceded that last catastrophe, St John had waited patiently; and we

may believe that he had fulfilled his filial office to the

Mother of the Lord in his

own home in Galilee to the last, gaining by that a fuller knowledge of the revelation of the Son of God, and bringing into a completer harmony the works which he had seen, and the words which he had heard. In these scattered traits we can gain if imperfect conception of

a consistent

St John. The central characteristic of his nature is intensity, intensity of thought, word, insight, life. He regards everything on its divine side. For him the eternal is already all is complete from the beginning, though wrought out step by step upon the stage of human action. All is- absolute in itself, though marred by the weakness of believers. He sees the past and the future gathered up in the manifestation of the Son of God. This was the one fact in which the hope of the world lay. Of this he had himself been assured by evidence of sense and thought This he was constrained " have seen and do to proclaim testify." He had no laboured process to go through: he saw. He had no constructive proof to develope he bore witness. His source of knowledge was direct, and his mode of bringing convic:

tion was to affirm. 2.

The Occasion and Date.

An early and consistent tradition represents the Gospel of St John as written at the request of those who were intimate

with the Apostle, and had, as we must suppose, already heard from his lips that teaching which they desired to see recorded for the perpetual guidance of the

XXXV

Church. Clement of Alexandria has preserved the tradition in its simplest form. He states on the authority "of the elders of an earlier generation" (irapaSoort?

Ttav

dvtKaOcv

irptcrfivripiav)

that

"St John, last [of the Evangelists], when he saw that the outward (bodily) facts had been set forth in the [existing] Gospels, impelled by his friends, [and] divinely moved by the Spirit, made a spiritual Gospel" (Clem. Alex. ap. Euseb. |H. E.' vi. 14.) This general statement is given with additional details in the Muratorian Fragment on the Canon. "The fourth Gospel [was written by] John, one of the disciples (/. e. Apostles). When his fellow-disciples and bishops urgently pressed (cohortantibus) him, he

me [from] to-day, for three days, and let us tell one another any revelation which may be made to us, either for or against [the plan of writing] {quid cuique fuerit revelatum alierutrum)\ On the same night it was revealed to Andrew, one of the Apostles, that John should relate all in his own name, and that all should review [his writing]" (see 'Hist, of N. T. said, 'Fast with

Canon,* p. 527). There can be no doubt that Jerome had before him either this fragment, or, as

appears more pro-

on which it was based, when he says that "ecclesibable, the original narrative

astical history records that

John, when

he was constrained by his brothers to write, replied that he would do so, if a fast were appointed and all joined in prayer to God ; and that after this [fast] was ended, filled to the full with revelation (reve/atione saturates), he indited the heaven-sent preface In the beginning was the Word. ." ('Comm. in Matt/ Prol.) :

Eusebius, to whom we are indebted for the testimony of Clement, adds in another place, as a current opinion, that St John wrote after the other Evangelists, to the truth of whose narrative he bore witness, in order to supply an account of the early period of the Lord's ministry which they omitted ; and at the same time he implies, what is otherwise most likely, that the Apostle committed to writing what he had long delivered in unwritten preaching (Euseb. ' H. E.' in. 24).

Other writers attempt to define more exactly the circumstances under which

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INTRODUCTION TO

XXXVI

John was induced to compose his Thus in the Scholia on the Apocalypse attributed to Victorinus of Fettau (t c. 304), it is said that " he St

Gospel.

writer occupies a position remote from the events which he describes. However clear it is that he was an eye-witness of the Life of the Lord, it is no less clear that he looks back upon it from a 1 distance . One plain proof of this is found in the manner in which he records words which point to the spread of the Gospel beyond the limits of Judaism.

wrote the Gospel after the Apocalypse. For, when Valentinus and Cerinthus and Ebion and the others of the school of Satan were spread throughout the world, all the bishops from the neighbouring provinces came together to him, and This characteristic view is distinctly constrained him to commit his own tes- brought out in the interpretation which timony to writing n (Migne, ' Patrol. v. he gives of the judgment of Caiaphas:This statement appears to be Now this he said not of himself but being P- 333)an amplification of the Asiatic tradition high-priest in that year, he prophesied that preserved by Irenaeus, which has been Jesus should die for the nation (rov ZBvovs, already noticed ; .and is only so far insee note), and not for the nation only, but teresting as it shews the current belief in order that he might gather together in that the fourth Gospel was written as an one the children of God that were scattered answer to the questionings of a com- abroad (xi. 5 1 f.). It is beyond question that when the Evangelist wrote these paratively advanced age of the Church. So much indeed seems to be historically words, he was reading the fulfilment of the unconscious prophecy of Caiaphas certain ; for, though it is impossible to in the condition of the Christian Church insist upon the specific details with which the truth was gradually embellished, there about him. The same actual experience of the can be no reason to question the general accuracy of a tradition which was widely spread of the Gospel explains the promispread in the last quarter of the second nent position which St John assigns to century. The evidence of Clement of those sayings of Christ in which He deAlexandria is independent of that of the clared the universality of His mission Muratorian Canon, while both appear to other sheep I have which are not of this point back to some common authority, fold: them also must I lead... and they which cannot have been far removed shall become one flock, one shepherd (x. 16). from the time of the Apostle. The /, if I be lifted up from the earth, will fourth Gospel, we may thus conclude draw all men unto myself (xii. 32). The from the earliest direct evidence, was Son has authority over all flesh (xvii. 2). written after the other three, in Asia, at All that which the Father giveth me, He the request of the Christian churches said, shall come to me; and him that there, as a summary of the oral teaching cometh to me I will in no wise cast out The knowledge of God and of of St John upon the life of Christ, to (vi. 37). meet a want which had grown up in the Jesus Christ is eternal life (xvii. 3); and Church at the close of the Apostolic this knowledge, the knowledge of the truth, conveys the freedom, of which the age (comp. Epiph. 'Haer.' xli. 12). The contents of the Gospel go far to freedom of the children of Abraham was The final form support this view of its relatively late only a type (viii. 31 rT.). of worship is the worship of "the Father," It assumes a knowledge of the date. substance of the Synoptic narratives. It in which all local and temporal worships, deals with later aspects of Christian life typified by Gerizim and Jerusalem, should and opinion than these. It corresponds pass away (iv. 21 ff.). This teaching receives its final seal in with the circumstances of a new world. the answer to Pilate (a) The first of these statements will Thou sayest that I come under examination at a later time, 1 This is the impression which is conveyed and will not be contested in its general by the notes which he adds from time to time '

The two others can be justified by a few references to the Gospel, which shape.

will repay careful study. (b)

pel

No one can read the fourth Gos-

carefully

without

feeling

that

the

interpretation of words or facts :

vii.

39,

xii.

33,

These notes offer a remarkable contrast to those in which attention is called in the first Gospel to the present and xviii. 9, 3a, xix. 36, xxi.

19.

immediate fulfilment of prophecy, Matt.

as,

xxi. 4, Sic. (y4yo¥€P Ua T\i)pv$j)).

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. am a king.

To this end have I been born,

and to this end am J come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.

Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice (xviii. 37). The relation of the believer to Christ is thus shewn to rest on

a foundation which is of all most abChrist, while He fulfilled "the Law," which was the heritage of the Jews, revealed and satisfied the Truth, which is the heritage of humanity. There are indeed traces of the announcement of this universalism of the Gospel in the Synoptic narratives, and especially in that of St Luke. It is solute.

taught there that Christ came as the salvation prepared before the face of all the peoples, a light for revelation to Gentiles, and a glory to Gods people Israel (iL 31, 32). Repentance unto remission of sins was to be preached in His name

unto all the nations beginning from Jerusalem (xxiv. 47). It may be possible also to see in the fate of the Prodigal Son an image of the restoration of the

heathen to their Father's home.

But in

these cases the truth is not traced back to its deepest foundations; nor does it occupy the same relative position as in St John. The experience of an organized Christian society lies between the two records.

This is plainly intimated by the language of the Evangelist himself. He speaks in his own person of the great of the choice of Israel as over.

XXXVll

of the Catholic Church. Throughout Lord, the great charge to the apostolate, we seem to hear the warning addressed to St Peter What I do thou knowest at the outset not now, but thou shall come to know (yvwoy) afterwards (xiii. 7). It is implied in the recital that the words of patient waiting had found their accomplishment by the mission of the new Advocate. / have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He is come, even the Spirit of truth, He shall guide you tfre last discourses of the

into all the truth (xvi. 12 ;

comp. xv. 26).

Even if Christ had already made known 15), there was need ol the long teaching of time, that His disciples might master the lessons which they had implicitly received. The record of these appeals to a future growth of knowledge can admit of only one interpretation. In dwelling on such aspects of Christ's teaching, it is clear that the Evangelist is measuring the interval between the first imperfect views of the Apostles as to the kingdom of God, and that just ideal, which he had been allowed to shape, under the teaching of the Paraclete, through disappointments and disasters. Now at length, on the threshold of a new world, he can feel the divine force of much that was before hard and mysterious. He had waited

all things (xv.

till

his

Lord came ; and he was enabled

crisis

to recognise His Presence, as once before

He came to His own home and His own

by the lake of Galilee, in the unexpected

people received Him not (i. n); and so in some sense, the choice of the world was also decided, the light hath come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light (iii. 19). The message of the Gospel had already been proclaimed in such a way to Jew and Gentile that a judgment could be pronounced upon the general character of its acceptance. This typical example serves to shew how St John brings into their true place in the completed Christian edifice the facts of Christ's teaching which were slowly realised in the course of the apostolic age. And while he does so, he recalls the words in which Christ dwelt upon that gradual apprehension of the meaning of His Life and work, which characterized in fact the growth

victories' of faith. (c)

In the last quarter of the first cen-

tury, the world relatively to the Christian

Church was a new world; and St John presents in his view of the work and Person of Christ the answers which he had found to be given in Him to the problems which were offered by the changed order.

The overthrow

of Jerusalem, carrying the destruction of the ancient service and the ancient people of God, the establishment of the Gentile congregations on the basis of St Paul's interpretation of the Gospel, the rise of a Christian philosophy (yvwrw) from the, contact of the historic creed with Eastern and Western speculation, could not but lead one who had lived with Christ to go back once more to those days of a divine discipleship, that he might find in

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INTRODUCTION TO

XXXVU1

them, according to the promise, the anticipated replies to the questionings o£ a later age. This St John has done; and it is impossible not to feel how in each of these cardinal directions he points his readers to words and facts which are still unexhausted in their applications. (a) We have already touched upon the treatment of the Jewish people in the fourth Gospel. They appear as the heirs of divine blessings who have Esau-like despised their birthright. The prerogatives of the people and their misuse of them are alike noted. But in this respect there is one most striking difference between the fourth Gospel and the other three. The Synoptic Gospels are full of warnings of judgment. Pictures of speedy desolation are crowded into the record of the last days of the Lord's mi-

nistry (Matt xxiv., Mark xiii., Luke xxi.).

His commg to judgment is a central topic. In St John all is changed. There are no prophecies of the siege of the Holy City; there is no reiterated promise of a Return the judgment had been wrought Christ had come. There was no longer any need to dwell upon the outward aspects of teaching which had in this respect found its accomplishment The task of the Evangelist was to unfold the essential causes of the catastrophe, which were significant for all time, and to shew that

even through apparent ruin and failure the will of God found fulfilment. Inexorable facts had revealed the rejection

remained to shew that not only foreseen, but was also morally inevitable, and that it involved no fatal loss. This is the work of St John. He traces step by step the of the Jews.

this rejection was

progress of unbelief in the representatives of the people, and at the same time

the correlative gathering of the children of God by Christ to Himself. There was a divine law of inward affinity to good or evil in the obedience and disobedience of those who heard. I am the good shep-

herd; and I know mine own, and mine own know me, even as the Father knoweth me and I know the Father (x. 14, 15).

Ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep.

My sheep hear my voice, and I

know them, and they follow me (x. 26, 27). This is the judgment, that the light is come into the worlds and men loved the darkness

rather than the light for their works were ',

evil (ill 19).

The

fourth Gospel reveals in these

and similar passages the innermost cause of the rejection of the Jewish people. The fact underlies the record, and the Evangelist lays open the spiritual necessity of it He reveals also the constituThe true tion of the Spiritual Church. people of God survived the ruin of the Jews the ordinances of a new society replaced in a nobler shape the typical and transitory worship of Israel. When this Gospel was written, the Christian congregations, as we see from St Paul's Epistles, were already organized, but the question could not but arise, how far :

their organization

was

fitted

to realise

the ideal of the kingdom which Christ preached. The Evangelist meets the inquiry. He shews from the Lord's words what are the laws of His service, and how they are fulfilled by the institutions in which they were embodied. The absolute worship was to be in spirit and truth (iv. 23), as distinguished from letter and shadow; and the discourses with

Nicodemus and at Capernaum set forth by anticipation how the sacraments satisfy

On this condition for each individual. the other hand, the general ministerial commission, which is contained only in the fourth Gospel (xx.), gives the foundation of the whole. In that lies the unfailing assurance of the permanence of the new society. (P) So far the fourth Gospel met difficulties which had not been and could not be realised till after the fall of Jerusalem. In like manner it met difficulties which had not been and could not be felt till the preaching of St Paul had moulded the Christian Society in accordance with the law of freedom. Then first the great problems as to the nature of the object of personal faith, as to the revelation of the Deity, as to the universality of the Gospel, were apprehended in their true vastness ; and the Evangelist shews that these thoughts of a later age were not unregarded by Christ Himself. The experience of the life of the Church which is nothing less than the historic teaching of the Holy Spirit made clear in due time what was necessarily veiled at first. Sayings became luminous which were riddles before their

—

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. solution was given. Christ, in relation to humanity, was not characteristically the Prophet or the King, but the Saviour of the world, the Son of Man, the Son of God. In this connexion the fact of the Incarnation obtained its full significance. By the Incarnation alone the words which were partially interpreted through the crowning miracle of the Lord's ministry were brought home to all men ; / am the Resurrection and the Life (xi. 25). Thus by the record of the more mysterious teaching of the Lord, in connexion with typical works, St John has given a historical basis for the preaching His narrative is at once the of St Paul. most spiritual and the most concrete. He shews how Faith can find a personal object. The words He that hath seen tne hath seen the Father (xiv. 9) mark an epoch in the development of religious thought By them the idea of God receives an abiding embodiment, and the Father is thereby brought for ever within the reach of intelligent devotion. The revelation itself is complete (xvii. 6, 26), and yet the interpretation of the revelation is set forth as the work of the

Holy Spirit through

all

ages

(xiv.

26).

God in Christ is placed in a living union with note).

all

creation

(v.

17;

comp.

The world, humanity and God

are presented in the words and in the Person of Christ under new aspects of fellowship and unity. It will be evident how this teaching is connected with that of St Paul. Two special points only may be noticed the doctrine of the sovereignty of the divine will, and the doctrine of the union of the believer with Christ. The foundations of these two cardinal doctrines, which rise supreme in the Pauline Epistles, lie deep in the fourth Gospel. The first, the doctrine of Providence, Predestination, however it be called, not only finds reiterated affirmation in. the discourses of the Lord contained in the fourth Gospel, but it is also implied as the rule of the progress of the Lord's life. His "hour" determines the occurrence of events from man's point of. view ; and the Evangelist refers to it in connexion with each crisis of the Gospel history, and especially with the .Passion :

were consummated

which all

(ii.

4, vii. 30, viii. 20, xii.

crises

23, 27, xiii." 1,

xvi. 4, xvii. 1 ;

XXXIX

comp. vii. 6

— o 8,

*cupo?).

So also the will or " the gift " of the Father

the

spring of the believer's

power (iil 27, vi 37, 44, 65, xvii. 12); and Christ fulfils and applies that will to each one who comes to Him (xv. 16, 5, v. 21).

Faith again assumes a new aspect in the narrative of St John. It is not merely the mediative energy in material deliverances, and the measure (so to speak) of material power; it is an energy of the whole nature, an active transference of the whole being into another life. Faith in One revealed under a in a Person new " name " is the .ground of sonship (i. 12), of life (xi. 25), of power (xiv. 12), of illumination (xii. 36, 46). The keywords of two complementary views of* this is the truth are finally combined work of God, thai ye believe believe with a continuous ever-present faith on Him whom (mcrT€vrjT€ not irurrtwrrjTe)

—

He sent (vi. 29; comp. viii. 30, note). (y)

Once again; when

the fourth

Gospel was written Christianity occupied a new intellectual position. In addition to social and doctrinal developments, there were also those still vaster questions which underlie all organization and all special dogma, as to the function and stability of knowledge, as to the interpretation and significance of life, as to the connexion of the seen and unseen. The new faith had made these questions more urgent than before, and the teaching of the Lord furnished such answers Knowto them as man can apprehend. ledge was placed in its final position by the declaration / am the Truth ... The Truth shall make you free (xiv. 6, viii. Everything real is thus made 31 ff.). Again, tributary to religious service. the eternal is revealed as present, and life is laid open in .all its possible nobility. The separation which men are inclined to make arbitrarily between " here " and " there " in spiritual things is

done away.

This

life

eternal...

that heareth my word hath (xvii 3); Once more, the life eternal... (v. 24). essential unity and the actual divisions of

the world are alike recognised. All things were made (fycWo) through Him [in the

Word] (i. 3) ;.. and the Light shineth in and the Word became the darkness (i. 5) Thus in Christ there is (eycKcro) flesh. ;

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INTRODUCTION TO

offered the historic reconciliation of the

fore a selection from abundant materials

and the infinite, by which the oppositions of thought and experience are

at the command of the writer, made by

finite

made capable of being reduced to harmony. These

internal

indications

completely accord with the

date

historical

tradition, and lead to the conclusion that the composition of the Gospel must

be placed late in the generation which followed the destruction of Jerusalem. The shock of that momentous revolution was over, and Christians had been enabled to interpret it There is no evidence to determine the date exactly. St John, according to the Asiatic tradition recorded by Irenaeus (n. 22. 5 ; in. 3. 4) lived "till the times of Trajan" (ad. 98 117), and the writing of the Gospel must be placed at the close of his life. It is probable therefore that it may be referred to the last decennium of the first century, and even to the close of it Tradition is uniform in fixing St John's residence at Ephesus (Iren. in. 3. 4; Polycr. ap. Euseb. ' H. E.' in. 31; Clem. Alex. 'Quis div. salv.' c. 42; Orig. ap. Euseb. ' H. E.' in. 1, &c), and naming that city as the place 'where he wrote his Gospel ^Iren. m. 1. 1, &c.) ; and no valid objection has been brought against the belief which was preserved on the spot by a continuous succession of Church teachers 1

—

The

Object.

him with a specific purpose, first to create a particular conviction in his readers, and then in virtue of that conviction to bring life to them. The conviction itself which the Evangelist aims at producing is twofold, as corresponding

with the twofold relation of Christianity to the chosen people and to mankind. He makes it his purpose to shew that Jesus, who is declared by that human

name to be truly and historically man, is at once the

Christ, in

whom all types

and prophecies were fulfilled , and also the Son of God, who is, in virtue of that 1

divine being, children of

equally

near

to all

the

God—His Father and their

Father (xx. 17)— scattered throughout the

world (xi. 52 ; comp. i. 49). The whole narrative must therefore be interpreted with a continuous reference to these two ruling truths, made clear by the experience of the first stage in the life of the

Church ; and also to the consequence which rlows from them, that life is to be found in vital union with Him who is

made known in this character (cv t«j> 0V0ftan avrov). Each element in the fundamental conviction is set forth as of equal moment. The one {Jesus is the Christ) bears witness to the special preparation which God had made ; the other (Jesus is the Son of God) bears witness to the inherent universality of Christ's mission. The one establishes the organic union of Christianity with Judaism; the other

From what has been already said it be clear that the circumstances under which the fourth Gospel was This written served to define its object. is clearly expressed by St John himself will

Many other signs did Jesus in the presence of His disciples which have not been written in this book ; but these have been written that ye may believe (irurrcvip-c, cf. vi. 29) that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye may have life in His

name (xx. 30 f.). 1

The record is there-

The denial of the Asiatic residence

John does not call

for serious discussion.

of St

suppose that the belief grew out of* Irenams' confusion of "John the presbyter" with "John the apostle," involves the further assumption that Polycarp himself led him into the error (lren. Ep. ad Flor.'). Comp. Steitz, 'Stud, u. Krit.' 1868 ; Hilgenfeld, « Einl.' 394 ff.

1 It is not without instruction to notice that writers of very different schools have unconsciously omitted the words "the Christ" in

Suoting this verse, and thereby obscured the full esign of the Apostle. Among others I may quote as representatives Reuss, ' Hist, de la Theologie Chretienne ' ed. 1, 11. 426, "Ceci, dit-il dans ses dernieres li^nes, ceci est e*crit, afin que vons croyiez que iesus est le Fils de Dieu, et afin que vous ayez 1 vie par cette croyance. Weisz, * Lehrbuch d. Bibl. Theol.' Ausg. i f s. 636, "Der Glaube, welcher die Bedingung des Heilsaneignung bildet...ist die zuversichUiche Ueberzeugung da von, dasz Jesus der Sohn Gottes ist." Lias, • The Doctrinal System of St John,' p. x [The purpose for which the Gospel was written] "is stated in express language by the author: ' These things have been written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that, believing, ye might have life through His name' (John xx. 31)."

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. liberates Christianity from Jewish limita1

they may suggest to others the general

once appear that this preg-

interest of St

nant description of the object of the Gospel coincides completely with the view which has been giveu as to the date and occasion of its composition. To establish, that Jesus is the Christ is to prove that Christianity is the true spiritual heir of Judaism, through which a divine society and a divine service have been

his narrative

established for all time. To establish that Jesus is t/ie Son of God is to place the doctrine of St Paul upon a firm basis, inasmuch as the Saviour is revealed in

His essential relation of Creator to all the world.

The historic

truth which he has gained.

tions . It will at

xli

To establish that life is to

be had in His name, is to raise all being, thought, into a new region, where the hope (at least) of the reconciliation of the conflicts and contradictions of our present order. So far then the fourth Gospel is distinguished from the other three in that it is shaped with a conscious design to illustrate and establish an assumed conclusion. If we compare the avowed purpose of St John with that of St Luke (L i 4), it may be said with partial truth that the inspiring impulse was in the one case doctrinal, and in the other But care must be taken case historical. not to exaggerate or misinterpret this Christian doctrine is history, contrast. and this is above all things the lesson of the fourth Gospel. The Synoptic narratives are implicit dogmas, no less truly than St John's dogmas are concrete facts. The real difference is that the earliest Gospel contained the fundamental facts and words which experience afterwards interpreted, while the latest Gospel reviews the facts in the light of all

rests

—

their interpretation.

But in both cases'

the exactness of historical truth is paramount. The discovery of the law of phenomena does not make the record of the phenomena less correct than before in the hands of him who has On the contrary, such ascertained it knowledge keeps the observer from many possibilities of error, while it enables him to regard facts in new relations, and to present them in such a way that 1 This definition of the object of the Gospel must be compared with the parallel definition of 4. the object of the First Epistle, 1 John L 1

—

John in the substance of is,

in other words, purified

and made more intense by the dogmatic significance with which he feels that each incident is charged. If the scope of the fourth Gospel is thus distinctly apprehended in all its fulness according to the Evangelist's own description, it becomes unnecessary to discuss at any length the different special purposes which have been assigned as the motive of his work. The narrative is not in express design polemical, or supplementary, or didactic, or harmonizing; and yet it is all this, because it is the mature expression of apostolic experience perfected by the teaching of the Holy Spirit in the writer's own life and in the life of the Church. L The Gospel is not specifically polemical (Iren. 'Adv. Haer.'m. 11, Hieron.

'Comm.

Virr. 111.' 9).

Matt' Prol;

comp.

'De

It is quite true that many

passages in the Gospel of St John are conclusive against particular points of Docetic error (comp. Ebionitic and 1 John ii. 22, iv. 2), and against false claims of the disciples of the Baptist (comp. Acts xix. 3 f.) ; but it does not follow that it was the particular object of St John to refute these false opinions. The full exhibition of the Truth was

-necessarily their refutation ;

and in

this

respect their existence may have called attention to points which had been overlooked or misunderstood before. But the first Epistle shews* with what directness the Apostle would have dealt with adversaries if controversy had been the purpose immediately present to his

mind. ii. The same remark applies to the "supplemental" theory (Eusebius, *H. E.' 111.24; comp. Hieron. 'De Virr. 111.' 9). As a matter of fact the fourth Gospel does supplement the other three, which it preIt supplements them in the supposes. general chronology of the Lord's life, as well as in detailed incidents. But this is because the Gospel is the vital analysis

of faith and unbelief. It traces in order the gradual development of the popular views of Christ among those to whom

He came. it

As a natural consequence

records the successive crises in the

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INTRODUCTION TO

xlii

divine revelation which happened in Jerusalem, the centre of the religious The activity of the Jewish theocracy. scope of the Gospel is from the nature of the case supplementary to that of the other three ; and this being so, the history is also supplementary. iil But though the scope of the fourth Gospel is supplementary to that of the other three, it cannot rightly be said that the aim of the Evangelist was essentially didactic (comp. Clem. Alex. ap. Euseb. ' H. E.' vi. 14) in such a sense that he has furnished an interpretation of the Gospel rather than a historical record. The substance of the narrative is distinctly affirmed to

facts (these signs

are written) ; and the end contemplated

may have life), and

practical (that ye

speculative only so far as right opinion leads to right action. iv. Once again: The conciliatory irenical effect of the Gospel cannot be questioned, but this effect is due to the

—

teaching on Christ's Person which it discloses, and not to any conscious aim of the writer. Just as it rises above controversy while it condemns error, it preserves the characteristic truths which heresy isolated and misused. The fourth Gospel is the most complete answer to the manifold forms of Gnosticism, and yet it was the writing most used by Gnostics. It contains no formal narrative of the institution of sacraments, and yet it presents most fully the idea of It sets forth with the sacraments. strongest emphasis the failure of the ancient people, and yet it points out most clearly the significance of the dispensation which was committed to them. It brings together the many oppositions of life and thought, and antitheses

—

leaves them in the light of the one supreme fact which reconciles all, the Word became Flesh; and we feel from to last that this light is shining over the record of sorrow and triumph, of defeat and hope. first

The Plan.

The view which has been given of the object of the Gospel enables us to form a general conception of what we must call its plan. This is, to express it as briefly as possible, the parallel development of faith and unbelief through the The Evanguided in the selection, and in the arrangement, and in the treatment of his materials by his desire to fulfil this purpose. He takes a few out of the vast historical Presence of Christ. gelist is

mass of facts at his disposal (xxi. 25, xx. 30), which are in his judgment suited to produce a particular effect Every part of his narrative is referred to one final truth made clear by experience, that "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God."

He makes no promise to compose a life of Christ, or to give a general view of His teaching, or to preserve a lively picture of the general effect which He produced on average observers, or to compose a chapter on the general history of his own times, or to add his personal recollections to memoirs of the Lord already current ; nor have we any right to judge his narrative by the standard which would be applicable to any one of such writings. He works out his own design, and it is our first business to consider how he works it out When this is done we shall be in a position to consider fairly the historical characteristics of the Gospel.

The development and details of St John's plan are considered at length elsewhere.

Here it will be sufficient to indicate in a tabular form the outlines of the

history.

The Prologue,

—

18.

The Word in His absolute, eternal Being ; and in relation to Creation.

The Narrative,

—

xxi. 23.

The Self-revelation of Christ to the world and to the Disciples.

—The Self-revelation of Christ to the world 1.

(i.

—

xii.

50).

The Proclamation (L 19—iv. 54).

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. L The testimony to Christ (i. 19

—

iL 11)

of the Baptist, i. 19 34, disciples, I 35— 51, signs (water turned to wine), ii. 1 iL

—

xliii

—

11.

The work of Christ (ii. 13 iv. 54) ill. 36, in Judaa (Nicodemus), ii. 13

—

Samaria (the woman of Samaria), iv. 1

—

42, Galilee (the nobleman's son healed), iv. 43 —54.

Unbelief as yet passive. 2.

The Conflict (v. 1—xii. 50). L The Prelude (v., vi.), (a) In Jerusalem (the impotent man healed on the Sabbath), v. (b)

The Son and the Father. In Galilee (the five thousand fed), vL Christ and men.

—

The great Controversy (viL

xii.).

—

(a)

The Revelation offaith and unbelief vii. x. The Feast of Tabernacles, vii., viiL The Feast of Dedication (the blind man healed on the

(b)

The decisive Judgment, xi., xii. The final sign and its issues (the raising of Lazarus), xi. The close of Christs public ministry, xii.

Sabbath), ix., x.

II.

The Self-revelation of Christ to the Disciples (xiiL 1.

The last ministry of love (xiii.

—

xxL).

xvii.).

The last acts of love (xiii. 1 iL The last discourses (xiiL 31 L

In the chamber, xiii. 31

—

— —xvL

30).

33),

xiv.,

On the way, xv., xvL HL The prayer of consecration, xviL 2.

The Victory through death (xviiL

—

xx.).

The Betrayal (xviii. 1 11). iL The double Trial (xviii. 12 iiL The end (xix. 17 42). iv. The new life (xx.). i.

—

xix. 16).

—

The Epilogue, xxL L The Lord and the body of disciples (the miraculous draught of

—

fishes), xxL 1

14.

The Lord and individual disciples (xxL 15

—

23).

Concluding notes, xxi. 24, 25 . 1 The data for fixing the chronology are very meagre. arrangement of the main events.

Early spring : the calling of the first disciples, i. 19 First Passover (April), iL 13 iii. u; iiL

— 77 —

iv.

—

The following appears to be the best ii.

11.

54.

The Feast of the New Year (September), .

See Additional Note.

Second Passover (April), vi.

The Feast of Tabernacles (October), viL, viii. The Feast of Dedication (December), ix., x.; Third Passover (April), xiiL

—xx.

xi., xii.

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INTRODUCTION TO

xliv

Such in a rough outline appears to be the distribution of the parts of the Gospel. It will be felt at once how fragmentary the record is, and yet how complete. The incidents all contribute to the orderly development of the truths which it is the object of the Evangelist In deveto commend to his readers. loping the plan thus broadly defined he dwells on three pairs of ideas, witness and truth, glory and light, judgment and life. There is the manifold attestation of the divine mission: there is the progressive manifestation of the inherent majesty of the Son there is the continuous and necessary effect which this manifestation produces on those to whom it is made; and the narrative may be fairly described as the simultaneous unfolding of these three themes, into which the great theme of faith and unbelief is divided. A rapid survey of their treatment will bring out many instructive features in the composition. (a) The Truth and the Witness, It is characteristic of Christianity that it claims to be " the Truth." Christ spoke of Himself as "the Truth" (xiv. 6). God is revealed in Christ as "the only true :

(iX-iflwv*)

God" (xvii. 3). The message

of the Gospel is "the Truth." This title of the Gospel is not found in the Synoptists, the Acts or the Apocalypse but it occurs in the Catholic Epistles (James ;

19; 1 Pet L 22; 2 Pet. ii. 2), and in the Epistles of St Paul (2 Thess. ii. 12; 2 Cor. xiii. 8; Eph. i. 13, &c). It is specially characteristic of the Gospel and Epistles of St John. According to the teaching of St John, the fundamental fact of Christianity includes all that "is" in each sphere. Christ the Incarnate Word is the perfect revelation of the Father: as God, He reveals God (L 18). He is the perfect pattern of life, expressing in act and word the absolute law of love (xiii. 34)*. He unites the finite and the infinite (i. 14, xvi 28). And the whole history of the Christian Society is the progressive embodiment of this revelation. In the presence of Pilate, the representative of earthly power, Christ revealed the object of His coming, as a v.

permanent fact, to be that He might "bear witness to the truth" (ycycWij/Acu, i\y\v$a,

not

rjXBoVy

Zva,

jtaprvpyo-v tq

37). This "Truth," it is implied, was already, in some sense, among oAiytfcia, xviii.

men even if it was unrecognised. There were some who "were of the Truth," drawing, as it were, their power of life from it (comp. 1 John ii. 21, iii. 19). Over these Christ claimed the supremacy of a King. Among the chosen people this testimony of conscience was supplemented by the voice of the representative of the prophets. The Baptist bore, and still bears, witness to the Truth (v. 33, /ic/xa^TVpr)K€).

But Christ came not only to maintain a Truth which was present among men, but to make known a new fulness of Truth. The "Truth came (tyc*cro "was as the right issue of things")

realised

through Him " (i. 17 ; comp. v. 14 wAijpiys ...aA^cia?). His teaching was "the Truth" (viii. 40; comp. xvii. 17, o Ao'yos <ro$). He is Himself the Truth (xiv. 6). And this work is carried out step by step by the Spirit (xvi 13 ff.) who is sent in Christ's name by the Father (xiv. 26),

He also is sent by Christ

Himself (xvi. 7).

Under this aspect the

Spirit, like Christ, is the Truth which

makes known (1 John v. 6).

And again, the whole sum of the knowledge of Christ and of the Spirit is " the Truth" (1 John ii. 21; 2 John 1), which can be recognised by man (John viii. 32, yyoxrco-dc rrjv dJ ly^ciav), and become the object of fixed knowledge (1 John ii. 21, oi$clt€ rqv oA.); though on the other hand men can withstand and reject its claims (viii. 44 f.; comp. Rom. i. 18). So far the Truth is regarded as a whole without us (objectively), working and witnessing (3 John 8, 12). But at the same time the Spirit, as the Spirit of Truth, or rather of " the Truth," brings the Truth into direct communication with man's spirit (xiv. 17, xv. 26, xvL 13;

John

iv.

opposed to to w.

rrj%

and "the Truth" becomes an inward power in the believer (1 John L 8, ii. 4; 2 John 2).

vkdvrjs);

Truth therefore reaches to action. We do or do not the Truth (iii. 2 1; 1 John i. 6) It follows that the reception of the Truth 1

This aspect of the Troth is brought out by St Paul, who contrasts "unrighteousness" with "truth": Rom. i. 18, ii. 8; 1 Cor. xiii. 6; a Thess. ii 11. Comp. Eph. specially

iv.

14, v. 9.

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. brings freedom (viii. 32), because the Truth corresponds with the law of our being. By the Truth we are sanctified (xvii. 17).

one

therefore

can

fail

see

how inconsistent it is with the apostolic conception of Christianity to represent the Faith as antagonistic to any form of Truth. It is interpreted by every fragment of Truth. All experience is a com-

mentary on it. And we must be careful to keep ourselves open to every influence of light

The message which St John has to convey in his Gospel is "the Truth," and this is commended to men by various forms of witness (fiaprvpia). There is nothing in the Synoptic Gospels to prepare for the remarkable development which he gives of this idea. It evidently belongs to a time when men had begun to reason about the faith, and to analyse the grounds on which it rested. The end of the witness is the confirmation of the truth (xviii. 37); and the Evangelist, looking back upon his own experience, is able to distinguish the several

forms which the witness assumed and still

essentially retains.

The witness to Christ which he records is therefore manifold, and extends over the whole range of possible attestation of divine things. In due succession there is, (1) the witness of the Father; (2) the witness of Christ Himself; (3) the witness of works; (4) the witness of Scripture; (5) the witness of the Forerunner; X6) the witness of disciples; and that which illuminates and quickens all, (7) the witness of the Spirit. (1) The witness of the Father is that to which Christ appeals as the proper witness of Himself: / (fya») receive not my witness from a man... the Father which sent me, He (foclvos) hath borne witness concerning me (v. 34, 37). If I (Jyw) bear witness concerning myself my witness There is another that beareth is not true. witness of me, and I know that the witness which He beareth concerning me is true (v. 31 f.; contrast viii. 14). I am he that beareth witness concerning myself and the Father that sent me beareth witness concerning me (viii. 18). This witness then is distinguished from the witness of a prophet (e.g. John the Baptist), and from the witness of Christ standing (if

xlv

we can so conceive) in the isolation of His Personality. It lies in the absolute coincidence between the will and words and works of Christ and the will of the Father, realised

by Christ in His divine-

human Person (/ know, v. 32). Such witness carries conviction to men so far as they have themselves been brought into unity with God. Man can feel what is truly divine while he reaches after

and fails to attain

it.

The

sense of his own aspirations and of his own shortcomings enables him to appreciate the perfection of Christ. Thus the witness of the Father is (what we speak of as) the " character " of Christ The witness is continuous, present and abiding (jiaprvpu, fi€/juiprvpT)Kc), and it reposes upon the general* conception of God as Father (the Father not my Father), standing in this paternal relation to all men. As soon as the thought of "the Fatherhood of God" is gained, it is felt that "the Son" expresses it absolutely. The witness of this perfect coincidence therefore finds its cogency in the response which it calls out from the soul of man. Man recognises, the voice as

and John v. 9).

naturally (1

supremely

authoritative

(2) The witness of the Father finds a special expression in the witness of the Son concerning Himself. This witness is valid because it reposes on a conscious fellowship with God (comp. x. 30), in which no element of selfishness can find any place, and on a direct and absolute knowledge of divine things (iii. 11, 32 f.), and of a divine mission seen in its totality (viii. 14; comp. v. 55). In this sense Christ said, Even if I bear

witness concerning myself my witness is true, because I know whence I came and

I go (viii. 14). Such witness necessarily derives power from what can

whither

be seen of the witness of the Father

And more than claim to universal sovereignty lay in the fact that He came into the world in order to bear witness to the truth (xviii. 37). Every one therefore, He adds, that is of the truth heareth my voice (id.). Thus it is seen that the final power of the witness of Christ to Himself is derived from man's affinity in

Christ's

this,

truth

Him.

character.

Christ's

which

found

perfectly

His sheep, according to the fa-

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INTRODUCTION TO

xlvi

know His voice (x. 4 £).

mode of speaking, is placed above the

And He has a special message for each:

The former is an appeal to the spiritual consciousness, the latter to the intellect (4) So far we have seen that the witness to Christ is found in Himself, in

miliar image,

He colleth (<fxav€l) His own sheep by name (x. 3).

The end of this is that he thai

believeth on

Him hath the witness in him-

self ( 1 John v. 10).

external.

what He is, and in what* He did and (3) This divine witness, the internal witness which is addressed to man's does through His disciples. But He moral constitution, takes a special and stood also in a definite relation to the Witness was borne to Him both limited form in the witness of works. past Thus Christ said, The witness which I by the records of the ancient dispensahave is greater than that ofJohn ; for the tion and by the last of the prophets. works which the Father hath given me to Ye search the Scriptures, Christ said to accomplish^ the very works that I do bear the Jews, because ye think that in tftem witness concerning me that the Father hath ye have eternal life that they are in Within a narrow themselves the end, and not the prepasent me (v. 36, note). range and in a concrete and sensible ration for the end and they are they manner, His works revealed His perfect which witness concerning me; and ye will communion with the Father (v. 17 if.). not come to me that ye may have life Men could see in them, if not otherwise, (v. 39, 40). Without Christ the Old tokens of His real nature and authority. Testament is an- unsolved riddle. By The works which I do in my Father's the writings of Moses and the prophets name, claiming a special connexion with (v. 46, i. 45) He was seen to be the Him, making Him known as my Father, goal and fulfilment of immemorial hopes which became a testimony to Him in these bear witness concerning me (x. 25; comp. xiv. 11, xv. 24). And this kind of whom they were satisfied. The Old witness which was given in one form by Testament was to the first age and is Christ Himself during His historical pre- to all ages, if regarded in its broad His disciples and indisputable outlines, a witness to sence is still continued. are enabled to perform greater works Christ than those to which He appealed (xiv. (5) The witness of the Old Testament The Christian Society has still found a final expression in the latest of 12 if.). the living witness of "signs." the prophets. John the Baptist occuFor in the record of the "works" of pied a position which was wholly peChrist St John draws no line between culiar. He came for witness, to bear those which we call natural and super- witness concerning the Light, that all men natural The separate "works" are frag- might believe through him (i. 7). His ments of the one "work" (iv. 34, xvii. 4). own light was borrowed and kindled Whether they are predominantly works (v. 35, i. 8); yet it was such as to of power or of love, wrought on the attract and arrest (v. 35), and served body or on the spirit, they have the to prepare men for that which should same office and end (comp. v. 20 f., 36, follow. In this sense Christ appealed ix. 3 f., xiv. 10). They are "shewn:" to it. Ye have sent to John, and he hath they require that is a sympathetic in- borne witness to the truth. But I receive terpretation (x. 32 ; comp. v. 20). The not my witness from a man, but these things earliest emotion which they produce may I say that ye may be saved (v. 33 f.). The be simply "wonder*' (v. 20), but wonder witness was, so to speak, an accommois the first step to knowledge. This fol- dation to the moral condition of those lows both in its decisive apprehension for whom it was given. It was the atand in its progressive extension (x. 38, testation of a personal conviction based Iva yvwrc Kal yivwatctiTt). upon a specific proof. The Baptist Works therefore according to St John realised his own character and office are signs (vi. 26) ; and their witness, from (L 196".); and he recognised Christ by their want of directness and from their the sign which had been made known to outwardness of form, is secondary to him (i. 32 ff.). He realised the sternest that of "words "(xiv. 11, xv. 22 ff.). form of Judaism, and at the same time The internal witness, according to our perceived the universality of that in

—

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. which Judaism should be crowned. In a signal example he offered the witness of the leader of men who sways the thoughts of the multitude. (6) The witness of the Baptist was to one decisive event By this was revealed to him the relation of Christ to the old covenant of which he was himself the last representative. His was the individual witness of an exceptional man.

To this was added the witness, so to speak, of common life. The witness of the disciples was in various degrees a witness to what they had experienced in their intercourse with Christ, a witness to facts. Ye also, Christ said to the eleven, bear witness, because ye are with me jrom the beginning (xv. 27). He that hath seen hath borne witness (xix. 35). This is the disciple that witnesseth concerning these things and wrote these things

24; comp. 1 John i 2, iv. 14). But in all these cases there was need of an interpreter. Neither the mission nor the Person of Christ could be understood at once. It was necessary that He should be withdrawn in order that the disciples might be able to receive the full revelation of His Nature. This was their consolation in the pros(xxi.

(7)

ential,

xlvii

and lies in the open declaration

of what men have found the Gospel to Lastly, the witness of the Spirit is be. for the believer the crown of assurance and the pledge of the progress of the Truth. (b)

The second

Light and Glory.

pair of words, Light

characterize

and Glory, which

St John's

narrative

corre-

spond to a certain extent with the Witness and the Truth. The Witness becomes effective through Light The Truth is revealed in Glory.

The

description

God

Light

John i. 5) expresses in its final form that idea of self-communication which is realised in many ways. The works of God are a revelation of Him (i. 4 f., note) ; and among these man's own con(1

though this is not specially brought out by St John (comp. Matt stitution,

23; Luke xi. 35). The Word as Light visited men (ix. 5, oTav) before the Incarnation (i. 9 f.; comp. v. 38; Rom. ii. 15 f.), at the Incarnation (viii. 12, xii. 46, iii. 19 21; comp. xi. 9 f.), and He still comes (xiv. 21); even

vi.

—

as the Spirit

"name" 1

who

(xiv.

still

26,

His comp.

interprets

xvi.

13;

John ii. 20 ff., 27). St John draws no distinction in essence

pect of persecution and hatred. When the Paraclete is come whom I will send from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth,

between these three

which proceedeth from the Father, Be shall bear witness concerning me (xv. 26). In

history: all alike are natural or supernatural, parts of the same harmonious

this witness lies the continual unfolding

plan.

of the infinite significance of the Incarnation. The Spirit takes of that which

light in himself.

and declares it (xvi. 14). It the Spirit, as St John himself says elsewhere, that beareth witness, because the Spirit is the truth (1 John v. 6). If now we look back over these seven types of witness to which St John appeals in the Gospel, it will be seen that they cover the whole range of the possible proof of religious truth, internal and external. The witness of the Father and of Christ Himself is internal, and rests on the correspondence of the Gospel with that absolute idea of the divine which is in man. The witness of works and of Scripture is external and historical, and draws its force from the signs which the Gospel gives of fulfilling a divine purThe witness of the prophet and pose. of the disciples is personal and experiis Christ's,

different forms of

revelation, in nature, in conscience, in

But man has not independently

The understanding of the outward revelation depends upon the abiding of the divine word within v 37 £)• Love is the condition of ( illumination (xiv. 22 ff.). And the end of Christ's coming was that those who believe in Him may move in a new region of life (xii. 46), and themselves become sons of liglit (xii. 35 f.), and so, as the last issue of faith, have the light of -

life (viii. 12).

Under

the action of the Light the

Truth is seen in Christ as Glory.

Christ,

" the Light of the world," is seen by the believer to be the manifested glory of

God. (1) Step by step the Gospel of St John lays open the progress of this manifesta-

The summary of its whole course given by the Apostle at the outset: The Word became flesh and tabernacled

tion. is

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INTRODUCTION TO

xlviii

among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of an only son from a father (i. 14), absolutely

representing,

that

is,

Him

from whom He came. The beginning of Christ's signs was a manifestation of His glory (ii. 1 1), and that it might be so, it was shewn only when the hour was come (ii. 4). For the glory of the Son was not of His own seeking (viii. 50), but was wholly the expression of His Father's will

through

Him

(viii.

54).

And conversely the Son by His perfect conformity to the Father's will glorified the Father upon earth in the fulfilment of His appointed work (xvii. 4), wherein He

was also glorified Himself (xvii. 10). (2) The glory of Christ was therefore This in a true sense the glory of God. sickness, the Lord said in regard to

be glorified in the

Son

(xiv.

13):

their

fruitfulness, already regarded as attained, is

a source of this glory (xv.

And

8).

one chief office of the Spirit is to glorify Christ by making Him more fully known (xvi. 14). (c)

Christ

Judgment and Life. The glory of and of God in Christ, which is

thus presented as the substance of revebelongs to a spiritual sphere. It can therefore only be perceived by those

lation,

who have true spiritual vision. As an inevitable consequence, the revelation of the divine glory carries with

it a judgment, a separation. The fundamental notion of this Judg-

ment lies in the authoritative and final declaration of the state of man as he is

God and standing apart Lazarus, is not unto death, as its real from God. It follows as a necessary issue, but for the glory of God, that the consequence that Judgment in this sense Son of God may be glorified through is contrasted with "salvation," "life." it (xi. 4). And so the restoration of He that believeth [on the Son] is not Lazarus to life was a vision of the glory judged (iii. 18). He hath passed out of of God (xi. 40), as producing faith in death into life (v. 24 ; comp. v. 29). Him whom He sent (xi. 42). The glori- For Christ has life (i. 4, v. 26), and fication of "the name" of the Father was His words are life (vi. 53 ; comp. vl 68, xii. 50). the historic work of the Son (xii. 28). He came to offer life to men When the crisis was past, Jesus saith, (x. 28, xvii. 2), that they too may have

Now was the Son of man glorified (c8oand God was glorified in Him (xiii. 31). At the end the correlation is not between the Son and the Father, but between the Son of man and God. In Him, little by little, under the conditions of human existence, the absolute idea of manhood was fulfilled.

iaxrOrj),

in relation to

15 f.,

(iii.

indeed

40,

vi.

40, x. 10).

Himself "the Life"

(xi.

He 25,

and the support of life (vi 33, 35> 4 8 51; comp. iv. 14). To know the Father and Him is eternal life (xvii. 3); and he that "believeth in Him," he that xiv.

united with Him by faith, hath the life

as a present possession

(iii.

36,

24,

(3) It follows that the thought of Christ's glory is extended beyond the

vi.

Incarnation. The glory which was consummated through the Incarnation he had with the Father before the world was (xvii. 5); and when the prophet was allowed to look upon the Lord, sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up

lation of the believer to Christ is made

(Is.

vl 1 ff.), what he saw was the glory

of Christ (xii. 41). (4) And on the other hand, as the glory of the Son is extended backward, so also the glory o( Jesus, the Son of man, consummated on the divine side even in God (xiii. 32) at the Ascension (vii. 39, xii. 16), to which the way was opened by the Passion (xii. 23, xiii. 31), is to

be realised by men little by little in the

The petitions of becourse of ages. lievers are granted that the Father may

comp. viii. 12), which otherwise he cannot have (vi. 53). The re47, 54;

Son to the Father ( vi. 57). Because I live, Christ said to the eleven, jr shall live also (xiv. Thus the believer, in virtue of the 19). parallel with the relation of the

vital connexion which he has realised with God in His Son, is no longer considered apart from Him. Judgment therefore in his case is impossible. This conception of judgment explains the apparent contradiction in the views which are given of the part of Christ in regard to it On the one side judgment is realised as self-fulfilled in the actual circumstances of life. This is the judgment, that the light is come into the world and men loved the darkness rather than

the light, for their works were evil (iii. 19);

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. and by this contrast the unbeliever is convicted from within: he hath one thai judgeth him: the word that I spake, Christ said, shall judge him at the last day (xii. Hence it is said: God sent not the 48). Son into the world to Judge the world, but that the world may be saved through Him / came not to judge the world, (iii. 17). but to save the world (xii. 47). And yet on the other side judgment belongs to Christ, and satisfies the utmost ideal of judgment because it reposes upon adequate knowledge. Thus we read: the Father hath given all judgment unto the Son (v. 22; comp. v. 27);

and for judgment («cptfta) came I itito this world... (ix. 39; comp. viii. 26). I judge no man; yea, and if I (lyw) judge, my judgment is true (dXrfitvrj, viii. 15 £). As I hear I judge, and my judgment is just (v. 30). Striking as the contrast between these passages appears to be, it is only necessary to consider what the judgment is in order to feel their harmony. Spiritual judgment is a consequence involved in the rejection of the revelation which Christ made. His will was to unite men to Himself, so that they might have life and not be judged. So far then as they rejected Him and stood

xlix

aspect Christ's coming was a sentence of judgment (Kpfaa, ix. 39). The judgment of the sovereign power of the world in the Passion (xii. 31) has left men no

excuse (see xvi. n, note). In that they can see the mind of God, and according as they surrender themselves to it or resist it, they find life or judgment. So far the judgment is self-fulfilled. It cannot but be carried out. The word of Christ sooner or later must justify

There

itself (xii. 48).

no need that

He should seek to assert and vindicate its supremacy.

There is one that seeketk

and judgeth (viii. 50), the eternal power of righteousness symbolized in the Law (v. 45), and expressed in the Gospel

48 ff.). But though

(xii.

is so, the idea of never lost in the Bible in an abstraction, however emphatic. And while the eternal necessity of judgment is thus set forth, the historical execution of judgment, both present and final, is recognised as a work of the Son; and though it was not the purpose of His mission, yet it was committed to Him in virtue of His mission. The Father doth not judge any man, but hath

divine action

this

given all judgment to the Son (v. 22). Even as the Father gave Him to have life in Himself, and so to be a spi ing of life to all who are united with Him, so also He gave Him authority to execute

away from Him, His Presence shewed them as they truly were. He judged them ; and judgment was equivalent to condemnation. Thus the exhibition of judgment because He is a Son of man not the contrast of the true and the false the Son of man— (v. 27), because He is became one of the means for developing truly man, and not only the representative of humanity. His judgment therebelief and unbelief according to the character of Christ's hearers (viii. 26). What- fore (comp. Hebr. iv. 14 ff.) is essenever might be the result, His message tially united with His complete sympathy with man's nature, and extends to the must be delivered.

—

In one sense therefore judgment, like the gift of life, is immediate. It lies ia the existence of an actual relation (iii. 18) which carries with it its final consequences. In another sense it is still future, so far as it will be realised in a spiritual order of being in the last

day (xii. 48). There is a resurrection of life and a resurrection ofjudgment (v. 29), in which the issues of both begun here Meanwhile will Wk completely fulfilled. the process is going on upon earth. The manifestation of perfect holiness presented to the world in perfect self-sacrifice (v. 30) has set up a standard which cannot be put out of sight Under this

fulness of human life. It finds place always and everywhere. These contrasts bring out into full relief the conflict between faith and unbelief, which, as has been said, is the main subject of St John's Gospel. In the Synoptic Gospels faith occupies a different position. It is in these almost exclusively relative to a particular object (Matt. viii. 10, ix. 2, 22, 29, &c. ; Mark Only once does the full ix. 23, &c.). expression for faith in the Person of Christ occur (iriorcvciv cis, Matt, xviii. 6, Mark ix. 42). In St John, on the other hand, this is the characteristic form under which faith is presented. The simple ||

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INTRODUCTION TO

noun is not found in his Gospel.

Faith the attitude of the whole believing man. Such faith in Christ is the condition of eternal life (i. 12, vi. 40). To produce it was the object of the Evangelist (xx. 31). And the history marks in typical crises the progress of its de-

velopment

The first sign is followed by an access of faith in the disciples (ii. 1 1). The first entrance into Jerusalem was followed by faith disturbed by preconceived ideas (ii. The preaching in 23, iil 12 ff.). Samaria called out a complete confession of faith (iv. 39 ff.), which stands in contrast with the faith resting on signs which followed in Galilee (iv. 48 ff.). From this point active unbelief appears side by side with faith. By claiming authority over the Sabbath, and "making Himself equal with God" (v. 17 f.), the Lord offered a test of devotion to those who followed Him: He fulfilled that to which Moses pointed

The decisive trial in 39> 45 #•)• ( v« Galilee caused a fresh division between those who had hitherto been disciples. It was now revealed that life was to be gained by the personal appropriation of the virtue of Christ's Life and Death (vi. Some turned aside, and 53 ff.). St Peter confessed the Apostolic faith .even in the mysterious prospect of the Passion (vi. 66 ff.). At the Feast of Tabernacles the antagonism of the hierarchy was more decided (vii. 32, 47 ff.), and the Lord traced it to its source in an analysis of the spirit of those who believed Him with a view to the execution of their own designs (viii. 31, note). At the same time He revealed His preexistence (viii. 31 ff., 58). The separation between the old Church and the

new, which was implicitly included in these discourses, was openly shewn in the scenes which followed. Christ offered Himself openly as the object of faith as "the Son of man" (ix. 35 ff.), and declared the universality of His work The raising of Lazarus, which (x. 16). carried with it the condemnation of the Lord, shewed Him to be the conqueror of death and through death (xi. 25 f., 50, xii. 23 ff.). So the public revelation was completed, and with it faith and unbelief were brought to their last issue (xii. 37 ff).

The last discourses and the last prayer

point to the future victories of faith; and the narrative closes with the beatitude of the Risen Christ: Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed (xx. 29), which crowned the loftiest confession of faith triumphant over doubt :

Lord and my God {xx. 28). Even from this rapid summary it will be seen that the self-revelation of Christ became stage by stage the occasion of fuller personal trust and more open personal antagonism. In Him thoughts from many hearts were revealed (Luke ii. 35). And St John lays open the course of the original conflict

which is the pattern of

all conflicts to the end

of time.

The Style.

The characteristic repetition and development of the three pairs of ideas, Witness and Truth, Glory and Light, Judgment' and Life, in the structure of St John's Gospel, serve to indicate the of the style of the book. There is both in the vocabulary and in the form of the sentences a surprising simplicity, which becomes majestic by its peculiarities

solemn directness. (a) It is not necessary to dwell upon the vocabulary. Any one who will trace out the use of the six words already discussed will feel how the apparent monotony contains a marvellous depth and fulness. An examination of other words, as sign (ovjfjLuov), and works (faya), and

name {iv t<3 ovo/iart, cis to ovofia), the Father (o iranfp), and my Father (6 irarqp f*ov), the world (Kooyxo?, not 6 ahav

ovTo?

and the like), to love, to know and ytvokncciv), will lead to the

(ciocwu

same conclusion (compare Additional Notes on i. 10, iv. 21). The apparent sameness of phraseology produces throughout an impressive emphasis. (b) This emphatic monotony is still more observable in the form and in the combination of the sentences. The constructions are habitually reduced to the simplest elements. To speak of St J ohn's Gospel as "written in very pure Greek is altogether misleading. It is free from solecisms, because it avoids all idiJmatic expressions. is

The grammar is that which

common to almost all language.

rectness,

circumstantiality,

Di-

repetition,

and personality, are the characteristic marks of the separate sentences. And

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. the sentences and thoughts are grouped together in a corresponding manner. They are co-ordinated and not subordinated. The sequence of the reasoning is not wrought out, but left for sympathetic interpretation.

The

narrative

uniformly

direct

picture which fixes the thought of the reader. The same tendency is shewn in St John's analysis of other actions, Jesus cried aloud and said (xil 44). Jesus cried aloud in the temple, teaching and saying (vii. 28). John beareth witness of Him

and hath

cried,

saying.. .(i.

15).

They

Even the words and opinions of others are given directly and not obliquely.

questioned him, and said (i. 25).

Any one of the

detailed incidents in St John's narrative will illustrate this characteristic of his style. Thus we read in the opening scene : This is the witness

the separation of the whole into its parts adds to the impressiveness, and to the meaning of the description.

of John when the Jews sent. Jo ask him, Who art thou? and he confessed.../ am And they asked him, not the Christ. What then 1 Art thou Elijah t And he And again, saith, I am not... (I 19 ff.). Certain of the multitude therefore, when they heard these words, said, This is of a Others said, This is truth the Prophet.

particularity is found in the combination

But some said, What, doth the Christ. the Christ come out of Galilee ? (vil 40 f.;

one should bear witness concerning man God...gave His only Son that (ii. 24 f.). whosoever believeth on Him may not perish,

comp. ii. 3 if., iv. 27 ff, v. 10 ff., vi. 14, 1

viii.

22, ix. 2 ff., &C.) .

It is

a part of the same method that

illustrative details are

added parentheti-

cally or as distinct statements, and not

wrought into the texture of the narrative (vi.

10, iv. 6, x. 22, xiii. 30, xviii. 40).

The

circumstantiality

John's

style is a necessary result of this direct-

Each element in the action is distinguished, as a general rule, and set

ness.

and similar cases it will

One remarkable

In these be found that

illustration

of this

of the positive and negative expression of the same truth. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not

any thing made (i. 3).

He confessed, and

denied not (L 20). Jesus did not trust Himself unto them, for that He knew all men, and because He needed not that any

but have eternal life (iii. 16). Comp. x. 5, xviii. 20; i John i. 6, ii. 4, 27. The circumstantiality of St John's style leads to frequent repetition of the subject or of the significant word in a sentence (i. i, Word\ i. 7, witness-, i. 10, world) iv. 22, worship) v. 31 f., witness; vl 27, meat) xi. 33, weeping).

Such repetitions are singularly marked

swered and said (dv€KpWif xal ctircv). He places the two parts of the act in equal

record of dialogues, in which the persons are constantly brought into prominence. Sentence after sentence begins with words, "Jesus said," "the Jews said," and the like, so that the characters in the great conflict are kept clearly present to the mind of the reader in sharp contrast (ii. 18 ff., iv. 7 ff., viii. 48 ff.,

prominence; and though it might appear

x.2 3 ff).

out clearly.

Thus while the other Evan-

gelists write habitually according to the

common Greek idiom [Jesus] answering said (aVo*pi0cls five), St John never uses this form, but writes instead \Jesus] an-

in the

at first sight that the phrases are exactly

This usage leads to what has been

equivalent, yet the co-ordination of details brings a certain definiteness to the

called above the personality of St John's This is shewn by the special narrative.

This directness of construction is so universal in the Gospel that the only example (so far as I have observed) of an oblique sentence is in iv. 51, where the true reading appears to be met him, saying that his son liveth, in place of met him and told him, saying, Thy son liveth; for, on the other hand, the common obliaue reading in xiii. 24 is incorrect; and the vivid phrase, and saith to him, Say, who is Ut must be substituted for that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake.

This is in fact a characteristic of the New Testament style generally; see Winer, § LX. 9; but in St John it is most marked.

frequency with which he introduces a demonstrative pronoun to call back the subject, when a clause has intervened between the subject and the verb. This he does in two ways. Sometimes he employs the pronoun of present reference: He that abideth in me and I in him, this man (ovtos) beareth much fruit (xv. 5; comp. vil 18, &c); and sometimes, which is the more characteristic usage, the pronoun of remote, isolated

reference:

He that entereth not by the

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INTRODUCTION TO

lit

door, .that man (Jjcciiro) is a thief and a

robber (x. i; comp. i. 18, 33, v. 1 1, 37, 38,

juxtaposition.

xii. 48, xiv.

21, 26, xv. 26).

Another feature of the same kind is

he commonly leaves them in simple His most characteristic

particle in narrative (it is rare in the discourses) is therefore (ow), and this serves in very many cases to call attention to a sequence which is real, if not obvious. There arose therefore a question on the

the frequency of St John's use of the personal pronouns, and especially of the pronoun of the first person. In this respect much of the teaching of the Lord's part of John's disciples with a Jew about discourses depends upon the careful re- purifying (iil 25). When therefore He cognition of the emphatic reference to heard that he was sick, He abode for the His undivided Personality. Yea, and if time two days in the place where He was truly

man

—

I, who am truly God, and my judgment is true; for I

J (tyo) judge

am not alone, but I and the Father that me (viii. 16). In this case, as in most cases, the pronoun calls attention to the nature of the Lord elsewhere it marks the isolation (so to speak) of His personality; so that we read two sensent

tences which, being in appearance di-

harmonized by giving due emphasis to the absence and presence of the pronoun (v. 31, viil 14). (e) The method of combining sentences in St John corresponds comrectly contradictory, are

pletely to the method of their separate construction. The simplicity, directness, circumstantiality, repetition, which mark

the

constituent

sentences,

mark

also

Words, sentences, paragraphs follow one another in what must appear to an unreflecting reader needless iteration, though in fact this means that the central it is by whole sections of his work.

(xi. 6).

Comp. iii. 29, iv. 46, vii. 28.

In like manner the unusual frequency of the phrase in order that (iva), which marks a direct object, is a sign of the habitual tendency of St John to regard things in their moral and providential relations. Even where the usage departs most widely from the classical standard, it is possible to see how the irregular construction springs out of a characteristic mode of thought (e.g. iv. 34, v. 36,

vi.

29, viii. 56, xii. 23, xiii. 34, xvii. 3);

and frequently the particle suggests a profound interpretation of the divine counsel (v. 20, x. 17, xii. 38, xv. 8, xvi. 2). The simple coordination of clauses is frequently assisted by the repetition of a marked word or phrase, such as occurs in separate sentences. In this way a

connexion

is established between two statements, while the idea is carried for-

ward

a new direction.

Sometimes

thought

the subject is repeated I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd layeth down

that

his life for the sheep

is placed in varied lights, so fulness can at last be grasped. The multiplication of simple elements in its

this instance, as elsewhere, produces in

the end an effect of commanding grandeur, and so the student learns to pause in order that he may carefully consider the parts which separately contribute to it (See, for example, ch. xvii.)

The most obvious illustration of this lies in St John's constant habit of framing his record of events and discourses without connecting parWhen the feeling is most inticles. tense clause follows clause by simple No conjunction binds the addition. The details are given parts together. severally, and the reader is left to seize them in their unity (iv. 7, 10 ff., xi. 34,

feature

35, xiv. 15 ff., xv.

i— 20).

same time St John does in fact insist more than the other Evangelists upon the connexion of facts, even

the

(x.

Some-

11).

times a word is taken up from a former clause and repeated with significant emphasis: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay doivn his life for his friends. Ye are my friends. No longer do I call you servants... but I have called you friends... (xv. 13 ff.). Sometimes a clause is repeated which gives (so to speak) the theme of the passage / am the door of the sheep.../ am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved... (x. 7 ff.). / am the good Shepherd: the good shepherd layeth down his life for the . .

I am the good Shepherd... and I lay down my life for my sheep (x. 1 1, 14). / am the true vine... I am the vine: ye are the branches (xv. 1, 5). Sometimes a clause is repeated which gives a closing cadence: The world hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. ..They are not of the

sheep...

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. world, even as I am not of the world... Sanctify them in the truth... that they themselves may be sanctified in truth (xvii. 14 ff.). Three times in the sixth chapter the clause recurs / will (may) raise him up at the last day (39, 40, 44). And even in the simple narrative of St Peter's denial the scene is impressed upon the reader by the solemn repetition of the words: Peter was standing and warming himself (xviii. 18, 25 )'. (d) This repetition in some cases leads to a perfect poetic parallelism: :

liii

does not preserve some features of His work which were unquestionably promi-

nent; that we could not put together from it a .complete picture of Jesus of Nazareth as He went about doing gooa\ and healing all that were oppressed of the devil (Acts x. 38).

We allow, or rather

we press, the fact that the fourth Gospel,

so far as it is regarded as a biography, or as a biographical sketch, is confined to certain limited aspects of the Person and Life and Work with which it deals. But while we make the fullest acknowledg(xiv. 26, 27). ment of these truths, we affirm also that And in fact the spirit of parallelism, the literal accuracy of the contents of the the instinctive perception of symmetry Gospel is not in any way prejudiced by in thought and expression, which is the the existence of this particular purpose. essential and informing spirit of Hebrew The historical illustrations of the writer's poetry, runs through the whole record, theme if we even so regard the inciboth in its general structure and in the dents which he relates are no less hisstructure of its parts. From first to last torical because they are illustrations the the Truth is presented, so to speak, in Evangelist's conception of the real sigever-widening circles. Each incident, nificance of Christ's Presence is not to each discourse, presupposes what has be set aside because it is his conception gone before, and adds something to the the special traits which are given are in result no degree open to suspicion, because they are special traits emphasized with a definite object Neither the apostolical Historical Exactness. 6. authorship nor the historical trustworthiOur inquiry up to this point has estab- ness of the narrative is affected by the lished beyond doubt that the structure admission that the writer fulfils his work, of the fourth Gospel corresponds with according to his own words, with an the fulfilment of a profound purpose. express purpose in view. It is composed both generally and in The first point is not before us now detail with singular symmetry. There is but there is one argument directly beara growing purpose wrought out from ing upon it, which underlies very much stage to stage in the great divisions of of the popular criticism of the Gospel the record ; and there are subtle and though it is not very often put into a minute traits in each separate narrative distinct shape, which may be most conwhich reveal to careful examination the veniently noticed here. It is sometimes presence of an informing idea throughout plainly said, and more often silently asit The correspondences of part with sumed, that an Apostle could not have part may indeed be due as much to the spoken of One with whom he had lived one fundamental conception of the whole familiarly, as the writer of the fourth work as to special and conscious adapta- Gospel speaks of the Lord. In reply to tion of details; but none the less we this argument one sentence only is nemust feel that the historical elements are cessary. In order to have any force the means to an end \ that the narrative ex- argument takes for granted all that is presses distinctly (as it professes to do) finally at issue, and implies that it is not the writer's interpretation of the events true that " the Word became flesh." If, must feel that on the other hand, this revelation is true, with which he deals. it is not an exhaustive exposition (so far as we believe, then the fourth Gospel as the Evangelist's knowledge went) of helps us to understand how the overthe incidents of the Lord's life ; that it whelming mystery was gradually made known : how the divine Nature of Christ 1 So also words are repeated through conwas revealed little by little to those with siderable sections of the Gospel: love, to love whom He had conversed as man. Un(xiiL— xvii.); life (v., vi.); light (viii. xii.).

—

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INTRODUCTION TO

liv

Synoptic Gospels may be dismissed, or,

our faith be false, we may say that we cannot conceive any way in which it

at least, held in suspense.

could have been historically realised except that which is traced out in the experience reflected in the writings of St John. The Incarnation is confessedly a great mystery, in every sense of the word, but no fresh difficulty is occasioned by the fact that in due time it was laid open to those among whom the Son of

be enough to insist on the obvious fact that a general difference in the contents of two narratives relating to a complex history, which are both avowedly incomplete, cannot be used to prejudice the accuracy of either. And the most cursory consideration of the fragmentariness of the records of Christ's life will

God had moved. Moreover, it may be added, the diffi-

make it evident that the mere addition

less

culty of admitting that an Apostle came to recognise the true divinity of One with

whom he had lived as man with man is

not done away by denying the apos-

tolic authorship of the Gospel.

The most

conspicuous critics who refuse to assign the Gospel to St John agree in assigning the Apocalypse to him; and it is no .easier for us to understand how (not to quote xxil 13) an Apostle could speak of the Master whom he had followed to the Cross as being the Holy and the True, who has the key of David, " who openeth,

and no man shutteth ; and shutteth, and no man openeth " (iii. 7), as joined with " Him that sitteth on the throne," in being " worthy to receive blessing, and honour, and glory, and might, for ever and ever" (v. 13), than to understand how he could look back upon His life as The the life of the Incarnate Word. Christology of the Gospel and the Christology of the Apocalypse are alike, we

may venture to say, historically inexplicable unless we take as the key to their

For this end

it will

of the facts related by St John to those preserved in the other Gospels cannot create any difficulty. They do not differ in kind from incidents related by the Synoptists; and we have no external means for determining the principles by which the choice of incidents embodied in the Synoptic narratives was determined. There is certainly no reason for supposing that these narratives would have included the incidents peculiar to St John, if they had been familiarly known at the time when the records were drawn up. The Synoptists indicate summarily cycles of events which they do not relate ; and St John refers definitely to "many other signs" with which he was personally acquainted. Thus we are brought back to the proDoes the per subject of our inquiry. author of the fourth Gospel forfeit his claim to observe accuracy of fact because the facts are selected with a view to a definite purpose ? He professes to write, as we have seen, in the hope of creating in others the faith which he holds him-

Now that faith is

interpretation the assertion of the fact,

self (xix. 35, xx. 31).

" the Word became flesh," apprehended

a special interpretation of all history drawn from a special interpretation of One Life. We may therefore modify our question and ask,- Does the Evangelist forfeit his claim to be a truthful historian, because he turns his eye steadily to the signs of the central laws of being ? The answer to the question must be sought finally in the conThese ditions of the historian's work. conditions include in every case choice, compression, combination of materials. And he fulfils his work rightly who chooses, compresses, combines his materials according to a certain vital proIn other words, the historian, portion. like the poet, cannot but interpret the facts which he records. The truth of history is simply the truth of the inter-

under the action of the

Spirit, in the consciousness of those who had known Christ " from the Baptism of John to the

Resurrection." These considerations however carry us away from our immediate subject; for we are not concerned at present with the apostolic authorship of the Gospel. have to inquire how far its trustworthiness is affected by the existence of a specific didactic design in the writing. But before discussing this question one other topic must be referred to, only to be set aside,

which will be examined in detail afterwards. The arguments against the trustworthiness of the Gospel drawn from the fact that its contents do not for the most part coincide with the contents of the

in reality

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. pretation of an infinitude of details contemplated together. The simplest state-

ment of a result presents a broad gene-

The generalizamay be true or false; it may be

ralization of particulars.

tion

tion were either false or wanting.

And

further, it is no less clear that the necessity for this interpretative power becomes more urgent as the subject becomes more complex.

There is undoubtedly at present a strong feeling in favour of realistic, external, history ; but it may reasonably be questioned whether this fashion of opinion will be permanent, and it is obviously beset by many perils. Realistic history often treats only of the dress and not of history is a mere phantom. No one the living frame, and it can never go could specify, and no one would be will- beyond the outward circumstances of an ing to specify, all the separate details organization which is inspired by one which man's most imperfect observation vital power. The photographer is wholly can distinguish as elements in any one unable to supply the function of the "fact;" and the least reflection shews artist; and realism must be subordinated to the interpretation of the life, if history that there are other elements not less numerous or less important than those is to take its true place as a science. open to our observation, which cannot This is the thought which underlies the be observed by us, and which yet go Hebrew type of historic record. In the towards the fulness of the " fact." The Old Testament the prophet is the historian. The facts which he records are subjectivity of history is consequently a significant, if fragmentary, expressions of writer who mere question of degree. looks at the outside of things, and repro- an inner divine law wrought out among duces the impression which this would men. His interest is centred in the life convey to average men, is as far from which is manifested in action, but not the whole truth as the writer who brings exhausted by it. His aim is to reveal this life to others through the phenomena his whole power to bear upon an individual realisation of it. Thus every which the life alone makes truly intellirecord of a "feet" is necessarily limited gible to him. We are not now concerned to inquire to the record of representative details concerning it The truthfulness of the whether the prophetic interpretation of historian as a narrator lies therefore in the life of men and nations and humanity be true or false. his power of selecting these details so as All that needs to be insisted upon is that the historian to convey to others the true idea of the fact which he has himself formed. In must have some view of the life whereby the events which he chronicles are held this respect the literal accuracy of any number of details is no guarantee for the together. This view will influence him accuracy of the impression conveyed by both in the choice of incidents and in the choice of details. And he will be the sum of them regarded as a whole and it is no paradox to say that a " true " the best historian who grasps the condetail which disturbs the proportion of ception of the life most firmly, and who the picture becomes in the connexion shews the absolute and eternal in the false. ordinary current of events. For him What has been said of separate "facts" each event will be a sign. Now whatever debates may arise on is obviously true of the sequence of facts. other points it cannot be doubted that It is impossible not to feel that a true conception of the character of a life or the writer of the fourth Gospel has a distinct conception of a spiritual law of (if such a phrase may be used) of the the life of humanity which found its final spirit of a social movement would illuminate the connexion and meaning of realisation in the Incarnation. This conthe external details in which they are ception is therefore his clue in the choice manifested, and that many details re- and arrangement of facts. He takes garded externally would be liable to the just so many events and so much of gravest misapprehension if the concep- each as will illustrate the central truth ruled by an outward or by an inward principle ; but in any case it only represents a total impression of the particulars seen in one way. It does not represent either all the particulars or all the impressions which they are capable of producing. What is called pure "objective"

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INTRODUCTION TO

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which he finds in a particular view of the Person of Christ If his view of Christ be right, it cannot be seriously questioned that the traits on which he

cannot be regarded otherwise than as compositions of the Evangelist;

free

that their contents are

monotonous and

without progress from first to last ; that they are of the same character under diffechiefly dwells are intrinsically natural and no other view appears to be able rent circumstances that they have no into explain the phenomena of the belief dividuality of style ; that, on the contrary, they are almost undistinguishable in form attested by the earliest Christian literaand substance from the first epistle in ture, the letters of St Paul and the Apocalypse, and by the existence of the which the writer speaks in his own person, Thus the Gospel of and from the speeches which he places Christian Church. in the mouth of other characters, as the St John adds that express teaching on the relation of Christ to God of the Baptist These objections, it will be Son to the Father which underlies the seen, are quite independent of any supclaims to exclusive and final authority posed incompatibility of the accounts of made by Him in the Synoptists. And St John and of the Synoptists, and rethe definiteness of the Evangelist's aim quire a separate examination. They arise does not diminish but rather increases out of the study of the book itself, and must be considered first The apparent his interest in the exact conditions and circumstances under which Christ acted contrasts between the records of the and spoke ; for our historic interest must teaching of the Lord given in the first always vary directly with our sense of three Gospels and in the fourth will be the importance of the history. noticed afterwards. What has been already said as to i. Some of these points will come before us again in greater detail, but so much the conditions which determine the selecat least is clear, that the " subjectivity tion of representative details and of reof the fourth Evangelist affords in itself presentative incidents in a narrative of no presumption against his historical events applies with necessary limitations accuracy. Every historian is necessarily to the historical record of teaching. It subjective. And it must be shewn that is obvious that if a record of a debate of the Evangelist's view of the Person of several hours length is to be compressed Christ, which is established independently into a few sentences, the value of the of his Gospel, is false, before any argu- record will depend not upon the literal ment against his trustworthiness can be reproduction of the exact words used drawn from a representation of Christ's here and there or in a brief episode of works and words which corresponds with the discussion, but upon the power of that view. the historian to enter into the spirit of It is then no disparagement of the the debate and to sketch its outline in strict historical character of the fourth The thoughts of the right proportion. Gospel that the writer has fulfilled the speakers are more important than the design which he set before himself, of style of the speakers. And it is quite recording such " signs " out of the whole conceivable that the meaning and effect number of Christ's works as he con- of a long discourse, when reduced to a sidered likely to produce a specific effect. brief abstract, may be conveyed most But even if it is admitted that historical truly by the use of a different style, and exactness is generally reconcileable in even, to a certain extent, of different theory with the execution of a particular language from that actually employed. design in the selection and exhibition Again the style of a speaker enters and combination of facts, and further in very various degrees into his teaching, that this particular design may be the according to his subject and his circuminterpretation of the innermost meaning stances. At one time it is of the essence: of the life, while it includes only a small at another time, it is wholly subordinate fraction of the outward events, yet it will to the general drift of the exposition. be urged that this method of explanation The keen, pregnant saying, the vivid does not apply to all the phenomena of illustration must be preserved exactly, The subtle St John's Gospel that the discourses of or their character is lost the I^ord, in especial as given there, argument may be best touched suggest;

—

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. ively, so that the sympathetic reader can

lvii

supply the links which cannot be given in full. A many-sided sp aker will thus furnish materials for very different studies. But it would be wholly wrong to conclude that the sketch which preserves most literally those fragments of his words, which are capable of being so preserved, is more true than the sketch which gives a view of the ultimate prinThe former may ciples of his doctrine. give the manner and even the outward characteristics: the latter may reveal the

is the key to the thought, and that word St John has preserved in his record of what had gone before (v. 32) the title " Son of man " was already familiar, and he passes over the particular phrase in which it occurred. In viil 34 ff. there is a more complicated and still more instructive example of the compression of an argument The recorded words do no more than give the extreme forms the course which the spoken words must have followed can only be determined by careful thought,

soul.

though it can be determined certainly.

Now to apply these principles to the discourses contained in the fourth Gospel, it is undeniable that the discourses of the Lord which are peculiar to St John's Gospel are, for the most part, very brief summaries of elaborate discussions and expositions in relation to It is wholly out central topics of faith. of the question that they can be literally complete reports of what was said. From the necessities of the case the Evangelist He has has condensed his narrative. not given, and he could not have given, consistently with the nature of this work, all the words which were actually spoken;

and this being" so, it follows that he cannot have given the exact words or only the words which were spoken. Compression involves adaptation of phraseology. And when once we realise the inevitable conditions of condensation, we find ourselves constrained to trust (in this case as in others) to the insight

him who selects,

and power of

arranges, emphasizes

words which are in his judgment best suited to convey the proportionate impression of discourses which he apprehends in their totality. One or two illustrations will shew how a conversation is compressed in St John's narrative. A simple example is found in The question of the Jews turns xii. 34. upon the title " Son of man," which has not been recorded in the context. But easy to see how the previous references to the sufferings of Christ in connexion with the universality of His mission gave a natural opportunity for The Evangelist however the use of it has noticed only the fundamental facts. The reader himself supplies what is wanting for the explanation of the abrupt use of names. The idea of "elevation" it is

Men are sinners, and if sinners then slaves

of sin.

What,

therefore, is

essential conception of slavery?

the

It is

an arbitrary, an unnatural, relation the opposite of sonship, which expresses a permanent, an absolute connexion an:

swering to the very constitution of things.

The communication of sonship to the slave is consequently the establishment of his freedom. And in spiritual things He alone can communicate the gift to whom the dispensation of it has been committed. l£ therefore, " the Son " the one absolute Son give freedom, they who receive it are free indeed. The imagery of a whole parable lies implicitly

—

in the brief sentence.

In other cases " answers " of the Lord evidently point to detailed expressions of feeling or opinion with which the Evangelist was familiar, and which yet he has not detailed: e.g. xii. 23, 35. At the close of his account of the public ministry of Christ he gives, without any connexion of place or time, a general summary of the Lord's judgment on His hearers (xii. 44 The passage is 50).

—

apparently a compendious record and not a literal transcription of a single speech. And so elsewhere it is probable that

where no historical connexion is given, words spoken at different times, but all converging on the illumination of one truth, may be brought together: e.g. x. (Xoyos, v. 19). The force of these considerations is

as seems to be surely most of the discourses recorded by St John were spoken in Aramaic Whatever may have been the case in some other parts of Palestine, a large and miscellaneous crowd gathered

increased

if,

established,

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INTRODUCTION TO

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Jerusalem was able to understand what was spoken to them " in the Hebrew tongue" (Acts xxi. 40), and the favour of the multitude was conciliated by the The divine voice which St use of it Paul heard was articulate to him in Hebrew words (Acts xxvi. 14). St Peter evidently spoke in an Aramaic dialect in the court of the high-priest, and the bystanders not only understood him

Person. Style changes with subject, according to the capacity of the speaker; and St John's affinity with his Lord, which enabled him to reproduce the higher teaching, may reasonably be sup-

posed to have enabled him also to preserve, as far as could be done, the characteristic form in which it was conveyed.

However this may have been, such a view of St John's record of the Lord's discourses as has been given derogates in no respect from their complete authority and truthfulness. A complete reAnd again, the title production of the words spoken would (rfi SiaAcVnp aunSv). with which Mary addressed the risen have been as impossible as a complete reproduction of the details of a compliIx>rd was " Hebrew " (FaPpow€t, John The phrase which the Lord cated scene. Even if it had been possible xx- 16). quoted from the Psalms upon the cross it would not have conveyed to us the right was "Hebrew" (Mark xv. 34). These impression. An inspired record of words, like an inspired record of the outward indications, though they are not absolutely circumstances of a life, must be an interconclusive, are yet convergent, and lead pretation. The power of the prophet to the conclusion that at the Holy City and in intercourse with the inner circle to enter into the divine thoughts is the of the disciples Christ used the ver- measure of the veracity of his account. As claiming Thus the question finally is not whether nacular Aramaic dialect St John has used his own style and lanto be the fulfiller of the Law, He could hardly have done otherwise without of- guage in summarising the Lord's teaching, but whether he was capable of so fering violence to the religious instincts of the nation. If then He spoke in Ara- entering into it as to choose the best maic on those occasions with which St possible method of reproducing its subJohn chiefly deals, the record of the stance. It may or may not be the case Evangelist contains not only a com- that the particular words, in this sentence pressed summary of what was said, but or that, are his own. We are only concerned to know whether, under the cirthat also a summary in a translation *. cumstances, these were the words fitted It may be remarked yet further that the providential office of St John was to to gather into a brief space and to conWe preserve the most universal aspect of vey to us the meaning of the Lord. His experience fitted may admit then that St John has recorded Christ's teaching. him to recall and to present in due pro- the Lord's discourses with "freedom." But freedom is exactly the reverse of portions thoughts which were not underIn this way it is probable arbitrariness, and the phrase in this constood at first nexion can only mean that the Evangelist, that his unique style was slowly fashioned as he pondered the Lord's words standing in absolute sympathy with the through long years, and delivered them thoughts, has brought them within the And there compass of his record in the form which to his disciples at Ephesus. was truest to the idea is nothing arbitrary in the supposition These considerations seem to be that the Evangelist's style may have been deeply influenced by the mode in which amply sufficient to meet the objections Christ set forth the mysteries of His own which are urged against the general form

but noticed his provincialism (Matt. xxvl 73; Mark xiv. 70). Aramaic, it is said, in the Acts (i. 19), was the proper language of "the dwellers in Jerusalem"

1 It may be sufficient to add, without entering further into the subject, that the testimony of Josephus 'Ann.' xx. if 1 is explicit as to the feeling with which Jews regarded Greek as a foreign language, and to the fact that the Jews of Jerusalem habitually spoke Aramaic ('cApion.'

I. 9, fi6po$

airrot ffvpiifp).

1 In this connexion the notes which are given by the Evangelist in ii. si, vii. 39, xii. 33, are of the greatest importance. If he had not kept strictly to the essence of what Christ said, he

might itself

easily have brought out in the saying the sense which he discovered in it at

a later time.

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. A

more of the discourses in St John. particular examination will shew how far the more special objections which are based upon their alleged monotony are valid. 2. St John, as we have seen, writes with the purpose of revealing to his readers the Person of the Lord, and shews Him to be " the Christ," and " the Son of God." As a natural consequence he chooses for his record those discourses which bear most directly upon his theme, and dwells on that side of those discourses which is most akin to it. It will be seen later that the Synoptists have preserved clear traces of this teaching, but it was not their object to follow it out or to dwell upon it predominantly. With St John it was otherwise. He wished to lead others to recognise Christ as what he had him-

self found

Him to be.

There

there-

the crises of Jewish history; and a closer examination of the discourses sfrews that they had an intimate connexion with the ideas which the festivals represented As long as the Jewish system remained, this teaching would be for the most part unnoticed or unintelligible. When the old was swept away, then it was possible, as the result of new conditions of religious growth, to apprehend the full significance of what had been said.

Yet further: while there

several discourses were held,

an inevitable monotony up to a certain

tion.

They do not, like questions of practice and morals, admit of varied illustration from life. Christ is Himself the sum of all, and St John brings together just those words in which on exceptional occasions (as it appears) He revealed Himself to adversaries and doubters and friends. For there is an indication that the discourses recorded by St John are not (so to speak) average examples of the Lord's popular teaching, but words called out by peculiar circumNothing in the fourth Gospel stances. corresponds with the circumstances under which the Sermon on the Mount, or the great group of parables were spoken. On the other hand, the private discussions with Nicodemus and the woman of Samaria find no parallels in the other Gospels, and yet they evidently answer to conditions which must have arisen. The other discourses, with the exception of those in ch. vi, which offer some peculiar features, were all held at Jerusalem, the centre of the true and false theocratic life. And more than this: they were distinctively festival discourses, ad-

dressed to men whose religious feelings and opinions were moved by the circum-

On such ocstances of their meeting. casions we may naturally look for special revelations.

The festivals commemorated

so far a

of His public ministry, turns the thoughts of His hearers in each case to Himself, as the one centre of hope, yet the form in which this is done presents a large variety of details corresponding with the external circumstances under which the is also a

tially simple.

"monotony" in the discourses of St John that the Lord, after the beginning

fore in the teaching which he preserves

point The fundamental truths of the Gospel as an object of faith are essen-

lix

and there

distinct progress in the revela-

The first point will be touched upon in the next section the second becomes evident at once, if account be .

taken of the order of the successive utterances of the Lord, and of the limits of possible change in the variable element which they contain. ^^ It is undoubtedly true that as we read \ St John's Gospel in the light of the Prologue we transfer the full teaching which that contains into all the later parts of the narrative, and that they derive their / complete meaning from it But if the discourses are examined strictly by themselves, it will be seen that they offer in succession fresh aspects of the Lord's Person and work that the appearances of repetition are superficial: that each discourse, or rather each group of discourses, deals completely with a special Thus in ch. v. the Son and the topic. Jews are contrasted in their relation to God, and from this is traced the origin of *\ In ch. vi. the Son is shewn to unbelief. be the Giver and the Support of life. In |

He is the Teacher and the Deliverer in cc. ix., x., the Founder of The discourses of the the new Society. eve of the Passion have, as will be seen afterwards, a character of their own. There is, then, a clear advance 3. and historical development in the selfrevelation of Christ as presented by St John. There is also an intimate correspondence between the several discc. vii., viii. :

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INTRODUCTION TO

courses and their external conditions. For the most part the discourses grew (so to speak) out of the circumstances by which they were occasioned. The festival discourses, for example, are coloured by the peculiar thoughts of the The idea of the Passover is season. conspicuous in ch. vi., that of the Feast of Tabernacles in cc vii., viii., that of the Dedication in ch. x. The traits of connexion are often subtle and unemphasized, but they are unmistakable. There is a psychological harmony between the words and the hearers for the Nothing less than a comtime being. plete and careful analysis of the Gospel can bring home the force of this argument, but two illustrations will indicate the kind of details on which it rests. The scene by the well at Sychar illustrates one type of teaching (iv. 4 42) the discourse after the healing at Bethesda another (v. 19 47). There can be no question as to the individuality of the discourse with the woman of Samaria. The scene, the style, the form of opinion are all characThe well, the mountain (v. 20), teristic the fertile corn-fields (v. 35), form a picture which every traveller recognises. The style of the conversation is equally life-like. The woman, with ready intelligence, enters into the enigmatic form of the Lord's sentences. She gives question for question, and, like Nicodemus, uses His imagery to suggest her own difficulAt the same time, her confession ties. keeps within the limits of her traditional For her the Christ is a prophet. faith. And it is easy to see how the fuller testimony of her countrymen unparalleled in the Gospels was based upon later teaching (v. 42), which their position enabled them to receive as the Jews could not have done. The discourse in ch. v. is characteristic It is the recorded beginin other ways. He ning of Christ's prophetic teaching. unfolds the nature of His work and of His Person in answer to the first accusations of the Jews before some authoriIt is not tative body (see v. 19, note). a popular discourse, but the outline of a It springs naturally systematic defence. out of the preceding act, and it appears to refer to the circumstances of the Feast It is not so much an argument

—

At the same as a personal revelation. time it offers an analysis of the religious crisis of the time. It discloses the relation in which Jesus stood to the Baptist

—

(33 35), to Moses (46), to revelation generally (37 f.), to Judaism (39 f.). It deals, in other words, with just those topics which belong to the beginnings of the great controversy at Jerusalem \ One other illustration may be given to shew the inner harmony which underlies the progress of the self-revelation of the

Lord as recorded by St John. Without reckoning the exceptional personal revelations to the woman of Samaria (iv. 26), and to the man born blind (ix. 37), the Lord reveals Himself seven times with the formula "I am," five times in His public ministry, and twice in the It must be enough here to enumerate the titles. Their general connexion will be obvious.

last discourses.

I am the Bread of life. I am the Light of the

(1) vi. 35 flf. vin. 12.

world.

25.

J am the Door of the sheep. I am the good Shepherd. I am the Resurrection and

(2) xiv. 6.

I am the Way, and the

x.7. X. II. xi.

the Life.

Truth, and the Life. xv.

But

I am the true Vine.

1 tT.

said that the language

attributed to the Baptist and that of the Evangelist himself are undistinguishable

from that of the discourses of the Lord. already shews to what extent this must be true. St John

What has been said

1 It may be added also that the occasion and contents of the discourse are in complete agreement with the Synoptic narrative. In these no less than in St John the open hostility of the Jews starts from the alleged violation of the Sabbath (Matt. xii. 3; Mark ii. 27 f.); and they offer the following correspondences of thought with St John's record

v. 14, Matt. xii. 45 (Luke xvii. 19). 19 f., Matt. xi. 27 ; Luke x. 33.

v. 10, Matt. iii. 17. v. 13, Matt, xxviii. 18. v. 73, Luke x. 16 (Matt. x. 40). 11, 37, Matt. xvi. 37.

Matt xxv. 33, 46. v. 30, Matt. xxvi. 39. v. 39, Luke xxiv. 37 (Matt. xxvi. 54). v. 39,

v. 43, Matt. xxiv. 5. v. 44, Matt. xiii. 14 ft, xviii. 1 v. 46, Luke xvi. 31.

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN.

lxi

deals with one aspect of the truth, and uses the same general forms of speech to present the different elements which con-

do not occur in the Lord's teaching in

But beneath this resemblance there are still preserved the characteristic traits of the teaching of each speaker. There is, as has been pointed out, a clear progress in the Lord's revelation of Himself. The

tribute to its fulness. superficial

words of the Baptist, coming at the commencement of Christ's work, keep strictly within the limits suggested by the Old Testament What he says spontaneously of Christ is summed up in the two figures of the " Lamb " and " the Bridegroom," which together give a comprehensive view of the suffering and joy, the redemptive and the completive work of Messiah under the prophetic imagery. Both figures appear again in the Apocalypse ; but it is very significant that they

The correspondences

the fourth Gospel or in St John's episHis specific testimony, again, this

tles.

the Son of God (i. 34), is no more than the assertion in his own person of

that which the Synoptists relate as a divine message accompanying the Baptism (Matt, iii. 17, and parallels). And it is worthy of notice, that that which he was before prepared to recognise in Christ (i. 33) was the fulness of a prophetic office which the other Evangelists record him to have proclaimed as ready 1 to be accomplished (Matt. iii. n) .

Even in style too, it may be added, the language assigned to the Baptist has its peculiarities. The short answers, lam not; No; I am not the Christ (i. 20 f.), are unlike anything else in St John, no less than the answer in the words of pro-

Comp. iii. 29, note.

phecy (i. 23).

of expression between the language attributed to the

Lord in the Gospel and the Epistles of St John are more extensive and more

They are given in the following table:

important

John iii.

11.

We speak that we do

know, and testify that we have seen.

John L 1

—

That which was from we have seen with

the beginning ... which

our eyes for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness {testify) ... that which we have seen and heard de.

. .

clare we unto you.

There is another that beareth 32 ff. witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true ... v.

/ receive not witness from man ... He that heareth my word ... is v. 24. passed from death unto life.

9 ff.

If we receive the witness of men,

the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which he hath testified

of his Son...

We know that we have passed iii. 14. from death unto life, because we love the brethren.

38. in you. v.

...ye have not his word abiding

ii.

14.

... the

word of God abideth in

you.

He that eateth my flesh and vi. 56. Whosoever shall confess that iv. 15. drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him. in him, and he in God. Comp. xiv. 1 7. Comp. v. 16 iii.

viii.

29.

I do always those things that

please him.

He {the devil) viii 44. derer from the beginning. viii 46.

was a mur-

Which of you convinceth me

24. 22.

...because we... do those things that are pleasing in his sight. ...the devil sinneth from the iil 8. iii.

beginning. iii.

Comp. iii. 12, 15. him is no sin.

... in

of sin t viii. 47. He that is of God heareth God's words : ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

15.

/ lay down my life for the

iv. 6.

We are of God: he that know-

eth God heareth us ; he that is not of God

heareth not us. iii.

16.

...

he laid down his life for us.

sheep. 1

The passage, iii. 31

— 36,

is to be attributed to the Erangelist and not to the Baptist.

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INTRODUCTION TO

Ixii

that walketh in darkJohn xii. 35. ness knoweth not whither hegoeth.

John ii. 1 1.

...he that hateth his bro-

walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth iii. 23. This is his commandment, That we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. ther

. . .

A new commandment I give

34.

xiii.

unto you, That ye love one another ; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

iv. 11. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. Comp. ii.

If ye keep my commandments,

xv. 10.

ye shall abide in my love.

7 ff., iii. 11, 16. 16.

iv.

God is love, and he that dwellGod, and God in

eth in love dwelleth in

him.

If the world hate you ...

xv. 18.

13.

iii.

Marvel not, my brethren, if

the world hate you.

xvi 24. Ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be fulfilled.

i. 4. These things write we unto you, that your joy may be fulfilled. Comp. 2

John 12.

/ have overcome the world.

xvi. 33.

v. 4 f.

cometh

(17

This

the victory that over-

vucqo-aaa) the world, even

our

faith.

Compare also the following passages: iv.

22f.

v. 20.

vL 69 (ircirurr. k. iyvvK.).

iv.

16.

viii.

ii.

17.

35.

In addition to these phrases there are single terms, more or less characteristic,

which are common to the Lord's dis" true " (d\rjcourses and the Epistle :

Oivosi),

" murderer," " to ask "

(iptorj.v),

"to receive witness," "the Son;" and the

frequent use of the

found in both (xv.

(Iva) is

final

particle

12, xvii.

compared with iii. 23).

An examination of the parallels can leave little doubt that the passages in the Gospel are the originals on which the The phrases in the others are moulded.

Gospel have a definite historic connexion they belong to circumstances which explain them. The phrases in the :

Epistle are in part generalisations,

and

in part interpretations of the earlier lan-

guage in view of Christ's completed work and of the experience of the Christian Church. This is true of the whole doctrinal relation of the two books, as will

be seen later on. The Epistle presupposes the Gospel, and if St John had already through many years communicated his account of the Lord's teaching orally to his circle of disciples, it is easy to see

how the allusions would be intel-

readers of the Epistle if preceded the publication of the Qospel. If the Epistle was written after the Gospel was published, the use of the Lord's words in what is practically a commentary upon them can cause no diffiligible to the

culty.

The Prologue to the Gospel offers the parallel

real

this

Epistle.

In this

there is the same application of the teaching of the Gospel from the point of

view of the advanced Christian society. The exposition of the truth assumes the facts and words which follow in the nar-

while it deals with them freely and in the Apostle's own phraseology. rative,

This will appear from the following table: v. 1.

In the beginning was the Word.

That which was from the beginconcerning the word of life ... i. 2. ...the eternal life, which was with the Father (ijv Trpo's). i.

ning

... the

Word was with God (fy wpfc).

Contrast xvii. 5. ...

the

Word was God.

. . .

v. 20.

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. v.

The

light...

trite

was coming

into the world

The

v. 5.

lxiii

ii. 8. The darkness is past, true light now shineth.

and the

light shineth in the dark-

Comp. xii. 35. v. 12. As many as received him, to

ness.

them gave he right to become children of God...

ill. 1. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath given unto us, that we should be called children of God, and such

we are (kcu lo-phr).

—

...

13.

(iytrv.

to them that believe on his name,

Which were born ... of God

c#c).

v. 14.

The Word becameflesh.

— ...we v. 18.

beheld his glory.

No man hath seen (hSpaKw) God

at any time.

Comp. vi. 46.

...you that believe on the name v. 13. of the Son of God. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is v. L the Christ is born of God (ytytw. in).

Every spirit that confesseth that

iv. 2.

Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. That which we beheld. L 1. iv. 12. No man hath beheld (Tc0caT<u) God at any time. Comp. v. 20.

These parallels, which are found in eighteen verses only, offer, as it will be felt, a close affinity to the Epistle not in language only, but in formulated thought. And further, the Prologue and the Epistle stand in the same relation of dependence In this respect it is to the discourses.

character of their own, that they are the source of St John's own teaching, that they perfectly fit in with the conditions under which they are said to have been

compare what is said in the Prologue on "the Life," and "the light," and "the Truth," with the passages in the Lord's words from which

But it may be said that the last discourses, in which there may have been some compression yet not such as to

the Evangelist draws his teaching.

difficulties :

interesting to

The Life.

(1)

Comp. v. 26, xl 25,

xiv. 6.

(2) The Light 46.

Comp. viii. 12, ix. 5,

xii.

(3) -The Truth. Comp. viii. 32, xiv. 6. It will be remembered that the car-

dinal phrases " the Word," " born (begotten) of God," are not found in the discourses of the Lord Elsewhere in the Gospel there are in the narrative natural echoes, so to speak, of words of the Lord (iL 4 compared with vii. 30, his hour was not yet come) and correspondences which belong to the repetition of corresponding circumstances (iv. 12 viii. 53; iii. 2 ix. 33), or to the stress laid upon some central ix. 29 f. xix. 9). Still truth (vii. 28 the conclusion remains unshaken that the discourses of the Lord have a marked !

The remarks made upon the Prologue geneincluding the brief comment on the Bap-

rally, tist's

testimony

(i.

—

18),

apply also to the

two comments of the Evangelist upon the converai), sation with " the teacher of Israel " (iii. 16 and on the Baptist's last testimony (iii. 31—36). See notes.

delivered. 7.

The Last Discourses.

form, offer peculiar

alter their general

that they are disconnected, indefinite, and full of repetitions: that is most improbable that thoughts it

so loosely bound together could have been accurately preserved in the memory that we must therefor half a century fore suppose that the Evangelist here at least has allowed his own reflections to be mingled freely with his distant recollections of what the Lord said. It may be at once admitted that these discourses offer a unique problem. They belong to an occasion to which there could be no parallel, and it may be expected that at such a crisis the Lord would speak much which " the disciples understood not at the time," over which still some of them would untiringly reflect. Our modes of thought again follow a logical sequence; Hebrew modes of thought follow a moral sequence. With us, who trust to the instruction of books, the power of memory is almost untrained a Jewish disciple was disciplined to retain the spoken words of his master. Thus we have to inquire primarily :

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INTRODUCTION TO

lxiv

whether the teaching really suits the occasion? whether there is a discernible coherence and progress in the discourses? If these questions are answered in the affirmative, it will be easy to understand how a sympathetic hearer, trained as a Jew would be trained, should bear them about with him till his experience of the life of the Church illuminated their

meaning, when the promised Paraclete "taught him all things and brought all things to his remembrance which Christ had spoken." If the discourses are taken as a whole it will be found that their main contents

Three topics are specially conspicuous : the mission of the Paraclete, the departure and the coming of Christ, the Church and the world. And generally a marked stress is laid throughout upon the moral aspects offer several peculiarities.

man. And as the doctrine of love springs out of Christ's self-sacrifice (xv. 13, xiii. 34), so is it peculiar to these discourses in the Gospel. The time had come when it could be grasped under the influence of the events which were to follow. The successive forms under which the principle of love is inculcated illustrate the kind of progress which is found throughout the chapters (e.g. xiii. 34, xv. 12). The three following passages will indicate what is meant xiv.

15.

If ye love me, ye will keep

my commandments. xiv. 21. He that hath my command-

(Tt)prjatT€)

ments, andkeefeth them, he it is that loveth

of the Faith. It is scarcely necessary to point out the fitness of such topics for instruction If the Lord was what at such a time. the Apostles announced Him to be it is scarcely conceivable that He should not have prepared them by teaching of this kind before His departure, in order that they might be fitted to stand against the antagonism of the Jewish Church, and to mould the spiritual revolution which they would have to face. The book of the Acts—" the Gospel of the Holy Spirit " is in part a commentary upon these last words. At the same time it is most important to observe that the ideas are not made definite by exact limitations. The teaching gains its full meaning from the later history, but the facts of the later history have not modified it. The promises and warnings remain in their typical forms. At first they could not have been intelliThe fall of gible in their full bearing. Jerusalem at length placed them in their proper light, and then they were recorded. The moral impress of the last discourses is clear throughout. They are a sermon in the chamber to the Apostles, completing the Sermon on the Mount to In this section only the multitudes. " Christ speaks of His " commandments

—

(cvroXat^ cvtoXtJ, xiv. 15, 21, xv. 34, xv. 12 ; comp. xv. 14, 17),

the use of the

divine authority. The commandments are summed up in one, " to love one another." The love of Christian for Christian is at once the pattern and the foundation of the true relation of man to

10, xiii.

and by word claims for them a

me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father* and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. xv. 10. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love ; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

At a first reading it might be easy to miss the advance from obedience resting on love to progressive knowledge, and then to a divine certainty of life. When the relation of the three connected texts is seen, it is difficult not to feel that what appears to be repetition is a vital movement. A similar progress is noticeable in the four chief passages which describe the work of the Paraclete :

xiv. 16, 17.

/ will ask the Father, and he shall give you another Paraclete, that he may be with you for ever even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive.

xiv. 26.

The Paraclete, even the Holy Spirit,

whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said unto you. xv. 26.

When the Paraclete is come

whom I will send unto you from the Father

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall bear witness of me.

course which the addresses take. These form two groups, the discourses in the

chamber (xiii. 31 (xv.,

xvi. 7

—

xiv.) and on the way The predominant thoughts

xvi.).

ff.

If I go not away, the Paradete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him unto you. And he, when he is come, will convict the world...

lxv

...when he is come, even the Spirit of

in the

first are those

of separation from

He had been hitherto known,

Christ as

and of sorrow

in separation in the second, of realised union with Christ in some new fashion, and of victory after :

conflict.

truth,

he will guide you into all the truth...

The Discourses in the Chamber

(xiii.

Step by step the relation of the Para-

made clear (i) / will another Paraclete; (2) the Father will send in my name; (3) I will send; And again (4) if I go I will send him. clete to Christ is

Separation,

ask,

His work

denned more and more exactly: (1) be with you for ever; (2) teach all things... that I said unto you (3) bear witness of me; (4) convict the world, guide into all the truth. Such is

subtle correspondences are equally far from design and accident: they belong to the fulness of life. The teaching on the relation of the

Church to the world, which is peculiar to this section, moves forward no less In xiv. 17, 22 ff., it is shewn that the world is destitute of that sympathy with the divine Spirit which is the necessary condition of the reception of revelation. Afterwards the hatred of the world is foretold as natural (xv. 18 ff.); and then this hatred is followed out to its consequences (xvi. 1 ff.). Yet, on the other hand, it is promised that the Spirit shall convict the world; and at last Christ declares that He Himself has already conquered the world (xvi. 33). The same general law of progress applies to the notices of Christ's departure and return in cc. xiv., xvi. In the first passage the central thought is "I come; attention is concentrated on what Christ In the second will do (xiv. 3, 18, 23). the thought is rather of the relation of

(xiii.

—

its

xiv.).

necessity

and issue

31—38).

(a) Victory, departure, the new Society

(31—35). (P) The discipline of separation (St Peter) (36—38).

— n).

Christ and the Father (xiv. 1

(a)

The goal and purpose of departure

(i—4). ifi)

The way to the divine (St Tho-

mas) (5—7). (y) The knowledge of the Father (St Philip) (8— 11).

plainly.

the disciples to Him (xvi 16, 22). These examples indicate at least the existence of a real coherence and development of thought in the discourses. It is unquestionably difficult to follow out the development of thought in detail. In the notes an endeavour has been

made to do this.

Here it must be suffi-

cient to give a brief outline of the general

Christ and the disciples (xiv.

(a)

The

work (12 (P) (y)

—

disciples

continue

—

2 1).

Christ's

14).

He still works for them (15 — 17). He comes to them Himself (18

21).

The law and the progress of revelation

(22—31). (a)

The conditions

Jude) (22 (P)

—

of revelation (St

24).

The mode of revelation (25—27).

(y) Christ's

—

return (28

work perfected by His

31).

The teaching springs from the facts of the actual position, and then deals with successive difficulties which it occasions. II.

The Discourses on the Way (xv., xvi.).

The living union (xv. 1

—

10).

The fact of union (1, 2). 6). (P) The conditions of union (3 10). (y) The blessings of union (7 (a)

—

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INTRODUCTION TO

Ixvi

The issues of union : the disciple and

Christ (a) Christ's

The

(fi)

(n— 16).

joy comes from sacrifice

connexion

disciple's

with

Christ is by love (14, 15). (y) It is stable as resting on His choice (v, 16).

connexion underneath the apparently fragmentary sentences. This is all that it is necessary to shew. As far as we can venture to judge the words befit the occasion they form a whole harmonious in its separate parts: they are not coloured by later experiences they might easily have been. preserved by the :

disciple

The issues of union : the disciples and the world (17 27).

—

Love of Christ calls out hatred

(a)

of the world (1 7

—

disciples must contend (22

—

27).

The world and the Paraclete

(xvi. 1

—

11).

—

The last issues of hatred (1 4). OS) The necessity of separation (4 7). (7) The conviction of the world (8 (a)

—

11).

sympathy

Characteristics of the Gospel.

III. 1.

Relation to the Old Testament.

St John recognises in his narrative the divine preparation for the advent of Christ which was made among the nations. Such a discipline is involved in the view which he gives of the general action of the Word before His Incarnation (i. 5), and particularly in his affirmation of His universal working (i. 9).

Nor

The Paraclete and the disciples

(a)

He completes Christ's work (12, 13),

was this discipline wholly without immediate effect. At the time of the advent Christ had other sheep which were not of the Jewish fold (x. 16). There were

(fi)

and glorifies Christ (14, 15).

children of God scattered abroad (xi. 52):

("—15).

Sorrow turned to joy (16

—

A new relation (16, 17).

Sorrow the condition of joy (19

(y)

—

Victory at last (25

A summary (25

—

33).

28).

A confession of faith (29, 30).

;y) Warning and assurance (31

—

33).

The form of the discourse is changed. The Lord reveals uninterruptedly the new truths, till the close, when the disno longer separately, were, with a general voice. The awe of the midnight walk has fallen ciples again speak

but,

upon them. It is not of course affirmed that this view of the development of the discourses

exhaustive or

final ;

but at least it is

shew that they are bound together naturally, and that the dependence of the parts is such as could be easily apprehended and retained by those who listened. There is novelty under apparent sameness: there is variety under apparent repetition there is a spiritual sufficient to

welcome its

fuller

manifestation (lii.

20 ff.): citizens of a kingdom of truth waiting for their king (xviii. 37). But while these broader aspects of the divine counsel find a place in the fourth Gospel, St John brings out with especial

J°y fulfilled (23, 24). 7.

(a)

some who had yielded themselves to the guidance of the divine light which had been given to them, and who were eager

24).

22).

closest

2 1).

With this inexcusable hatred the

(/?)

who was

with the Lord.

discipline of Israel was the true preparation for the Messiah, though Judaism had been perverted into a system antagonistic to Christianity, and Christ had been rejected by His own If he affirms more distinctly people. than the other apostolic writers, from the circumstances of his position, that the Jews had proved to be ignorant of the contents and scope of the revelation which had been committed to them (v. 37 ff.), and of the nature of the Lord whom they professed to worship with jealous reverence (xvi. 3, vii. 28, viiL 19,

force that the

54 f., xv. 21); if he affirms that their proud confidence in the literal interpretation of the facts of their providential

history was mistaken and delusive (v. 37 contrast Gen. xxxii. 30; Exod. xx. 18 ff., xxiv.

10; DeuL iv. 12, 36, v. 4, 22:

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN.

Ixvii

viii. 56. Your father Abraham re32, cf- Ps. lxxviii. 24) ; he affirms no less that the old Scriptures did joiced to see in the effort to see (iva tSg) point to Christ, and that the history was my day : and he saw it, and was glad. instinct with a divine purpose. This The point of the reference lies in the appears by (a) his general recognition view which it gives of the first typical of the peculiar privileges of the Jews example of faith as reaching forward to a (b) his interpretation of types; (c) his distant fulfilment It was not stationary, application of prophecies; and particu- but progressive. In that onward strain larly by his treatment of the Messianic lies the secret of the Old Testament expectations of the people. The second reference to the patri(a) The words of the Prologue, He archal history in the Gospel of St John came to His own home (rd. ISta), and His is the complement of this effort after the own peoplt (01 18101) received Him not (L remote. Abraham looked onwards to that which was not yet revealed Jacob 11, note), place beyond question the position which the Evangelist assigned rested in his present covenant with God. to his countrymen in the divine order. This aspect of faith also is recognised by They were in a peculiar sense the sub- the Lord. jects of the Christ In this sense Christ i. 5 1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye claimed their allegiance, and sovereign shall see heaven opened, and the angels of authority in the centre of their religious God ascending and descending upon the life. His greeting to Nathanael was: Son of man. Behold an Israelite indeed (i. 47): His The desire of Abraham was fulfilled command in the temple at His first visit in the universal sovereignty of Christ Make not my Father's house a house of the vision of Jacob was fulfilled in the merchandise (ii. 16). In answer to the abiding presence of Christ greater questionings of the Samaritan wotaian, than Abraham brought freedom for all who placed the tradition of her fathers through the Truth : a greater than Jacob opened a well whose waters sprang up side by side with that of the Jews, He asserted the exceptional knowledge within the believer unto eternal life. The references to Moses are not less and the unique office of His people : we worship that which we know (iv. 22), pregnant It is shewn that just as Christ and salvation the promised salvation was the object to whom the patriarch is from (c«) the Jews (iv. looked in the future and in the present, (17 aiorrjpCa) so He was the object in regard of whom 22), two phrases which mark at once the all the discipline of the law was shaped. progressive unfolding of the divine truth (Heb. i. 1), and the office of the old dis- Jesus said to the leaders of the Jews pensation to furnish the medium out of Had ye believed (Did ye believe) Moses, ye which the new should spring. In the would have believed (would believe) me, for beginning of His conflict with official he wrote of me (v. 46). This thought is brought out by referJudaism, Christ assigns to the Scriptures their proper function towards Himself ences both to details of the Law and also

distinctly

—

(v. 39, 46 f.). From this point "the Jews " take up a position of antagonism, and their privileges perish in their hands

(comp. pp. lxxxv., Ixxxvl). (b) It is a significant fact that three and three only of the old saints, Abraham, Moses, and Isaiah, are mentioned by the Lord or by the Evangelist in connexion with Messiah. These three cover

and represent the three successive periods of the training of the people

so subtle

and so complete are the harmonies which underlie the surface of the text Christ claimed for Himself testimonies from the patriarchal, the theocratic, and the monarchical stages of the life of Israel.

the circumstances which accompanied the promulgation of the Law. Twice the Lord defended Himself from the charge of violating the Sabbath. On each occasion He laid open a principle which was involved in this instituto

tion. v. 17. My Father worketh even until now, and I work. The cessation from common earthly work was not an end, but a condition for something higher it was not a rest from work, but for work (see note ad loc.). For this cause by which I vii. 22. have been moved in my healing hath Moses given you circumcision (not that it :

—

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INTRODUCTION TO

lxviii

V of Moses but of the fathers), and on

He presents Christ as being at once the

the sabbath ye circumcise a man.

Temple (ii. 19), and the King (xii. 13). He makes it clear that the new dispensation towards which the prophets worked

The Sabbath, therefore, was subordinate to the restoration of the fulness of It was made to the divine covenant. give way to acts by which men were " made whole." The one reference to the idea of the These Passover is equally significant. things, the Evangelist writes in his record of the crucifixion, were done that the Scripbone of him ture should be fulfilled, The shall not be broken (xix. 36, note). words come like an after-thought They are left without definite application, and yet in that single phrase, by which the Lord is identified as the true Paschal Lamb, the meaning of the old sacrifices " The Lamb of God " is is made clear. revealed as the one offering to whom all

was one essentially of spiritual blessing. The sense of complete devotion to God,

of the union of man with God in Christ, of the gift of the Spirit through Him, were the thoughts in which he found the stamp of their inspiration. Thus it is that he has preserved the words in which the Lord gives us the prophetic descripThey shall tion of the Messianic times all be taught of God (vi. 45) ; and those again in which He gathers up the whole doctrine of Scripture on this head If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water (vii. 37 f., offerings pointed note); and those in which He shewed The two interpretations of facts in the that the conception of the union of God and man was not foreign to the Old history of the Exodus which St John has Testament, when it was said even of ungiven are even more remarkable than these lights thrown upon the Mosaic dis- just judges, Ye are gods, because the The first Word of God, in which was a divine cipline and the Mosaic ritual. energy, came to them (x. 34 f., note). is the interpretation of the brazen serOn the other hand St John has repent the second the interpretation of corded how the Lord recognised the the manna. Jesus said to Nicodemus: As Moses hostile unbelief of the Jews in the spirit of their fathers, who hated the Lord's lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even Anointed without a cause (xv. 25), and so must the Son of man be lifted up (iii. The Jews said Our fathers did pointed out how the treachery of Judas 14). eat the manna in the wilderness ; as it is had its counterpart in that of Ahitophel, written, He gave them bread from heaven of whom, it was written, He that eaieth to eat Jesus therefore said unto them, bread with me hath lifted up his heel Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave against me (xiii. 18). you not that bread from heaven ; but my There is the same mysterious depth,, Father giveth you the true bread from the same recognition of a spiritual underheaven ... / am the bread of life ... (vi. current in common life, in the references which the Evangelist himself makes to the 31 ff.). Thus the most significant deliverance from the effects of sin, and the later books of Scripture. Once at the beginmost striking gift of divine Providence ning of the Gospel he tells how the disrecorded in the Pentateuch, are both ciples were enabled to see fulfilled in the placed in direct connexion with Christ Lord the words of the suffering prophet, In each case that which was temporal is The zeal of thine house shall consume me treated as a figure of that which is eter- (ii. 17) ; and at the close of the account nal. Great depths of thought are opened. of the public ministry he points out how The life-long wanderings of the Jews are the unbelief of the Jews, the most tragic shewn to be an image of all life '. of all mysteries, had been foreshadowed (c) St John's dealing with the later These things, he writes, said of old. teaching of the prophets, the interpreters Isaiah, because because, not when (on of the kingdom, is of the same character. not ore, see note) he saw Christ's glory, He does not deal so much with external and spake of Him in the most terrible details as with the inner life of prophecy. description of the unbelief and blindness 1 Compare also the notes on vii. viiL u t of1 Israel (xii. 37 ff. ). 37, The following table of the prophecies quoted and above, p. vii.

—

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN.

lxix

on the other side are the progres-

It seems to be impossible to study such passages without feeling that the writer of the fourth Gospel is penetrated

Jews

throughout more penetrated perhaps than any other writer of the New Testament with the spirit of the Old. The

the narrative as a transcript from life than the clearness with which this struggle is displayed. summary outline of the Gospel from this point of view will probably place the facts in a distinct

—

which he gives and

interpretations

re-

cords, naturally and without explanation or enforcement, witness to a method of dealing with the old Scriptures which is of wide application. He brings them all in o connexion with Christ He guides his readers to their abiding meaning, which cannot be broken; he warns the student against trusting to the letter, while he assures him that no fragment of the teaching of the Word of God is without its use. And in doing this he shews also how the scope of revelation grows with the growth of men. Without the basis of the Old Testament, without the fullest acceptance of the unchanging divinity of the Old Testament, the Gospel of St

The unfolding of the Messianic idea.

The history of the Gospel of St John as has been seen, the history of the development of faith and unbelief, of

is,

faith and unbelief in Christ's Person.

is therefore under another aspect the his-

tory of the gradual unfolding of the true Messianic idea in conflict with popular expectations. On the one side are the

hopes and in the tions:

the

preoccupations of the

Gospel will suggest farther

illustra-

Design marked (tra wXyp. Comp. xviii. 9).

By the Evangelist,

(a)

40, 6ti €lw€P 'Ha.] xix. 14. 36. [xix. 37, yp. X*y«.] By Christ, [xii.

Mpa

xiii. 18.

xv. 25. [xvii. 12.]

(7)

Coincidence marked (icaBurt iari ytyp.)

By the Evangelist

(a)

ii. ,

xii.

light.

The opening scene reveals the contrasted elements of expectation as they had been

called

into

activity

by the

The

preaching of the Baptist (i. 19 ff.).

words and- testimonies (i. 29, 33> 36) were fitted to check the popular zeal, and at the same time to quicken the faith of those who were ready to receive and to follow that greater One who Baptist's

should come after according to the divine promise (i. 29 f., 36). So it came to pass that some of his disciples found in Jesus, to 'whom he mysteriously pointed, the fulfilment of the old promises and of their present aspirations (i. 35 42). Others at once attached themselves to the new Teacher (Rabbi, i. 38) ; and He was acknowledged as Messiah (i. 41); the Son of God, and King of Israel (L 49). The "sign " which followed confirmed the personal faith of these first followers (ii. 11); but so far there was nothing to shew how the titles which had been at least silently accepted were to be realised.

The cleansing of the temple was

Messiah offered Himself in His Father's house to His

this respect decisive.

own

people,

and they

failed to under-

quence,

He did not commit himself unto He knew all men; and...

them, because

what was in man (ii. 23 ff.).

xii. 38.

(fi)

And there

more convincingly marks

stand, or rather they misunderstood, the signs which He gave them. As a conse-

Prophecies, (i)

is nothing which

—

John is an insoluble riddle. 2.

sive revelations of the Lord.

17.

14 f.

(0) By Christ, yi. 45.

(Comp. vii. 38.) x. 34-

Compare also above, pp. xiii. f.

The origin

of this misunderstanding is shewn in the imperfect confession of Nicodemus (iii. 2 ff.), and in the complaint of the disciOn the ples of the Baptist (iii. 26). other hand, the testimony of Christ and the testimony of the Baptist set the real issue before men, as the Evangelist shews

his

The

comments on the words.

Messiah of those whom the Evangelist characterizes as "the Jews" had no place in the work of Jesus and His work as Messiah had no place in their hearts. Such was the situation at Jerusalem. It was otherwise in Samaria. There Jesus ;

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INTRODUCTION TO

lxx

could openly announce Himself to be the Christ, inasmuch as the claim was rightly though imperfectly understood (iv. 25 f.) ; and the confession of the Samaritans who had sought His fuller teaching shewed how far they were from resting in any exclusive or temporal hopes (iv. 42, the Saviour of the world, according to the true reading). The next visit to Jerusalem (ch. v.) gave occasion for a fundamental exposition of the nature and work of the Lord, and of the manifold witness to Him, side by side with an analysis of the causes of Jewish unbelief. The later history is the practical working out of the principles embodied in this discourse.

The first decisive division between the followers of Christ was in Galilee. There superficial faith was

more eager.

more prevalent and

The "multitude" wished

to precipitate the issue according to their

own ideas (vi. 14 f.).

In answer to this attempt Christ turned the minds of those

who came to Him by most startling imagery from things outward, and foreshadowed His own violent death as the condition of that personal union of the believer with Himself, to bring about which was the end of His work. So He drove many from Him (vi. 60), while He called out a completer confession of faith from the twelve (vi. 69). Words which had been used before (ch. i.), have now a wholly different meaning. To believe in Christ now was to accept with utter faith the necessity of complete self-surrender to Him who had finally rejected the homage of force.

The issue at Jerusalem was brought about more slowly. The interval between

ch. v.

filled

with

and ch. vii. was evidently

many questionings (vii. 3 f.,

11 f. ) and when Jesus appeared atjerusalem He created divisions among the multitude (vii. 30 f., 43). Some thought that He must be the Christ from His works (vii. 31), and from His teaching (vii. 26, 37 ff., 46 ff.). They even questioned whether possibly their leaders had reached the same conclusion (vii. 26, eyvuKrav). But they did not see that He satisfied the prophetic tests which they applied to Messiah (vii 27, 42, 52). ;

In the midst of this uncertainty the openly declared themselves (vii

rulers

and under their influence the mass of the people fell away when Christ set aside their peculiar claims and pur-: poses (viii. 33, 58 f.). He still however continued to lay open more truths as to Himself, and revealed Himself to the outcast of the synagogue as " the Son of 32, 48);

man" (ix. 35, note).

Divisions spread and at last the request was plainly put If thou art the Christ, tell us plainly (x. 24). Again, the result of the answer was a more bitter further

(ix.

16, x. 19);

hostility (x. 39), and wider faith (x. 42).

The end came with the raising of Lazarus. This was preceded by the confession of Martha (xi. 27), and followed by the counsel of Caiaphas (xu 47 ff.). There was no longer any reason why Christ should shrink from receiving the homage of His followers. He accepted openly the title of King when He entered the Holy City to die there (xii. 13 ff) ; and the public ministry closed with the questioning of the people as to " the Son of man," who seemed to have usurped the place of Him who should reign for ever (xii. 34). Such a history of the embodiment of an idea, an office, carries with it its own

The conflict and complexity of opinion, the growth of character, the decisive touches of personal and social traits, which it reflects, stamp it not only as a transcript from life, but also as an interpretation of life by one who had verification.

felt what he records.

The whole history

moves along with a continuous progress. Scene follows scene without repetition

and without anticipation. The revelation of doctrine is intimately connected with a natural sequence of events, and is not given in an abstract form. Thoughts are revealed, met, defined from point to point We not only see individualised

but

the characters influences as the narrative goes forward. And this is all done in the narrowest limits and in a writing of transparent simplicity. Art can shew no parallel. No one, it may be confidently affirmed, who had not lived through the vicissitudes of feeling, which are indicated often in the lightest characters,

change under

see

intelligible

manner, could have realised by imagination transient and complicated modes of thought which had no existence in the second century.

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. It did not fall within the scope of the Synoptists to trace out the unfolding of the Messianic idea in the same way ; but the teaching upon the subject which they record is perfecdy harmonious with that of St John. The Synoptists and St John agree in describing (a) the universal expectation at the time of the Advent (Matt iii. 5,

and parallels John 41, 19, 20, iii. 26, v 2 5); (P) the signs by which the ;

Christ should be heralded (Matt, xvi.

John

30 f.); trie preparation by (Matt xi. 14, xvii. 10; John i. 21), and (none the less) the suddenness of His appearance (Matt xxiv. 26 f.; John viL 27) (y) the readiness of some to welcome Him even as He came (Luke ii. 25 ff., Symeon; $6, Anna; John i. 45, vi.

Elijah

;

Philip ; 49, Nathanael). They agree likewise in recording that the Lord pointed to His death under

an early time (Matt ix. 15, and parallels; John iii 14); and that open hostility to Him began in consequence of His claims to deal authoritafigures from

lxxi

apprehension of the absolute office of Messiah corresponds with the apprehension of Christianity as essentially universal.

These truths St John established from Christ's own teaching; and so by his record the title of "the Son of God" gained its

full interpretation (xx.

31;

John iv. 15, v. 13, 20). St John shews in a word how Christ and the Gospel of Christ satisfied the hopes and destinies of Israel, though both were fatally at variance with the dominant Judaism. And in doing this he fulfilled a part which answered to his characteristic position. The Judaism in which the Lord lived and the early Apostles worked, and the Judaism which was consolidated after the fall of Jerusalem, represented two distinct principles, though the latter was, in some sense, the natural issue of the former. The one was the last stage in the providential preparation for Christianity : the other was the

most formidable rival to Christianity. 3.

Tlu Characters.

tively with the traditional law of the Sab-

bath (Matt xii. 13 ff.; John v. 16); and of His assumption of divine attributes (Mark

6; John v. 18). There is, however, one difference in this far-reaching agreement All the ii.

Evangelists

recognise

the

The gradual self-revelation of Christ which

recorded in St John's Gospel

carries with it of necessity the revelation

of the characters of

whom He moved.

the

men among

This Gospel is there-

pro-

fore far richer in distinct personal types

phetic, royal, and redemptive aspects of

of unbelief and faith than the others. Attention has been called already (pp. viii. ff.) to the characteristic traits by which the classes of people who appear in the history are distinguished "the multitude," " the Jews," " the Pharisees," "the high-priests." In them the broad outlines of the nature of unbelief are drawn. In the events of the Passion

Christ's

the type,

alike

work; but St John passes over

special

reference

the

Davidic

summed up in each of the two

" Synoptists by the title u Son of David

42; Rev.

(yet see

vii.

ficance.

The Kingdom of Truth (xviil

16) \ The explanation is obvious. The national aspect of Messiah's work passed away when " the Jews " rejected Him. It had no longer in itself any permanent signiv.

xxii.

37) was the eternal antitype of IsraeL

The Gospel was a message for the world. The fall of Jerusalem proclaimed the fact; and that catastrophe which interpreted the earlier experience of the Apostle made the recurrence of like experience

impossible. Thus the fall of Jerusalem determined the work of St John with regard to the conception of the Lord's office. The 1 The title occurs twice only in the Epistles, but in important passages: Rom. i. 3; a Tim. ii.

—

three chief actors offer in individual types the blindness, and the weakness, and the selfishness, which are the springs Blindness the of hostility to Christ blindness which will not see is consummated in the high-priest: weakness in the irresolute governor: selfishness The Jew, the in the traitor apostle. heathen, the disciple become apostate, form a representative group of enemies of the Lord. These men form a fertile study. All that St John records of Caiaphas is contained in a single sentence ; and yet in that one short speech the whole soul of

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INTRODUCTION TO

lxxii

the man is laid open. The Council in timid irresolution expressed their fear lest " the Romans might come and take away both their place and nation if Christ were let alone." They had petrified their dispensation into a place and a nation, and they were alarmed when their idol

overborne, delivered to them their true King to be crucified, firm only in this, that he would not change the title which he had written in scorn, and yet as an

was endangered.

But Caiaphas saw his occasion in their terror. For him Jesus was a victim by whom they could appease

was faithless to the spirit of the authority with which he was lawfully invested Judas perverted the very teaching of

the suspicion of their conquerors: Ye know nothing at alt, nor consider that it is

Christ Himself. If once we regard Judas as one who looked to Christ for selfish ends, even his thoughts become intelli-

expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not (xi. 49 f.). The victim was innocent, but the life of one could not be weighed against the safety of a society. Nay rather it was, as his words imply, a happy chance that they could seem to

vindicate their loyalty while they gratified their hatred. To this the divine hierarchy had come at last. Abraham offered his son to God in obedience to the Father whom he trusted: Caiaphas gave the Christ to Caesar in obedience to the policy which had substituted the seen for the unseen. Caiaphas had lost the power of seeing the Truth Pilate had lost the power of :

holding it There is a sharp contrast between the clear, resolute purpose of the priest, and the doubtful, wavering answers of the governor. The judge shews his contempt for the accusers, but the accusers are stronger than he. It is in vain that he tries one expedient after another to satisfy the unjust passion of his suitors. He examines the charge of evil-doing and pronounces it groundless but he lacks courage to pronounce an unpopular acquittal. He seeks to move compassion by exhibiting Jesus scourged and mocked and yet guiltless ; and the chief-priests defeat him by the cry, CruCrucify (xix. 6). He hears His cify, claim to be a " King not of this world " and " the Son of God," and is " the more afraid;" but his hesitation is removed by an argument of which he feels the present power If thou let this man go, thou art not Casals friend (xix. 12). The fear of disgrace prevailed over the conviction of justice, over the impression of awe, over the pride of the Roman. The Jews completed their apostacy when they cried We have no king but Casar (xix. 15); and Pilate, unconvinced, baffled, :

unconscious prophet Caiaphas misinterpreted the covenant which he represented

gible.

divine :

Pilate

He was bound to his Master not He was, but for what he thought

for what

he would obtain through Him. Others, like the sons of Zebedee, spoke out of the fulness of their hearts, and that

ambition was purified; but Judas would not expose his fancies to reproof: St Peter was called Satan an adversary but Judas was a devil, a perverter of that which is holy and true. their mistaken

—

He set up self as his standard, and by an easy delusion he came to forget that there could be any other. Even at the last he seems to have fancied that he could force the manifestation of Christ's

power by placing Him in the hands of His enemies (vi. 70, xviii. 6, notes). He obeys the command to "do quickly what he did," as if he were ministering to his Master's service. He stands by in the garden when the soldiers went back and to the ground, waiting, as

it were, the revelation of Messiah in His Majesty. Then came the end. He knew the sovereignty of Christ, and he saw Him go to death. St John says nothing of what followed ; but there can be no

fell

for

situation more overwhelmingly tragic than

that in which he shews the traitor for the last

time standing (cumpccc) with those

who came to take Jesus. The types of faith in the fourth Gospel are no less distinct and representative. It is indeed to St John that we owe almost all that we know of the individual character of the disciples. St Peter, it is true, stands out with the same bold features in all the Evangelists. St Matthew and St Mark have preserved one striking anecdote of the sons of Zebedee. St Luke gives some traits of those who were near the Lord in His Infancy, of Zacchaeus, of Martha and Mary. But we learn only from St John to trace

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. the workings of faith in Nathanael, and

Nicodemus, and Andrew, and Philip, and Thomas, and "the disciple whom Jesus loved ;" in the woman of Samaria, and in Mary Magdalene. As in the case of Caiaphas, Pilate and Judas, a few words and acts lay open the souls of all these in the light of Christ's presence. Of St John it is not necessary to speak His whole nature, his mode of again. thought, his style of speech, pass by a continuous reflection into the nature, the thought, the style, of the Master for whom he waited. In the others there is a personality more marked because more limited. To regard them only from one point of view, in Nicodemus and the woman of Samaria we can trace the beginnings of faith struggling through the prejudice of learning and the prejudice of ignorance. In St Philip and St Thomas we can see the growth of faith overcoming the hindrances of hesitation and despondency. In St Peter and St Mary Magdalene we can see the activity of faith chastened and elevated.

The contrast between Nicodemus and the woman of Samaria, the two to whom Christ, according to the narrative of St John, first unfolds the mysteries of His

lxxiii

one thing common to the Jewish ruler and to the Samaritan woman. In both there was the true germ of faith. It was quickened in the one by the miracles which Jesus did (iii. 2); in the other by His presence. But both were drawn to Him and rested in Him. Both expressed their difficulties, half seizing, half missing His figurative language. Both found that which they needed to bring them into a living union with God. The pretensions of superior knowledge and discernment were cast down. The suspicions of rude jealousy were dispelled. The revelation of a suffering Redeemer scattered the proud fancies of the master of Israel the revelation of a heavenly Father raised the conscience-stricken woman to new hope. Even after the Crucifixion Nicodemus, "who came by night at first," openly testified his love for Christ; and the Samaritan at once, forgetful of all else, hastened to bring her countrymen to Him whom she had found. Here we see the beginning of faith: in St Philip and in St Thomas we see something of the growth of faith. It is an old tradition (Clem. Alex. 'Strom.' hi. 4, § 25) that St Philip was the disciple who asked the Lord that he :

might first go and bury his father, and

rabbi stands side by side with a woman

received the stern reply, "Follow thou me, and let the dead bury their dead." Whether this be true or not, it falls in with what St John tells us of him. He appears to hang back, to calculate, to rest on others. " Jesus," we read, " findeth Philip " (L 43). He had not himself come to Jesus, though the words imply that he was ready to welcome, or even waiting for, the call which was first spoken to him. So again, when the Lord saw the multitude in the wilderness, it was to Philip He addressed the question, to "prove him," "Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?" (vi. 5 ff). And even then he could only estimate He had no sugthe extent of the want But gestion as to how it must be met. if his was a slow and cautious and hesi-

kingdom, cannot fail to be noticed.

who was not even qualified in popular opinion to be a scholar : a Jew with a Samaritan : a dignified member of the Council with a fickle, impulsive, villager. The circumstances of the discourses are not less different The one is held in Jerusalem, the other almost under the shadow of the schismatical temple in Gerizim : the one in the house by night, the other in the daylight by the wejlChrist is sought in the one case side. in the other He asks first that so He

may give afterwards.

The

discourses

themselves open out distinct views of the kingdom. To Nicodemus Christ speaks of a new birth, of spiritual influence witnessed by spiritual life, of the elevation of the Son of man in whom earth and heaven were united : to the Samaritan He speaks of the water of life .which should satisfy a thirst assumed to be real, of a worship in spirit and truth, of Himself as the Christ who should teach all things. But with all this difference there was

tating faith, it was diffusive.

He had no

sooner been strengthened by the words of Christ than he in turn found Nathanael. "We have found," he saith, "Him of

whom Moses in the Law and the prophets wrote"

(i.

45).

He appealed, as

we must believe, to the witness of their

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INTRODUCTION TO

lxxiv

common

search in the Scriptures in times gone by, and his only answer to his friend's doubt the truest answer to doubt at all times was simply " Come and see." Yet his own eyes were holden Even at the last he could too in part. say, " Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us " (xiv. 8). But he said this in such a spirit that he received the answer which for him and for us gives

— —

an object on which it can rest for "Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" faith

ever:

(xiv.

9 f.).

believed without confidence. believed without hope. The whole character of Thomas is written in the first sentence which we hear him " Let us also go, that we may speak He could love die with him" (xi. 16). Christ even to the last, though he saw nothing but suffering in following Him. He knew not whither He went; how could he know the way? (xiv. 5). But even so, he could keep close to Him one step was enough, though that was towards the dark. No voice of others could move him to believe that which of all he wished most The ten might tell him that the Lord was risen, but he could not lightly accept a joy beyond all " Except that for which he had looked. I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe" (xx. 24 flf.). But when the very test which he had laid down was offered, the thought of proof was lost in the presence of Christ. He saw at once what had not yet been seen. The most complete devotion found the most fervent expression in those last words of faith, "My Lord, and my God " (xx. 27 f.). In this way disciples were led on little by little to know the Master in whom they trusted. Often they failed through want of enthusiasm or want of insight Some there were also who failed by excess of zeal Mary Magdalene, when the blindness of sorrow was removed, would have clung to the Lord whom she had again found, lest again He should Philip

Thomas

be taken from her. She would have kept Him as she had known Him. She

would have set aside the lesson that it was good that He should go away. Then came those words which at once satisfied and exalted her affection, " Go unto my brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and my God and your God" (xx. 15 ff.). She, the tender, loving woman, is made the messenger of this new Gospel: she is first charged to declare the truth in which her own passionate desire was transfigured: she who would have chained down heaven to earth is commissioned to proclaim that earth is raised to heaven. Something of the same kind may be noticed in the history of St Peter. Unlike Philip he is confident, because he knows the strength of his love: unlike Thomas he is hopeful, because he knows whom he loves. But his confidence suggests the mode of his action his hope fashions the form of its fulfilment. Peter :

saith

unto Jesus,

"Thou

shalt

never

my feet," and then with a swift reaction, " Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head " (xiii. 6 ff.). wash

If he hears of a necessary separation, he asks, " Lord, why cannot I follow thee

now?

I will lay

down my life for thy

sake" (xiii. 36 ff.). He draws his sword in the garden (xviii. 10 f.). he presses :

the courtyard of the high-priest (xviii. 16 ff). He dares all and doubts nothing. But when the trial came he into

was vanquished by a woman. He had chosen his own part, and the bitterness of utter defeat placed him for ever at the feet of the Saviour whom he had denied. He knew, though it was with meaning of the last triple grief, the charge he knew, though it was through falls, the meaning of the answer to his last question If I will that he tarry till :

I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me (xxi. 22). There is one other character common to all four Evangelists which cannot be altogether passed by. St John's notices

of the Baptist have little externally in common with the Synoptic narratives, but they reveal a character which answers to the stern figure of the preacher of repentance. His last testimony to Christ (iii. 27 30) completely corresponds with the position of one who is looking forward to a future dimly seen. The herald must fulfil his herald's work to the end.

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. His glory is to accept the necessity of decline (iii. 30). It is needless to add any comments to this rapid enumeration of the characters who people the brief narrative of The vividness, the vigour, St John. the life, of their portraitures cannot be The different mistaken or gainsaid persons shew themselves. They come forward and then pass out of sight as living men, and not like characters in a

legendary history. They have an office not only separately but in combination. They witness, in other words, not only to the exactness but also to the spiritual completeness of the record. This fulness of characteristic life in the fourth Gospel is practically decisive as to

its

apostolic authorship.

Those

who are familiar with the Christian literature of the second century will know how inconceivable it is that any Christian teacher could have imagined or presented as the author of the fourth Gospel has done the generation in which the Lord moved. The hopes, the passions, the rivalries, the opinions, by which His contemporaries were swayed had passed away, or become embodied in new shapes. great dramatist could scarcely

have called them back in such narrow Direct knowilluminated by experience and insight, which are the human conditions of the historian's inspiration, offers the only adequate explanation of the dramatic power of the Gospel limits as the record allows.

ledge

Symbolism.

Ixxv

And in all this there is not the least violence done to the outward history, but there is simply a practical recognition of the necessary fulness which there was in the Life, in the Words, and in the Works of the Son of man. St John himself is careful to explain that all which he saw when he wrote his Gospel was not clear to the disciples at once. The words of the Lord to St Peter had a wider application than to any one detail What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt come to know (yvwry) hereafter (xiii. 7). The Resurrection was the first great help to this advance in knowledge (ii. 22, xii. 16) ; and the meaning of the Resurrection itself was extended when Christ raised a new Temple in place of the old after the fall of Jerusalem, and His Church was finally estab:

lished (ii. 19, note).

There can then be no cause for surprise if St John, looking back over the whole range of his experience, selects just those parts of Christ's ministry for his record which fit together with the most complete mutual correspondences. Such a selection would not be so much the result of a conscious design as of a spiritual intuition.

His Gospel was in

the truest sense of the word a "prophecy," a revelation of the eternal under the forms of time. In this respect the miracles of the Lord which he has related form an instructive

illustration

of his method.

Taken together they are a revelation of Christ, of "His glory." A very brief examination of them will be sufficient to establish by this

It will be evident from the illustrations

which have been already given that there is a subtle and yet unmistakable har-

mony within the different parts of St John's Gospel ; that each narrative which it contains is to be considered not only in itself, but also in relation to the others with which it is connected that fact is interpreted by thought and thought by fact: that the historical unity of the book is completed by a moral and spiritual unity. Under one aspect the lessons of the Old Testament are illuminated by Christ's presence. Under another aspect the characters which move about the Lord offer typical representations of faith and unbelief in their trials and issues. :

one example that prinmeaning in the plan and details of the Gospel which I have called the symbolism of St John. The two characteristic names which miracles bear in St John's Gospel mark distinctly the place which he assigns to ciple of a spiritual

them in relation to the general course of the divine government. They are signs (ii. 11, note) and they are works (v. 20, They are " signs " so far as they note). lead men* to look beneath the surface for some deeper revelations of the method and will of God, to watch for the action of that spiritual ministry— "the angels ascending and descending upon the Son of man " which belongs to the new disThey are "works" so far as pensation.

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INTRODUCTION TO

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they take their place among the ordinary phenomena of life (v. 17), differing from them not because they involve any more real manifestation of divine energy but simply because they are suited to arrest They are "signs" in short, attention. for they make men feel the mysteries which underlie the visible order. They are "works," for they make them feel that this spiritual value is the attribute of all life. St John has recorded in detail seven miracles of Christ's ministry and one of Their general conthe risen Christ nexion with the structure of his Gospel (see p. xlii.) will appear from the following table

—

The water turned to wine, ii. 1 n. The nobleman's son healed, iv. 46

Theparalytie at Bethesda, v. 1 15. The feeding of the five thousand,

54.

—

vi. 1

—

15.

—

The walking on the sea, vi. 16 21. The restoration of the man born blind, ix. 1

—

12.

The raising of Lazarus, xi.- 17 3.

—

faith

commencement of His ministry Christ declared in act what He repeated afterwards at its close : Blessed are they that see not, and yet believe. The four chief miracles which are connected with Christ's conflict form the basis on each occasion of discourses in

which their lessons are enforced. Here there can be no doubt of the symbolism it is declared unmistakably that the works are " signs," charged with a divine purpose. In the case of the paralytic suffering is definitely connected with sin (v. Christ removes the malady spon14). taneously and on a Sabbath. Such action is revealed to be after the pattern of God's action : Father worketh even until now, and I work (v. 17). God seeks without ceasing to repair by tenderness and chastisement the ravages which sin has made in His creation, and to lead it

onward to its consummation. In the feeding of the five thousand the is carried a step further. Man needs not restoration only but support He has wants as well as defects he has

— 44. teaching

The miraculous draught of fishes, xxi. 1

was necessary at once to Whatever to the unseen. outward signs may be granted they do but point to something beyond. At the

as it was. raise

12.

to struggle against material difficulties.

Of these the first two give the fundamental character of the Gospel, its nature and its condition the next five are signs of the manifold working of Christ, as the :

the support, the guidance, the light and the life of men : the last is the figure of all Christian labour to the end of time. The first two miracles, which the Evangelist significantly connects together as wrought at Cana, seem at first sight to have nothing in common. They are given without any comment except the record of their effects (ii. n, iv. 53). But these two brief notes give the clue to the interpretation of the signs. They shew from the beginning that Christianity is the ennobling of all life, and that its blessings are appropriated only by faith. The change of the water int6 wine has always been rightly felt to be a true symbol of Christ's whole work. The point of the second miracle at Cana lies The request in the discipline of faith. to Christ (iv. 47) was itself a confession of faith, yet that faith was not accepted

restoration,

Christ reveals

Himself as sufficient

supply every craving of man, and as sovereign over the forces of nature / am the bread of life. He that eometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believtth on me shall never thirst... (vi. 35). What then if ye should behold the Son of man ascending where He was before f It :

62 f.). So

is the spirit that quickeneth (vi.

the works are invested with a permanent prophetic power. Man needs support and he needs enlightenment also; for we must go forward, and in one sense we are "blind from our birth." This is the next lesson of the miracles which St John records. Before the blind regained his sight at When (orav) I am Siloam Christ said in the world, I am the light of the world (ix. 5). Sight was given to the obedient The Pharisees refused to read disciple. the sign which conflicted with their prejudices. And He then added For judgment I came into this world, that t/iey which see not may see; and that they which see may be made blind (ix. 39). :

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN.

lxxvii

But even if failings be remedied, if wants be satisfied, if light be given, there yet remains one more terrible enemy

supremacy above the world. As we compare the pictures more carefully, and in this view they are two and not

physical death, comes at last. Here also Christ gave a sign of His power. In the very agony of apparent He that believeth in me, loss He said even though he die, shall live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die (xi. 25 f.). And so far as any single fact offered to the senses can confirm the truth, the raising of Lazarus shewed that there is a Life sovereign over physical life, a Life victorious over death. The sequence of these " signs," these living parables of Christ's action, these embodiments of truth in deed, can hardly be mistaken. Nor is the meaning of the one miracle of the risen Lord less obvious. The narrative is the figure of the history of the Church. The long night passes in what seems to be vain effort. Christ stands in the dawn upon the shore,

four, we find that the general difference

death,

and at first His disciples know Him not Even so in due time He is revealed in blessing and men are charged afresh to use the new gifts which He has enabled them to gather. It would be easy to follow out these correspondences and connexions of the ;

parts of St John's Gospel in other directions and in fuller detail ; but enough has been said to direct attention If the principle be acto the subject knowledged the application will follow.

different

IV.

Relation of the Gospel to the other Apostolic Writings.

The Relation of the Fourth

Gospel

to the Synoptists,

any one to turn from the first three Gospels to the Fourth without feeling that he has been brought in the later record to a new aspect of the Person and Work of Christ, to a new phase of Christian thought, to a new era in the history of In this there is the Christian Church. a halo of divine glory always about the Saviour even in scenes of outward humiliation: the truths of the Gospel It is impossible for

directly

are presented in their relations to the broadest speculations of men the society :

of believers, of "the brethren" (xx. 17, stands out with a clear xxi. 23),

between the Gospels which is thus obvious throughout their whole com-

reaches

position.

The Synoptists and St John

general impression which they convey as to the duration, the scene, the form, the substance of the Lord's teaching. They differ also in regard to the circumstances under which they were composed. The latter difference furnishes the final explanation of the former. And here it may be well to make one remark on the total effect which these differences produce upon the student of the New Testament. At first they are not realised in their true weight and value. The conception of the Lord which is brought to the study of any Gospel includes elements which are derived from all. Contrasts are already reconciled. So it was with the early Church. No teacher found the Fourth Gospel at variance with the other three, though they recognised its comdiffer in the

plementary character. Then follows in many cases an exaggerated estimate ot the importance of the differences which are apprehended upon a careful comparison of the books. Fresh results impress us more in proportion as they are unexpected, and at variance with our preconceived opinions. Still later perhaps that comprehensive conception of the subject of the- Gospel is regained by labour and thought, from which, as a tradition, the study began; and it is felt that a true and intelligible unity underlies external differences, which are now viewed in their proper position with regard to the records and to the subject.

Before considering the differences or the correspondences of the Synoptists and St John, it is necessary to apprehend distinctly the fragmentary character of the documents which we have to compare. The narrative of St John, and the narratives of the Synoptists, are alike partial, and alike recognise a large area of facts with which they do not deal. Limited range of St Johris Gospel, 1. The Gospel of St John forms, as we have seen, a complete whole in relation to " its purpose;" but as an external history

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INTRODUCTION TO

Ixxviii

it is obviously most incomplete. It is a Gospel and not a Biography, an account of facts and words which have a permanent and decisive bearing upon the salvation of the world, and not a representation of a life simply from a human point of sight The other Gospels, as based upon the popular teaching

of the Apostles, include more details of directly human interest, but these also are Gospels and not Biographies. All the Gospels are alike in this they contain in different shapes what was necessary to convey the message of redemption to the first age and to all ages in the unchangeable record of facts. Their completeness is moral and spiritual and The striking Jewish not historical. legend as to the Manna was fulfilled in Christ He was to each true believer, from the absolute completeness of His Person, that which each desired; and the Evangelists have preserved for the society typical records of apostolic expe:

rience.

materials necessary for the fulfilment of his special purpose. And so again the two days teaching in Samaria, at which he was present, is represented only by the confession which it called out (iv. 42). The same conclusion follows from the frequent general notices of " signs " and "works" which find no special recital: ii. 23. Many believed on his name beholding his signs which he did (iiroiti).

Comp. iv. 45, The Galilaans received him, having seen all the things that he did (wra iiro(rj<r€v) in yerusalem at the feast and iii. 2, No man can do these signs that thou doest, except God be with him. vL 2. And a great multitude followed him, because they beheld the signs which he did (cVotci) on them that were sick. His brethren therefore said unto vii. 3. him, Depart hetiee and go into yudaa, that thy disciples also may behold thy works which thou doest. vii.

But of the multitude many him ; and they said, When

Christ shall come, will he do more

the

The

31.

believed on

fragmentariness of St John's record is shewn conclusively by his notice of periods of teaching of undefined length of which he relates no more than their occurrence

this man hath done (iwottfo-fv) f x 32 yesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from the Father; for which of those works do ye

yesus and his disciples came land of yudaa; and there he tarried (8icrpi/3tv) with them and baptized

stone me ?

22.

iii.

into the

. . .

(iv.

—

3) making and baptizing more

disciples than yohn.

Comp. iv. 54.

After these things yesus walked (ir€pi€iraTti) in Galilee; for he would not walk in yudoza, because the yews sought to kill him. x. 40—42. And he went away again beyond yordan, into theplace ivhere yohn was at first baptizing ; and there he abode (the reading is uncertain, 1/mctvcv or j/acvcv) and many believed on him there. viL

xi.

yesus therefore walked no more among the yews, but departed

54.

openly

thence into the country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim ;

and there

he abode (c/acifcv) with the disciples.

The last passage seems to describe a period of retirement, but the others imply action and continuous labour in Judaea, Galilee and Peraea, of which St John has preserved rfb details. He passed these over (such is the obvious explanation) because they did not contribute

signs than those which

xi.

47.

The chiefpriests

said,

What

do we? for this man doeth many signs. xii. 37. Though he had done so many signs before

them, yet they believed not

on him. xx. 30.

Many

other

signs

therefore

did yesus in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book xxL 25. And there are also many other things which yesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose .

that even the world itself would not contain the books that should be written.

consideration of what the Lord's Life was, as it has been made known to us, shews that this last summary statement is only a natural expression of the sense of that which we must feel to be its infinite fulness. And the other passages open glimpses of a variety and energy of action of which St John's narrative itself gives no completer view. Of " all that the Lord did " at Jerusalem, which moved the faith alike of "the teacher of Israel," and of "the Galilaeans,"

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. he has noticed only the cleansing of the temple.

Of the healings of the sick in

Galilee, he has recorded only one.

tells us nothing of "the disciples in Judaea"

who might desire to see works such as Christ wrought in other places. (vii. 3),

Of the "many good works" shewn at Jerusalem (x. 32), two only are given at length. fair appreciation of these facts will leave no doubt that St John omitted far more events than he related out of those which he knew. The Gospel of the Church, which it was his office to write, might be expected to take shape in special festival discourses at the centre of the Old Faith. He deals with aspects of Christ's Life and teaching which were not clear at first, but became clear afterwards. And in doing

he leaves ample room for other accounts widely differing in character from his own. One other point deserves notice in this connexion. The abrupt breaks in St John's narrative shew that he was guided by something different from a purely historic aim in his work. The simple phrase after these things (iii. 22, v. 1, vi. 1) is used to mark a decided interval in time and place ; and if the interpretation of x. 22 which has been adopted be correct, the transition in ix. 1 is not less sharp \ 2. Limited range of the Synoptists. The Synoptic Gospels, no less than St John, imply much more than they record. The commencement of the this

ministry in their narratives only leaves room for, but points

Galilaean

not

to, earlier

work.

elude any period of time, and specifies a wide area of place (comp. v. 23). Again, the Sermon on the Mount involves some previous teaching in Judaea in which the character of the Scribes and Pharisees had been revealed. It is most unlikely that their " righteousness "

would have been denounced (Matt v. 20) unless the Lord had met them in the seat of their power and proved them. Still more instructive is the great episode in St Luke (Luke ix. 51 xviii. 14, see note), which shews how much material there was at hand of which no use was made in the oral Gospel of the Apostles. At the same time it is of

—

interest to observe that this peculiar section has in one incident (x. 38 flf.) a point of connexion with St John, and the notices of the Samaritans which it contains (x. 33, xvii. 16, [ix. 52]) offer in some respects a parallel to the fourth chapter of his Gospel. The differences of the Synoptists and 3. St John. Taking account of these characteristics of the Gospels we can form a

juster estimate of their differences.

Synoptists

and St John

differ

The first

sight (as has been already said) as to the

time, the scene, the form, and the substance of the Lord's teaching. If we had the Synoptic Gospels alone it might be supposed that the Lord's ministry was completed in a single year: that it was confined to Galilee till the visit to Jerusalem at the Passover by which it was terminated that it was directed in the main to the simple peasantry, and found expression :

parables, and proverbs, and clear, short discourses, which reach the heart of a multitude that it was a lofty and yet practical exposition of the Law, by One who spake as man to men. But if

Matt iv. 12. Now when he heard that John was delivered up, he withdrew (dvt\u>p7jar€v) into Galilee.

Mark Now after that John 14. was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee i.

preaching the Gospel of God.

The words have no force unless it be supposed that the Evangelists referred to an earlier ministry in Judaea which is deliberately passed

lxxix

over

(comp. John

Nor is there anything in Luke The iv. 14 f. opposed to this view. summary which is there given may inil, iii.).

1 It may be added that St John nowhere notices scribes (viii. 3 is an interpolation), laxgatherers ("publicans ), lepers, or demoniacs*

we look at St John all is changed. In we see that the public ministry of

that

Christ opened as well as closed with a Paschal journey: that between these journeys there intervened another Passover and several visits to Jerusalem: that He frequently used modes of speech which were dark and mysterious, not from the imagery in which they were wrapped, but from the thoughts to which they were applied that at the outset He claimed in the Holy City the highest prerogatives of Messiah, and at later :

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Ixxx

INTRODUCTION TO

times constantly provoked the anger of His opponents by the assumption of what they felt to be divine authority. And beyond all these differences of arrangement and manner, the first three Gospels and the Fourth have very few facts in common. They meet only once (at the Feeding of the five thousand), before the last scenes of the Passion and

lessons which appealed to broad sympathies are supplemented by those which deal with varieties of personal trial and growth. The cycle of missionary teaching is completed by the cycle of internal teaching: the first experience of the whole band of Apostles by the mature

Resurrection. And in this common section they are distinguished by signal differences. To mention only two of the most conspicuous: the Synoptists do not notice the raising of Lazarus, which marks a crisis in the narrative of St John; and on the other hand, St John does not mention the Institution of the Holy Eucharist, which is given in detail by each of the Synoptists (see notes on

by numerous minute details which indicate

cc xi., xiii.).

A student of the Gospels can have no wish to underrate the significance of phenomena like these, which must powerfully affect his view of the full meaning both of the documents and of their But he will interrogate them, subject. and not at once assume that they have only to witness to discrepancies. From such questioning one result is gained at once. It is seen (to omit the question of time for the present) that differences of form and substance correspond to differences of persons and place. On the one side there is the discourse at Nazareth, the Sermon on the Mount, the groups of parables, words first spoken to the Galilaean multitudes with the authority of the Great Teacher, and then continued afterwards when they came up to the Feast full of strange expectations, which were stimulated by the Triumphal Entry. On the other side there are the personal communings with individual souls, with "the Master of Israel" and the woman of Samaria, unveilings of the thoughts of faithless cavillers, who had been trained in the subtleties of the Law, and rested on the glories of their worship: glimpses of a spiritual order

opened at last to loving disciples, in which they were prepared to find, even through sorrow, the accomplishment of their early hopes. On the one side there is the Gospel of " the common people who heard gladly:" on the other side the Gospel of such as felt the deeper necessities and difficulties of faith.

The

experience of their latest survivor. These general remarks are supported that the Synoptists

do in fact recognise

an early Judaean ministry and teaching similar to that of St John, and that St John recognises important work in Galilee and teaching similar to that of the Synoptists.

The scene of the Lord's teaching. general description of the Lord's following as including multitudes "from (a)

The

Judcea and Jerusalem " (Matt iv. 25 comp. Mark lii. 7 f.) cannot be pressed as proving that He had Himself worked Similar language is used in connexion with the Baptist (Matt. iii. 5). But the reading of St Luke iv. 44, he was preaching in the synagogues ofjudcea (for Galilee\ which is supported by there.

very strong MSS. authority (tfBCLQR Memph.\ taken in connexion with Luke v. 17, may fairly be urged in favour Indeed the feeling of of such a view. the people of Jerusalem on the Lord's last visit is scarcely intelligible unless they had grown familiar with Him on former visits. So again the well-known words of the lamentation over Jerusalem, How often would I have gathered thy children... and thou wouldest not (Matt xxiii. 37 ff.), scarcely admit any other* sense than that Christ had personally on many occasions sought to attach the inhabitants to Himself, as now when The the issue was practically decided. visit to Martha and

Mary (Luke x. 38 ff.)

suggests previous acquaintance with them, and so probably previous residences in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem (John

The circumstances connected with the preparation for the last visit (Matt. xxi. 2 f., xxvi. 17 ff., and paralpoint to the same conclusion. lels), Compare Acts x. 37, 39. On the other hand St John when he notices a brief sojourn of the Lord and His first disciples at Capernaum (ii. 12), seems to imply a longer abode there at another time; and in a later passage he records xi. 1 ff.).

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. words which shew that Galilee was the ordinary scene of Christ's ministry (vii. It might indeed have been plausibly 3). argued from these words that when they were spoken He had not wrought any conspicuous works in Judaea, The manner of the Lord's teach(fi) ing. It has been already shewn that the form of the Lord's teaching could not but depend upon the occasion on. which it was delivered; and there is no scene in St John which answers to those under which the Sermon on the Mount, or the chief groups of parables were delivered; and conversely there are no scenes in the Synoptists like those with Nicodemus and the woman of Samaria. The discourses at Jerusalem recorded by the Synoptists were spoken after Christ had openly accepted the position of Messiah by His triumphal entry those recorded :

by St John belong to earlier times, when

lxxxi

appear to include the events of their narrative in a single year; but it is very difficult to bring the development of faith and unbelief to which they witness, the missions of the Twelve and of the Seventy, and the different circuits of the Lord, within so brief a space St John, on the other hand, notices three Passovers, but he gives no clear intimation that he notices every Passover which occurred in the course of the Lord's work. In such a case the fragmentariness of the records is a conclusive answer to the supposed discrepancy. The coincidences of the Synoptists 4. and St John. So far we have dwelt upon the differences between the Synoptists and St John. Their correspondences are less obvious and impressive, but they are scarcely less important 1

The common

incidents with

which

they deal are the following

He was gradually leading His hearers 1. The Baptism of John (St John to grasp the truth of faith in Him. As adds the mention of the Levites, L 19: the circumstances become more like in the questions, i. 20 ff. : the place, character there is a growing resemblance Bethany, i. 28: the abiding of the Spirit in style. In John x., xii., we have the on Christ, i. 32 f. : the after testimony implicit parables of the Sheepfold, the to Christ, i. 26 ff.). Good Shepherd, the Grain of Corn. In 2. The Feeding of the five thousand Matt xi. 25 ff.; Luke x. 21 ff., there is (St John notices the time, the Passover a thanksgiving spoken in regard to the was near, vi. 4 : the persons, Philip and disciples' work which in character is not Andrew, vi 5, 8 : the command to colunlike the last discourses. lect the fragments, v. 12: the issue of (y) The duration of the Lords teaching. the miracle and the retirement of Jesus, The data for determining the length of v. 14 f.). the Lord's ministry are singularly few. The Walking on the Sea (St John 3. The time of its commencement is approxi- mentions the distance, vi. 19: the feelmately fixed by the different elements ing of the disciples, v. 21 the result, id.). given by St Luke (iii. 1), as marking The Anointing at Bethany (St John 4. the Call of the Baptist But there is mentions the time, xii. 1, six days before nothing in the Gospels to connect its the Passover; the persons, Mary, v. 3 close with any particular year of Pilate's (comp. Matt xxvi. 7 ; Mark xiv. 3), and procuratorship. Pilate was recalled in Judas, w. 4, 6: the full details of the a.d. 36, and Herod was banished in action, v. 3). a. d. 39. They may therefore have met The Triumphal Entry (St John 5. at Jerusalem in any year during Pilate's mentions the time, on the next day, xii. term of office. Caiaphas retained his 12: the reference to Lazarus, v. 18: the office till the end of Pilate's procuratorjudgment of the Pharisees, v. 19). ship. The date of the death of Annas 6. The Last Supper (St John records is not known, but he lived to old age. the feet-washing, xiii. 2 ff. the question So far there is a wide margin of uncer- of St John, v. 23: the ignorance of the :

and this can only be removed by the assumption that the Gospels supply a complete chronology of the Min-

tainty;

istry,

for the earliest tradition

late and conflicting.

both

Here however we

are left to probability.

The Synoptists

Apostles,

28:

the discourses in the

chamber and on the way'). 1 The reading and interpretation of Luke vi 1 (favrepoTpJmf) is too uncertain to be pressed. Yet see note on Mark ii. 13. 1 On the apparent difference between the

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INTRODUCTION TO

lxxxii

See notes on

The Betrayal.

xviiL

Barabbas suddenly introduced.

xix. 25.

The ministering women (Matt xxvii. 55, &c).

The.Trial.

910.

The Crucifixion. lb. The Burial (St John notices the

lb.

action of Nicodemus, xix. 39 : the garden, v. 41).

The Resurrection.

11.

xviiL 40.

See note on

There are also several coincidences in the use of imagery between St John and the Synoptists, and not a few sayings of which the substance is common to

C. XX.

them.

Not to enter in detail upon an examination of the parallels, it may be said that in each case St John adds details

iil 29.

which appear to mark his actual experience ; and also that the facts in all their completeness form a natural part of both narratives. They do not appear either in the Synoptists or in St

John

as if they were borrowed from an alien source. The passages in which St John implies an acquaintance with incidents recorded by the Synoptists are more

Common imagery. The Bride and the Bridegroom. Matt ix. 15, and parallels.

iv.

The harvest Matt ix. 37 Serving. Matt x. 24; Luke

35 ff.

xiiL 4 ff.

xii.

—

37, xxii. 27.

The vine. Matt xxl 33. The unfruitful tree. Matt viL

xv. 1 ff. 2.

19.

Common sayings. lv#

Comp. Matt xiiL 57; Mark vi. 4 ; Luke iv. 24 (used in

44-

numerous.

different connexions). i.

The general effect of John's

vl 42. 69.

46.

preaching (Matt. iii. 5, &c). circumstances of the Lord's Baptism (Matt iii. 16 f.). Simon Peter is well known. Nazareth the early home of

12.

Christ (Matt ii. 23, &c). Capernaum the later residence

19-

of Christ The family of Christ Comp. vi. 42, vii. 3, xix. 25 f. The false accusation; Matt.

19 ff.

— 32

— — ii.

—

ff.

40.

The

xxvi. 61. iii.

24.

—

62.

-^67.

confessions).

Comp. Matt x. 39, xvi. 25 Luke xvil 33 (used in dif-

xiiL 16.

Comp. Luke vl 40; Matt x.

ferent connexions).

24 (used in

different con-

nexions). (xiiL) 20.

Comp. Matt x. 40, (xxv. 40); Luke x. 16 (used in differ-

xvL 2 £

Comp. Matt xxiv. 10 £

ent connexions).

In other parallels there are not a few verbal coincidences

Mary and Martha

—

L 23.

The title

•

26£

J baptize in water.., He that cometh after me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy

" the King of the

Jews." Synoptists and St John as to the day of the Last Supper, see note on Matt. xxvi. This question is of importance in regard to the Synoptists and not in regard to St John. The narrative of

St John is perfectly definite and consistent : it bears every mark of exact accuracy, and is in harmony with what seems to be the natural course of the events.

am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord.

iv.).

are well

known. xviiL 33.

and

xu. 25.

Retirement to "the mountain.

The Ascension. "The twelve." Comp. w. 13, 70, xx. 24 (not in cc. L

xL 1, 2.

16,

(corresponding

parallels

The date of John's imprisonment (Matt iv. 12; comp. John iv. 43).

VL3-

—

Comp. U. cc. Comp. Matt xvl

to unloose.

— 3* —

Follow me.

iiL 5.

43-

..descending as a dove. .

Matt viii. 22, &c.

enter into the

kingdom of

God. v. 8.

Arise, take up thy bed and walk,

vL 20.

// is I: be not afraid,

viiL 52.

taste of death.

Mark ii. 9.

Mark ix. u

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. to be soldfor three hundredpence

XXL $.

and given to the poor, Mark

—

xiv. 5.

Hosanna, blessedis he that eometh

13-

xix. 3.

in the name of the Lord. One ofyou shall betray me. The cock shall not crow till thou shall deny me thrice. Hail, King of the Jews,

xx. 19.

He saith unto them. Peace be

xiiL 21.

-3&

The connexion between St John and St Luke is of especial interest From the relation of St Luke to St Paul it is natural to expect that the peculiarities of his Gospel would furnish indications of transition to the form of the Gospel which St John has preserved Instances of this relation have been already given in the notices of Samaritans, and of Martha and Mary (p. lxxix.).

Coincidences more or less striking are

guage may be added L 19 rX VL 42. x. 27 f£

found in the following passages. 18.

—33iii.

18.

iv.

44.

22.

vl 7, 10.

— — — — —

35-

37. 3946.

70. vii 45 £ 16.

ix.

x. 15.

xl 25.

Matt xi. 27.

— —

xiii

— —16. — — —

20. 21.

xiv. 18.

28.

xv. 8.

—14.

— 2a

—

21.

xvl 1 f. xvii. 2.

xviii

— 18,22. — —

iii 11.

vi. 4.

39-

nx. 1—3, 17.

xi.

27.

x. 39.

Mark xi. 9. Luke ix. 48. Mark xiv. 41. Matt xi. 27. x. 40.

— —

33.

iv.

13^

xil

x. 25.

xiii. 21.

42, 52.

Mark xiv. 64 f. Matt xxvL 55. Mark xv. 6. 16, 19, 22.

*9-

38, terpolation

Luke.] Mark xvl 9. Matt xvl 19.

(iyt*

xvil 20 £ xxiil 4.

12 (the reading is

xxiv.

doubtful).

ff.

— 36

ff.

The relation of the Synoptists

St John in regard of the Lord's Person, But it may be said that even if the considerations which have been urged

xxviii 18.

[—

c£dir<xrr&Xa>).

John.

x. 22.

Luke xxiii 21.

xxiv.

Such correspondences prove nothing

—

38.

— — —

(oxpt

KCLipOv).

as to the direct literary connexion of the two Gospels, nor do the few significant words which are common to St Luke and St John (e,g. to H9kos of Jews, /lovoycv^s), but they do shew the currency of a form of the apostolic Gospel with characteristic features approximating to characteristic features in St

Mark xiv. 18 21. Matt xxviii. 2a Mark xiii. 32. Matt v. 16.

— 49 £ — — — i7f£; — — xxvl

36 £

— 19

x. 24.

23.

xxil 23.

xx 3, 6.

XXVL II.

—

xx. 14.

xl 28.

22.

xvl 7. xviii

— — — —

xxil 27.

27.

Luke vl 13. Matt vii. 28. xil

(dvoAif-

17-

37xiv. 3°.

15.

20.

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27.

28.

xviii. 14.

— —

22.

iv.

XIL 32.

4 ft

—

— — —

—

^rc**) ; xxil 53.

Matt vii 22 £ Mark vl 37 39. Matt v. 6.

— xl — — xi

Luke iii. 15 £

xiiL i, xiv. 30.

Mark xvl 16.

xil 8.

—13-

The fol-

lowing coincidences in thought or lan-

unto you.

lxxxiii

in-

establish the possibility of reconciling the apparent differences of the Synoptists and St John as to the place, the manner and the duration of the Lord's Teaching: if they shew that there is theoretically room for the events and the discourses of both narratives: if they supply in both cases indications of a wider field and a more varied method than is habitually recorded in the two histories

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INTRODUCTION TO

lxxxiv

yet the fundamental difference between the first three Gospels and the Fourth as to the general view of the Lord's Person practically excludes

respectively;

such a reconciliation. This difficulty unquestionably under-

and gives force to them. It is not possible to do more here than to point out the main argu-

lies the other difficulties

ments by which it can fairly be met The Person of the Lord is as truly the centre of the teaching of the Synopteaching of St John.

tists as of the

is not His doctrine but

Himself which is

to redeem the world (Matt. xx. 28). The narratives of the Nativity, though

they did not form part of the apostolic oral Gospel, are completely harmonious with

There is no contrast (for ex-

it.

ample) in passing from the history of the Nativity to that of the Baptism.

The claims of the Lord which are recorded by the Synoptists, if followed to their legitimate consequences, involve the claims recorded by St John.

— — — — — xl

39.

he that loseth his life for my sake..,

27.

All things are delivered

—

41.

The Son of man will

Thy

ix. 2 fE

be forgiven

sins

(Gives power to work signs.)

unto me... xiii.

send forth his angels,

Comp. xvi. 27, xxv.

—

xviii. 20.

Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I ...(as said of Sheki-

— — xxi 37 — —

nah). life a ransom for many. They will reverence my

his

xx. 28.

ffi

son.

David

him

xxiL 45.

xxv. 31.

When the Son of man shall

— xxvL —

call

Lord.

glory.

come

his

Comp. xxvL

64. 28.

xxviii. 20.

and wisdom.

/ send the promise of

xxiv. 49.

my Father upon you.

A careful estimate of these passages will

make it

clear that

the Synoptists

Lord the power of judgment, of redemption, and of fellowship, which are the main topics of the teaching in St John. In one respect only St John adds a new truth to the recognise in the

doctrine of the Lord's Person which has no direct anticipation in the Synoptists. These do not anywhere declare His preexistence.

(Yet compare Luke xl 49

with Matt xxiii. 34 and John x. 35.) The general conclusion however stands firm. The Synoptists offer not only historical but also spiritual points of connexion between the teaching which they record and the teaching in the Fourth Gospel; and St John himself in the Apocalypse completes the passage from the one to the other.

The Apocalypse and the Fourth Gospel.

The Apocalypse

thee,

x. 1.

—

in my name,

Matt viL 22.

/ will give you a mouth

Luke xxl 15.

My blood of the covenant.

lam with you alway.

doctrinally the is uniting link between the Synoptists and the Fourth Gospel It offers the characteristic thoughts of the Fourth Gospel in that form of development which belongs to the earliest apostolic age. It belongs to different historical circumstances, to a different phase of intellectual progress, to a different theological stage, from that of St John's Gospel; and yet it is not only harmonious with it in teaching, but in the order of thought it is the necessary germ out of which the Gospel proceeded by a process of life. 1. Affinities of the Apocalypse with the Gospel. The points of connexion between the Apocalypse and the Gospel of St John are far more numerous than are suggested by a first general

comparison of the two books. The main idea of both is the same. Both present a view of a supreme conflict between the powers of good and evil In the Gospel this is drawn mainly in moral conceptions; in the Apocalypse mainly in images and visions. In the Gospel the opposing forces are regarded under abstract and absolute forms, as light and darkness, love

and hatred; in

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. the

Apocalypse

definite

forms,

under concrete and God, Christ, and the

Church warring with

the

devil,

In correspondence with the univerof the Gospel is the office of personal "witness" on which the firmest sality

false prophet and the beast

stress is laid in all

But in both books alike Christ is the central figure. His victory is the end to which history and vision lead as their consummation (see xvL 33, note). His Person and Work are the ground of triumph, and of triumph through apparent failure (Rev. L 5, vl 16, vii. 14, xii. n)* It follows that in both books the appearance of Christ is shewn to issue in a judgment, a separation, of elements

John.

partially confused before.

The "hatred"

of evil gains a new intensity (Rev. ii. 6 ; 2 John 10). The Apocalypse gives, so to speak, in an ideal history the analysis of the course of unbelief which is laid open in John viii. On man's part the conflict with evil is

necessarily a conflict in action.

The

Apocalypse and the Gospel therefore lay stress on obedience and works. To " keep the commandments " is now the fulfilment of Christian duties (John xiv. 23, note;

John ii. 3 £

;

2 £ ; 2 John

6; Rev. xii. 17, xiv. 12 [xxiL 14, a false reading]). The universality of the Gospel is

an immediate consequence of the proclamaAnd there tion of its moral character. is not the least trace in the Apocalypse of the doctrine of the permanent or general obligation of the Law or of circumcision. The particular injunctions which are enforced in ii. 14, 20 are combined in the Acts (xv. 28 £,xxl 25) with the removal of such an obligation External ceremofrom the Gentiles. nies fall wholly into the background, as symbols only of that which is universal and spiritual (Rev. v. 8 fF., xiv. 6 £;

comp. 1 John ii. 2). At the same time the Apocalypse no less than the Gospel recognises the preparatory office of Judaism. In both it " is assumed that " Salvation is of the Jews

(John iv. 22, 38). The Seer shews that the sovereignty which the prophets foretold was established in Jesus, "the Christ" (xii 5, 10, xl 15); and the imagery of the old Scriptures is used from first to last to foreshadow the conflict, the victory and the judgment of the divine King (e.g. Zech.xiL 10; John xix.

37; Rev. i. 7).

lxxxv

the writings of St

The experience of the believer

finds expression in a testimony which

strong in the face of death. In the Apocalypse the characteristic form in which this " witness " appears is as " the testimony of Jesus" (i. 2, 9, xii 17, xix.

The true humanity of the 10, xx. 4). Saviour is that revelation on which faith reposes.

This testimony to the Incarnation leads to a final correspondence between the Apocalypse and the Fourth Gospel

which is of the highest importance. Both present the abiding of God with man as the issue of Chris?s work. If any

man love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him and we will come 9

him and make our abode with him

(John xiv. 23). Behold I stand at the door and knock: If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him and he with me (Rev. iii. 20). Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell (<rKVfvwr€i) with them (Rev. xxL 3). Contrasts of the Apocalypse with the 2. Gospel. Side by side with these coincidences of thought, which reach to the ruling conceptions of the books, there are also important contrasts in their subject-matter and their modes of dealing with common topics. The most striking contrast lies in the treatment of the doctrine of Christ's Coming in the two books. This is the main subject of the Apocalypse, while it falls into the background in the Gospel and in the Epistles of St John. In the Apocalypse the thought is of an outward coming for the open judgment of men in the Gospel of a judgment which is spiritual and self-executing. In the Apocalypse the scene of the consummation is a renovated world in the Gospel "the Father's house." In the former the victory and the transformation are from without, by might, and the " future " :

painted under historic imagery: in the latter, the victory and the transformation are from within, by a spiritual influence, and the "future" is present and eternal is

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INTRODUCTION TO

lxxxvi

It is part of this same contrast that the progress of the conflict between good and evil is presented very differently in the Apocalypse and in the In the Apocalypse it is porGospel. trayed under several distinct forms as a

of Christ with false Judaism, with idolatry, with the Roman empire allied with false prophecy : in the Gospel it is conceived in its essence as a continuous conflict between light and darkOn the one side are outward ness. persecutors; on the other the spirit of falsehood: on the one side, the working of the revelation of Christ ; on the other the revelation of Christ itself. Or, to put the facts * under another aspect, the Apocalypse gives a view of the action of God in regard to men, in a life full of sorrow, and partial defeats and cries for vengeance : the Gospel gives a view of the action of God with regard to Christ who establishes in the heart of the believer a Presence of completed joy. In regard to Judaism this contrast assumes a special form. In the Apocalypse the triumph of Christianity is described under the imagery of Judaism. The Church is the embodied fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy. The outlines are drawn of the universal, ideal, Israel (vii. Jerusalem (iii. 12, 4), the ideal xxi. 2, 10), and the ideal worship (xx. 6, xxil 3; comp. viii. 3, v. 8), yet so that there is no longer any temple (xxL In the Gospel Christianity is pro22). claimed as the absolute truth. Outward Judaism is shewn in its opposition to Christ's word, not as fulfilled by it, standing without, isolated and petrified and not taken up with it, quickened and glorified (compare Rev. ii. 9, iii. 9, with

conflict

John viii. 39 ff.).

The conception of God

books shews corresponding

The conception of God

the two

differences.

the Apocalypse follows the lines of the Old Testament He is " the Lord God, the in

Almighty" (i. 8, iv. 8, &c.), "which was and is" (xi. 17, xvi. 5. Comp. i. 4, 8, iv. 8), who executes righteous judgment on the world (xl 18, xiv. 10, xvi. 19, Nothing is said of His love xix. 15). in sending His Son; nor of the Paraclete.

In the Gospel

characteristically

God is revealed Christ

"the

Father" and not only as "my Father" (see iv. 21, note); and specially in connexion with the work of redemption. In the one case it may be said that His

action is revealed in relation to the sinful history of the world and in the other His being in relation to the purpose of the world '. Besides these differences of substance there are also differences of language :

both in vocabulary and style. The difference in the scope of the books accounts in part for these. The irregularities of style in the Apocalypse appear to be due not so much to ignorance of the language as to a free treatment of it, by one who used it as a foreign dialect Nor is it difficult to see that in any case intercourse with a Greek-speaking people would in a short time naturally reduce the style of the author of the Apocalypse It to that of the author of the Gospel. is however very difficult to suppose that the language of the writer of the Gospel could pass at a later time in a Greekspeaking country into the language of the Apocalypse. Such very briefly are the coincidences and differences between the Apocalyps* and the Fourth Gospel. Several conclusions appear to follow from them. The differences answer to differences in situation; and are not inconsistent with identity of authorship. Of the two books the Apocalypse is the earlier. It is less developed both The material in thought and style. imagery in which it is composed includes the idea of progress in interpretation. The symbols are living. On the other hand, to go back from the teaching of the Gospel to that of the Apocalypse, to clothe clear thought in figures, to reduce the full expression of truth to its rudimentary beginnings, seems to involve

a moral miracle, which would introduce confusion into life. The Apocalypse is after the close of It shews in its mode St Paul's work. of dealing with Old Testament figures a close connexion with the Epistle to the

Hebrews (2 Peter, Jude). 1

And on the

The difference between the two books as to powers, angels and evil follows from the difference in their strucComp. i. 51, note.

subordinate spiritual spirits,

ture.

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN.

lxxxvii

than man, "the living One" (i. 17; comp. John v. 26). He possesses divine knowledge (ii. 2, 9, 13, 19, &c, ii. 23; comp. Jer. xi. 20, &c); and divine power (xi. 15, xii. 10, xvil 14, xix. 16). He receives 'divine honour (v. 8 ff., xx. 6^ ; and is joined with God (iii. 2, v. 13, vl 16 f., vii. 10, xiv. 4, xxi. 22, xxii. 1, 3; comp. John v. 20, 23), so that with God He is spoken of as one (xi. 1 5, /WtXcvo-ct,

other hand it is before the destruction of Jerusalem. The crisis of the Fall of Jerusalem explains the relation of the Apocalypse to the Gospel. In the Apocalypse that "coming" of Christ was expected, and painted in figures: in the Gospel the u coming " is interpreted.

Under this aspect the Gospel is the spiritual interpretation of the Apocalypse.

The materials of the Gospel were treasured up, pondered, illuminated as time went on. Meanwhile the active and manifold religious thought of Ephesus

XX. 6, /act* avTOv, xxii 3, oi SovAot avrov Xarpwaova-iv avrw) ; He shares also in part the divine tides (i. 7, iii. 7, xix. 1 1 comp. vL 10, iii. 14; comp. Isai. lxv. 16, but not xxii. 13). The full importance of these passages is brought out by the stem denunciations against every form of idolatry with which the book abounds (comp. 1 John v. 21). Christ therefore is wholly separated from creatures. And further, the passages shew that the imagery which is used in the Old Testament to describe the revelation of God is transferred by the writer to Christ (comp. John xii. 41, note). One other point remains to be' noIn the Synoptists there is no ticed. direct statement of the pre-existence of Christ The truth is recognised in the Apocalypse, but relatively rather than absolutely. Christ is spoken of as the

furnished the intellectual assistance which was needed to exhibit Christianity as the absolute and historical religion in contrast with Judaism and Heathenism. The final desolation of the centre of the old Theocracy was the decisive sign of the form which the new Faith must take. Then first, according to the divine law of order, the Spirit would guide the Apostle into all the Truth. This is not the place to work out in detail the likeness and difference of the Apocalypse and the Fourth Gospel on special points of doctrine; but the Christology of the two books illustrates very remarkably the position which has been assigned to the Apocalypse as connecting the Synoptists and St John. It first and the last (i. 17, ii. 8); the beginis necessary then to indicate shortly the ning of the creation of God (iii. 14 ; comp. teaching of the Apocalypse on Christ's Prov. viii. 22 ; CoL i. 15) ; and the Word work and being. of God (xix. 13). In these phrases we The work of Christ is presented sum- find the earliest form of the "Logos marily as the victory through death of doctrine," which is still kept within the One who was truly man. Christ was the lines of the Old Testament ideas. But representative of David (v. 5, xxii. 16), the later unfolding of the truth is inpierced (i. 7), crucified (xi. 8), and again cluded in this earliest confession. If an quickened (i. 5; comp. Col. L 18). So Apostle was enabled to see in the Master He " bought " the redeemed (v. 9, xiv. whom he had followed the Being to 3 f.); and His blood brings to them whom all creation pays homage in the release (i. 5, Avow™ airo t. d), cleansing spiritual world, there is no difficulty in (vii. 14), and victory (xii. 11). And in apprehending how he could rise, without this He fulfilled the divine will for men doing violence to the laws of human (L 1 p&oicci'J, ii. 26, 5, 10, 16, Hi. 10, 5, thought, to the enunciation of the fact 21, v. 5, xxi. 23). on which the Fourth Gospel is a comThe exaltation of Christ followed on mentary, the Word becameflesh and dwelt the completion of His earthly work. The among us, and we beheld His glory. " Lamb slain " was raised to glory (v. In a word, the study of the Synoptists, 9, The "seven spirits of God" are of the Apocalypse and of the Gospel of 12). His (v. 6, iii. 1 ; comp. L 4; John xv. 26). St John in succession enables us to see In the heavenly sanctuary He is revealed under what human conditions the full as the divine High Priest (i. 12 17; majesty of Christ was perceived and decomp. ii. 9, x. 5 f.) " like a son of man " clared, not all at once, but step by step, and (L 13, xiv. 14); truly man, and yet more by the help of the old prophetic teaching. ,

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INTRODUCTION TO

Ixxxviii

The Gospel and the Epistles of St

John.

The relation of the Gospel of St John to his Epistles is that of a history to

its

accompanying comment or application. The first Epistle presupposes the Gospel either as a writing or as oral instruction. But while there are numerous and striking resemblances both in form and thought between the Epistle and the Evangelist's record of the Lord's discourses and his own narrative, there are still

characteristic

differences

between

them. In the Epistle the doctrine of the Lord's true and perfect humanity (copt) is predominant: in the Gospel that of His divine glory (8o£a). The burden of the Epistle is " the Christ is Jesus :" the writer presses his argument from the divine to the human, from the spiritual

and ideal to the historical

The burden

of the Gospel is " Jesus is the Christ the writer presses his argument from the human to the divine, from the historical The former to the spiritual and ideal. is the natural position of the preacher, :

and the latter of the historian.

The

difference

between the Epistle

and the Gospel in

their eschatological

teaching follows from this fundamental difference. In the Gospel the doctrine of the "coming" of the Lord (xxi. 22, xiv. 3), and of " the last day" (vi 40, 44), and of "the judgment" (v. 28 f.), are touched upon generally. In the Epistle "the manifestation" of Christ (ii. 28) and His " presence " stand out as clear facts in the history of the world. He comes, even as He came, "in flesh" (2 John 7); and "antichrists" precede His coming (1 John ii. 18 ff.). Again, in the Epistle the doctrine of propitiation is more distinct and fully express-

ed than in the Gospel (lAaafufc, 1 John ii. 2, iv. 10; comp. Heb. ii. 17 ; KaBapU^tv, 1 John i. 7, 9) ; and in connexion with this

of the gift of the Spirit which Christ promised. Generally too it will be found on a comparison of the closest parallels, that the Apostle's own words are more formal in expression than the words of the Lord which he records. The Lord's words have been moulded by the disciple into aphorisms in the Epistle their historic connexion has been broken. At the same time the language of the Epistle is in the main direct, abstract, and unfigurative. The Apostle's teaching, so to speak, is " plain " (irapprf<ruf), while that of the Lord was " in proverbs " (iv wapoi:

fitais,

John xvi. 25).

One or two examples

will

illustrate

the contrast which has been indicated

John

viii.

world:

I am the Light of the

12.

he that followeth

me shall not

walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. 1 John L 5, 7. This then is the message we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is

no darkness at all ...

If we walk in the

light as he is in the light, we have fellow-

ship one with another...

John xv. 23.

He that hateth me hateth

my Father also. 1

Whosoever denieth the

John ii. 23.

Son, the same hath not the Father; but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.

Compare also pp. IxL ft Generally it will be felt that there is a decisive difference (so to speak) in the atmosphere of the two books. In the Epistle St John deals freely with the truths of the Gospel in direct conflict with the characteristic perils of his own

time in the Gospel he lives again in the presence of Christ and of the immediate enemies of Christ, while he brings out the universal significance of events and teaching not fully understood at the :

the duty of the confession of sins (1 John 9), and the office of the Lord as Para-

time.

John ii. 1 ; comp. But it is most worthy of notice that no use is made in

clete

(Advocate) (1

John

xiv.

16,

The History of the Gospel.

note).

The Text.

The

the Epistle of the language of the discourses in John iii. and vi. On the other hand, the conception of the " unction" of Christians (1 John ii. 20, 27;

materials for determining the text of the Gospel of St John are, as in the case of the other Gospels, and of

comp. Rev. i. 6) is a later interpretation

rally,

the books of the New Testament gene-

ample and

varied.

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will

THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. most important which the Gospel of St

sufficient to notice the

authorities in

lxxxix

remain, from early times: the Commentaries of Cyril of Alexandria

there

(nearly complete) ; the Explanatory Homi-

John is preserved.

lies

of Augustine and Chrysostom;

Greek Manuscripts. and large fragments of the CommentaCod. Sinaiticus (tt). The entire Gos- ries of Origen and Theodore of

pel.

—

Cod Alexandrinus (A).

Wants vi 50

viiL 52.

The entire Gos-

Cod Vaticanus (B).

is in

pel.

Cod Ephraemi (C). able fragments.

33—v. 16. 34

—

Mopsuestia. This is not the place to enter in detail upon the methods of textual criticism. It must suffice to say that the problem

(1)

(3) vi.

ix.

Eight consider1

—

41.

38—vii. 3.

(2) iii.

(4) viii.

——

46/ (6) xiil 8 (5) xi. 8 xviii. 36. (8) xx, (7) xvi. 21

xiv. 7.

26—end. Cod. Beza (D).

Wants L 16

—

iii.

and xviii. 13 xx. 13 has been supplied by a later hand, perhaps from the original leaves.

Cod. Paris. end.

(L).

Wants

xxi.

—

.There are besides eight other uncial

MSS. containing the Gospel complete or nearly complete; and thirteen which contain more or less considerable fragments.

The cursive mss., which are almost of every degree of excellence, are more than 600. II.

Ancient Versions.

5—

vii.

37—

37.

omitting vii. 53

—

viii. 53, (3) vii. viii 11. (4) xiv. 11

29.

The Vulgate Syriac (Peshito, Syr. psh.).

The entire GospeL The Harclean Syriac (Syr. hcl).

The

entire GospeL (2)

Vulgate

against the authenticity of the earliest text Unless these are of great weight the prerogative of age must prevail. But this first process cannot be accomplished by simply taking the reading of the most ancient copies, or giving a fixed value, so to speak, to each copy according to its antiquity. The most ancient copy is ceteris paribus likely to give the most ancient text on the whole, and with a less degree of probability in each particular case. But the ancient authorities often disagree.

The

Latin

(Vufg.).

The

entire GospeL

The Memphitic (Coptic^ in the dialect of Lower Egypt). The entire GospeL The Thebaic (Sahidic, in the dialect of Upper Egypt). Very considerable fragments have been published in the Appendix to Woide's 'Cod. AL N. T.' of which a collation is given in Schwartze's edition of the Memphitic Gospels.

and (2) in their mutual relaIn this way it can be ascertained beyond doubt what MSS. (for example) preserve a distinctly ante-Nicene text When this is done the mass of evidence can be reduced to manageable dimensions. If it cannot be shewn that a reading has any ante-Nicene authority, it may in almost all cases be confidently tions.

No one of the existing MSS. of the New Testament is older than the fourth century; but the earliest, which have been already enumerated, represent very different types of text, and are, as far as can be ascertained, of very different origin. To speak of them all as " Alexandrine n is in every way misleading. (1)

A most careful examination of

B leaves it in possession of the. title to supreme excellence.

no specific colouring. Fathers, In addition to isolated quotations

III.

Hence it is a

necessary condition for the determination of the most ancient text to study the chief authorities as wholes (1) se-

set aside.

The Old Latin (Lot. vt).

entire Gospel in several distinct types.

The

discover in the case of variations the

most ancient reading. When this has been done it remains to take account of any arguments which may be urged

parately,

The Old (Curetonian) Syriac 1 42. SSyr.vt.). Four fragments: (1) i. (1)

2) iii.

the first stage essentially historical.

The primary object of the critic is to

Its readings

have

It is not unlikely

it represents the text preserved in the original Greek Church of Rome.

that

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INTRODUCTION TO

The texts of N and D, which (2) have much in common, a^e of very high antiquity, dating from the end of the second century. Their common element is closely akin to an element in the Old Syriac and Old Latin versions, and shews much license in paraphrase and synonymous in the introduction of phrases and words. The characteristics

a solid conclusion can be gained. And respect the evidence which is

in this

available for determining the text of the

New Testament is so copious and varied that little final doubt can be

left.

Very little has been said in detail on various readings in the notes, except on a few passages of unusual interest. It will therefore be useful to give a brief

of these MSS. are probably of Pales-

summary of the authorities for a selec-

tinian origin. The characteristic readings of (3)

tion of variations^ which have a critical interest This may serve as basis for

and

further study to those who wish to pursue

C L indicate the work of a careful

grammatical revision.

They seem to be

the subject; and at the

same time it comparative value of

due to Alexandria.

will illustrate the

In the Gospels A gives a revised (4) (Antiochene) text which formed the basis These of the later Byzantin^ texts. texts were almost exclusively reproduced from the sixth century onwards. The characteristic readings of B, of t<D, and of C, L, have all more or less The support in the ante-Nicene age. characteristic readings of A, on the other hand, cannot be traced back beyond the fourth century, though it has also a valuable ancient element in common with BCL rather than with ND. It follows therefore (speaking generally) that a reading which is found in B and in a primary representative of one of the other groups has very high claims to be considered the original reading. On the other hand a reading which is found only in the representatives of one of the three last groups is

the different authorities in their different

a correction ; and the same may be said of a reading which is given only in representatives of the third and fourth groups. Very few readings in the Gospels will be found to stand the test of a comprehensive examination which are not supported by N or B or D. These conclusions necessarily depend upon an exhaustive induction of particulars. No process can be more precarious than the attempt to settle each case of variation as it arises. A reading, which taken alone may appear to be plausible or even true, is often seen to be an ingenious correction from a consideration likely to be

of the characteristics of the authorities by which it is supported taken as a group. No authority has an unvarying value. No authority is ever homogeneIt is only by taking a wide view ous. of the grouping of the authorities that

combinations \ 1.

Interpretative or Supplementary Glosses.

L 24.

and

they were sent from

the

Pharisees (#cal cnrcoraA/xcVoi),

K*A*BC*L Memph.

See

note.

and they that were sent were of the Pharisees (*al 01 aireoraX/icW), tf^A'CX (MSS. mss.) Latt. Syrr.

—27.

iil 15.

—

eoming after me, K*B(C*LT b), Syr. vt Memph. He it is who coming after me is preferred before me, AC'X (MSS. mss.) Iatt. Comp. v. 15. may have eternal life. may not perish but have eternal life.

25.

a Jew

See note.

J^ABL

(MSS. mss.)

Syr.psh.

—

Jews N* (MSS. mss.) Syr. vt. Memph. 34-

he giveth

not,

Latt.

«BCLTb 1 33

(Lot. vt.).

God giveth not, AC'D (MSS. iv.

42.

mss.) Verss. the Saviour of the world,

C*T b Latt. Syr. vt. Memph. the Christ the Saviour of the world, (MSS. mss.),

ADL

v. 4.

See note.

1 No attempt is made to give a complete summary of the evidence. "MSS. " signifies many (or the remainder of) uncial and "mss." many

(or the remainder of) cursive manuscripts.

Latt.

and Syrr. the Latin and Syrian versions in agreement ; and verss. versions generally. If the title of an authority is enclosed in ( ), this indicates that the evidence is modified by some circumstance or other.

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THE GOSPEL OF St. JOHN. KBCDL 1 33

did... persecute, (Lett.) Syr. vt.

v. 16.

and whither I go ye know the way, «BC*LQX Memph. and whither I go ye know, and ADN the way ye know,

xiv. 4.

did. .persecute and sought to slay (MSS. mss.). Comp. him, .

v. 18.

vi 9.

—

22.

(MSS. mss.) Latt. Syrr.

—5

a boy. a single boy.

See note. except one, fc^ABL 1 (Latt.\ except that one (or one), into which his disciples (or the

how know we the way, BC*D (Lat. vt.).

how can we know shall see me,

xvl 16,

BCDLT

world, 33 Syrr. vt. Theb. (and

5> 10-

Latt.

K in a

XV1L 21.

—

59.

man so

never

spake,

J^BLT

Memph. never man so spake as this man viil 59.

that they

additions, a few passages may be noticed in which an easy word has been substi-

tuted for a more difficult one. i.

Note. Note.

16.

63. viii. 16.

vi.

true as satisfying the idea (akrflivrj),

true

(dAij&fc),

understand (yivwrKYirt),

BLX 1 33 Theb. Memph.

midst of them and so (MSS. mss.) passed by, the

that ye

may know and be-

lieve,

NA (MSS. mss.)

Syrr.

Latt.

x. 13,26.

See notes.

xl 41.

the stone,

NBC*DLX 33 Latt.

Theb. (Syrr.). the stone where he was,

A 1.

the stone where he that was dead was laid, C* (MSS.

Paraphrases. vt. and Lat. vt. The group . K D Syr. _ _

variations.

«D Syr. vt. Lat.

in him is life, vt See note.

l 4.

mss.).

pfa),

NBDLQX

Memph. Theb. leave her alone ; she hath kept it (TtryprjKcv),

34.

UL 5.

kingdom of heaven, K*.

—.6.

is spirit because

N* (Lot. vt).

DLX Lat vt.

—

vt. (Lat. vt).

God shall also glorify, fc^A (MSS. mss.) Vg. Memph.

God is spirit,

and he is born of God, Syr.

And God shall glorify, N*BC* If God was glorified in him,

K Syr. vt

they had not wine for the wine of the marriage was consumed,

ye ought also.

D (Lat. vt).

the chosen one of God, See note.

il 3.

A (MSS. mss.).

how much more ought ye

marked by paraphrastic

specially

are

suffer her... to keep it (tva...Tti33 (Latt.)

also,

BDLTX 33.

facts

that ye may know and may

x.38.

out of the temple, going through

32.

K MSS. mss.

and so passed by, fcf*CLX 33 Memph.

—

us,

Vg.

Memph. Syrr.

(speaketh),N*(D)X MSS.mss. out of the temple, N*BD Latt.

mss.

See also iii. 19, viii.

(i.

4). There is a significant contrast between J

come (fXijXula) and J came (%\$ov), v. 47. The one marks the abiding result; and the other the particular purpose. For the use of the former (c'AijXvda) see v. 43, vii. 28, viii. 42 (and ij\8ov), xvi. 28, xviii. 37, (iii. 19) ; and tor the use of the latter (^Ado?), viii. 14, ix. 39, x. 10, xii. 27, 47, (xv. 22). should (may) not abide in

the

dark-

ness] as being the normal state of men with-

The exact phrase occurs only

our Christ.

John ii. o, 11 {is m the dark' 12, xii. $$\ 1 John ii. 11 (walk in the darkness). Comp. x John iii. 14, abide in death; and the opposite 1 John ii. 10, here, yet see 1

ness)\

and

viii.

abide in the light.

47. Christ now passes from the thought of His Person to that of His words: from

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* chap. 3.

47— S°]

St.

JOHN. XII.

*And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not for I came not to judge the world, but to :

save the world.

48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that * M«k 16. judeeth him : 'the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

me to my sayings.

Faith is essentially personal. Unbelief stops short at the outward manifestations of the Person : it deals with the teaching. Two cases appear to be regarded, the first that of the respectful hearer, who listens and does not; the second, that of the man who From this it appears xefuses to listen at all. that the reading "believe" is foreign to the scope of v. 47. hear my words (sayings, pnparvp)] not with true understanding of their full import (viii. 47), but yet with attention, x. 3, 16, a 7 , &c). and believe not] According to the true

and keep (4>v\a$n, Matt. xix. 20; Luke xi. 38) them not.

reading,

There is no / (emphatic) judge bim noi\ personal element in the accomplishment of the Christ came for judgment (ix. 39) final issue. and yet not to judge (comp. iii. 17, viii. 15). The judgment followed naturally (so to speak) from His manifestation. The Law (in the Men fullest sense) is the one accuser (v. 45). simply remain where they are (iii. 36) if they do not come to Christ. Their sentence lies in In this case the hearers the nature of things. were self-condemned. 48.

He that rejectetb (o dO*r&v, Vulg. qui Luke (sayings)...]

spernit) me.. .my words

49 For I have not spoken of mybut the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should

self ;

speak.

50 And I know that his command-

ment is life everlasting

: whatsoever speak therefore,* even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.

pel 1

Comp. 1 Cor. xv. $2 (the last trumpet)

;

John ii. 18 {the last hour). 49.

Because

For... spoken...]

spoke

not ... The essential inherent power of judgment lies in the word, since there is in it no admixture of a limited human personality. It is wholly divine. of myself] The phrase (ef f^avrov, Vulg. ex me) is peculiar and unique. It describes (so to speak) the source out of which a stream flows continuously, and not simply the point of origin from which movement started (an *>. v.

30,

vii.

17, a8,

viii.

18, 4*, (x.

18),

xiv. 10).

be gave me a commandment] himself The hath given me commandment.

pronoun (as in v. 48) emphasizes the referand the tense of the verb (67da>Kci/) marks the continuance of the action of the

ence;

command. what I should say (c itto, Vulg. dieam), and what I should speak (XuXr/o-co, Vulg. loquarj] That is, as to the substantial contents and the varying manner of my message.

50. And I know (ofoa)...] The word may find acceptance or rejection, but this remains sure. The commandment of the Father, His will manifested in my commission, The Father's commandment life. not only is directed towards life, to quicken

is eternal

X. 16.

bath one that judgetb bim] The word may It it cannot be banished. Its still clings to the hearer as his judge. work is even now begun as it shall hereafter be fully revealed. the word that I bave spoken (I spake)...] The "sayings" are all bound up in one great message (\6yos), delivered and felt in its en-

be refused, but

For the unbelieving Jews it was now ended (spake is contrasted with speak, v. 50). tirety.

Comp. xvii. 6, 8. the word... the same (that) shall judge bim...] The resumptive, isolating pronoun (Jutipos) places in emphatic prominence the teaching which is regarded as past and separated from those to whom it was addressed. It stands, as it were, in the distance, as a Comp. i. 18, v. 11 witness and an accuser.

and note. day\ ch. vi. 39, 40, 44* 54, xi. The phrase is peculiar to St John's Gos-

in the last

14.

187

or to support it. is that

It is

Truth realised

life.

by which we live.

The commandment

of God is the expression of absolute Truth.

Comp. vi. 63, 68, xvii. 17.

and not simply shall be. Comp. iii. 36, v. a 4 (39>» *• 54, xvii. 3 note. 1 John v. 1 a, 13. whatsoever (the things which) / speak Life eternal

The certainty of this assurance furnishes the one rule of Christ's teaching. He in the fulness of His divine-human Person (ry») speaks in complete agreement with the therefore...]

Father's injunctions, who is His Father and In part His message was fully given (irv. 48 f.): in part it was still to be

our Father.

given to the inner circle of His disciples.

The Self-Revelation of Christ to the World has now been completed.

In the remainder of the Gospel St John records

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St.

JOHN.

CHAPTER XIII. Jesus washeth the

them, to humility

disciples* feet:

and charity.

telleth,

exhorteth

He fore-

The Self-Revelation of Christ to the Disciples. two parts, The Last Ministry of Love (xiii. xvii.), and The Victory

—

through Death

(xviii.

—xx.); with an

Epilogue (xxi.). xiii.

—xvn. The Lord's Last Ministry of Love.

This division of the Gospel, which is entirely peculiar to St John, with the exception of the revelation of treachery among the twelve, falls into three sections:

The Last Acts of Love and I. Judgment (xiii. i 30). II. The Last Discourses (xiii. 31

—

xvi.

n)-

III.

The Prayer of Consecration

(xvii.).

and discovereth to John by a token,

that judos should betray him .'31 command* eth them to love one another, 36 and fore* warneth Peter of his denial.

view appears to be directly opposed to xiii. 38 to the significant parallel with Luke xxii. 24 if.: and to the general unity of the dis:

This division of the Gospel, like the former, fells into

XIII.

The Last Acts of Love and Judgment (xiii. 1

—

30).

John's account of events at the Last Supper contains two scenes. The first is the manifestation in act of the Master's self-sacrificing love (1 10): the second is the separation of the selfish disciple (21 30). The incidents are parallel with sections of the Synoptic Gospels; but there are very few points of actual correspondence in detail between the narratives of the Synoptists and of St John. The discussion recorded by St Luke (xxii. 24 ff.) has a close connexion of thought with the lesson of the feet- washing. And the St

—

words announcing the betrayal are identical in comp. Mark xiv. 18) St Matthew (xxvi. ai and St John (xiii. ai). All the Evangelists ;

record the surprise with which this announcement was received (Matt. xxvi. 22; Mark xiv. 19; Luke xxii. 23; John xiii. 22); and St Matthew notes that Judas was designated as the traitor (xxvi. 25). But the details which St John has preserved as to the manner of the designation are peculiar to him. The omission of the record of the Institution of the Lord's Supper belongs to the plan of the Gospel. It is impossible on any theory to suppose that the author was unacquainted with the facts. But it is difficult to determine at what point in the narrative of St John the Institution is to be placed. It is scarcely necessary to refer to the opinion of those who have supposed (Lightfoot, &c.) that the supper described in John xiii. was held at Bethany 5 Matt. xxvi. 6 ff.), and that the journey to erusalem follows xiv. 31; so that the Institution took place on the following day. This

—

courses in xiii. xvii. But if it be assumed that the meal described in ch. xiii. is identical with that described in the Synoptists, as including the Institution of the Lord's Supper, where can the Institution be intercalated? was it before or after the departure of Judas (xiii. 30)? The evidence on this point is extremely slender. In the narratives of St Matthew and St Mark there is nothing which tends to decide The the question in one way or the other. prophecy of the betrayal and the Institution are introduced by the same general words (aj tbey were eating, Matt. xxvi. 26; Mark xiv. 22), and though the former stands first there is nothing to shew that the order is chronological. It is also to be noticed that in these Evangelists there is no separation of the blessing of the Bread and of the Cup. In the narrative of St Luke the arrangement is different A cup is first given for distribution (xxii. 17). Then follows the giving of Bread, with the words of Institution (v. 19). Then, according to the present text, the giving of the Gup, with the words of Institution introduced by the clause in like manner also the cup after supper (y. 20); and in close connexion with this is There is given the prophecy of the betrayal. indeed good reason for thinking that the second reference to the Cup is a very early addition to the original text of St Luke taken from 1 Cor. xi. 25 ; and as it stands it may be treated parenthetically. In any case, however, % St Luke distinctly places the prophecy of the betrayal after the distribution of the Sacramental Bread; and, like St Paul, he places this distribution during the supper, and the distribution of the Sacramental Cup after the supper. The other Synoptic narratives are perfectly consistent with this view. Judas then, if we adopt this interpretation of the narrative, was present at the distribution of the Sacramental Bread, and not present at the distribution of the Sacramental Cup. In other words, the distribution of the Bread must be placed before v. 30 in St John's narrative, and the distribution of the Cup after. If now we look for a break in xiii. 1 30, it may be found between 16 and 17, or between 19 and 20; but hardly between 22 and 23. It is, however, more in accordance with St Luke's narrative to place the distribution of the Bread before *v. 2. The distribution of the Cup may be placed after 30, or 33; but it seems on the whole best to place it after 32. The teaching of that Sacramental Act forms a bond between the thoughts of 32 and n.

—

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St.

V. I, 2.

JOHN. XIII.

Matt.a& *.

passover, when Jesus knew that

hour was come that he should unto the

his

depart out of this world

The self-sacrifice of love (1

—

20).

189

Father, having loved his own which in the world, he loved them unto the end. 2 And supper being ended, the

were

Master had passed out of the world.

their

The central idea of this record corresponds

Hence came the necessity for such encourage-

with one aspect of the Institution of the Euof self-sacrifice. The incident evidently belongs to the same spiritual circumstances. The form of the narrative is marked by extreme minuteness and vividness of detail (w. 4 ft".), and by directness of recollection

ments as follow: e.g. xvi. 33. In His knowledge of the disciples1 suffering the Lord forgot His own suffering, though

charist, that

foreknowledge intensifies sorrow.

The portraiture of St Peter is instinct with life: he acts and is acted upon. The narrative consists of two parts, the

bis hour] Just as St John points out the moral conditions of the Lord's life in a divine "cannot" (see xii. 40 note), and a divine "must" (xx. y note), he also marks the divine sequence in its events. The crises of His

action

several manifestations are absolutely fixed in

(v. 1 1).

itself

— n), and the commentary time (n —ao). The apcase

upon the action

latter

proaches very closely in form to the teaching preserved by the Synoptists (e.g. w. 16 f.). The former is a parable in action (comp. Matt, xviii. a ff.).

Chap. XIII.

1—4. These verses are punctuated. Some suppose that the construction is broken, and that the principal verb is rises in v. 4, the knowing in v. 3 resuming the knowing of v. 1. It seems better, however (as A. V.), to take v. 1 as complete in itself, as it is grammatically complete, and to regard v. 2 as a fresh beginning. On this view v. 1 is an introduction to the whole cycle of teaching which follows (xiii. xvii.), while w. a, 3 are the introduction to the special incident of the feet-washing, the symbolic manifestation of love.

differently

Now before the feast...'] The disjunctive particle (fle, Vulg. autem) perhaps suggests a

contrast with the temporary retirement no^ in xii. 36. Though Jesus had thus withdrawn Himself, yet before the crisis of His Passion He fully prepared His disciples

ticed

for the issue. before the feast] these words either

impossible to take

with knowing or with having loved. The clause can only go properly with the principal verb loved. The note of time consequently serves to mark the date of the manifold exhibition of love, of the acts and discourses which follow immediately afterwards. All these took place "before the feast," that is, on the evening (the commencement) of Nisan 13th; and in these last scenes before the Passover at which the Jewish type found its perfect fulfilment, the love of the Lord was revealed in its highest form.

when Jesus knew] since He knew.

Jesus knowing, that

This knowledge, which is spoken of as absolute (tlbas), prompted the crowning display of love. The thought is brought into prominence by the repetition of In the world the disciples the word world. were to find their trial, and to find it when

is,

(ii.

4 ; comp.

this "hour" is

xi. 9 f., ix. 4). In each appointed with a view to

the issue to which it leads (xii. a 3, ha do(ao-0j, and so here Iva yuraflji). Compare iv. ai, a3, v. i$, a8; 1 John ii. 18; Rev. xiv. 7, 15; John vii. 6, 8 (ttupor); Eph. i. 10 (to ttXi}pa>fxa nav naipwv); Gal. iv. 4 (to nXrfpoopa tov Xpovov). Till the hour comes Christ's enemies are powerless (vii. 3c, viii. ao). When it has come He recognises its advent (xii. 27, xvii. 1).

that be should depart...] The purpose, as part of the divine counsel, is marked emphati-

Comp. xii. a3, xvi. a note. depart] The exact word (utraPjj, Vulg. trans eat) is only used here in this connexion. It marks the transference from one sphere to another: comp. v. a4; 1 John Hi. 14. Death for Christ, and in Him for the Christian, is not an interruption of being but a change of the mode of being, a "going to the Father," to His Father and ours. this world... the world] The demonstrative (o Koo-fws ovroty tbis world) seems to lay stress upon the present aspect of the world as transitory and unsatisfying. The phrase occally (tvo).

curs viii. 33, ix. 39, (xi. 9), xii. aj, 31, xvi. xx, xviii. 36; 1 John iv. 17 (and in St Paul). unto the Father] as describing the religious and moral relationship, and not simply the idea of power (to God). bis own] Acts iv. a3, xxiv. 13; 1 Tim. v. Compare xvii. 6 ff. Contrast i. 11. 8. unto the end] to the uttermost. The original phrase (us Vulg. in fmem) has two common meanings, (1) at last, and (a) utterly, completely. The first sense appears to be most natural in Luke xviii. 5, and the second in 1 Thess. ii. 16. It occurs very frequently in the LXX., and most often in connexion with words of destruction (utterly), or abandonment (forever) Ps. xii. 1, (ix. 18, al. tU to* aittwi), &c It occurs, however, in other connexions, Ps. xv. 11,

WW,

and constantly in later 3, xlviii. 8; Greek writers, e.g. a Clem. 19 Luc. 'Somn.^.

lxxiii.

;

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St.

190 devil having

of Judas betray

JOHN. XIII.

now put into the heart

Iscariot,

Simon's son y

him

3 Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and

went to God 4 He riseth from supper, and laid There appears to be no authority for taking it here in the sense of to the end of His earthly presence (yet see Matt. x. 22, xxiv. 13 f.), and such a translation does not suit the connexion with before the feast. If, however, we take the words as expressing loved them with a perfect love, then the thought comes out clearly, "As Christ loved His disciples, and had before shewed His love, so now at this crisis, before the day of His Passion, He carried His love to the highest point, He loved them to

the uttermost" 2.

And supper being ended.. .]

one special manifestation of this love a supper (ddnvov ywofiivov)...

And—as

—during

Literally, according to the devil ...him] the most ancient text, the devil having already put It Into his (Judas 1 ) heart

that Judas Iscariot the son of Simon hall betray him. The transference of the subject from the former to the latter clause is not unnatural (...into the heart of Judas... that be should... )\ and it seems to be impossible to accept the rendering u the devil having conceived in 4iis heart that..." The separation of ** Iscariot" from Judas in the original text, u Judas the son of Simon, Iscariot," clearly marks the title as local. Comp. vi. 71, where it is an epithet of Simon. Jesus (omit) knowing] That is, as be"since He knew." The knowledge that He was possessed of this divine authority was the ground of His act of service; just as in v. 1 the knowledge of His coming departure was the ground of His crowning display of love. Not " His Father." The Son the Father] of man (Jesus) is now the conqueror. had given...] Our idiom will not bear in the oblique the original tense gave (found in the oldest authorities), which, however, marks the true idea of the commission once given eternally. A similar remark applies to the verbs below, which are literally oame

[v.

aside his garments ; and took a towel,

and girded himself. 5 After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was

girded.

6 Then cometh he to Simon Peit was from God He came forth, and unto God He is going." The title of power and glory is used in this clause, as that of

that

affinity (the Father) in the former.

<was come] was come forth on His mission to the world at the Incarnation. The preposition used here (dno) marks a separation and not the source. Contrast viii. 42, note. 4.

He riseth from the

(layeth) aside...]

alt things]

The sense of absolute sovereignty

more impressive here in the prospect of Even through treachery and apparent defeat. death lay the way to the Resurrection. into bis bands] to deal with as He pleased, even when He was given "into the hands" of men: Matt. xvii. 22, xxvi. 45. The original order is most emphatic: "and is the

supper, and laid There is nothing to indi-

cate the occasion of the action. The phrase implies that the supper was already begun, so this feet-washing cannot have answered to that may assume that it was before the meal. a parable in action exhibited in order to illustrate some thought of the coming kingdom which had just found expression. Comp.

Luke xxii. 24 ff. ; (Matt, xviii. 1 ff.). For this reason each step in the act of service is noted with the particularity of an eye-witness: the rising from among the group («y. e«), the laying aside the upper robes (iparia\ the taking the towel, the girding, the pouring out of the water, the washing, the wiping. When Christ serves,

He serves perfectly.

and he took...girded himself]

The form of

expression emphasizes the preparation by Him-

Comp. Luke xii. 37, xvii. 8, and ch. xxi. "Quid mirum si praecinxit se linteo qui formam servi accipiens habitu inventus est ut homo?" (Aug. ad loc.) self.

18, with Acts xii. 8.

fore,

forth and goeth.

3—6.

After that...]

Then (cira), xix. 27, xx.

27.

poureth]

The original word (jSdXXf 1, Vulg.

which is peculiar,

mittit),

rendered in the

same connexion elsewhere puttetb; Matt. ix. 1 7 and parallels. into a (the) bason] which stood ready for Comp. 2 K. iii. 11. this accustomed use. began to wash] The actual scene is broken up into its parts, just as all the details of preparation had been separately noticed. Conr\p. Gen. xviii. 4, xix. 2, xxiv. 32, xliii. 24; Judg. xix. 21 Rabbinic commenta1 Tim. v. 10. tors dwelt on the significance of Ezek. xvi. 9. "Among men," they said, "the slave washes ;

his

master;

but with

God it is not so."

Comp. Lightfoot and Wetstein, ad loc. Then (80) cometh be...] as He passed 8. round, or rather as He began to pass round, the circle of the disciples. There is nothing to support the old notion that the action began

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7— io.] ter :

St. JOHN.

and Peter saith unto him, Lord,

dost thou wash my feet ?

Jesus answered and said unto What I do thou knowest not now ; but thou shalt know hereafter. 8 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus an7

him,

with Judas. It is more natural to suppose that the Lord began with St Peter. In that case his refusal to accept the service is more intelligible than it would be if others had already accepted it and Peter saith (he saith) unto him] The abruptness of the clause suits the vivid narrative.

dost thou..."]

The position of the pronouns

in the original (crv pov v. r. n\, Vulg. tu mibi

thou my feet) brings out the sharp contrast of the persons. The thought of the kind of service is subordinated to the fact of service rendered by the Master to the servant. /. p.,

What I do] The chasm between the 7. thoughts of the Lord and of the disciple is marked by the emphatic pronouns (o «y» tr. av ovk o2.). The meaning of the act could not be understood till the Lord was glorified. The interpretation depended on a full view of His rerson and His work. Knowledge as absolute and complete (ovk oJdai) is contrasted with the knowledge which is gained by slow experience (yrwrjj ** thou shalt learn " or "understand"). Comp. iii. 10, 11, note. hereafter] Literally, after these things: iii. aa, v. 1, 14 (afterward), vi. 1, vii. 1, xix. 38, xxi. 1. In these places reference is made to a

group of incidents, and not to one single scene. must then understand here by

these things"

all the circumstances of the Passion which was now begun. Even the interpretation given in ia ff. was only partially intelligible, until Christ's sacrifice of Himself was completed. Perfect knowledge began with the day of Pentecost.

St Peter takes up the thought of " hereNothing, he would argue, can ever alter my position in regard to my Lord. 8.

after."

This is fixed eternally. Tbou shalt not wash my feet while the world lasts (ov ^...«U rov He assumed that he could foresee aiuva). all; hence his reverence takes the form of self-will, just as in the

corresponding incident

Matt xvi. a a, where also his self-willed

reverence for Christ, as He interpreted His office, brings down a stem reproof. Christ meets the _ If I wash thee not...'] confidence of the Apostle with a declaration of the necessary separation which must ensue from the want of absolute submission. " Unless I render thee this service, unless, that is,

thou reoeivest that which I offer, even when

XIII.

191

swered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. 9 Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. 10 Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his thou canst not understand my purpose, thou no part with me." The first condition of discipleship is self-surrender. It appears to be foreign to the context to introduce any direct reference to the washing in Christ's blood (see w. 13 ff.). Though, as Cyril says, we may see some such thought suggested by the words. wash thee] not thy feet. Christ Himself hast

chooses the manner in which He accomplishes the work which is effectual for the whole and not for a part. tbou hast no part...] thou hast no share in my kingdom, as a faithful soldier in the conquests of his captain. Comp. Matt. xxiv. 51 ; Deut xii. ia, xiv. a7 ; Ps. 1. 18. 9.

St Peter, with characteristic impulsive-

ness, still answers in the same spirit as before.

Just as he had wished to define what the Lord should not do, so now he wishes to define the manner in which that should be done which he admitted to be necessary. He would extend in detail to every part the action which Christ designed to fulfil in one way according to His Own will.

The reply of the Lord introduces a 10. new idea. From the thought of the act of service as such, we are led to the thought of the symbolic meaning of the special act as a process of cleansing. The "washing" of a part of the body, feet, or hands, or head, is contrasted with the " bathing" of the whole. The " washing" in itself does not mark an essential change, but is referred to the total change already wrought. He that is bathed

(o XcXov/ifW) needeth not save to wash (vtyavBai) his feet. Some important authorities omit save and his feet. If this reading be adopted the emphasis will lie on needeth not. The aftercleansing may be an act of divine love, but it is not to be required at man's will. The form of the verb in some degree suggests this

turn of meaning. It is not " to be washed," corresponding with the former phrase, but "to wash himself," or "to wash his own feet" (Matt. xv. a; Mark vii. 3). But it is more probable that the omission was occasioned by the difficulty of reconciling the phrase with "clean every whit." If however the common reading be retained, the sense will be that the limited cleansing, as now symbolized, is all that is needed. He who is bathed needs, so to speak, only to

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St.

192

feet, but is clean every whit :

JOHN. XIII. and ye

are clean, but not all.

For he knew who should be-

tray him ; therefore said he,

Ye are

not all clean. 12 So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments,

and was

set

down

again,

he said

<r**r«... ;)... ?

just as the guest, after the bath, needs only to have the dust washed from his feet when he reaches the house of his host. is clean every whit] The partial and superficial defilements, of hands, or head, or feet, do not alter the general character. The man, as a whole, the man as man, is clean. and ye are clean, but not all~\ The thought of the partial defilement of the person passes into the thought of the partial defilement of the society. The apostles as a body were clean. The presence of one traitor, the stainspot to be removed, did not alter *he character of the company any more than the partial soiling of the feet alters the essential cleanness of the man.

is different

Taken in this connexion the passage throws light

on the doctrine of the holiness of the

visible Church.

And this the more because it

seems impossible not to see in the word bathed, as contrasted with washed, a foreshadowing of the idea of Christian Baptism (Hebr. x. 22 comp. Eph. v. 16; Titus iii. 5). There is however no evidence to shew that the apostles themselves were baptized unless with John's baptism. The "bathing" in their case consisted in direct intercourse and union with Christ. For them this one special act of service was but an accessory to the continuous love of that companionship. (Comp. xv. 3.) he knew who should betray him] More him that was betraying him. The act of treason was already in process. Contrast vi. 64 (fut.), vi. 71, xii. 4. The rendering " betray " adds something to the force of the original word. The exact word " traitor" (npobornt) is applied to Judas only in Luke vi. 16. Elsewhere the word used of him is some part of the verb u to deliver up " (rrapaMopai), and not of the word " to betray (npodidovat). there/ore said he...'] The addition is quite natural if the writer's vivid recollection of the scene carries him back to the time when the words arrested the attention before they were fully intelligible. Otherwise it is difficult to account for the obvious explanation. No one who had always been familiar with the whole history would have added them. 11.

Strictly,

12. ceive,

Know ye...] understand

Do you apprehend, perthe

meaning of (ytw-

II— , s

unto them, Know ye what I have done to you ? 13 Ye call me Master and Lord and ye say well j for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet ; ye also ought to wash one another's feet 15 For I have given you an ex-

remove the stains contracted in the walk of life;

[v.

The word in v. 17

See v. 7.

(oidarf).

13. Master (i.e. Teacher) and Lord] According to the common titles Rabbi said Mar, corresponding to which the followers were 44 disciples" or "servants" (y. 16).

If I then, your Lord (the Lord) and If I, the one who am by confession supreme, washed (ew^ra) even now your feet... ye also ought...] The obligation is of a debt incurred (o<£ftXcr#) Matt, xxiii. 16, 18. 14.

the Master...]

Comp. ch. xix. 7 1 John ii. 6, iii. 16, iv. 11 Luke xvii. 10; Rom. xv. 1, &c. The inter;

is thus that of the duty of mutual subjection and service, and specially with a view to mutual purifying. Comp.

pretation given

1 Pet. v. 5.

15. I have given you (I gave) you an example. .] Three different words are rendered .

"example" in New Testament.

That which

is used

here (v7r65fty/ia) is applied to separate, isolated subjects (comp. Hebr. iv. 11, viii. 5, Contrast ix. 23 ; James v. 10 ; 1 Pet. ii. 6). 1 Cor. x. 6, 11 (runos) ; Jude 7 (^€17710). It will be observed that the example of

Christ

always offered

connexion with

some form of self-sacrifice. that. .to you] .

Literally, that as I did to you,

ye also do. The parallel is between u I " and '* 44 ye," and hence the words to one another *4

are not added.

The custom of " feet- washing " has been continued in various forms in the Church. See Bingham, xii. 4, § 10. By a decree fCan. 3) of the xviith Council of Toledo (694) it was made obligatory on the Thursday in Holy Week 44 throughout the Churches of Spain and Gaul " (pedes unusquisque pontificum seu sacerdotum, secundum hoc sacrosanctum exemplum, suorum lavare studeat subditorum). In 1530 Wolsey washed, wiped and kissed the feet of 59 poor men at Peterborough (Cavendish, Life,* 1. p. 24a). The practice was continued by English sovereigns till the reign of James II.; and as late as 173 the Lord High Almoner washed the feet of 4

the recipients of the royal gifts at Whitehall on 4t Maundy Thursday." The present custom of "the feet- washing " in St Peter's is well known. The practice was retained by the Mennonites ; and also by the United Brethren,

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. 1 6— 21.]

St.

JOHN. XIII.

ample, that ye should do as I have done to you. *M*tt xo. IO * Verily, verily, I say unto you, chap. 15. The servant is not greater than his ** lord 5 neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. 17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. 18 U I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen : but that £Ps*i.4«scr ipture may be fulfilled, *He

among whom it has now fallen into disuse. There is an interesting account of Lanfranc's rule at Bee in Church's * Anselm,' pp. 49 if. The ancient English usage is illustrated by

Chambers, * Divine Worship in England/ p.

The Roman Service is given by Daniel,

xxvi.

'Cod. Lit' 1. 41a. Verily, 'verify...'] 16. preface the new lesson.

The words, as usual,

The servant (A servant) is not...'] Matt. x. 24; (Luke vi. 40). be that is sent]

—an

Comp.

one that is sent (airarroXor)

apostle.

Ifye know (oToart) these things.. .] the lessons conveyed by the feet-washing. The " knowledge " here is that which a man has and not that which he acquires. happy are ye...] The original word is that used in the ** beatitudes " (pacoptoi, Vulg. beatt). Knowledge is a blessing as the help to action. There is a Jewish saying: u If a man knows the Law but does not do thereafter, it had been better for him that he had not come into the world" ('Shemoth R.' quoted by Wtlnsche). 17.

J speak not ofyou all] The treachery of Judas was as yet manifest only to Christ but to Him all was clear and open. For Judas knowledge would not issue in the happiness of doing. I know whom I have chosen (I chose)] and so I know that even of these twelve chosen one is false (vi. 70). The choice here spoken of is the historical choice to the apostolate. The thought of "election to salvation" is 18.

Hence the stress There was no surprise to Christ in the faithlessness of Judas, though See Additional Note. there was to others. but that...] but my choice was so made that... or more generally, but this has so come to pass that...(xix. 36). There is a necessary quite foreign to the context. lies on

/ (cyoo) know.

correspondence between the fortunes of the It was necesservants of God at all times. sary that Christ should fulfil in His own experience what David (or perhaps Jeremiah) had felt of the falseness of friends. The words may also be taken : " but, that

*93

that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. % I tell you before it come, 19

Now

£%m

that, when it is come to pass, ye may tunc*-

believe that I am he.

20 ''Verily, verily, I say unto you, ''Matt xa. He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me ; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. 21

'When Jesus had thus said, 'Matt.«6.

he was troubled in

and

spirit,

tes-

scripture may be fulfilled, he that..." This construction however seems to be less natural and obscures the contrast. He that... me] The Greek in St John closely renders the Hebrew. See In trod. p. xiv. He that eateth bread with me...] According to the better reading, my bread. The phrase means simply, my friend bound to me by the closest and most sacred ties.

the

bath lifted up (lifted up)...} The notion brute violence, and not of the cunning of the wrestler.

is that of

From henceforth (nV a mode, Matt xxvi. 64, note). Hitherto the Lord had borne His sorrow in secret. Now it was necessary to anticipate 19.

Now...]

opri, Vulg.

the bitterness of disappointment The crisis was reached from which silence henceforward

was impossible.

Comp. Matt. xxvi. 64; ch.

xiv. 7.

before

come to pass, that...] that is, in

order that what might have seemed to be a fatal miscarriage, should be shewn to have been within the range of the Master's foresight. Thus the disciples would be enabled to trust in

Him absolutely.

His knowledge was

not only of the main fact but of the details. believe that I

am be]

Comp. viii. 24, note.

The verse appears to contain the converse truth to v. 16, arising however directly out of v. 19. The knowledge of the Master's greatness furnishes the measure of the envoy's greatness. If the treachery of one shook the confidence of the others, the assurance of what their office truly was served to restore it. Comp. Matt x. 40 20.

Verily,

verily...]

and especially Luke xxii. 24 a.

— 30.

The separation of the selfish apostle

(21—30).

The act of complete sacrifice was followed by an act of righteous judgment. Service Apostacy is the fruit of selfrests on love.

To the last Judas appears to take to himself honour without misgiving (v. 26). The details (w. 22, 24, *i) continue to reflect the vivid impressions of an eye-witness, seeking.

2L was troubled in spirit]

Compare xi.

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St.

194

JOHN. XIII.

[V.

— 26.

Verily, verily, I say

24 Simon Peter therefore beckoned

unto you, that one of you shall betray me. 22 Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake. 23 Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom

that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. 25 He then lying on Jesus' breast

whom I shall give a

Jesus loved.

have dipped it.

tified, and said,

to him,

saith unto him, Lord, who is it ?

26 Jesus answered,

33, xil a 7, which are however both different.

The emotion belongs to the highest region (r<j> nv(vnaTt), as it is called out by the prospect of a spiritual catastrophe. This agony u Pereant argumenta is peculiar to St John. philosophorum," Augustine exclaims, "qui negant in sapientem cadere perturbationes ani-

morum." testified']

Comp. iv. 44.

The revelation is

here made with solemn assurance, where the clear statement follows the general warnings in At the same time the effect 10, 11. upon the disciples is different They seek now for soma explanation of the words.

22.

Then (omit) the disciples looked (?)9A«irov, Vulg. aspiciebant) one on another] The words give a vivid reminiscence of the actual scene. The first effect of the Lord's words was silent amazement and perplexity. '* doubting] Their consciousness of innocence," as has been well said, was less trustworthy than the declaration of Christ." The same word (dnoptladai) occurs Luke xxiv. 4 Acts xxv. ao a Cor. iv. 8 ; Gal. iv. 10, and expresses rather bewilderment than simple doubt. The parallel in Luke xxii. 23 shews that the rendering "about whom" and not 44 about which " is right. 4*

;

23.

Now there ... bosom]

There was

at table reclining on Jesus' bogom. At this time, and for some time before and after, the Jews appear to have adopted the Western mode of reclining at meals. Lightfoot (ad loc.} quotes Talmudic glosses which shew that the guests lay resting on their left arms, stretched obliquely, so that the back of the head of one guest lay in the bosom of the dress of the guest above him. If three reclined together the centre was the place of honour, the second place that above (to the left), the third that below (to the right).

If the chief

person wished to talk with the second it was necessary for him to raise himself and turn round, for his head was turned away as he reclined. St Peter then, sitting in the second place, was not in a favourable position for hearing any whisper from the Lord, which would fall naturally on the ears of St John. This very incident therefore, in which it has been supposed that St John claims precedence over St Peter, shews on the contrary that he sets himself second to htm.

He it is, sop,

when I \2Sia.

And when he had

(whom Jesus loved]

xix.

16,

xxi.

Vulg. diligebat). The word in xx. 2 is different, and marks a different relationship (see note there). The title is first used here, and is naturally suggested by the recollection of this special incident. It marks an acknowledgment of love and not an exclusive enjoyment of love. Comp. xiii. 1, 34, xv. 12, xi. 5. (ijyan-o,

24. beckoned] beckoneth (Acts xxiv. 10), as the eyes of the disciples were turned in surprise from one to another. According to the that he should... spake] true reading: and saith to him, Tell ub who It Is of He speaketh. St Peter thought that the Lord had already revealed to St John in an undertone the name of the false

whom

apostle.

25. He then... breast] He leaning back as he was en Jesus' breast. The phrase marks the recollection of an eye-witness. The sudden movement (avcm«T<»v eirt) is contrasted with the position (dvaictipvos cV) at the table (ovrus, as he was, iv. 6) ; the 44 bosom " (cV r«p icoX*^), the full fold of the

robe, with the 4 breast " (#Vl to orfjOos), the Before this change of posture actual body. the disciple was so placed as to hear a whisper from the Lord, but not so as to address Him easily. The act rather than the place at table was preserved in tradition, xxi. ao. Polycr. ap. Euseb. 4 H. E.' v. 24; Iren. ill. 1; Euseb, 4 H. E. 1 v. 8. Hence the title "the disciple that leant on Christ's breast " (o *V«mj^4oj). Comp. Routh, 4 Rell. Sacr.' 1. 4a. *

Jesus answered] Jesus therefore The question was not now to be put aside, but it was answered only for those who put it. I shall to whom... dipped it] for dip (cf. Ruth li. 14) the sop and give It him. The emphatic pronoun marks the significance of the action. It is an Eastern custom at present for the host to give a small ball of meat to the guest whom he wishes to honour. The reference here may be to this

26.

answer eth...

whom

custom.

By this act, which is not mentioned

the other Gospels, Christ answered the question of St John, Matt. xxvL 25. Comp. in

Matt. xxvi. 23 ; Mark xiv. ao. And.. .of Simon] 80 having dipped the

sop he taketh It and glveth it to Judas the son of Simon Isoarlot.

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. 27—3°-]

St.

JOHN. XIII.

195

dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do

29 For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus

quickly.

no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this

thing to the poor. 30 He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it

unto him.

was night.

Now

27. then Satan entered into him] Comp. Luke xxii. 3. In that passage is the beginning (comp. v. a), in this, the consummation of the design. Judas in his self-will appears to have interpreted the mark of honour so as So St John to confirm him in his purpose. emphasizes the moment: after the sop then that moment the conflict was It is to be noticed that the prodecided. noun here and in v. 30 (cVctvos) isolates Judas and sets him as it were outside the company. Satan is mentioned here only in at

(rorc)...

Enter'

;

—

secretly.

28.

See also Luke xxii. $3"Erat autem nox: et ipse qui exivit erat nox" (Aug. ad loc.).

v. 5; (ch. ix. 4, xi. 10).

The Last Discourses (xiii. 31—xvi.).

II.

The last discourses of the Lord are divided into two portions by the change of place at the close of ch. xiv. 1 hus we have

L The Discourses in the Upper Room (xiii. 31 —xiv. 31). The Discourses on the Way (xv., ii.

of evil spirits occurs Matt. xii. 45; Mark v. ia f.; Luke viii. 30 ff., xi. 26. Comp. Rev. xi. 11. Then said Jesus...] Jesus therefore alth... knowing the final resolve of Judas. That thou doest, do Quickly'] The work was Therefore the in essence already begun. Lord now removes the traitor from His presence. The command is not to do the deed as if that were any longer uncertain, but to do in a particular way what is actually being done. Repentance is no longer possible and Christ welcomes the issue for Himself. These words were spoken openly; those in 24 '*

the Gospel.

had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast ; or, that he should give some-

Now no man...] not even St John,

xvi.).

These two groups of revelations, while they have much in common, are distinguished both by their external form and by a pervading difference of scope. The first group consists in a great degree of answers to individual apostles. St Peter (xiii. 36), St Thomas (xiv. 5), St Philip (xiv. 8), and St

Jude (xiv.

a a), propose questions to which the Lord replies. In the second group the case is far different. After the little company had left the room a solemn awe seems to have fallen upon the eleven (comp. Mark x. 3a). They no longer dared to ask what they desired to know (xvi. 17); and when they spoke it was as v a body, with an imperfect confession of grate-

This outward difference

who did not connect this injunction with the

fill

announcement which he had just received.

between the two groups corresponds with an inward difference. In the first group the thought of separation, and of union in separaIn the second group the tion, predominates. main thought is of the results of realised union, and of conflict carried on to victory. This progress in the development of the central idea of the discourses influences the treatment of

29. For some...] They were so far from a suspicion of the true import of the words that they interpreted them in different ways. the bag]

Comp. xii. 6.

bad said

(bb.14)...Buj... against (for,

the feast]

«U)

The words shew that the meal

cannot have been the passover. Moreover if it had been, Judas would not have left while the meal was as yet unfinished. to the poor]

xii.

5 ff. ; Gal. ii. 10.

He then (80 he) having received...] Rather, having taken (\a&uv)- The word 30.

marks that Judas on his part appropriated the gift, which, from the repeated mention, was

faith (xvi. ao f.).

the subjects which are

common to the two

This will appear clearly when the parallel teaching on the "new commandment" sections.

of love- (xiii. 34, xiv. 15, ai, a3 f. xv. 9 ff., 1 7), on the world (xiv. a a fF.

Comp. Comp.

18 ff.; xvi. 1 ff.), on the Paraclete fxiv. 16 f., i$ f.; comp. xv. a6, xvi. 8 ff.), and on Christ's coming (xiv. 3, 18, a8; comp. xvi

xv.

Comp. xx. aa, vii. 39,

16, a a), is examined in detail. These last discourses in St John bear the

and it twos night] The words cannot but mark the contrast of the light within with the outer darkness into which Judas "went forth." Comp. Rev. xxl i$ % xxii. 5; x Thess.

same relation to the fourth Gospel as the last

evidently significant. i.

ia, v. 43, &c.

discourses to the Synoptic Gospels (Matt, xxiv.; Mark xiii.; Luke xxi.). The two lines of thought which they repre-

eschatological

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St.

iq5

JOHN. XIII.

31 f Therefore, when he was gone Now is the Son of

out, Jesus said,

man glorified, and God is glorified in and answer to the circumstances by which they were called out. Speaking in full view of the city and the temple the Lord naturally dwelt on the revolutions which should come in the organization of nations and the outward consummation of His kingdom. Speaking in the Upper Room and on the way to Gethsemane to the eleven, now separated from the betrayer, He dwelt rather on the inward consummation of His work and on the spiritual revolution which was to be accomplished. In the last case the situation no less than the teaching was unique. See Introduction, pp. lxiii. ff.

The Discourses in the Upper Room (xiii.

31— xiv. 31).

This first group of discourses may be arranged naturally in four sections. Separation:

its

necessity

31—38).

and issue (xiii.

—

Christ and the Father (xiv. 1 11). Christ and the disciples (xiv. ia 11).

The law and the progress of Revelation

(xiv. I.

—

aa— 31). Separation: its necessity and issue (xiii.

31-38). This

— 33-

32 If God be glorified in him, God and shall straightway glorify him.

33 Little children, yet a little while

sent are complementary,

shall also glorify him in himself,

him.

[v.

first

section of

the Lord's

final

re-

•

once the feeling of deliverance from the traitor's presence and His free acceptance of the issues of the traitor's work. Judas was the representative of that spirit of wilful self-seeking which was the exact opposite of the spirit of Christ. By his removal therefore the conflict with evil which Christ had sustained in His human nature (the Son of Man) was essentially decided. As very Man and the representative of humanity He had finally overcome. At the moment when Judas went out, charged to execute his purpose, the Passion, as the supreme act of self-sacrifice, was virtually accomplished. the Son of man] This title, as has been already implied, is the key to the interpretaThe words are spoken tion of the passage. of the relation of u the Son of man" to "God," and not of that of "the Son" to "the Father." Perfect self-sacrifice even to glorified] death, issuing in the overthrow of death, is the truest "glory" (comp. xii. a3 f., x. 17 f.; Even the comp. vii. 39, xii. 16, xvii. 5). disciple in his degree "glorifies God" by Hence the attainment his death (xxi. 19). of glory by the Son of Man is rightly spoken of as past (was glorified, tbo^aaBrj, Vulg. darificatus est, not simply is glorified) in relation to the spiritual order, though it was yet future

The

thought

germ the main thoughts which are afterwards unfolded. He declares (w. 31 $$) His victory (w. 3 1, 31), His departure (v. 33),

discourses is of the decisive act by which the Passion had been embraced. The redemptive work of Christ

the characteristic of His Society (w. 34, 3$), and then, by the example of St Peter, He lays open the need of long and painful discipline for the disciples, in order that they may realise at last fellowship with Him (w. 36 The central idea is that of separation, 38). its nature, its necessity, its consequences; so that the whole current of the discourses flows directly from the historical position with which they are connected. In this section, as afterwards, the absence of connecting particles is a characteristic feature of the narrative. 31. Therefore, when (When therefore) ..Jesus said (salthY) The departure of Judas marked the crisis of the Lord's victory. By this the company was finally "cleansed" (v. 10) : and not only was the element of evil expelled, but it was used for the fulfilment of its appropriate part. gone out'} The departure was the free act

of Judas.

Contrast ix. 34 (# tfiakov). This "now,'' with which the

Now is...]

Loid turns to the faithful eleven, expresses at

its

historical

realisation.

velation of Himself and of His work contains

throughout

these last

&c). and God is (was) glorified in him] The divine counsel (if we may so speak) was jusComp. xiv. 13, xvii tified in Christ as man. essentially was completed (xvii. 4,

32. If God ...in him] This clause is omitted by the most ancient authorities, and mars the symmetry of the structure of w. 31, 3a, which is seen to be most remarkable by a literal rendering

Now *was glorified the Son of Man, And God was glorified in Him And God shall glorify Him in Himself

And straightway shall He glorify Him. God shall also ... and shall straightway ...] And God shall... and straightway shall He... The "glory" realised in absolute sacrifice must necessarily be regarded under two aspects, subjectively

and objectively.

The in-

victory carried with it the outward triumph. Even as God was glorified in the Son of iMan, as man, when He took to Himself willingly the death which the traitor was preparing, so also it followed that God would

ward

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I ./chap. 7. 34-

JOHN. XIII.

St.

v. 34.]

34 * A new commandment I give *gLev *

am with you. Ye shall seek me •

/and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come ; so now I say to you.

Son of Man in His own divine Being, by taking up His glorified humanity to fellowship with Himself (Acts vii. 55). This second clause is the complement of the first, was glorified... shall glorify, not separable from it in the divine counsel, though distinguished in man's apprehension. The glory of Christ is one, whether it is seen in the Betrayal, or in the Cross, or in the Resurrection, or in the Ascension. Each fact contemplated in its true character includes all. Comp. Phil. ii. 9.

The preposition Uv

iavry)

marks unity of being, and not simply unity of position (napa oW, xvii. 5). The "in him" here corresponds with "forth from Him" (e£ avrov) in ch. xvi. a 8. straightway] The sufferings and the glories (1 Pet. i. 11) henceforth followed one another

Comp. xii. 23.

in unbroken succession.

33. crisis

Christ's revelation of the nature of the as affecting Himself,

followed by a

revelation of it as affecting His disciples.

The

realisation of His heavenly glory involved His

The time therefore

withdrawal from earth.

was come in which it was necessary for Him to announce His departure to those who were nearest to Him, as He had done before with another purpose to the Jews. In this His friends and His enemies were alike, that they could not, being what they were, follow Him. Little children] The exact word (t^ki-Lci, Vulg. flioli) occurs here only in the Gospels fxxi. 5, naibia); but in

John it is found six

or seven) times: in Gal. iv. 19 the reading is doubtful. The word (like rcxw, i. n, note) emphasizes the idea of kinsmanship and the diminutive conveys an expression at once of deep affection and also of solicitude for those who as yet are immature. By using it here the Lord marks the loving spirit of the communication which He makes, and assures those whom He leaves of His tender sympathy with them in their bereavement. At the same time He indicates that they stand to Him in a relation corresponding to that in which He stands to the Father: comp. x. 14, ;

xiv. 20, xvii. a 1, 23. wet

a little while] Le. it is but for a little I am with you: the moment of

while that

separation is at hand.

Comp. vii. 33.

coming times of the Passion, and after the Resurrection, and after the Ascension, and even to the consummation of the age, in the manifold Te

shall seek

me]

in the

unto you, That ye love one another ; chap. x 5 7 as I have loved you, that ye also love J john ax one another. -

glorify the

in himself]

197

was addressed to the Jews, " and ye shall not

The find me" (vii. 34), is not added here. search of the disciples, if in sorrow, would The words recorded finally in vain. Luke xxii. 35, 36 point to a similar con-

not be in

trast between the position of the disciples with

the Lord and their position without Him. Augustine's epigrammatic comment is most

worthy of notice: " Quaeramus inveniendum quaeramus inventum* Ut inveniendus quaeratur, occultus est; ut inventus quaeratur, immensusest... Satiat quaerentem in quantum capit, et invenientem capaciorem facit..." Comp. vii. 34. as I said] viii. 21. the yews] iv. 22, xviii. 20, 36 note. so

now]

Of the two

particles

which are

rendered u now," one (yvv) marks a point of time absolutely; and the other (aprt, Vulg. modo) y which is used here, marks a point of time relatively to past and to future, and thus includes the notion of development or proComp. ix. 19, %s (3pTi), 11 (vvv), gress. and see also xiil 7, xvi. 12, 31 ; Rev. xri. 10 (apri).

The exact force of the " now " here therefore is that, in the due advance of the divine plan, the time was come for the disciples to learn

that they

must be left behind by their

Master.

34, 35. The announcement of the coming separation leads to the indication of its purpose. The season of bereavement was to oe a season of spiritual growth. To this end Christ gave a commandment fitted to lead His disciples to appropriate the lessons of His life, and so, by realising their true character, to follow and to find Him. In giving this com-

mandment He spealfe both as a Master and as a Father (v. 33, little children) who gives instructions to the various members of his household on the point of his departure.

34.

A new commandment, That ye love one . .

another] The last clause is commonly taken to convey the substance or scope of the commandment. In this case the "newness" of the commandment (which was old in the letter,

Lev. xix. 18; Luke x. 27) must be sought in the newness of the motive and of the scope, inasmuch as the example of the self-sacrifice of Christ, begun in the Incarnation and consummated at His death, revealed to men new Comp. 1 John obligations and new powers. 7 f.

A man's " neighbour " was at last

trial after

ii.

loneliness of toil. Comp. Luke xvii. 22. It must be noticed that the second clause, which

seen to be simply his fellow man (Luke x. 36), while this universal love was based upon a special love realised in the Christian society (dMijXovs). Thus Christ was recognised fint

O 2

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St.

193

JOHN. XIII.

[v-

3S» 3&

35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

36 1T Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou ? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst

as the life of the Church, and then as the life of humanity. In this way the full conception of His Person was gradually called out, as the sense of "brotherhood" was fulfilled in Him, and love became active as an inward power and not as a duty imposed, as self-sacrifice resting on universal and not on relative claims. Nothing in the context suggests that the intensity of the commandment was increased, as if men were now to love their neighbours more than themselves. It has however been conjectured that the " new commandment " is the ordinance of the Holy Communion which was instituted to the end that Christians " might love one another," by recalling in that the Crowning act of Christ's love. If this be so, the words, that ye love one another, give the purpose and not the sub-

unto you. The commandment is thus enforced by the example: " I enjoin the precept (or I appoint the ordinance), even as up to this last moment I loved you, in order that you also, inspired by me, may imitate my love, one towards another." Comp. 1 John iii. 16. J have loved you] The exact form (jyamjaa, I loved) implies that Christ's work is now ideally finished. Comp. xv. 9, 1a, xvii. 4.

It is however stance of the commandment. difficult to suppose that such an Institution would be spoken of as a "commandment" (fVroAfj, 1

John ii. 7, iii. a a fF.)

;

but even if

this definite reference be not accepted, it seems

best to preserve the force of the final particle

By the manifestation of the Christian society Uv oAXijXoi?, Mark ix. 50 ; Rom. xv. 5), and not characteristically by works of power, the Master would be seen to be still present with the 35.

By (<*) this]

love in

Comp. 1 John iii. 10.

disciples.

The well-known

anecdote of St John's extreme old age preserved by Jerome (»ad Galat.' vi. 10) is a striking comment on the

commandment.

It is related that the disciples

of the apostle, wearied by his constant repetition of the words " Little children, love one another," which was all he said when he was often carried into their assembly, asked him why he always said this. " Because" he replied, 4 it *

(Iva ayanarf) as marking the scope and not simply the form of the new commandment. The force of "the new commandment" is illustrated by the well-known answer of Hillel: 44 That which is hateful to thee thou shalt not

do to thy neighbour (comrade, TUJ"6). This is the whole Law tlie rest is only comment:

ary " (Buxtorf, Lex.' s. v. ^D). The positive and the absolute takes the place of the «

negative and the relative.

"Mandatum novum do vobis^ ut voj invieem non sicut se diligunt qui corrumpunt, nee sicut se diligunt homines quoniam homines sunt; sed sicut se diligunt quoniam dii sunt et filii Altissimi omnes, ut sint Filio eius unico fratres..." (Aug. ad loc). diligatis:

A. .commandment] This one commandment .

includes the

Rom. xiii.

sum of the old Law.

10.

and universal also in its application. to

common life.

It belongs

The transition from

plural to the singular in 1 be noticed. is

Comp.

It is universal in its scope,

the

John ii. 3, 7 is to

even as I have loved you] This clause also ambiguous. It may express either the cha-

racter or the ground of the love of Christians. In the former case it is supposed that this clause is transposed and placed in the front for emphasis: "that ye also may love one another even as I have loved you," that is, with absolute devotion. Such a transposition

however is foreign from St John's manner, and in this interpretation, ye also loses its force. Thus it seems better to take the clause as parallel with a new commandment give I

the Lord's

commandment; and if it %>nly

be fulfilled it is enough." all men] The spectacle of love was a witness to the world (comp. xiv. 31, xvii. 21), and so it was treated by the early apologists as, for example, in the famous passage of Tertullian: "The heathen are wont to exclaim with wonder, See how these Christians love one another! for they hate one another; and how they are ready to die for one another ! for they are more ready to kill one another..." ( Apol.' 39). This idea of the witness of Christian love is made prominent by the fact that the Lord says " all men shall perceive (yveivovrat) that ye are," and not simply " ye shall be." At a later time Chrysostom drew a remarkable picture of the divisions of Christians as hindering the conversion of the heathen ( 4 Horn, in Jon.' 71 fin.). 4

my disciples]

The original form of expres-

and emphatic. This, it is implied, was the loftiest title to which they aspired.

sion

(c'/iol

fiaBtfrai) is peculiar

Comp. xv. 8, iv. 34.

of the —38. The view of the —of His His departure, the perpetuation of His work— completed by a

Lord

position

victory,

view of the position of the disciples as seen in their representative, of their doubts, their future attainment, their present weakness.

38. said (salth)... <u/£i>4<r goest tbouf] St Peter feels rightly that the fact of the Lord's departure (v. 33) is the central point of all that He has just said. In the prospect of this separation he cannot rest satisfied with

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St. JOHN.

37, 38.]

not follow me now 5 but thou shalt follow me afterwards. 37 Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will *Matt«6. Aj

ay down

my iife for thy sake.

XIII.

199

38 Jesus answered him, Wilt thou

my sake ? say unto thee,

lav down thy life for rily,

verily,

Ve-

The

cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

the implied promise of support and of the realisation by the disciples of the character of their absent Master. If Christ were indeed

checking the disciple the Lord simply points out the impossibility of an immediate following, and does not insist on a contrast of cha-

"the King of Israel" (comp. xii. 15), where could His kingdom be established if not at Jerusalem (comp. vii. 35) ? How could the

racter which makes the impossibility.

King leave those who had followed Him till He had claimed and received His throne? The Latin rendering of the words (Domine quo vadist) recalls the beautiful legend of St Peter's martyrdom (jlcta Pauli, Hilgfd., 1 * N. T. extra Can. iv. 72). For the incompleteness of St Peter's question see xvi. 5. His thoughts were fixed upon the material and not upon the spiritual departure and following. answered him] Omit bim. The question itself is not directly answered, but rather the thought which St Peter cherished as he made it. " Let me only know whither Thou goest,"

he seems to say, " and I will go with Thee." So the reply of the Lord checks and yet encourages the apostle. It is enough for him to know that he shall follow his Master, though not now. It was impossible for him to follow Christ at once, because he was as yet unfitted. The work which he had to accomplish would

him for this, and the question w is mainly one of " going and " following."

itself prepare

The idea of time is subordinate here, while it is otherwise in v. 37. Comp. Matt. xx. 23. Comp. Aug. *Tr.' 66, "Noli extolli praesumendo, non potes modo noli dejici desperando, :

sequeris postea." If the original words are compared with the parallel it

words in viii. 21 (and supr. v. 33)

will be observed that the sharp opposition

of persons

(J,

ye)

not preserved here.

37. Peter said (saith). Lord, why cannot I follow thee even now (apn, Vulg. modo)T\ St Peter assumes that the way is one of peril, but he thinks that he has estimated the utmost cost ; and even at the moment he claims to be .

ready. lay down my life] See x. 11, note. The apostle confidently Delieves that he can lay down his life for Christ before Christ has laid down His life for him. At a later time he learnt that it was by Christ's Passion his own

martyrdom became possible, xxi. 18, 19 (Fo/low me). 38.

Jesus

answered bim

Wilt

Jesus answereth, Wilt thou...

thou ...]

The exact

repetition of St Peter's words gives a singular

pathos to the reply. It is as if the Lord accepted their essential truth, and looked forward to their fulfilment across the long years of discipline and trial : " Wilt thou ? yea, I know thou wilt yet in a way how different from that of which thou art now thinking." Comp. Luke xxii. 31 ff. In St Matthew (xxvi. 33) and St Mark (xiv. 29) the prophecy of St Peter's denial is placed on the way to Gethsemane in connexion with the prophecy of the general desertion of the apostles. This latter warning may well have given occasion to a second expression of St Peter's individual zeal. Comp. xvi. 32. But in the narrative of St John, St Peter does not appear again till ;

xviii. 10.

ADDITIONAL NOTE on Chap. xm. 18. There are two groups of explanations of the choice of Judas. The first group regard the choice from the side of the divine counsel the second from the side of the human call. 1. It is said that he was chosen in obedience to God's will in order that he might betray Christ or, to represent the same conception from another point of view, in order that the ;

redemption might be accomplished through his act. 2. It is said again by some that Christ in making His choice of Judas did not read the inmost depths and issues of his character and by others that seeing all distinctly even to the end He kept him near to Himself as one ;

trusted equally with the others of the twelve.

Both

these forms

of explanation involve

partial solutions of infinite problems.

The question raised by the first group leads us at once to the final, mystery of divine Providence. This, as far as we can represent it to ourselves, deals with general results and not with individual wills. The question raised by the second group leads us at onoe to the final mystery of the union of perfect divinity and perfect humanity in the One Person of the Lord. And here the records of the Gospel lead us to believe that the

Loid had perfect human knowledge

realised in a human way, and therefore limited in some sense, and separable in consciousness

from

His perfect divine omniscience.

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St. JOHN.

20O

XIV.

lv. I, 2.

knew the thoughts of men absolutely in their

finite

manifold possibilities, and yet, as man, not in their actual future manifestations.

and the possibility of fellowship between the Creator and the creature.

These two final mysteries are not created by the fact that Judas was chosen by Christ

crete mystery as an example

They really underlie all

among the twelve. religious

life,

and indeed all finite life.

For

CHAPTER XIV.

Christ

and the Father (xiv. 1

— 11).

This section corresponds closely in form to The Lord first that which has gone before. states the goal and the purpose of His departure (w. 1

—

4) *and then meets the two crucial difficulties which are expressed by St Thomas (w. 5—7) and by St Philip (8— 11), as to the reality of man's knowledge of the divine end of life.

Chap. XIV.

;

—

The succession of

thought implied in these verses is singularly impressive. The ground idea is that of departure, already stated this departure is to the Father's abode, with a view to preparing a place for, and then coming again to, those who know the direction of the journey. :

Let not your heart

—the seat of feeling

and faith (Rom. x. 16)— be troubled] Comp. v. 27. There had been already much to cause alarm on this evening: ch. xih. 21 f., 33, 36; and, in particular, the last warning (xiii. 38) might well shake the confidence of the diseasy therefore to imagine the sad silence which followed that utterance, broken at last by these words, which for the ciples.

first

It is

time open heaven to faith.

troubled] v. 27, xii. 27,

xiii.

21.

ye believe in God, believe also in me] The original words are ambiguous and can be interpreted (as indeed they have been interpreted) in four ways, according as the verbs are taken severally as in the indicative or imperative mood:

Ye believe in God, and if this be true, as assuredly it is, ye believe also in me. Te believe in Gad, believe also in me. a. (Vulgate, A.V.) Believe in God, and (as a natural con3. sequence) ye believe in me. Believe in God and believe In me. 4. 1.

The double imperative (4) suits the context The changed order of the object (Believe in God and in me believe) marks the

best.

development of the idea. "Believe in God, and yet more than this, let your faith find in

sin,

Thus we may be content to have this conexample

—of the

—the most

terrible

issues of the two fundamental

mysteries of human existence.

Comforter them.

•,

Christ comforteth his disciples with the hope of heaven : 6 professdh himself the way, the truth, and the life, and one with the Father: 13 assureth their prayers in his name to be effectual: 15 requesteth love and obedience, 16 promiseth the Holy Ghost the

being includes the possibility of

27 and Uaveth his peace with

1ET not your heart be troubled _^ ye believe in in me.

God,

believe also

2 In my Father's house are many

Me one on whom it can rest"

Christ

God gained a present reality. The simultaneous injunction of faith in God and

belief in

in Christ under the same conditions implies the divinity of Christ (*rt(rrcvrr« €if). The belief is "in Christ," and not in any pro-

positions about Christ. The successive divine titles used in God] in the opening verses are significant : God, my

Father (v. 2), the Father (v. 6). In my Father's bouse] the spiritual and 2. eternal antitype of the transitory temple (ii. 16^ in which I have the right of a son (comp. Even as the earthly temple included 36).

viii.

in its court many chambers (1

K. vi. 5, 6, 10;

Ezek. xli. 6), so it is to be conceived of the heavenly, as far as earthly figures can symbolize that which is spiritual. The Homeric description of Priam's palace ('II.' vi. 242 ff.) may help to give distinctness to the image. But it is impossible to define further what is

thus shadowed out. seen as our Father.

Heaven is where God is dare not add any

local limitation, even

in thought, to this final

conception. And so the vision of God sums up all that we can conceive of the future being of the redeemed. many mansions] There is room enough for all there: though you may find no shelter

among men (xvi. 1, 2), you shall find it amply with my Father. It does not appear that there is in this place any idea of the variety of the resting-places, as indicating different limiSuch an idea tations of future happiness.

would be foreign to the context, though it is suggested by other passages of Scripture, and was current in the Church from the time of Tertullian.

The rendering comes from mansions] the Vulgate mansiones, which were restingplaces, and especially the "stations" on a great road where travellers found refreshment. This appears to be the true meaning of the Greek word here; so that the contrasted notions of repose and progress are combined in this vision of the future. The word (jtomj) occurs in N.T. only here and in v. 23.

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3-5-]

St.

JOHN, XIV.

mansions : if it were not j#, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and re-

if it were not so, J would have told you, tori Christ reminds His disciples that as fi"e has told them tidings of sorrow so He would not have withheld anything from them. But as it is, His departure in fact carries with it the promise of their reception. Otherwise 0...]

it would only avail partially. This connexion seenis better than to regard the words if it were not so...you as a mere parenthesis, and to refer the "for," which must be inserted in accordance with the best authorities, to the "many mansions." The interrogative construction, "if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place

for

you?" is

deed no

far less probable:

there is in-

supposing that a reference is made to words not directly recorded (cf. xii. 26, &c, vi. 36), but the question would be singularly abrupt. Still less likely is the rendering "if it were not so, I would have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you." For Christ was in fact going to prepare a place: v. 3. to prepare a place'] Comp. Num. x. 33. Christ by His Death and Resurrection opened heaven,, and by the elevation of His humanity thus made ready a place for men. Comp. Hebr. vi. ao (irpfopoftos). difficulty in

And if...] This departure is itself the 3. condition of the return : separation, the cessation of the present circumstances of fellowship, was the first step towards complete union. / twill come again, and receive.. A I come again and I will receive...] The idea of Christ's Presence (rrapowta) is distinctly implied here as in xxi. a a f. (comp. 1 John ii. a 8). This idea is less prominent in St John's Gospel and Epistles than in the other writings of the New Testament, because they belong to the period after the first great coming of Christ at the overthrow of the Theocracy by the destruction of Jerusalem. But though the words refer to the last "coming" of Christ, the promise must not be limited to that one "coming" which is the consummation of all "comings." Nor again must it be confined to the "coming" to the Church on the day of Pentecost, or to the "coming" to the individual either at conversion or at death, though these "comings" are included in the thought. Christ is in fact from the moment of His Resurrection ever coming to the world and to the Church, and to men as the Risen Lord (comp. i. 9). This thought is expressed by the use of the present / cvmc as distinguished from the future

ceive vou unto myself; that where I

am, there ye may be also. 4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. 5

Thomas saith unto him, Lord,

J will come, as of one isolated future act The "coming" is regarded in its continual present, perhaps it may be said, eternal reality. Comp. w. 18, 28, (xvii. 11, 13), (xxi. 22 f.).

or,

On the other

hand,

for

see,

the

definite

historical fulfilment, xiv. 23.

Side

by side with

this

constant coming,

realised through the action of the

Holy Spirit

in the life of the Church (y. a6), is placed the personal, historical, reception of each believer

(J *will take you to myself) fulfilled through death.

unto myself] the centre and spring of your Christ will not fail His glory.

joy and

disciples, though they

Augustine

may fail (xiii. 38).

observes that these phrases of "going" and "coming" are not to rightly

be interpreted of local transference: "Si bene nee unde vadis nee unde venis, recedis: vadis latendo, venis apparendo." The double correspondence in the language of the two clauses, go come; prepare a place take you to myself, gives distinctness to the two aspects of Christ's work. Presence with Christ, that where I am...] as involving the vision of His glory (xvii. 24), carries with it participation in His Nature. Comp. 1 John lii. a. See also vii. 34, 36, viii. 21 f., xii. a6. intelligo,

—

whither I go ye know, and the way ye 4. know] According to the true reading, whither However indisI go ye know the way. tinct might be the conception which the disci-

ples had of the goal to which the Lord was going, they could at least see the direction in which He went. His life, as they looked upon it, made this clear. Hence the pronoun " whither I I as ye know is emphatic here am going," while it does not occur in the earlier clauses of v. 3 or in St Thomas' repetition of the words v. 5 ; nor is the following " ye " emphatic.

—

me—

5—11. The revelation which the Lord had given of the purpose of His approaching separation creates questioning among the disciples. can they have any true conception of the " way " of which He spoke ? can they have any true knowledge of the Father ? The first question is proposed by St Thomas (5 7) ; and the second by St Philip (8—11).

How

Thomas saith] xi. 16, note. 5. and how can we know the way?] The true text gives a short sentence: how know we the wayt This question of St Thomas expresses a natural difficulty as to the Lord's

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St.

202

we know not whither thou

JOHN. XIV. goest;

and how can we know the way ? 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the no way, the truth, and the life man cometh unto the Father, but by me. :

statement For us generally a clear apprehension of the end is the condition of knowing But in spiritual things faith is conthe way. tent to move forward step by step. There is a happiness in " not seeing," xx. 29. The 44 way " is itself the revelation, and for the only possible revelation, of the end.

man

6 f. The answer of the Lord is more comprehensive than the question of St Thomas. The question is answered by the first clause: 44 1 am the way;" but such a statement itself requires interpretation, and this is given in the clauses which follow. To know Christ is to know all, to know both the goal and the way. He is in the fullest sense the way, and the guide, and the strength of men ; and beside Him there is none other. 6. I am ...] not simply 4t I reveal," or " I open," or 4t I make, as a prophet or a lawgiver." Christ is all Himself. The pronoun is emphatic, and at once turns the thoughts of the apostles from a method to a Person. The beautiful paraphrase of the verse by Thomas a Kempis may be quoted in his own words: 44 Ego sum via, Veritas et vita. Sine via non itur, sine veritate non cognoscitur,

[v.

7 If ye had known me, ye should known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. 8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

have

to satisfy its own law of progress and to minister to the whole of which it is a part Comp. xi. 25 ; Col. iii. 4. It is most instructive to notice the two connexions in which Christ reveals Himself to be 44 the Life." Comp. xi. 25, note. no man cometh unto the Father...] Here for the first time the end of 44 the way," even the Father, is distinctly told. It is only through but by (through) me] Christ that we can, though in God (Ac's xvii. 28), apprehend God as the Father, and The preposition so approach the Father. probably marks the agent (comp. i. 3, 10,

17; 1 John iv. 9); but it is possible that Christ may represent Himself as the 44 di*>r (x. 1, 9). It does not follow that every one who is guided by Christ is directly conscious of His guidance.

sine vita

non

vivitur.

Ego sum

via

quam

sequi debes: Veritas cui credere debes: vita quam sperare debes." ( 4 De imit.' in. 56.) the way] by which the two worlds are united, so that men may pass from one to the

Com p. Heb. ix. 8, x. 20; Eph. ii. 18. Hence, perhaps, the Christian faith is spoken of as "the way:" Acts ix. 2, xix. 9, 23, xxii. The use of the corresponding 4, xxiv. 22. word in the Chinese mystical system of Lao44 tse is of interest. In the mysticism of Lao the term [Tao, 4 the way,' 4 the chief way ] is applied to the supreme cause, the way or passage through which everything enters into life, and at the same time to the way of the highest perfection" (Tiele, 4 Hist. of Rel.' other.

P- 37). the truth"] in is

eternal

which is summed up all that and absolute in the changing phe-

nomena of finite being. Comp. viii. 32, L 14, 17; 1 John v. 6 in connexion with ch. xiv. 26; Eph. iv. 21. For St John's conception of Truth see Introduction, pp. xliv. f. See also Jer. x. 10 (Hebr.) and Maimonides, 4 Yad Hach. 1. 1. the life] by which the entire sum of being fulfils one continuous purpose, answering to the divine will (comp. i. 3, 4), no less than that by which each individual being is enabled $

6— 8.

—come to know

If ye bad known me

me in the successive revelations of myself which I have made—ye should have known—have enjoyed a certain and assured knowledge of (jj&ctr*) my Father also] " The (ryvcaiceirc)

Father" of v. 6

now regarded under His The disciples, it is

Special relation to Christ.

implied, would have had no need to ask about Christ's goal and theirs, if they had really known Him. The change of verb (cypuxctrc, J7&ctr«) and the change of order («J cywft. /if, rov n. fi. fiv jf&.) are both significant Comp. viii.

19.

from crisis in

henceforth

(omit

and)—from

this

my self-revelation—^ know him, and

have seen him] The announcement which Christ had made had placed the Nature of the Father in a clear light. The disciples could no longer doubt as to His character or purpose. In this sense they had 4% seen the Father," though God is indeed invisible (i. 18). They had looked upon Him as He is made known in His fatherly relation, and not as He is in Himself. From that time forward the knowledge and the vision became part of their spiritual being.

Comp. 1 John ii. 13.

St Thomas remains silent. The same faith, we may suppose, which afterwards enabled him to give expression to the great confession, xx. 28, now kept him pondering on the meaning of Christ's words. St Philip, on the other hand, takes hold on the last word and seeks to obtain vision in a more unquestionable form. He wishes to gain bodily sight in place of the sight of the soul. Philip] i. 46 (47); vi. 7, xii. ai ff. 8.

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9— xi.]

JOHN. XIV.

St.

9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip ? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father ? 10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in shew us] As the revelation was once made to Moses (Exod. xxxiii. 17 ff.), and as it has been

promised in the prophets (Isai. xl.

The new dispensation naturally seemed to call for a new manifestation of the divine glory. The request at the same time implies the belief that Christ could satisfy it Comp. Matt xi. 27. 5).

it sufficeth

us]

We shall be contented then

we shall ask and we

even to be left alone ; shall need no more.

Have I been. .with you. .] The thought primarily of the self-revelation of Christ, and not or the power of observation in the 9.

disciples (Have ye been... with me...).

me?

the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe

In x. 38, the order is different, inasmuch as the notion of divine power is there made the starting-point. The teaching of Christ shewed how He was in closest communion with the Father; His works shewed how the Father

wrought in Him. words] the special utterances (rh pq-

the

/iOTa), the parts of the one great message, xv. 7,

xvii. 8.

of the teaching (AoAa>). Comp. xii. 49 f., xvi. 18; Matt. xiii. 3, xiv. 27, xxiii. 1, xxviii. 18; Mark v. 36, vi. 50 ; Luke xxiv. 6 ; Rom. iii.

the true manifestation of the Father, whose will and nature could be discerned in the acts and words of His Son. theophany an apparition of God's glory could only go a

originated,

—

little

way in shewing His holiness and justice

and love.

•

known me] The Lord does not say here " the Father " He points out first the way to ;

the end. Philip]

There is an evident pathos in this

Comp. Hi. 34, v. 47, vL 63, 68,

30, 47, x. 21, xii. 47 f. speak (say)... speak] The former verb notes the substance (Xc'yu) and the latter the form

viii.

19, &c.

me for the very works'

sake.

...and yet bast thou not known...'] and dost thou not know me? hast thou not come to know me (Zyvcoicat) ? The life of Christ was

—

203

of myself]

Comp. v. 19, note.

hut the Father...]

My teaching is not self-

but on the contrary

my whole

Life is the manifestation of the Father's will. the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works] According to the true reading, the

Father abiding in me doeth His works, out actively His purpose in many ways, and my teaching is part of this purpose. u The works" were the elements of "the work" (iv. 34, xvii. 4, v. 36, ix. 4), and they are said to be wrought by the Son (x. 37) as

carrieth

The only partial paralSt John are in xx. 16 (Mary)\ xxi. 15 (Simon son of John) ; the insertion of Thomas in xx. 29 is a false reading. See also Luke

by the Father. Comp. v. 19 f., notes. The words and the works of Christ are pointed out as the two proofs of His union

Matt xvi. 17, xvii. 25; Mark

spiritual consciousness, the latter to the intel-

direct personal appeal. lels in

xxii. 31, x. 41; xiv. 37.

The former were a revelation of characthe latter primarily of power; and naturally the former have the precedence. Comp.

lect.

be that bath seen me bath seen the Father] hath seen not God in His absolute being but God revealed in this relation. (\. 18),

Comp. xii. 45, xv. 24 Comp. i. 18, note.

with the Father, the former appealing to the

;

CoL i. 15

;

ter,

xv. 24, note.

Heb. i. 3.

The words give for all time a definiteness to the object of religious faith ; and it is impossible to mistake the claim which they express.

and (omit) bow sayest thou (emphatic)] thou, who from the first didst obey my command (i. 43, 44)» and recognise in me the fulfilment of the promises of God (i. 45), and appeal to sight as the proof of my claims

11.

Believe...]

The verb is here plural,

ir«rr«vfT€ contrasted with irtorcvm, v. 10). Philip had expressed the thoughts of his fellowdisciples,

and now the Lord addresses

Believe me that... accept final.

or else] if my Person,

my life, my words,

do not command faith, then follow the way of reason, and from the divinity of my works deduce the divinity of my nature (cf. Comp. x. 37 f., hi 2.

0. 46). 10. Believest thou not...] It was a question of belief, for the Lord had expressed the truth plainly at an earlier time, x. 38. / am in the Father, and the Father in me]

all.

my own statement as

Christ and the disciples (12

v. 36).

— 21).

In the last sub-section (8— 1 1) the thoughts of the disciples were concentrated on the objective manifestation of God without them ,

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St.

204

JOHN. XIV.

12 Verily, verily, I say unto you,

[v.

12—14.

And whatsoever ye shall ask in ' MatL r

He that believeth on me, the works

my name, that will I do, that the

that I do shall he do also j and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask any thing in my

they are now turned to the subjective manifestation of God within them. Three aspects of this progressive revelation are brought out in succession. The disciples continue Christ's work in virtue of their relation to Him (12 He still carries out His work and pro14). vides for them "another Advocate" (15 17). He comes to them Himself (18 21).

—

A comparison of xiii. 33

ff.,

xiv. 1

ff.,

xiv.

12 ff., will shew a striking progress in the unfolding of the vision of Christ's departure.

—14.

Christ's departure enables the dis-

do through His intercession greater

ciples to

works than He had done, in order that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

name, I will do it. 13.

And whatsoever...] This clause may be

of the former clause and dependent on "because;" or a new and independent clause carrying forward the thought The second alternative one stage further. appears to be preferable. The union of Christ, perfect man, with the Father gives the assurance of the greater works and yet more, Christ for the glory of the Father will fulfil the prayer of the disciples. ask (of God) in my name] The phrase in my name occurs here first. Compare in the name of my Father^ v. 43, x. 25, (xii. 13), xvii. 6, 11, 12, 26, and the words of the Evangelist, L 12, ii. 23, Hi. 18, xx. 21. Now at last the Lord has revealed His Person either a continuation

;

Verily , verily...'] 12. Christ had appealed to His works as a secondary ground of belief. He now shews that the true believer will himself do the same works. Such works flow from the Son and from those in fellowship with Him ; but the life and the nature lie deeper. believeth on me] as the result of believing

to the disciples, and they are enabled to apprehend His relation to themselves and to the Father. Thus the phrase occurs throughout this section of the Gospel, xiv. 26, "the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name;" xv. 16, "that whatsoever ye shall ask (airfjr€ f cuniom-c) the Father in my name, He may give

me (v. 11).

you;" xvi, 23. "if ye shall ask (airijorjr*) anything of the Father, He will give it you in my name;" xvi. 24, " hitherto have ye asked (jjnf-

shall be do also...]

The emphatic pro-

noun fixes attention upon the person already characterized. Comp. vi. 57, and w. 21, 26 xii.

48, ix. 37; v. 39, i. 18, 33.

greater in

works

than

these

(which

my earthly ministry) shall he do~\ " greater"

my name;" xvi. 26, "in that day ye shall ask (afri^o-co-dc) in my name." crare) nothing in

Comp. xv. 21. The meaning of the phrase is H as being one

that is, as including the wider spiritual effects

with me even as I am revealed to you."

of their preaching which followed after Pentecost (Acts ii. 41). " Evangelizantibus discipulis...gentes etiam crediderunt; haec sunt sine dubitatione majora" (Aug. ad lot.). There is no reference to miracles of a more extraordinary kind (e.g. Acts xix. 12), as if there were a possibility of this material comparison (yet comp. Matt xxi. 21 f.). Nor can 4 * greater" be regarded as equivalent to 44 more." These "greater works" are also works of Christ, being done by those who "believe on

two correlatives are in me (vi. 56, xiv. 20, xv. 4 ff., xvi. 33; comp. 1 John v. 20); and

Him." because...] The elevation of Christ in His humanity to the right hand of God carries with it the pledge of the greater works pro-

mised.

The idea is not that the disciples will

henceforward work because Christ will be absent; but that His going increases their power (xvi. 7; comp. Eph. iv. 8 fF.; Phil. iv. The emphatic pronoun (/) does not 13). give a contrast with "ye," but brings out the fulness of Christ's personality. my Father] the Father according to the true reading. The title gives the ground of fellowship.

Its

It occurs elsewhere in the Pauline in Christ. the New Testament in Mark ix. 38, xvi. 17;

Luke x. 17; Acts ii. 38, iii. 6, iv. 10. The phrase in the name (cv r<£ ovopari) must be distinguished from the cognate phrases into the name, on the name (eis to oVo/uo, cVi r<£ ovofiart, and t£ oW/uin), which are also found. Augustine remarks that the prayer in Christ's name must be consistent with Christ's character, and that He fulfils it as Saviour, and therefore just so far as it conduces to salvation.

that (this) nvill I do] There is exact conformity between the disciples* prayer and Christ's will. He promises Himself to do what they ask, and not only that they shall receive their petition. that the Father...] that God may be openly revealed in majesty as Father in the Son, for he who obtains his prayer through Christ, who claims to act in the Father's name (v. 43), necessarily gains a more living and grateful

sense of the Father's

power and love.

Digitized by

The

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5— 17-]

St. JOHN.

15 f If ye love me, keep my com-

XIV.

forter, that

205 he

may abide with you

mandments.

for ever

16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Com-

17 Even the Spirit of truth ; whom the world cannot receive, because it

—

condition the furtherance of the Father's glory furnishes the true limitation of prayer. Comp. xiii. 31 ("the Son of man ...and God..:').

—

14. Ifye shall ask any thing in my name. .] The most ancient authorities add me: if ye

me anything...

This reading gives a Prayer is to be made not only in the name of Christ, as pleading His office in union with Him; but also

shall ask

fresh and important thought.

to Christ.

I will do it] Or perhaps this (or that) will I do (tovto iroijav). The reading is uncertain but on the whole it seems best to regard the personal pronoun as emphatic here (tya> iroiif<r»), so that it marks as elsewhere the action of Christ in the fulness of His double nature.

15—17.

Christ after His departure con-

tinues His work for His disciples, and provides for them an abiding Advocate. But the efficiency of His action for them depends

upon their fellowship with Him through loving

who sent His Son (iii. 17). In this lies the perfect assurance of love; so that there is a correspondence between "I will do" (v. 13) and "I will ask and he shall give." Comp. xvi. 7. On ask (<pa>r$v) see xvL 26 note. the Father] In this common title lies the pledge that the prayer will be granted. shall give] Not send simply (v. 26), but (as it were) assign to you as your own. Comp. 16; 1 John iii. 1, 24, iv. 13; Matt. x. 20. another (Advocate)] See Comforter Note at the end of the Chapter. The phrase appears to mark distinctly the Personality of the Paraclete, and His true Divinity. He is "another," yet such that in His coming Christ too may be said to come (v. 18). abide with you] be with youy according to the true text Three different prepositions are used to describe the relation of the Holy Spirit to believers. He is "with (jura) them." iii.

He "abideth by (tropa) them." (cV) them."

He is "in

The first marks the relation of The comp. xiv. 9, xv. 27.

obedience.

fellowship:

15. If ye love me...'] The thought of love follows that of faith (v. 12). Faith issues in works of power: love in works of devotion. The subject of the love of the disciples for Christ (comp. viii. 42) is peculiar to this and the following section (15 31). keep] According to the true reading, ye wl 1 keep. Obedience is the necessary consequence of love. The imperative reading gives a false turn to the thought. Love carries with it practical devotion, and this calls out the intercession of the Lord; or, in other words, love for Christ finds practical expression in love for the brethren, which is His commandment (xiii. 34). Comp. xv. 10, xiv. 21,

second that of a personal presence: comp. viii. The third that of 38, xiv. 23, 25, xvii. 5. individual indwelling: comp. xiv. 10 f. for ever] Christ's historical Presence was His spiritual Presence only for a time. was "for all the days until the consummation of the age" (Matt, xxviii. 20). This Presence was fulfilled through the Spirit.

—

23; (1 John v. 3).

my commandments] The commandments that are mine, characteristic of me (jas cVroXA* ray (par, comp. xv. 9 note, xv. 12: in v. 21, xv. 10, rat *vro\as ftov). The phrase in this connexion is nothing short of a claim to divine authority. It may be added that this conception of 44 keeping God's commandments given through Christ" is characteristic of St John's writings;

John

xv. 10;

6; Rev.

xii. 17.

ii.

f., iii.

24, v. 2 f.^

2 John

Compare with this wider 1 Tim. vi. 14.

meaning Matt xix. 17; 16. part,

And I will pray (ask)...] when the due time has come.

on my Active

on the part of Christ corresponds to The active love on the part of the disciples. mission of the Paraclete is from the Father love

17. the Spirit of truth] the Spirit by whom the Truth finds expression and is brought to man's spirit (xv. 26, xvi. 13; 1 John iv. 6 [opposed to "the spirit of error"]. Comp. Comp. 1 Cor. ii. 12 ff. The 1 John v. 6). Truth is that which the Spirit interprets and The gen. after "Spirit" describes enforces.

some cases (1) its characteristic, and in In the first sense other cases, (2) its source. we read Eph. i. 13 ; Hebr. x. 29. Comp. Eph. Luke xiii. 11; Rom. i. 4, viii. 15, xi. 8; i. 17; On the other 1 Cor. iv. 21; 2 Tim. i. 7. hand we have x Cor. vi. 11; Rom. viii. 11; 1 Cor. ii. 11 f. Comp. Additional Note on i. the world] in

10.

cannot receive] because sympathy is a necessary condition for reception. The soul can apprehend that only for which it has affinity They who stand apart from (1 Cor. ii. 14). Christ have neither the spiritual eye to discern the Paraclete, nor the spiritual power to acknowledge Him. Immediate vision is the one The world test which the world admits.

beboldetb (comp. ii. 23, note, xvi. 16) him

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2o6

St.

JOHN. XIV.

seeth him not, neither knoweth him

but ye know him ; for lie dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18 I will not leave you comfortless : I will come to you.

Or,

0T/JkOMS.

knowetb (com p. ii. 25, note) bim. This inability to receive the Spirit is emphasized by the fact that " His own people Even of the received not the Word (i. 11).

not, neither

disciples

not said that they "see" the

Paraclete. It is to be became. ..for (because)...] noticed that the order of thought in the two With the world want of clauses is reversed. With the disvision prevented possession. ciples the personal presence of the Paraclete

brought knowledge, and with that knowledge the power of more complete reception. Comp. Matt. xxv. 29. On the other but (omit) ye know him] hand, the disciples had so far realised their fellowship with Christ, that of them it could be said, even as they looked with uncertainty to the future, u ye know (yivvaKcr*) Him," with a knowledge inchoate indeed, yet real. For in Christ the Spirit was truly present already, if not in His characteristic manifestation ; just as Christ is present now with His Church in the Spirit. In this sense it could be said of the Spirit, even before Pentecost, Heabidetb by you and Is 01 you, according to a reading which For the time the Spirit has strong support. was in Christ; afterwards Christ has been for us in the Spirit. And His Presence is twofold, in the Society and in the individual; He "abideth beside" us in the Church; and He ** is " in each believer. The common reading " shall be in you " has considerable support, and the two forms in the original (form, tori) are liable to confusion, but the present tense appears to be less like a correction.

Comp. 2 John 2. 18—21. A third topic of consolation on

[v.

— 20.

19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more ; but ye see me : because I live, ye shall live also.

20 At that day ye shall know that humanity waaglorified ; and the promise was The life potentially completed at Pentecost of the Church is the realisation of the Pentecostal coming of the Lord, which is to be crowned by His coming to Judgment. No one specific application of the phrase exhausts its meaning.

Comp. v. 3, note.

ret a little while] That is, to the 19. close of Christ's earthly natural life (comp. vii. n, xii. 35, p. XP ; xni 33i xvi - l6 "•• So long, in some sense, the world fUKp.). continued to "see" (behold) Christ even if they did not "'know " Him, through the conditions of His transitory manifestation. The disciples, on the other hand, in virtue of the principle o£ spiritual life within them, did not wholly lose the power of "seeing" (beholding) Christ by His death. They "beheld Him," so far as they were still able to receive His revelations of Himself; they "did not behold Him" (xvi. 16), so far as they had not yet gained the lasting vision of His divine glory. The words exclude the error of those who suppose that Christ will " come " under the same conditions of earthly existence as those to which He submitted at His first -

coming. because I live... also] The ground of the in the disciples, which the world lacked, lay in their fellowship with Christ, and in the capacity for the higher life involved in that fellowship. The fulness of their life, as of their sight dated from PenteThus this first clause concost (shall live). 1 tains oy implication the reason of the disciples continuous sight of their Lord, while it gives also the promise of their more complete con-

power of vision

Him when He was raised from The open sight of God is the fulness

nexion with

Christ's departure lies in the fact that He will

death.

Himself come to the disciples, and make His Person clearer to them than before.

of life, 1 John Hi. 1 ff. Compare v. 26, vi. 57 : and, in another aspect, 1 Cor. xv. 21 f.

18. J will not leave (x. 12, xvi. 32, viii. 29J you comfortless'] Orphans (Lam. v. 3), bereft of your natural and loving guardian (6p<fmChrist presents Himself povs, Vulg. orfanos). to the disciples as a Father of " children"

^i\ no less than as a brother (xx. 17; comp. Hebr. ii. 11 f.). "Ipse circa nos paternum affectum quodammodo demonstrat" (Aug. adloe.). The very word which describes their sorrow confirms their sonship. I will come'] I oo me, ever and at all times (xiii.

am coming.

The positive promise is not Comp. w. for the future only, but abiding. 3, 28, xxi. 22 f. The fulfilment of the promise I

began at

the

Resurrection,

when

Christ's

If the words are taken (as the original allows) wholly or in part as a direct explanation of the former statement {ye behold me, because I live and ye shall live, or ye behold

me because I live, and ye shall live) the sense is much feebler; and the constrnction is not in St John's manner. Comp. xiii. 14, xiv. 3, xv. 20.

20. xvi. 23,

At that day] of realised life (comp. 26) you shall come to know by the

teaching of the Spirit, what is for the time (v. 10) a matter of faith only, my union with Him who is not only " the Father," but " my Father," and then, in that knowledge, realise the fulness of your fellowship with me. " The

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V. 21 —23-]

St.

JOHN. XIV.

am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. 21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

22 Judas saith unto him, not Is-

day " corresponds to " the coming/' but generally it marks each victorious crisis of the

new apprehension of the Risen Christ. I am in my Father] The converse truth (my Father in me,

w. 10

f.,

xvii.

21) is not

brought forward here, because the thought is predominantly that of the consummation of life in the divine order, and not that of the divine working in the present order. ye in me, and I in you] The union is regarded first in its spiritual completeness, and then in its historical completeness (comp. xvii. ax, 23, (26) ; 1 John iii. 24, iv. 13, 15, 16).

The 21. He that bath... and keepeth..,] first verb (hath) marks the actual possession, as of something which is clearly and firmly apprehended (v. 38); the second (keepeth), the personal fulfilment The verse is in part the converse of v. 15. There active obedience is seen to be the consequence of love. Here active obedience is the sign of the presence of love. Comp. xv. 10. The variation of construction (shall be loved by, I twill love) in the second clause is to be noticed (see v. 23). The passive form (shall be loved by) seems to bring out the idea of the conscious experience of love by the object of it. The believer loves and feels in himself the action of the Father through Christ (my Father). will manifest myself] The exact force of the word (tfj«f>avl(a>) is that of presentation in a clear, conspicuous form (comp. Matt, xxvii. S3; Hebr. ix. 24; [Acts x. 40 Rom. x. 20]; Exod. xxxiii. 13, j8). It conveys therefore more than the idea of the disclosing of an undiscovered presence (an-oKaXi/irru) or the manifesting of a hidden one (<f>av€p6v). The action of .the Spirit effectuates in the believer this higher manifestation of Christ, which more than supplies the place of His Presence under the conditions of earthly life. At the same time the revelation is Christ's own work: "I will manifest myself," and not " I shall be manifested" (comp. v. 18, note). ;

207

cariot,

Lord,

how

that

thou

wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not

unto the world ? 23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words and my Father will love him, and we will come unto :

parts.

First

the condition of Revelation

down in answer to the question of St Jude (22 24); then the mode of Revelation

laid

—

defined (25 27); and lastly the work of Christ for His people, fulfilled in heaven and on earth, is recapitulated (28 31). is

—

22—24.

On the side of man love and

obedience are prerequisites for the reception of divine communications. These Christ calls out, and to reject His teaching is to reject the teaching of God. Judas, not Iscariot] Luke vi. 16; Acts Comp. Matt. x. 3; Mark iii. 18. The distinguishing clause seems at once to mark that Judas Iscariot was the more conspicuous of the two bearing the name, and also to ex-

22.

13.

press the instinctive shrinking of the Evangelist from even the momentary identification of

the speaker with the betrayer, though he had marked the departure of Iscariot (xiii. 30). If, as appears likely, St John's narrative took shape in oral teaching addressed to a circle of disciples, the addition may have met a look of surprise from the

distinctly

hearers.

Lord, how is it that...] Lord, what hath oome to pass that... The question implies that some change must have come over the It is assumed that as plans of the Lord. Messiah He would naturally have revealed Himself publicly: something then must have happened, so Judas argues, by which the

sphere of Christ's manifestation was limited. The thought is rather of a manifestation of glory than of a manifestation of judgment. unto us] The emphatic position of the pronoun ( u tnat it is to us thou wilt...") gives it the force of u to us, the apostles, only." the world] which was the object of God's love (iii. 16) and Messiah's inheritance (Ps. ii. An apostle now raises in another form 8). the question which was raised by the Lord's brethren before : vii. 4.

23. Jesus answered. .] The answer lies in the necessary conditions of revelation which the words describe. The power of receiving a divine Revelation depends upon active obeLove dience, which rests upon personal love. to Christ brings the love of His Father (my Father and not simply the Father) to the disciple. And this is followed by the realisa.

The law and the progress of Revelation

(22—31).

The description which has been given (12 ai) of the future relation of Christ to His more general view of the nature of Revelation. This falls into three

disciples leads to a

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St.

203 him, him.

and

JOHN. XIV.

make our abode with

24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's :

which sent me.

tion and continuance of that fellowship through which God is revealed to man. Love, obedience, and knowledge are correlative.

Compare v. 15, note. my words] my word, the Gospel message in its total unity, and not as broken up into separate commands (v. 15), or separate parts (v. *4).

we will come...'] This use of the plural Owe) implies necessarily the claim to true aivinity on the part of Christ compare x. 30 (note), and contrast xx. 17 (note). For the idea compare Rev. iii. 20. ;

abode] The original word (/xoifj, Vulg. mansio), even in the changed connexion, carries the thought back to v. 2 (fiovai, mansions). The two aspects of the truth are necessary. Comp. 1 John iv. 15, ii. 24. The Christian abides with God, and God abides with the Christian. with bim (w. 17, 25)] and not here in bim. The idea is that of the recognition of the divine without (so to speak) and not of the consciousness of the divine within. The Christian

God by him (trap* avry); he welcomes and finds a dwelling-place for God, and does sees

not only feel Him in him. general idea Lev. xxvi. 1 1 ff.

Compare for the

24. The love of the disciples fitted them, imperfect as they were, to receive Christ's revelation of Himself. The want of love in the world made revelation impossible for the world. This impossibility is indicated and traced to its final ground in the last clause, which corresponds in relation though not in form to the last clause of v. 23. Disobedience to Christ is in fact disobedience to God under the aspect of Love. To reject His word is to reject the Father's word. For such then as loved not Christ there could be no divine manifestation in the sense here implied. Comp. vii. 16. keepefh not my sayings] my words (Xoyovr), the constituent parts of the one " word." The use of the plural here may perhaps mark the perception of the unity of the revelation of the Lord as characteristic of believers and impossible for unbelievers. which ye bear] The clause is unemphatic, and appears simply to describe the divine message in its fulness as actually addressed to the apostles.

—27. The

earthly teaching of Christ was

dependent on the circumstances under which

[v.

—

26.

25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.

26 But the Comforter, .which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach

His temporary "abiding with

was given.

the disciples " was but an image of the future abiding (v. 23). So far {these things) He had been able to speak while those who heard

could at least partly understand Him. There could not but be something which seemed incomplete, and something which seemed obscure to the hearers. But this teaching, now brought to its close, was to be completed and laid open by the teaching of the Spirit, which should be universal (all things as contrasted with these things). And meanwhile Christ gave His peace as an endowment for the time of waiting.

25. These things...] all that had been spoken on this evening in contrast with the further teaching (all things) of the Paraclete. being yet present...] while yet abiding... The word used (/ic'rov, Vulg. manens) keeps up the connexion between the transitory fellowship of Christ with the disciples on earth and His spiritual fellowship with them hereafter (jiovrfv iroiT)(r6n*6a, v. 23).

26. the Comforter (Advocate), which is (even) the Holy Ghost (Spirit), whom the As comFather will send in my name] pared with Christ the Paraclete fulfils a double office: He teaches and He recalls Christ's teachings. His work indeed is to teach by bringing home to men the whole

of Chrises teaching. The revelation of Christ in His Person and work was absolute and complete, but without the gradual illumination of the Spirit it is partly unintelligible and partly unobserved. ii.

Comp. xvi.

13;

John

20, 27.

As Christ came "in His Father's name" (v.

43,

25),

the

Spirit

sent

u in

His name." The purpose of Christ's mission was to reveal God as His Father, and through this to make known His relation to men, and to humanity, and to the world.

The purpose of the Mission of the

Holy Spirit is to reveal Christ, to make clear to the consciousness of the Church the full of the

significance

Incarnation.

Christ's

name," all, that is, which can be defined as to His nature and His work, is the sphere in which the Spirit acts; and so little by little through the long life of the Church the mean" ing of the primitive confession " Jesus is Lord 44

(Rom. x. 9

;

Cor. xii. 3) is made more fully

known.

The sense of the promise is completely

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¥.

27, 28.]

St. JOHN.

you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you : not as the world giveth, give 1 unto you. Let destroyed if u in my name 1 ' is interpreted as meaning nothing more than u as my representative" or "at my intercession." the Holy Ghost] The full emphatic title Orb U¥€Vfia rb ayiov) occurs here only in the Gospel. The moral character of the Spirit as fashioning the life of the Church is added to. the teaching power of the Spirit (w. 16, 17), as the Revealer of the Truth. The title occurs in the words of the Lord in the Synoptic Gospels: Matt. xii. 3a; Mark hi. ao; Luke xii. 10 (to a. «>.), 1 a (ro d. trv.)» Mark xiii. ii ; Matt, xxviii. 19 (T 6 d. nv.). be shall.,.'] The emphatic masculine pronoun (<K€lvos) brings out the personality of the Advocate, while at the same time it gathers

up in

the personality the various attributes

which have been before indicated (i. 18, note). teach... bring to remembrance...'] The former office appears

to find its fulfilment in the interpretation of the true character of Christ,

of what He was, and what He did: the latter, in opening the minds of the disciples to the right understanding of Christ's words: comp. ii. 22. So the Gospel could be written. The 44 you" does not limit the teaching of the Spirit to the apostles, who were the representatives of the Church (vv. 16, 17}, though the promise was potentially accomplished for them (xvi. ia f.). all things... whatsoever I have said] all things ... that I said. The time of teaching is now regarded as past Comp. xvii. 6, Sec. The position of the personal pronoun at the end of the sentence (according to the most probable reading: cfoov vfiiv cyo>) is very significant.

Peace] The word is here a solemn jiflfl' farewell, just as in xx. ai it is a solemn greeting.

To "give peace" (DW jrti) was a

customary

phrase

of salutation

(Buxtorf,

The Lord takes the common words and transforms them. u God gave to Phinehas," Philo writes in reference to Num. *Lex.' a425).

xxv. 12, "the greatest blessing, even peace, a blessing which no man is able to afford"

(*De vit Mos.' I. § $5, «• **9)I leave] The thought of separation is mingled with the thought of blessing. Even in departing the Lord leaves peace behind as His bequest. He will not disturb that peace which the disciples had found in Him and in part appropriated. On the contrary, He defines and confirms it and offers it to them as their 11 own. "Peace, even my peace, I give unto you,

XIV.

209

not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the

that peace of which I am the absolute Lord and source (comp. xv. 9, note), not regarded on its outward side as the blessedness of the Messianic kingdom, but as the realised confidence of faith and fellowship with God.

Comp. ch.

xvi. 33; Col.

iii.

15; Phil. iv. 7.

So the Lord speaks in the immediate prospect of Death, by which peace was finally secured, Col. i. ao; Rom. v. 1. I rive] as an absolute possession, which

now becomes your own. Comp. 1 John iii. 1. not as the world giveth...] The primary is of the manner of the gift, which passes into that of the character of the gift. The gifts of the world are so made as to give the greatest pleasure at first (comp. ii. 10) The gifts of Christ grow in power and fulness of blessing. Thus in the consciousness of the beginnings of this divine gift of peace the

thought

disciples were encouraged to overcome inward

misgivings and to face outward dangers. " Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be The opening words of the chapter fearful. " are repeated with a new force. let

be a/raid]

be fearful (dciAiarw).

Matt. viii. a6 ; Mark iv. 40; Rev. xxi. 8 (where the "fearful," the " cowards," stand at the head of those devoted to the second death).

Comp. a Tim. i. 7

—81.

;

The last verse (v. 27)

stands

both

of the sub-sections between which it stands. The peace of Christ attends the Church during the period of gradual revelation, and it flows from Christ'swork accomplished in heaven as on earth. This latter thought is brought out in these The departure of verses under both aspects. Christ, the great mystery of His revelation, led to the more effectual fulfilment of His work in virtue of His perfected fellowship with the Father (28, 29); and the mode of His departure, through death, the penalty of sin, was a proof of obedience and love fitted closely

related to

to move the world (30, 31).

The 28. Ye have heard] Ye heard. addition of the word seems to mark the effect of the announcement on the disciples. The revelation was made and carefully noted. 2 4. I said unto you] and come again] and I come. The insertion of "again" narrows the application of the promise. See v. 18, note. If ye loved me] if your minds had not been concentrated on yourselves : if you had

—

Digitized by

St. JOHN.

2IO

for my Father is greater Father than I 29 And now I have told you be-

when it is come to pass, ye might believe. 30 Hereafter I will not talk much fore it come to pass, that,

thought only of me and of the fulfilment of

my work ye would

have rejoiced.

rejoice]

prospect of trouble

The

contrasted with the feeling of joy. But the joy is spoken of as the momentary feeling on realising the announcement (Jx.amr*) an<* not as a continuous is

must be at separation, but it can be brightened by the knowledge of state.

Sorrow

tnere

the cause. because I said, I go] The words / said must be omitted in accordance with the best authorities. Attention is fixed on the fact itself, and not on the statement of the fact.

for my Father (because the Father) is greater than J] and therefore when my union with Him is made complete by my elevation 1 shall be able to carry out my work for all the children of the one Father more effectually. The ground of the disciples' joy, as based upon their love for Christ, must be sought primarily in the fact of His exaltation ; but this carries with it the thought of the consequent more complete fulfilment of His purposes. The return of the Son to the Father was a good for Him, and this alone would have been a sufficient cause for the

But His exaltation was also essentially related to the accomplishment of His mission. Thus the prospect of blessing

disciples' rejoicing.

to the disciples is necessarily included in that

of Christ's going to the Father, though it is not put forward as the cause of their joy. greater than J] It appears to be unquestionable that the Lord here speaks in the fulness of

His indivisible Personality.

"I " is the same as in viii. 58, x. 30.

The The

superior greatness of the Father must therefore be interpreted in regard to the absolute relations of the Father and the Son without violation of the one equal Godhead. The fact that there was an essential fitness, if we may so speak of mysteries which transcend human language, in the Incarnation of the Son, enables us in some measure to apprehend this distinction of greatness, and also how the return of the Son to the Father, after the fulfilment of His mission, would be a source of joy to those who loved Him. See Note at the end of the Chapter.

XIV

And now]

this

(xil 31), when your faith is about to be put to the test. J have told jou] of departure, and yet crisis

more of what is implied in it, before it come to fast. The mode of separation, not yet realised,

29—31.

with you for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. 31 But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even Arise, let us go hence. so I do. :

would prove the greatest trial to the apostles' faith. But the results which followed such a Death would afterwards enable them to trust for ever. Comp. xiii. 19. The absothat ye might (may) believe] lute use of the word includes all the special Other references to manifestations of faith. the ground of assurance to be found in the Lord's predictions occur, xiii. 19, xvi. 4.

Comp. i. 7, 51, iv. 4*, 53i >• 64. LiteHereafter I will not talk...] will no more talk... the prince of this (the) world] xii. 31, note. cometh] even now is coming in the persons All other eneof those whom he inspires. mies are, as it were, the instruments of the one great enemy. The Lord, it will be ob-

30.

rally, I

served, speaks of the chief and not of the subordinate spirits, and contemplates his action

Comp. Eph. vi. 10 ff. and bath nothing in me] More exactly, and In me he hath nothing nothing which There was in Christ falls under his power. nothing which the devil could claim as bethrough men.

—

sovereignty. In others he which is his own, and enforces death as his due ; but Christ offered Himself voluntarily. He was not of the world. u Sic

longing to his finds

that

ostendit non creaturarum sed peccatorum principem diabolum " (Aug. ad loc.).

Thus the words indirectly and by implication affirm the sinlessness of Christ, and

His freedom from the power of death. The two facts which shew the nature of Christ's Passion are first coordinated, and then His free action is contrasted with them the prince... cometh and he hath.. .but that.^^ The Jews had a tradition that when^^K angel of death came before David he cql^r not hurt him because he was occupied unceasingly with lofty thoughts ( Wunsche, ad loc.).

31.

The construction of this verse is some-

what uncertain. The first part may be dependent on the last clause: arise, let us go hence... that the world... and that as... even so I do (Matt. ix. 6) but this arrangement is too artificial, and foreign to St John's style. If then the last clause is separated from what precedes, there still remain two possible inter;

pretations.

29.

[v.

The first clause may be dependent

on u so I do:" i.e.

I go to meet death that the world. . .and even as . . .commandment. But this arrangement is open to the same objection as the former one, and separates unnaturally

the even as. ..so...

remains therefore to

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JOHN. XIV.

take the opening phrase but that as elliptical

fcomp. ix. 3, xiii. 18, xv. 25;

1 John

19): but I surrender myself to suffering and death that cometh to pass which will come to pass that the world. . . The force of the contrast is obvious: but though the prince of the world has no claim upon me, I freely offer myself to the uttermost powers of evil, to death the last punishment of sin, that in me the world itself may see the greater power of love, and so learn (if God will) that the kingdom of Satan is overthrown. Comp. xvil ai, 13. the world] and as...] It is uncertain whether this clause depends on "know" or not. The sense is the same in both cases: obedience flows from love and manifests it Comp. ii.

— —

Hebr. v. 8

;

John v. 3.

The coincidence of the phrase with Matt. xxvi. 46 is interesting. The words are such as would naturally be repeated under like circumstances. must suppose that after these words were Arise, let us go benee]

211

spoken the Lord, with the eleven, at once left the house and went on the way which finally led to Gethsemane; and consequently that the discourses which follow, xv. xvii., were spoken after He had gone from the upper room and before He crossed the Kidron

—

(xviii. 1).

The other supposition, that the Lord after rising still lingered in the room, as full

of the thoughts of the coming events, appears to be wholly against the obvious interpretation of the narrative, and to disregard the clear distinction in character between the earlier and later discourses. On the other hand, the words in xviii. 1, went forth... over the brook Kidron, cause no difficulty, for this " going forth " is evidently in regard to the sacred city and not to the house ; nor is there anything in the abruptness of the narrative unlike St John's method. Further, it may be said that if the command had not been acted upon some notice of the delay would have been given.

ADDITIONAL NOTES on Chap. xiv. 16, 28. 16. The word napoKkrjros, translated Comforter in this passage, is found in the New Testament only in the writings pf St John. It occurs four times in the Gospel (xiv. 16, 26, xv. a6, xvi. 7), and is in these places uniformly translated Comforter; and once in his first Epistle (ii. 1), where it is translated advocate. There is no marginal rendering in

any place. This double rendering dates from Wiclif. Both the Wicliffite versions give Comforter throughout the Gospel and advocate in the Epistle. Tyndale has the same renderings and the two words have been preserved in the English Bibles (the Great Bible, the Bishops' Bible, Geneva, King James's) with the exception of the Rhemish, which gives Paraclete in the Gospel and advocate in the later

Epistle.

This variation, which is found also in Luther (Troster, Gosp., Fursprecber, Ep.), is unquestionably due to the influence of the Latin Vulgate, which has Paracletus (ParaelitusS in the Gospel and advocatus in the Epistle.

The early Latin copies are divided, and not always consistent,

in the

and xvi.

and in xiv.

Pal.,

Gospel.

In xv. »6

16, Pal. Fere,

In the Colb., give the rendering advocatus. other cases Pal. Fere. Ver. Colb. Corb. give paracletus (paraclitus). This division indicates the existence of the two renderings from the earliest times, so that it is not possible to say In the that one is a correction of the other. Epistle the rendering is (I believe) uniformly advocatus. Nearly all the other early versions, the Syriac, Memphitic, Arabic, and jEthiopic,

keep the original word Paracletus; and it is likely, both from this fact and from the use of

the word in Rabbinic writers, that it found early and wide currency in the East. The Thebaic gives different renderings in the Gospel and in the Epistle (Lightfoot, * Revision of New Testament, p. 55, note). Among the Latin Fathers in quotations from the Gospel, Tertullian generally adopts the rendering advocatus, though he uses also paracletus, and gives an independent rendering r Advocatus is also exorator ( *de Pudic' 19). predominant in Novatian, Hilary, and Lucifer. '

Ambrose and Jerome on the other hand usually give Paracletus. Com olator occurs as a rendering in Hilary, Jerome, and Orosius. In the Epistle advocatus is found with little variation, though Ambrose, Victor, and Vigilius read in some places Paracletus. The English rendering " Comforter n appears to have been formed directly from the n verb "to comfort, i.e. to strengthen (comp. Wiclif, Eph. vi. 10, be ye comforted, jvdypafiovadf, confortamim), an adaptation of conThe noun confortator does not fortare. appear to be found ; nor is there, as far as I can learn, any corresponding French word. Passing now from the history of the word in the translations of the New Testament, which finally leaves us with the choice between the retention of the original term paracletus and the rendering advocatus, we go on to consider the meaning of the word independently. This ought to be decisively determined by the form of the word and common usage, unless there be anything in the context

which imperatively requires some other sense. (a) The form of the word is unquestioo-

New Test.—Vol. II.

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JOHN. XIV.

St.

212

ably passive. It can properly mean only " one called to the side of another," and that with the secondary notion of counselling or supporting or aiding him. On these points the cognate forms (icXi/to?, dpcucXrjTos, dfroKkfjros9 €yK\rjros, citUXtjtos, ovyjcXnror, &c.) and the use of the verb (frapaxaXc Ip) are decisive. No example of a like form with an active (middle) sense can be brought forward. (0) The classical use of the word is equally clear.

The word is used technically for the

" advocates " of a party in a cause, and speciSo Demosthenes speaks of the entreaties and personal influence of advocates (al r&v irapaickJTuv ally for advocates for the defence.

tnrovbai, De Falsa Leg.' p. 341. De Cor.' p. 275). The word is not found in the LXX. 4

btrftrttt Ka\

Comp. (y)

but in Job xvi. a irapcfeXfp-ot occurs in Aquila and Theodotion, for the LXX. irapaicK^Topts

(Symm. naprryopovms) as a rendering of the Hebrew DWIJD. There is however no reason to suppose that the two words are identical in

meaning

;

and it is likely that the associa-

tions which had gathered round irapaKkijTos in the second century led to the substitution of a common for a rare word. Philo uses the word several times and in characteristic senses as advocate or intercessor.

44 must find," he writes, "a more powerful advocate by whom (the emperor) Gaius will be brought to a favourable disposition towards US (dct irapdK\f)Tov...*vp€'iv...v<l> ov T<uos i^rvptviaBriatrai) ; and that advocate is the city of Alexandria... and it will use its advocacy (frapcueXiyTfvo-ei).." ('Leg- in Flacc.'

968 B.

Comp. p. 967 B).

And in

another place, speaking of the function of the High Priest, he says, " It was necessary that he who has been consecrated to the Father of the Universe should employ as

advocate (intercessor) one most perfect in virtue, even the Son, both to obtain forgiveness of sins and a supply of most bountiful blessings" (frapaicX^r^) xprjadai rcXftoraro» rffv dp*rrfv vi<£ npot re apvTjoriau mfiaprrjpdTav kcu Yoprjyiap d<b0ov*ordrov dya6a>v) ( de Vit. Mos.' in. 9 14, ii. p. 155 c. Compare 4 de Opif. Mundi,' p. 4 £)• The word is not unfrequent in the (fi) Rabbinical writers. Buxtorf (s. v. D^pna) gives several interesting examples of its use. " He who fulfils one precept gains for himself one advocate (napaKkijros) ; he who commits one transgression gains for himself one accuser" (jconfyopor. Comp. Rev. xii. 10). 44 In the heavenly judgment a man's advocates (napaKkrjToi) are repentance and good works." 44 All the righteousness (comp. Matt. vi. 1) and mercy which an Israelite doeth in this world are great peace and great advocates between him and his Father in heaven." u An advocate is a good intercessor before a magistrate or king." («) There are instances of the occurrence l

of the word in early Christian writers.

Barxx.) speaks of those who are advocates of the wealthy (nXovo-iW napdkXtjtoi) and unjust judges of the poor." And in the Letter of the Churches of Vienne and Lyons, Vettius Epagathus, who had voluntarily pleaded the cause of his fellow Christians, is spoken of as u the advocate of the Christians who had the Advocate in himself, even the will be Spirit" (Euseb. 4 H. E.' v. 1). u our advocate (napdKkrjros) [at the last day]," we read in the Second Epistle of Clement, "if we be not found with works holy and just ? n (11. Clem. 6). (f) Thus the independent usage of the term is perfectly clear and in strict accordance with the form of the word. But on the other hand, the Greek Fathers in interpreting the passages of the New Testament commonly give the word an active sense, as if it were 44 the consoler," 44 the encourager," 44 the comforter " (o napaicak&v). This sense is given to the word as early as Origen, if Ruffinus can be trusted. u Paraclete," he says, "in the Greek has the two meanings 4 intercessor and 4 consoler' (deprecatorem et consolatorem) ... Paraclete when used of the Holy Spirit is generally understood as 4 consoler'" 4 The word is certainly ( De Princ* 11. 7. 4). so interpreted by Cyril of Jerusalem ( Cat.' XVI. 20, napaKkyros... bid to napaKakfiv^ Gregory of Nyssa ('adv. Eunom.' 11. vol. ii. p. 53a, Migne, to tpyov noivr rrapaKk^Tov...

nabas

(' Ep.'

Who

and most later Greek Fathers v.). This adaptation of the sense of wapaKaXup is in all probability no more than a not unnatural isolation of one function of the advocate, just indeed as u ad-

napaKa\av)

(see Suicer,

regarded as the 44 pleader," In this way the interpretation conveys a partial The truth, but by an inaccurate method. advocate does 44 console" and 44 comfort" when he is called to help. But this secondary application of the term cannot be used to confirm an original meaning which is at fatal variance with the form of the word, and also against undoubted use elsewhere. It may also be added that rrapa.Ka\ui> is not found in the writings of St John, though it is common in the other parts of the New Testament. The contexts in which the word occurs in the New Testament lead to the same conclusion as the form, and the independent usage of the word. In 1 John ii. 1, the sense advocate alone suits the argument, though the Greek Fathers explain the term as applied to the Lord in the same way as in the Gospel. In the Gospel again the sense of advocate,

vocate"

itself is

and not as the person himself 44 called in."

counsel, one who pleads, convinces, convicts, a great controversy, who strengthens on the one hand and defends on the other, meeting formidable attacks, is alone adequate. Christ as the Advocate pleads the believer's cause with the Father against the accuser in

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JOHN. XIV.

Satan (x John ii. 1. Compare Rom. viii. 26, and also Rev. xii. 10; Zech. Hi. 1). The Holy Spirit as the Advocate pleads the be* liever's cause against the world, John xvi. 8 if. (comp. Iren. 111. 17. 3); and also Christ's cause with the believer, John xiv. 26, xv. 26, xvL 14.

28.

The superior greatness of the Father,

which is affirmed by Christ in the words The Father is greater than J, has been explained mainly in two way& Some have thought that they have refer1. ence to the essential Personality of the Son, and correspond to the absolute idea of the relation of Father to Son, in which the Father has, in Pearson's language, "something of eminence," " some kind of priority." According to this view the eminence of the Father lies in the fact that the Son has the divine Essence by communication. Others again have supposed that the 2. words have reference to the position of the Son at the time when they were spoken. On this supposition the eminence of the Father lies in His relation to the Son as Incarnate and not yet glorified. Both views are perfectly consistent with the belief in the unity of the divine Nature, and therefore with the belief in the equality of the Godhead of the Son with the Godhead of the Father. And it will probably appear that the one view really implies the other and that, as far as human thought can penetrate such a mystery, it is reasonable to Aground the congruity of the mission " of the Son upon the immanent pre-eminence of the Father. Under any circumstances the opinions of ;

early representative writers upon the passage offer a most instructive subject of study. The earliest use of the passage is of disputed meaning. IrenjEUS (f c. 202) in discussing Mark xiii. 32, says, *• If any one inquire the

reason wherefore the Father, communicating to the Son in all things, hath been declared by the Son to know alone the hour and the day, one could not find at present any [reason] more suitable or more becoming, or more free from danger, than this (for the Lord is the only true (yerax) Master), [that it is] in order that we may learn through Him that the Father is over all things. For the Father, he says, is greater than I. And so the Father is announced by our Lord to have the pre-eminence in regard to knowledge, for this purpose, that we also should leave perfect Knowledge and such questions to God" ('adv. It has been urged that the Haer.' 11. 28. 8). application of the thought to men shews that the reference is to the Incarnate Son in His humanity ; and on the other hand, the general context of the passage and the teaching of Irenaeus in other places (e.g. I. 7. 4) has been pressed to prove that he is speaking of the Son as Son.

213

Clement of Alexandria does not, as for as know, refer to the passage. The interpreta-

Origen (f 253) is free from all ambiguity, though it needs to be guarded carefully. " I admit," he says, " that who maintain that the there may be some Saviour is the most High God over all (o luyurros fa\ ncun Bto\) f but we do not certainly hold such a view, who believe Him when He said Himself: The Father <wbo sent me is greater than J" ( c. Cels.' VIII. 14) and " Clearly we assert that the Son is again not mightier than the Father, but inferior tion of his .successor

;

And we believe Him when He said, The Father <who sent me is greater than I" (id. (ovk laxvportpov aXX* xntobtiartpov).

this we say as

c. 15.

Comp.

In Joh. T.' vi. 23 ; viii. 25).

The language of Tertullian (f c 220), like that of Origen, is open to misconstruction, but it leaves no doubt as to the sense in which

he understood the words.

" The Father," he

says, u is- the whole substance (tota substantia),

the Son is an outflow and portion of the whole (derrvatio (c. 14) tortus et portio), as He Himself declares : because the Father is greater than I ... The very fact that the terms Father and Son are used shews a difference between them; for assuredly all things will be that which they are called, and will be called that which they will be ; and the different terms cannot be ever interchanged " (* c. Prax.' 9).

Novatian (c. 250) is scarcely less bold in " It is necessary that [the Father] have priority (prior sit) as Father, since He who knows no origin must needs have precedence over (anteccdat) Him who At the same time [the Son] has an origin. must be less, since He knows that He is in Him as having an origin because He is born " 4 The words quodammodo, ( De Trin.' I. 31. al'iquo facto, found in the common texts are his mode of expression :

mere glosses'). The words do not appear to be noticed by Cyprian, though he quotes those which immediately precede. At the beginning of the Arian controversy they naturally came into prominence; and the language of Alexander of Alexandria, in his letter to Alexander of Constantinople (c. 322), which is one of the fundamental documents of the Nicene controversy, bears witness to the sense in which they were generally accepted: must guard," he writes, " for the Unbegotten Father His proper dignity (oIkhov d^t'opa), affirming that He has no author of His Being (jLTjbcva tov ft* at avrtp tov alriov Xtyovras) , and we must assign the fitting honour to the Son, according to Him the generation from the Father without beginning (rf)» Hvapx * rrapa tov irarpos ytnnjiriv) ... holding that the being unbegotten is the sole property (IMama) of the Father, seeing that the Saviour Himself said My Father is greater than J" (* Ep. 1 1 Alex. ap. Theod. * H. E. 1. 4, P- 19).

"We

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214

JOHN. XIV.

Athanasius does not dwell upon the words, but he also gives the same general sense to them: "Hence it is that the Son Himself hath not said My Father is better (xpctrrwy) than J, that no one should conceive Him to be foreign to His nature, but mater, not in size (jxtytfat) nor in time, but because of His generation from the Father Moreover

Himself.

in saying

He is greater

He again shews the proper character [the true divinity] of His essence {r^v rrjs ovvias " ibiorrjra, i. e. as rrjt rov rrarpbs ovaias tdios) (* Orate. Ar.'l. 58). In another writing which is doubtfully attributed to him the word " greater " is explained in reference to the Incarnation (entibri HvOpwiro? ycyovc, 4 De Incarn. et c. Aran.' c. Compare the spurious 'Sermo de Fide/ 4.

The Council op Sardica (a. d. 344 ?) adopts the same interpretation of the passage as universally admitted: confess that God is One ; we confess that the Godhead of the Father and of the Son is One ; nor does any one ever deny that the Father is greater than the Son, [greater] not because He is of another essence {ov bi aWrjv virooratriv), or for any other difference, but because the very name of Father is greater than that of Son "

"We

H. E.' 11. 8, p. 8a). Basil (f 379) refers to the passage several times, and definitely adopts the early *

though he also connects the Incarnation. "Since the Son's origin (apyij) is from (diro) the Father,

interpretation,

words with the

in this respect the Father is greater, as cause

and origin {as atriot ko\ apvn). Wherefore also the Lord said thus, My Father is greater than I, clearly inasmuch as He is Father {ica$6 Yea, what else does the word Father signify unless the being cause and origin of that which is begotten of Him? " ( 4 c. Eunom.' warqu).

Comp.

40, § 43, ov Kara (bvatv r6 /uifoi> rrjv alriavbc,

ovdcv yap tvv opoovcricov rn oucria pufov fj And he sets asiae the interpretation of the phrase which refers it solely to the humanity of Christ as inadequate: " To say that [the Father] is greater than [the Son] conceived as man (rot) koto. to¥ avBfxumov roovfuvov) is certainly true, but no great thing to say. For what marvel is it if God is greater than man ?" 4 Orat' 30, § 7). tfXarrov).

(

Hilary (f 368) maintains the same view " The Father is greater than the in the West :

Son, and clearly greater {plane major), to whom He gives to be as great as He is Himself, and imparts the image of His own birthlessness

birth,

§§14,34).

(Theod.

•« depends on cause {tori rrjt Mat), equality on nature " ( Orat.' 30, § 7. Comp. Orat'

{innastihilitas)

by the mystery of

whom He begets of Himself after His

own likeness {ex se in suamformamgenerat).. ." (' De TrhV ix. 54). Who will not confess that And again :

the Father hath pre-eminence {potiorem), as ingenerate compared with generate {ingenitum a genito), Father with Son, the Sender with the Sent, He who wills with Him who obeys ? and He Himself will be our witness: The M Father is greater than I ( 4 De Trin.' III. ia. Comp. xi. 1 a ; 4 De Syn. c. Ar.' 64).

Marius Victorinus (c. 365) gives a remarkable expression to this opinion: u If the Son is the whole from the whole, and light from light, and if the Father has given to the Son all that He has... [the Son] is equal to the Father, but the Father is greater, because He has given to Him all things, and is the cause of the Son's being, and being in that particular

way {causa est ipse fil'io ut sit, ut

Ad hoc autem major quod actio Therefore [the Sonl is equal inactuosa) 4 [to the Father] and unequal " ( adv. Arian.'

isto modo sit.

13).

Eunom.' 1. ao). This idea he expresses elsewhere more fully u The Son

PhjEbadius (c. 350) combines both views: "The Father is greater than I; rightly

second in order (rd(«) to the Father, because He is from (afro) Him, and [second] in dignity (<££ta>/uiri), because the Father is the 'origin' and cause of His Being " (* c. Eunom.' Hi. 1). But at the same time he very distinctly maintains that superior *' greatness " is in no way indicative or difference of essence, and indeed argues that the comparison in such a

greater because

1. 15.

case implies co-essentiality ( Ep.' vin. 5) and " there is also," he adds, " another thought included in the phrase. For what marvel is it 4

He confessed the Father to be greater than Himself, being the Word and having become flesh, when He was seen to be less than angels in glory and [less] than men in appearance (elks) ?"(/.*.). if

Gregory op Nazianzus (f 390) holds the same language as his early friend Basil. "Superior greatness (to

ficlfov),"

he says,

He alone is a cause without cause {solus hie auetor sine auctore «/...), rightly greater because He did not Himself descend into the Virgin..." (*c. Ar.' c. 13). Epiphanius (f 403) is, and

as usual, vague

The

Son," he says, 44 says this, honouring the Father as became Him, having been honoured more greatly by the Father. For it was necessary (e&«) indeed that the true (y^o-ior) Son should honour His own Father, to shew His true nature In so far as the Father is {yvnaioTijra) Father, and He is a true Son, He honours His own Father..." (' Ancor.' 17. Comp. 4 Hor.' lxix. 53. 17; lxii. 4. 7). The thought of Epiphanius is more clearly expressed by the Pseudo-C*sarius : 44 The Father is not greater than the Son in extent, or mass, or time, or season, or worth (n£ia), or strength, or godhead, or greatness, or apunsatisfactory.

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JOHN. XIV.

pearance ; for none of these things have place But inasmuch as the Father is Father, so the Son honours the Father with true filial respect (yvnaiornrt 1 tiuq) " ( 4 DiaL 1. ; 4 Resp.' x viil). Towards the close of the fourth century the opinion began to gain currency that the superior greatness of the Father was referred to the human life of the Son. This was perhaps a natural consequence of the later developments of the Nicene Christology. in the divine Trinity.

Amphilochius (c. 380) is first of the Greek fathers, as far as I have observed, who distinctly refers the words to the Lord's human nature (without hesitation V 44 If you wish to know/* he writes, as if the Lord Himself were speaking, 4t how my Father is greater than I, I spake from the flesh and not from the Person of the Godhead («« rrjs o-apKos tlnov teal ovk 4k trpocrwirov BiorrjTot) " Exc.' xii. ; Galland. vi. 502 ; ap. Theo-

doret. •

Dial.

Comp. 'Dial.' II. p. 151;

Dial.' in. p. a 4 8).

Chrysostom (f 407) in his Commentary

215

that begat Him (rf 4>v*arri) after His leaving the earth (ucra rijv cVreOtfc* anobnuia*)... (adloc.).

In the Latin Church this opinion found general acceptance. Ambrose (f 307) writes 44 [Christ] says in the nature of man that* about which [our adversaries] are wont to

us wrongfully (calummart) [arguing] The Father is greater than /... He is less in the nature of man, and do you wonder if speaking from the character of man (ex persona hominis) He said that the Father was greater...?" ( 4 De Fide, 1 11. 8. assail

that it is said

Comp. v. 18).

Augustine (f 430) commonly refers the superior greatness of the Father to the Incarnate Son ; but he acknowledges that it can be

understood of the Son as Son : The words are written " partly on account of the Incarnation (administrate suscepti bominis) ... partly because the Son owes to the Father that He is as He even owes to the Father that He is equal (jtqualis aut par) to the Father, while the Father owes to no one whatever He is " 4 de (

gives the early interpretation "If any one, he writes, " say that the Father is greater in so far as He is the cause (alnot) of the Son, we will not gainsay this. But this however does not make the Son to be of a different essence (crepay oifotta)" ( 4 Hom.' LXX.adJoc.). Elsewhere ( 4 Horn.' vm. 4 in Hebr.' § a) he appears to admit the reference to the humanity of Christ. The passage which is commonly quoted as giving this view : u It is no marvel

FicLetSymb.' c.ix.(i.8). Comp. c. Maxim.' 15; 11. is; in. 14; *c. Serra. Ar.' 5; Coll. c Max.' 14 De Trin.' 1. 14, aa). In later times the interpretation by which the words are referred to the humanity of Christ became almost universal in the West (e.g. Leo, a.d. 449, Ep. ad Flavian.' xxvm.

if [the Son] is less than the Father owing to the mystery of the Incarnation (dm rrj¥ oIkovofuap)" is from a spurious writing ( 4 Horn, de Christo pasch.' 11 1. p. 814).

In the East, John of Damascus (f 754) carefully reproduced the teaching of the earlier

Cyril of Alexandria (f 444) discusses the passage at considerable length ( 4 Thes.' xi.), and offers different views. He allows that the words can be rightly understood of the absolute relation of the Father to the Son as u the origin of His coeternal offspring * (<w* tov

apxi

While the Son," he ovva'ibiov ytvvrmaros). writes, "is equal to the Father on the ground 44

of essence

(t<ros koto, tov rrjs ova las \ayov vrrapxav) and like in all things, He says that the Father is greater as being without beginning (rot &vapxov)< having beginning Himself in respect of source only (koto povov to c| <w, and not, that is, of time also. Greg. Naz. * Orat.' ao, § 7), even while He has this subsistence (vnap(tv) coincident with Him (the

Father)"

(

Thes.

r.).

In his commentary, on the other hand, he lays down peremptorily the other interpretation : " The Father was greater, as the Son was still a slave and in our condition (cV roU naff ?/uiff)...We affirm that the Son was made than the Father in so far as He has be-

less

come man, that however He was restored to being on equality (thai cV l<r<p) with

Him

1. 4

;

Epist' vm. 16); 4); Fulgentius (c. 533, Alcuin (c. 80a, de Trin.' in. 7). Comp. 4 Thorn. Aqu. Summa,' in. ao. 1). 4

Greek fathers : 44 If we say that the Father is the origin of the Son and greater, we do not indicate that He is before the Son (vrporcpcvftv) in time or nature, nor in any other point, except as being the cause (Kara to curioi/); that is that the Son was begotten of tne Father, and not the Father of the Son, and that the Father is the cause of the Son naturally (airior <f>vcriK»i), as we say that the fire does not come from the light, but rather the light from the fire. When therefore we hear that the Father is the origin of and greater than the Son, we must understand it in regard of the cause (ry rofruptv)" ( 4 De Fide,'

aMy

8).

The summary of opinions given by Photius (f c. 891) may complete this review of ancient 44 interpretations. Our fathers," he writes, 44 have variously understood the phrase of the Gospel, My Father is greater than /, without injury to the truth. Some say that [the Father]

called greater as being the cause,

which presents not difference of substance, but rather identity (ovk ovvias irapoXXayijp

paWov ko\ ovp<f>vtav). ... Others have taken the word as referring to the human nature (kotA to avBpwmvov)-. ..Some have con-

ravTorrjTa

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XV.

[v.

ceded that the term greater is used in respect of the Word, but not absolutely and in regard of essence, but in respect of the Incarnation,... since He who remits nothing of His own excellence is greater than He who has descended to the lowest sufferings. ... One might reasonably understand that the phrase was used with regard to the understanding of the disciples, for they still were imperfectly acquainted with God and their Master, and supposed that the Father was far greater (comp. Isid. Pelus. 'Ep. ? 334). ... And perhaps there is nothing to prevent us from supposing that the term is used in condescension, fashioned in a humble form to meet the weakness of the hearers ..."

of St John, it will be seen that (1) The Lord speaks throughout the Gospel with an unchanged and unchangeable Personality. The " I " (eya) is the same in viii. 58, x. 30, xiv. a 8. (a; We must believe that there was a certain fitness in the Incarnation of the Son. (3) This fitness could not have been an accident, but must have belonged, if we may so speak, to His true Personal Nature. (4) So far then as it was fit that the Son should be Incarnate and sufFer, and not the Father, it is possible for us to understand that the Father is greater than the Son as Son, in Person but not in Essence. Among English writers it is sufficient to refer to Bull ; and to

(* Epist* 1.

47, al. 176, al. 'Qusest.' 95). If we turn from these comments to the text

Pearson, 4 On the Creed, Art 1, whose notes, as always, comtain a treasure of patristic learning.

CHAPTER XV.

and persecution of the world, a 6 The office of the Holy Ghost, and of the apostles.

The consolation and mutual love between Christ and his members, under the parable comfort in the hatred of the vine* 18

AM the true vine, and my Father

The Discourses on the Way

ii.

(xv., xvi.).

This second group of discourses falls into the following sections I.

—

The living union (xv. 1 10). The issues of union : the disciples and Christ (xv. 11

— 16).

The issues of union ; the disciples and the

—

world (xv. 17 27). The world and the Paraclete (xvi. 1 11). The Paraclete and the disciples (xvi. ia 5.

—

15).

—a4^. —33). —

Sorrow turned to joy (xvi. 16 After failure victory (xvi. %$

The living union (xv. I

This

10).

the corresponding group, contains the thought which is pursued in detail in the following sections, the thought of corporate, living, fruitful union between believers and Christ, which is developed afterwards in its manifold issues of joy and sorrow. The succession of ideas appears to be this. The life in union is begun but not perfected (yv. 1, a) and the vital relation must be "freely" maintained (yv. 3, 4) in view of the consequences section

first

section,

the

the husbandman.

external object. Those who think that the discourses were spoken in the chamber suppose that the symbol was supplied by a vine growing on the walls of the house and hanging over the window ; or by " the fruit of the

vine" (Matt. xxvi. *<)). If the discourses were spoken on the way to the Mount of Olives, the vineyards on the hill sides, or, more specially, the fires of the vine-prunings by Kidron, may have furnished the image. If however the discourses and the High Priestly prayer (ch. xvii.) were spoken in the court of the temple (xvii. 1, note), then it is most natural to believe that the Lord interpreted the real significance of the

golden vine upon the gates, which was at once the glory and the type of Israel (Jos. «

Antt.' xv. ix. 3 ;

B. J. v. 5. 4).

first

which follow from its preservation and loss (vv. 5, 6). Such being the circumstances of union, the blessings of union (w. 7, 8) and the absolute type of union (yv. 9, 10) are set forth more fully.

Chap. XV. 1, 2. The first two verses present the elements of symbolic teaching without any direct interpretation, the vine, the branches, the husbandman, the dressing. The whole usage of the Lord leads to the belief that the image of the vine was suggested by some

J am the true vine'] The exact form 1. of the phrase marks first the identification of Christ with the image, and then the absolute fulfilment of the image in Him, Christ: J am the vine; the true vine (comp. Christ in His i. 9, vi. 3a, dkijBivor, x. 11). Person brings to complete fulfilment these vital relations of the parts to the whole —of unity and multiplicity of growth and identity, which are shadowed forth in the vine. But yet more than this, the vine was the symbol of the ancient Church (Hos. x. 1 Isai. v. 1 ff.; Jer. ii. ai ; Ezek. xv. a ff., xix. 10 ff.; Ps. lxxx. 8 ff.; comp. Matt. xxi. 33; Luke xiii. 6; [Rev. xiv. 18 ff.]). Compare Lightfoot and WUnsche, ad loc. Thus two currents of thought are united by the Lord when He speaks of Himself as u the true, Israel failed to satisfy the the ideal, vine." spiritual truths symbolized in the natural vine; the natural vine only imperfectly realises

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St.

JOHN. XV.

2 * Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away : and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth

word

more fruit.

itself,

* dup. 13.

Now ye are clean through the

In both respects the idea which it expresses. 1 Christ is " the ideal vine/ as contrasted with these defective embodiments. the husbandman] The " husbandman " here stands apart from the vine, because Christ brings forward His relation with believers in In this relation virtue of His true manhood He stands even as they do to the Father (Hebr. v. 8), and (in some mysterious sense) He, in His Body, is still under the Father's discipline (comp. Col. i. 24). In the Synoptic parable the word is applied to the leaders of the people; Matt. xxi. 33, and parallels. Compare also Luke xiil 7. 2.

The construction in the original, " Every

branch,

bear not... every branch that

The words would have been naturally, " Every branch in beareth...," is slightly irregular.

me He tends carefully if any bear no fruit He removes it if any bear fruit He prunes :

;

But the indefinite hypothetical form (wav Kkfjpa ufj <t>4pov) is changed in the second clause tor the definite and positive (na» to it"

KapTTov (pcpov).

Every branch"] Christ.

Believers are identified with cannot conceive of a vine with-

out branches. Yet the life is independent of any particular manifestation of it. A similar mystery lies in the image of the body (Eph. v. 30; Col. ii. 19).

In the old dispensation union with Israel

was the condition of life; in the new, union with Christ. in me] Even the unfruitful branches are true branches. They also are "in Christ" though they draw their life from Him only to bear leaves (Matt. xxr. 19). It is the work of the Great Husbandman to remove them. Comp. Matt xiii. 28 f., 47 if. How a man can be "in Christ," and yet afterwards separate himself from Him, is a mystery neither greater nor less than that involved in the fall of a creature created innocent. taketh it away] It is not perhaps necessary to attempt to determine the mode of this removal. Death breaks the connexion between the unfaithful Christian and Christ (see Matt /. c).

The word he purgeth (cleanieth) i/J oleanseth (KaBaipu), which is used of lustrations, appears to be chosen with a view to Everything is reits spiritual application. moved from the branch which tends to divert the vital power from the production of fruit Increased bring forth (bear) more fruit]

217

which

spoken

have

unto

you.

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of except it abide in the vine ; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

fruitfulness is the end of discipline, and to this

The vine especially needs pruning. Every one who has seen a vineyard of choice vines knows how closely they are all care is directed.

cut.

The relation 3, 4. nerally indicated iu

which has been ge-

w. 1, a is now applied

Christ's work is accomthem; but they must themselves appropriate it {abide in me)\ their will must cooperate with His will.

to the

disciples.

plished for

Now ye are...] Already ye (vinls)

are...

The spiritual work

represented

"cleansing" was potentially completed for the apostles, the representatives of His Church. It remained that it should be realised by them (comp. Col. iii. 3, 5). They had been purified by the divine discipline (comp. xiii. 10). They were clean (icaOapoi) "because of the word" The word, the whole this

revelation to which Christ had given expression, was the spring and source, and not only

the instrument, of their purity (&a to* X., and

See viii. 31 f., not dca tou X.; comp. vi. 57). Eph. v. a6 (pnpa) James i. 18.

v. 34 ;

clean]

;

It is

possible that the

word may

contain an allusion to Lev. xix. 23. For three years the fruit of "trees planted for food" was counted unclean (ajrcpucddapro?, LXX.).

4. But the permanence of the purity to which they had attained depended upon the perThe disciple manence of their fellowship.

must set his life in Christ, and let Christ live The form of the sentence is necesin him. but the second clause is not to be taken as a future: "Abide in me, and I will abide in you." Both parts are imperative in conception: "Do ye abide in me, and admit me to abide in you, let me abide in " Effect, by God's help, this perfect you." mutual fellowship, your abiding in me, my Both thoughts are essential abiding in you." Comp. to the completeness of the union. xiv. 10, 40. In one sense the union itself, even the abiding of Christ, is made to depend upon the will of the believer. The other side

sarily obscure ;

of the truth is given in v. 16. of itself] not simply "in itself," " from itself," as the source of its own energy.

but vital

Comp. v. 19, vii. 18, xi. 51, xvi. 13.

The form is peculiar to St John (a Cor. x. 7 Comp. v. 30, note. The phrase is compressed except it abide] The limitation applies to the principal thought

is a false reading).

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St.

JOHN. XV.

5 I am the vine, ye are the branches He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit : for ' without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is :

rtd

/rem m*.

(bear fruit), and not to the defining addition (of itself), to which it is parallel.' Comp. v. The branch cannot bear 19 ; Gal. ii. 16. fruit of itself: it cannot bear fruit except it abide in the vine no more can ye] Literally, so neither can ye bear fruit of yourselves, or bear fruit at all, except in vital fellowship with me.

The consequences of union and of 5, 6. loss of union with Christ are set out in the sharpest contrast

The repetition of the "theme" (v. 1) 5. leads to the addition of the clause ye are the branches, which sums up definitely what has been implied in the former verses. other, it

much fruit]

that") bringeth forth (beareth) The thought is of the produc-

The vine-wood For fruitfulness there is need of "abiding," continuance, patient waiting, on the part of those already " in Christ." for (because) without (apart from) me...'] The force of the argument lies in the

tiveness of the Christian life. is worthless.

fact that, as the fruitfulness of the branch does

not depend upon

itself

but upon Christ

whom it lives, He will fulfil His part while the vital connexion is maintained. In other words, he in whom Christ lives must be abundantly fruitful, for it is His life alone which brings forth fruit apart from me] not simply without my help, but separated from me/ Comp. Eph. ii. 12; ch. i. 3. do nothing] accomplish nothing, bring out

no permanent result.

The thought is directly

which can only be wrought in Christ At the same time the words have a wider application. Nothing that really "is" can be done without the Word, whose activity must not be limited of

Christian

action,

when He has not limited it

x. 16, i. 9.

be is cast forth] This happens simultaneously with the cessation of the vital union with Christ (*fi\qOrj). It is not a future consequence, as at the last judgment, but an 6.

inevitable

withered ; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified,

withered] inasmuch as it receives the living sap no longer. The indemen (they) gather them] finiteness of the subject corresponds with the mysteriousness of the act symbolized. 44 They gather them (the branches and their antitypes) to whom the office belongs."

Comp. Luke xii. ao. The description is directly that of the fete of the severed branches (avra), out of which the application imme4t Ligna vitis. . .precisa (Ezek. xv. 5) null is agricolarum usibus prosunt, nul-

diately follows. lis

fabrilibus operibus deputantur.

accompaniment of the separation.

The use of the advert) "outside" (S&ktfri tt» not €{f/3Aij0i7) suggests a new aspect of the union with Christ, the idea of a vineyard in addition to that of a vine. a (the) branch] the unfruitful branch by which he is represented.

Unum de

duobus palmiti congruit aut vitis aut ignis..." (Aug. ad loc.)% the fire]

He that... the same (ovtos " he, and none

[v. 5-8.

The image is of the fires kindled to

consume the dressings of the vineyards. Comp. Matt. xiii. 41 f. The Lord leaves the image, just as it is, to work its proper effect In these two verses the blessings of 7, 8. union are shewn in prayer fulfilled and fruit borne. 7. If ye abide in me, and my words (layThe second clause ing!) abide in you ] is changed in form (not " and I in you," as v. 4), because the thought now is of the communion of prayer. The words (j>rfpara\ the definite sayings, here specified, go to make up " the word " (6 \oyos, *>. 3). Comp. viii. 43,

47, 51, xii. 47, 48, xvii. 6, 8, 14. ye shall ask what ye wilt] According to the true reading, ask whatsoever ye wllL The petitions of the true disciples are echoes As He has (so to speak) of Christ's words. spoken so they speak. Their prayer is only some fragment of His teaching transformed into a supplication, and so it will necessarily be heard. It is important to notice how the

promise of the absolute fulfilment of prayer is connected with the personal fellowship of the believer with Christ, both in the Comp. Matt Synoptists, and in St John. In the ori20, and below v. 16. "whatsoever ye will" stands first, to mark the freedom of the believer's choice, or (in other words) the coincidence of his will with the will of Christ. Comp. 1 John iii. %%. More literally, " it shall it shall be done]

xviii. 19,

ginal

come to pass (ycvrjarrai, Vulg. fet) for you. M

The result is not due to any external or arbitrary exertion of power, but to the action of

a law of life. 8.

Herein]

In this, that is, in the necessary

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St.

JOHN. XV.

that ye bear much fruit ; so shall ye be my disciples. 9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you continue ye in :

my love. consequence of your abiding

me, which

carries with it the certain fulfilment of your

prayers, inasmuch as they correspond with the divine will. The pronoun looks back, while at the same time the thought already indicated is

219

10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love ; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. 11 These things have I spoken

my love] The exact form of the phrase, which is found here only (1} dyamj 1} #/*?)> as distinguished from that used in the next verse (17 dydmj pov\ emphasizes the character of

the love, as Christ's: the love that is mine, the love that answers to my nature and my work. Thus the meaning of the words cannot be limited to the idea of Christ's love for Comp. iv. 34, note. men, or to that of man's love for Christ : they is glorified] The tense (as in v. 6) marks describe the absolute love which is manifested the absolute coincidence of the extension in these two ways, the love which perfectly of the Father's glory with the realisation of corresponds with Christ's Being. There are the believer's effectual union with Christ many corresponding phrases in the Gospel, " the joy that is mine n (j ^apo 1} c pij, v. 1 1. iii. In the fruitfulness of the vine lies the joy and " " glory of the husbandman (y. 1). 19, xvh. 13) ; "the judgment that is mine" (7 bear much fruit] The words point to the Kpia-ts 7 cfiij, v. 30, viii. 16} ; "the commandfuture activity of the apostles as founders of • ments that are mine" (xiv. 15); "peace the Church through which the Risen Christ that is mine" (dpr/yrj 1} c/iij, xiv. a 7). Comp.

developed in the words which follow. The end which God regards in answering prayer is that ye may bear much fruit (<W <£«p7Tc).

Comp. v. 16. and so shallye be (become) my disciples] Or, according to another reading, and ye shall acts.

30, vi. 38, vu. 6, 8, viii. 31, 37, 43, 5*. 56, x. a6, 27, xii. a6, xv. ia, xvil a4, xviii. 36. v.

become...

Something is always wanting to the completeness of discipleship. Christian never "is," but always u is becoming" a Christian. And it is by his fruitfulness that he vindicates his claim to the name.

The sphere and the condition of 9* 10. union are revealed in the absolute type of union, the relation of the Son to the Father. 0.

This verse admits of two renderings.

The last clause may be the conclusion to the two former: Even as the Father loved me and I loved you, abide in my love. Or it may be independent: Even as the Father loved me I also loved you. Abide in my love.

Both constructions are in harmony with

John's

style.

(Comp.

vi.

57, xiv.

ia.)

The latter perhaps brings out most distinctly the mysterious truth that the relation of the Father to the Son corresponds with that of the Son to believers (comp. vi. 57, x. 14, The 15), which is further applied in v. 10. use of the aorist (loved) in both cases may perhaps carry the relation out of time, and make it absolute in the divine idea. Comp. xvil 14. But it is simpler to regard the tense as chosen with regard to a work now looked upon as completed, according to the usage which is not unfrequent in these discourses. Comp. xiii. 31. continue (abide) ye in my love] The love of Christ is, as it were, the atmosphere in which the disciple lives. It is not something a momentary crisis, but enjoyed continuously. And this enjoyment depends, on the human side, upon the will of man. It can be made the subject of a command. realised at

10.

The promise here is the exact con-

verse of that in xiv. 15. are perfectly correlative.

Obedience and love

Love assures obedi-

obedience assures love. The love of the disciples for Christ carries with it the purpose and the power of obedience; the spirit of obedience is more than the sign of love (xiii. 35) ; it secures to the disciples the enjoyment of Christ's love. The love of Christ as it is realised unites and includes inseparably man's love for Christ, and Christ's love for man. even as I (iytS) have kept my (the) Father's...] The Filial relation of the Son

ence;

Father" (not " His Father") is type of that of the disciple for his Master (comp. viii. ap). Though the terms in which this relation is described belong properly to the life of the Incarnate Son, yet the emphatic pronoun shews that the statement is true of the eternal being of the Son in His unchanged personality. Comp.

"the

set forth as the

in his love]

The pronoun stands emphati-

cally first, so that there is a complete parallel

between the corresponding clauses (rov irarpbs rat eVroXar, avrov cV tj} ayaTnj). love of complete devotion to highest conceivable good. a.

The perfect

God is the

The issues of union: the disciples and Christ (xv. 11

—

16).

The Revelation which has been made in the first section is applied in the sections which follow. The end of it is shewn to be twofold, to create joy in sacrifice (xv. 11 a 7),

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St.

JOHN. XV.

unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 'chap. 13. 12 'This is my commandment, ^Thes*. 4. That ye love one another, as I have + ]£** loved you.

[V.

15.

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a

man lay down his life for

his friends.

14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 15 Henceforth I call you not ser-

and to preserve faith unshaken (xvi.). The first object is gained by shewing the issues of

Literally, "the 12. my commandment] commandment that is mine," that answers to

union for the believer in relation to Christ (vv. 11 i6\ and to the world (vy. 17 27). True joy, Cnrist's joy, springs out of the selfsacrifice of love (w. 12, 13). The connexion of believers with Christ is one of love (yv. 14, 15) ; and it is stable because it rests on His

my nature and my mission (v. 9, note).

—

choice (y, 16).

The love of Christ was the love of 11. absolute self-sacrifice. Such self-sacrifice is the fulness of joy. Thus by enjoining continuance in His love Christ prepares His hearers to suffer for love's sake. These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain (may be) in you: that you may know and share the blessedness which belongs to my work, the exemplar of your own; and that so your joy might be full (may be fulfilled). my joy] Literally, *' the joy that is mine," characteristic of me (see v. 9, note) : the joy of complete self surrender in love to love. Other interpretations of the phrase, "the joy which

inspire," or

*•

your joy

Comp. 1 John iii. 16. That ye love] The exact

as distinguished from the simple substance of the command. as I have loved] More closely, even as See v. 9. I loved. 13. The love of Christ for men was the supreme ideal of love. Greater love than this, which I have shewn and still shew, no one hath or could have a love so framed in its divine law and last issue, that one should lay down his Comp. 1 John iii. 16. life for his friends. The implied end of Christ's love—death for another is regarded as the final aim of human self-devotion. This points backward to J have loved you; and that one lay down does not seem to be a simple ex;

—

planation of this, but rather a declaration of the spirit and purpose of love. Comp. iv. 34, v. 8, xvii. 3 ;

me," fall

short of the meaning required by the context. The rendering "that my joy may find its foundation and support in you/' is even more alien from the sense of the passage. your joy] There appears to be a marked contrast between u the joy that is Christ's," and " the joy of the disciples." The one is absolute (may be «), the other is progressive (may be fulfilled). The latter may perhaps be rightly taken to include all the elements of true human joy. This natural joy, in itself incomplete and transitory, had been ennobled by the self-surrender of the disciples to Christ ; and the completion of their joy in the indirect sense was to be found in the consummation of the union thus commenced. That consummation however was to be acfar

complished through suffering. 12, 13. The connexion of v. 12 with v. 11 lies in the thought of joy springing out of self-sacrifice, of which Christ gives the abThe many "commandments" solute pattern. (1/. 10) are gathered up in the one " new commandment " (xiii. 34), the commandment which was emphatically Christ's, of which the end and purport was that Christians should love one another after the pattern of their Master, who gave up His life for them. He is the model (v. 13), the source (yv. 14, 15), and the support of love (v. 16).

phrase of the

original (Ua ayattart) emphasizes the purpose

lay down]

John iv. 17 ; 3 John 4.

Comp. x. 11, note.

for his friends] Love is contemplated here from the side of him who feels it, so that the objects of it are spoken of as " friends," that is, " loved by him." In Rom. v. 8 the sacrifice of Christ is regarded from the opposite side, from the side of those for whom it was offered, and men are described as being in themselves sinners.

14. Ye (tiutU) are...] Christ returns from the general case (any one) to Himself, and shews what is required on man's side to complete the conception of that relationship which He has established with His disciples. The true believer receives the friends]

"the "the friend of God"

title which is characteristic of Abraham,

father of the faithful,"

(Isal xli. 8 ;

James ii. 23).

The title occurs

Luke xii. 4 m connexion with the prospect

of suffering. in

Christ's

The true disciples had been all along what He now

sight

solemnly entitles them. whatsoever] the things which, but probably the true reading is that which, so that the emphasis is still laid upon the unity of Christ's command (y. 12).

15. The relation of the believer to Christ, out of which springs his relation to his fellowbeliever, is essentially one not of service but of love.

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St.

JOHN. .XV.

vants i for the servant knoweth not

what his lord doeth but I have called you friends j for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made :

known unto you. I call you not] No longer call you, as in the time when Christ had not fully revealed Himself. The relation of God to His people under the Law had been that of Master to servant. Comp. Matt. x. 14 f., and the imagery of the parables : Matt. xiii. ^^ f., xviii. a 3 if., xxii. 4 if., xxiv. 45 ff.; Mark xiii. 34; Luke xii. 37 ff. f xiv. 17 ff., xvii. 10, xix. 13 ff. See also xiii. Henceforth

a 6 (buucovot). servants] The disciples however still claimed the title for themselves. The less was included in the greater. Comp. v. ao. 1 6, xii.

for (became) ...] Comp. viii. 34 ff. knvwetb not (with the knowledge of intuitive certainty) <wbat bis lord doetb (U doing)] At the very moment of action there is no sympathy between the lord and the slave, by which the mind of one is known to the other. The slave is an instrument (t\t.^v\ov Zpyarov) and not a person. Comp. Rom. vii. 15. The order of the original (aurov bis lord] 6 icvpios) emphasizes the contrast of persons. The order is changed in the second clause but yon I have called friends. The emphasis is laid on the personal character of the eleven. The title also is one finally conferred (tiprjKCL, I have called), and not simply used as the occasion arises (\<ya>, I call). for (because)] The perfect revelation of the Father's will involves the relation of friendship. To know God is to love Him. To receive the knowledge of Him is to experience His love. The Son therefore called those to whom He revealed the Father "friends" in act before He called them so in word.

The

revelation

both

communication

Siypupura, I made known) and in reception faovaa, I heard, comp. viii. a8, note) is here presented as complete. This is one side of the truth. But the complete revelation given in the Lord's Presence needed a fuller unfolding (xvi. 1 a). He had not yet died and risen. It was the work of the Spirit to interpret afterwards little by little what He had revealed in

word and life implicitly once for all (xiv. a 6, iv Ty opofwrl fiovy xvii. a 6, rh Qvopa <rov). 16. The Lord having set forth the aim of Christian joy through self-devotion, resting on a personal relation to Himself, shews how it is within reach of attainment. The stability of the connexion of "friendship" between the Lord and His disciples is assured by the fact that its origin lies with the Lord and not with man. This manifestation of love, like the divine love itself (1 John iv. 10), was not

221

16 Ye have not chosen me, but have chosen you, and d ordained * ***• 19, you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should • remain : that whatsoever ye shall ask

called out

by anything in man.

divine grace,

and therefore

was of

essentially sure.

Te did not choose me, or more exactly, // qvas not ye that chose me as your master, as scholars ordinarily choose their master the pronoun stands emphatically first but I ohoie yon as my friends. The choice

may be either generally to discipleship, or The use of the

specially to the apostolate.

word in vi. 70 and xiii. 18 (comp. Acts i. a), no less than the context, in which the eleven are regarded as representatives of the Lord in relation to His Church, favours the second interpretation. The power of the office of the apostles lay for them in the fact that it was not self-chosen. J bave chosen] I choee. The reference is to the historic fact of the calling, Luke vi. 13 ; Acts i. a. Comp. ch. vi. 70.

and ordained (appointed, sent, ?fyca, Vulg. posut)you] The word simply describes the assignment of a special post, which here carries with it further duties [that ye may...).

Comp. Hebr. i. a; Rom. iv. 17; a Tim. i. 11. that ye (vput) on your part, in virtue of your peculiar knowledge and gifts, should go. .] The repetition of the pronoun (v/iar, Ua vfiut) brings out the distinctive responsibility of the apostles. At the same time the verb (go, vnayjjTf) marks their separation from their Master (Matt. xx. 4, 7, Sec), while they went into the world as heralds of the gospel (Mark xvi. 15; Luke x. 3). Three points .

are noticed in their activity. They take up an independent place ; they are effective ; the effect which they work is lasting. In all this lies the promise of the foundation and perpetuity of the Church. Moreover even in apparent separation the strength of the dis-

comes from union with his Lord, and thus for a moment the imagery of a ff is resumed (bear fruit, fruit abide). that whatsoever] This clause is in one aspect subordinate to the former; and in another coordinate with it. The consummation of faith grows out of fruitful obedience and on the other hand fruitful obedience coincides with the fulfilment of prayer. The direct personal application of 15, 16, to the apostles is emphatically marked by the ninefold repetition of the pronoun (ye, you). At the same time the words are to l>e extended in due measure to all disciples whom the eleven represented. whatsoever ye shall asA of the Father] The conditions of prayer already laid down (v. 7) In the are here presented in another light. ciple

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St. of the Father in my name, he give it you.

JOHN. XV. may

17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.

believer.

in this

upon the privilege of the

The work is wrought by Christ,

but through the

believer.

He receives that

which enables him to accomplish his Lord's will.

Comp. xvi. 23. my name! See

xiv. This 13, note. marks the proper object of prayer as spiritual and eternal, and not transitory. Comp. " Hoc petimus in nomine 1 John v. 14, 15. Salvatoris quod pertinet ad rationem salutis " (Aug. in loc).

clause

The issues of union: the disciples and the

world (xv. 17

—

17—19.

18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own but be:

former passage prayer was regarded as the echo of Christ's own words. Here it is regarded as flowing from the new connexion (ask the Father) realised in the revelation of the Son (in my name). Comp. xvi. 26 f. And there is another detail to be observed, by which the promise in this passage is further distinguished from that in xiv. 13, 14. There it is said of the fulfilment of prayer, / will do it ; and here, that He may give it you. In the former place stress is laid upon the action of Christ ;

[v.

27).

The love of Christians for Christ and for one another, which is the end of Christ's commandment, involves hatred on the part of the world (w. 17, 18), which springs from an essential opposition of nature, and finally from ignorance of the Father (w. 19 But 21). none the less such hatred is inexcusable, for Christ fulfilling His mission both in word and work left no plea for those who rejected Him (w. 22 25); and the conflict which He had begun the disciples are commissioned to continue with the help of the Paraclete (w.

—

26, 27).

—

17 21. The disciples' work, as a work of love, corresponds not only in character but also in issue with that of their Master ; it is met by hatred which marks an opposition of natures between believers and the world, and so witnesses in fact to the true fellowship of Christians with Christ, and to their knowledge of God. Comp. 1 John iii. 1. At first sight the hatred of the world for that which is essentially good and beautiful could not but be a strange trial to believers (comp. 1 Peter iv. 12 ff.). Christ meets the temptation beforehand by tracing the hatred to its origin. The lesson was soon applied : Acts v. 41. 17. This verse must be taken as the introduction of a new line of thought, and not, according to the modern texts, as the summing up in conclusion of what has gone before. On this point the usage in St John is conclu-

sive against the received arrangement xiv. 25, xv.

11, xvi. i, 25, 33.

Comp.

The love of

Christ for Christians is the antidote to and the occasion of the world's hatred, which is directed against the virtues rather than against the failings of Christians. Christ first establishes the foundation of this love, and then lays open the antagonism which believers must support. These things I command) The commands are involved in the teaching which has developed the original injunction, abide in me (v. 4). The scope of all was to create mutual love (tva ayanaTc akXrjXovs, that ye may love...).

If the world bate (h a t e t h , fuatt) you] assumed to be the actual fact. Compare vii. 7. The verb which follows (yuwaK*™) may be either indicative, u ye know," or imperative, "know ye" (Vulg. scitote). In favour of the latter rendering the imperative in v. 20 (remember) can be quoted; and at the same time it is more natural to suppose that the attention of the disciples is now definitely called to a truth which they had but just learnt to recognise, than that reference should be made to a knowledge which at any rate they had been very slow to gain. Comp. 1 John iv. 2. Now that the issue was at hand the past could at length be more certainly interpreted than at an earlier time; and yet more, the immediate experience of the disciples interpreted the history of their Master. hated (hath hated pffucnjw)] The conception is of a persistent, abiding feeling, and not of any isolated manifestation of feeling. The "Jews" are treated as part of the 44 world." bated me before it bated you] The original phrase is very remarkable (<pc np&rop vpw, Vulg. priorem vobis), me first of you ^ first in regard of you. Comp. i. 15. The force of it appears to lie in the stress laid upon the essential union of those which follow with the 18.

This

source.

The later life is drawn from the

It is not only that Christ was u before" the disciples as separate from them

original life.

He was also their Head. The hatred of the world to the discould not but follow necessarily from the choice of Christ, by which they were drawn out of the world to Him. This hatred, therefore, became to them a memorial of their great hopes. Comp. Matt. v. 14 f.; Rom. 10.

ciples

17 ; 1 Pet. iv. 12 f. If ye were of the world, the world would

viii.

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—

St.

22.]

JOHN. XV. cute you ; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things will they

cause ye are not of the world,' but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 20 Remember the word that I * Matt, xa said unto you, # The servant is not If they have 3Up. 13. greater than his lord. 16. persecuted me, they will also perse-

Jove]

do unto you

Christ. I

chose.

See v. 1 6, note.

The reference appears to

be not to xiii. 16, out to some earlier occasion on which the words were used, with an application like the present one, Matt. x. 14. If tbey have persecuted (they persecuted) ...//* they have kept (they kept)...] The subject is left indefinite, being naturally sup** the world," and the alternatives plied from are simply stated. The disciples could look back and discern what they had to expect: some courageous followers, some faithful hearers, out of misunderstanding, or careless, or hostile multitudes. kept (t-rqpncav)..*]

my word; "observed,'

8, 10, xxii. 7, 9.

The phrase is peculiar

to St John. 21.

But...]

The Lord, with an abrupt

transition, anticipates the judgment

and deals

Persecution and rejection were inevitable ; but they wefe not really to be feared. The disciples could bear them, because they sprang from ignorance of God, and so indirectly witnessed that the disciples knew Him. all these things'] all that is included the activity of antagonism. do unto you] The original phrase, according to the true text, is very remarkable (noiriaovaiv The disciples were to be not only tit vfias). in fact the victims of the world's hatred, but the object which the world deliberately sought to overpower. for my name's sake] Comp. Acts v. 41 (for

with it

the name);

1 Pet. iv.

14.

not

him

sake,

that

To emphasize this idea God is spoken of simply as "He that sent me," and not as " God," or " the Father," or " the Father that

Comp. iv. 34, v. 14, 30, vi. 38, 39, 16, 18, 28, 33, viii. 26, 29, ix. 4, xii. 44 /., See also xvi. 3, note. xiii. 20, xvL 5.

sent me." vii.

The true knowledge of God with it the knowledge of Christ (viii. 4a (comp. 1 John v. 1) ; and conversely the knowledge of Christ is the knowledge of God because]

carries

The hostility of

the Jews to the disciples was called out by the fact that these proclaimed Christ as being what He had revealed Himself to be, the Christ, the

Son of the living God. This was His " name ; and it became the ground of accusation, because the lews knew not God, that God whom they professed to honour, from whom Christ came.

Comp. Luke xxiii. 34.

(xii. 44).

—25. The Lord, having shewn the

fact

and the ground of the hatred which His disciples would experience, shews also that the hatred is without excuse and yet inevitable. To this end He marks the double testimony which He had Himself offered to His Person and to His office, the testimony of teaching Ow, 2a, 23), and the testimony of works (24). He had made the Father known. The parallelism

between the two declarations

remarkable

If I bad not come and spoken to them, they bad not bad sin

"obeyed," and not (as it has been taken) watched with a malicious purpose. Comp. viii. 51 ff., xiv. 23, xvii. 6; 1 John ii. 5; Rev. iii.

my name's

know

22 If I had not come and spoken

world" brings out vividly the antagonist of

the word]

for

sent me.

The love («4>tX«i) is that of nature,

20.

they

because

and not of moral choice (ayanart, v. 17). bis (its) own., .you] The love of the world is marked as selfish. It is directed to that which specially belongs to itself: to a quality and not to a person (to tbioy, Vulg. quod suum erat). The fivefold repetition of " the

I have chosen]

223

But now they have no excuse for their sin*

that hateth

me hateth my Father

also.

If I bad not done among them the works which none other did, they had not had sin : But now they have both seen and bated both me and my Father, The same two forms of witness are appealed to in the same order in xiv. 10, 11. Com-

pare also Matt. xiii. 16 f.;

22.

•

come]

Luke x. 23 f.

The word appears to be used

in its technical sense : " If I had not claimed the true functions of Messiah, and spoken in that capacity, and wrought "the works of the Christ," they might then have treated me as a mere man and rejected me without sin." Comp. ix. 41. The Jews had the power and the opportunity of discerning Christ's real nature, so that they were inexcusable. Compare Deut. xviii. 18, 19, where the responsibility of discernment is laid upon the people. bad sin] Compare ix. 41, note. The phrase is peculiar to St John (v. 24, xix. 11 1 John i. 8). Compare the corresponding phrase "bear sin" (LXX. aftapriap).

Xa^mw

Num.

xviii. 22, &c. In John L 8, the phrase is contrasted with " we have not sinned" (ot?x wioj/njjca/Mi'). Both

ix.

13,

xiv. 34,

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224

unto them, they had not had sin I

Or,

4XCMU,

JOHN. XV. :

but

now they have no cloke for their sin. 23 He that hateth me hateth my '

Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin : but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.

mark the abiding effects of sin.

But in the

latter the act is the central point, and in the

former the responsibility for the act. but now] as it is, they have incurred sin and have... The words mark a sharp con-

Comp. Acts xiii 37. It could not but be that the divine type, foreshadowed in the history of king and prophet, should be completely realised. Comp. xii. 38 f. law] The Lord separates His from the unfaithful synagogue (their law). The very books which the Jews claimed to follow condemned them. For the extension of the term " Law " to the Psalms see x. 34, note.

their

The phrase occurs in Ps. xxxv. (xxxiv.)

19, and in Ps. lxix. (lxviii.) 4. without a cause] " gratuitously n

Vulg. gratis). 1

ii.

(&&>peav,

Compare 1 S. xix. 5, xxv. 31

31; Ps. xxxv. (xxxiv.)

[LXX.].

The hostility of the Jews to Christ, who was absolutely holy justification.

loving, could have no was pure hatred without

and It

ground.

26, 27. There is a pause after v. %$. The Lord had dwelt on the hatred with which He

had been met. Yet that was not to prevail. The hostility of the world is therefore contrasted with the power by which it should be overcome. In vu. a6, a7 the thought is of the vindication of the Lord ; in ch. xvi. this passes into the thought of the support of the disciples.

*3> v - 10.

24. For those who could not enter into the witness of words Christ added the subordinate witness of works (xiv. 10 ff, note).

The works are

characterized (which none comp. Matt. ix. 33); the words are undefined (come and spoken). The works of Christ might be compared with other works His words had an absolute power (vii. 46. Comp. Matt. vii. 29). Augustine (in loc.) has an interesting comparison of other miracles other did:

with the miracles of Christ. both seen] so far as the works revealed outwardly the majesty and will of God, and of Christ, as the representative of God. Comp. xiv. 9.

Contrast v. a3.

25. But this cometh to pass that.. .might (may)...] Comp. i. 8, &tf he came /&*/..., ix. 3, but this hath come to pass that..., xi. 4, xiii. 18, xiv. 31; 1 John ii. 19; Mark xiv. 49. However startling it might be that the Jews

should reject

Him whom they professed to

ture.

vuA &€, Rom. iii. ax, vi. a a, Sec. cloke] ex case (irpo<f>aaiv mpi, Vulg. excusationem de). Compare Ps. cxl 4 (LXX.). for (irtpi) their sin] in the matter of, concerning their sin. They have nothing which

so the necessary consequences of this feeling are laid open. Hatred of the Son as Son carries with it hatred of the Father, in which character He had revealed God. Here in connexion with teaching (v. a a) the inward disposition of hatred only is touched upon, and that in a general form (he that hateth). In f 24 the feeling is marked in its historic form (have seen and have bated). For the combination me ...my Father see 1 John ii.

26.

reverence, by doing so they fulfilled the Scrip-

society

23. He that hateth me hateth..] It is assumed that "the Jews" hate Christ; and

—

without a cause. 26 *"But when the Comforter is rLttke «* come, whom I will send unto you Sap, 14. 6, from the Father, even the Spirit of* truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me :

Compare Luke xix. 4a, ch. viii. 40, 41, xvi. 5, xvii. 13, xviii. 36 ; 1 Cor. vii. 14, xii. ao, &c. ; and in St Paul in the form

they can even plead in their own defence as in times of ignorance (1 Pet. i. 14; Acts xvii. 30; Rom. iii. aj).

25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their laWj-HThey hated me^*8*1 35

ix.

trast.

[v.

26.

But (omit) wbqp the Comforter (Ad-

vocate) is come]

Comp. xiv. 16, note. Comp. xvi. 7. The use

/ (iym) will send]

of this phrase, involving the claim to divine power at this crisis of rejection, is made most significant by the emphatic pronoun. from the Father] The preposition (napa) which is used in both clauses expresses properly position (•' from the side of"), and not source (f£, u out of"). The remarkable use in Luke vi. 19 is explained by Luke viii. 44. the Spirit of truth] xiv. 17, xvi. 13; 1 John iv. 6.

Christianity is itself " the Truth/

was the office of the Spirit to interpret and enforce it. The genitive describes the substance of that with which the Spirit dealt, and not a mere characteristic of tne Spirit, that His witness is true. proceedeth] The original term (<t cn-opc vcrtu, Vulg. trocedit) may in itself either describe proceeding from a source, or proceeding on a mission. In the former sense the preposition

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St.

v. *7> x.]

JOHN. XV. XVI. and bv his resurrection and ascension : 13 assureth their prayers made in his name to be acceptable to his Father. 33 Peace in Christ, and in the world affliction*

27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

CHAPTER XVI. 1

out of(cK y e) would naturally be required to define the source (Rev. i. 16, &c); on the

other hand the preposition from (from the side of napd, a) is that which is habitually used with the verb to come forth of the mission of the Son, e.g. xvi. a 7, xvii. 8. The use of the latter preposition (napd) in this place seems therefore to shew decisively that the reference here is to the temporal mission of the Holy In Spirit, and not to the eternal Procession. accordance with this usage the phrase in the

Creeds is uniformly " which proceedeth.out of" (to nv. to ay top to ck tov narpos €«tropevo/if ro?) and it is most worthy of notice that the Greek fathers who apply this passage ;

to the eternal Procession instinctively substitute "out of" (€«) for "from" (iraoa) in their application of it : e.g. Theodore of Mopsuestia ('Cat.' in loco). At the same time the use of the present (proceedetb) in contrast with the future (J wul send), brings out the truth that the mission of the Spirit consequent on the exaltation of the Son was the consummation of His earlier working in the world. In this respect the revelation of the mission of the Spirit to men (which proceedetb, I will send) corresponds to the revelation of the eternal relations of the Spirit (from the Father, through the Son). from the Father] not from My Father. The mission is connected with the essential relation of God to man.

(tKfivos)... testify

(bear

witness)...]

Comp. xiv. ao, note.

The witness of the Spirit was

TT k

Christ comforteth his disciples against tribulation by the promise of the Holy Ghost,

not only

given through the disciples (Matt. x. 19, ao), but is also given more widely in the continuous interpretation of the life of Christ by the experience of men.

27. ye also shall bear witness"] The verb (tMprvp€iTt) may be indicative (and ye also bear witness), or imperative (and do ye The imperative seems at* also bear witness). first sight to fall in better with the general tenour of the passage (w. 18, 20); but on the other hand 3 John 12, which is evidently moulded on this passage, favours the indicative ; and yet more, in these two verses Christ is speaking of the witness which should maintain His cause against the world and not enjoining duties. On the whole, therefore, the imperative is less appropriate. t The present tense is used of the witness of the disciples, inasmuch as their witness was already begun in some sense, in contrast with that of the

225

HESE things have I spoken unyou, that ye should not be

offended.

Spirit,

which was consequent upon Christ's

exaltation.

have been with...'] are with me... The was present and unbroken. Comp.

relation

Luke xv. 31.

Comp. 1 John ii. 7, 24, and cc. vi. 64, xvi. 4 (* £ dpxqs)' The

^ from the beginning] 111.

11 ;

*' beginning " is necessarily relative to the subject (comp. Matt. xix. 8 ; Acts xxvi. 5 ; ch. viii.

Here it expresses the commencement 44). of Messiah's public work (Acts i. aa ; Luke i.

a).

For the twofold witness see Acts v. 3 a.

On the one side there is the historical witness to the facts,

and on the other the in-

ternal testimony of personal experience. 4.

The world and the Paraclete (xvi. 1

—

11).

In this section the manifestation of the hatred of the world is followed out to its last issues (1 4 a), in the prospect of that crisis of separation, which is the condition of the • mission of the Paraclete (4 b 7), who finally tries and convicts the world (8 The 11). antagonistic forces of the world and the Paraclete are portrayed in the most energetic opposition. The warning is answered by the promise.

—

Chap. XVI. 1 ff. In the last section thehatred of the world was exhibited in its general character as inevitable and inexcusable, in contrast to the witness to Christ ; it is now shewn in its intense activity as the expression of a false religious zeal.

These things] 1. The reference appears to be to the whole revelation of the vital union of the believer with Christ, of the self-sacrifice of Christians, of their power of devotion, of their suffering as sharers with Christ, of their witness coincident with the witness of the Spirit ; and not only to the last section (xv.

—

Compare xv. 11. *7)» not be offended (aKaMkivBrjrc)] Comp. vi. 61. The image of stumbling over. some obstacle in the way (aKavbakov, "offence/* I7

1 John ii. 10), which is common in the first two Gospels (e.g. Matt. xiii. ai) and is found more rarely in St Luke, occurs in this form only in these two places in the Gospel of

St John.

It is expressed otherwise in xi. 9 f.

ix. 31V The offence lay in the opposition on tne part of the world to that which the disciples were taught to regard as rightly claiming the allegiance of all*

(comp. Rom.

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2*6

JOHN. XVI.

St.

2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, tnat whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. 3 And these things will they do men, and especially in the opposition of Israel to that which was the true fulfilment of their No trial could be greater to national hopes. Jewish apostles than the fatal unbelief of their countrymen. 2.

Comp. Rom. x. synaComp. ixi

out of the synagogues (or rather

gogue)] i.e. excommunciate you.

aa, xii. 42. yea (ak\d, Vulg. sed)] The exclusion from religious fellowship might seem the climax of religious hostility, but there was something more formidable still. The contrast is between

what the disciples could perhaps anticipate, and the real extremity of hatred. They shall put you out of the synagogue] this, indeed, however grievous, you may be prepared to bear but far more than this; The hour eometb that their full malignity may be shewn, when putting you to death will seem to be the performance of a religious duty. The issue the time (hour) eometb, that...'] is represented in relation to the whole divine purpose which it fulfilled (Luke ii. 35). This uttermost manifestation of the violence of unbelief was part of the counsel of God. He provided for such an end (tpxrrat Iva). Comp. v. 31, xii. 23, xiii. 1. whosoever...,1 every one who... This will be the universal spirit, not only among Jews, who will be the first adversaries of the Church,

but among Gentiles, who will accuse you of impious crimes (Tac. 4 Ann.' xv. 44; Suet.

•Nero/ 16). doeth God service"] offer eth service unto

Ood (d, bostiam Jfferre Deo, Vulg. obsequium prtest are Deo).

Trie phrase expresses the rendering of a religious service (Aarpcta, Rom.

4; Hebr. ix. 1, 6), and more particularly the rendering of a sacrifice as service (npo°~

ix.

d>*'pfiv,

Hebr. v. 1 ff., viii. 3 f., ix.

ff.

«c).

The slaughter of Christians, as guilty of blas13), would nezealots as an act of

phemy (Acts vii. 57 f., vi. cessarily be regarded

devotion pleasing to God, and not merely as a good work. The Midrash on Num. xxv. 13 ([Pbinebas'j made an atonement) may serve " Was this said because as a commentary. he offered an offering (Korban) ? No ; but to teach them that every one that sheds the blood of the wicked is as he that offereth an offering " ( iMidrash R.' ad loe.). 4

Omit unto you. The 3. do unto rou] action itself, without regard to the particular objects of it, is the central thought. because they have not known..."] because they know not ... This fatal error was the con-

unto

you,

[v.

they

because

2—4.

have

not

known the Father, nor me. 4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of sequence of a failure to know God. The evil act followed upon the blinded thought. The Jews in their crisis of trial "did not recognise" (ovk ?y»»<rav) the Father and Christ. Their sin is not placed in the want of knowledge in itself (ovk oVfotrt, xv. ai, viii. 19, vii. 28), but in tne fact that when the opportunity of learning was given to them they did not gain the knowledge which was within their reach (comp. xvii. 25, i. 10). In this connexion the change from " Him that sent me" (xv. 21) to "the Father" (not " my Father ") is significant. " The Father " marks an absolute and universal relation of God to man which Christ came to reveal 44 Him that sent me" marks the connexion of Christ with the Old Covenant. 4.

But these things have I told you]

these things have

But

spoken unto you.

The strong adversative (d\\d) is difficult to explain. The reference has been supposed to be to the words immediately preceding; as though it were implied that careful reflection might have shewn the disciples after Christ's death what must be their position. This being so, their Master might have left them to the teaching of experience, but for their sake He forewarned them. It is however perhaps

more simple to take the but as abruptly breaking the development of thought ; *' but, not to dwell on the details of the future..." these things] See v. 1, note. when the time] when their hour, the appointed time for their accomplishment. ye may... of them] ye may remember them how that I (ryo) told yon. Comp. xiii. 19. The pronoun / is emphatic. Christ Himself had foreseen what caused His disciples perplexity. As knowing this they could be '

patient.

4 to ff. The revelation which has been given answers to a crisis of transition. The departure of Christ is the condition of the coming of the Paraclete. Separation and suffering are the preparation for victory. And (But, &) these things I said not unto you (told yon not) at (from)

the

begin-

ning] The exact phrase (*( apxys) occurs in the New Testament only nere and in ch. vi. The preposition suggests the notion of 64. that which flows "out of" a source in a continuous stream, rather than of that which first began from a certain point. Comp. Isai. xl. 2i, xii. 26, xliii. 9 (LXX.); Ecclus. xxxix. 3»-

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JOHN. XVI.

227

them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I go my way to him asketh that sent me ; and none of you ' me, Whither goest thou ? 6 But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.

8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin* and of IOr». r coHvtne* r righteousness, and of judgment

If this difference be regarded, the relation of

deceived

7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth is expedient for you that I go

away for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you but if I depart, I will send him un:

to you.

by the

•

superficial

appearance of

To remove their error Christ tells

this statement to the warnings of future trials

things.

given at earlier times as recorded by the Sy-

them the truth, revealing, laying bare, the reality which was hidden from eyes dimmed by sorrow.

noptists (Matt. v. 10, x. 16 ff.;

becomes intelligible.

Luke vi. a 2 f.)

The future fate of the

disciples had not been unfolded little by little

unbroken order as a necessary consequence of their relation to Christ. Here and there it had been indicated before, but now it was in

shewn in its essential relation to their faith. But these things must not be limited to the prediction of sufferings only. Christ had spoken also of the new relation of the disciples to Himself through the Paraclete. This fresh revelation was part of the vision of the future

now first unfolded. became I was with you] Comp. Matt. ix. 15. But now I go my way to (go unto)...] 5. Hitherto Christ had Himself borne the storm of hostility, and shielded the disciples now He was to leave them, and the wrath of His enemies would be diverted upon them, though they would have another Advocate. The clause is to be closely connected with that .which follows: " I go my way and yet none of you..." to him that sent me] My mission, in other words, is completed. and none of you...] Christ was going; so :

much the disciples realised. But their thoughts were bent upon their own immediate loss, and no one asked how this departure affected Him; so completely had their own sorrow absorbed them. Thus they missed the abiding significance of His departure for themselves. The isolated questions of St Peter and St Thomas (xiii. 36, xiv. 5) are not inconsistent with these

words.

Those questions were not asked with a view to the Lord's glory ; and much had been said since which might have moved the disciples to a persistency of inquiry. because I have said (spoken) these 6. things] Comp. irv. 1, 4. The prospect of

misunderstanding and suffering and separation to be faced shut out all thoughts of consolation and strength. 7.

Bat though you are

Nevertheless...]

unable to look onward to the later issues of immediate separation, / (cy«>), I, on my part, fulfil to the last my ministry of love silent,

—

// is expedient] Comp. xi. 50, xviii. 14. From opposite sides (" it is expedient for us" 11

50; but here "it is expedient for you ) the divine and human judgments coincide. Comp. vii. 39 note. The personal pronoun in the first case (that I go) is emphatic. Attention is fixed upon the Person of the Lord as He was known, in order to prepare the hearers for the thought of xi.

"another Advocate" (xiv. 16). for if I go not away] Here the emphasis changed. The stress is laid upon the thought of departure. To bring out this idea still more clearly, that which is first spoken of as a "departure" with the predominant notion of separation (iav rf airi\6o) is afterwards spoken of as a "journey," with the predominant notion of an end to be gained In v. 10 the idea is that of a (Jav noptv$u). " withdrawal " (vnayv). Comp. vii. 33, note. the Comforter (Advocate) will not come,.. I will send him...] The absence of the pronoun before the verb here (frc/j^w, I will send; compare cy» nt^c*, xv. 26, I will send) gives predominance to the thought of the Mission of the Spirit as a fact. Comp. Luke xxiv. 49 ; Acts i. 4. The departure of Christ was in itself a necessary condition for the coming of the Spirit to men. The withdrawal of His limited bodily Presence necessarily prepared the way for the recognition of a universal Presence. Comp. vii. 39. And again the presence of Christ with the Father, the consummation of His union with the Father as God and Man, was the preliminary He sent the to the Mission of the Spirit. Spirit in virtue of His ascended Manhood. is

And yet again the mission and the reception of the Spirit alike required a completed atonement of Man and God f Hebr. ix. a6 ff.), and the glorifying of perfect humanity in Christ.

8 ff.

The promise of the Paraclete is fol-

lowed by the description of His victory. The synagogue has become the world; and the world finds its conqueror.

expedient fir you

And when he is come, be...] And h e (Atct-

The disciples were New Ttst.—VoL. II.

ros)

whtn ht if oomt... The whole action

-I tell you the truth,

that I (cy*) go away.

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St.

228 9

Of sin, because they

JOHN. XVI. believe

of the Spirit during the history of the Church is gathered up under three heads. The categories of j/ii, righteousness and judgment, include all that is essential in the determination of the religious state of man, and to these the work of the Paraclete is referred. His office to convict (Adygei?, Vulg. arguere) is •the world humanity separated from God, though not past hope concerning (n*pl, 44 in the matter of") sin and righteousness and judgment. The idea of "conviction" is complex. It involves the conceptions of authoritative examination, of unquestionable proof, of decisive judgment, of punitive power Whatever the final issue may be, he who "convicts" another places the truth of the case in dispute in a clear light before him, so that it must be seen and acknowledged as truth. He who then rejects the conclusion which

—

this exposition involves, rejects it with his eyes open and at his peril. Truth seen as truth carries with it condemnation to all who refuse to welcome it The different aspects of this " conviction" are brought out in the usage of the word in the N.T. There is first the thorough testing of the real nature of the facts (ch. iii. 20 ; Eph. v. 13); and then the application of the truth thus ascertained to the particular person affected (James ii. 9 ; Jude 15, (22) ; 1 Cor. xiv.

24; 2 Tim.

iv.

comp. Matt,

xviii.

15 ; John viii. 9) ; and that in chastisement (1 Tim. v. 20 ; Titus i. 9, ii. 15 ; comp. Eph. v. jj); or with a distinct view to the restoration of him who is in the wrong (Rev. iii.

19 ; Hebr. xii. 5; Titus i. 13).

The effect of the conviction of the world by the Spirit is left undecided so far as the world is concerned; but for the Apostles themselves the pleading of the Advocate was a sovereign vindication of their cause. In the great trial they were shewn to have the right, whether their testimony was received or rejected. The typical, history recorded in the Book of the Acts illustrates the decisive twofold action of the divine testimony (2 Cor. ii. 16) ; for the presentation of the Truth in its power must always bring life or death, but it may bring either; and in this respect the experience of the Apostles on the Day of Pentecost (Acts ii. 13, 41) has been the experience of the Church in all ages. The divine reproof is not simply a final sentence of condemnation; it is also at the same time a call to repentance, which may or may not be heard. The Gospel of St John itself, as has been well pointed out (Kostlin, 4 Lehrbegriff/ 205) is a monument of the Spirit's conviction of the world concerning sin (iii. 19 21, v. 28 f., 38 47, viii. 21 fF., 34 47» ix. 4i» xiv. 27, xv. 18 (v. righteousness viii. vii. 18, 24, 28, 30, 44);

—

not on

[v. 9.

46, 50, 54,

32, xiv. 31, xviii. 37);

xii.

and

judgment (xii. 31, xiv. 30, xvii. 15).

The three sin... righteousness., judgment] conceptions, sin, righteousness, and judgment, are given first in their most abstract and general form. These are the cardinal elements in the determination of man's spiritual state. In these his past and present and future are severally summed up. Then when the mind has seized the broad divisions of the spiritual analysis the central fact in regard to each is stated, from which the process of testing, of revelation,

of condemnation, pro-

In each case the world was in danger of a fatal error, and this error is laid open in view of the decisive criterion to which it is brought. The three subjects are placed in a natural and significant order. The position of man is determined first ; he is shewn to have fallen. And then the position of the two spiritual powers which strive for the mastery over him is made known; Christ has risen to the throne of glory the prince of the world has been judged. The subjects may also be regarded from another point of sight. When the conviction concerning sin is complete, there remains for man the choice of two alternatives; on the one side there is a righteousness to be obtained from without; and on the other, a judgment to be borne. So far it may be said that in the thought of 44 sin" man is the central subject, as himself sinful; in the thought of 44 righteousness," Christ, as alone righteous ; in the thought of 44 judgment," the devil, as already judged. Yet once again the three words, sin, righteousness, judgment, gain an additional fulness of meaning when taken in connexion with the actual circumstances under which The 44 world," acting they were spoken. through its representatives, had charged Christ Its leaders as 44 a sinner" (John ix. 24). 44 trusted that they were righteous" (Luke xviii. 9), and they were just on the point of giving sentence against 44 the prince of life" (Acts iii. 15) as a malefactor (John xviii. 30). At this point the threefold error (Acts iii. 17), which the Spirit was to reveal and reprove, ceeds.

;

had brought at last its fatal fruit.

The Spirit will convict the concerning, in the matter of (nwpty

of... of...] 44

world

of righteousness, of judgment." He will not simply convict the world as sinful, as

sin,

without righteousness, as under judgment, but He will shew beyond contradiction that it is wanting in the knowledge of what sin, righteousness, and Judgment really are; and therefore in need of a complete change (/irrovota).

9 ff

because... because... because")

Three dis-

tinct facts answering to the spiritual character-

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V. 10, II.}

St.

JOHN. XVI.

10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more ;

istics of the world, of Christ, and of the prince

of the world, are stated, which severally form the basis of the action of the Spirit. The conjunction is not to be taken simply as explanatory ( u in so far as"V but as directly causal; " because this and this and this is beyond question, the innermost secrets of man's spiritual nature can be and are discovered."

Gomp. Luke ii. 34, 35.

0. Of sin, because they believe not on nw\ The want of belief in Christ when He is

made known, lies at the root of all sin, and reveals its nature.

Sin is essentially the self-

ishness which sets itself up apart from, so against God. It is not defined by

and any

limited rules, but expresses a general spirit. Christ is thus the touchstone of character. To believe in Him, is to adopt the principle of self-surrender to God. Not to believe in Him, is to cleave to legal views of duty and service which involve a complete misunderstanding of the essence of sin. The Spirit therefore, working through the written and spoken word, starts from the fact of unbelief in the Son of Man, and through that lays open what sin is. In this way the condition of man standing alone is revealed, and he is left without excuse. Comp. viii. 21, ix. 41.

10. Of righteousness, because I go ...] The Person of Christ, offered as the object of man's faith, serves as a test of the true appreciation of sin. The historical work of Christ, completed at His Ascension, serves as a test of the true appreciation of righteousness. The Life and Death and Resurrection of the Son of God placed righteousness in a new light. By these the majesty of law and the power of obedience and the reality of a divine fellowship, stronger than death, were made known once tor all. For a time the

Lord had shewn

an outward form the

perfect fulfilment of the

Law, and the abso-

lute conformity of a human life to the divine

He had shewn also how sin carries

ideal.

consequences which must be borne; and how they had been borne in such a way that they were potentially abolished. In that life, closed by the return to the Father, there was a complete exhibition of righteousness in relation to God and man. The Son had received a work to do, and having accom-

with

plished it He returned not simply to heaven but to the Father who sent Him, in token of its absolute fulfilment. This revelation once given was final. Because nothing could be added to it (/ go to the Father) because ;

after that Christ was withdrawn from human

eyes He had passed into a new sphere (ye see me no more), there was fixed for all time that

229

11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

by which

men's estimate of righteousness On the other hand, till Christ had been raised to glory 4i righteousness" had not been vindicated. Tne condemnation of Christ by the representatives of

might

tried.

Israel shewed in the extremest form how men had failed to apprehend the nature of righteousness. The Spirit, therefore, starting from the fact of Christ's life, His suffering, and His glory, regarded as a whole, lays open the

divine aspects of human action as concenIn this way the trated in the Son of Man. possibilities of life are revealed in fellowship with Him who has raised humanity to heaven. righteousness"]

The word occurs only in

this passage in St John's Gospel.

In his first

found in the pnrase " do righteousness" (ii. 29, iii. 7, 10; comp. Rev. xxii. " Righteousness" is evidently 11, [xix. 11J). Each limited considered in its widest sense. thought of righteousness, as of God's rightEpistle

eousness in the rejection of the Jews, or of man's righteousness as a believer, or even of Christ's righteousness, otherwise than as the fulfilment of the absolute idea in relation both to God and man, is foreign to the scope of the passage. The world is examined, convicted, convinced, as to its false theories of righteousness. In Christ was the one absolute type of righteousness ; from him a sinful man must obtain righteousness. Just as sin is revealed by the Spirit to be something far different from the breaking of certain specific injunctions, so righteousness is revealed to

be something far different from the outward fulfilment of ceremonial or moral observances. Comp. Matt. v. 20, vi. 33 ; Rom. iii. 21 fM x. 3.

the Father (not my Father), and (behold) me no more"] The idea of

1 go to

see

the

first

clause

that of a completed

work

3) ; that of the second a changed mode of existence. There is no contrast in the second clause between the disciples and others in the original the pronoun is not expressed, and the emphasis lies upon the verb, '"ye (viii.

14,

xiii.

behold me" (dcopctrc). Comp. w. 16 ff. The new mode of existence is indicated as absolute (ye behold), and not merely relative to the world (they shall behold). 11.

Ofjudgment, because the prince (ruler) is (hath been) judged] The

oj this world

world hitherto had passed sentence on success and failure according to its own standard. At length this standard had been overthrown. He in whom the spirit of the world was concentrated had been judged at the very moment and in the very act by which he appeared to common eyes to have triumphed. The Lord therefore looks forward to the consummation

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St.

230

JOHN. XVI.

12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them

now. 1

all

[v.

truth : for he shall not speak of

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of you things to come. 14 He shall glorify

own Passion as the final sentence in

which men could read the issues of life and And the Spirit starting from this lays death. open the last results of human action in the sight of the Supreme Judge. In this way the final victory of right is revealed in the realisa-

tion of that

which has been indeed already

done.

Comp. In trod. iii. 18 f. hath he en judged] The victory was already won: xiii. 31. Comp. xii. 31. judgment]

the prince

(ruler) of tins world]

Ch. xii.

31, xiv. 30.

The Paraclete and the disciples (xvi.

14.

himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak : and he will shew

truth, is come, he will guide you into

of His

Spirit continues

for

under new conditions that

which Christ began. the Spirit of truth... into all truth (the truth)] He who gives expression to the

Truth (see xiv. 17) guides men into its fulness. He leads them not (vaguely) " into all truth," but "into all the Truth * ( f fr n)* aXriBuap fracav), into the complete understanding of and sympathy with that absolute Truth, which is Christ Himself. The order of the original is remarkable ; the truth in all its parts (rrjv dk. navav, according to the true reading). Comp. v. aa ; Matt. ix. z$ \ Acts xvi. 26 ; Rom. xii. 4. Comp. Ps. xxv. (xxiv.) 5 ; Rev. vii. 17;

(Acts viii. 31). guide]

The office of the Paraclete is not confined to the conviction of the world. He carries forward the work which Christ had begun for the disciples, and guides them into all the

Truth (w.

12,

13).

By this He glorifies

Christ (v. 14), to whom (

things belong

all

v 15). -

This section distinctly marks the position of the apostles with regard to revelation as unique; and so also by implication the office of the apostolic writings as a record of their The same trust which leads us to teaching. believe that the apostles were guided into the Truth, leads us also to believe that by the providential leading of the Spirit they were so guided as to present it in such a way that it might remain in a permanent form.

Gal. vi.

5 ;

Acts xv.

be...]

The whole

essentially

personal

when

verse

action.

He does not "tell" His message without effort on their part. He also guides them "into the Truth," which is the domain upon which they enter, and not something to be gazed upon from afar. Philo, commenting upon Ex. xvi. 23, has a corresponding phrase: "The mind [of Moses] would not have gone thus straight to the mark unless there had been a divine Spirit " which guided it to the truth follow His leading;

(to nobrryerovv)

(

De Vit xMos.' in. 36, 11. p. 176).

Christ.

enabled believers to support it. now] at this point in your spiritual growth (apn). The word stands emphatically at the Compare xiii. 33, note. end. 13.

by which

de-

10.

The Resurrection brought the strength which

scribes an

"the way"

The

;

46. xiv. 27,

for he shall not...] The test of His true guidance lies in the fact that His teaching is the perfect expression of the one will of God it is not "of Himself" (see xv. 4, note). That which is affirmed of the Son is affirmed also of the Spirit Comp. ch. viii. 26, 40, xv. But it may be observed that the message 15. of the Son is on each occasion spoken of as definite (I beard^ iJkovo-o), while the message of the Spirit is continuous or extended (whatsoever be shall hear, or beareth, ova aKovaa, y or aKovtij or oaa av aicovcy). The message of Christ given in His historical, human life, was in itself complete at once. The interpretation of that message by the Spirit goes forward to the end of time. whatsoever...] The message of the Spirit is continuous, and it is also complete. Nothing is kept back which is made known to Him in the order of the divine wisdom. shall bear] The verb is left absolute. The fact which is declared is that the teaching of the Spirit comes finally from the one source of Truth. The words that follow shew that no distinction is made in this respect between that which is of the Father and that which is of

12. J have yet...] The principles had been fully laid down (xv. 15) yet there was still need of a divine commentary to apply these to individual life, and to the formation In especial the meanof. a universal Church. ing of the Passion had to be unfolded, for though the Passion was potentially included in the Incarnation, neither the one nor the other could be grasped by the disciples till the Son of man was outwardly glorified. bear] The original word (fraara&iv, Vulg. pcrtarc, all. bajulare) implies that such teaching as that of the Cross would have been a crushing burden. Comp. ch. xix. 17; Luke xi.

Christ

men are led to u the truth/ By Him we go to Him. The Spirit "guides" men who

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St.

V. IS, 16.]

shall receive of it

JOHN. XVI.

mine, and shall shew

unto you. 15 All things that the Father hath mine : therefore said I, that he

are

special part of the whole and be. .J] teaching is marked out with reference to the work of the apostles. They lived in a crisis of transition. For them the Spirit had a corresponding gift: He will declare unto you the things that are coming. shew] Rather, declare. Comp. iv. 15 1

John i. 5

;

1 Pet.

11.

231

mine, and shall shew it unto you. 16 little while, and ye shall not see me and again, a little while, and

shall take of

A :

longed also to the Son ; therefore Christ could say that the Spirit would take of that which was His in order to fulfil His works. shall take"] According to the true reading, The work is even now begun taketh. (Xafifidvu), and not wholly future (shall take, Xif/i^rrroi, v. 14).

The triple repeti-

" tion of the phrase " he will declare to you (dvoyycXri vifiv) at the end of the three verses *3» Mi 15) gives a solemn emphasis to it

the things that are to come, not simply some things to come, but the whole system of the world to be or " still more exactly " the things that are coming (ra €pxon<va, Vulg. qu* ventura sunt), "that future which even now is prepared, and in things to come]

;

the very process of fulfilment"

The phrase,

which occurs here only in the N. T., corresponds with u he that cometh " (Luke vii. 19 f., &c), and " the age that cometh " (Luke xviii. 30). The reference is, no doubt, mainly to the constitution of the Christian Church, as representing hereafter the divine order in place of the Jewish economy.

—

He that divine Person to whom we 14. are now looking afar off (cicccvof) shall

The work of the Spirit in relaglorify me] tion to the Son is presented as parallel with

Sorrow turned to joy (xvL 16

—

14).

The prospect of the fulfilment of the work of the Paraclete for the world and for the followed by a revelation of the condition in which the disciples themselves will be. They are to stand in a new relation to Christ (16 time of bitter sorrow 1 8). is to be followed by joy (19, 20), by joy springing (so to speak) naturally out of the sorrow (21, 2a) ; and this joy is to be carried to its complete fulfilment (23, 24). In this and the following section the disciples again, though in a body and at first disciples is

—

indirectly, appear as speakers*

the

The form of

part of the discourses is partly reat the close, though under new con-

first

sumed ditions.

16.

ye shall not see me...ye shall see me]

me no more...jr? shall see me. The last clause, because I go unto the Father,

ye behold

The message of the

must be omitted in accordance with a very strong combination of authorities. The words have evidently been introduced from v. 1 7 and they do not occur in the Lord's repetition of the sentence, v. 19. This verse offers a superficial contradiction to xiv. 19, which may perhaps have arrested the attention of the disciples. Comp. v. 12, viii. 14. In xiv. 19 the thought is of the contrast between the world and the disciples ; here the thought is of the contrast between two stages in the spiritual history of the disciples themselves. As contrasted with the world the disciples never lost the vision of Christ. Their life was unbroken even as His life, and so also their direct relation to Him. But on the other hand, the form of their vision was altered. The vision of wondering contemplation, in which they observed little by little the outward manifestation of the Lord (dtwpia), was changed and transfigured into sight (o^cr), in which they seized at once intuitively all As long as His earthly that Christ was. presence was the object on which their eyes were fixed, their view was necessarily imHis glorified presence shewed Him perfect. in His true nature.

Spirit was a message of absolute divine Truth; that Truth which belonged to the Father be-

ye shall see me] The fulfilment of this promise must not be limited to any one special

Son in relation to the Father. Comp. xiv. 26, xvii. 4. He u glorifies " the Son, that is, makes Him known in His full that of the

majesty by gradual revelation, taking now fragment and now that from the whole sum of Truth. For the manifestation of the Truth is indeed the glorification of Christ. The pronoun (Jp*\ is placed emphatically this

before the verb, other,

was

Christ,

and none

who was the subject of the Spirit's

teaching.

for (because) be shall...'] To maly Christ known is assumed to be the same as spreading His glory. better

shall receive] shall take (as in v. 15). The original verb may be rendered either " receive"

or " take."

It suggests (as distinguished from d«x^6<u) the notion of activity and effort on the part of the recipient and in this connexion *' take" brings out well the personal action of ;

the Spirit of mine]

Comp. xx. 22, note. All that

Christ's

first

contemplated in its unity (to cfiov), and then in its manifold parts (all things). 15.

All things... mine]

therefore said

I...]

Comp. xvii. 10.

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232

St.

JOHN. XVI.

ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.

17 Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that

he saith unto us,

A little while, and

not see me and again, a while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father ? 18 They said therefore, What is this that he saith, little while ? we cannot tell what he saith. 19 Now Jesus knew that they shall

Ire ittle

event, as the Resurrection, or Pentecost, or the Return. The beginning of the new vision was at the Resurrection the potential fulfilment of it was at Pentecost, when the spiritual Presence of the Lord was completed by the gift of the Holy Spirit. This Presence slowly realised will be crowned by the Return. After each manifestation there is a corresponding return to the Father. ;

Then said some of bis disciples..."] Some

17.

of bis

disciples

therefore said...

The par-

ticularity of the expression, as compared' with v. 29, iv. 33, seems to mark a* distinct impression on the mind of the Evangelist as to the actual scene. He, we may suppose, was himself silent. among themselves'] Rather, one to another The (irpos dAXq'Xovs), iv. 33, and so xix. 24. phrases in v. 19 (jut aXXi$Ao>i>), and again in xii. 19 (yrpbs tavrovs), are different. What u this...'] The difficulty of the disciples was twofold, (1) as to the fact itself which was announced, and (2) as to the reason which they felt to be alleged in explanation of it. It is best to keep the rendering because, for the conjunction (on) which introduces the second clause. It may however serve simply to introduce the words quoted and I go to tbe Father, But v. 10 seems to shew that it was not only the departure which was perplexing, but also the consequences connected with it ; and it is from this verse that the words are quoted, since they are not found in the true text of v. 16. je shall not see me] ye behold me not.

18.

while f]

What

this

that be saith,

this

while

whereof he tpeaketh?

little

What are these

strange intervals, marked by separation and change, which break the tenour of our intercourse ?

[v.

17—21.

were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye inquire among

little yourselves of that I said, while, and ye shall not see me and again, a little while, and ye

me ?

shall see

20 Verily, verily,

I say

unto you,

That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice : and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. 21 woman when she is in tra-

(omit) Jesus knew (perceived, 19. cyvo)] The word use/1 probably indicates an outward occasion for the Lord's words, though indeed He read the heart. The anxious looks and whisperings of the disciples would Comalone be sufficient to reveal their wish. pare v. 6, vi. 15 (yvovs) ; and on the other nand, vi. 6 (jydci), xiii. 1, 3, xviii. 4 (tldcas).

Comp. ii. 24, note. of that 1 said]

concerning this, that

(ort) I said. je shall not see me]

ye behold me not. The Lord in His answer takes for granted that which He had already made

20 ff.

known, and reveals the character of the double 22), and the new relation to the Father realised for the disciples by His de-

—

interval (20

parture (23, 24).

20. ye shall. .] The order in this first clause is very remarkable (^Aavo-crc koa BprjpqatTf 17** it)* Attention is at once fixed on the sadness of It is the immediate future for the disciples. as if the Lord had said to them: " Sorrow and lamentation there shall be. Do not marvel at this. And they shall be your lot. MeanYes this shall while the world shall rdoice. be the issue of that first 4 little while/ Te (pm\\and) shall be sorrowful ; but your sorrow, in that you think that you have lost me, shall be turned into joy. This shall be the issue of the second 'little while.' ye sbaH weep and lament] The words mark the open expression of intense sorrow. Such lamentation was the natural accompaniment of Christ's death. Comp. Luke xxiii. 27 f., .

ch. xx. 11. the world

shall rejoice] as having been freed from one who was a dangerous innovator as well as a condemner of its ways. and (omit) ye (v/i€if) shall be sorrowful] The inward feeling is now substituted for the

<we cannot tell] we know not. be saith] The original marks the difference between tne purport of the saying (o Xryw yuKpov, Vulg. quod dicit modicum), and the form in which the saying was conveyed (b Comp. viii. 43, XaXei, Vulg. quid loquitur).

outward expression of grief. The first sharp utterance of lamentation was to be followed by a more permanent sorrow. The words, which had an immediate fulfilment in the

xii.

a wider application.

49.

experience of the Apostles before the Resurrection, and again before Pentecost, have also

The attitude of sorrow

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.22, 23-]

JOHN. XVI.

St.

because her hour is but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. 22 And ye now therefore have* vail hath sorrow,

come

marks in one aspect the state of the Church

Comp. v. 16, note. turned into (eycWo tlif] Comp. Matt. xxi. 4a Luke xiii. 19 Acts iv. 11, v. 36 1 Pet. ii. Rom. xi. 9 Rev. 1 Cor. xv. 45 7 until the Return.

;

viii.

;

11, xvi. 19.

;

The sorrow itself is trans-

formed. 21. pression

A woman]

The exact form of ex-

(ij yvvrf) marks not simply a single case, but the universal law. The illustration

not taken from any one woman, but from

woman as such. for joy] for the Joy, the special joy whicfc answered to her pangs. a man] a being endowed with all the gifts of humanity (avdpwnos, Vulg. homo). The potential fulness of the completed lire is regarded as present to the mother's mind. born into the world] The complex phrase marks not only the fact but the sphere of the new life. The man is introduced to a place in the great order in which he has a part to

Comp. viii. 26. The image of a new birth is constantly ap-

play.

plied to the institution of Messiah's kingdom.

Comp. Matt. xxiv. 8; Mark xiii. 8 (aftlm) Rom. viii. 22 (avvvdlvti). And it is applied more generally to the passage to joy through sorrow: Isai. lxvi. 6 ff.; Hos. xiii. 13. St Paul uses the same image to describe the relation of an apostle to his converts, Gal. iv. 19. 22. And ye (ypiii) now therefore.,,] Or, Te also therefore now.,,. The application or the image (therefore) clearly indicates that something more is intended by it than the mere passage of the disciples through suffering to joy. The proper idea of birth-throes is not that of the transition from suffering to joy, but of suffering as the necessary condition and preparation for joy. Under this aspect the disciples in some sense occupied the position of the mother. It was their office, as the representatives of the Church, to realise the Christ of the Resurrection and present Him to the world (comp. Rev. xii. 2 ff.). The time of transition from their present state to that future state was necessarily a period of anguish, and that time was even now come (now ye have). But the image is not exhausted by this application. It appears also to have a reference to Christ Himself. For Him death was as the travail-pain issuing in a new life (Acts ii. 24).

His passage through the grave was as the new birth of humanity brought about through the extremity of sorrow.

233

sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. 23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. a Verily, verily, I say" Matt ?• unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask have sorrow] The phrase is not identical with be sorrowful, but expresses the full See iii. 15, note.

realisation of sorrow.

/ will see you again] The implied reference to Christ as Himself nsing through the Passion to His glory seems to have led to the use of the first person here, as contrasted with the second person which was used before (w. The highest blessing 16, 19, ye shall see me). lies not in the thought that God is the object of our regard, but that we are objects of God's regard. Comp. Gal. iv. 9 ; 1 Cor. viii.

3; (ch. x. 14, 15).

and your joy... taketh (perhaps shall take)

The sorrow of the disciples (v. 20) underwent a sudden transformation. Their joy was stable. The turn of the sentence implies that they would have enemies, but that their enemies would not prevail. 23.

in that day]

is realised,

when the new relation

and you enjoy the fulness of my

presence (xiv. 20). "That day" begins with Pentecost and is consummated at the Return. The Lord now brings before the disciples the consequences of this " going to the Father n (v. 17), perfect knowledge, the perfect fulfilment of prayer, perfect joy. ye shall ask me (<^c ovk cpwrr/crcrc) nothing] ye shall ask me no question. All will then be clear. The mysteries which now perplex you will have been illuminated. You will not need to seek my guidance when you enjoy that of the Spirit. The verb (ipvrqacTt appears to answer directly to the same word used before in v. 19 (c'po>r$A and so to be used in the same sense. The phrase may however be rendered (as A. V.) ye shall ask me nothing, in the sense u ye shall make no request of me." But the context appears to favour the other interpretation. Thus the change in the position of the disciples as suggested in this clause when compared with the next is twofold. Their relation to Christ (the pronoun me stands in a position of emphasis) is to be fulfilled in the recognition of a relation to the Father. The questioning of ignorance is to be replaced by the definite prayer which claims absolute accomplishment as being in conformity with the will of God. glorified

Comp. xv. 16 n. Ferity, verily...] According to uniform usage this formula introduces a new thought The preceding clause must therefore, as it seems, be taken rather with what has gone before than with these words.

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JOHN. XVI.

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234

the Father in my name, he will give it you.

24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in

my name

ask, and ye shall re-

ceive, that your joy may be full. l

£rabi*t.

25 These things have I spoken but the time unto y ou m proverbs '

Whatsoever ye shall ask (aJnj<r»prc)...wf my name, he..."] Rather, according to the true reading: If ye shall ask anything of. ..he shall give It yon In my name. the Father] The return of Christ to the Father restored in its completeness the connexion of man with God, which had been broken.

glre It you In my name]

Not only is

the prayer offered in Christ's name (v. 24, xv. 1 6), but the answer is given in His name. Every divine gift represents in part the working of that Spirit who is sent in His name .(xiv. a 6).

24. Hitherto] not fully revealed.

As yet Christ Himself was

His name in its complete was not made known; nor had the disciples at present the power to enter into

significance

its meaning.

ask] The end is assumed to be already reached. The command implies a continuous prayer (atrciTf, Matt. vii. 7), and not a single petition (Mark vi. 22, alrriarov).

may be full (fulfilled)]

The phrase im-

plies not only the fact (l»a...fr\r)pa>6j} i xv. n),

which follows (tva... 13; 1 John i. 4; This fulness of joy is the divine

but the abiding

state

$ TrtTrXijpw/ic'im, comp. xvii.

2 John 12). end of Chrises work according to the Father's will.

[v.

cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in 'proverbs, but I shall "^^^ shew you plainly of the Father. 26 At that day ye shall ask in my name : and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you 27 For the Father himself loveth :

intelligible. A deeper meaning lay beneath the words, which could not yet be made plain. It seems to be unnatural to limit the reference to the answer to the question in v. 17. The description applies in fact to all the earthly teaching of the Lord. The necessity which veiled His teaching to the multitudes (Matt xiii. 11 fF.) influenced, in other ways, His teaching to the disciples. He spoke as they

could

bear,

and under

figures

After failure, victory (xvi. 25-7-33).

This section forms a kind of epilogue to the discourses. The Lord gathers up in a brief summary His present and future relations to the disciples (25 27), and the character of His mission (28). This is followed by a confession of faith on the part of the disciples (29, 30); to which the Lord

—

of human

limitation.

proverbs] Comp. x. 6, note. but the time cometh] the hour

cometh.

From the 21, note. day of Pentecost, Christ, speaking through the Holy Spirit, has declared plainly the reOmit

but.

lation

of the Father to men (vv. 13

Comp.

iv.

ff.,

xiv. 26).

shew you] tell you, or declare unto yon, The original word 1 John i. 5. fF. according to the true text (an-ayycXu) marks

w. 13

;

the origin rather than the destination (avayycX<5) of the message. plainly] without reserve, or concealment. Here the objective sense of the original term (ncLpprjtri^y Vulg. palam) prevails. See vii. 13, note.

26. At that day...] v. 23, note. The fulness of knowledge leads to the fulness of prayer. The clearer revelation of the Father issues in the bolder petitions

24—27.

name;" and this

revelation

"in the Son's given by the

Paraclete after Pentecost. J say not... that I (eye*)] Your confidence will then rest upon a direct connexion with God. I speak not therefore of my own in-

This however is still necessary (1 John

tercession in support of your requests. intercession ii.

1 f.)

so far as the disciples realise imper-

replies with a warning, and with a triumphant

fectly their position as sons.

assurance (31—33).

fray (ask) the Father for you] not directly "in behalf of you," but "about you" (irtpl vfxa>v), as inquiring what was the Father's will, and so laying the case before Him. Comp. Luke iv. 38 ch. xvii. 9, 20. This use

—

is un27. The teaching of 23 folded more fully in these verses. There will be hereafter no need of questioning, because the revelation will be plain (23 a, 25): the fulfilment of prayer in Christ s name will be absolute, because of the relation established between believers and the Father (23 b, f., 26 f.). f.

25. These things... in proverbs] All that had been said since they had left the Upper Room. Of these revelations part had been veiled in

figures (the Vine, the

travail), and part

Woman in

was for the time only half

;

of ask ((ptoTav) in connexion with prayer addressed to uod is peculiar to St John. It expresses a request made on the basis of fellowship and is used in the Gospel only of the petitions of the Lord (contrast cdrtiv, xi. 22, note). This peculiarity of sense explains the use of the word in 1 John v. 16, where the circumstances exclude the idea of prayer for a brother in fellowship with the common Father,

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3°-]

JOHN. XVI.

235

you, because ye have loved me, and nave believed that I came out from

now speakest thou plainly, and speak-

God.

30 Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by

28 I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. 29 His diciples said unto him, Lo, :

27. the Father himself, without any pleading on my part, lovetbyou with the love which springs from a natural relationship (cfciXtl), for the disciples are also sons (Rom. vni. 15). Comp. j. 20 ; Rev. Hi. 19. This assurance carries out yet further the promise in xiv. ai, 23 (ayarr<p>). ye have loved me (frc$tXr}«aT*)] The word is used here only in the Gospels of the affection of the disciples for their Lord (yet see xxi. 15 ff., note), and the juxtaposition of the pronouns (vfi*U cui ire <f>.) gives force to the personal relationship. Comp. Matt x. 37. The word is used also 1 Cor. xvi. a a. The love of the disciples is to be regarded no less as the sign than as the cause of the Father's love (xiv. ai, 23). His love made their love

and then

responded to it (1 John iv. 10; "donum Dei estdiligereDeum," Aug. ad loc). Their love is regarded both in its origin, and in its continuance (have loved,

possible,

irt<pi\ijKaT<) :

again

His love, in

its

present opera-

tion (loveth, <f>i\€i).

came out from God] According to the true oame forth from the Father.

reading,

The preposition used here (napa) denotes the leaving a position (as it were) Sy the Father's side (comp. xv. a 6) ; that used in the next verse ,(c«) an issuing forth from the Father

as the spring of deity. The twofold requirement of true discipleship is laid down to be (1) personal devotion, (a) belief in the personal (*y*») mission of Christ from heaven (xvii. 8). The recognition of the Son depends on a right sense of His relation to the Father. The common reading (from God) obscures this thought.

/ came forth from...'] I came out No phrase could express more completely unity of essence than the true original of these words (t(n\$ov Jk). Comp. viii. 4a, 28.

from....

note. Thus the Lord, wnile He recognises the faith of the disciples, lays before them a revelation of deeper mysteries. The verse is indeed a brief summary of the whole historic work of Christ : clause answers to clause the Mission, the Nativity; the Passion, the As:

cension.

again] This revelation is complementary Comp. 1 John ii. 8. to the other. leave the world] Comp. iv. 3, note. go to the Father] That which was before 10, 17) described as a withdrawal vtraya), is now again described as a journey

iw.

est no ' proverb.

£Lue

this we Delieve that thou earnest forth

from God. for a purpose (vopcvopm).

Comp. xiv. 1 a,

28.

29 f.

The Lord had interpreted the dis-

ciples thoughts, and they openly confess their

gratitude and faith, as satisfied with what they can grasp already. said unto him] say. Lo, now. ..Now we know...] The revelation seemed to the disciples to have outrun the promise. Their Master had spoken of some future time in which He would give a clear declaration of the Father. They answer, thou speakest plainly; and we need not

20.

Now

wait in darkness any longer. we know that which makes silent patience easy.

Lo] The sharp interjection is characteristic of St John's narrative. It occurs more often in his Gospel than in all the other books of the N. T. together. Comp. iii. a6, v. 14, xi. 36, xii. 19, xix. 4, 5, 14, &c. plainly] "In plainness" (iv

wapprjeriq) ;

the slight change of form from v. 25 (nappmriq) marks a difference between the sphere or the revelation and the simple manner ; ch. vii. 4 ; Eph. vi. 19 ; Col. ii. 15.

30. Now are we sure] Now we know. The discernment of their thought (v. 19)

seemed to the disciples a sure pledge that all was open before Christ A human helper needs to have the thoughts of those whom he has to help interpreted to him. In such a case the question is the natural prelude to assistance. So the disciples had hitherto stood towards Christ ; but now they had gained a fresh confidence. was enough for the It believer to feel the want The Lord would satisfy it as was best, without requiring to

hear it from him. by this]

Literally

"in this" (Jp tovtv).

The proof is rather vital (so to speak) than Comp. 1 John ii. 3, 5, iii. 16, Conscious of 19, a4, iv. 9, 10, 13, 17, v. a. the Lord's knowledge of their hearts, they instrumental.

found in this the assurance of His divine mission (dno 6cov). The "that" (on) is to be connected with " believe," and gives the object of faith. St John's usage generally is against the connexion of the particle with *' in this" in the sense of u because;" ch. xiii. 35 ; 1 John ii. 3, 5, iii. 19, 24, v. a. In 1 John iv. 13 the two constructions occur together. earnest

This common how little even yet

forth from God]

confession of faith shews

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JOHN. XVI.

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236

31 Jesus answered them,

Do ye

now believe ?

31—33-

unto you, that in me ye might have In the world ye shall have but be of good cheer ; I tribulation have overcome the world. peace.

32 * Behold, the hour cometh, yea,

*Matt«6.

[v.

now come, that ye shall be scatOr, his tered, every man to "his own, and me <7tw shall leave me alone and yet I am is

CHAPTER XVII.

not alone, with me.

because

the

These things

Father

have spoken

the disciples had apprehended the nature of Christ. As a body they had not advanced as far as the Baptist.

31 ff. The answer of the Lord recognises the faith of the disciples, and indicates its incompleteness. The last trial had not yet come outwardly ; but even this was already surmounted. In the victory of the Master the essential peace of the disciple was included.

Do ye now believe?] The words are 31. half question, half exclamation (xx. 29). The power and the permanence of their faith are brought into doubt, and not its reality. The no<w (op™) marks more than a mere point of time {yvv,

w. 29, 30).

a parRev. ticular state, a crisis; v. 12, xiii. 7, 33 It suggests

Christ prayeth to his Father* to glorify him, 6 to preserve his apostles, 11 in unity\ 1 7 and truth, 20 to glorify them, and all other be~ lievers with him in heaven.

ye shall have] ye have.

Even then their

conflict had begun.

* of good cheer] The word (Oapatvr*) is Comp. Matt, found here only in St John. he

ix. 2, 22, xiv.

27 ;

Mark x. 49.

/ (ty<a) have overcome the world] The pronoun stands out with stronger emphasis from the absence of the pronoun of the second person in the parallel clause. Thus in His last recorded words of teaching before the Passion, the Lord claims the glory of a

Comp. 1 John v. 4 (17 viKr/aaaa). The Christian's victory is in virtue of that which Christ has already won for all time. The image of the u victory" of believers re-

conqueror.

curs constantly in 1 John and Rev. Elsewhere it is found only in Rom. viii. 37, xii. 21.

;

xVlI.

xii. 10.

yea, is now (omit now) come] This clause, as contrasted with u and now is" (iv. 23), presents rather the fulfilment of condition than the beginning of a period. that ye shall be scattered. .and shall leave. .] that ye be scattered.. .and leave... Comp. v. 2 note. Even this was part of the divine counsel. he scattered] Comp. ch. x. 12; Zech. xi.

32.

may

16, xiii. 7; (Matt. xxvi. 31 ; 1 Mace. vi. 54). to his own] i.e. "to his own home" (xix.

;

Luke xviii.

28, true reading), or (more

generally) u to his own pursuits." The bond which had held them together in a society was to be broken ; Matt. xxvi. 56.

and yet] see viii. 20.

For the use of the conjunction It is natural

to imagine a pause

after which this clause is solemnly added. is

truth

with me] both now and always. This must be set side by side with the

mysterious reference to a moment of leaving in Matt, xxvii. 46 (cy*arc'XtTTff). See note

The Prayer of Consecration.

This chapter stands alone in the Gospels. It contains what may be most properly called "the Lord's Prayer," the Prayer which He Himself used as distinguished from that which He taught to His disciples. On other occasions we read that the Lord "prayed" (Matt. xiv. Luke 23 and parallels, xix. 13 ; Mark i. $5 1.

;

21, v. 16, ix. 18, 28 f., xi. 1), but here the complete outline of what He said is preiii.

In this respect it is noticeable that the other Evangelists have recorded words used shortly afterwards at Gethsemane (Matt, xxvi. 36 ff. and parallels). The nearest parallel to the Prayer is the Thanksgiving in Matt. xi. 25 ff. St John, it may be added, never speaks in his narrative of the Lord as "praying," as the other Evangelists do, but on one occasion he gives words of thanksgiving which imply a previous prayer, xi. 41 f., and on another occasion he gives a brief prayer : xii. 27, note. It is evident from v. 1 that the prayer 2.

served.

words to the faithful. in me ye might (may) have. ..In the world. .] The believer lives two lives in two different

was spoken aloud (comp. Matt. xi. 25 ff.). While it was a communing of the Son with the Father, it was at the same time a most solemn lesson by the Master for the disciples (v. 13). At the supreme crisis of the Lord's work they were allowed to listen to the interpretation of its course and issue, and to learn

spheres, the eternal life in Christ, the temporal There is distrust, division, life in the world.

selves to fulfil.

on that passage. 33. These things...] All that has been spoken since the departure of Judas: the .

isolation for a time, but Christ becomes again the centre of a vital union.

the nature of the office which they had themThe words are a revelation of what He did and willed for men, and a type of that fellowship with the Father in which all

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St.

JOHN. XVII.

is crowned by Such words, however little understood at the time, were likely to be treasured up, and to grow luminous by the divine teach-

accomplished. . Teaching

prayer.

ing of later experience.

no direct evidence to shew where the Prayer was uttered. It is most 3.

There

natural to suppose that it followed directly of the address to the disciples (xvi. 33); and in that case that it followed without change of place. The discourses again in cc. xv., xvi. allow no break, and, though

after the close

they may have been spoken on the way, it seems more likely that xiv. 31 marks the departure to some fresh spot in which chapters xv. xvii. were spoken. St John's usage admits such a change of scene without explicit notice; and the second group of discourses forms a distinct whole, which at least suggests corresponding external conditions. It is scarcely possible that chapters xv., xvi. could have been spoken in the streets of the city. It is inconceivable that ch. xvii. should have been spoken anywhere except under circumstances suited to its unapproachable solemnity. The character of the descent to the Kidron, and of the ground on the western The side, does not afford a suitable locality.

—

upper chamber was certainly left after xiv. 31. One spot alone, as it seems, combines all that is required to satisfy the import of these last words, the Temple Courts. It may be true that there is nothing in the narrative which points immediately to a visit there but much in what is recorded gains fresh significance if regarded in connexion with the seat of the

Viewed from the human side, in 31). its actual realisation, the victory was yet future (xiv. 30). All human experience bears (xiii.

witness in common life to the naturalness of abrupt transitions from joy to sadness in the contemplation of a supreme trial. The absolute insight and foresight of Christ makes such an alternation even more intelligible. He could see, as man cannot do, both the completeness of His triumph and the suffering through which it was to be gained. Something of the same kind is seen in the conflict of deep emotion joined with words of perfect confidence at the grave of Lazarus (xi. 11, *3> 3>3i 35» 38, 40 ff.); and again on the occasion of the visit of the Greeks (xii. 33,

»7 *. 30 ff.).

The general scope of the prayer, which

5. is

of God through Christ, the Word Incarnate, from stage to stage, issuing in a perfect unity (w. 21 ff.). The Son offers Himself as a perfect offering, that so His disciples may be offered afterwards, and through them, at the last, the world may be won. In the perfected work of the Saviour lies the consecration of humanity. The Son declares the accomplishment of the Father's work, and this being accomplished expresses His own will (y. 24).

The chapter falls into three main sections

The Son and the Father (1—5); II. The Son and His immediate disI.

ciples (6 III.

Lord derived the

from which the of His own vital Everything which

and a profession and a consummation of the glory

at once a prayer

revelation, is the

old worship.

of the Jews/ pp. 151

won

in its essential elements, the victory was

;

The central object was the great Golden Vine (comp. Fergusson, The Temples

237

— 19)

The Son and the Church (ao

a6).

ff.),

figure

His people. spoke of a divine Presence gave force to the promise of a new Advocate. The warning of persecution and rejection found a commentary in the scenes with which the temple had been Nowhere, as associated in the last few days. seems, could the outlines of the future it spiritual Church be more fitly drawn than in Nowhere, the sanctuary of the old Church. it is clear, could our High Priest more fitly offer His work and Himself and believers to the Father, than in the one place in which God had chosen to set His Name. It may indeed have been not unusual for Paschal pilgrims to visit the temple during At least it is recorded that at the the night. Passover u it was the custom of the priests to open the gates of the temple at midnight" (cV 4 pifTTis wktos) (Jos. Antt. xviii. a. 2). Such a visit, therefore, as has been supposed, is in relation to

no way improbable. This prayer of consecration is the com4. plement to the Agony. There is no inconsistency between the two parts of the one Viewed from the divine side, final conflict

The subordinate divisions will be seen in the following analysis

The Son and the Father (1—5).

(The past as the basis for the future.)

Prayer for fresh glory as the condition of the Father's glory (1).

Such was Christ's work on earth in its aim (2), method (3V This had been accomplished (4). Christ therefore glory (5).

claims

His

resume

The Son and His immediate dis-

II.

ciples (6—19). (The Revelation of the Father by the Son.) 1.

—

The revelation given and accepted (6 8). The disciples watched over though left past work and The pa

the

future

aim

("> 13). 4.

The conflict and the strength (14, 15).

5/ The issue (16

—

19).

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JOHN. XVII.

THESE words spake Jesus, and lifted

his eyes

heaven,

and said, Father, the hour is come glorify thy Son, that thy Son also

[V. I, 2.

2 *As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

*^tt

may glorify thee

The Son and the Church (20— 16).

III.

The unity of the Church the conviction of the world.

Son (24).

By the revelation through the Son of the Father's name (25, 26).

The Son and the Father (1—5).

—

5. The completion of the work given by the Father to the Son is the ground for His glorifying by the Father. The work of the Son was to give eternal life to men. This life is the knowledge of God. The glory of

the Son, resting upon His perfected work, issues therefore in the glory of the Father ; for to know God is to give Him honour.

Chap. XVII. things (ravra).

These words] These The reference is to that 1.

which precedes. The Lord completed His words of warning and hope and love with the final assurance of victory, and then He turned from earth to heaven, from the disciples to the Father, from teaching to prayer. lifted up.., and said...'] St John does not separate the two actions: lifting up... he said... The trait marks at once the new region to which the thoughts of the Lord are turned, and the sense of perfect fellowship with the spiritual world. Comp. ch. xi. 41 Luke xviii. 13 Acts vii. 55. The attitude forms a natural contrast to Luke xxii. 41, and parallels. ;

Father]

w. 5, 11, 24, ch. xi. 41, xii. 27

Matt. xi. 25; (Luke x. 21); Luke xxii. 42,

Comp. Luke xi. 2.

xxiii. 34, 46.

The " glorifying" of the Son

of His true nature. in the fact of His victory over death, established by the Resurrection and Ascension, is set forth as having for its end the fuller manifestation of the Father. It is through the Son that men know and see the Father, ch. xiv. 7 ff. ; and the one end of all work and of all partial ends is the glory of the Father. The " glorifying " of the Son must not be limited to His support in the Passion, nor to His wider acknowledgment, though the revelation of His Being includes the thoughts which were suggested by these

This manifestation, given

By the faith of believers to come (20, 21). By the glory of the disciples (a a, 23). 2. The progress of revelation. By the contemplation of the glory of the

(omit also)...]

is the fuller manifestation

(The Revelation of the Son to the Church and to the world.)

The form

partial interpretations. Comp. xii. 23, note. The true commentary on the words is Phil, ii.

9 ff.

must be observed that the prayer is expressed in an impersonal form. It is based upon essential relations (thy Son, the Son, not me, iy In this respect it corresponds to the promise in Ps. ii. 8. Comp. viii. 50. It

2. As thou halt given him power...] Even as thou gavest him authority... The complete elevation of the Incarnate Son to His divine glory was necessarily presupposed in His mission. He received a legitimate authority (c£ ovcrla) over humanity as its true Head, and this could only be exercised in its fulness after the Ascension. At the same time the exaltation of the Son as Sayiour carried

with it the glorification of the Father, as the spring of the eternal life which Christ sent through the Spirit from heaven.

thou gavest...] The original charge once given (cdoxaf) is treated as the ground and measure of the prayer for its fulfilment. Nothing is said or implied as to the sovereignty of the Son over other created beings (e.g. angels). His office is regarded primarily in relation to man fallen.

authority}

Comp. ch. v. 27; Matt. vii.

of the petition includes the ground on which it rests, the absolute relation of the Father to the Son. The prayer is not regarded as directlypersonal (glorify me; contrast xi. 41); nor is it in a universal type (0 God, glorify ; see Luke xviii. 11, 13, and also Mark xv. 34V If the prayer was (as is likely) spoken m Aramaean, we cannot but recall Mark xiv. 36;

29, ix. 6, xxviii. 18. For the genitive (n. crapkos) see Matt. x. 1 ; Mark vi. 7. allflesh] The phrase is the rendering of a Hebrew phrase (1W2 73) which describes

Rom. viii. 15

48, xxi. 5 ; Jer. xii. 12, xxv. 31 ; Job xii. 10, xxxiv. 15 ; and from that side of their nature in which they are akin to, and represent, the

;

Gal. iv. 6 CAj9j3a).

Comp. vii. 30, viii'. 20, xii. 23, All the circumstances of redemption proceeded (is come, comp. ii. 4) according In the accomplishment of to a divine law. this there is no delay and no haste. glorify thy Son, that thy (the) Son. ..may the hour]

xui. i, note.

mankind in their weakness and transitoriness, as contrasted with the majesty of God, Gen. vi. 12; Ps. lxv. 2, cxlv. 21 ; Isai. xl. 5 f., xlix. 26, lxvi. 16, 23

f. ;

Joel ii. 28 ; Ezek. xx.

lower world, Gen. vi. 19,

vii. 15 f., 21, viii. 17, ix. 11, 15 fF. ; Ps. cxxxvi. 25 ; Jer. xxxil

Comp. Matt xxiv. %%

;

Luke ill. 6

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V.3-]

JOHN. XVII.

St.

3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, ii.

17;

Pet.

14;

Rom. Hi. 20; 1 Cor. i.

239

and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent ad he.) and by many Latin

fathers

from

From this point of sight the whole clause brings out forcibly the scope of the Incarnation, as designed to bring a higher life to that which in itself was incapable of regaining fellowship with God. Comp. Iren. 4 Adv. haer/

Augustine downwards, or to regard the juxtaposition of thee, the only true God, and him <wbom thou didst send, as in any way impairing the true divinity of Christ, by contrast with the Father, is totally to misunderstand the passage. It is really so framed as to meet the

v. 16. 1.

two

At the same time the universality of the Gospel is laid open. Not all Israel only (Luke

which arise in all times, the error which finds expression in various forms of polytheism, and the error which treats that which is preparatory in revelation as final. On the one side

29; Gal. ii. 16.

ii.

10, all the people. Matt. xv. 14),

but all

humanity are the subjects of Messiah (Matt xxviii. 19).

pi>e...to as many as thou bast...'] The original form of expression is remarkable:

that all that (nav 5) thou hait given him to them he should give. The Christian body is first presented in its unity as a whole, and then in

its

individual

members.

Comp. v. 24, vi. 37.

The contrast implied in all flesh and all that has been given, marks a mystery of the divine working which we cannot understand. The sovereignty is universal, the present blessing is partial Comp. iii. 16. 3.

And

eternal)]

this

life,

eternal

(the

life

The definition is not of the sphere

(in this), but of the essence of eternal life (comp. xii. 50). The subject is taken from the former clause: The life eternal the life eternal, of which Christ had just now (as ever) spoken (ij cuaJwof fo>i)) is this, that...

—

Eternal life lies not so much in the possession of a completed knowledge as in the striving after a growing knowledge. The that (4*0) expresses an aim, an end, and not only a fact. Comp. iv. 34, vi. 29. So too the tense of the verb (yiiwcr Kauri) marks continuance, progress, and not a perfect and past apprehension gained once for all. Comp. v. 23, x. 38 I John v. 20; ch. xiv. 31 (tva yvy), xix. 4; 1

John iv. 7, 8 (yivwo-xci, tyvto). The construction which occurs here (avrrj

t'arlu

at.

fa...)

John, ch. xv. 12; 2 John 6.

characteristic

of St

John iii.

11, 23, v. 3; The force of the article (ij at. f.) 1

appears in the only other passages of the New

Testament where it is found Acts xiii. 46 1 Tim. vi. 1 2 (1 John v. 20 is a false reading). Comp. 1 John i. 2, ii. 25 (ij £ ij al.\ The knowledge which is life, the knowledge which from the fact that it is vital is always advancing (yivwntuai, see above), is twofold a knowledge qf God in His sole, supreme Majesty, and a knowledge of the revelation which He has made in its final consummation :

;

cardinal

errors

religious truth

men make for themselves objects of worship, many and imperfect. On the other side they fail to recognise Christ when He comes. The primary reference is, no doubt, to the respecand Jew, but these include in themselves the typical trials of all ages. Cyril of Alexandria (ad loe.) justly remarks that the knowledge of God as the Father really involves a knowledge of the Son as God. The tive trials of Gentile

true (dXrjdivos) God is the Father who is made known in and by the Son (1 John v. 20).

And the revelation of God as Father, which is the Personal revelation of God as love in Himself, involves at the same time the knowledge of the Holy Spirit. The epigram which expresses the teaching of St Augustine, "utri amor ibi Trinitas," has its fulfilment in this conception. Comp. Aug. 'De Trin.' vm. 14, ix. 8. The verse finds an instructive

comment in

the double command, ch. xiv. 1. Life eternal life is characthis is...] teristically spoken of by St John as truly present: iii. 36, v. 24, vi. 47, 54; 1 John v. 1 2 ; and the possession of this life may become a matter of absolute knowledge: 1 John v. 13. At the same time this life is regarded as future

—

in its realisation: iv.

—

14,

36, vi. 27,

xii.

25.

The two thoughts are united in vi. 40, see note.

might know] may know. In such a connexion u knowledge " expresses the apprehension of the truth by the whole nature of man. It is not an acquaintance with facts as external, nor an intellectual conviction of their reality, but an appropriation of them (so to speak) as an influencing power into the very being of him who u knows " them. " Knowledge " is thus faith perfected ; and in turn it passes at last into sight (1 John iii. 2; comp. 1 Cor. It is remarkable that the noun xiii. 9 ff.). (ymans, iitiywatt) is not found in the writings of St John the verb on the contrary ;

(yivvaKu) is relatively more frequent in these than in any other section of the New Testa" the corresponding case of " faith ment As

regard the phrase in the mission of Christ. the only true God as embracing here both thee and him whom thou didst send, a con-

exercise of the power, and not on the abstract

struction adopted by Caesarius (Cramer, * Cat*

idea.

(see ii. 23, note) St John dwells on the active

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240 4 earth

have

I :

glorified

St.

JOHN. XVII.

thee

on the

have finished the work which

thou gavest me to do.

And now,

O Father, glorify

tbe only true God"]

On the word "true"

(akrjOivos) see iv. 23, note.

There are many

to whom the name of God has been applied (i Cor. viii. 4 ff.), but One only fulfils the conception which man can dimly form of the absolute majesty of God. Com p. Rom. xvi. 27 ; 1 Tim. vi. 15 f. Jesus Christ, whom thou bast sent] Htm

whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ. The emphasis is laid on the single historic fact of Christ's mission (didst send, aWtrreiXaf), and not on the continuity of its effects (bast sent, oTTcVraXxat, v. 36, xx. 21, note).

even Jesus Christ] The occurrence of these words creates great difficulty. The difficulty is materially lessened i f Christ is regarded as a predicate " that they know.,. Jesus as Christ*' The general structure of the sentence however is unfavourable to this view. The complex name " Jesus Christ" appears to answer exactly to the corresponding clause, " the only true God." These two clauses are thus most naturally taken to define the persons indicated before, "Thee" and "Him whom Thou didst send." If we accept this construction we have then to consider whether the definitions are to be treated as literally parts of the prayer, or as words used by the Evangelist in his record of the prayer, as best fitted in this connexion to convey the full meaning of the original language. In favour of the latter view it may be urged (1) that the use of the name 44 Jesus Christ " by the Lord Himself at this time is in the highest degree unlikely, while the compound title, expressing as it did at a later time the combination of the ideas of true humanity and of divine office, may reasonably be supposed to give the exact sense of the Lord's thought; (2) that the phrase 44 the only true God " recalls the phrase of St John 41 the true God" (1 John v. 20), and is not like any other phrase used by the Lord ; (3) that the clauses, while perfectly natural as explanations, are most strange if they are taken as substantial parts of the actual prayer. It is no derogation from the truthfulness of the record that St John has thus given parenthetically and in conventional language (so to speak) the substance of what the Lord said probably at greater length. :

/ have glorified (I glorified)...-^ 4, 5. now...glorify...] The prayer of v. 1 is repeated from the opposite point of view. Here the glorifying of Christ is treated as a consequence of work done, and there as a preparation for work still remaining to be done. There is also this further difference in expres-

[v.

4—6.

thou me whh thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. 6 I have manifested thy name un-

that in v. 1 the form is indirect (thy The while, here it is direct (I, me). reason of this appears to be that in v. 1 the central idea is that of the general relation of Son and Father, while here the attention is The fixed on what Christ had done as man. eternal glory of the Son is to be resumed by the Incarnate Son. The parallelism between v. 4 and v. 5 is very close J glorified thee upon earth : Do Thou glorify me with Thine own self (i. e. in heaven). And in each case the personal relation is made emphatic by the juxtaposition of the pronouns (/, Thee, <v. 4 ; Me, Thou, v. 5). sion,

Son),

The historical mission now regarded as ended; the earthly work is accomplished. By a lite of 4.

I glorified...]

of Christ

absolute obedience and love Christ had revealed and therefore glorified the Father. According to the true J have finished] reading, having finished (perfected, rtThe participle defines the mode in Xftoicrar). which tne glory of God was secured : there is but one action. For the use of the word " perfect " (Vulg. consummavi) comp. iv. 34,

—

note.

work. .gayest (hast given)] Comp. v. 36. Here the work is contemplated in its unity, as accomplished, and there in its manifold parts, as still to be done. Christ's work is not selfchosen, but wrought out in perfect obedience. .

now] when the hour has come, and 5. the last sacrifice of humiliation is over. with thine own self... with thee] The sense of the preposition in this constmction (napa ofavTcp, irapa <roi) in St John is always local (and not ethical), either literally (i. 40, iv. 40, xiv. 25, xix. 15 ; Rev. ii. 13) or figuratively, as expressing a direct spiritual connexion (viii. 38, xiv. 17, 23). The sense therefore here, in both cases, is 44 in fellowship with thee." The rendering " in thy sight," which is supported by the usage of other writers of the New Testament (Luke ii. 52 ; a Thess. i. 6 ; 1 Pet. ii. 4, &c), is excluded alike by St John's usage and by the context. Thus the verse presents a contrast between the state of the Incarnate Son and of the Eternal Word. The Person is one (glorify me... which 1 bad...), but by the assumption of manhood the Son for a time emptied Himself of that which He afterwards received again.

which J bad] in actual possession and not as the object of the divine thought. Comp. i. 1. The 4 * glory " here spoken of is not the predestined glory of Christ's humanity, but

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St.

7,8.]

JOHN. XVII.

men which thou gavest me out of the world : thine they were, and thou gavest them me ; and they have kept thy word. 7 Now they have known that all to the

which was fulfilled

the glory of His divinity

His ascended manhood. before the world was] Comp. v. 24 note. The glory of the Eternal Word spoken of here is distinguished from the glory of Christ, the Incarnate Word, spoken of in v. 22, though the two correspond to one another. The one is supra-temporal (ZdaHcat. v. 24) ; the other is a present possession (Ac'daca*, v. 22). For St Paul's statement of the fulfilment of in

these words see Phil. ii. 9 ff. II.

The Son and the Disciples (6—19).

241

things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.

8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me and they have received them, b and l*** ** draws them (xii. 32). Christ " chooses " men (vi. 70, xv. 16); and men freely obey His call.

thine] not only as creatures of God, or as representatives by birth of- Israel, the chosen people, but as answering to the true character

of Israel (i. 47). thy word] The revelation of Christ as a whole (o Xoyor, Vulg. sermo) is spoken of as the Father's word (comp. vii. 16, xii. 48, 49). All was included implicitly in the word by which the disciples were bidden to seek Christ (vi. 45). As they "heard" this at first, so

On keep (rnp€iv)

they continued to hear it

6 ff. The fulfilment by Christ of His work among men contained the promise of the wider work which should be accomplished for and through them on His exaltation. Thus the current of His prayer passes naturally into a new channel. As He had prayed for Himself, He prays for His disciples. The petition glorify me is represented in new relations by keep them (v. 11), and sanctify them (v. 17Y The glory of Christ, and of the Father in Christ, was to be realised by the continuance and completion of that which He had begun in men. 6.

The prayer for the disciples is based

upon a threefold declaration of what they were in relation to Christ (/ manifested thy name to the men...), in relation to the Father (thine they were...), and in themselves {they have kept thy word). Each statement is a plea in favour of the petitions which follow. Together they form a portraiture of true discipleship.

/ have manifested']

manifested.

The

phrase is exactly parallel with " I glorified " in v. 4. Christ made known perfectly the name of God as Father in His life. Even to the Jew this conception of the relation of God to man was new. The revelation however was not made to all, but to those who by sympathy were fitted to receive it. The full unto the men (toU dvtipvnois)] form of the phrase (as contrasted with "to those whom...") seems to mark a certain correspondence between the revelation and the recipients of it As men the disciples were enabled to receive the teaching of the Son of

man (comp. gavest]

4).

Comp. w. a,

24,

vi.

37, x. 29,

only by the influence of the Father that men can come to Christ, vi. 44, Yet the critical act admits of being de65. scribed from many sides. The Father is said to "draw" men (vi. 44), and Christ also xviii.

see viii. 51. note.

These verses unfold the growth of 7, 8. discipleship which is summarised in the preceding clause (they have kept thy word). The disciples who followed Christ in obedience to the Father had come to know by actual experience the nature and the source of His mission. They trusted Him, and then they found out little by little in whom they had trusted. 7.

Now they have known] Now they know

(tyvvicav), now they have learnt through the teaching of discipleship. The English present

seems to express best, both here and in v. 8, the actual result of past experience. Comp. v. 42, vi. 69, viii. 52, 55, xiv. 9;

John ii. 4.

whatsoever thou bast given] It might have seemed simpler to say u all that I have," but by such a mode of expression the thought of the special charge committed to the Son would have been lost. And yet further, the reference is to all the elements of His words and the Lord's Life and Work all things

—

acts which are severally attributed to the Father's love (v. 19, 30, viii. 28, xii. 49 f., xiv. 10), and now regarded in their abiding

consequence (are, not were).

The fuller insight which the disciples 8. gained into the being of Christ came through the gradual manifestations which He " gave " and they 4i received." the words...] That teaching which was before (v. 6) regarded in its unity, is now regarded in its component elements (r<k pijpara). That which was organically one, was made known in many parts according to the Father's will (the words which thou gavest me). The contrast between " the word " (\oyot), the complete message, and " the saying (ptyui), the detached utterance, is frequently important in St John, and yet difficult to express without a paraphrase. Comp. v. 38

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St. JOHN.

242

have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. 9 I pray for them I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me ; for they are thine.

XVII. 10

And now I am no more in the

world, but these are in

and

gifts

them).

vi.

\*ayi*&*)o *>"• 43

;

they

have received... and have known... and

tbey have believed ...] they

received ... and

The issues of the reception of the successive relations of Christ are gathered under the two heads of knowledge and faith (comp. vi. 69, note), and both alike are directed to the recognition of Christ and His mission. The disciples in their converse with their Master perceived, and perceived truly, on such evidence as to exclude all doubt, that the source of His life was know... and believed...

divine. This was a matter on which they could themselves judge. So far the voice of

conscience was authoritative as to the character

of Christ. But beyond this they believed that Christ was directly sent by God to fulfil a special office. This was no longer within the province of knowledge; it was a conclusion of faith. Yet here again in due course " faith" is transformed into knowledge, *v. 25.

The Lord has set forth the character and the position of the disciples, what they had received and made their own; He now flf.

looks forward

their

future.

watched over though left (9

—

They

are

11).

/ pray for tbeni] The pronouns are 0. emphatic: " I on my part, in answer to their devotion ; I, thy Son, for those who have been The emphatic "I" occurs faithful to Thee." throughout the prayer; see specially w. 4, 12,

On the word for "pray" {jpwu, 19. "ask") see xvi. 26, note. 14,

The exclusion of " the world " from Christ's no limitation of the extent of His love (comp. *v. 21, note), but a necessary result prayer

of the immediate circumstances of the prayer.

His work is fulfilled in ever-increasing circles of influence. At present He is interceding for those who have been prepared beforehand to continue His work; and in their behalf He pleads a request of which the fulfilment is guaranteed (so to speak) by a threefold claim.

The disciples for whom intercession is made were indeed the Father's {tbey are thine: comp. v. 6), and therefore He could not but regard His own children. And further, in respect •f their relation to Christ, so far as they had

come to thee.

the world,

Holy Father,

been attached to Him this also was a relation to the Father equally {all things that are mine are tbine). And • thirdly, this relation bad issued in Christ's glory, and therefore in the glory of the Father, so that by the fulfilment of their part hitherto they called out fresh

ment

And all mine are thine, and am glorified

in them.

60 {word), 63 {say{word), 47 {'*J*n 5 1 {word), xii. 47 {sayings), 48 {word), xv. 3 (word), 7 {sayings). The plural of "word occurs x. 19, xiv. 24 "saying" does not occur in St John in the singular, though it is frequent in other parts of the New Testa(word),, 47 {sayings),

9-1 1.

thine are mine; and I

*»£*)»

[v.

of divine love (/ have been glorified in

10. all mine are tbine..."] all things that are mine are thine... This general statement, which is expressed in the most comprehensive form, and does not include only persons, prepares the way for the next. Service rendered to Christ is rendered to the Father (xiii. 20), so that those who were from the first God's children had become nearer to His love by their faith in the Son of God, The second clause {and the things that are thine are mine) is not required by the argument, but serves to emphasize the assertion of the perfect communion of the Son and the Father. The words are not to be regarded as parenthetical, but as part of the exposition of the argument, which is made by parallel sentences.

lam (I have been) glorified] To "glorify" God (or Christ) is to make Him known or to acknowledge Him as being what He is (xii. Here then Christ bears witness 28, note). to the faith of the disciples who had been enabled to recognise and to confess Him even in His state of self-humiliation (vi. 69). This glory gained in the persons of the disciples is not looked upon as past (edo£a<r6qp, xiii. 31), but as abiding (&#&o£ao>ta4, 1 Pet. i. 8 ; 2 Cor. 10).

iii.

them]

Faithful

disciples are the living

monuments in which Christ's glory is seen. So also a church is the " glory" of its founder, 1

Thess. ii. 20.

The declaration of the grounds on 11. which the prayer is urged is followed by the statement of the circumstances which make the prayer necessary. These are simply coordinated {and... and... and) and the bare enumeration of the facts is left without comment. ;

Christ leaves the world, the disciples remain Master and scholars must then be separated, so that the old connexion will be broken. Christ goes to the Father ; He enters therefore upon a new sphere of His mediatorial work, in which His mode of action in the world ;

will be changed.

And now they...

I. ..but these...]

And I. ..and

See above.

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St.

V. 12, I3-]

JOHN. XVII.

keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they

may be one, as we are. 12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name / come to thee] The return of Christ to the Father involves more than a local separation from His people. It has a spiritual correspondence with His " coming" into the

world (viii. 14, xiii. 3), by which the idea of separation (J am no more in the world...) passes into that of a

new union.

It typified

a new relation towards the disciples. For a 1 time they would be unable to "see* Him (xvi. 10, 16 fF.), or to »' follow" Him (xiii. 3h 36 f: comp. vii. $3 flf., viii. 21 tfX Yet this change was designed to contribute to their good (xvi. 7), and was to be followed

by a fresh "coming" to them (xiv. 3 ff., 18, 23, 28, xxi. 22 f.). Holy Father. .] The substance of the prayer .

here at length finds expression when the pleas in support of it, and the occasion which calls it out, have been set forth. The unique phrase of address (Holy Father, comp. Rev. vi. 10; 1 John ii. 20 ; v. 15 righteous Father) suggests the main thought. The disciples hitherto had been kept apart from the corruption of the world by the present influence of Christ. The revelation of ,

He had made had a power at once to separate and to unite. He asks that holiness which

God, regarded under the

separate aspects of purity and tenderness, may carry forward to its final issue (that they may he one even as we are) that training which He had Himself commenced, and that too in the same way (keep in thy name, comp. v. 1 2). The " name " of the Father, the knowledge of God as Father, is regarded as an ideal region of security in which the disciples were preserved. It is the ground of their safety and not of Christ's power. keep through thine own name those wbfim thou hast given me] According to the text which is supported by overwhelming authority, the rendering must be: keep them In thy ,

name which thou hast given me. The phrase

very remarkable, and has no exact Perhaps the same 12.

those

243

that thou gavest

kept, and

none of them

me I is

lost,

have but

the son of perdition ; c that the scrip- ^Pla1,10* ture might be fulfilled.

And now come I to thee

and

;

the fulness of His commission as the Incarnate

Word

to reveal God. He came in His Father's name (v. 43), and to make that name

known (comp. w. 4 fF.).

He spoke what He had heard (viii. 26, 40, xv. 15). And all spiritual truth is gathered

up in *' the name"

of God, the perfect expression (for men) of what God is, which "name" the Father gave to the Son to declare when He took man's nature upon Him. Comp. Exod. xxiii. 21. one, even as we are] The unity is not only of will and love but of nature, perfectly realised in absolute harmony in Christ. As the divine Unity consists with a variety of Persons, so too the final unity of men does not exclude but perfectly harmonizes the separate being of each in the whole. as we are] The use of the plural pronoun in such a connection is a distinct assertion

of sameness of essence. The "we" which unites the Father and Christ affirms that their nature is one. Comp. x. 28, 29.

12 f. The Lord looks back upon the work which He had wrought for the disciples (v. 12),

now that He is passing into the new

order (v. 13). The place which He had occupied (/ [«?•] kept) must hereafter be filled otherwise. While... with them (omit in the world) 12. I kept... kept] While ...with them I kept— guarded. The tenses of the original verb

(tripovv, €<f)v\a{-a, Vulg. servabam, custodivi) mark respectively the continuous action of

watching and its completed issue. The difference between the verbs themsrlves appears to be that *' kept " (n/pci*) expresses the careful regard and observance of that which is looked at as without (e.g. Matt, xxvii. 36), while "guarded" (<f>v\aaatip) describes the protection of something held as it were within a line of defence from external assaults. in thy name: those that thou gavert me I

name that thou hast guarded them... as in

parallel except in v.

have

found in Phil. ii. 9 r. ; and it is illustrated by the imagery of the Apocalypse.

given me; and

Thus in Rev. ii. 17, a promise is made to the

but...] The excepting phrase (d ^) does not necessarily imply that Judas is reckoned

thought

victorious Christian : / will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no man knowetb saving he that receiveth

and again it is said of u the Word of he had a name written that no man knew but be himself (xix. 12); and again of the saints in glory, they shall see bis face, and

it;

God " :

bis name shall be on their foreheads (xxii. 4).

These passages suggest the idea that tne •• giving of the Father's name " to Chris! expresses

kept...]

in thy I

v. 11.

among

those

whom the

Lord

"guarded."

The exception may refer simply to the statement "not one perished." Comp. Matt. xii. 4 Luke iv. 26, 27 Gal. i. 19, ii. 16 Rev. ;

xxi. 27.

;

Contrast xviii. 9.

the son of perdition] He whose character was defined by this terrible mark, 2 Thess. ii. Comp. xii. 36, note. The (2 S. xii. 5). 3 solemn repetition of cognate words in the ori;

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St. JOHN.

244 these

things

speak in the world, my joy fulfilled

XVII.

[v.

a— 8. 1

them out of the world, but them from

take

that they might have

that thou shouldest keep

in themselves.

the

14 I have given them thy word and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I pray not that thou shouldest

16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them through thy truth thy word is truth. 18 As thou hast sent me into the

ginal cannot be preserved ( u not

one perished but the son of perishing"). that the scripture...'] Judas was lost, but even the fall of Judas found a place in the whole scheme of divine Providence, comp. xii. 38, note. The reference is to Ps. xli. 9 (ch. xiii. 18), rather than to Ps. cix. 8 (Acts i. ao).

13. And now come /...] Bat now I come,.. The old relation was on the point of being

broken. Christ was, so to speak, already on His way to the Father, but at the same time He had not yet left the world. His prayer therefore was offered while He was still on the scene of human conflict, that the disciples, conscious of His intercession, might be able when alone to realise in themselves (comp. xiv. 23) that joy, characteristic of Him (comp. xv. 11, note), which they had hitherto found in His presence. these

things

I speak ...that

The prayer was

(may)...]

that the disciples might draw the words which they heard.

they

might

uttered aloud strength from

14, 15. The joy of Christ must be won through conflict. The disciples are strong by the Word of God and by the Lord's intercession, but the world naturally hates them.

J (<y«) bove given...] The revelation which tne Lord had made is now regarded in its completeness (tov \6yov as compared with ra p»i/Kara, v. 8), and in connexion with 14.

Himself (t'ya &.): I in the fulness of my The disciples were presence have given... furnished with their power, and the crisis which decided their future was over. When they came before the world the world hath bated (bated) them, shewed at once and decisively its position of antagonism to the The single act (hated, c'nlor)a*v) Gospel. is contrasted with the permanent endowment On the other hand, see xv. 18, 24 (dcdaffa). These two facts, J have given. . (fitfiioTjKtv). and the world hated..., form the conditions which determine the nature of the apostolic

work. thy word]

Comp. w. 6, note,

31 f. they are not of...] note.

17, v. 38,

viii.

15.

evil.

of inevitable conflict. But for them, as for Himself (xii. 27), the conflict was the condiHis prayer therefore was for tion of victory. their protection, and not for their withdrawal either by isolation or by removal. from the evil] out of the evil one. The parallel words in 1 John v. 18, 19, seem to

shew conclusively that

the original phrase tov irovnpov, Vulg. ex malo), which is of doubtful gender, is here masculine (the evil one). Just as Christ is Himself the medium or sphere in which the believer lives and moves (tv xP |<rr<*)' so *be prince of the world, the evil one, is the medium or sphere in which they live and move who are given up to him (cV t£ novrjp^). The relation of man to good and evil is a personal relation and the Lord prays that His disciples may be kept out of the range of the pervading influence of His enemy. He does not pray only that they may be delivered from the outward assault of the evil one (2 Thess. iii. 3, <f>v\a<r<r€iv an 6 tov novrjpov), but that they may be preserved from resting within his domain. St John especially dwells on this personal character of the evil with which man has to contend, I John ii. 13, 14 (v(viKr}Kar€ tov irovrjpov)\ iii. 12 (Jk tov novrjpov rju) ; v. 18 (o notnjpos); (cjc

;

19 («V ry noprfpai Kflrcu).

xiv. 30, xvi. 11.

LXX.: Job vi. 23 Ps. cxl. (cxxxix.). 1.] 16 19. The issue of the disciples' con;

—

not only victory but complete conseThe truth for which they are hated and by which they are strong (v. 14) is the power by which they are transformed. flict

cration.

The last clause of v. 14 is repeated as 16. the ground of a new petition. Protection is to be followed by hallowing. The possibility of this complete consecration, no less than the certain prospect of hostility, lies in the affinity of the disciples to their Lord (they are not.., transposition gives even as I am not...). emphasis to the idea of u the world," which comes at the beginning and end of the verse (of the world they are not... I am not. of the

world). 17.

Comp. v. 16, viii. 13,

might have seemed best that the

Lord should remove His disciples from a scene

Comp. xii. 31,

[Cpmp. « for « vctpos in

Sanctify]

i.e.

Consecrate, hallow.

Comp. x. 36, note. The prayer is that the consecration which is represented

society

by admission into the Christian

may be completely realised in

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V. 19—21.]

St.

JOHN. XVII.

world, even so have I also sent them into the world. 19

And for their sakes I sanctify

MiMuJ. mvse

^ tnat tney *k° m >ght be 'sanc-

**"*

tified

through the truth.

that every power and faculty, offered once for all,

may in due course be effectually rendered

It is not enough for to God (Rom. xii. 1). the Christian to be " kept " (w. 11, 15) ; he must also advance. through thy truth"] In the truth. The " truth," the sum of the Christian revelation, "the word of God," at once embodied in Christ and spoken by Him, is (as it were) the element into which the believer is introduced, and by which he is changed. The ** truth " is not only a

moved

power within him by which he is

an atmosphere in which he lives. The end of the Truth is not wisdom, which is partial, but holiness, which is universal. The exact form of the original thy word] (o Xoyot 6 cos), "the word that is thine," emphasizes the tact that Christ's teaching was *' not His own, but His that sent Him " (vii. And this teaching must not be limited 16). to His spoken Word or to the written Word, but extended to every utterance of God in nature and history through the Word. The word of God is not only 4l true," but "truth," and has a transforming virtue. Com p. viii. 31. The phrase occurs in one of the Jewish prayers for the new year in a different connexion: "Purify our hearts to ;

it is

Thee in truth. Thou, O God, art Truth (Jerem. x. 10), and Thy word is Truth and standeth for ever." serve

18, 19. The sanctifying of the apostles is connected with two thoughts, firstly with that of their own work, and secondly with that of Christ's work for them. They needed the *' sanctifying " which He Himself received (x. 36) in order that they might fulfil their office;

and

He made that sanctifying possible for

them. 18.

As (Even as) thou hast sent (didst

end) me... so have I also sent (did* I also end) them...'] Comp. xx. 21 (irc'iura). The Lord appears to look upon the first mission of the apostles (Matt. x. 5 ; Mark vi. 7 Luke ix. 2) as including their whole future work. Comp. iv. 38. After His departure they continue His work. Comp. 1 John ii. 20. ;

19. I sanctify (consecrate) myself... might (may) be sanctified (consecrated)] The

work of the Lord is here presented under the

He shewed aspect of absolute self-sacrifice. through His life how all that is human may be brought wholly into the service of God and this He did by true personal determinaThe sacrifice of life tion, as perfectly man. (Hebr. x. 6 f.) was now to be consummated

245

20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word ; 2 That they all may be one ; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in in death, whereby the last offering of self was

The fruits of His victory are communicated to His disciples. By union with Him they also are u themselves sanctified in truth," through the Spirit whose mission followed on His completed work, and who enables each believer to appropriate what Christ has gained (xvi. 14). Christ does for Himself (*y<» ayiaC<o tfiavrop) that which is done for the disciples

made.

(tva Jo-tv tjyiao-fieyoi). through the truth] In truth (c'v aAq&t'p), truly, really, and not merely in name or ex-

The absence of the article distinguishes this phrase from that ternally (comp. iv. 23, note).

Comp. 2 John 1; 17 (in the truth). 3 John x ; Col. i. 6 ; Matt xxii. 16.

in v.

—

The Son and the Church (20 26). The prayer of the Lord is now extended

III.

from the Eleven to the Church, and through them to the world. There is to be a progress both in the breadth of unity, and in the apprehension of revelation. The unity of believers is the conviction of the world (20 and believers advance in knowledge of 23) the Son and of the Father (24 Christ 26). Himself prays for all in all time. ;

—

—23. The unity of the

first disciples

(y. n) is replaced by a larger unity (vv. 21, 23), which is regarded as influencing the world to faith (v. 21) and knowledge (v. 23).

20.

for them

also

which

shall

believe

(which believe)] The final issue is gathered up in a present. The Church of the future is regarded as actually in existence (which believe [rav mo-TcvovTctu] and not which shall believe frwy ntOT<varomav, Vulg. qui credsturi sunt"]). The immediate success of the apostles carried with it that success which should be. Their 4 'word" is the appointed means for the calling out of faith (Rom. x. 14 f.). This "word" is the " word " which they had received from Christ (v. 14), the interpretation as well as the assertion of the facts of Christ's life. In the arrangement of the original, by their word is closely connected with believe, so as to form a compound idea, which is followed by in me. 21. That they all.. .that they also ..that the world...] The great end is regarded in its growing extension. The simple and absolute idea of unity comes first (that all.., who now and hereafter believe) ; this is then definitely extended to the later generations of believers (that they also), and finally the effect on the world comes within the scope of the

R 2

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St.

246 thee, that they also

us : that the world thou hast sent me.

JOHN. XVII.

may be one in may believe that

8).

as (even as)...] The idea of the divine unity, which has been given generally before (v. 11, and v. aa), is set out in detail in its Comp. x. 38, xiv. correlative manifestation. There is, so to speak, an inter10, 11, 20. change of the energy of the divine Life {Thou in me, and I in Thee), which finds a counterpart in the harmonious relations of the members

of the Church.

The true unity of believers,

like the Unity of Persons in the

Holy Trinity

with which it is compared, is offered as something for more than a mere moral unity of purpose, feeling, affection ; terious

And the glory which thou gavme I have given them that they

22 est

;

may be one, even as we are one

prayer. And the unity of believers is itself presented in a threefold form, as a unity of all, a unity similar to that of the Father and the Son, and a unity realised in the Father and the Son. be one] Comp. x. 30, 11, aa; (1 Cor. iii.

[V. 22.

it is,

in some mys-

mode which we cannot distinctly ap-

prehend, a vital unity (Rom. xii. 5 ; Eph. iv. 4). In this sense it is the symbol of a higher type of life, in which each constituent being is a conscious element in the being of a vast whole. In "the life," and in "the life" only, each individual life is able to attain to its perfection. Such a conception, however imperfectly it may be grasped, meets many of the difficulties which beset the conception of an abiding continuance of our present individual separation.

Omit one. The omission "one" emphasizes the thought of their unity. They who are " in God and Christ may be... in us]

been already given as the mark of the disciples (v. 8, faith), and (in part) the second (v. 25, knowledge) has the same value. So also in xi. 42, the words used by the Lord at the raising of Lazarus are said to have been spoken for the sake of the multitude, that tbey may believe that thou didst send me. Such faith then as is here contemplated is at least the beginning of a true faith, and not a mere unwilling acknowledgment of the fact. In this connexion it must further be noticed that the verbs in w. 21, 23 are both present (irurrtvjj, yivwKjj) as contrasted with the aoristsin w. 8, 25. Thus it appears that the end which is proposed as the last reward of earthly work is that described in general terms in 1 Cor. xv. 28 ; Phil. ii. 10, 1 1. This end, as here regarded, is to be brought about by the spectacle of the unity of the disciples (comp. xiii. 35); and the same thought is expressed more fully in v. 23. The unity of disciples, therefore, while it springs out of a direct relation to Christ, must have some external expression that it may affect those without the Church. the world] A comparison of Rom. xi. 2$ ff. with this passage seems to indicate that the Lord looks forward to the time when u Israel " shall have become included in " the

world," and at last prove the instrument of its conversion. that thou M)...] that Thou, the God of Israel, the God of the Covenant, and none other...

Comp. w. 8, 18, 23, 25, xi. 42.

22.

The mention of the office of future

necessarily find unity in that fellowship.

God

is the essential centre of unity.

in us] Not simply in Me or in Tbee. Elsewhere the relation is definitely connected with the Son, vi. 56, xv. 4, 5 It (1 John iii. a4). is through the Son that men are united with the Father (v. 23, J in them) and so they are said "to be in God and God in them" ;

;

John iv. 13, 16, o 0coff). It will be observed that the prayer for unity

up when the Lord is looking towards the widest extension of the faith ; and the full significance of the prayer is made plainer if we bear in mind the religious differences (e.g. Jew and Gentile) of the apostolic age, and the struggles through which the Catholic Church strove towards its ultimate victory. Two results in regard that the world...'] The to the world are set forth by Christ. first, that it may believe that thou bast sent (didst send) me, and the second, that it may know that thou hast sent (didst send) me y and bast loved (didst love) them as thou bast lowed (lovedst) me (v. 23). The first has is offered

evoke faith in the world, leads to the mention of their endowment In the former verse the Lord prayed for the disciples ; He now declares what He has Himself done for them (c ya> MSuica). Hence the emphatic personal pronoun stands in the front of the sentence («dy<»...). He communicated to them the glory which He had Himself received. The gift of this glory (like the prayer in v. 21) has regard to a threefold consequence: that tbey maybe one... that tbey believers, to

may be perfected in one.. .that the world may know... the glory which thou gavest (hast given)...]

Comp. w. 5,

This glory comes from 24. the perfect apprehension of the Father as, fulfilling His work of love (comp. v. 3). Viewed from another point of sight it is the revelation of the divine in man realised in and through Christ. So to know God as He accomplishes His will is to find all things transfigured ; and as the Son of Man in His own Person experienced and shewed the Father's purpose, so He enabled His disciples to appropriate the

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V. 23,

St.

24] in

them, and thou

JOHN. XVII. in

and that the world rn^y know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Comp. xiii. 31, truth which He made clear. note. Such divine glory leads to the unity of The fulness of this glory is to be all being. made known hereafter in the Lord's presence but meanwhile it is partially presented in the different manifestations of Christ's action in believers through the power and beauty and truth of the Christian life. But the idea of 44 the glory " cannot be limited to any one of these.

them] the members of the universal Church.

I in them..."]

This clause, standing in apposition to that which precedes, explains 23.

the nature of the double unity of believers in themselves and with God. Christ in the body of believers is the ground of their unity ; and the Father is in Him. The unity of believers is therefore like that of the divine Persons and with Them. The two members of the clause suggest the full parallel I in them and they in me : I in Thee and Thou in me. that tbey] The possession of the divine '•glory" the absolute harmony of life furnishes the sure foundation for spiritual :

—

unity.

made perfect (perfected) in one"] brought {tit) to a final unity in which they attain their

completeness (rtTtXtioafiivoi us tv, Vulg. con-

summati in tmum).

For perfected see Phil. iii. 12 ; Hebr. ii. 10, v. 9, vii. 18, ix. 9, x. 1, 14,

xi.

40,

xii.

23;

That which

John ii. 5, iv.

24 * Father,

me,

that they may be made perfect in one

12, 17, 18.

completed at once on the divine side has to be gradually realised by man. is

So the essential unity is personally apprehended, and issues in the perfection of each believer as he fulfils his proper part.

and (omit) that the world may know ... bast sent (didst send)...] not at once (yej>), but

by slow degrees (ytwcncn). See v. 21, note. This knowledge (like the "belief" above) cannot be taken in any other general sense than that which is found in the other verses of the chapter (v. 8, Sec), It is the knowledge of grateful recognition and not of forced conviction.

bast loved (lovedst) tbem, at.. .(lovedst) The spiritual effect wrought in Christians, the visible manifestation of a power of love among them (comp. xiii. 35), is declared to be a sufficient proof of the divine mission of Him from whom it comes, and of the continuance in them of the divine working. This working is not however such as might have

me]

been anticipated. The life of believers shews the same contrasts of joy and apparent failure as the life of Christ. But those contrasts are

247 I

that

will

they

whom thou hast given m^, & .»u. me. be with me where I am that they may behold my glory, which thou

also,

;

given

hast

thou lovedst

for

no disparagement of the

perfectness of the

love of God towards them.

—

24 26. While believers overcome the world by their unity, they are themselves also to advance in the fulness of knowledge. This progress belongs in part to a higher order of being (v. 24} ; but it rests essentially on the knowledge of Christ as the interpreter of the Father (v. 25) ; and therefore is realised on earth as Christ makes Himself better known (v. 26).

24. the

The prospect of the completion of

work of •oelievers

leads directly to

the

thought of their bliss. In portraying this the Lord places side by side Him to whom, and the united body for whom, He speaks (ironjp,

He no longer 44 prays," but 67oa>xar fini). gives expression to His " will." J twill that. .

For the use of the word (0A«) by Christ, see ch. xxi. 22, 23 ; Matt. viii. 3, xxiii. 37, xxvi. 39 and parallels, xv. 32, (xx. 14); Luke xii.

4?.

It is further interesting to contrast this ex-

pression of Christ's own will in behalf of His disciples with His submission to His Father's will in His prayer for Himself, Mark xiv. 36. tbey...<wbom.„] that which... All believers regarded as one whole. See v. 2, note. The original runs literally Fatber, as for that ivbicb Thou bast given me, I will tbat... t bey :

also...

The will of Christ for His people includes two things, first that they may be where He is (xii. 26, xiv. 3), and so attain in the end to the sphere for the time unattainable by them (xiii. 36. Comp. vii. 34); and secondly, as dependent on this, that they may behold His glory. Each of these two issues contains an element not contained in the corresponding gifts already described. Presence with Christ, as involving personal fellowship with Him in the sphere of His glorified being, is more than a union effected by His presence with the Church. And the contemplation of His glory, in its whole extent, by those lifted beyond the limits of time, is more than the possession of that glory according to the measure of present

human powers. where I qm...may heboid] as sharing in the Lord's kingdom, 2 Tim. ii. 12. The scene of this vision is not defined. Under one *4 aspect it may be placed at the Lord's Presence." But no one special application exhausts the meaning of the words. Comp. 1 John iii. 2 ; 2 Cor. iii. 18. my glory , wbicb tbou bast given...] The

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p- ,fc

St.

248

JOHN. XVII.

me before the foundation of the world. righteous Father, the world 25 hath not known thee : but I have

known thee, and these have that thou hast sent me.

known

expression (literally, the glory that is mine, which... See xv. 9, note) as compared with the glory which... (v. 22) is to be noticed. "The glory" is here regarded as belonging and answering to the very nature of the Son. Yet it is not simply the glory of the Word 5), but the glory of the Incarnate Son Sv. Phil. ii. 9). The " glory" of the Word, apart from the Incarnation, is not said in the language of the New Testament to be u given " to Him, though the Father is the " one fountain of Godhead." The u glory" here spoken of is the glory of a restored and consummated full

harmony of God and man, which is made the final object of the contemplation of believers, even as it is already potentially given to them

(y. a a).

The love of the Father for..."] because... for the Son belongs to the eternal order. This love when outwardly realised is seen as glory in the object of it. And since the Father's love continued unchanged towards the Incarnate Son, this love necessarily involved the fulfilment of His glory as the Redeemer and Perfecter of humanity. be allowed to •' behold " such glory is to be admitted to the

contemplation of an inexhaustible object. 1

Comp. fcph. i. 4 ; before the foundation.,,'] Pet. i. 20. The corresponding phrase " since

the foundation of the world " (dirb k. k.) is not unfrequent Rev. (wpo Kara&oXijs Kocpov ; Vulg. ante constit utionem mundi) xiii. 8, xvii. :

8; Hebr. iv. 3, &c. The words distinctly imply the personal preexistence of Christ. The thought of an eternal love active in the depths of divine Being presents, perhaps, as much as we can faintly apprehend

of the doctrine of the essential Trinity.

25, 26.

In these concluding verses the

justification (if we may so speak) of the whole

prayer is gathered up in a simple enumeration of the facts of the world's ignorance, Christ's knowledge, and the disciples' faith; and the substance of it in the twofold end, that the love of the Father for the Son, and the Son Himself, may be in the disciples, who hence-

forward represent Him.

[v. 25, 26.

26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it :

that

the Jove wherewith thou me may be in them, and

hast loved I

them,

the world bath not knq/wn thee (knew Thee not); but I have known (knew) tbee, and these have known (knew)...] I n the original a conjunction (kqi) stands before " the world" which cannot easily be translated. It serves to co-ordinate the two main clauses, which bring out the contrast between the world and the disciples. The force of it is as if we were

to say: "Two facts are equally true; it is true that the world knew Thee not it is true that these knew that Thou didst send me." The first shewed that in the way of " nature" men had failed ; the second that the Son had found partial welcome in the way of "grace " (comp. 1 Cor. i. 21). but I have known (knew) tbee] This clause comes parenthetically to prepare for the next. Even if the world failed to read the lesson which was offered to it, there was yet another channel by which the knowledge could be conveyed. The Son, as the eternal Word, had the knowledge, and He came to men, and as ;

man realised the knowledge in human life, and found some at least who admitted His mission. Thus in virtue of the Incarnation that was at by His disciples, which the world had not gained, even the true knowledge of

last gained

the Father.

have known] knew. That which before (v. 8) had been described as a matter of faith, is now presented in its final acceptance as a matter of knowledge. 26. The revelation of the Father's name by Christ followed on the personal acknow-

ledgment of His mission. This revelation, complete in one sense (/ made known ; comp. xv. 15), is none the less continuous (/ will make known). It cannot be finished while the world lasts. The end of it is that the Father may regard the disciples in response to their growing faith even as He regarded the Son,

and that they may feel His love (that the love wherewith thou 1 v e d s t . in them ; comp. . .

Rom. v. 5).

The possibility of such a con-

summation lies in the fact of the Presence of the Son Himself in them {I in them). I have declared... will declare it] I made known.. .and will make It known, henceforward by the Holy Spirit, whom Christ

25. righteous Father] The epithet (comp. v. 11, Holy Father) emphasizes the nature of It is to the righteousness of the the plea.

sent, xv. 26.

Father that the Son appeals, and He had fitted them in part and would still more completely fit them to bear the vision of the divine beauty. Those for whom He speaks had in part proved

/ in them] The last word of the Lord's prayer corresponds with the last word of His discourses: / have overcome the world (xvi. He is Himself the source of victory and 33).

their faith.

life.

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St.

JOHN. XVIII.

CHAPTER XVIII.

and Caiaphas.

Judas betrayeth Jesus.

6 The officers fall to the ground. 10 Peter smileth off Malehus* ear. 12 Jesus is taken* and led unto Annas

xviii.

—xx. The Victory through Death.

Jnut

Synoptists.

His narrative assumes facts found

in them

This last main division of the Gospel falls

—

The betrayal (xviii. 1 11). II. The double trial (xviii. 12 xix. 16). III. The end (xix. 17— 42). IV. The new life (xx.). The last three sections, as will appear afterI.

—

wards, require further subdivision. 1. In comparing the narrative of St John with the parallel narratives of the Synoptists, it must be observed generally that here, as everywhere, St John fixes the attention of the reader upon the ideas which the several events bring out and illustrate. The Passion and Resurrection are for him revelations of the The objective fact is a Person of Christ. n 41 sign of something which lies deeper. It is a superficial and inadequate treatment of his it

examined before Caiaphas. 28 His arraignment before Pilate. 36 His kingdom. 40 foe Jews ask Barabbas to be let loose.

xvni. 11.

'•g-

—

naturally into four principal sections:

narrative to regard

*49 15 Peter's denial.

as a historical supple-

ment of the other narratives, or of the current oral narrative on which they were based. It does (it is true) become in part such a supplement, because it is a portrayal of the main spiritual aspects of the facts illustrated from the fulness of immediate knowledge, but the record is independent and complete in itself. It is a whole, and, like the rest of the Gospel, an interpretation of the inner meaning of the history which it contains. Thus in the history of the Passion three thoughts among others rise into clear promi-

xvui. 40. xix.

33-

41.

The main incidents recorded by more 3. than one of the other evangelists which are omitted by St John are The agony (Matt., Mark, Luke). The traitors kiss (Matt., Mark, Luke). The desertion by all (Matt., Mark). Comp.

John xvi. 32. The examination before the Sanbedrin at night the false witness ; the adjuration; the great Confession (Matt., Mark). The mockery as prophet (Matt., Mark, Luke). The council at daybreak (Matt., Mark, Luke). The mockery after condemnation (Matt., Mark). The impressment of Simon (Matt., Mark, Luke). The reproaches of spectators (Matt., Mark, Luke) and of the robbers (Matt., Mark, [Luke]). The darkness (Matt, Mark, Luke). The cry from Ps. xxii. (Matt, Mark). The rending of the veil (Matt., Mark). The confession of the centurion (Matt., Mark, Luke).

Other incidents omitted by St John are recorded by single Evangelists

St Matthew. Power over the hosts of heaven. }

Pilate s wife's message. Pilate's hand-washing.

nence:

The 'voluntariness of Chris?s sufferings.

(1)

xviii. 4.

xviii. 36.

xix. 28.

— —

—

11.

The fulfilment of a

(2)

The self condemnation of the Jews. The earthquake.

St Mark.

30.

divine plan in

The flight of the young man. Pilate's question as to the death of Christ.

Christ's sufferings

St Luke.

xviii. 4.

xix. 11.

24. 28.

—

— —

xi.

The examination before Herod. The lamentation of the women. Three " words " from the cross (xxiiL 34, 43,

Comp. Luke xxii. 53. The

(3)

46).

which

majesty

shines

through

Christ*s sufferings

xix. 11.

xviii. 6.

— 20 —

— 26 — 36

ff.

37. earlier

——

f. f.

words which pointed to

The words ofpower at the arrest (xviii. 4 9). The examination before Annas (xviii. 13 24). The first conference of the Jews with Pilate,

and Pilate's private examination (xviii. 28—

—

the end,

(1) x. 17, 18.

The main incidents peculiar to St John

are:

The narrative in this sense becomes a commentary on

The repentance of one of the robbers.

(2)

xiii. 1.

(3)

xiii.

31.

In several places the full meaning of 2. St John's narrative is first obtained by the help of words or incidents preserved by the

Comp. Matt, xxvii. 11; 11). 37, xix. 9 Mark xv. 2 ; Luke xxiii. 3. (xix. The first mockery t and the Ecce

Homo

Pilate's maintenance of bis words (xix. 21, a a).

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St. JOHN.

2=;o

• Matt a6. 36.

WHEN

Jesus had spoken these words, *he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron,

—

The last charge (xix. 25 27). ,f The thirst. t4 It is finished (xix. 28—30). The piercing the side (xix. 31— 37)The ministry of Nicodemus (xix. 39). In the narrative of incidents recorded elsewhere St John constantly adds details, often minute and yet most significant ; e.g. 5.

xviii. 1.

xviii. 15.

xix. 17.

16.

19.

— — — —

11.

— — —

28.

12.

xix.

14.

10.

— — —

26.

23.

XVIII.

where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples. 2 And Judas also, which betrayed Approximate time.

In the midst of great differences of dethe Synoptists and St John offer many impressive resemblances as to the spirit and character of the proceedings ; e.g. " High Priests (1) The activity of the Sadducsean hierarchy) as distin{i.e. the 6.

tail

guished from the Pharisees. civil (1) The course of the accusation charge : religious charge personal influence. (3) The silence of the Lord in His public accusations, with the significant exception, Matt, xx vi. 64. (4) The tone of mockery. The character of Pilate; haughty, VJ/ :

The crucifixion, and rejection of the

9 a.m.

stupefying draught (Mark xv. 25, Jjv 4$pa Tpirn). The last charge. ip.m.The darkness (Matt xxvii.

1 2 noon.

45;

Mark xv. n\ Luke xxiii. 44, %* oaael tipa iicrn...t»t upas iwarqs).

3 p.m.

The end.

The Betrayal. Jesus and the disciples

41.

See the notes.

[v. I, 2.

Judas and the adversaries (1

—

11).

The substance of this section is peculiar to St John, though it presents many points of contact with the Synoptic narratives. The conflict which the other Evangelists record is

here presupposed and regarded in

The victory follows the battle.

its issues.

The Lord

acts freely and with sovereign and protecting power towards His enemies and His disciples at the death.

moment when He is given over for

contemptuous, vacillating, selfish.

CHAP. XVIII.

When Jesus bad spo-

ken...] ch. xvii. 1.

he went forth] from the limits of the city (comp. 1 K. ii. 37), probably in the direction of the present St Stephen's Gate, by the same route as on other days when He went to the

Mount of Olives (Luke xxi. 37, xxii. 39 Mark 19; Matt. xxi. 17); but now Jerusalem was left. The Lord returned only to die there. In the parallel passages the same word (f|ijX;

The succession of the main events re-

corded by the four Evangelists appears to have been as follows Approximate time.

a.m.

The agony.

„

'The betrayal.

The conveyance

the high-priests

bouse, probably adjoining "the Booths

ofHanan." % a.m. 3 a.m.

The preliminary examination before Annas in the presence ofCaiapbas. The examination before Caiaphas and the S nbedrin at an irregular meet-

ing at <4 the Booths:'

xi.

Btv) is used, according to the context, of the departure from the upper room (Luke xxii. 39 ; Matt. xxvi. 30 ; Mark xiv. 26). the brook Cedron (Kidron)] See Additional Note. This detail is peculiar to St John. The parallel narratives have simply •* went to the Mount of Olives.*1 The exact description is probably introduced with a significant reference to the history of the flight of David from Absalom and Ahithophel (2 S. xv. 23

comp. ch. xiii. 18). The "brook" (^«//xap1 Mace. xii. 37), pos, compare Neh. ii. 15 ;

5 a.m.

The formal sentence of the Sanhedrin in their own proper place of meeting,

Gazith or Beth Midrash (Luke 66); Matt, xxvii. 1 (irpoua?

xxii.

Ttvoptvrjt : comp. Mark xv. 1 ,uke xxii. 66, oar iyivtro rjp*pa). The first examination before Pilate,

at the palace. 5.30 a.m. The examination before Herod. The scourging and first mockery by ,,

6.30 a.m.

the soldiers at the palace. The sentence of Pilate (John xix. 14, <Spa rjv cat ««r»j).

7 ajn.

The second mockery by the soldiers of the condemned " King"

winter torrent or ravine (/TO), Kidron, separating the Mount of Olives from the Temple-mount, is noticed several times in the Old Testament: 1 K. ii. 37, xv. 13 ; 2 K. xxiii. 4 ff. ; 2 Chro. xxix. 16; Jer. xxxi. 40, and these passages mark the associations which would be called up by the mention of the name. For a description of the ravine and the 44 Wady " see * Dictionary of the Bible/ j. v. a garden] on the Mount of Olives (Luke The name of the " small farm" xxii. 39). (x»/>»oi») to which it belonged, Gethsemane, is given by St Matthew and St Mark (Matt, Josephui xxvi. 36, note; Mark xiv. 32).

i.e.

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St.

V.3-J

him,

JOHN. XVIII.

knew the place: for Jesus oft-

times resorted thither with his disciples.

mentions that " gardens'* (napabttaoi) were numerous in the suburbs of Jerusalem O B. J.' Tnere is Comp. ch. xix. 41). vi. 1. 1. nothing in the context to indicate the exact position of the garden. The traditional site, which may be the true one, dates from the time of Constantine, when " the faithful were 1 eager to offer their prayers there' (Euseb. 4

OnonV s. v.).

of the Fall and the Victory connected with the two "gardens," Eden, and Gethsemane. But there is no indication in the Gospel that such a thought was in the mind of the Evangelist. Yet see Mark i. 13. The garden would naturally be entered! enclosed by a fence which secured the privacy of the retreat. Some time passed (Matt. xxvi. 40) between the entry into the garden and the arrival of Judas. In this interval the Agony took place, of which St John says nothing, though he implies a knowledge of It is evident from xii. 27 the event in v. 11. that that incident is not alien from his narrahistories

tive.

and bis disciples] himself and bis disciples. Judas was finally excluded from the divine :

xiii.

30.

The knew the place"] 2. Judas withdrawal of the Lord from the city was not now (x. 40) for the purpose of escaping from the assaults of His enemies. The place to which He retired was well known. Judas, no less than the other apostles, was acquainted with the spot. Thus the words meet by anticipation the scoff of Celsus that the Lord 44 was taken while trying to hide Himself and also

to escape in the most disgraceful way" (Orig. * c. Cels.' ix. 9), as Origen justly argues {id.

c 10). which betrayed]

The original (as in v. j,

o iropato&oiJs) marks the process of betrayal as going on, and not the single past act {6 irapa-

Matt xxvii. 3). Comp. xiii. 11. Judas was already engaged in the execution of his dovs, plan.

ofitimes]

Comp. Luke xxii. 39, (xxi. 37).

scarcely be limited to the It is reasonable to present visit to Jerusalem. suppose that the owner was an open or secret Comp. Matt xxvi. 18. disciple of Christ. The exact force of the original resorted]

The word can

"Jesus and (with) His disciples The idea a P~ assembled (av^x^i) there " pears to be that of a place of gathering, where the Lord's followers met Him for instruction, and not simply of a restingplace during the night But it is possible that the spot was

rather,

* Judas

then, having received a

**Iatt •*

band of nun and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh used for this latter purpose also during the present visit (Luke xxi. 37, ijvAtf*™), and that Judas expected to find all sleeping at the But the Lord's nights time of his arrival. were now, as at the other crises of His life, times of prayer (Luke vi, ia, ix. 28 ; comp.

Luke v. 16).

A difficulty arises as to the reconof the incidents described in this passage with the narrative of the betrayal in 3—8.

ciliation

Commentators from Cyril downwards have drawn a parallel and contrast between the

company

251

In the Synoptists the arrest the Synoptists. follows close upon the kiss of Judas, which St John does not mention (Matt xxvi. 50; Mark xiv. 45 f., yet see Luke xxii. 48 if.). It is very difficult to believe that the kiss either

preceded a>. 4, or came after *v. 8. Perhaps is simplest to suppose that the unexpected appearance of the Lord outside the enclosure discomposed the plan of Judas, who had expected to find the whole party resting within the garden, and that for the moment he failed to give the appointed sign, and remained aweThis being so, stricken in the crowd (a>. 5). the event of v. 6 followed, and afterwards Judas, taking courage, came up to Christ (Matt xxvi. 49 f. ; Mark xiv. 45), who then repelled him (Luke xxii. 48) and again addressed the hesitating multitude. Others suppose, with somewhat less probability, as it seems (but see Matt xxvi. 49, note), that the kiss of Judas immediately preceded the first question, Whom seek ye t and that, touched by his Master's reproof (Luke Eitherxxii. 48), he fell back into the crowd. view presents an intelligible whole; but the phrase in v 5 {was standing) is more appropriate to the attitude of one who hesitates to do that which he has purposed to do, than of one who has been already repulsed. It may be added that, though St John does not mention the "sign " of Judas, yet he implies that he had undertaken to do more than guide the band to the place where Christ might be found, by noticing that he was with them after they had reached the spot (v. 5). it

3. Judas then ([therefore)...]] using his knowledge for the furtherance of his design. a band of men and officers from ...] the band of soldiers and ojpeers from... The

force

clearly divided in the

original

into

priests l

The soldiers were part of the wellknown body of Roman soldiers stationed as

drin).

a garrison in Antonia (comp. Matt, xxvii. 27; Mark xv. 16 ; Acts xxi. 31 f. ; and also Jos. 'Ant xx. 4. 3; 4 B. J.* v. 5. 8). The original word {oirttpa) is used by Polybius 1

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St.

252

JOHN. XVIII.

[v. 4, 5*

thither with lanterns and torches and

went

weapons.

Whom seek ye?

4 Jesus

knowing all come upon him,

therefore,

things that should

as the representative of the Latin mampulus (not cohors: see Polyb. XI. 23, with Schweighauser's note), consisting of about 200 men, the third part of a cohort. Whether the word is taken here in this technical sense (v. 12, note), or (as is more likely) in the larger sense of "cohort," which it appears to bear in the New Testament, it will naturally be understood that only a detachment of the whole body was present with their commander (v.

1 a).

The u officers " (ynrjptTai) who came with "fhe band'* were members of the templewho were under the orders of the Sanhedrin. Comp. vii. 3a, 45 ff.; Acts v. police,

forth,

and

said

unto them,

They answered him, Jesus of

Nazareth.

Jesus saith unto them, I

(viii.

36, v.

59,

xii.

13,

vi.

15),

now that

His hour was come " anticipated the search for which His enemies had made provision, and went forth from the enclosure of the garden (opposed to entered, v. 1) to meet them (not simply from the innermost part of the garden or from the circle of the disciples '*

v. 26 proves nothing against this view). The clause corresponds with the words in St Matthew (xxvi. 46) and St Mark (xiv. 42). " Rise, let us be going," which are followed by, "Behold he is at hand that betrayeth me." that should come. ..] More exactly, all the

things that were coming (navra ra ip-

22, 26.

The Passion has already begun. Comp. xiii. 1, note. It must further be no-

In the Synoptists the whole company is described in general terms (Matt xxvi. 47

ticed that the Passion is spoken of in relation to the divine order (the things that were com-

Mark xiv. 43; Luke xxii. 47; comp. xxii.

ing), and not as sufferings to be borne, or evil

5 a), and the soldiers are not distinctly mentioned. But it is difficult to suppose that the

prepared by enemies. Comp. *v. 11. went (or came) forth, and said] ... and B&lth. According to the true reading the two acts are marked separately. Christ left the place in which He might have sought concealment; and then He addressed those who sought to take Him. Whom seek ye ?] The question (as in v. 8) is designed to shield the disciples, and at the same time to bring clearly before the mind of the assailants the purpose for which they had come, and who He was whom they sought The words fall in completely with the circumstances. The Lord was not recognised in the uncertain light. The company who had come to apprehend Him naturally supposed that He would not Himself advance to meet them, but that the questioner must be some friend. The idea of early commentators, that they were miraculously blinded, finds no support in the narrative.

priests would have ventured on such an arrest

as that of Christ without communicating with the Roman governor, or that Pilate would

have found any difficulty in granting them a detachment of men for the purpose, especially at the feast-time. Moreover, Pilate's early appearance (y. 28) at the court, no less than the dream of his wife (Matt, xxvii. 19, that just man), implies some knowledge of the coming charge. Perhaps too it is not fanciful to see a reference to the soldiers in the turn of the phrase "twelve legions of angels (Matt, :

xxvi. 53 ).

The special mention of the soldiers and of the watch fixes attention on the combination of Gentile and Jew in this first stage of the Passion as afterwards. the chief priests and Pharisees'] Pharisees. Comp. xi. 47, note.

and the

with lanterns and torches] Although the party had the light of the Paschal full moon, they prepared themselves also against the possibility of concealment on the part of Him whom they sought. The other Evangelists do not notice the lights. The detail belongs to a vivid impression of the scene received by an eye-witness. The temple- watch, to whom the "officers" belonged, made their rounds with torches ( 4 Middoth '1.2, quoted by Lightfbot

on Rev. xvi. 15 and in a most interesting note on Luke xxii. 4), and were, for the most part, not regularly armed (Jos. *B. J. J v. ;

4.6).

There was, so to 4. Jesus there/ore...'] speak, a divine necessity which ruled the Lord's movements. By Him all was foreseen and He who had before withdrawn Himself

XOfAtua).

Jesus of Nazareth] The tinge of con5. tempt (comp. Matt. ii. 23), which appears to lie in the title here, as borrowed from popular usage, is given better by the literal rendering,

Jesus the Naiarene ('I. rov Nafttpator, as distinguished from 'I. top airo Nafapcr, i. 45). Comp. xix. 19; Matt. xxvi. 71; Mark xiv. 67. The title is characteristic of the first stage of the preaching of the Gospel, when the reproach was turned into glory : Acts ii. 22, iii. 6,

iv.

also

It was 10, vi. 14, (xxii. 8, xxvi. 9). by disciples at an earlier date:

used

Mark x. 47, xvi. 6; Luke xviii. 37, xxiv. 19. Comp. Mark i. 24 Luke iv. 34. Jesus (He) saith... I am he] The same ;

words (ryti «i/a*) were used on several memorable occasions, (iv. 26), vi. 20, viii. 24, 28, 58, and on this evening, xiii. 19. For Judas at

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v. 6

—

io.]

am he.

St.

JOHN. XVIII.

And Judas also, which be-

trayed him, stood with them.

6 As soon then as he had said unam he^ they went back-

to them, I

ward, and fell to the ground. 7 Then asked he them again, seek ye ? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.

Whom

least they must have been significant, though, as they stand in the context, they simply reveal the Person sought, and not His nature. But the self-revelation of Christ tries to the uttermost and answers the thoughts which

men have of Him. And Judas... stood...] ... was standing. The one figure is singled out, as it were, and regarded as he stands. Comp. i. 35, note. There is nothing in the text to support the view that Judas was paralysed and unable to recognise Jesus. 6.

As soon then as be bad said... (or, When

therefore ...tit ovv)] Omit the bad. The incident which follows is made to depend

upon the Lord's words.

It is vain to inquire

whether the withdrawal and prostration of the band of men was due to " natural" or "supernatural" causes. On any view it was due to the effect which the presence of the Lord, in His serene majesty, had upon those who had come to take Him. Various circumstances may have contributed to the result. It may have been that Judas had led his company to expect some display of power. It may have been that he himself hoped for a decisive manifestation of Messiah in sovereignty now that the crisis had come. But the prostration seems to shew, at any rate, that the Lord purposed to declare openly to the disciples (comp. Matt. xxvi. 33), that it was of His own free choice that He gave Himself up. And this is the effect which the narrative is calculated to produce upon a reader. The Lord's assailants were overawed by Him in some way, and they fulfilled their commission only by His consent. Comp. vii. 46. went backward, and fell ...] The whole action represents the effects of fear, awe, veneration, self-humiliation (Job i. 20), not of external force. Comp. Rev. i. 17. The exaggeration which describes the men as

253

8 Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their

way

9 That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, c Of them r <**p- *t. which thou gavest me have I lost none. 10

Then Simon

Peter having a

with that of the words addressed to Judas " Is it this for which thou art come?" (Matt, xxvi. 50, note).

Jesus of Nazareth]

Even after Christ had

made Himself known, His enemies only repeat the name which they had been taught, as if waiting for some further guidance. I have told you ...let these go] I told In the interval which had passed since the Lord came out from the garden alone 8.

jou...

(v. 4), His disciples had gathered round Him (let these go), and for them He still intercedes. Their deliverance helped to place His own Passion in a clearer light It was fitting that should suffer alone, though afterwards others suffered for His sake. His death, in

itself essentially

unique,

was separated out-

wardly from the death of His disciples. They were enabled to die because He had died first.

Comp. Isai. lxiii. 3. That the saying (word) ... which thou 0. gavest me have I lost...] ...which thou hast

"falling backwards" is utterly alien from the

The Evangelist sees in I lost. the care with which the Lord provided for the outward safety of His disciples, a fulfilment of His words, xvii. 12, which were spoken of the past, and which had also a wider But, at the same time, spiritual application. those words spoken in absolute knowledge looked to the end, and therefore included all the events of the Passion (comp. xvii. 4, note); and, further, the deliverance of the disciples from outward peril included the deliverance from a temptation which they would not at present (as appears from the history of St Peter) have been able to support This special act of watchful protection was therefore one fulfilment, but neither the only nor the chief fulfilment, of what the Lord had said of His effective guardianship of those given to Him. The significant difference in the form of the words, as spoken and as referred to (I lost not one, as distinguished from not one perished), is

solemn majesty of the scene.

to be noticed.

Then asked be them again] Again therefore be asked them. This literal rendering of the original brings out the connexion more clearly than A. V. Those who had come to arrest the Lord hung back, and therefore He Himself again roused them to their work. The spirit of the Lord's words, thus addressed to the whole company, corresponds

Simon Peter 10. Then Simon Peter...] therefore... foreseeing what was now about to happen (comp. xiii. 37). The Jews among the company seem to have been foremost in the

given me

arrest The incident is described by all the Evangelists, but St John alone mentions the names of St Peter and Malchus. It is easy to see why these were not likely to be particu-

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JOHN. XVIII.

St.

254

sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right The servant's name was malear. chus. 1 1

Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put

up thy sword into the sheath

both were alive and at Jerusalem (see Matt. xxvi. 51 ; Mark xiv. 47, and notes). In St Matthew and St Mark the incident appears to be placed after "the multitude" had u laid their hands on Jesus and taken" ((Kpanja-av) Him (Matt xxvi. 50; Mark xiv. 46); and St Luke implies the same (xxii. 51). St John, on the other hand, appears to place the " binding " afterwards. If it be so, the two accounts are easily

was perfectly natural that the Lord should be first seized by some of the more eager of the crowd, and then afterwards St bound by the Roman guard (y. 12). reconcileable.

Peter's act fell in the brief space of confusion

between these two events.

sword] It was forbidden to carry weapons on a feast-day. the high pries?s servant] or rather, the servant (doGXor) of the high-priest. The definite article (jbv tov apx- 3.) is preserved in all

the Gospels.

It is impossible to tell what posi-

tion he held, or

why the Evangelist records an uncommon one.

his name, which was not

The

servant's

prominent

action

evidently

marked him out for St Peter's attack.

And

further it is difficult not to feel that the healing of the wound, recorded only by St Luke (xxii. 51), helps to explain the apostle's escape from arrest

Then said Jesus ... thy sword] Jesus 11. therefore said ...the sword. The words are given more at length in St Matthew, xxvi. 52 ff. The tone of the two records is identical, and the reference to the Scriptures, preserved only by -St Matthew, serves to illustrate one -side of the phrase u which my Father hath given me." the cup ...]

This clause is peculiar to St

The same image occurs in the Synoptists, Matt. xx. 22 f. (note); Mark x. 38 r.; John.

and in connexion with this scene, Matt. xxvi. It 39 fl".; Mark xiv. 36; Luke xxii. 42. seems impossible not to feel that the words include the answer to the prayer at the Agony, not recorded by St John (Matt. xxvi. 39,

" O my Father... let this cup pass away"...), for now, after the prayer, that u cup" is spoken of as "the cup which my Father hath given me." The cup was not taken away, but given, and the Lord now shews that He had received it The image is found in several rewillingly. markable passages of the Old Testament: Ezek. xxiii. 31 ff.; Ps. lxxv. 8, &c

ii— 13.

my Father hath given me,

which

shall I not drink it ?

12 Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him,

the cup

larised in the original oral Gospel, while

[v.

And led him away to Annas

The Double Trial (xviii. ia —xix. 16).

II.

—

The ecclesiastical trial (xviii. 12 27). The civil trial (xviii. 28 — xix. 16). The ecclesiastical trial. Master and disci-

(i.)

(ii.) i.

ples, Jesus and the high-priest, Peter and the

servants, xviii. 12

—

27.

The record of the examination before Annas

peculiar to the narrative of St John.

The Evangelist appears to have been present at the inquiry (w. 15, 19). See Additional Note.

12. Then the band ... and officers ...] The band therefore (or, So the band)... the Seeing that there was no longer any officers... resistance.

The enumeration—/^ band,

captain, the officers

the

— emphatic and impresis

All combined to take the willing prisoner. In particular it will be observed that the action of the Roman guard is now noticed. They probably secured the Lord and delivered Him to the priest's servants "bound" (comp. *v. 24). The " bonds" are not mentioned in the Synoptists till afterwards (Matt, xxvii. 2, note; Mark xv. 1); yet such a precaution is implied in their narrative. It was the policy of the priestly party to represent Christ as a dangerous enemy to public order ; and perhaps they really feared a rescue by the " people" (Matt. xxvi. 5). Early Christian writers laid stress upon the u binding " as marking the parallel with Isaac (Gen. xxii. 9 ; Melito, ap. Routh, 4 Rell. Sacr.' 1. 123 f.). The title of the "captain" in the original " (xtX/apxor ) favours the view that " the band was a "cohort," and not a smaller body sive.

(*' maniple") : comp.

Acts xxi. 31.

The word

"chiliarch" was used as the equivalent of " tribune," the proper title of the commander of a "cohort;" and the other places in which a "band" (antlpa) is spoken of in the New Testament suggest the same conclusion Acts x. 1, xxvii. 1. The rendering of airtipa in the Latin versions is uniformly cohort. The words "band" and "captain" may however be both used in a general and not in a technical sense for a detachment of soldiers and the officer in command of it. (Comp. Rev. vi. 15, xix. 18, and Suidas s.*v. awdpa.) :

13. led him (om. away) to Annas first] Annas (or Hanan, Ananias, A nanus) is one of the most remarkable figures in the Jewish history of the time.

His unexampled fortune

was celebrated in that he himself and his five

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—

A%dAn . first;

«****/

St. JOHN.

16.]

for

he was father in law to

Caiaphas, which was the high priest

4;W «*- that same year. Zjjfcft**

*4 ''Now Caiaphas was he, which

6ave counsel to tht Jews, that it tiust vcr. ai. was expedient that one man should *chap. 11. jj e ^Qr tjie ^Qpjg

sons held the high-priesthood in successioa He was high-priest himself from a.d. 7 14 4 Ant.' xviii. 2. 1 f.); then, after a (Jos. short time his son Eleazar held the office for a year; and after a year's interval, his son-in-law Joseph Caiaphas succeeded (A.D. %$ 36}, and held the office for twelve years (Jos. I.e.). Another son of Annas succeeded Caiaphas, and three other sons afterwards held the office, the last of whom, who bore his father's name, put to death James the brother of the Lord (Jos. * Ant.' xx. 8. 1). This mere record reveals the skilful intriguer who exercised through members of his family the headship of his party (comp. Luke lii. a; Acts iv. 6). In the Talmud ('Pesach. 1 57 a, quoted by Derenbourg, p. 231 n.) we find a curse on " the family of Hanan and their serpent-hissings" (comp. Matt. iii. 7). The relationship of Caiaphas to Annas is not mentioned by any writer except St John, and yet this relationship alone explains how Caiaphas was able to retain his office by the side of

—

Annas and his sons.

The narrative of St John lends no support to the conjecture (which, however, may be true) that Annas held some high office at the time, as the presidency of the Sanhedrin, which gave him a constitutional right to take the lead in the inquiry. The reason given for the proceeding his family connexion with Caiaphas -lays open alike the character of the man and the character of the trial. See Additional Note. /'irst] This word conveys a tacit correction the popular misunderstanding of the Synoptic narratives. The Lord was examined before Caiaphas (y. 24), but there was also a prior examination. <wbicb <was the high priest that same year] See ch. xi. 49, note. Comp. Taylor, 4 Sayings of the Jewish Fathers,' 1. 19, note, in. 26, note

—

(UV2 13). 14.

AW Caiaphas <was be

...]

Ch. xi. 50.

The clause appears to be added to shew presumptively what would be the selfish policy Annas of a man who had chosen such a son. exercised his power through those who were like him. 15. followed] The imperfect (fjxoXovdti) For the fact paints the action in progress. After comp. Matt xxvi. 58 and parallels. the panic, in which all the disciples fled

XVIII. 15

255

f 'And Simon Peter followed ' Matt *

Jesus, and so did another disciple that disciple was known unto the

high

priest,

and went in with Jesus

into the palace of the high priest.

But Peter stood at the door Then went out that other

without.

(Matt. xxvi. 56), some again took courage (Matt. xxvi. 58). another disciple] not the other (6 ak\os\ The reader cannot fail to identify the disciple with St John. Comp. xx. 2.

kn&wn (yr*<rror. Comp. Luke ii. 44, xxiiL

No tradition (so far as it appears) has preserved the nature of the connexion ; nor is it possible to draw any satisfactory conclusion from the fact that ooth St John (Polycr. ap. Euseb. * H. E.' v. 14) and St James the Just, "the brother of the Lord* (Epiph. * Hacr.' lxxviii. 14), are said to have worn the irtrakov or plate attached to the high49)]

priest's mitre.

unto the high priest] It is very difficult to decide who is here spoken of under the title.

Annas is called the high-priest in Acts iv. 6, is named at the same time

while Caiaphas

without any title; and so Joseph us ( Antt' xviii. 5.3; comp. xviii. 3 (2). 2) speaks of 44 Jonathan the son of Ananus (Annas) the high-priest" after the removal of Caiaphas. In Luke iii. 2, Annas and Caiaphas bear the 4

title together. It b therefore at least possible that Annas may be referred to. On the other hand, Caiaphas has just been described as "the high-priest" (y. 13), and is so called again in v. 24, where Annas also is menThese facts make it difficult to suptioned. pose that the title is abruptly used, without any explanation, to describe Annas. the palace (court, see Matt. xxvi. 58; Mark xiv. 54 and notes) of the high priest] i.e. of Caiaphas. It is quite reasonable to suppose that Annas still retained a lodging, in what appears to have been an official residence. In this case there is no discrepancy between St John and the Synoptists as to the scene of St Peter's denials (the residence of Caiaphas). Nor indeed would there be any difficulty in supposing that Annas presided at an examination in the house of Caiaphas, though he did not live there. St Luke (xxii. 54) says that the Lord was led u into the house of the

high priest," without mentioning any name. By this form of expression the Evangelist perhaps wished to indicate that He was not brought at once officially before Caiaphas, though He was taken to his palace. The language of St Matthew suggests the same idea (Matt. xxvi. 57, "to Caiaphas ...where..."). The idea that a change of scene from the house of Annas to the house of Caiaphas is

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St.

256

JOHN. XVIII.

which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter. 17 Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man's disciples ?

disciple,

He saith, I am not. 18 And the servants and officers who had made a fire of

stood there,

marked in this verse is most unnatural. The narrative of the whole section (w. 13 27)

—

implies an identity of scene.

16. Peter stood]... was standing. Comp. v. 5, note. ber that kept the door] Comp. Acts xii. 13.

17. Then saith the damsel..*] The maid The acquaintance of St Peter therefore... with St John suggested the question. St John meanwhile (it must be supposed) had pressed on into the audience-chamber, so that St Peter was alone. St John, who remained closest to the Lord, was unmolested: St Peter, who mingled with the indifferent crowd, fell. Art not tbou also (Art thou...)...] as well as thy friend (John). The form of the question expresses surprise, and suggests a negative

answer.

See

vi.

67,

vii.

47,

ix.

40.

The

contemptuous turn of the sentence, "one of the disciples of this man," corresponds with the same feeling. As the suggestion was made St Peter yielded to it. His answer both here and in v. is simply reflects the temper of his questioners.

18. And the servants and officers stood tbere who bad made...] "Row the servants and the officers, having made. ..were standing... The Roman soldiers had now gone back, and .

the private servants of the high-priest (doGXot), and the officers the temple-police (vTn/pcrai) alone remained. charcoal fire. There was afire of coals] no bright flame, but a glow of light sufficient to shew the features of any one turned towards it, Luke xxii. 56 (npbs to 0»s)As a general rule, the for it was cold] nights in Palestine about Easter-time are said to be warm throughout. The cold on this occasion appears to be spoken of as unusual. and Peter stood <witb them, and warmed himself] and Peter also was with them,

—

standing and warming himself. Comp. The two main ideas are kept distinct. Peter had joined the company of the indiffehe was engaged in a trivial rent spectators v. 25.

;

act.

Such outward indifference often veils the

deepest emotion.

19. The high priest then (therefore)...] probably Caiaphas. See v. 15, note. The narrative is connected with v. 14. The Master i.e.

coals ;

for

[v.

was cold

—

20.

and they

warmed themselves and Peter stood with them, and warmed himself. 19 f The high priest then asked :

Jesus of

his

and of

disciples,

his

doctrine.

20 Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world ; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, now contrasted with the disciple. It is probable that a better acquaintance with the history of the time would remove the difficulty which arises from Caiaphas taking the Yet lead in the examination before Annas. it is easy to imagine that arrangements may have' been made for a private examination in the chamber of Annas, at which Caiaphas was himself present, and in which he took part. At the close of this unofficial proceeding, is

Annas, the real leader in the whole action, sent Jesus to Caiaphas for a formal trial. of bis disciples... of bis doctrine (teaching)] This preliminary examination was directed to the obtaining (if possible) of materials for the formal accusation which was to follow. With this view, it was natural to inquire into the class, the character, the number of the Lord's disciples, and into the general substance of

His teaching. 20.

The Lord leaves unnoticed the ques-

tion as to His disciples (comp. v. 8), and fixes the attention of the questioner upon

Hence an emphatic pronoun

Himself alone.

/ (cva>), stands at the head of each clause. whatever others may have done with wnom you wish to compare me, / have spoken So the openly ... J (Jy<*) ever taught ... Lord presents His teaching first as a comxvi. 33), and presentation (/ ever taught). The form of the sentence at the same time suggests a contrast between the openness of His conduct and the treachery

pleted

then

whole (/ have spoken,

its

historic

which His enemies had employed. openly]

Without reserve.

Comp. vii.

13,

note. to the world]

Comp. viii. 26.

The teach-

Lord was not addressed to any select group of followers, even if it was veiled in parables which required spiritual syming of the

pathy for their interpretation, Matt. xiii. ioff. ever {always)] fhe word does not of course mean that the Lord's teaching was confined to these public places, but that at all times He used opportunities of speaking in them. Or rather, In synain the synagogue ...] gogue, "when people were gathered in solemn assembly " (Jv <rvwry«ryo, as distinguished from iv reus o-vrayaoyaU } Matt. ix. $$ 9 &C.).

Comp. vi. 59, note.

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—

St.

27»]

JOHN. XVIII.

whither the Jews always resort ; and in secret have I said nothing. 21 Why askest thou me? ask them which heard me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said. 22 And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by 1 Or, tntk struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high '

257

24 -^Now Annas had sent him '**«• astound unto Caiaphas the high priest. 57 25 And Simon Peter stood and '

*They said there-

warmed himself.

Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied /V, and fore unto him,

said, I

am not.

26 One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear

spoken evil, bear witness of the evil but if well, why smi^est thou me?

Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him ? 27 Peter then denied again: and immediately the cock crew.

the Jews always resort]

spake).

priest so ?

23 Jesus answered him, If I have

true reading, all

According to the

the Jews resort (oome

The old commentators saw in the calm rebuke a true interpretation of the pre-

together), and not a mere party or clique.

cept, Matt. v. 39.

The combination "always," "all" (jrarror*,

24. Now Annas bad sent him...] Annas therefore sent him... The words cannot

is singularly emphatic. Christ was from first to last a universal teacher, and not

trover),

the founder of a sect. In manner, time, place, audience, He sought absolute publicity. in secret have I said] in secret I spake. The words simply exclude the purpose of concealment What the disciples heard in the ear they were charged to proclaim on the housetops (Matt. x. 27).

Why askest

21.

bound

establish

...]

their

The accusers are charge

indepen-

dently.

nesses for the defence were called first ( 4 Sanh.' 32. 1 ;

40. 1, quoted by Lightfbot, *Hor.

Hebr.,' on v. 15).

22. with.. .his hand] Or, " with a rod." This latter sense suits perhaps better with the word used for " smiting" (dcom)* though the sense given in the text appears to be more appropriate to the circumstances.

Com p. xix.

See Additional Note.

had assisted led to no decisive result.

Annas

therefore sent Jesus to the high-priest officially, but as one already stamped with a sign of con-

comp. During the inquiry the Lord would naturally be set free. This explains the notice that He was (again) "bound"

demnation (dircWfiXffv, despatched; note on xx. 21).

before going to Caiaphas.

25.

which beard me, what I btrve said.,. they know...] which have heard me, what I spake... these knotv... The tense (ncrjjcoorat, not aKovaavrat) and the pronoun (pvrot) seem both to point directly to persons actually present or close at hand, who were able to speak with full knowledge if they pleased. Thus the Lord claims that the examination may proceed in due order by the calling ot witnesses; and, according to the rule, the witf.

be rendered otherwise.

The private interrogation at which Caiaphas

himself]

And Simon Peter stood and warmed Simon Peter was standing and

warming himself.

Comp. v. 18. They said therefore ...] Since St Peter was evidently a stranger among them, attention was necessarily turned again to him, when the Lord was again brought into the court at the close of the private examination before Caiaphas, and so occasion was given for the second During this passage it would be questioning. easy for the Lord to turn and "look on Peter" (Luke xxii. 61), when He had already gone by near him. Art not thou also ...] Art thou... The form of question is the same as that in v. 17. Something no doubt in St Peter's manner, as the Lord was led by, betrayed his love. Whereupon followed the words of surprise Can it be that thou also art one of His disciples f

3 ; Acts xxiii. 2 ff. This insult is to be distinguished from the corresponding acts mentioned, Matt. xxvi. 67 ; Luke xxii. 63, 64.

him) ...]

23. If I have spoken (rather, spake) evil ...] The Lord addresses the servant as one who had heard Him, and as such He challenges him to bear just evidence as to His words, and not to use mere violence. The reference (as it appears) is not to the words

when He stood outside at the entrance facing the crowd (v. 4). 27. Peter then (therefore) ...] He was

just uttered (y. 21), but to the teaching of the Lord which was called in question (v. 20, / spake; v. 11, what I spake; v. 23, if I

62.

being

his

kinsman

A detail which marks an exact

knowledge of the household (v. 15). in the garden] as one of His chosen disciples, who were gathered behind the Lord

already committed to the denial. St John, like St Luke, omits all the aggravations of St Peter's denials (Matt xxvi 70, 72, 74; Mark. xiv. 71).

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9iL **

*Matt,a7. 1

Or,

*h££f*

JOHN. XVIII.

St.

258

28 V k Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto 'the hall of judgment: and it was early; 'and they them-

selves

[v.

28.

into the judgment they should be defiled ; but

went not

hall, lest

that they might eat the passover.

' Act* 10. a8.

the cock crew] The indefinite form of the phrase (a cook crew) is far more expressive than A. V., which rather describes the time than the incident The silence of the Evangelist, as to the repentance of St Peter, is illustrated by xxi. 15 flf., where the fact is presupposed. The episode of Peter's fall is given as the fulfilment of the Lord's word (xiii. 38), who knew to the last detail what he had to bear. ii.

The civil trial. The divine King and the Roman governor. The divine King and the apostate people,

xviii. a 8

—

xix. 16.

The detailed account of the private exami-

—

nations before Pilate (xviii. 33 37, xix. 8 11) is peculiar to St John (comp. Matt xxviL 11 fF. and parallels; 1 Tim. vi. 13). St John probably went within the palace. He would not be deterred by the scruple of the Jews (y. 18) under such circumstances, and there does not appear to have been any other obstacle to entrance. The apostle who had followed the Lord to the presence of the high-priest would not shrink from following Him to the presence of the governor. It will be noticed that St John's narrative explains the language of Pilate to the Jews and to the Lord, which is abrupt and unprepared in the Synoptic narratives. The narrative falls into several distinct sections corresponding to scenes without and within the Praetorium. Without the Praetorium. The Jews 1. claim the execution of their sentence (xviii.

a8—3 a). a.

"The good

Within the Praetorium. Christ a King (33 Without the Praetorium.

—37). declaration of innocence. Barabbas (38 —40). Within the Praetorium. Scourging mockery — Without the Praetorium. Second and

confession." 3.

First

(xix. i

3).

third declarations of innocence,

" Ecce ho-

mo," u Son of God" (4—7). Within the Praetorium. The source of 6. authority, and from this the measure of guilt

(8-1 }.

subject {they) is not exactly defined. The principal actors ("the chief priests and Pharisees," "the Jews") are everywhere present to the mind of the Evangelist. Comp. xix. 4. ball ofjudgment] the palace. The official residence (head-quarters) of the Roman governor (irpatTuptov). «This was the technical sense of pnttorium in the provinces (comp. Acts xxiii. 35). At Rome the usage of the word was different (comp. Lightfoot, ' Philippians,' pp. 97 fF.), The building occupied by Pilate is commonly supposed to have been the palace built by Herod on the western hill of Jerusalem, This was certainly occupied at a later time by Leg. ad Cai.' the Roman governors (Philo, 1034), but there is not any direct evidence, as far as appears, that it was occupied by Pilate, and on the whole it seems to be more probable *

(comp. xix. 13) that Pilate occupied quarters in Antonia, according to the traditional view.

See the Additional Note on Matt xxvii. a. it <was early] Comp. Matt xxvii. 1 parallels. The term (npm) is used technically for the fourth watch, 3—6 a.m. (Mark xiii. 35). A condemnation to death at night was techAn early nically illegal (Matt. /. c. note). meeting of the Sanhedrin appears to have been held to confirm the decision already made, and so to satisfy the form of law, which however was broken by the infliction and execution of the sentence on the day of trial Roman court could be held at any time after On this occasion it was probably sunrise. held as early as possible. Pilate, as we may suppose, had been prepared for the charge when application was made for the detachment of soldiers. tbey themselves] In contrast with the Lord, who was now probably committed again to the soldiers, and taken within the Praetorium

(v. 33). lest tbey should be..,;

—

w. Pilate

16).

—

32.

Without

and the Jews:

the

Pnttorium:

claim

and the

refusal,

28. Then led tbey Jesui] They lead Jesus therefore... Comp. Matt, xxvii. 1 f. The examination before Caiaphas (Matt xxvi. 59 AT.

but that tbey might...]

that they might not £?...but might... be defiled] by entering a house from which all

Without the Praetorium. Conviction overpowered the King abjured the last sen7.

tence (ia

and parallels) is implied, and also its necessary issue. The sentence was determined, but the Sanhedrin had no power to carry it out. The

leaven had not been scrupulously removed.

The praetorium was placed under the protection of tutelary deities (fool ol rov i)y*porucov npairmplov, * Journal of Philology/ 1876, pp. ia6 fF. ; comp. Tac. 'Hist.' ill. 10), but such a dedication is out of the question at Jerusalem. Pilate had learnt by bitter experience with what fierceness the Jews resented every semblance of a violation of their religious feelings (Jos. 'Bel. Jud.' Comp. Philo, * Leg. ad Cai.' § 38).

eat the passover]

II.

See note on Matt xxvi.

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St.

29—33-]

JOHN. XVIII.

29 p ilate then went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this man ?

fore said unto him, It

not lawful

for us to put any man to death : * 32 * That the saying of Jesus Matt *>• -

30 They answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up

might be

fulfilled,

signifying

what

which he spake, death

should

die.

33 'Then

unto thee. 31

259

Pilate entered into the 'Matt 97

Then said Pilate unto them, judgment hall again, and called Je-

Take ye him, and judge him according to your law.

The Jews there-

29. Pilate then (theref oreV

said (saltlx)]

Pilate is introduced quite abruptly,

without

any title or explanation, as one perfectly well known. Comp. Mark xv. 1; Luke xxiii. x. In St Matthew he is commonly spoken of as "the governor" (Matt, xxvii. 2, note), a title not found in St John. The scrupulousness of Pilate needs some explanation (contrast Acts xxii. 14). The explanation is probably supplied by St Matthew (Matt, xxvii. 19) in the message of Pilate's wife, which at least indicates that the accusation of Jesus had made an impression upon her, and so probably in Pilate's household. There is a slight trace in the narrative of St Matthew (ch. xxvii. 19, note) of the informal manner in which the trial was in part conducted. went out] The best authorities add " without" (?£a>). St John appears to emphasize the fact that Pilate " went forth without " his

own pnetorium, as if it were symbolic of the whole proceeding.

What accusation]

The words do not ne-

cessarily imply that Pilate was ignorant of the

character of the charge (see v. 3). Pilate requires that the charge should be made formally.

30 f. The Jews were evidently unprepared for the governor's hesitation in such a case and attempted to claim the fulfilment of their sentence without rendering account of the grounds on which it rested.

Pilate met this by bidding them carry out their purpose to the end by their own authority Pilate therefore said, Take bim yourselves (u/mr). On this they are affectation of independence

forced to confess that nothing less than death and this punishment they

will satisfy them,

cannot inflict. Literally, doing evil (kokov malefactor] noivr), actively engaged in evil. The word in St Luke, xxiii. 32, is different (xaKot/pyor).

31. Take ye Mm...] Take bim yourselves...

The words have a tinge of irony {yourselves, jour law) and Pilate implicitly reminds the Jews of the limits within which their power of "judgment" was confined. The Jews said (om. therefore) ...] Pilate's words left them no alternative. They could not escape from revealing their purpose ; and probably they now brought forward against ;

sus, and said

unto him, Art thou the

King of the Jews ? Christ the charge of treason (Luke xxiii. a) in order to move Pilate the more easily (v. 34). It is not lawful ...] See Additional Note.

32. the saying (word) of Jesus... signifying <wbat death (by what manner of death) ...] Ch. xii. 32 t. Comp. Matt. xx. 19. Crucifixion was not a Jewish punishment. The clause must not be interpreted to convey the idea that the Jews wished a particular form of death to be inflicted, but that the circumstances of the case led to this issue. %.

*w. 3$

—

37.

Within the Praetorium: Pilate

and Christ : the good confession and the light question.

33.

Then Pilate...]

Pilate therefore...

The urgency of the Jews constrained him to make further inquiry. called Jeius] The Lord was already inside the court (v. 28) ; but Pilate summoned Him to his immediate presence ((V^wyifo-cr, comp. ix. 18,

24).

Art thou the King of the Jews?] The words may mean either u Art thou he who has just now become notorious under this title ? " or, "Dost thou claim the title, as it is said?" The title itself would be likely to arrest Pilate's attention, whether he had heard it spoken of before in connexion with the entiy into Jerusalem or only now from the Jews. And further, he would rightly conclude that the title, when thus put forward, would be fitted to call out any fanaticism which there might be in a political enthusiast. The full

form which the accusation assumed is given in St Luke (xxiii. 2). See xix. 12. In each of the four Gospels the first words of Pilate to Jesus are the same : " Art thou the King of the Jews?" (Matt, xxvii. 11; Mark xv. 2; Luke xxiii. 3). The form of the sentence (<rv *?...;) suggests a feeling of surprise in the questioner : ** Art thou, poor, and bound, and wearied, the King of whom men have spoken ?" Comp. iv. 12.

King of the Jews] v. 39, xix.

19, 21.

Compare Matt ii. 2, xxvii. 11, 29, 37 ; Mark xv. 2, 9, 12, 18, 26; Luke xxiii. 3, 37, 38.

The theocratic title the King of Israel (i. 49, note) stands in

marked

contrast with this

civil title.

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26o

St.

JOHN. XVIII.

34 Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it

thee of me ?

34. Jesus answered (om. him)] The short clauses are impressive : " Jesus answered " u Jesus answered." ** Pilate answered "

34 f.

thee of me (or Lord's question is suited to lead Pilate to reflect on the nature of the charge which he had to judge. In this sense it is an appeal to his conscience. If he admits the alleged assumption of the title to be a crime, he must ask himself whether the title has any meaning for him ? whether he desires to learn what further it may signify ? or whether he has simply adopted a

Sayest thou ... tell

thee of me)]

not of this world

34—37-

my kingdom my

were of this world, then would

servants fight, that I should not be

I a Jew ? 35 Pilate answered, Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me what hast thou done ? 36 Jesus answered, My kingdom

tell

[v.

The

vague accusation, an ambiguous phrase, at

random ?

Pilate's reply affirms his utter into matters which only concerned " (as he assumes) a despised people. I a Jew ? " Is it then possible for me to care for these things? Yet in the words which follow he implies that there is something strange in the case. The Jews were ready for the most part to favour any asserter of their national liberty. Now they had brought one called their King to be put to death. u Thine own nation" (to ttiros to aou), and no Roman informer, " and the chief priests, the natural leaders of the people, delivered (om. have) thee unto me : what hast thou done t or, more exactly, what didst thou do," that is, to turn those who would naturally favour such as thee into relentless enemies ?

difference

36. Without directly replying to Pilate, the Lord indicates the real ground of the antagonism of the people and of the rulers to Himself, and at the same time explains how He is a King : " His kingdom was not of this world " (xoafios ). He would not make any concessions to the false patriotism of zealots (vi. 15), and yet He did claim a sovereignty, a sovereignty of which the spring and source was not of earth but of heaven. In both respects He was opposed to those who professed from different sides to represent the nation ("the Jews"). But as a spiritual King He was open to no accusation of hostiHis willing surrender lity to the empire. was a sufficient proof that he had never contemplated violence. My kingdom ... my kingdom ... my servants (viryptruii officers, vy. 3, 12, &c.)] The possessive pronoun is in each case emphasized "the kingdom, the servants (i.e. disciples and

delivered to the

Jews

now is

but

my kingdom not from hence. 37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus an-

am a

swered,

Thou sayest

apostles),

who truly answer to me, to my

nature and my will."

that

Comp. xv. n, note,

There is an obvious reference to the Jewish conceptions of a kingdom and to the

xii.

26.

The use of

the

word

vvrjpfTTjs (here only of Christians in the

Gos-

Jewish "officers."

comp. 1 Cor. iv. 1; Acts xiii. 5) corresponds with the royal dignity which Christ pels,

assumes. is

of this world

not

. . .

hence"]

does not de-

rive its origin or its support from earthly forces.

Comp.viii. 23, xv. 19, xvii. 14,16; 1 Johnii. 16, At the same time Christ's kingdom is 5. "in the world," even as His disciples are

iv.

This verse serves as a comment 1 ff., and brings out the full force of St Matthew's characteristic term "the (xvii. 11).

on Matt.

ii.

The solemnity of the rhythmical balance of the sentence in the orikingdom ... ginal cannot but be felt: not of this world ... if of this world ... my kingdom." The substitution of " hence" for "of this world" in the last clause appears to define the idea of the world by an immediate reference to the representatives of it close at hand. kingdom of heaven."

"My

fight]

The original (tjyuvifavro) describes a

continuous effort, and not merely one definite conflict: "they would now be striving" (Luke xiii. 24 ; 1 Cor. ix. 25 ; 1 Tim. vi. 12 2 Tim. iv. 7), and not "they would have fought" at the moment of my arrest The title occurs in the record the Jews] of the Lord's words, iv. 22, xiii. 33, and above, v. 20 (comp. xi. 8). The colour of ;

the word in these places is slightly different

from that which it bears in the Evangelist's narrative.

The simple idea

of nationality

prevails over that of religious antagonism.

hut now] xv. 22, 24.

37.

As the case really stands, ix. 41,

Art thou a king then f]

The particle

(ovkovv), which occurs here only in the New Testament, gives a tinge of irony to the words, which are half interrogative in form and half an exclamation : " So then, after all, thou art a king ? " This scornful tone is further accentuated by the personal pronoun at the end of the sentence: "thou, a helpless prisoner." Comp. v. 33, L 21, iv. 19, viiL 48.

Thou sayest,..]

The Lord neither definitely He leaves the claim

accepts nor rejects the title.

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JOHN. XVIII.

To this end was I born, and

king.

for this cause came I into the world,

261

Every one that is of the truth

truth.

heareth my voice.

that I should bear witness unto the

Pilate saith

unto him,

What

as Pilate had put it forward. Pilate had quoted also v. 36, iii. 31, viii. 13, xv. 19, xvii. 14; the words of others, and the Lord had made 1 John ii. 16, iii. 8 flf., and in a wider sense clear in what general sense they must be interx. 16; Col. iv. 11. All who thus depend on preted. He now signifies further the founda- that which is Christ's are His proper subjects. * tion and character of His sovereignty, and the For the whole answer comp. 1 Tim. vi. 13. right which He has to the allegiance of men. It is of great interest to compare this "conthat I am The translation Thou sayest fession " before Pilate with the corresponding ...J

(i.e. rightly), became I am ... seems to be both unnatural as a rendering of the original phrase, and alien from the context To this end (§U rovrd) ... that (<W, in order that)] The hrst words (To this end) affirm generally the feet of the sovereignty which Christ exercised: He was born for the very purpose that He should reign; and the last (that I may) the special application of it His reign was directed to the execution of a divine purpose. Comp. Acts ix. 21; Rom. xiv. 9; 2 Cor. it. 9; 1 Pet. Hi. 9, iv. 6; 1 John iii. 8. <was I born.'.Jor this cause came /...] have I been born.. .to this end am I oome into :

The two phrases appear to correspond in part with the two in ch. xvi. a 8, "I came out from the Father, and am come into the world." The first marks the entrance upon a new form of being, the second defines the sphere of the Lord's mission (comp. ix. Or again, the first marks the be3y, note). ginning of the earthly life, the second the preexistence with the Father. But as addressed to Pilate the words declared only the human birth (comp. Luke i. 35, to y€vuiop*vov), though a deeper meaning lies beneath them. The emphatic pronoun at the head of the sentence (cy« tie tovto ...), and the repeated clause to tins end, fix attention, upon the Christ not only Speaker and His office. affirms the fact of His kingship, but also bases the feet upon the essential law of His being. He places His own Person («yw) in contrast with all other men, whether they And He disbelieve (as Pilate) or believe. the <worid ...

describes effects

His coming as permanent

"confession" xxvi.

before the

high-priest.

Matt,

The one addressed to jews is

framed in the language of prophecy, the other addressed to a Roman appeals to the univerThe* one speaks sal testimony of conscience. of a future manifestation of glory, the other speaks of a present manifestation of truth. The one looks forward to the Return, the other looks backward to the Incarnation. It is obvious how completely they answer severally to the circumstances of the two occasions.

the truth'] Compare Introd. p. xliv. Lightfoot on ch. vi. 27 quotes two remarkable passages which illustrate one idea of the word: " When the great synagogue had been weeping, praying, and fasting, for a long time, a little roll fell from the firmament to them in R. Chaniach which was written Truth. saith, Hence learn that Truth is the seal of 1 4 God." ( Sanh. Bab. f. 64. 1.) And again " What is the seal of the holy blessed God ?

R. Bibai, in the name of R. Reuben, saith 'Truth (riDK). But what is Truth? R.Bon 1

The living God and King eternal. Resh Lachish saith, X is the first letter of the alphathat is, I bet, D the middle, and H the last

saith,

the Lord am the first ... and beside me there is no God ... and I am with the last" ('Sanh. Hieros.' f. 18). The Lord's confession includes the fulfilment of the double hope. He is the King of the people of God, and the universal Saviour.

Comp. iv. %s ff., ix. $$ ff. 38.

its

(<\qkv0a) and not simply as a past

64.

What is

truth?]

The question of

Pilate does not deal with absolute Truth— the

—of which the Lord had spoken

historic fact (%\6ov).

Truth as one

hear witness unto the truth...] Truth, absoHe marks lute reality, is the realm of Christ. out its boundaries ; and every one who has a vital connexion with the Truth recognises His sway. He does not only * 4 bear witness concerning the truth" (jxaprvfMiv ntpi, i. 7, 8, &c), but "bears witness to, maintains, the truth" (jxapTvpttv t*W, iii. «6), as John had

d\j0€ia), but simply with truth in any There is nothing particular case (oAij&ta). of real reverence or seriousness in his words, He does not shape, even in still less of awe. passing thought, a subject for earnest inquiry, but half sadly, half cynically, implies that even It in ordinary matters truth is unattainable. was so evidently to his mind in the matter before him ; but so much at least was plain to his Roman clearness of vision, that the pri-

done in his place, v. 33. Comp. Acts x. 43, xv. 8, &c; 3 John 11. that is 0/ the truth} who draws from the truth the inspiration of his life (comp. 1 John ii.

a 1,

iii.

19).

The phrase is parallel

"that is of God"

(via. 47, note).

Comp.

(1}

soner accused by His countrymen was no He therefore impatiently political intriguer. breaks off the examination which had (as he fancied) shewn him enough to decide the case,

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262

St.

JOHN. XVIII.

truth ? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no is

fault at all. ••Matt.

39 '"But ye have a custom, that should release unto you one at

27. 15.

that he may obtain the release of Jesus if pos-

Corn, a Lapide gives an interesting series of answers to the question, u What is truth?" from classical and patristic writers. Though they have no direct connexion with Pilate's thought they will repay study. The sending to Herod (Luke- xxiii. 6 ff.) must be placed between w. 37, 39. sible.

w. 38 —40. Without the Pnetorium.

The

judgment of Pilate and the judgment of the Jews. The sentence, the offer, the demand, Jesus and Barabbas*

And <wben ...]

38 fF.

The incident that

a complete revelation of a weak worldly character. Pilate addressed himself, as it seems, not to the leading accusers of Jesus (the high-priests and Pharisees), but to the crowd which had now gathered round them. He trusted that an expression of popufollows

lar

feeling

would enable him to follow his

own judgment without incurring any unpopularity.

He saw that Jesus was evidently the

victim of a party (Matt, xxvii. 18), and perhaps of a small party. Moreover the festival allowed him to effect his purpose without absolutely setting aside the sentence of the Sanhedrin. He suggests therefore that Jesus should be released according to the custom of the Passover. From the narrative of St Mark it appears that the demand for the fulfilment of this act of grace was first made by u the multitude" who had come up to the governor's house (dya&as, Mark xv. 8), and it is not unlikely that some at least of the people hoped in this way (like Pilate) to deliver The name of a notorious criminal was Jesus.

coupled with that of Jesus (Matt xxvii. 17), that the wish of the people might be expressed more decisively. When the choice was put to them there was for a time a division of feeling, or hesitation (Mark xv. n, note). At length the high-priests prevailed (comp. ch.

[v.

39, 40.

the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the

Jews? 40 * Then saying,

cried

they

all

again, * *<*» >

Not this man, but Barabbas.

X4"

Now Barabbas was a robber. xix. 6), and Pilate was then overpowered by the popular cry, from which he had expected He had no to obtain convenient support. firmness to support him when his scheme had failed and at last, by a strange irony, he was forced to release a man guilty of the very form of crime which the chief priests had tried to fasten upon Christ. I find no I find in him no fault at all] charge (or crime) in him. The pronoun is emphatic here and xix. 6 (not in xix. 4), and contains an implied contrast between the partizanship of the priests and the calm judgment of the Roman governor. ;

39. at the passover] The custom is made more general in St Matthew (xxvii. 15) and St Mark (xv. 6), u at feast time" (koto copnjr).

Nothing is known of the origin of the custom, nor is it (as far as appears) noticed anywhere except m the Gospels. Comp. Matt xxvii. 15, note.

the King of the Jews] The title is probably used, as afterwards (xix. 15), to throw contempt on the pretensions of the Jewish lead-4 ers.

40. Then cried they all again ...] They cried out therefore again with the loud cry which will make itself heard (cxpavyaaav).

Comp. xi. 43, xii.

13,

xix. 6, 11, 15.

The

people, in spite of their late enthusiasm, were driven by their selfish hopes to prefer one who

had at least defied the Roman power to their divine King. again] The word is a singular mark of the brevity of St John's narrative, which assumes much as known. The previous demands of the people have not been noticed by him. a robber] One of those outlaws who not unfrequentry (Acts xxi. 38) covered their violence with a cloke of patriotism (comp. Luke xxiii. 19; Mark xv. 7; Matt, xxvii. 16, note). There is an impressive pathos in the brief clause.

Comp. xiii. 30.

ADDITIONAL NOTES on Chap, xviii. 12

—24.

It is interesting to

compare the

narratives of the Lord's trial preserved by the Evangelists with the rules laid down in Jewish tradition for the

conduct of such cases.

may be impossible to determine the antiquity of the contents of the Mishna, but the following brief summary of the contents of the Tract •Sanhedrin,' so far as they bear upon the sub-

what respects the proceedLord agreed with and differed from what was received as law at a very early

ject, will shew in

ing! as to the date.

Capital offences were tried by an assembly of twenty-three (ch. 1 § 4) : a false prophet could be tried only by the great Sanhedrin, or assembly of seventy-one (ch. 1 § 5).

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St.

JOHN. XVIII.

The witnesses were strictly and separately examined in all cases, and the agreement of two was held to be valid (ch. 3 § 6 ; ch. c §§iff.). In capita] cases the witnesses were specially charged as to, the momentous consequences of their testimony, and cautioned as to the peril of destroying life (ch. 4 § 5), and they were to say nothing by conjecture or hearsay.

The judges sat in a semicircle, the president being in the middle, so that all might be face to face (ch. 4 § 3). In capital cases everything was so arranged as to give the accused the benefit of the doubt, and with this view the votes for acquittal were taken first (ch. 4 § 1). In civil cases the trial might be continued and decided by night; and a decision either way might be given on the day of trial. In capital cases the trial could take place only by day ; and while an acquittal might be pronounced on the day of trial, a sentence of condemnation could not be given till the next day. Hence such cases could not be tried on the eve of a Sabbath or of a Feast (ch. 4 § 1 comp. ch. s § 5). Even on the way to execution opportunity was given to the condemned, four or five times, if need were, to bring forward fresh pleas (ch. 6 § 1); and at the last he was urged to confession, that he might not be lost hereafter (ch. 6 § a). A crier preceded the condemned, saying, "A. B. the son of A. B. goes forth to be stoned for such and such an offence : the witnesses are C. and D. If any one can prove his innocence, let him come " forward and give his reasons (ch. 6 § 1). In cases of blasphemy the witnesses were rigorously examined as to the exact language used by the accused. If their evidence was definite the judges stood and rent their garments (ch. 7 § 5).

The blasphemer was to be stoned (ch. 7 After stoning he was to be hung upon § 4). a gibbet (ch. 6 § 4), and taken down before night (id.) and buried in a common grave provided for the purpose (ch. 6 § 5). 13.

Derenbourg (' Essai sur THistoire et la 1

Geographie de la Palestine, Paris, 1867^ has called attention (pp. 466 flf.) to a remarkable passage of the Talmud (* Jer. Taanith/ iv 8), which mentions that "on the Mount of Olives there were two cedars, under one of which were four booths (shops, nVUfl) for the sale of objects legally pure. In one of these, pigeons enough were sold for the sacrifices of all Israel." He conjectures that these booths were [part of] " the famous booths of the sons of Hanan (Annas)/' to which the Sanhedrin retired when it left the chamber "Gazith" (see Add. Note on v. 31). The identification seems to be very plausible, notwithstanding Keim's peremptory contradiction

263

Yet see the note on Matt But whether "the booths' were

(in. 35 a, note).

xxvii.

on the Mount of Olives or adjoining the temple, the place was the seat of the dominant faction of Annas, the centre of their hier-

The night meeting of members of the Sanhedrin favourable to their policy would therefore naturally be held there. The regular meeting in the morning of the whole body (Matt, xxvii. 1^ was, on the other hand (as it appears), held in the old place of assembly, " Gazith'" (Matt, xxvii. 5, The language of St Luke ptyat iv T<j> va$). points clearly to the difference of place of the two examinations (xxii. 66, amjyayov ch to trwtbpior avrvv, as contrasted with xxii. 54, Perhaps it ch rb» oIkow tov apxitptos)' will be felt that the record gams in solemnity if the Mount of Olives was the one scene of all the events of the night. Even the mention of Kidron by the secondary and popular name of the " ravine of the cedars " may contain an allusion to a scandal felt as a grievous burden at the time when the priests gained wealth from the sale of victims by the " two cedars." " The booths of the sons of Hanan," tradition adds, 4< were destroyed three years before the destruction of the temple" (Derenbourg, archical tyranny.

p. 468).

17, 18, 25—27.

The differences in detail,

which occur in the records of the threefold denial of the Lord by St Peter, offer a singularly

instructive subject

for study.*

The

few related at length by the four Evangelists, and it offers a crucial test for determining, in some aspects, the cha-

fact is one of the very

racter of the narratives of the Gospels. It must be premised : 1.

That each Evangelist records the pre-

diction of a threefold denial : Matt. xxvi. 34 ("before the cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice "V Mark xiv. 30 (" before the cock crow twice

thou shalt deny me thrice"). Luke xxii. 34 ("the cock shall not crow this day until thou hast thrice denied that thou knowest me"). John xiii. 38 ("the cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice"). In St Matthew and St Mark the prediction occurs alter the mention of the departure from the upper room; in St Luke and St John, during the account of the Supper. The particles of connexion in the first two Gospels ("then" [St Matthew], "and" [St Mark]) do not require, though they suggest, chronolo-

There is no difficulty in supposing either that the record of the words has been transposed by St Matthew and St Mark, Such or that the prediction was repeated. repetitions belong naturally to a crisis of concentrated excitement That each Evangelist records three acts a.

gical sequence.

of denial :

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St JOHN. XVIII.

264

Matt xxvl. 70, 7a, 74. Mark xiv. 68, 70, 71. Luke xxii. 57, 58, 60. John xviii. 17, 25, 47.

The first three Evangelists specially notice the fulfilment of the prediction : Matt xxvi. 75; Mark xiv. 7a; Luke xxii. 61. St John does not, though he obviously recalls the words spoken: xviii. 37, compared with xiii. 38. It may be added that the narratives of St

Matthew and St Mark represent in the main one original. The narratives of St Luke and St John are independent of one another and of the other two. Under

these

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arises (1) Whether the four Evangelists relate the same three acts of denial ; and then

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(a) if so, whether the differences in detail admit of being reconciled. It will be most convenient to examine in succession the four narratives of the first, second, and third denials, noticing the signifi-

cant points in each. (Table A.) Here there is an agreement (a) as to the place of the incident, the court of the high priest's palace, "outside" and "beneath" the room in which the Lord was being examined, and more particularly by " the fire" which had been lighted there. St John mentions the "standing by the fire" after the feet of the denial, but evidently in connexion with it.

As to the chief actor, " a maid " (tra»ua diVini), further described by St Mark as (£)

maid of the high priest," and defined by St John as 4t the maid that kept the door." There is not the least indication that the "maid" of St Matthew and St Mark could not be the portress. (c) As to the fact of a direct address to St Beter, and of a reply by him to the speaker. And, further, there is a substantial agreement as to what was said. On the other hand, the Synoptists speak of St Peter as " sitting," St John as " standing," and the words recorded are different But there is no difference as to time. The incident mentioned by St Matthew and St Mark may have occurred at any time after entrance into the court (Matt xxvi. 58; Mark xiv.

(Table B.) Here the records are much more complicated : (a) Two places are mentioned, the " fore-court " (St Mark), with which the 44 porch " of St Matthew is to be connected, and the.fire in the court which was the scene of the former denial. (b) Many persons take part in the accusation of St Peter: " the same maid" as before (St Mark), 44 another maid" (St Matthew), 44 another man " (St Luke), are specified, and St John says, generally, 44 they said," i.e. the bystanders.

But it will be noticed that St Luke alone smgles out one man who addresses St Peter, and to whom personally St Peter replies. The

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266

St.

JOHN. XVIII.

words of accusation recorded by St Matthew and St Mark are not addressed to St all, but spoken among the groups of servants, and St Mark implies a repeated

Peter at

The words recorded by St

denial (jpvcWo).

John express apparently what was said by several. So also the denials recorded by St Matthew, St Mark, and St John, are not given as addressed to any particular person, as in the former case. They simply record the fact of denial. (Table C.) Here again the narratives are complicated. There is no mention of place but some time, " about an hour" (St Luke), has elapsed since the last denial. In St Matthew and St Mark the charge is addressed to St Peter by many ("they that stood by"). In St Luke the question and answer are both personal; in St John the question is direct, but no specific answer is recorded. The charges in this case are all supported by some personal identification of St Peter. If now we endeavour to realise the scene it will,

think, be clear that there

crises, three acts of denial.

were three

The first was an

isolated incident, and the others in part arose it. The portress made no remark when St John brought in his friend. It was not likely that she should do so. But after-

out of

wards, noticing him by the fire-light, she spoke directly to him. The slight differences in detail admit of easy explanation. St Peter's restlessness is evident throughout the scene.

After St Peter had made his denial and then withdrawn, the subject was not forgotten. The portress, when she saw him again, after some interval, on being called to the door, spoke of him to others. One and another accused him. Probably at the time he made no answer, but went away, and ventured to return to the fire. Here again a definite accusation was made and a denial followed ; but the imperfect in St Mark seems to indicate that the denial was in some way repeated.

The third incident is similar. Con-

had been going on. St Peter had joined in it. His dialect shewed his origin. One of the servants recognised him. Thereupon many brought the charge against him, and St Peter met his assailants at once with words fragmentarily preserved in the different versation

narratives. Briefly then, let the scene be realised, with

the excitement of the night trial and the universal gathering of servants and officers, and the separate details given by the different Evangelists will be found completely in harall

mony with the belief that there were three "denials,"

that

three acts of denial,

which the several writers have taken such features as seemed to be most significant for their purpose.

•

Thus in the narrative of St

John there is an evident climax in the succession of questioneis: the portress, the by-

standers generally, a

man who claims direct

knowledge.

—24. The

true reading in v. 24 (Annas ) involves the consequence that the examination noticed in 19 23 is not any part of the official examination before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin (Matt. xxvi. 57, 59 68; Mark xiv. 53, The same sense 65), but previous to it. SS is given by the simple aorist without the conjunction {Annas sent hint ...), though less sharply. The character of the examination itself leads to the same result The examination in St John is evidently informal and private (comp. Matt. xxvi. 57, note). The Lord Himself is questioned, but there is no mention of witnesses (Matt xxvi. 60 ff.), no adjuration, no sentence, no sign of any legal process. If v. 21 implies that others were present besides the retinue of the high-priest, they took no part in the proceedings (contrast Matt. xxvi. 66 ff). On the other hand, if Annas was really the soul of the Sadducaean faction, nothing would be more natural than that he should provide for a preliminary interrogation which might decide the course to be taken in the Sanhedrin. There might still be opposition there. As it was, the accusers were in fact driven to seek evidence from the Lord's hearers, and to confess that it was inadequate for their purpose. Thus baffled, they called forth, under the most solemn circumstances, His great confession as Messiah. It may be added that some time necessarily elapsed between the arrest of the Lord and His appearance before the formal session of the Sanhedrin. This interval gave opportunity for the private examination. The details of the various examinations, which St John has preserved, all bear upon the universal aspect of Christ's work, its openness, self-justification, truthfulness, dependence upon the divine will. It will further be noticed that as St John alone gives the private examination before Annas, so also he alone gives the private examination before Pilate. He was probably present at both. therefore sent him . . . , on-cWc tXc y oZv.

—

31. The words " It is not lawful for us to put any man to death" have been interpreted to mean that the Jews could not inflict a capital sentence at this particular time (the Passover), or in the particular manner which they desired (crucifixion). But there is nothing in the context to justify such a limitation of the sense. The whole action of Pilate (comp. xix. 10) shews that the question of life and death was legally in his hands alone ; and the words must be taken as a simple and direct statement that the Jews could not put to death without the governor's authority. That this was so appears from the terms which describe the procurator's power (Jos. 4 Antt.' xviii. 4 Antt.' xvi. 2. 4, and 1. 1; compare also xvi.. 6). There is also a remarkable tradition preserved in different forms in the Talmud,

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St.

JOHN. XIX.

that the Sanhedrin left their proper place of assembly, Gazith, and sat in Chanjuth (forty years before the destruction of the temple). Now it was forbidden to condemn to death except in Gazith (see 4 Avoda Zara,' ed. Edzard, pp. 61 ff. and notes). The passages quoted from the New Tes-

tament (John viii. 3, 59, vii. 26 Acts v. 33> vu - 57 £> xxi. a 7 ft; [Acts xii. 4]) to prove that the Jews could put to death, only shew that the Roman governors were not ;

unwilling to tolerate exceptional acts of vioCompare also Jos. * B. J.' vi. 2. 4, and *Antt.' xx. 9. 1, where it appears that the execution of James the Just in the interval between the departure of one governor and the arrival of his successor was treated as a grave usurpation of power. The question is discussed thoroughly and conclusively by Langen, in a paper in the Theol. Quartal-SchrifV 1862, in. pp. 411 ff. Compare aTso the same writer's * Die letzten lence.

Lebenst.' § 256.

Note on the Readings in w. 1, 15, 24. The reading of this verse offers points 1. of singular interest. The great majority both of ancient and later authorities give ^. t&v Kc'dptty

(K°BCLX, &c, most cursives, and

Origen,

Cyril

Al.,

and Chrysostom)

(1).

Two representatives of a very ancient text (K*D)

give tov Ktdpov (a). Some few which generally represent a later text (AS, &c), give tov Kcd/wv (3). The second and third readings may be grouped toge-

copies,

both represent the Hebrew name Kidron, though in different forms ( Kf hpbv or Kcdpof jrc'dpor, cedar, is feminine and Kcbpav). The first, on the other hand, substitutes for the Hebrew name a significant Greek name (of the cedars) which is found also in ther,

for

—

the

LXX. (a S. xv. 23; 1 K. xv. 13).

one of the versions directly supports (1), but the Memphitic reads of the cedar tree, while the cedri of some old Latin copies is uncertain. The Sahidic and the jfcthiopic give Kedroj (masc.) (2). The Vulgate, Gothic, and Armenian, give Kedron (3).

CHAPTER XIX. I

Christ is scourged, crowned with thorns, and beaten,

4 Puate is desirous to release him,

but being overcome with the outrage of the

—

The Witbin the Prator'tum, xix. I 3. governor's punishment. The soldiers' mockery. Chap. XIX. 1—3. The narrative of St John leaves no doubt that the •* scourging (tpafrrlyuHT€v) was inflicted by Pilate as a punishment likely to satisfy the Jews. They had only just used the ominous word u crucify" (Luke xxiil 21), though they pointed

267

At first sight it seems obvious to suggest that an original reading, tov Kcdp»i>, gave rise to two corrections on the part of ignorant scribes, who altered either the article (r«iv Kc'dpw) or the noun (tov Ktdpov), in what they supposed to be a false concord. But the division of the authorities is most jinfavourable to this view. It seems incredible that no one of the most ancient Greek texts should have preserved the true reading. On the other hand, the name Kidron was well known, and an alteration from ra>y Ki&fwr to tov KfdptDv would appear as plausible to a scribe as to many modem scholars.

the use of the name

It must be added that

Kidpuv in the LXX.

(1 K. xv. 13, and as a various reading in 2 S. xv. 23 1 K. iii. 37; 2 K. xxiii. 6, 12), supplies fair evidence that it was current; and the fact that the article is not added to the similar forms, Kicrcrvv (Kicruw) and 'Appwy, proves concluX- r<Gv

;

name was not an accidental corruption. In Joseph us the name is always declined (<tfdp/»v, -wros). Such a paronomasia as is involved in the change from Kidron to u of the cedars" is perfectly natural ; and the fact that cedars were found on the Mount of Olives at the time (see Note on v. 13) gives additional likelihood to the change. It is indeed possible that the name of the Wady and of the Torrent (fl"np = the Black) was originally derived from

sively that the

the "dark" trees, and not from the water. 15.

The

best

"dark"

(K*AB[DT)

authorities

omit the article (£AXor, not 6 aAAor), which is not expressed in A. V. 24. evidence

An overwhelming preponderance of (BC*LX 1, ^^ &c.) requires the

This reading, {pvv). which presents considerable difficulty at first sight, was variously corrected: first by substituting now (hi) for therefore (K 69, &c), and then by omitting the conjunction altogether (A and much later MSS.); and a few authorities insert the whole clause, Annas ... Caiapbas, in v. 13, with therefore or now. insertion of therefore

yews, he delivered him to be crucified, 23 They cast lots for his garments. 16 He 28 He commendeth his mother to John. dieth. 31 His side is pureed. 38 He is buried by Joseph and Nicodemus.

to it from the first (xviii. 31).

The governor

therefore thought that as he had humoured them by the release of Barabbas they might be contented with the ignominy inflicted on the alleged pretender to royalty without

on His death. brought out in Luke

This

insisting

therefore chastise

distinctly

("I will him [naibtvoca], and let xxiii.

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268 -Matta 7

St.

JOHN. XIX.

*npHEN - Pilate therefore took Je-

sus, and scourged him.

It is

not however to be supposed

that when Christ was condemned to be crucified the scourging was repeated. The passing references (^payrXXao-ar) in St Matthew (xxvii. 26) and St Mark (xv. 15)—St

—

Luke is silent, though they would convey the impression that the scourging immediately preceded the crucifixion, according to the common, but not universal, custom, do not necessarily bear that meaning. There is therefore no real discrepancy between the accounts of the Synoptists and of St John. The accounts of the mockery by the soldiers are From the narrato be explained otherwise. tive of St John it is evident that the Lord was insulted by the emblems of mock royalty From the narrabefore His condemnation. tive of St Matthew it is no less evident that mockery of the same kind took place His condemnation (Matt xxvii. 31, and nvbfn ... tbey took off ... and led ...). St Mark is less definite as to the time, and St Luke In is silent altogether about the incident. after

addition to this difference as to the time, there are also some minor differences in the details of the two narratives. St Matthew and St Mark both mention emphatically 44 the gathering of the whole band" (Matt, xxvii. 27; Mark xv. 16); both mention the insulting homage; St Matthew mentions and St Mark implies the reed-sceptre the outrages described in St Matthew and St Mark are greater and more varied. In a word, the scene described by St Matthew and St Mark represents a more deliberate and systematic mockery than that described by St John. It is not perhaps difficult to imagine the whole course of the ;

mockery.

The conduct of Herod ( Luke xxiii.

11) probably suggested the idea of it.

Pilate

found it fall in with his own design to release Jesus as being too insignificant for serious treatment. The design foiled. The crown and the robe were therefore removed; for it is not conceivable that any prisoner could be brought so disguised before a judge for sentence. But after the sentence was given, the men who had already entered into the spirit of the travesty made use of their opportunity to carry out the contemptuous exhibition more completely; and u the soldiers of the governor" invited "the whole band'* (Matt, xxvii. 27) to join them in their fierce sport. There does not appear to be anything artificial in this interpretation of the recorded facts or inconsistent with the character of the actors. St

John

(as in other places) gives that explains the origin ot the proceeding.

3 And said, Hail, King of the Jews and they smote him with their !

2 And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, him go*').

[v.

which

hands.

4 Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring

"then Pilate therefore...]

Pilate's last

appeal to the Jews (xviii. 39) had failed, and he now endeavours to save the life of Christ by inflicting such a punishment as might move His enemies to pity. This was his punishment {Pilate took ... and scourged ... contrasted with v. 6, Take ye. ..and crucify...). Scourging was itself part of a capital sentence,

but in this case it was inflicted arbitrarily by Pilate without any formal judgment.

For an account of the punishment see Matt, St Matthew (xxvii. 26) and

xxvii. 26, note.

St Mark (xv. 15) refer to the scourging simply as having taken place before the Lord was given over for execution. St Luke (xxiii. 22) records Pilate's offer to inflict the punishment without saying more. St John brings the two notices into union.

Recent investigations at Jerusalem have dismay have been the scene of the punishment. In a subterranean chamber, discovered by Captain Warren, on what Mr Fergusson holds to be the site of Antonia Pilate's Pretorium "stands a truncated column, no part of the construction, for the chamber is vaulted above the pillar, but just such a pillar as criminals would be tied to to be scourged.'* The chamber "cannot be 4 later than the time of Herod" (Fergusson, The Temples of the Jews,' p. 176 comp. p. 242). closed what

—

;

2. a crown of thorns] Comp. Matt, xxvii. 29, note. The thought is rather of the victor's wreath (as Tiberius' wreath of laurel, which was seen upon his arms: Suet 4 Tib.' c. 17)

than of the royal diadem.

Comp. Matt, xxvii. 28, a purple robe] note; Mark xv. 17; and also 1 Mace. viii. 14, Reference has x. 20, 62, xi. 58, xiv. 43 f. naturally been made to Rev. xix. 13 (Isai. lxiii. 1 ff.). This blood-stained robe was the true dress of a kingly conqueror. 3.

And said] According to the best auAnd they oame unto Him and

thorities,

This vivid detail does not occur in the The imnarratives of the parallel incident. perfect (Ijpxoproy Vulg. veniebant) gives the picture of the separate formal acts of homage rendered by the soldiers in succession. Hail, King of the Jews] The words are evidently a mocking echo of what they

said.

had heard. Like Pilate, they ridicule the people no less than the Lord. smote him ...] Some old versions add " on the face.* This is probably the true idea. The savage blow took the place of the kiss of homage. Comp. xviii. %%. 1

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St.

5-7-]

JOHN. XIX.

him forth to you, that yc may know

269

that I find no fault in him.

fore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him.

5 Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man 6 When the chief priests there-

unto them, Take ye saith him, and crucify him : for I find no fault in him. 7 The Jews answered him, have a law, and by our law he ought

w. 4— 7.

Without the Praetorium. "Behold, the man:' The Jew: made himself the Son of God" late:

Pilate therefore ...]

Pi-

"Hr

And Pilate ....

According to the most probable reading the action is not so much a consequence (therefore) as a part of what has gone before, v. 1 (Pilate therefore ... and the soldiers ... and Pilate ...).

again] xviii. 38. Pilate had returned within the Praetorium to order the scourging. unto them]

The chief actors (xviii. 38) re-

main constantly present to the mind of the Evangelist, though the episode w. 1 3 has

—

Pilate

ous pity were designed to change the fierceness of the spectators into compassion. Fear alike

and envy, Pilate argues, must disappear at the sight of one enduring with absolute patience such humiliation. " Behold" is an interjection

and not a verb

" See, here is before you the

What lies behind that phrase is un-

man"

spoken and unthought. It is however natural for us to compare the Lord's prophecy as to Himself with rilate's appeal (Matt. xxvi. 63 flf., "tell us whether thou be. ..the Son of God"... "Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you: From henceforth (aV &pri) ye shall see the Son of man" ...).

interrupted the narrative. / bring him ... that ye may know ... no fault (charge, i.e. crime)...] If the charge had seemed reasonable the governor would naturally have let the law take its course. That he had not done so, but brought the accused out again, was a clear proof that he held the charge against Him to be groundless. Yet with strange inconsistency he had treated Him as partly guilty in order to conciliate unrighteous accusers. But to scourge a prisoner whom he pronounced innocent seemed nothing in his eyes if he could by such means gain his end. His words therefore are an appeal at once to the sense of humanity and to the sense of justice in Christ's accusers. See also Acts

chief priests ... and officers (the The chief priests and their subordinates at once, when they saw him, anticipated any possible outburst of pity. They " saw " not an object of compassion, but only Him whom they had already doomed. There' fore they give the signal and the command to others. With *'loud cries" (cupavyaaap) they demand death, and the death of the vilest malefactor. For the first time the name of the cross is openly used. The sharp, short sentence, Crucify, crucify, exactly reproduces the feelings of the moment, and expresses the answer to Pilate's half measures. The thought is wholly of the punishment. (Contrast Mark xv. 13 f., " Crucify him.") Death,

xxii. 24.

the death of a slave, nothing short of this, is the purpose of the accusers. All the Evangelists agree in representing the special demand for crucifixion as being made towards the end of the trial, after the offer to release a prisoner according to the custom of the feast

Up to this time Christ had been forth] within the Praetorium, xviii. 28. Then came Jesus ... ] Jesus therefore 5. came ... In obedience to the governor's will Christ follows His judge into the presence of He knows all, and so knowing the people. endures all in absolute submission. Each emphatic detail is rewearing ...v] peated (the crown of thorns, the purple robe). This array of mockery is presented as the natural dress of Christ (<j>opwv. Comp. Matt, xi. 8; Tames ii. 3; Rom. xiii. 4). So He was through life the suffering King, the true Soldier.

And he (Pilate) saith unto them] Though the name of the Lord has intervened, Pilate is the chief actor now in the apostle's mind. Comp. v. 4 (them). Roman and Jew stand face to face before Christ; and Pilate now, as Caiaphas before ("xi. 49 f.), is an unconscious prophet. Behold, the man!] Contrast v. 14 u Behold, ! your King " These words of half-contemptu-

the

officers) ...]

(Matt, xxvii. aa,

Mark xv. 13, Luke xxiii.

ai).

Take ye him ... no fault ...] Take him yourselves.. .iro charge (crime)... Pilate met the peremptory demand of the priests as before judge (ch. xviii. 3 1 , Take Him yourselves and ...) by ironically referring the whole case to their own action. He will not, so he seems to They ask say, simply ratify their decisions. . . .

—

for crucifixion: well, let them crucify thing impossible if his voice is not to be heard.

—

The Tews take up Pilate's challenge and

Pilate's

judgment in an unexpected manner.

He had said Take him yourselves (Xa0. aw. vptts). They answer, If you appeal to us, we have a power which we have not yet

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St. JOHN.

270 to die, because he

made himself the

Son of God. 8

When Pilate therefore heard

that saying, he was the more afraid 9 And went again into the judg-

ment

hall,

and

saith

unto

Jesus,

Whence art thou ? But Jesus gave him no answer. We have a law, (qn*U v. ?.) to which you are bound to give effect, whatever you may think of it, and according to the

invoked.

XIX.

[v.

8— 11.

10 Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me ? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? 1 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above

Himself (comp. viii. 25, x. 24), explains the That silence silence with which he was met.

law {rov vofxov) he ought to die. The emphatic " we" answers at once to the emphatic

was fitted to lead Pilate to reflect on what he had already heard (ch. xviii. 36); and a direct answer would have been either misleading or

"ye" and to the emphatic u I " of the governor. Rather (omitting i)/i<Sv), acby our law] Levit. xxiv. 16. cording to the law.

which was now in question, was not in any way affected by the circumstances of the

Comp. Matt. xxvi. 63, 65 and notes. made himself] cc. v. 18, x. 33. The form

Compare the parallel inciLord's descent. dent Matt, xxvii. 13 f. See also Isai. liii. 7.

of expression emphasizes the heinousness of the charge. The claim was asserted in action and not only in word. Comp. v. 12, " maketh himself a king." the Son of God] The absence of the article (vlbv 6rov) fixes attention upon the general character of the nature claimed (Bon of Ood) as distinguished from the special personality Roman would have no (comp. i. i, note). distinct idea of One to whom alone the title " " Son of God truly belongs.

w. 8 — 11.

Within the Pnetorium.

The

origin of Christ untold: the origin of authority

revealed. Pilate had already recognised some8. thing mysterious in the Person and charge before him (see xviii. 29, note). The fact that Christ was said to have claimed a divine origin naturally deepened the strange fear which His presence inspired : Pilate not only was afraid, but he was more afraid. Could he have ignominiously scourged one who was in some sense Roman at sent by the national divinity ? this time, when Eastern religions were making themselves felt throughout the empire, would be able to attach a real if vague meaning to the title u Son of God ;" and superstition goes

with unbelief. Compare Matt, xxvii. 54, where

we have an obvious echo of the same words. that saying] Rather, this saying or word (\6yot) i.e. the general charge now brought :

against Christ,

and not the exact title itself

(pfjfia).

And went ... judgment hall ... ] And The went ... palace (pratorlnm). clause marks a new scene. Whence art thou f] The question is put in a general form. Pilate looks to the answer for 9.

lie

the relief or the confirmation of his misgivings.

This indecision of the questioner, who indirectly asks from the Lord a revelation of

unintelligible.

Moreover, the claim of justice,

Then saith Pilate (Pilate therefore Speakest thou not unto me f] The pronoun stands with emphasis at the head or the 10.

saith)

. . .

sentence

(Ipol ov A. ;) : silence before others

might have been intelligible, but Pilate was supreme. His sentence was the final voice not of a party but of the law and the government / have power rightful authority

—

(*£ovala) ..." to crucify ...to release] ...

to crucify ...

Better, to

releaft

The alternatives are pre-

sented with the most impressive distinctness. The order in the best authorities places the motive of hope before that of fear, which seems in itself to be more natural. 11.

Jesus answered

(wouldest) have ...]

him, Thou

couldest

The claim

of Pilate to the absolute possession of right to act as he pleases leads the Lord to speak again. There was truth and error in the claim. The two required to be distinguished in order that the real relation of the civil and the theocratic powers to the death of Christ might be laid open. In the order of the world Pilate had the authority which he claimed to have. It had been given to him to exercise authority. As the representative of the Emperor his judgment was legally decisive ^Rom. xiii. 1). But still his right to exercise authority was derived, not inherent. Human government is only valid as the expression of the divine will. He therefore who exercises it is responsible, whatever he may suppose, to a higher power. So far however as any immediate result was concerned Pilate acted within the scope of the " authority which it had been given to him to exercise." u For this reason" the High-Priest, representing the theocracy, was more guilty. Pilate was guilty in using wrongfully his civil power. The High-Priest was doubly guilty, both in using wrongfully a higher (spiritual) power

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St.

12, I3-]

therefore he that delivered

JOHN. XIX.

me unto

thee hath the greater sin.

12 And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man :

and

transgressing his legitimate rules of

action.

He had failed to fulfil his duty and

he had violated its rules. It was the privilege of his office to recognise the Messiah, and to preserve the true spiritual independence of the people. By appealing to a heathen power to execute an unjust (xi. 49 f.) sentence on Christ, he had sinned against God by unfaithfulness, as well as by unrighteousness.

given thee]

It does not

appear that there is

commonly supposed) any reference to "te fact that Pilate was an unconscious instruas

ment of the divine will.

In this respect the

Chief Priests were in the same position ; and there was nothing in the fulfilment of the counsel of God to modify the guilt of one or the other (comp. Acts ii. 13). That which " was given," it must be noticed, is not the authority itself, but the possession

and exercise of it (%» Mopcror not jy

dc&ofiiprj).

Comp. Rom. The words correct Pilate's assertion of independence. The notion that the clause from above] i. e. from God.

xiii. 1 f.

refers to the reference of the case from /* a higher tribunal " (the Sanhedrin) to the Roman Court is wholly unnatural, though it has the confident support of Coleridge. In speaking of the source of Pilate's authority it has been rightly felt that the Lord indicates the source of His own. being (whence ... ?). He spoke of that which He 'knew and as One who

knew (ch. iii. it). therefore] for this

reason, because power

is a divine trust.

be that delivered me unto thee] Caiaphas, the personal representative of " the Jews" (xviii. 30 35; comp. Matt, xxvii. 2 note). The responsibility for the act is concentrated in him. There can be no reference to Judas in the surrender to Pilate (to thee).

—

hath ... sin] xv. a a, note. 7.

—

w. 1 a 16. Without the Pnetortum. The double sentence on the Accused and the accusers. The Christ rejected: the Emperor chosen.

12. And from thenceforth. ..If thou let this man go...] Upon this (omit and)... If thou

Upon this, i.e. u in consequence of this answer " (comp. vi. 66, note), and not simply 4t after this." The calm majesty of the Lord's words confirmed Pilate's

release this man...

fears.

He now actively "sought" himself to

release Jesus: before

he had endeavoured to

lead the Jews to suggest his release. the Jews] The national title stands out in

go, thou art not Caesar's friend : whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.

When Pilate therefore heard

that saying, he brought Jesus forth, contrast with the plea which they urge. Pilate had refused to carry out a sentence based upon Jewish opinion. The official chiefs of the theocracy convert themselves therefore into jealous guardians of the rights of the empire, and accuse Pilate of negligence. The simple acceptance of the title of "king" is, they argue, a declaration of antagonism to the one emperor. The change in the tactics of the priests is remarkable. Under ordinary circumstances a Roman governor would not have scrupled to give effect to a sentence based on a Perhaps the accusers national religious law. felt that their proceedings had been irregular, and in the face of opposition judged it better to press a political rather than a religious

Compare Matt, xxvii. 1 note.

offence.

According to the most probable reading (Upavyaaav) the thought found expression in one loud simultaneous cry, as distinguished from the repeated cries of a mulSee titude (Upavya£ov xii. 13) 6, 15, On each occasion St John notices xviii. 40. the loud, decisive utterance, though this may have found echoes. Compare Mark xv. 14 cried out]

(€Kpa£av) with Matt xxvii. 23 (cKpafov). Cxsars friend] The phrase was a title of honour frequently given to provincial governors (see Wetstein ad loc, Jos. Antt.' xiv. 10. a; Luke ii. 1, note); but here it is probably used in a general and not in a technical " a loyal supporter of the emperor." sense '

whosoever (literally, every one that) maketh ... spcaketk against ...] i.e. controverts the emperor's authority, and so virtually sets himself against him in rebellion. x. 21 (Isai. lxv. a).

Comp. Rom.

It will be observed how completely the successive charges of the Jews noticed by St John correspond with the natural progress of the examination. They first bring a general accusation of " evil doing." Pilate refuses to accept their judgment. They then press the title "King of the Jews" (implied in xviii. 33) as seditious. Pilate dismisses the charge

They next bring forward a reli(xviii. 39). This gious offence against their own law. increases Pilate's unwillingness to act (xix. 1 a). So lastly, letting drop the formal accusations, civil and ecclesiastical, they appeal to In this way they obtained Pilate's own fears. their end by personal motives (Acts xiii. 28, gnprarro. 13.

Comp. Luke xxiii. 24).

When Pilate

(these worde)...]

therefore ... that

safmg

The new plea left Pilate

to choose between yielding to an indefinite sense of reverence and right, and escaping the

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9*2

St.

JOHN. XIX.

and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha, 14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth danger of a plausible accusation at Roine, before such a man as Tiberius (Tac. Ann. in. If a late date be assigned to the Cruci38). fixion, Pilate's fear at that time would have been greater, for the suspicions of Tiberius became more cruel after the fall of Sejanus, 1

Pilate's patron (a. d. 3 1, Suet.'Tib.'6i). It was natural therefore that his fear of the emperor overcame his fear of Christ. His misrule gave him good cause for alarm, and he could easily persuade himself that there would be real peril in neglecting the information which was laid before him. popular outbreak might follow, even against the will of the Leader whom he believed to be innocent of violent His decision therefore was taken designs. without any further discussion. these words] the imputation on his loyalty, the suggestion of rebellion. brought ...forth (without)] After the Ecce homo the Lord had been taken within the Praetorium (v. 9). The formal sentence was given in the open court. The judgmentseat (tribunal) was placed upon a conspicuous

spot, which was called in

Hebrew (Aramaic)

Gabbatha, and in Greek Lithostroton, u a pavement." The courts of the temple were paved (a Chro. vii. 3, Jos. 4 B. J. vi. 1. 8), and it is not unlikely that there was a paved platform at the head of the steps leading from the temple to Antonia (Acts xxi. 40), where Pilate's tribunal could be conveniently placed (see however note on Matt, xxvii. 2). There can be no reference under the Hebrew name, to such a portable mosaic floor as Julius Caesar carried about with him for his judgment-seat 1

(Suet. 4 Cacs.' 46). sat down in the judgment seat] It has been suggested that the verb {Ua6io-tv) is transitive (1 Cor. vi. 4; Eph. i. 20), and that the sense is, ." Pilate placed Him (Christ) on a seat,"

completing in this way the scene of the " Ecce Homo," by shewing the King on His throne.

first

sight

the interpretation

attrac-

but the action does not seem to fall in with the position of a Roman governor, and the usage of the phrase elsewhere (Acts xii. a 1, xxv. 6, 17) appears to be decisive against it. St John, it may be added, never uses the verb transitively. The absence of the article before "judg-

tive,

ment seat,"

in the original («Vl ftfoaros, ac-

cording to the true reading), probably indicates that this was an improvised and not a regular tribunal Contrast Acts xii. 21, xxv. 6, 17. In Matt xxvii. 19 the verb is different. Comp. Jos. 4 B. J.' II. 14. 8 f.

[v. T4. 15.

hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King 15 But they cried out, Away with away with him y crucify him.

A/01,

Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify

the

Hebrew] in Hebrew, i.e. the ver-

nacular dialect,

w. 17, 20, v. 2, xx. 16; Rev.

jx. 11, xvi. 16.

The adverb is found only in

these places. Comp. Acts xxi. 40, xxii. 2, xxvi. 14. Gabbatha'] There can be little doubt that this represents Gab Baitha (IOT3 3J), "the ridge (back) of the House," i.e. the temple.

Comp. Talm. Jems. San. f. 18 d, quoted by Wunsche. 1

the preparation of the passover] The before the 44 Eve " of the Passover. See note on Matt, xxvii. and about (It was about) the sixth hour] See Additional Note. i.e. about 6 a.m. The marking of the day and hour fixes attention on the crisis of the history. Behold, your Kingf] The words are spoken with bitterness. The people had refused to regard the appeal to their humanity (v. 5); and Pilate now implies that the wounded and mocked Prisoner is alone fit to represent them (saith to the Jews). At the same time, too, he may intend to remind them of the welcome which Christ had received at His entry into Jerusalem. This was the end of that enthusiasm. The priests had overawed the people. 44 Behold " is here, as in v. 5, an interjection : 44 See, here is the king, of whom you spoke, and who befits you

14.

day

—

15. But they ...] They therefore. The pronoun (e/cclvoi) isolates the adversaries of the Lord, and sets them in this last scene apart from and over against Him. With one

loud universal cry (<Kpavyaaa») they disclaim all connexion with the King whom Pilate assigned to them 44 Away, away with him." Pilate, however, still presses his reproaches Shall {Must) I crucijy your Kingf The emphasis lies on the last words. From the beginning to the end the thought of kingship runs through the whole examination before :

Pilate.

The chief priests']

There is singular force

in the exact definition

of the speakers here.

They are not simply described as 44 the Jews" (xviii. 31, xix. 7), nor yet as * 4 the chief priests

and the officers" (xix. 6).

The official or-

gans of the theocracy themselves proclaim that they have abandoned the faith by which the nation had lived. The sentence 44 have no king but Caesar" (the foreign emperor) is the legitimate end of their policy, the formal abdication of the Messianic hope. The kingdom of God, in the confession of its rulers, has

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i6— 18.]

St.

your King? swered, » Matt 97. 3«-

JOHN. XIX.

The chief priests an-

We have no king but Caesar.

*73

forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the

*Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And

Golgotha

they took Jesus, and led him away. 17 And he bearing his cross went

two other with him, on

become the kingdom of the world. In the place of the Christ they have found the emperor. They first rejected Jesus as the Christ, and then, driven by the irony of circumstances, they rejected the Christ altogether. 16. Then therefore he delivered ..] There was now no longer room for delay. The end was reached. The last word had teen spoken. So the zealots for the Roman empire were empowered to work their will. But Pilate pro-

Hebrew

Where they crucified him, and either side

one, and Jesus in the midst.

Lord with the Paschal Lamb, both as offered and as consumed.

w. 17 —22.

and the King.

The Crucifixion. The two The title challenged and con-

firmed.

nounced no sentence himself.

He simply let

the chief priests have their way (comp. Matt, xxvii. 26 ;

Mark xv. 15

;

Luke xxiii. 2$).

had conceded a little against justice in false policy (v. 1), and he was driven to concede all

From St Matthew it appears that he typically abjured the responsibility for the act, while the Jews took Christ's blood upon themselves (Matt, xxvii. 24, 25). So they became the real executioners, and carried out the foreign law (he delivered Him up to them). Yet even so their dependence was against his will.

also indicated: the last clause runs not that they should crucify (v. 6), but that he should

be crucified. In this last issue

it will be noticed that the were self-condemned of a double treason the Jews of treason to their true king, on the plea of religion, and Pilate of treason to his office on the plea of loyalty.

Jews and

Pilate :

III.

The record of the last scene of the Passion contains very much that is peculiar to St John : the challenging of the title (20—22),

—

last bequest (25 27), two words (28 30), the piercing of the side (31 37), the ministry of Nicodemus (39 f.). For a time at least St John was an eye-witness

—

(w. 26, 35). The narrative falls into the following sections 1*.

—

The Crucifixion (17 22). The two groups of bystanders (23 The fulfilment (28—30). The two requests (31 42).

—

word

27).

—

Generally it will be observed that St John dwells on the fulfilment of the Old Covenant, on prophecies and types (w. 24, 28, 36, 37), and on the Majesty of the Lord in suffering. In all the will of God and the will of Christ is seen to be accomplished. In especial St John seems to insist on details (1/. 29) which tended to identify the

(jrapiXafrov)

may serve

to recall the

phrase at the beginning of the Gospel: bis own received (irap*\a&ou) Him not (i. 11). The Jews received Christ from the hands of the Roman governor for death they did not receive Him from the teaching of their own prophets for life. They " received "Him :

and "crucified" Him (v. 18), though the Roman soldiers were their instruments (v. 23 ; Matt, xxvii. 27). The act was theirs, even while they carried it out "by the hand of lawless men (i.e. Gentiles)" (Acts ii. 23; comp. iii. 15). 17. bearing bis cross] Or, according to the better reading, bearing the cross for himself. From the Synoptists (Matt, xxvii. 32 Mark xv. 21; Luke xxiii. 26) it appears that on the way Simon of Cyrene (see Mark /. c. note) was taken either to carry or to assist in carrying the cross. This the Lord at first bore

for Himself; and the remarkable language of St

The End (xix. 17—42).

the

16 b. They therefore took (received) and be...] Pilate "delivered up and the " chief priests " "received Jesus." The Jesus,

Mark (xv. 22, <f>tpovaiv,

see note^ lends

countenance to the belief that He sank oeneatht the burden. Comp. Matt, xxvii. 31 f. notes. Many writers from the time of Melito (Routh, Rell. Sacrr. 1. 122) have seen in the history of Isaac (Gen. xxii. 6) a type of this 1

incident

Comp. xviii. 12, note.

went forth'] Comp. Hebr. xiii. 12 f. This "going forth" (xviii. 1) from the city answers to the "coming in" (ch. xii. 12): the "Via dolorosa " to the line of triumph. Golgotha] See Matt xxvii. 33, note. 18. they crucified] i.e. the Jews, not indeed directly but acting through the Roman soldiers (v. 23), to whom the charge of the execution was committed. For the nature of the punishment, see Matt, xxvii. 35, note.

two other] described as "robbers'' (Xgoroi, xviii. 40) by St Matthew (xxvii. 38, see note) and St Mark (xv. 27), and

comp. ch.

"malefactors" (icaKovpyoi, comp. xviii. 30) by St Luke (xxiii. 32). It may have been of design that these criminals were put to death with the Lord, in order to place His

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St.

2/4

JOHN. XIX.

— 22.

Hebrew, and

and it was written Greek, and Latin.

JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE

21 Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews ; but that he said, I am King of the Jews. 22 Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.

JEWS. 20 This title then read many of for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city

the Jews

offence of treason on a level with Comp. ch. xviii. 40, note. the midst] as holding the position of pre-eminence in that scene of uttermost shame. Even in suffering Christ appears as a King. St John by the addition of this clause emphasizes the thought which the other Evangelists leave to be deduced (Matt, xxvii. 38 Mark xv. 27 ; Luke xxiii. 33).

the

which they

And Pilate. .title also, and. ..] It was 19. not unusual to attach to the cross the name and offence of the sufferer (see Matt, xxvii. .

This St John calls by the tech37, note). nical Roman term 44 titulus" (titXos).

And the writing was] And there was written. It appears likely that St John has preserved exactly one of the forms of the "title" (the Greek). The other Evangelists speak of "the inscription of his accusation" (inypcKpT) rrjs atria? avrov,

Mark XV. a6^),

his accusation " (q alria avrov,

37),

and

an inscription"

Matt, xxvii.

(jntypcxfrq,

Luke

xxiii. 38).

The facts that Pilate himself drew up the and caused it to be placed {wrote ...and placed it) on the cross are mentioned only by St J ohn. The act appears to have been an afterthought (jlypa^v hi *al r.); or the form of expression may perhaps imply that the placing of the Lord 44 in the midst" was due to Pilate's direction. The form of the sen17 tence, which throws the emphasis on 44 title and not on 44 Pilate," is in favour of this view. In either case the Roman governor found expression to the last for the bitterness which had been called out in him by the opposition inscription

of the Jews (yv. 14, 15). The incidents which have been related before explain perfectly why the title was written, and how the heathen governor completed the unwilling testimony of the Jewish priest (xi. 49 f.).

20. in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin] Rather, according to the best authorities, in

true reading, answers to the position would naturally occupy: the national dialect, the official dialect, the common These three languages gathered up dialect. the results of the religious, the social, the intellectual, preparation for Christ, and in each witness was given to His office.

alleged

theirs.

19 f And Pilate wrote a title, And the and put it on the cross. writing was,

(?)

[v.

Then said the chief priests...] The 21. The place chief priests ... said therefore ... was public, and the inscription was so written as to be intelligible (perhaps) to all the visitors " at the Feast. " The chief priests of the Jews clear It were consequently anxious to make

that they and all whom they represented were not compromised by the condemnation of *4 the King." Pilate's shaft went home. Perhaps we may see in the difference of form between the title assigned by Pilate, 44 The King of the Jews " (o &a<rik*vs t. 'L), and that suggested by the priests as claimed by 44 King of the Jews" (/WiXevt r. 'I.), Jesus, an instinctive unwillingness on their part to connect in any way the Messianic dignity 44 with Him whom they had the Kingship " condemned. They wished to make Him a mere ordinary usurper (comp. v. 12). Or it may have been that they would not acknowledge even by implication that such a title was possible, keeping, as pure secularists, to their

—

former assertion,

We have no king but

Caesar." This unique the chief priests of the Jews] title appears to be used here to emphasize the contrast between the faithless priests and the true King; and also to indicate that this priesthood had given way to another. Comp. ii.

6, 13, notes.

22. When there was no longer personal danger Pilate held to his purpose. The trait corresponds perfectly with his character, and the form of the answer is characteristically Roman, though it is found also in Rabbinic writings.

Hebrew, and In Latin, and In Greek. This

The account which Philo gives of the cha-

peculiar to St John, for the corresponding clause in Luke xxiii. 38 is an interpolation. Such multilingual inscriptions

racter of Pilate ( 4 Leg. ad Caium, § 38), 44 self-willed at once and implacable" (prrA

detail

also

were not uncommon in the Roman provinces.

The

correspondence between the different texts (it may be added) was in all probability not so much verbal as substantial. •The order of the languages, according to

rov avBdbovs dutikucTot), illustrates St John's When the people besought him description. to remove the shields, which he had set up in Herod's palace in honour of the emperor, he was unwilling alike to undo what he had done and to gratify any popular wish. At the

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'Matt. «7.

Or,

tmrougki.

23— 25-

St.

JOHN. XIX.

23 f 'Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat : now the coat was without seam, 1 woven from the top throughout.

They

said

therefore

themselves, Let us not rend

among it,

but

cast lots

therefore the soldiers did.

25 f Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's

cruelty."

w. 23 — 27. seen from

The bystanders.

Departure

two points of view : (a) The sol-

diers : unfeeling selfishness.

The last despoil-

ing (*3> *4)« (J>) The friends: waiting love. The last bequest (25 27).

—

23. Then the soldiers...] The soldiers thereas carrying out in the customary manner the sentence which they had to execute (y. 18). St John describes in minute fore...

what the other Evangelists state summarily (Matt. xxviL $$1 Mark xv. 24; Luke xxiii. 34), «md explains what they say of 44 casting lots." See Matt xxvii. 35, note. his garments... also the coat] The large, loose, outer dress with girdle, &c (ra iparia), and the close-fitting inner tunic or vest ( wroJv). The former could be conveniently divided, but not the latter. four parts] Com p. Acts xii. 4 (quaternion of soldiers). without seam] Such was the tunic of the high-priest, Jos. *Antt' m. 6. 4. Chrysostom, who may write from personal knowledge, thinks that the detail is added to shew 4, the poorness of the Lord's garments, and that in dress, as in all other things, He 11 followed a simple fashion. detail

24. They said therefore among themselves (one to another, xvi. 17)] It is easy to imagine how St John (v. 26) watched earnestly each act, and listened as the soldiers talked over their work. that the scripture ...]

Omit which saith.

The central thought in the original context (Ps. xxii. 18) is that the enemies of the Lord's Anointed treated Him as already dead, and so

disposed of His raiment Part was torn asunSt der, part was to be worn by another. John marks how this double appropriation of Christ's dress

was brought about; and he

appears to have had in mind the contrast which exists in the original between the overclothing (DH») and the body-dress (Bn^>), though this is obscured in the LXX. transla-

whose it shall be might be fulfilled, *

tion

;

it,

which saith, 'They parted my rai- * PsaL aa. ,8 ment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things

Jews should expose to Tiberius his various contumely his indiscriminate and continuous murders; his unceasing and most vexatious

for

that the scripture

same time he was greatly alarmed lest the acts of u corruption, outrage, robbery, insult,

2/5

which he quotes.

Comp. Hofmann,

Weiss, u. Erf.' II. 144 ff. This reference to the psalm, it may be noticed, has been inserted from this place in Matt, xxvii. 35. See note there, my raiment] my garments. The same word is used as in v. 23 (I/idria).

25 ff. There were others at the Cross besides the soldiers. The two groups are placed in significant contrast ( 44 the soldiers on the one hand [of pcV oZv <rr.]" ... 44 on the other there were standing [tlcrrr^Ktiaav bi]" At the very moment when His execu...). tioners fulfil the last part of their office, Christ in calm sovereignty works for others. The soldiers at their will dispose of His raiment, but He Himself, even from the Cross, determines the relationships of life. 25. Now there stood. .]

More exactly, But were standing (iio-nJKua-av, not simply stood. See xviii. 5, note). This group seems to have formed the more courageous part of 44 the many beholding from afar," mentioned by St Matthew (xxvii. ss f., see notes), who therefore notices the three by name, though .

there

he does not record that they approached the Cross.

The text leaves room for doubt as to the number of the women mentioned. According to one interpretation, the name 44 Mary the wife of Clopas" is added as explanatory of the preceding phrase, 44 His mother's sister," so that three women only are specified according to another interpretation, two pairs of women are distinguished, the first two not :

named but signified only, 44 His mother and His mother's sister;" and the second two plainly named, Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene." The former interpretation would involve the most unlikely supposition that two sisters bore the same name. The *4

parallelism of the second interpretation is like St John's style, and is supported by other considerations. St Mark (xv. 40) mentions among those present 44 Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of loses, and Salome" (comp. Matt, xxvii. 56). There is no doubt as to the identity of u Mary the wife of Clopas" and 44 Mary the mother of James the less." It seems natural therefore

to suppose that when two groups of three stand out clearly in the same connexion, in which

NiW Tut—VOL. II.

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St. JOHN.

276 Or, Clopas.

Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son

sister,

two persons are the same, that the third is also and so that "the sister of the Lord's mother" is " Salome," "the mother of the sons of Zebedee." This near connexion of St John with the mother of the Lord helps to explain the incident which follows, as well as the general relation in which St John stood

the same;

XIX.

[v.

—

28.

27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother And from that hour that disciple took her unto his !

own home. 28

f After this, Jesus knowing

that all things were

now accomplish-

27. Behold, thy mother f] Here no title of address is used. To St John the Lord stood The absence in the same relation as before. of a vocative in this clause (Hebr. ii. 11) fixes attention on the used before.

meaning of that which was

The four exclamations in this chapter, the

to the Lord. The omission of the name of Salome, on this supposition, falls in with St John's usage as to his brother and to himself. It may be added that the Peshito (Syriac) version distinctly adopts this view by inserting and before u Mary the wife of Clopas." Mary the wife ofCleopbas (Clopas)] This seems to be the true meaning of the elliptical " Clopas" must phrase (M. ij tov KXuTra). then be regarded as identical with " Alphaeus" (Matt. x. 3). It is commonly supposed that

two of Pilate, Behold, the man I (v. 5), Behold, your King! (v. 14), and these two of the

both forms represent the Aramaic *B?n. The form u Cleophas M (A. V.) comes from late Latin MSS. and has no Greek authority.

sonship.

There is no direct ground for identifying Clopas (KXorras) with Cleopas (KXfo7raf), mentioned in Luke xxiv. 18, and none therefore for supposing that this Mary was either his "mother" or his "wife" or his "daughter." It will be noticed that Mary Magdalene is introduced abruptly, as well known, without

any explanation. 26.

When

Jesus therefore ...]

All

who

were present at the scene acted according to their true

natures:

priests (v.

21),

soldiers

(w. 23, 24), Jews (v. 31); and so Christ office of filial piety. The soldiers treated Him as already dead (v. 24, note), and He still exercised His royal power

fulfilled the last

over the souls of men. whom he loved] See ch. xiii. 23, note. The clause is at once an explanation of what follows, and a word of thanksgiving; of humility, not of pride.

Woman]

Comp. ii. 4, note.

relationships are now at

Special earthly

an end.

For Christ the title of parentage (" Mother") is exchanged If, for the common title of respect (yvuat). as appears most likely, the "brethren" of Christ were sons of Joseph by a former marriage, and St John was the son of the sister of the Lord's mother, the difficulty which has been felt as to the charge which he received in preference to the brethren, who appear among the first believers (Acts i. 14), wholly disapSt John was nearest to the Virgin by pears. Comp. v. 25, note. ties of blood.

Lord, Behold, thy son! Behold, thy mother!

form a remarkable picture of what Christ is and what He reveals men to be. The word " Behold " is in each case an interjection. And from that hour] The words are to be understood literally, but it does not follow that St John's "home" was at Jerusalem (but see note on Mark i. 20). He at once accepted and fulfilled the duties of his new

The

Passion closed finally His individual relation, as man, to His earthly mother. The simple connexion of the word and the deed {and, not therefore) is full of meaning. The act was not so much a consequence drawn from that which the Lord had said as something felt to be included in it. Perhaps St John conveyed the mother of the Lord at once to his own lodging, and himself returned. unto his own home] Comp. xvi. 32, note. St John probably had some substance, Mark crisis

Christ's

("His hour," comp.

xiii.

20, note.

Nothing is known with reasonable certainty of the later life of the mother of the Lord. Epiphanius was evidently unacquainted with any accepted tradition upon the subject (' Haer.' lxxviii. n). He leaves it in doubt whether she accompanied St John to Asia Minor or not. But in the course of time surmises were converted into facts; and Nicaphorus Callisti (f c. 1350, * Hist. Eccles.' 11. 3) relates that she lived with St John at Jerusalem for eleven years after the death of the Lord, and died there in her 59th year. The site of the "Tomb of the Virgin," just to the north of the garden of Gethsemane, is not mentioned by any traveller of the first six centuries, and the later tradition that the church there was built by Helena is certainly false. See Quaresmius, 11. 240 flf.; Williams, Holy City,' 11. 434 ff. From a passage in a Synodical Letter of the Council of Ephesus (a.d. 431, Cone' in. 573, Labbe) it appears 4

according to another tradition, the mother of the Lord accompanied St John to Ephesus and was buried there. that,

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St.

v. 29, 3°.]

* Pal. 69.

e d ? * (hat the scripture

JOHN. XIX.

might be ful-

filled, saith, I thirst.

Now there was set a vessel full

of vinegar: and they filled a spunge

w. 28 —30.

The work accomplished: the

The phrase is not indefinite, as " after these things," see ch. v. 1. The 28.

After this]

ministry of Christ to others was ended. Then But all notice is taken of His own suffering. thought is concentrated upon the Lord Himself,

upon His words and His actions; and it

may be for this reason that St John omits all mention of the three hours' darkness (Matt,

Mark xv. 33). Comp. ch. xiii. 1. were now accomplished] are now finishThe A. V. loses the striking parallel ed. between this clause "are now finished" (fjfin xxvii. 45 ;

knowing]

rcTe'Acorcu) and what follows,

with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is different aspects

which

twilling death.

"It is finished

(jert\§<jrai).

that the scripture might he fulfilled] This clause can be connected either with the words which precede ("were now accomplished that the...") or with the words which follow (" ...accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith..."). The stress which the Evangelist lays upon the fulfilment of prophetic words in each detail of Christ's sufferings appears to shew that the latter interpretation is correct. The "thirst," the keen expression of bodily exhaustion, was specified as part of the agony of the Servant of God (Ps. lxix. 21), and this Messiah endured to the uttermost. The incident loses its full significance unless it be regarded as one element in the foreshadowed course of the Passion. Nor is there any difficulty in the phrase The "are now finished" as preceding it. "thirst" was already felt, and the feeling included the confession of it. The fulfilment of the Scripture (it need scarcely be added) was not the object which the Lord had in view in uttering the word, but there was a necessary correspondence between His acts and the divine foreshadowing of them. be fulfilled] be accomplished, perfect-

ed. The word used (tcAc4»0j}, Vulg. consummaretur, for which some copies substitute the usual word w\tip»0jj) is very remarkable. It appears to mark not the isolated fulfilling of a particular trait in the scriptural picture, but the perfect completion of the whole prophetic image. This utterance of physical suffering was the last thing required that Messiah might be " made perfect "(Hebr.ii. 10, v. 7 ff.), and so the ideal of prophecy "made perfect" in Him. Or, to express the same thought otherwise, that "work" which Christ came to "make perfect" (ch. iv. 34, xvii. 4) was written in Scripture, and by the realisation of the work the Scripture was "perfected." Thus under

277

this

word and of that

implies, prophecy,

work of Christ, and Christ 44 made perfect."

and the earthly Himself, were

The act on this occasion (contrast

29.

Luke xxiii. 36) appears to have been a natural act of compassion, and not at all of mockery.

The emphasis is laid upon the physical suffering of the Lord, and not upon the manner in which it was met. (omit) there was . vessel vinegar] It seems to be certain from Luke xxiii. 36 that the "vinegar" was thin sour wine, the ordinary drink of the soldiers. This may have been brought by them for their own use during the long watch. The mention of the " vessel set " is peculiar to St John. and thy filed ...and put it...] having

Now

. . .

. .

therefore placed a sponge full of the vinegar upon hyssop they pat It ... St John's narrative leaves the persons undetermined. "They" may refer to the soldiers whose action has been described above, or "the Jews," who are in his mind the real agents throughout (v. 16). The account in St Matthew (xxvii. 48, see note) and St Mark (xv. 36), with equal vagueness, refers the action to 4 *one of them that stood by," but since St Luke (xxiii. 36) speaks of "the soldiers" as having offered "vinegar" to the Lord at an earlier stage of His Passion, there can be little doubt that one of these, touched with awe by what had intervened, now brought in compassion the draught which had been offered in mockery before.

hyssop] In St Matthew and St Mark "a reed " is mentioned, which is probably to be distinguished from the hyssop; though the "hyssop" has been frequently identified with the caper-plant, which has stems three or four feet long. Comp. Matt, xxvii. 48, note, and 1 the * Dictionary of the Bible, j. v.

30. ticed,

received] The Lord, it will be noasked for and received this slight re-

freshment, which restored natural forces, while He refused the stupefying potion which was before offered to Him. See Matt, xxvii. He gave up life while in full pos34, note. session of the powers of life. // is finished] life

Comp. v. 18.

had been carried to

its

The earthly Every of

issue.

essential point in the prophetic portraiture

Messiah had

been realized (Acts

xiii.

29).

The last suffering for sin had been endured. The " end " of all had been gained. Nothing was left undone or unborne. The absence of a definite subject forces the reader to call up

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St.

278

JOHN. XIX.

finished and he bowed his head, and gave up the "ghost. 31 The jews therefore, because it :

was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on

(fi)

Comp. Luke xviii. 31, xxii. 37, and the phrase

iv.

See Matt, xxvii.

31, 3*-

the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 32 Then came the soldiers, and

each work which was now brought to an end. of St Paul, a Tini.

[v.

During the darkness

towards the close.

My God, my God, why didst thou forsake

met (Matt, xxvii. 46; Mark xv. 34).

50, note.

At the close of the darkness.

The

(y)

described as a voluntary act (Tertull. ' Apol.' ch. ai, p. 58, "Suffixus spiritum cum verbo sponte dimisit praevento carniAmong later writers who dwell ficis officio "). on this idea, Augustine (in he.) may be speci-

gave up death

the ghost

(His spirit)]

itself is

ally quoted:

"Quis ita dormit quando voluerit,

sicut Jesus mortuus est quando voluit ?

Quis

spirit (Luke xxiii. 46).

The last word of the Lord which St John records is a voice of triumph. Comp. xvi. ^^.

ita vestem ponit quando voluerit, sicut se carne

exuit

quando vult?

Quis

ita

cum voluerit

I thirst (John xix. a8). It is finished (John xix. 30). Father, into thy hands I commend my

w. 3 1 —4a. The two requests shame turned :

to honour.

abit, quomodo ille cum voluit obiit ? Quanta

speranda vel timenda potestas est judicantis, In this sense apparuit tanta morientis?" the words stand in close relation with the phrase of St Paul, He gave up Himself (naGal. ii. ao). pi$o>K€i> iavrovi Eph. v. a, a 5 Comp. 1 Pet. ii. a3, and, under another as-

;

Acts vii. 59. St Luke (xxiii. 46) gives the words which the Lord used (napariOfpai, Ps. xxxi. 5). Such a willing surrender of life was an exact fulfilment of what the Lord had pect,

said of Himself, ch. x. 1 7 f.

Under these cir-

cumstances it may not be fitting to speculate on the physical cause of the Lord's death, but it has been argued that the symptoms agree with a rupture of the heart, such as might be produced by intense mental agony (Stroud, 4 The physical cause of the Death of Christ,' In con1847, '871; see note on v. 34). nexion with St John's language here it may be noticed that in the Apocalypse he seems to avoid the word u died " in speaking of the

Lord: i.

18,

ii.

c. xii. ^^, xi. 51.

8 (ycuiaBai vticpos); yet see

The phrases in the parallel

accounts are different, Matt, xxvii. 50 (atfcrJMv to irvevpa)', and Mark xv. 37; Luke xxiii. 46 (c&'irvfvo'ci').

The " seven words from the Cross," which are preserved some by one Evangelist and some by another, form a whole which requires One is given by St to be studied by itself. Matthew and St Mark only. Three are peculiar to St Luke, and three to St John. The following list presents the order in which they appear to have been uttered. (a) Before the darkness. Father, forgive them ; for they know not 1. what they do (iroiovo-iu), Luke xxiii. 34. Verily I say, To day sbalt thou be with me a. in paradise (Luke xxiii. 43). Woman, behold, thy son! ...Behold, thy 3.

mother I (John xix. a6 f.).

The request of the Jews. The sign of Lord (yv. 31 37).

(a)

—

life in the crucified

31—37. The main thought of this section is that of the Life of the Lord in Death. The sign of life is called out by wanton insult: the

unconscious agency of enemies

effects

the

fulfilment of the divine purpose.

The incidents

are

to St

peculiar

John.

Yet see the early addition to St Matt, xxvii. 49, '* Bat another took a spear and pierced His side, and there came out water and blood."

The Jews therefore ...] The connot with that which immediately precedes, for the Jews did not yet know of Christ's death. But the narrative goes back to follow out the conduct of the chief actors in the tragedy (yv. 7, ao); they had wrought their will, and now they were eager to satisfy the letter of the Law Deut. xxi. aa f. Jos. 31.

nexion

B. J.' iv. 5. a.

Comp. xviii. a8.

Under any circumstances the dead bodies ought to have been removed before night; but this obligation became more urgent on the day of the Crucifixion, since that day preceded a great Festival, u the first day of unleavened bread" (Exod. xii. 16; Lev. xxiii. 7), which, according to the common view, coincided on this occasion with the weekly Sabbath (see Matt, xxvi., note), so that the day was "a great day" in itself, and by the concurrence of two " Sabbaths." besought"] Rather, asked (^pdrrfo-av), as for that which they might reasonably expect to be granted.

legs ...broken]

This

terrible

punishment

(aK(\oKonia, crurifragium) was inflicted (like crucifixion) upon slaves (Sen. * De ira,' in. 3a) and others who had incurred the anger of irresponsible masters (Suet. Aug.' 67 ; * Tib.' 44 Sen. De ira,' in. 18; comp. Euseb. 'H. E.' v. 4

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33—35-]

St.

JOHN. XIX.

brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already,

they brake not his legs :

by the first Christian Constantine (Lipsius, m. 14)-

crucifixion,

emperor

32. Then.. .the soldiers] The soldiers there-

fore,—to whom

the carrying out of the execution had been committed came from their place of guard to fulfil these new in.

the first ...the other ...] starting perhaps from the two sides at which they had been

stationed.

The wantonness of the soldiers' vio-

34.

34 But one of the

w th :

soldiers

a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. 35 And he that saw it bare reand he cord, and his record is true :

It was no part of the punishment of ai). crucifixion itself, but was inflicted in this case, and perhaps generally in Jewish crucifixions (Lact. iv. a 6), in order to hasten Compare Lipsius, 4 De cruce,' 11. 14. deathThe punishment was abolished, together with

structions.

279

lence was in part checked (they brake not bis doubt, legs), but one of them, in order, no to learn the certainty of the Lord's death, pierced His side. The word which describes the

(Wf

v) is used both of a light touch wound <Kcclus. xxii. 19) and of a deep gash (Jos. 4 in. 7. 3 <). Here there is no doubt that B. 1

is described, both from the weapon used (\6yxn, Vulg. lancea, the long lance of a horseman) and from the object of the blow. The word is quite distinct from that used in v. 37 (f£c«fWij<ro* pierced through, or deeply: The reading of the Latin 1 Chro. x. 4). Vulgate, opened (aperuit), comes from a false

the latter

reading of the Greek (tjuoigtv for tvv£ cv). It has been argued (with blood and water] the greatest plausibility and authority by Dr Stroud, 4 The physical cause of the Death of Christ/ ed. 2, 187,1) that this is a natural phenomenon. The immediate cause of death

was (it is said) a rupture of the heart, which was followed by a large effusion of blood into the pericardium. This blood, it is supposed, rapidly separated into its more solid and liquid parts (crassamentum and serum), which flowed forth in a mingled stream, when the pericardium was pierced by the spear from below. But it appears that both this and the -other naturalistic explanations of the sign are not only inadequate but also inconsistent with the There is not sufficient evidence to real facts. shew that such a flow of blood and water as the circumis described would occur under stances supposed, and the separation of the blood into its constituent parts is a process of corruption, and we cannot but believe that even from the moment of death the Body of the Lord underwent the beginnings of that

change which issued in the Resurrection.

The

issuing of the blood and water from His side must therefore be regarded as a sign of life in death. It shewed both His true humanity and (in some mysterious sense) the permanence of

His human life. Though dead, dead in regard to our mortal life, the Lord yet lived ; and as He hung upon the cross He was shewn openly to be the source of a double cleansing and vivifying power, which followed from His

death and life. The Sign by which this revelation was made becomes intelligible from the use of u water" elsewhere in the terms ** blood" and u Blood" is the 1. the writings of St John. symbol of the natural life (comp. i. 13); and so especially of life as sacrificed ; and Christ by dying provided for the communication of 56, xii. the virtue of His human life: vi. 53 u Wa24 ff. Comp. Rev. i. 5, v. 9, vii. 14. 2. ter" is the symbol of the spiritual life (see iv. 14, iii. 5, and vii. 38; [Zech. xiv. 8]); and Christ by dying provided for the outpouring Comp. Rev. xxi. 6, of the Spirit: xvi. 7.

—

The cleansing from sin and the quickening by the Spirit are both consequent on Christ's death. Thus we are brought by this sign of 44 blood and water" to the ideas which underlie the two Sacraments and which are brought home to faith in and through them and the teaching of the third and sixth chapters is

xxii. 1, 17, [vii. 17].

;

placed at once in connexion with the Passion. It is through the death of Christ, and His new Life by Death, that the life of the Spirit and the support of the whole complex fulness of human life is assured to men. The symbols of the Old Covenant (Hebr. ix. 19) found their fulfilment in the New. Comp. 1 John v. 6 ff. Lightfoot quotes a

remarkable tradition from *Shemoth R.' 122 a, based on the interpretation of Ps. lxxviii. 20 (D*D 13W1), that u Moses struck the rock twice, and first it gushed out blood and then water." For a summary of the patristic interpretations of the passage see Additional Note.

35.

See Introduction, pp. xxv. ff.

He that hath seen (6 iopaicas) hath borne witness (juyuaprvpriMv, not c/iaprvpTjacv), and his witness is true: and he knoweth that he saith things that are true that ye also may believe. i.e. it his witness is true (aKrjBn^)"} answers to the full conception of adequate Comp. viii. 16, 14 and notes. testimony. ye] ye also, even as the apostle himself,

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280

St.

JOHN. XIX.

knoweth

that he saith true, that ye might believe. 36 For these things were done, /Exod. «./ that the scripture should be fulfilled, Numb. 9. A bone of him shall not be broken.

37 And again another scripture him whom rzech ia sa ^^> *They shall look on 1they pierced. Psai. 34.

who had had the privilege of witnessing these signs of the truth of the Gospel. believe]

On this absolute use of the word

see i. 7.

36.

For

these things

were done

(rather,

38 V

[v.

36—39-

*And after this Joseph of* Matt. 27-

Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. :

And

there

came

also

Nico-

(b) The request of Joseph of Arimathaa. The quickening of love in disciples (yv. 38 42).

—

—42.

Just as the last section deals with the unconscious ministry of enemies, this deals with the devoted ministry of friends.

The Death of the Lord evoked in disciples that courage which had been latent during the correspondence of the two facts with the His lifetime (secretly, v. 38, by night at the details of type and prophecy. It was wonderFrom this point of sight it is first, v. 39). ful, as the events fell out, that the legs of natural that the ministry of the women should Christ were not broken it was further wonbe passed over (Matt, xxvii. 61; Mark xv. derful, when He had escaped this indignity, that His side was pierced. The first fact 47 ; Luke xxiii. 55 f.) : their continued service revealed no sudden growth of love or selfpointed the student of Scripture to the fulsacrifice. filment in Jesus of the symbolism of the Law All the Evangelists record the request of the second to the fulfilment in Him of the St John alone notices the offering Joseph. promises as to the representative of Jehovah. the presence of Nicodemus (yv. 39 f.). For the two passages quoted are not to be and 38. after this] More exactly, after these regarded only as isolated quotations, but things (jiera ravra) : the phrase marks an also as indicating the two great lines of indefinite, general, sequence and not a direct preparatory teaching to which they severally sequence (^cra tovto, v. 28). Comp. vi. 1, belong. The form of expression is of importnote. the scripture] i.e. the passage of scripture. ance here because it shews that the Evangelist See ii. 22, note. does not (as has been supposed) place the bone...] Exod. xii. 46; (Num. ix. 12). Comp. 1 Cor. v. 7. The ordinance extended request of Joseph after the incident related in to the burnt-offerings (Lev. i. 6, into his pieces). 32 ffM but simply after the issue of the That which was offered to Goid might not be crucifixion comp. Mark xv. 44 f. Matt, xxvii. 57 ff. Joseph of Arimatb*a] arbitrarily mutilated. It was fitting that it (a rich man); Mark xv. 43 f. (an honourable should be brought to Him in its full strength. And conversely God preserves " the righteous" councillor, i.e. a member of the Sanhedrin) Luke xxiii. 50 f. (a good man and just ...). (Acts Hi. 14, &c.), so that u not one of his bones is broken " (Ps. xxxiv. 20), even in his See notes on these passages. uttermost distress. The spiritual correspondforfear of the Jews] xii. 42, vii. 13. St Mark ence of the fact with the phrase in the Psalm adds most significantly, with a clear reference to this fact: Joseph ... went in boldly unto should not be overlooked.

came to pass) ...]

The stress is laid upon

Pilate... literally, having

37.

They shall look ...] Zech. xii. to. See note. Comp. Introduction, p. xiv. " The Jews v are the subject of the whole sentence. The Crucifixion was their act (v. 16); and in unbelief and in belief they represent the world. It is important to notice that the prophetic vision is referred to Christ under a twofold aspect. As presented by the prophet himself, it is the vision of a Saviour late recognised by a penitent people (comp. ch. xii. 32). As applied in the Apocalypse, it is primarily the vision of one slain returning to Judgment Perhaps these two aspects of (Rev. i. jY Christ's death are reconciled in that final Truth which lies at present beyond our sight pierced] v. 34, note.

dared (roAfifj<rai ),

having ventured on an act foreign natural temper (Mark xv. 43, note).

his

besought] v. 31, note. The permission given to Jotake away] seph is in complete harmony with the instructions given to the soldiers (v. 31 f., that they might be taken away). Joseph would be able to prefer his request after the death of the Lord (Mark xv. 44), and before the bodies were removed in the ordinary course. Thus he *' took down v the Lord's Body (Mark xv.

46 ; Luke xxiii. 53), either assisting in or directing the act gave him leave] This was in accordance with Roman law except in extreme cases. See the passage quoted by Wetstein on Matt.

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40—42.]

St.

JOHN. XIX.

281

demus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. 40 Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of

41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden ; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. 42 There laid they Jesus there-

the Jews is to bury.

at hand.

An avaricious governor was able to sell the privilege of burial (Cic. * Verr. 1 v. 45), yet Pilate did not do this (Mark xv. 45, see note it: loc. and contrast c dca/iijcraTo) Matt, xxviii. 14. Compare also the burial of the bodies of John the Baptist (Matt. xiv. 11) and St Stephen ( Acts viii. 2) by their friends. the body of Jesus] According to the best xxvii. 58.

authorities, his body,

39. And there came also ...] The order of the words, corresponding to that in the former clause, seems to suggest the thought that the act of Joseph gave Nicodemus courage to join him. which. ..came to Jesus (to him)] iii. 1 ff., vii. 50. The addition of the words u by night " here (not in vii. 50 according to the true reading) is designed apparently to contrast this open act of reverence to Christ, done before the day had closed, with the secrecy of his first visit. The use of the phrase " at the first " probably implies at the same time that Nicodemus had come to Christ on other occasions ; though it may indicate only the beginning of the Lord's ministry (comp. ch. x. 40). and brought (bringing) a mixture (or, according to a probable reading, a roll) of myrrh and aloes'] Comp. Ps. xlv. 8, *• All thy garments are myrrh and aloes ..." The compound was made of the gum of the myrrh tree (comp. Matt. ii. 11; 4 Dict of Bible,' s. v.) and a powder of the fragrant aloe wood. The amount of the preparation (" about a hundred pound weight," that is, a hundred Roman pounds of nearly twelve ounces) has caused some needless difficulty. The intention of Nicodemus was, without doubt, to cover the Body completely with the mass of aromatics (comp. a Chro. xvi. 14): for this purpose the quantity was not excessive as a costly gift of devotion.

40. Then took they ...] They took therefore ... as uniting in the pious service.

wound (bound) it in linen clothes (cloths)]

The exact word used (SBovta) is found also in Luke xxiv. 1a, a verse which appears to have been a very Gospel.

early

addition

to St

Luke's

The diminutive form which is used

in Greek medical writings for bandages, seems to distinguish these "swathes" in which the Body was bound from * 4 the linen cloth (aivdciv) mentioned by the other Evangelists,

fore because of the

Jews' prepara-

tion day ; for the sepulchre was nigh

which it was "wrapped" (cWrvXtfcy as

contrasted with Mrjaav). the manner of the Jews] as contrasted with that (e.g.) of the Egyptians, who removed parts of the body before embalming (Herod.

The phrase may, however, only the Jewish custom of embalming as contrasted with burning : comp. Tac. * Hist. 1 v. 3to bury] Or more exactly, to prepare for burial. Comp. ch. xii. 7; Matt. xxvi. ia; 11.

86 ff.).

mark

Mark xiv. 8.

The same word (cVraqEudfcty)

the LXX. for the " embalming" of Jacob (Gen. 1. 2 f.J. The process indicated is the simple wrapping of the dead body in swathes of linen cloth covered with thick* layers of the aromatic preparation. is used in

41. a garden] Comp. xviii. 1. The scene of the betrayal and the scene of the triumphant rest answer one to the other. The detail is peculiar to St John. Josephus relates of Uzziah (' Ant.' ix. 10. 1 4, K»jiroif)» and of Manasseh (* Ant. x. 3. a, napaSfiaots), that they were buried in their

"gardens."

a new sepulchre]

St Matthew adds that it

belonged to Joseph (xxvii. 60, see note), and all the Synoptists notice that it was cut in the rock.

The feet that "no one had ever yet

been laid in it " (comp. Luke xxiii. 53) is emphasized (as it appears) to shew that the Lord was not brought into contact with corruption.

42. There . . . because ] The embalmment could not (according to their views) be deferred, and for this ample provision was made. But it is implied that the sepulchre in which the Lord was laid was not chosen as His final . . .

resting-place.

From another point of view most naturally (Acts xiii. 29) of "the Jews and their rulers" generally, that "they placed" Christ in the tomb. It was the act of both, on the one side from the aspect of devotion and on the other from the laid they]

said

aspect of hatred. Jesus] Comp. xi. 11, note. the Jews* preparation day] Comp. ii. 13, xi. 5 Si "the passover of the Jews ;" xix. ai, " the chief priests of the Jews." This use of the term " preparation " is unfavourable to the view that it is used simply for the day of the week (Friday).

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St.

282

JOHN. XIX.

ADDITIONAL NOTES on Chap. xix. Note on St John's reckoning of Hours. St John mentions a definite hour of the day on four occasions: 39, about the tenth hour. about the sixth hour,

(i)

(2 )

iv. 6,

(3) iv. 52, at the seventh hour. (4) xix. 14, about the sixth hour.

He also records this saying of the Lord, " Are there not twelve hours in the day? " (xi. 9). The question therefore arises whether the incidents of which the time is given furnish any clue to the mode of reckoning: whether, that is, the hours were reckoned from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. and from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. according to the common ancient mode followed by the Jews, or from midnight to noon, and from noon to midnight, according to the modern Western mode. The different passages will first be examined separately, in order that

may be seen how

far the context helps to determine the answer.

(1) i. 39. After the mention of the hour, it is said that the disciples abode with Jesus "that

day" (rrjv rjn*pav *KctPijv).

It appears likely

also that Jesus left the Baptist early in the day (i.

3 ? ff.).

It is then scarcely conceivable that

was 4 p.m. (4 a.m. is out of the question) ; before He reached the place 4 * where He abode and even less conceivable that the short space of the day then remaining should be called u that day," which, in fact, appears to have been full of incident. On the other hand, 10 a.m. suits both conditions. It is an hour by which a wayfarer would seek to have ended his journey ; and it would leave pracit

"a day" for intercourse. In this case the hour marks a (2) iv. 6. pause on a journey: the visit of the disciples to a town to purchase provisions ; a coming of a woman to the well to draw water. 1 1 can scarcely be questioned that these three things fell in It is better with 6p.m. than with noon. most unlikely that a woman would come from a distance at midday to the well, and on the other hand, evening was the usual time: Gen. xxiv. 11. It is more natural that the purchases would be made when the day's travel was over. Sychar too was at about the usual distance of a day's journey from within the borders of Judaea, and arrangements would probably be made to spend the night outside the city, which was afterwards enIf the tered by special invitation (iv. 30, 40). incident fell in summer (v. 1, Additional Note) there would be ample time for the conversation and the return to the city. (3) iv. 52. The uncertainty of the site of Cana causes a little difficulty in determining the time required for the journey from Capertically

naum to Cana. This may however be fairly reckoned at about four or five hours. (Comp. Jos. 'Vit' c. 17: a night journey from Cana

to Tiberias.) It is then possible that the father may have planned that his journey to and from Cana should be included in one natural day, and that he did not meet his servants till after 6 p. m., when they would perhaps speak of ip.m. as " yesterday, about the seventh hour" (comp. Luke xxiii. 54) though such a usage of " yesterday" appears to be distinctly at variance with St John's own usage of "day:" xx. ip (comp. Luke xxiv. 29, 33). Still it is more likely that the words of Jesus were spoken to the nobleman at Cana in the evening at seven o'clock, when it was already too late for him to return home that night, and that he returned to Capernaum on the next morning, when his servants met him on the ;

way.

In this case, of course, the sense, and not the phrase of the servants is given. In this place it is admitted (4) xix. 14. that the date of noon cannot be brought into harmony with the dates of St Mark (xv. 25). But if we suppose that the time approximately described was about 6.^0 a.m. it is not difficult to fit in all the events of the trial: see p. 288.

So far then the examination of the passages themselves is decidedly favourable to the supposition that the modern Western reckoning of the hours is followed by St John. The mention of " twelve hours in the day" has no bearing on the decision one way or other; for we commonly use the same phrase though we reckon from midnight to noon. It must however be admitted that this mode of reckoning hours was unusual in ancient times. The Romans (Mart. iv. 8) and Greeks, no less than the Jews, reckoned their hours from sunrise. But the Romans reckoned their civil days from midnight (Aul. Gell. in. 2; comp. Matt, xxvii. 19, "this day,") and not from sunrise, or from sunset (as the Jews). And there are also traces of reckon* mg the hours from midnight in Asia Minor. Polycarp is said ( 4 Mart. Pol/ c. 21) to have been martyred at Smyrna "at the eighth hour." This, from the circumstances, must have been %a.m. Pionius again is said to have been martyred (at Smyrna also) at u the tenth hour," which can hardly have been 4 p.m., since such exhibitions usually took place before noon. These two passages furnish a sufficient presumption that St John, in using what is the modern reckoning, followed a practice of the province in which he was living and for which he was writing. The subject has been discussed at length by DrTownson, * Discourses,* pp. 215 250; and again, quite lately, with great exactness, by Mr McClellan, 4 New Testament,' 1. pp. 7376*.

—

Note on "The Acts of Pilate." The part which Pilate occupies in the history of the Passion attracted the attention of

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St. JOHN. He came Christian writers at an early time. to be regarded by many as the representative of the better instincts of heathendom overpowered by the relentless malice of the Jews. A large and popular literature grew up, conu Acts," 4t Letters" and legends of the sisting of f these writings, the " A cts, death of Pilate. which form the first part of what is known as 44 the Gospel of Nicodemus," are the most imporThe " Acts" were tant and the most ancient. 111 circulation in the middle of the second century ; and the texts still preserved have, as it appears beyond all doubt, been formed, by successive revisions and interpolations, from that original. In its present shape the narrative may probably be referred to a Greek text of the 4th century. Much of it is unquestionably earlier. But even when regarded only as a late and apocryphal commentary on the records of the Gospels, it has great interest. The narrative is found in Greek and Latin copies; and a Coptic fragment also remains as old as the 5th century. All the MSS. give substantially the same outline, though the variations in detail and language are very con-

siderable.

The narrative opens with the formal complaint of a body of Jews, headed by u Annas

and Caiaphas," and including " Gamaliel" and 44 Alexander" (Acts iv. 6), addressed to Pilate. They accuse Jesus of saving that He is <4 Son of God and King," of wishing to abrogate the law, and of violating the sabbath by cures, wrought by evil arts (yont c'<m)t and pray Pilate that He may be brought before him. orders an officer to summon Him. The officer, who had been present at the triumphal entry, spreads a robe before Him to walk on and when Jesus enters the court, the standards bend before Him in the hands of their bearers. The same act of adoration is afterwards repeated when the Jews depute twelve of the strongest of their number to hold the standPilate, in amazement, is about to rise, ards. when the message of his wife (a proselyte, 44 Procula) is brought to him. See," said the Jews, 44 He is, as we told you, an enchanter." On this, Pilate asks Jesus, "What do these witness against Thee? Sayest Thou nothing ? Jesus answered, 44 If they had not had authority (ffoucrca), they would have spoken nothing each one has authority over his own mouth to speak good and bad: they themselves shall 44 What shall we see?" is the resee to it." have seen tliat Thou wast born joinder. 44 of fornication: that Thy Birth brought the slaughter of the infants at Bethlehem: that Thy father and Thy mother fled in fear to Egypt" On this, certain of the Jews attest that the mother of the Lord was duly wedded to Joseph. Then follows St John xviii. 29 37, transcribed almost verbally; but Pilate's 44 Truth," last question is not left unanswered Jesus saith to him, 44 is from heaven." Pilate saith : "Is there not truth on earth ?" Jesus

XIX.

283

How

"Seest thou? are they that speak the truth judged by those that have

saith to Pilate:

the authority upon earth?" The Jews then 44 press the charge of blasphemy. What shall " As it I do to Thee?" Pilate asks of Jesus. was given thee, " is the answer. 4 4 How given ? Jesus saith to him: 44 Moses and the prophets prophesied of my Death and Resurrection." On this, when Pilate charges the Jews to inflict the punishment which is due, they answer, 44 wish Him to be crucified." This demand leads to the most remarkable addition to the Gospel narrative. A number of the disciples, Nicodemus, the paralytic of Bethesda, a blind man, a leper, the woman who had the issue of blood (Veronica), and others, plead for the Saviour who had healed them. Pilate therefore again seeks to set Christ free, but is finally met by the cry, u acknowledge Caesar for our king, not Jesus. The Magi brought gifts to Him as a king, but Herod sought to kill Him." 44 Is this He," he then asks, 44 whom Herod sought?" And when he hears that He is, he washes his hands, places the guilt upon the accusers, and gives his sentence: 44 Thy nation hath proved Thee to

be king, 1 therefore pronounce that Thou be scourged and then crucified in the garden where Thou wast taken and that two malefactors, Dysmas and Gestas, be crucified with Thee." It is needless to pursue the narrative further, or to dwell upon the strange contrast which it offers to the Gospels. The thought of Pilate as the executor of the divine will which runs through it finds its most remarkable expression in an account of his execution by the order of 44 the Emperor." After he had ended a prayer to the Lord for pardon, a voice came ;

from heaven, saying, "All the generations and the families of the Gentiles shall bless thee, because under thee a-ov) were fulfilled all these things that were spoken by the prophets about me and thou too hast to appear as my witness at my second coming, when I shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel and those that confessed not to my name" ( Paraa. Pil»

;

§10).

The texts -of the different copies of the Acts" and other writings are given most completely by Tischendorf in his Evangelia Apocrypha,' 203 ff. Thilo has given an elaborate commentary on the Evangdium Nicodemi in his Codex Apocryphus N. T.' I. 490 ff., and his Prolegomena,' § 8 pp. cxviii. ff., give a *4

very full literary history of the book. Tischendorf has published a slight essay on the relation of the Acts to the Gospels ('Pilati circa Christum judicio'...i855), and the date and composition of the book have been discussed by Lipsius (1871) after other German scholars.

»The Gospel of Nicodemus" was and it was re-

translated into Anglo-Saxon;

peatedly printed in English in the sixteenth century.

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St.

284

JOHN. XIX.

On the Patristic Interpretation of

Eusebius or Cjesar-EA (*Dem. Ev.' x.

xix. 34.

504) treats the passage as a fulfilment of "I am poured out like water," without dwelling further upon it.

The patristic interpretation of ch. xix. 34 offers an instructive example of the method and characteristics of ancient commentators. It will therefore be worth while to quote at some length without further discussion the views of the Greek and Latin fathers upon the passage. The reader will judge how far there is any general consent between the different writers or any clear independence of judgment in dealing with the original text 1.

Greek Fathers:

The earliest writer 1 who distinctly refers to the passage is Claudius Apollinaris (c.

170 A.D.).

Apollinaris speaks of the Lord as Him "who had His holy side pierced ({KiumifaU, John xix. 37), who poured forth from His side the two elements that again purify (ra dvo naktu KaOapvia), water and blood (the order is

changed), word and spirit..." (Routh, 'RehV 1. The introduction of the word u again " 161). appears to connect the water and the blood with the use of water and blood under the old Covenant. As to the deeper meaning of the sign, Apollinaris, according to the most probable view, interprets it of the word of the gospel (Xoyor), and of the sanctification of the spirit (vrwi'/ia), that is of the historic and of the inward testimony. There may be also a further but obscure reference to the human and divine natures of the Lord.

Origen in two places dwells upon the phenomenon as a divine sign. " In the case of all other dead bodies," he writes, u the blood is coagulated, and pure water does not flow from them. But in the case of Jesus the marvel in His dead body was that even in the dead

body there was blood and water poured forth from His sides" ('c. Cels.' 11. c. 36). 44 How great," he writes again, "was His mercy that for our salvation He not only was

made Flesh, but descended even to the dead, and in death itself has the marks of the living. For water and blood came forth from His side" ( Comm. in Thess.' IV. 15, quoted by Jerome Ep. ad Minerv. et Alex.' § 10, if indeed the quotation from Origen extends so far. In a fragment of his commentary on the Galatians [v. 268 ed. Lommatzsch] he treats the 4

sign as a proof of the reality of the Lord's

body). 1

A passage quoted by Clement from a Valen-

tinian writer (*Excc ex Theod.' § 61) must be excepted, in which the issuing of the blood and water is interpreted of the expulsion of the pasIrenaeus alsions from the Body of the Lord.

ludes to the "mixed cup" (v. 1. 3; [iv. 33. 2]), In anobut without any reference to St John. ther early writing, the ' Letter of the Churches of Vienne and Lyons' (Euseb. *H. E.' v. 1), the effusion of water appears to be connected with ch. vii. 38.

8, p.

Ps. xxii. 14,

Cyril of Jerusalem applies the twofold and water

issue to the two baptisms of blood 4

( Cat.' in.

10}

"The Saviour redeeming the

world through the cross, being pierced in His side, brought forth (Jtyyayev) blood and water, in order that some in seasons of peace may be baptized in water, others in seasons of persecution may be baptized in their own blood (i v oIkuois oi/uwriv, the blood of their death)."

Chrysostom ( Hom.' LXXXV. in Joe.) in4

terprets the fact of the two sacraments :

Not

without a purpose (mrX©*) or by chance did those springs come forth, but because the Church consisteth of these two together («£ And those dn<f)OTep<ov rovrav (rvvtarrjKt). that are initiated know it, being regenerate by water (dwryc iwoytfi/ot) and nourished (rp«<£oHence the fiepoi) by the Blood and Flesh. Sacraments (to /zvcm?pta) take their beginning ; in order that when thou drawest near to the awful Cup thou mayest so approach, as drinking from the very Side."

Cyril of Alexandria (ad loc.) thinks that 44 God appointed the fact as an image and firstfruits, so to speak, of the Mystic Blessing

(EvXoyta; see Suicer, s.*v.) and Holy Baptism. For Holy Baptism is really of Christ and from Christ; and the power of the Mystic Blessing springs (dvccbv) for us out of the Holy Flesh."

The recently discovered work of MacaM agnes has an interesting note on the

rius

passage, though the text is unhappily corrupt: 44 One of the soldiers pierced the side... in

order that when blood flowed and water in a gushing stream, by the blood they may be delivered who occupied the place of captivity, and by the water they may be washed who Certainly this hath bear the stripes of sins. been done not without a purpose, but of Providence, as though the divine forethought laid down that it should come to pass for since [from the side came the origin of sin] it was necessary that from the side should flow the source of salvation from the side came the sting (ij irX?ry»i), from the side the spring tne side the malady, from the fr° (i) wfiyi) 1 side the cure... (1. 18). The same thoughts occur in a homily 4 On the Passion (§ 25), falsely attributed to Athanasius (iv. 186 ff., ed. Migne), as also in Apollinarius, Euthymius, Theophylact, and ;

'•

Tertullian, quoted below ; and larly in a quotation from

mais in Cramer's

more particu-

Antiochus of Ptole-

Catena,' ad loc.

A very remarkable note of Apollinarius 5of Laodicea] is given in the Catena' of Cor4

erius upon the passage:

The Lord offered

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St.

JOHN. XIX.

a side for a side: the woman [Eve] was a and the evil which came from here is undone (Xvrrcu) by the Lord's Passion. For from that side proceeded the counsel which brought ruin on man but from the holy side water is poured forth and blood, through which the world is cleansed, as we get ourselves washed of our sins, since the elements which were separated in the Law come together in Him. For there were [under the Law]

II. Latin Fathers: Tertullian regarded the twofold issue as

side,

;

sprinklings of blood

for purification

(trpbs

Kadap<TLi>), and baptisms by water for sanctifi-

cation (npbt ayviauov). Since therefore all things were devised beforehand in regard to Christ, the Body of the Lord furnished both these to the world, sacred blood and holy water, even when it was already dead in human fashion ; for He hath in Himseif great

power of life."

John of Damascus ( 4 De fide/ iv. 9) gives the same interpretation : Christ " caused to flow for us from His holy and undefiled side a fountain of remission: water for re-

generation and washing (inU\v<ns) of sin and corruption ; blood as a drink to furnish life everlasting (narov fw^r aiblov npo-

EUTHYMIUS Zigabenus (ad loc.) gives both the interpretations, that of the two baptisms and of the two sacraments. The latter is given in the words of Chrysostom and may be an interpolation. The former has some '* details of interest The event (he writes) is supernatural, and clearly shews that He who was pierced was more than man. For blood will not proceed from a dead man, though one pierce the body ten thousand times. Further, the Saviour is pierced in the side by a spear because the side of Adam was pierced by sin, that is Eve, healing the wound of (Adam's) side by the wound of (His own) side. And He causes blood and water to issue,

fashioning (icaivovpywv)

typical of the

two baptisms of water and of

blood. 44 Martyrdom," he writes, 44 is another baptism... whence also water and blood, the elements of both washings (utrituque lavacri paratura), flowed from the wound in the Lord's De Pudic.' c. xxii. p. 435). side" At the same time, while he fully developes this application, he appears also to indicate a reference to the Eucharist in the mention of 44 the blood." 44 have also a second washing (lavacrum), itself a distinct one (unum et fosum), namely, that of blood; of which the Lord says, 4 1 have a baptism to be baptized with' (Luke xii. 50), when He had been already baptized. For He had come 4 through water and blood,' as John wrote (1 John v. 6\ to be baptized by water, to be glorified by blood. Hence to make us 4 called by water, 4 chosen ' by blood, He sent forth these two baptisms from the wound of His pierced side; that so those who believed on His blood might be washed with water, and those who had washed with water might also drink His blood. His [baptism of blood] is the baptism which both stands in place of (reprasentai) the baptism of water (lavacrum) when it has not been received, and restores [its blessing] when it has been lost." ( 4 De Bapt.' c. xvi.

203 ; comp. c. ix.) In another place he compares the death of Christ with the sleep of Adam (Gen. ii. 21 ff.), for He so died 4t that from the wound inflicted on His side the Church, the true Mother of the living, might be shaped." ( 4 De An.' c. XL1II. p. 304.)

There is not, as far as I am aware, any reference to the incident in the genuine works of Cyprian. But in the works appended to his writings the water and blood are explained of the two baptisms ( 4 De Singul. Apostt.' p. 39a Rig.), and more generally of the cleansing power of Christ's Passion both initially and through the whole life. ( 4 De Pass. Chr.'

two baptisms,

by blood (of martyrdom), and that by water (of regeneration), and by the stream of that

P- 339)

these He washes away the stream of sin."

Novatian (c. 10) sees in the sign a proof of the reality of Christ's Body.

Theophylact (ad he) gives the interpretation of Chrysostom, adding among other things the reference to Eve, and then connects

the twofold issue with "the mixed chalice:" 44 Let the Armenians," he says, u be ashamed who do not mix water with the wine in the Mysteries. For they do not believe, as it seems, that water also was poured forth from the side, which is the more marvellous, but only blood; and hence they do away with the greater part of the marvel j I mean that the blood is a mark that the Crucified was man, but the water that He was more than man. that He was God." Compare Binterim, 4 Denkwtirdigkeiten,' iv. a, p. ss>, where an opposite interpretation is quoted ; and Anselm, 1 Ep.' cvn.

285

Ambrose starts from the main idea of Origen, and then interprets the sign generally. 44 After death the blood in our bodies coagulates; but from that body still incorrupt though dead the life of all flowed. For water and blood came forth: the former to 1 wash, the latter to redeem" ( 4 in Luc. x.

And again: "Why water? why blood? Water to cleanse: blood to from the side? guilt, thence

Why

redeem. Because whence came the

came the grace.

woman

The guilt was

the grace was through the Lord Jesus Christ " ( 4 De sacram.' v. 1).

through the

Jerome follows Tertullian in referring the

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286

St.

sign to the " two Baptisms. ' 1

JOHN. XIX.

(Ep. lxix. (ad

Hinc cruoris fluxit unda, lympha parte ex

Oceanum) § 6): "The side of Christ is wounded by the spear, and the sacraments of baptism and martyrdom are poured forth

Lympha nempe dat lavacrum, turn corona

together (pariter)"

Rufinus (' Comm.

is asked why it was from the side rather than from any other member that the Lord is said to have caused water and blood to issue, I think that the woman [Eve] is indicated in the side through the rib (Gen. ii. ai, 22). And so because the fountain of sin and death issued from the first woman, who was a rib of the first Adam, the fountain of redemption and life is made to issue from the rib of the second Adam.' 1

Augustine interprets the issue of "the two Sacraments:" " The sleep of the man" (Adam), he writes, " was the death of Christ; tor when He hung lifeless on the Cross, His side was pierced by the spear, and thence flowed forth blood and water, which we know to be the sacraments, by which the Church [the antitype of Eve] is built up (*de Civ. 1 xxii. c. 17). And again (ad loc): u The soldier did not smite or wound, but opened (aperuit, according to the false reading rjpo&p) Christ's side, that in some sense the door of life should be laid open there, whence the Sacraments of the Church flowed, without which there is no entrance to the life which is true life. That blood was poured out for the remission of sins that water tempers the cup of salvation (salutare poculuni) this gives both the laver and the cup (potus)" :

;

Prudentius, with a poet's license, represents the spear-wound as piercing through the from right to

Lapide understands him.

left,

as C. a

From one opening

(the larger) flowed the blood, from the other, the water.

"O novum caede stupenda vulneris miraculuml

ex sanguine est." (< Cath.' ix.

Symb.' § 43) also interprets the sign of the two baptisms with the addition of some new thoughts. ** This," he writes, u has a mystical meaning, for Christ had said that out of his belly shall proceed living waters (vii. 38). But He caused blood to issue also (produxit), which the Jews prayed to come upon themselves and upon their children. Hence He caused water to issue to wash the believing, and blood to condemn the faithless. It may also be understood to represent the two-fold grace of baptism the one which is given by the baptism of water, the other which is sought through martyraom by the shedding of blood for both have the name of baptism. Further, if the question

breast of Christ

altera:

Compare Areval's note.)

85 ff.

"Ipse loci

(sc. cacti) est dominus, laterum cui vulnere utroque, Hinc cruor effusus fluxit et inde latex. Ibitis hinc, ut quisque potest, per vulnera

Christi,

Evectus gladiis alter, et alter aquis." (' Peristeph.' vin. 15 ff.)

"Trajectus per utrumque latus laticem atque

cruorem Christus

sanguis

agit:

victoria,

lympha

lavacrum est." ('Dittoch.' xlh.)

Leo applies the passage to illustrate the doctrine of Christ's Manhood and Deity (Ep. xxviii. 'ad Flav.' § 5). " When the side of the Crucified was opened (apertoS by the soldier's spear, let [the impugner or the true doctrine of Christ's Person] understand whence flowed the blood and the water, that the Church of God might be refreshed (rigaretur) both by the laver and by the cup .... 4 There are three that bear witness, the spirit and the water and the blood, and these three are one:' the spirit, that is, of sanctification, and the blood of redemption, and the water of baptism, which * three' are 4 one' and remain undivided, and nothing in them is separated from its connexion; for the Catholic Church lives and advances in this faith, that neither is the manhood in Christ Jesus believed without His true divinity, nor His divinity without His true humanity." One later comment may be added. Rupert of Deutz ('Comm. in Jon.' xm. pp. 365 f.) explains the sign of the whole virtue of the Lord's Passion transferred to men : " are redeemed by blood : we are washed by water The Lord was baptized in His own Passion, and when already dead by that issue enabled us to share in His saving death ... Therefore not blood only, nor water only, flowed from the Saviour's side ; because the divine order of our salvation requires both. For we were not redeemed for this that He should possess us such as we were before... In order then that there might be that by

. .

which we could be washed from our sins, water, which could only wash bodily impurities, was united to blood, which is the price of our redemption, and from that union obtained virtue and power to be worthy of cooperating with the Holy Spirit to wash away the invisible impurities of sins.'*

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JOHN. XX.

St.

Jesus appeareth to Mary Magdalene, 19 and to his disciples. 34 The incredulity,

CHAPTER XX. I

287

Mary cometh to the sepulchre: 3 so do Peter

and confession of Thomas, 30 The scripture

and John, ignorant of the

is sufficient to salvation.

IV.

The New Life.

resurrection*

(c. xx.)

St John's record of the Resurrection corresponds with his record of the Passion. It is not simply a history, still less an exhaustive history, but a revelation of spiritual Writing in truth through outward facts. the centre of a Christian Church to those who were familiar with the historic groundwork of the Gospel, the Evangelist recounts from his own experience iust those incidents which called out in the disciples the fulness of belief triumphant over personal sorrow, and common fear, and individual doubt Each historical character is also typical: each detail has a permanent lesson. And as related to the whole plan of the Gospel St John's narrative of the Resurrection is the counterpart and complement to his narrative of the Passion. His history of the Passion is the history of the descent of selfishness to apostacy: his history of the Resurrection is the history of the elevation of love into absolute faith. It lavs open a new Life in Christ, 1.

The incidents recorded by more than a. one of the other Evangelists which are omitted by St John are The angers message to the two Marys and Salome (Matt, Mark). The appearance to two disciples, not apostles (Luke, Marx). The last charge and promise (Matt., Mark). Other incidents omitted by St John are 3. recorded by single Evangelists:

St Matthew. The earthquake: the descent of the angel who removes the stone: the panic of the guards. The report of the guards, and the device of the high priests (xxviii. 1 ff). the appearance on the GaliUan mount. (Comp. Mark xvi. 15 ff)

Words at

St Mark. 14).

St Luke.

An appearance to St Peter (xxiv. 34 The

conversation

the

way

;

comp.

Emmaus

(xxiv. 13 ff.; comp. Mark xvi. ia f.). Words at the meeting with the eleven

Compare iiL 15,

and

The

before

the

Ascension (xxiv.

—

— —

also Acts i. 1 12, ii. 24 33$ 30 ff, x. 40 ff, 1 Cor. xv. 5 8. enumeration of the appearances of

of the deepest interest.

(&<f>6n)

w. 5, 6, 7, 8, breaks them up

(a) To above five hundred brethren at once (Galilee).

(3) To James: to "all the apostles" (Jerusalem). (4) To St Paul himself. It will be observed that St Paul says nothing of the appearance to Mary Magdalene. He is silent indeed as to all the events directly connected with the sepulchre. The use of the phrase he was seen (<5<f>3n) in no way limits the appearance to a vision as distinguished from a real personal manifestation of the Risen Christ. (Acts vii. a6.

Comp. Acts xiii. 31.) 4.

The main incidents peculiar to St John

*Ifc gift °f it* power of absolution.

The appearance on the second Lord's day. To these must be added the incidents of ch. xxi.

That however which is most characteristic of St John here, as elsewhere, is the clear revelation of individual traits by the course of the events; St Peter, St John, Mary Magdalene, St Thomas, stand out with a distinct personality in these two last chapters. While there are very great differences 5. in the details of the several Evangelic narratives, there are also remarkable points of

agreement

between them, both as to the general features of the history, and as to its circumstances. All the Evangelists concur in the following main particulars

No description is given of the act of Resurrec-

tion.

The manifestations were made only to believers\ (Contrast the account in the apocryphal 44 Gospel of Nicodemus.") The manifestations were made not only to separate persons, but to companies. They were determined by the Lord's pleasure:

He shewed Himself. They were received with hesitation atfirst.

others (xxiv. 36 ff).

The appearance 44 ft:).

this last passage, is

into four groups, separated (as it may be reasonably concluded) in time and place. (1} To Peter: to the " twelve " (Jerusalem).

Reproaches of the disciples for unbelief (xvi.

Cor. xv. 5).

The introduction of the phrase "he was seen"

are:

and a new life in men.

the Lord " raised on the third day according to the Scriptures," which is given by St Paul

No mere report was accepted. The Revelation issued in a conviction of the presence of the Living Lord with the disciples. There is agreement also as to several characteristic circumstances:

The visit of women to the sepulchre in the early morning was the starting-point of hope.

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St.

288

rV. I, 2.

HP*HE * first */*y of the week com-

and seeth the stone taken away from

eth Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre,

the sepulchre.

*Matta8. /

Mark x6.x.

JOHN. XX.

The removal of the stone first raised questionings.

The revelations of angels preceded the manifestation of the Lord Himself. The Lord revealed Himself to Mary Magdalene first.

It is most difficult to construct with 6. any certainty a consecutive view of the few unconnected incidents which have been pre-

served.

The following table gives a provisional

arrangement of the facts connected with the first Easter-Day. Approximate time.

Just before

6p.m. Saturday,

Mary Magdalene and Mary

the

[mother] of James go to view the sepulchre (Matt, xxviii. i).

After 6p.m. Saturday.

of spices by Mary Mary the [mother] of James and Salome (Mark xvi. i). The purchase

Magdalene,,

Very early The Resurrection, followed by the on Sunday, earthquake, the descent of the angel, the opening of the tomb (Matt, xxviii. 2

5 a.m.

—

4)-

Mary Magdalene, Mary the [mother] of James and Salome, probably with others, start for the sepulchre in the twilight. Mary Magdalene goes before the others, and returns at once to Peter and John

(John xx. i ff.).

5.30 a.m. Her companions reach the sepulchre when the sun had risen (Mark xvi. *)•

A vision of an angel. Message to

Approximate time.

6 p.m. The appearance to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus (Luke xxiv.

13 ff.; Mark xvi. 12). After 4p.m. An appearance to St Peter (Luke xxiv. 34; comp. 1 Cor. xv. 5). Sp.m. The appearance to the eleven and others (Luke xxiv. 36 fF.; Mark xvi. 14 ; John xx. 19 fF.). The main difficulties are due to the extreme compression of St Matthew's narrative, in which there is no clear distinction of points of time. The incidents and the spectators are brought together in a general picture. (Comp. Matt, xxviii. 9, note.) It will strike the careful student that 7. there is a remarkable order in the types of faith in the Lord's Resurrection which St John notices successively. The " beloved disciple" "believes" in consequence of a triple sign, without any manifestation of the Lord

Himself (xx. 8). Mary Magdalene believes, not through sight or even through sound, but through the personal voice of love (xx. 14 The "disciples" believe when they see 16). the Lord's wounds (xx. 20). St Thomas believes when his own test is offered to him (xx. 27 f.). It seems impossible to regard these slowly widening victories of love without feeling the permanent significance of their common lesson. There is however a faith higher than all these which in various degrees depended on outward experience (xx. 29). The main record of St John falls into 8.

Mark xvi. 5 fF.).

four divisions The actual facts. (1) fied (xx. 1 9).

Another party, among whom is Joanna, come a little later, but still

Lord transfigures devotion (yv. 10

the

6 a.m.

Then she runneth, and cometh

disciples

in the early 1 fF.).

(Matt,

xxviii.

5 ff.

morning (Luke xxiv.

Comp. Mark xvi. 1 note.

A vision of u two young men." Words of comfort and instruction (Luke xxiv. 4 fF.). 6.30 a.m. The visit of Peter and John (John xx. 3 A vision of two 10). angels to Mary Magdalene (John About the same time XX. 11 13).

— —

the

company of women carry their

tidings to the apostles

(Luke xxiv.

10 f.). 7 a.m. The Lord reveals Himself to Mary Magdalene (John xx. 14 18;

—

Mark xvi. 9). Not long after He reveals Himself as

appears, to

the

company of

women who are returning to

the

Charge to the brethren to go to Galilee (Matt, xxviii. 9 f.).

sepulchre.

(2)

(3)

— The revelation

The triple sign veripersonal love.

—

The

18).

The revelation to fearful disciples.

The

Lord gives peace and authority to His society (w. 19—23). The revelation to the anxious questioner. (4) The Lord gives conviction by sight and blessing to faith (yv. 24 29). The central thought of the whole is the

—

passage from sight to faith. After the narrative of the Resurrection is completed there follows a brief notice of the scope of the Gospel (vv. 30 f.). 1.

The actual facts. The triple sign verified (yv. 1 9).

—

This section falls into two parts. The evidence of Mary Magdalene (w. 1 f.), the evidence of St Peter and St John (yv. 3—9). Mary attests the first sign, the opened sepulchre; St Peter and St John attest the two other signs, the empty sepulchre, and the

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* 3—5]

St.

JOHN. XX.

^J££* to Simon Peter, and to the * other «<x disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. 3 Peter therefore went forth, and

Comp. Matt, Mark xvi. 1 ff.; Luke xxiv. 10

carefully ordered grave-clothes. xxviii. 1 ff;

—

ia.

CHAP. XX.

The first day of the week]

But on the .... Comp. Matt, xxviii. 1, note. Mary Magdalene] Comp.xix. 25. St Luke alone of the Evangelists mentions her before the history of the Passion, Luke viii. a. when it was yet dark] Mary Magdalene appears to have reached the sepulchre before the other women of her company. Comp. Matt, xxviii. 1 ; Mark xvi. 1, and notes. St Luke combines the varied ministry and testimony of all the women in one notice, xxiii.

SS f-, xxiv. 10. the j tone ...from the sepulchre] Evangelists mention the removal

All the

of "the

The Synoptists speak of " rolling away" (drroKv\i«tu) the stone (comp. Tristram, * Land of Israel,' pp. 396 f., ed. 3). The phrase used by St John is very peculiar, " taken, lifted out of" (qpptvov Ac), as filling up the opening of the sepulchre.

Then

she

runneth ...] She runneth Apparently Mary Magda-

therefore .... lene made no further search.

She hastily (if rightly) concluded that the sepulchre must be

empty from what she saw at a distance. The stone would not have been removed unless with the object of taking away the body. It is clear that she had no vision of angels Defore she returned, and received no message, as those with whom she is associated by St Mark (xvi. 1) and St Matthew (xxviii. 1). cometb to Simon Peter] In spite of his fall,

which was by St Peter was

this still

that other disciple, and

came to the

sepulchre.

4 So they ran both together : and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. 5 And he stooping down, and lookThe repetition of the pronoun ("to Simon Peter...," "to the other ...") suggests some distinction in their place of lodging. The mother of the Lord, it cannot be forgotten, was with St John. They have taken] The rapid boldness of the conclusion is characteristic of a woman's eager nature. The subject is indefinite: it

may be "the Jews" (comp. xix. 4), or it may be "those who provided the temporary resting-place" (xix. 4a, comp. v. 15). the Lord] For her the dead body is still "the Lord." Comp. xix. 4a. For the absolute use of the term see iv. 1, note.

we know not]

By the plural Mary identiwho had started on the

fies herself with those

stone," and St Mark notices this especially as the sight which first attracted the attention of the visitants to the sepulchre, Mark xvi. 4.

289

time probably known, regarded as one of the

natural leaders among the disciples, comp. Luke xxii. 3a. the other disciple, whom Jesus loved] The word here used for loved (ty/Xct, Vulg. amabat) is different from that used in xiii. a3, xxi. 7, ao (rf-ymra, Vulg. diligcbat), and marks a personal affection (comp. xi. 5). At the same time the difference of this phrase ("the other disciple whom ...") from the corresponding

phrase ("that disciple whom ...," xxi. 7) leads to the conclusion that both disciples alike are described here as objects of the same feeling. Simon Peter was one marked by the personal affection of the Lord even as St John was " the other."

visit with her, though in fact she had not waited till they came to the tomb. Compare v. 13, "I know not," in connexion with "my Lord," spoken in her solitude to (apparent)

strangers.

The form of the sentence is singularly

Peter at once takes the lead (" went forth," aorist) ; the other disciple attaches himself, as it were, to his decisive guidance, then both are represented on their way, expressive.

and they went on their way toward (not and came to) the sepulchre. Comp. Matt. xxviii. 1, note. Compare xii. a a for the singular, and iv. 30 for the combination of aor. and imp. See also vi. 17. For the incident " compare Luke xxiv. ia, note, a4. So they ran both together] Literally, But run (?rpfxop), the two together. Mary is naturally forgotten in the description. St John recalls that which was most vividly impressed upon him at the time. Literally, ran on in front did outrun] (npocdpaptp) more quickly than Peter, as the younger man; starting on suddenly (so the tense seems to imply), perhaps when he came in sight of the sepulchre. 4.

they began to

The down, and looking hi] (irapatcvrrru), which is thus paraphrased, occurs in v. 11 and in the parallel passage, Luke xxiv. ia, and again in 1 Pet. i. 1 a James i. 15. The idea which it conveys is that of looking intently with eager desire and effort (literally bending beside) at Comp. that which is partially concealed. stooping

original

word

;

Ecclus. xiv. a3, xxi. a3 ; Song of Sol. ii. 9. saw] teeth. The simple sight here (£AciTft) is distinguished from the intent regard ($€»p9i) of St Peter when he entered the sepulchre; and in this connexion it is significant

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St.

290

JOHN. XX

ing iftj saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. 6 Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes

clothes,

which came first to the se-

pulchre, and he saw, and believed. as yet they

scripture,

his

head, not lying with the linen

from the dead.

Then cometb Simon Peter]

Simon Peter

therefore also cometh, while St John still lingers outside.

went into"] at once without a look or a pause.

and seetb tbe linen clothes lie...] and ho beholdeth tbe linen cloths (ana v. 7) lying.

The abrupt change of tense marks a break in the progress of the thought. The entrance is courageously made: then follows the experience.

The word beboldetb (0fo>pct, see 12,

14) expresses the earnest intent gaze of the apostle as his eye passes from point to point. 7. tbe napkin] Comp. xi. 44. about (upon) bis bead] The absence of the name is noticeable. The mind of the writer is filled with the thought of Christ.

Compare *v. 15. wrapped together in a place by itself] Literally, apart in one place. There were no traces of haste. The deserted tomb bore the marks of perfect calm. The grave-clothes had been carefully removed, which would be a work of time and difficulty, and laid in two separate places. It was clear therefore that the body had not been stolen by enemies; it was scarcely less clear that it had not been taken away by friends.

Then (Therefore) went in also that 8. (the) other...] He no longer shrank from entering the grave which had been now certainly found empty. He went in ... and saw All is gathered in one (ei&c) and believed. sentence without break or change of form (contrast v. 6). He "saw" what St Peter had seen, the clear signs of the removal of the body of the Lord, and 4t believed. The exact interpretation of the word "be1*

lieved"

difficult.

not likely that

means simply " believed that the body had been removed as Mary Magdalene reported." Such a conclusion was rather a matter of natural and immediate inference from what he saw. The use of the word absolutely rather points to the calm patient acceptance of a mystery as yet in part inexplicable with full

Then went in also that other

disciple,

And the napkin, that was about

—

but wrapped together in a

that St John does not see " the napkin/ the small cloth, lying apart. yet went be not in] A natural feeling of awe would arrest one of the character of St John. He had already seen enough to fill his soul with anxious thoughts.

place by itself.

9 For

lie,

[v.

that

knew not the

he must

rise

again

confidence in the divine love. The threefold sign of the stone removed, the empty sepulchre, the grave-clothes leisurely arranged, indicated something still to be more fully shewn, and the apostle waited in trustful expectation for the interpretation. Perhaps the word may have even a fuller sense, and imply that St John believed in some way that the Lord was alive. There is thus a sharp contrast between

"believed" and "knew" (comp. vL 69, note). In such a case there ought to have been no scope for faith the fact should have been one of knowledge. If the apostles had really entered into the meaning of the Scriptures they would have known that the Life, the Resurrection, of Christ was a divine necessity for which death was a condition. But St John, like the other disciples ("they knew not"), had failed to read the lesson of the Old Testament, even by the help of the Lord's teaching. Now he is in some sense separated ;

from them {be believed 9.

For as yet ...]

Mark xvi. 14.

they knew not).

Comp. Luke xxiv. 21;

The belief in the Resurrection

was produced in spite of the most complete unreadiness on the part of the disciples to accept it. So far from being based on a previous interpretation of scripture, the fact itself first illuminated the sense of scripture. Comp. Luke xxiv. 25, 45. The chief priests knew of the Lord's words as to His rising again, and in their fear took measures to counteract them (Matt, xxvii. 63 ff., see note), while the disciples in their love failed to recall the same words for their consolation. This contrast is a revelation of character, and will be recognised as profoundly true, if account be taken of the different conceptions which unbelievers and disciples had of the Person and of the Death and of the Resurrection of Christ.

The reference is probably to the scripture] Ps. xvi. 10. Comp. Acts ii. 24 ff., xiii. $$. The Evangelist speaks of some express testimony (if ypa<f>q, comp. xvii. 12, note), and not of the general contents of scripture (koto Tar ypatfxisi 1 Cor. xv. 3 f.).

must] This divine necessity (6VT) is shewn to run through the last unexpected events of the Lord's earthly life ; Matt. xxvi. 54 Mark viii. 31; Luke ix. 22, xvii. 25, xxii. 37, xxiv. 7, 26, 44, (46); John Hi. 14, xii. 34, note; Acts i. 16. See also ii. 4 (Spa), note.

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10—15.]

St.

JOHN. XX.

10 Then the disciples went away again unto their own home. 11 1F But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,

And seeth two angels in white

one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 And they say unto her, Wositting, the

The revelation to personal love. transfigures devotion (yv. 10

—

The Lord 18).

The details of this section are peculiar to The bare fact is mentioned, Mark

St John.

maniof the Risen Lord was granted to the patient watching of love. In this sense, Prov. viii. 17 found fulfilment. The late tradition (Sedul. 4 Carm. Pasch.' v. 361 ff.) It is significant that the first

xvi. 9.

festation

which represents the Lord as appearing to His mother rests on no authority.

first

291

man, why weepest thou ? She saith unto them, Because they have taken my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. 14 And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it

away

was Jesus. 15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, weepest thou ? whom seekest thou ? She, supposing him to be the

why

which is inserted in v. 15, marks the pause during which Mary regarded those before her without speaking. Mary repeats, with two significant variations, the words which she had addressed to the apostles (a/, a). It is easy to understand

how they were repeated in her heart again and again as the sum of all her thoughts but she now says My Lord (not the Lord), and J know (not we know); the relation and the ;

loss are, in

regarded as personal,

this case,

The familiar boldness of

and not as general.

Then the disciples went away ..J) The nothing more could be learnt upon the spot. The angels which had been seen by the women did not appear to the apostles. Such manifestations necessarily follow the laws of a spiritual economy. Comp. u. ia.

the words, spoken without special excitement or alarm, shews how the whole soul of the speaker was absorbed in one object The extreme simplicity of the narrative, it may be added, reflects something of the solemn majesty of the scene. The sentences follow without any connecting particles till

But Mary] whose return, has not been 11. noticed, remained when the apostles went away : stronger affection riveted to the

v. 19.

10.

disciples therefore..., as feeling that

spot one of a weaker nature" (Aug.). Yet she did not venture to enter the sepulchre, even after the apostles had done so. She continued standing (cionJKft) at the sepulchre without, i. 35, note. and (so) as she wept, she stooped down, and looked...] just as St John had done: v. 5.

And seeth... the one (one) at the bead,

12.

and

other (one) at the feet] like the cherubim on the mercy-seat, between which the •* Lord of hosts dwelt," Exod. xxv. a a the

a S. vl a ; Ps. lxxx.

z S. iv. 4 ;

beholdeth.

xcix.

two angels']

Both

Comp. v. 10, note.

This is

the only place where angels are mentioned in the narrative of the Evangelist Comp. 15 a, xii. 39 (v. 4 is an early interpolation). Matt xxviii. 3 ; Mark xvi. 5 in white] Acts i. 10. The same elliptical phrase is used

Rev.

iii.

parallels,

Comp.

Matt

Rev. Hi. 5, 18,

iv.

xvii.

vi.

and

11,

vii.

9, 13, xix. 14.

13.

they say unto her]

*m) which

inserted

The pronoun (Atcthere, like

the

When (omit And) she bad thus said, 14. she turned...] as unwilling to continue a conversation which promised no help. The vision

of angels makes no impression upon her. can imagine also that she became conscious of another Presence, as we often feel the approach of a visitor without distinctly seeing or hearing him. It may be too that the angels looking towards the Lord shewed some sign of His coming. and saw...] and beholdeth... Comp. w. 6, 1 a.

knew not]

She was pre-occupied with her see that only which we have the inward power of seeing. Till Mary was placed in something of spiritual harmony with the Lord she could not recognise Him.

own reflections.

here and in v. 14 the word (6<a>p<X) suggests the idea of a silent contemplation for a time. seeth]

(Comp. c. xv.)

name

Comp. Luke xxiv. 16; Matt xxviii. 17; ch. xxi. 4.

15. The first words of the Lord, His first recorded words after the Resurrection, are a repetition of the angel's words, but with an important addition. He partly interprets the Whom grief of the mourner oy asking, seekest thou? She has lost some one (not something ; i. 38). the gardener] and therefore a friend, Matt, xxvii. 60; ch. xix. 41 f. The conjecture

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St.

292

JOHN. XX.

gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take

him away. 16 Jesus saith

unto her, Mary,

was natural, both from the place and from the time. if thou (emphatic ; "if thou and not our enemies,") have (hast) born/ Him.. .Him... Him] Mary makes no answer to the inquiry. Her neart is so full of the Person to whom it referred that she assumes that He is known to her questioner : 4 4 palam omnibus esse credit, quod a suo corde nee ad momentum recedere potest" (Bern. 4 In Cant.' vn. 8). The trait is one of those direct reflections of life which mark St John's Gospel. and /...] Love makes her strength appear to be sufficient.

We must suppose a short pause,

16.

during which

Mary resumes her former posi-

tion, and receiving no answer, becomes lost in

While she is thus lost Jesus her grief again. " calleth her by name," Mary (Mapuifi) and in that direct personal address awakens the true self (Luke viii. a ; Mark xvi. 9). What the word of common interest (woman) could not do, the word of individual sympathy does ;

at once (comp. ch. x. 3).

She turned] once again (as v. 14), but this time with a clear answer of reverent recognition,

and saith unto trim, In Hebrew, Rab(Teacher). Yet the title, while

boni, Master

reveals her devotion, reveals also the imperfection of her faith (contrast v. a 8). it

In Hebrew] The words must be added to the text The exact term in the original text ('EflpcuoTi) is found only in St John's Gospel and in the Apocalypse. The notice of

Greek readers seems to mark what was the language of the most intimate intercourse of the Lord and His dis-

this detail for

clearly

Comp. Acts xxii. 1, xxvi. 14. Rabboni (Babbnnl)] The word occurs also in Mark x. 51. It is strictly "my Master," but, as in Rabbi, the pronominal affix ceased to have any very distinct force. Here only is the term " Master" applied to the Lord after the Resurrection. The exact term (^3"3, or ^3"3) is used as a title of respect in the Targums (Gen. xxiii. 15). The interpretation 44 Master " (didacncoX*), which is added by the Evangelist, fixes the meaning, and excludes the higher sense of 44 the divine Lord " (])!") ciples.

HDTV), which has been sometimes given to it, as if it expressed a recognition of the Lord's higher Nature. The preservation of the form is one of

those little touches which stamp the Evangelist as a Jew of Palestine (Delitzsch, Ztschr. f. hither. Theol.' 1878, s. 7). It is said that the form preserved in the original

[v. 16, 17.

She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni ; which is to say, Master. 17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended which has ben lost in the Vulgate and A. V. (Rabboni), m " Galitean " (Bottcher, 'Lehrb.' § 64): if this be so, the

text (Ra&buni),

trait is more significant

17. Touch me not; for lam...'] The words imply, what a few copies here state by an interpolated clause, that Mary started up and ran to Christ, perhaps to clasp His feet

(comp. Matt,

xxviii. 9), and the exact form aitrov) implies further that she was already clinging to Him when spoke. (urj

Thus

she expressed in word and act the strength and the failure of her love, which the Lord disciplined and raised by His answer. The reason by which the Lord checked this expression of devotion can be differently apprehended. The 44 for" may refer (1) to the whole sentence which follows (I am not...your God), or (1) only to the first clause (/ am not... Father). In the first case the imminent, though not realised, Ascension of the Lord would be regarded as forbidding the old forms of earthly intercourse. In the second case the Ascension would be presented as the beginning and condition of a new union. The latter seems to be unquestionably the true view, and falls in with the moral circumstances of the incident. Mary substituted a knowledge of the humanity of Christ for a knowledge of His whole Person: 44 Quod vides hoc solum me 1 esse putas : noli me tangere " (Aug. * In Jon. xxvi. 3). She thought that she could now enjoy His restored Presence as she then apprehended it. She assumed that the return to the old life exhausted the extent of her Masters victory over death. Therefore in His reply Christ said : " Do not cjing to me, as if in that which fells under the senses you can know me as I am ; for there is yet something beyond the outward restoration to earth which must be realised, before that fellowship towards which you reach can be established as abiding. J am not yet ascended to

the Father.

When that last triumph is

accomplished, then you will be able to enjoy the communion which is as yet impossible (* Sic tangitur ab iis a quibus bene tangitur, ascendens ad Patrem, manens cum Patre, aequalis Patri.' Aug. /. c). Meanwhile, this is the reward of thy love, that thou shalt bear the message of the coming and more glorious change to those to whom thou didst bear the tidings of what seemed to be thy loss and 7 theirs." Comp. Bern. 4 Serm. in Cant. xxxiii. The spiritual temper of Mary will be 9 f. seen to be the exact opposite of that of

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St.

v. i8, 19.]

JOHN. XX.

to my Father but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father j and to my God, and your God. 18 Mary Magdalene came and told :

Thomas. She is satisfied with the earthly form which she recognises. Thomas, having thought that the restoration of the earthly life was impossible, rises from the recognition of the earthly form to the fullest acknowledgment of the divine: v. a 8. Touch"] The idea appears to be that of "holding," in the desire to retain, and not " of touching " with a view to ascertain the corporeal reality of the Presence. Under the Lord invited the "handle" His Person; Luke ***v 39» v *7 comp. 1 John i. 1. my Father] The most ancient authorities omit the pronoun, reading the Father. The

circumstances

other

disciples

general first,

conception

Fatherhood

the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her. 19 1F 'Then the same day at 'Mark 16. ** evening, being the first day or the " the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" is not unfrequent: Rom. xv. 6; a Cor. i. 3, xi. 31 ; Eph. i. 3. Comp. 1 Cor.

title

XV. %4.

18. came and told] cometh and telleth. The exact form of expression is remarkable

" cometh telling" (&);tcrai...dyycX\ov<ra), and not " having come (or coming) telleth." The emphasis is thrown on Mary's immediate For this purpose departure on her mission. she was ready to leave the Lord at once. In the best authorities her words are partly She... telleth, direct and partly oblique: I have seen the Lord; and how that be Bald these things unto her.

given

and this is afterwards defined and dis-

tinguished.

but go to

(Matt

my brethren...']

xxviii.

brethren); / ascend...] Not " I shall ascend," but " I In one sense the change symbolized by the visible Ascension was being wrought for the apostles during the forty days, as they gradually became familiarised with the phenomena of Christ's higher Life. The message which Mary was charged to bear was one of promise as well as of fulfilment. Christ did not say " I have risen again," as though the disciples could as yet understand the meaning of the words, but 4i I ascend." The end was not to be grasped yet The Resurrection was a beginning as well as a fulfilment unto my Father\ and your Father] He who is the Father is Father of Christ and Father of men in different ways; of Christ by nature, of men by grace. And just as tne Lord separated Himself from men while He affirmed His true Humanity by taking to Himself the title of "the Son of Man," so here, while He affirms the true divine sonship of believers, He separates their sonship

am ascending."

from His own.

The revelation to fearful disciples. The Lord gives peace and authority to His society (w.

The new title

10) follows from the use of the words "the Father." Spiritual relationships now take the place of natural relationships. Comp. xix. a 6, note ; Matt. xii. 48 f. The title occurs very significantly in the record of the first action of the Christian society: Acts L* 15 (in the midst of the

viii.

293

Comp. Hebr. ii. n; Rom.

The details of this section are peculiar to

—

John the closed doors, the fear of the Jews, the absence of St Thomas, the mission, the promise ; but the fact of the appearance to the assembled disciples on the evening of the first Easter day is recorded by St Luke, xxiv. 36, and St Mark, xvi. 14 (avaxctucVocf)' The clauses in St Luke which correspond most closely with St John (Luke xxiv. 36 b, 40) appear to have been very early [apostolic] additions to his original text St

19.

When therefore It wai evening on that day, the first day... The form of expression is singularly full and

emphatic.

When therefore...] The appearance to Mary Magdalene was (so to speak) necesby an appearance to the Church. The several revelations to individuals

sarily supplemented

(Luke xxiv. 31, 34) prepared the way for this manifestation to the body and gave occasion ;

It could for the gathering of the disciples. not but be that the tidings, which must have been spread through the company of believers, should cause many to come together, and perhaps to the "upper room" where the

Comp. Acts i. 13. on that day] that memorable day, the birthday of Christian life. Comp. i. 39 (40), Last Supper was held.

v. 9> xi - S3, (xiv. ao, xvi. a 3 ,

xxi. 3 ;

19.

Then the same day at evening, being

the first day...]

Mark iv. 3$'

a6), xix. a 7 , 31,

The phrase corresponds

my God, and your God] In His perfect humanity Christ speaks of the Father as His

with that year; xi. 49, note.

God: Matt xxvii. 46.

The hour was evidently late, about 8 p.m. Time mast be allowed for the return of the disciples from Emmaus, who were not likely U 2

Comp. Rev. iii. a, ia

(not ii. 7). In the epistles of St Paul the compound

evening]

Comp. Luke xxiv.

Digitized by

49, 33, 36.

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St.

294

JOHN. XX.

week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 20 And when he had so said, he shewed »nto them bis hands and his to leave Jerusalem till after the evening prayer

(Acts Hi. 1).

Comp. v. a 6.

<wbcn the doors were shut]

The clause can only have been added to mark the miraculousness of the Lord's appearance. He came not in any ordinary, natural way (comp. Luke xxiv. 31). It is vain to speculate as to the manner in which He came. All that is set before us is that He was not bound by the present conditions of material existence which we observe.

The Evangelist,

must be added, simply states the facts. He does not, as some later commentators, represent the Lord as coming through the closed doors, or entering in any definite manner. where the disciples were (omit assembled)} " the eleven and they that were with them " in the words of St Luke (xxiv. $3). Though St Thomas was absent, the apostles as a body

(" the eleven ") were assembled. for fear of the Jews'] Comp. vii. 13. This clause explains the careful closing of the room. Rumours of the Resurrection had been spread,

and it was as yet uncertain what policy the popular leaders would adopt Peace be unto you] This was the ordinary salutation (comp. Luke x. 5), which is still in use, but here it was employed with a peculiar force. The disciples were troubled, alarmed, fearful (comp. Luke xxiv. 37), and the Risen Lord by His Presence announced confidence and victory. Compare Gen. xliii. 33 and ch. xiv. 27, the last words spoken (and perhaps spoken in the same room) before the Lord 44 went out " to His Passion. 20. when be bad so said (said this), be shewed unto tbem bis bands and his side] Literally, according to the most ancient text, both His bands and His side unto tbem. There is a solemn pathos in the full form of description.

Luke

notices

"His hands

and His feet " (xxiv. 40).

St John had specially recorded the piercing of the side, and hence he naturally recalled that wound. Then were the disciples] The disciples

therefore were glad... At first "they believed not for joy " (Luke xxiv. 41) but the joy of kindled hope became only fuller when it was changed into the joy of conviction when they saw (idovrcr, comp. xvi. 16) the Lord and knew beyond all doubt (10) that it was He Himself. ;

;

the Lord] v. a.

21.

Then said Jesus (Jesus therefore

side.

fv.

20—23.

Then were the disciples glad,

when they saw the Lord. 21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you as my Father hath :

sent me, even so send I you.

22 And when he had said he breathed on themy and

this,

saith

aid) to tbem again...] The necessary preparation was now completed. When doubt was overcome the new work was announced. The first "Peace" was the restoration of personal confidence : the second " Peace" was the preparation for work. Both however are equally extended to all present. as my Father (the Father) bath sent me...] The mission of Christ is here regarded not in the point of its historical fulfilment (sent), but in the permanence of its effects (bath sent). The form of the fulfilment of Christ's mission was now to be changed, but the mission itself was still

continued and

still

effective.

The apostles were commissioned to carry on Christ's work, and not to begin a new one. Their office was an application of His office according to the needs of men. See Additional

Note.

22.

Comp. Gen. ii. 7 The same image which was used

breathed on tbem]

(LXX.).

to describe the communication of the natural life, is here used to express* the communication of the new, spiritual, life of re-created

humanity. The "breath" (m*vpa)

an emblem of

8 ; and by " breathing," as Augustine observes, the Lord shewed that the

the Spirit,

iii.

Spirit was not the Spirit

of the Father only

but also His own.

The act is described as one (t¥€<f>varjat) The gift was once for all,

and not repeated.

not to individuals but to the abiding body. on tbem... unto tbem] There is nothing to It appears limit the pronoun to " the ten." from Luke xxiv. 33, that there was a general gathering of the believers in Jerusalem (those with tbem: in v. 14 "the twelve" are evidently distinguished from "the disciples"). There is a Jewish legend that when Moses laid his hand on Joshua, God said, "In this world only individuals possess the gift of prophecy, but in 'the world to come' (the Messianic age) all Israelites shall be seers: 4 Joel iii. 1" ( Midrash Tanchuma,' 65 c,

quoted by Wunsche). Receive] Literally, TaAefrafrrt). The choice of word seems to mark the personal action of man in this reception. He is not wholly passive even in relation to the divine gift. The same word is used of "life" (x. 17 f.)

and "words" (xii. 48). The phrase recurs Acts viii. 15, 17, 19, (x. 47, ik. to it. to i), xix. a.

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St.

v- *3-]

unto them, Receive

JOHN. XX.

ye the Holy Ghost j Tir 'Matt 18. 23 * Whose soever sins ye remit, 18. ,

Holy Ghost (comp. vii. 30), even the power of the new life proceeding from the Person of the Risen Christ The presence of this new life of humanity in the disciples communicated to them by Christ was the necessary condition for the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The Spirit which the Lord imparted to them was His Spirit, or, as it may be expressed, the Holy Spirit as dwelling in Him. By this He first quickened them, and then sent, according to His promise, the Paraclete to be with them, and to supply all power for the exercise of their different functions. The relation of the Paschal to the Pentecostal gift is

therefore

the

relation

of quickening to

The one answers to the power of

the Resurrection, and the other to the power of the Ascension (Godet) ; the one to victory and the other to sovereignty. The characteristic effect of the Pentecostal gift was shewn in the exercise of supremacy potentially universal. The characteristic effect of the Paschal gift was shewn in the new faith by which the disciples were gathered into a living society (comp. Luke xxiv. 45). All those interpretations of the words which limit them to a particular gift, as of working miracles, or of knowledge, or the like, fall completely short of the meaning which points to an endowment not occasional but perpetual. To regard the words and act as a promise only and a symbol of the future gift is wholly arbitrary and unnatural.

23.

they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins Jye retain,7 they are '

...

the Holy Ghost] Or rather, in order to express the absence of the article, a gift of the

endowing.

295

The pronouns in this case are unThe main thought which the

emphatic.

words convey is that of the reality of the power of absolution from sin granted to the Church, and not of the particular organization through which the power is administered. There is nothing in the context, as has been seen, to shew that the gift was confined to any particular group (as the apostles) among the whole company present. The commission therefore must be regarded properly as the commission of the Christian society and not as that of the Christian ministry. (Comp. Matt. v. 13, 14.) The great mystery of the world, absolutely insoluble by thought, is that of sin; the mission of Christ was to bring salvation from sin, and the work of His Church is to apply to all that which He has gained. Christ risen was Himself the sign of the completed overthrow of death, the end of sin, and the impartment of His Life necessarily carried with it the fruit of His conquest Thus the promise is in one sense an interpre-

retained.

The gift of the Holy Spirit application in the communication or withholding of the powers of the new tation of the gift. finds

its

Life.

The promise, as being made not to one but to the society, carries with it of necessity, though this is not distinctly expressed, the character of perpetuity; the society never dies (comp. v. ai). In this respect the promise differs essentially from that to St Peter (Matt. xvi. 18 f., see note), which was distinctly personal. And the scope of the promise differs from that formerly given to the

society

(Matt

18 f.,

xviii.

see

note),

which concerns the enactment of ordinances and not the administration of that which is purely spiritual. At the same time this promise carries that forward to a higher region. As that promise gave the power of laying down the terms of fellowship, so this gives a living and abiding power to declare the fact and the conditions of forgiveness. The conditions, as interpreted

by the apostolic prac-

tice, no less than by the circumstances

case,

of the

to character (comp. Luke xxiv. gift, and the refusal of the gift,

refer

The 47). are regarded in relation to classes and not in relation tg individuals. The use of the plural appears in some degree to indicate this (av TLva>pf avTois) ; and still more the necessity of giving to " retain " an application corresponding to that of " remit.' It is impossible to contemplate an absolute individual exercise of ; the power of " retaining " so far it is contrary to the scope of the passage to seek in it a direct authority for the absolute individual exercise of the "remitting." At the same time the exercise of the power must be placed in the closest connexion with the faculty of spiritual discernment consequent upon the gift of the Holy Spirit Comp. 1 John ii. 18 ff. remit'] This is the only place in St John's Gospel where the word occurs in this con-

nexion. Comp. 1 John i. 9, ii. ia. The use is frequent in the Synoptists. remitted. .retained] The use of the perfect in these two words (a^lwirat, according to the most probable reading, and KtKpctrqvrai) expresses the absolute efficacy of the power. No interval separates the act from the issue. There is perfect harmony, perfect coincidence, between the divine voice through the society and the divine will. retain] hold fast, so that they may not pass away from him to whom they attach. The word {Kpartlv) is used several times in the .

Apocalypse of "holding

fast

doctrine" and

the like (ii. 13 ff., 25, iii. 11).

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St.

296

JOHN. XX.

24 ^ But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with

them when Jesus came. 25

The other disciples therefore

unto him, have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the hails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. said

The revelation to the anxious questioner. The Lord gives conviction by sight and blessing to faith (vv. 24 29).

—

This section is entirely peculiar to St John.

Comp. xi. 16, note. Comp. vi. 67, note. twos not with them] The cause of the absence of St Thomas is not expressed or hinted Thomas]

24.

the twelve]

at It is easy to imagine that one of his temperament (see xi. 16) would prefer to wait in solitude for some light upon the mystery of the Passion. 25. The other disciples therefore...] The assurance of joy was of necessity conveyed to him who had not received it; and it was given in its completest form, We have seen the Lord, where the absence of a pronoun in the original throws the stress upon the verb. The reply of St Thomas reveals how he had dwelt upon the terrible details of the Passion. The wounds of the Lord are for him still gaping, as he had seen them. He must be able to reconcile that reality of death with life before he can believe. Just as before (xi. 16) he sets the most extreme case before himself and will face that. It is further to be remarked that the Lord had offered the test of touch to the disciples on the former occasion (Luke xxiv. 39, 40). It is likely therefore that St Thomas shaped his words according to what they had told him (v. 20, hands, side). The correspondence is full of interest print...print]

The reading place for print

(toitov for rvnop) in the second instance is nothing more than an early and natural mis-

The

same word is and the A. V. has obliterated another example of the same use by substituting, here and in v. 27, thrust thy band for put (Jia\(o) thy hand in the second clause. J twill not believe] The emphatic denial (pv pJ) TrioTfvo-tt, comp. vi. 37) corresponds with the temper which hopes at once and fears intensely. "Thou fool (Raca)," is a Jewish saying, " if thou hadst not seen thou wouldest not have believed: thou art a mocker" ('Baba Bathra,' 75 a, quoted by Wtlnsche). take.

repetition of the

significant;

26.

after eight

days ...]

During

this

[v.

24—27-

26 4T And after eight days again were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in his disciples

the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands ; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side and be :

not faithless, but believing. interval, as far as appears, the disciples

were

to ponder over and take into their hearts the facts of Easter Day. No fresh manifestations seem to have been made to them. At length therefore they were free, as the Festival and the Sabbath were over, to go to Galilee. Yet it was natural for them to look for some fresh token of hope on the first weekly return of the day of the Resurrection. Nothing is said of the time of their gathering. It may have been in the evening (i.e. the beginning of the Jewish day), when they were preparing for their departure from Jerusalem on the morrow. However this may have been Thomas, in spite of his unsatisfied misgivings, had not left their company. He shewed faith in act if not in thought On the other hand the ten had not excluded him, though unconvinced, from their society. again ... witbin ...] The words imply that the gathering was held in the same place and under the same circumstances as before. left

Yet it is perhaps not without meaning that the words u for fear of the Jews " (y. 19) are not repeated. The power of the new life had freed them from this, though their doors were

The phrase "his disciples" (v. 19

closed.

when the Lord's name has not preceded, will be noticed. Comp. xix. "the

disciples"),

4, note.

then came Jesus]

The original unconnected

phrase is far more solemn :

27.

Then saith be ...]

Jesus cometh.

By recalling St

Thomas' own words the Lord shews that He was present at the very time when St Thomas was questioning His Resurrection. behold] see (T8c, v. 25). One look was enough. be not ...] Rather, "become not" Belief and unbelief both grow. St Thomas "was" u was on the way to be," faithless. not, but he

And yet further the tense of the verb yivov) marks the process as continually going on. The transformation is regarded as present and not as a future result The exact correspondence of the two words "faithless," "believing," in the original (oirt-

irioTof) cannot be adequately rendered ? in -English: "unbelieving" ... "believing," <rro*

and "faithless" ... "faithful," both fell short of the idea.

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28—31.]

St.

JOHN. XX,

28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. :

'chap. ax.

30 f ' And many other signs truly 28.

Everything combines to shew that St

Thomas did not employ

the test which he had himself proposed (e.g. bast seen, not bast The presence of the Lord enabled him felt). to reel at once tfoat what he had unconsciously desired was something more than could be assured to him by mere sensible testing. recognised the Lord, but that was not alL So far the criterion which he imagined might have brought conviction. But he knew also that his Lord was more than man. Having set before himself distinctly the extent of his hope he was better able than others to perceive how the revelation of the Lord went beyond it. In his example it is seen that faith, is not measured bv sight, while it is the interpretation of actual phenomena.

And (omit) Thomas. My Lord and my God~\ The words are beyond question addressed to

did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are

31 But these are written, that ye

might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; and that believing ye might have life through his name. was risen, because He was indeed with them. Report, like sight, is the occasion, and not the final stay of faith.

Thomas, because ...] Omit Thomas. There is a power and clearness in the confession which rests on thought and vision, but the Lord shews a happier triumph. The first clause of His reply is half interrogative, half exclamatory (comp. xvi. 31). Then follows the great promise for all ages, based on the experience of the first week of the proclamation of the good tidings: Blessed are they that saw not and jet believed, believed not simply from the word of others but from actual experience, which told them that Christ

The change of tense in the

Items) evidently marks the statement as realised already in the Christian society. There must have been many disciples who had only heard of the appearances on Easter Day, and of these some at least had believed. Their " happiness " (jiatdpioi, comp. Matt. v. 3 ff.) lay in the fact that at once they were in sympathy participle

(rrtiriortvieas ...

with the facts of the unseen order. This last and greatest of the Beatitudes is the peculiar heritage of the later Church.

Comp. 1 Pet. i. 6 ff. The close and purpose of the record (w. 30, 31).

30.

The particle of connexion in this verse

is difficult to

di ...).

express (n<A\a y*v ovu ... ravra

The Evangelist seems to say, looking

back upon the representative events which he had related, crowned by the events of the Resurrection: "So then (ovv), as naturally might be expected by any reader who has followed the course of my narrative, many other signs did Jesus ... but out of the whole sum these are written ..." (For the construction see Mark xvi. 19 f.; Luke iii. 18 f.; Acts yiii. 4 f, t and often; the p«V answers to Ac in 01.31, and the oZv marks the transition.) The " signs" referred to cannot be limited to those of the Risen Christ, though these illuminated and interpreted the remainder. The clause " in the presence of His disciples," however, belongs primarily to these, inasmuch as they were confined to the experience of believers. The statement is of primary importance in connexion with the scope of the Gospel. It was not St John's purpose to write a " Life" of the Lord. His work was a Gospel and not a biography.

see God in Him.

29.

not written in this

book

. .

Christ (saitb unto him), and cannot but be understood as a confession of belief as to His Person (com p. 'Syn. CEc* v. Can. 12, De tribus capitulis) expressed in the form of an impassioned address. The discipline of selfquestioning, followed by the revelation of tender compassion and divine knowledge, enabled St Thomas to rise to the loftiest view of the Lord given in the Gospels. His sublime, instantaneous confession, won from doubt, closes historically the progress of faith which St John traces. At first (ch. i. 1) the Evangelist declared his own faith: at the end he shews that this faith was gained in the actual intercourse of the disciples with Christ The record of this confession therefore forms the appropriate close to his narrative; and the words which follow shew that the Lord accepted the declaration of His Divinity as the He never speaks of true expression of faith. Himself directly as God (comp. v. 18), but the aim of His revelation was to lead men to

297

31.

that ye

might,..ye

through'] that ye may.. j<r

might have

life

may have life In...

The object of the Gospel is described under two main aspects, intellectual and moral. was designed to produce a two-fold conviction, and through this the enjoyment of its

a life-giving faith: these things are written may believe, that Jesus perfect man is the Christ, the fulfiller of the hopes and promises of Israel (comp. Matt. L 16), and also the Son of God (comp. Luke iii. 43, 38), the fulfiller of the destiny of mankind; and then, in virtue of this belief, in order that readers

—

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St.

298

JOHN. XX.

held as a present power, may have t^fe in His name, that is, in fellowship with Him as revealed in the fulness of His double nature. This declaration of the purpose of the Gospel corresponds most closely with the Apostle's declaration of the purpose of his Epistle,

In both cases a historic mesi John L 3, 4. sage is made the spring of the highest blessing

of " life," of divine " fellowship."

have

Comp.

life]

John

13.

The

general relation between the Christology of the Gospel and of the first Epistle of St John is of the highest interest and significance. In the Gospel the Evangelist shews step by step that the historic Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God (opposed to mere " flesh ") in the Epistle he re-affirms that the Christ, the Son of God, was true man (opposed to mere "spirit:" 1 John iv. 2). The correspondences and differences are equally striking.

ADDITIONAL NOTE on Chap. xx. 21. In this verse the tenses of the verbs (anioroXicf [not dirl<rrtiX«] and n*pn*a) (I.), and the difference of the verbs themselves (cmo-

orcXXa

—

ircViroi),

require to be noticed (II.).

The mission of Christ is sometimes (1)

contemplated in the one specific fact of the Incarnation (dnVoTciXr aor.) ; sometimes (a) it is contemplated in its abiding issues (dirc'crraX*c, per/.). A study of the passages in which the two forms are severally used will bring out their exact meaning. In the following passages the aorist used; iii. 17, 34, viii. 42 (in combination with the perfect cXi/Xutfa), x. 36, xi. 42, xvii. 3, 8 (with cfj/Xtfov), 18 (with wcarciXa of the disciples), 21, 23, 25. In these passages there is no variation of reading. In the following passages dWorfiAc is unquestionably the true reading, though the variant dirc'<rraX*c occurs in some early authorities: v. 38 (with TTiorcvfrc), vi. 29 (with tva irtar€VffTf)j vi. 5 7 (with flfi), vii. 29 (with tlyX) ; 1.

(twrc'crruXe) is

John iv. 10.

In all these cases it will be found that the exact force of the teaching lies in the actual feet of Christ's mission.

The perfect (dirloTaX/cc) is far more

occurs without any variation in 14 (with rtBta^Oa and fiaprv It is also unquestionably the true poZfi€v). reading in v. 36, xx. 21 ; 1 John iv. 9, though the variant dirforciXc is found in these pasrare. 1

John

iv.

The use of the perfect elsewhere is suffishew that it preserves its proper sense, and describes a mission which

ciently frequent to

continues in

its

present effects.

Comp. ch.

v. 33, Luke iv. 18 ; Acts vii. $5 (read dWotoXkcv <rvw £«p0» **• x 7» x - ao » xv a 7> xv** 36 ; 2 Cor. xu. 17 (in connexion with cVXco-

Wrnjcra, owatrloTCiXa). The combined use of the aorist and perfect in 1

John iv. 9 ff. is singularly instructive.

II.

The contrast between the verbs (diro-

7rc/iiro>) in the two clauses is obviously significant. Both verbs are used of the mission of the Son, and of the mission of believers, but with distinct meanings. The

oWAAtt,

former

(droorAX*) corresponds with the

idea of our own words " despatch " and " envoy," and conveys the accessory notions of a special commission, and so far of a delegated authority in the person sent The simple verb frl/iira marks nothing more than the immediate relation of the sender to the sent. The passages in which diroaWXXa is used by St John of the Mission of the Son have been already quoted It is used of the mission of the disciples iv. 38, xviL 18. Comp. Matt. x. 5, 16, xxi. 34, 36, xxiiL 37 ;

Mark vi. 7

;

Luke ix.

xxii. 35.

The force of the word is illustrated by the other passages in which it is found: L 6, 19, 24, "i.

28, v.

s^ vii. 32, xi. 3.

These

passages help to bring out the meaning of the phrase in xviii. 24, by which it is implied that the Lord was " despatched" to Caiaphas as already bearing His condemnation, and stamped with the mark of Annas. The usage of ntuira in St John as applied to the Mission of the Son is distinguished grammatically from that of dnwrcXXfl*.

'ATooWAXtt is always* used in finite tenses, and irc'fMTtt is always used in the participial form (e.g. 6 iriy^as /m, o war^p 6 irdfiyUtu), though o dn-oorctXaff is found elsewhere: Matt. x. 40 ; Mark ix. 37 ; Luke ix. 48, x. 16. U4fiir» is used of disciples here and in ch. xiii. 20. It is also used of the Spirit, xiv. 26, xvi. 7.

The two words appear in close connexion, 19, 22, 24, iv. 34, 38 (a contrast to this passage), v. 36, 37, 38, vi. 29, 38, 44, 57, vij. In chapters xii. xvi. ncpjra .only is 28, 29. i.

—

used; in ch. also in Ep. 1.

xvii.

only awooriXkv, and so

The general result of the examination of these facts seems to be that in this charge the Lord presents His own Mission as the one abiding Mission of the Father; this He fulfils through His church. His disciples receive no new commission, but carry out His. Comp. Matt, xxviii. 20 ; Hebr. iii. 1. They are not (in this respect) His envoys, but in a secondary degree envoys of the Father. Comp. Their work too 2 Cor. v. 20; Col. i. 24. begins with the reception of the new life (7 am sending, not I will send. Compare I ascend).

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JOHN. XXI.

St.

».J

A FTER these things Jesus shewed

CHAPTER XXI.

/\ himself again to the was

Christ appearing again to his disciples known of them by the great draught of fishes, 12 He dineth with them: 15 earnestly commandeth Peter to feed his lambs and sheep : 18 foretelleth him of his death : 22 rebuketh his curiosity touching John, 25 The

conclusion.

Epilogue, ch. xxL This chapter is evidently an appendix to the Gospel, which is completed by ch. xx. It is impossible to

suppose that it was the

original design of the Evangelist to add the incidents of ch. xxi. after ch. xx. 30 f. f which

verses form a solemn close to his record of the

great history of the conflict of faith and unbeAnd the general scope of the contents of this chapter is distinct from the development of the plan which is declared to be completed in ch. xx. The manifestation of the Lord which is given in detail in it is not designed to create faith in the fact of His Resurrection, but to illustrate His action in the Society; He guides and supports and assigns their parts to His disciples. On the other hand it is equally clear that xxi. 1 13 was written by the author of the Gospel The style and the general character of the language alike lead to this conclusion ; and there is no evidence to shew that the Gospel was published before the appendix was added to it. The reason of the addition is probably to be found in the circulation of the saying of the Lord as to St John (xxi. 23). The clear exposition of this saying carried with it naturally a recital of the circumstances under which it was spoken. The contents of the chapter are peculiar to St John. The narrative falls into two main divisions: lief in the life of Christ

—

The Lord and the body of disciples. Their work His gift (xxi. 1 14V II. The Lord and individual disciples. His I.

—

determination of their work (xxi. 15

—

23).

The two last verses (24, 25) contain an identification of the writer of the Gospel, and a renewed testimony (comp. xx. 30) to the infinite multiplicity of Christ's works.

The Lord and the body of dis-

ciples (1

—

14).

This section falls into two

parts:

The work of the disciples first wrought of their own pleasure (1 3), and then in L

—

obedience to the Lord's directions (4 11). ii. The Lord's gift of sustenance (12 14).

—

The Work of the Disciples (1— n). 1. After these things] Comp.

CHAP. XXI.

Such an indefinite mark of time is not unsuitable to the character of this narrative as an appendix to the original plan of the Gospel

v. 1, vi. 1.

299 disciples at

the sea of Tiberias ; and on this wise

shewed he himself, 2 There were togethei Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, shewed himself] Rather, manifested himThe same word (0avfpoo>) is used of the appearances of the Lord after the Resurrection in the conclusion of St Mark's Gospel, xvL 12, 14. The active form, which occurs in this verse only (contrast v. 14), marks the appearance as depending on the Lord's will. He was so pleased to reveal Himself. Comp. ii. This special manifestation of 11, vii. 4. the Risen Christ is part of the whole "maniself.

festation" through the Incarnation (ch. i. 31

John i. 2, Hi. 5, 8 comp. 1 Tim. iii. 16 Pet. i. 20) which is consummated at the Return (1 John ii. 28, iii. 2 comp. Col. iii. 4; 1 Pet v. 4). 1

;

again]

The word does not exclude the

idea of other intervening manifestations, but places the narrative which follows as parallel with the former narratives in being a manifestation to u the disciples" (xx. 19, 24 f.\ that is, in all probability, the apostles, the

though " the twelve " were not all assembled on this occasion, but at most "seven" only. See note on v. 2.

disciples in the narrower sense,

at the sea of Tiberias] Comp. vi. 1. This name does not occur elsewhere in the Gospels.

The return of the disciples to Galilee is indicated in Matt xxviii. 7 Mark xvi. 7. Be;

fore the Ascension they came again to Jerusalem and continued there till after Pentecost

(Acts i. 4}. The words in Luke xxiv. 44 ff. appear to be a summary of teaching at different times during the forty days. It is important to observe that St John takes account of both groups of appearances of the Risen Lord. St Matthew only notices the appearance to " the eleven " in Galilee, and St Luke only appearances at Jerusalem. and on this wise shewed he himself] More exactly, and ht

manifested himself on this

The repetition of a prominent word of St John's style. The is characteristic wise.

Evangelist states the fact first, and then, as it after a pause, goes back to recall the Comp. xiii. 1 ff. details of it

were

There were together] The enumeration 2. which follows seems to shew that all present belonged to the same neighbourhood. Thomas] In Acts i. 13, Thomas is joined with Philip, so that he may have been of Bethsaida (i. 44). Nathanael] See i. 45.

The addition "of Cana" throws light upon the connexion of

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St. JOHN.

300 and the

sons

of Zebedee, and two

other of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him,

We also go with thee.

They went and entered into a ship immediately ; and that night they caught forth,

nothing.

4 But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. :

ff.

and ii.

i fF., where

the detail is not

given. the sons

of Zebedet]

Matt. xx. ao, xxvi.

The record of the first chapter suggests that these two may have been Andrew (i. 41) and Philip (i. 43 ff.). Yet it is more probable that these two were "disciples " in the wider sense, and that St John places himself and his brother last among the apostles. Under any circumstances the position of " the sons of Zebedee" in the enumeration is not that which any other writer than St John would have given to them. Simon Peter] Even here St Peter takes 3. the lead in action. The disciples seem to have continued their ordinary work, waiting calmly for the sign which should determine their future. Comp. Luke xxii. 36 ; a Thess. iii. 8

Acts xviii. 3.

We also go]

Literally, come.

They went forth] from the house, probably at Capernaum or Bethsaida, in which they

were now staying. a ship (the ship)]

Omit immediately. Comp. vi. 17 ff. In the first place where the word occurs (vi. 17) there is no article according to the true reading. Here "the ship" is mentioned as part of the ordinary equipment for the fisher's work. It may be naturally supposed that when St Peter ** left all" (Luke v. 11) those who retained possession of his property respected his right when

he reclaimed

it.

must be omitted. In that night]

The word " immediately "

The

pronoun (iv *k*Lvji rj v.) perhaps implies that the want of success was unusual with them. The night was the most favourable time for fishing. emphatic

Comp. Luke v. 5. 4. when the morning was now come] The true reading (ytvofxdvnt for ytvoyAv^t) gives the more vivid picture: when the day wai breaking. The exact time is significant for the interpretation of the incident stood... on...] Came, as the phrase implies (ftroi cfc), from some unknown quarter, and stood on the beach (ofytaAor). See Acts

{y-s^-j*

5 Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat ? They l Jj%

answered him, No. 6 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. 7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter

Matt. xiii. a, 48. Comp. xx. Interpreters at all times have pointed

xxvii. 39 f., xxi. 5 ;

19, a 6.

37, xxvii. 56. two other]

now

XXI.

to the significant contrast in the positions of the Lord and the disciples, He on the firm ground, they on the restless waters. but (rather howbelt)...£/zf<u; not...] The clause is added as something strange (pAroc, iv. a 7, xii. 42). It is vain to give any simply natural explanation of the failure of the disciples to recognise Christ. After the Resurrection He was known as He pleased, and not necessarily at once (ch. xx. 14 ff. ; Luke xxiv. Yet it is easy to understand that the 31). disciples were preoccupied with their work, as Mary Magdalene with her sorrow (xx. 14, an exact parallel), so that the vision of the divine was obscured.

Then Jesus (Jesus therefore)...] as bring them to a knowledge of Himself. The words might be taken as the question of one who wished to buy what they 5.

desiring to

had. Children] The original word (naibia) marks the difference of age or position, and not the tie of relationship (rc*vca, ch. xiii. ^3)- Comp. 1 John ii. 13, 18 (rraibia) with 1 John ii. 1, ia (true reading rc^ia), a8, iii. 7, 18, iv. Here it is probably no more than 4, v. ai). a familiar address. The form of the question in the original (jiyri) suggests a negative answer. See iv. a9«

meat] Probably something to eat with bread (npoa<frayiov, which answers to the Attic oyfrov). This was commonly fish, so that the synonymous word (o>\rapiov) came to be used for fish (ch. vi. 9 f.). 6. on the right side] The definiteness of the command (contrast Luke v. 4) explains the readiness with which it was obeyed. to draw i/J up into the boat (Afft/cnu), as contrasted with the "dragging" (avpfw) it after the boat. In the end it was " drawn n

up to the land (v. 11).

Wilson speaks of the

fish in the lake as being seen u in dense masses" 4

(

Recovery of Jerusalem,

p. 341).

7. Therefore that disciple...] He was able to read in a moment by a certain sympathy with Christ the meaning of the sign. In this

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8— II.]

JOHN. XXI.

St.

was the Lord, he girt

to land, thev saw a fire of coals there,

him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into

and fish laid thereon, and bread. 10 Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now

heard that bis

coat

fisher's

unto

the sea.

And the

other disciples

in a little ship; (for they

came

were not were two

from land$ but as it hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes. 9 As soon then as they were come far

power of insight Christ's love to him was illustrated, so that the title becomes, as a thanksgiving. See ch. xiii. 23.

were,

Now when Simon Peter beard...] Simon Peter therefore having beard... The revelation came to him from without, and no longer from within (Matt. xvi. 17), but he at once acted upon it. He could not wait for the slow progress of the boat, but with swift resolve "cast himself into the sea" (contrast Matt xiv. 28 ff.), having first " girt his coat See LXX. (fVcydvrnff, an upper garment. 1 S. xviii. 4, "robe;" a S. xiii. 18; the word was adopted in later Hebrew for the 44 frock " of labourers) about him," with instinctive reverence for the presence of his Master. While engaged in his work he was "naked," that is, probably, stripped of all but under-garment (comp. 1 S. xix. 24 Amos ii. 16), though at present the

his light

Isai. xx. 2 ;

word applies literally to Galilaean fishermen

who have no boats, occupy a different position from the apostles but these poor men,

(Tristram, 4 Land of Israel/ pp. 425 ff. ed. 3). 8.

in a little ship] in

the boat (to trAoi-

The change of word may point to the

apiow).

use of some smaller vessel which was attached to the " ship," as the words are distinguished in vi. 22 ; or it may be a more exact description of the vessel. for they...] The clause explains how they could easily do what is described, and soon gain the shore. The distance was about a

hundred yards.

As soon then as ...tbey saw...'] 80 9. when... tbey see... They hasten to meet the Lord before they have secured their prize Tbe fire of coals, i.e. of charcoal {dpQpaiciaj xviii. 18), the fisb (ctyap»ov), and the bread (loaf, cJpror), are spoken of in such Ov. 10).

way as to suggest the thought that they The Lord supernaturally. provides as He will, through human labour

were provided «

301

naturally, or otherwise. fisb...bread...]

Compare v.

13,

Rather, a fieh...a loaf... tbe fisb... tbe

loaf...

The

thought of unity seems to be distinctly presented (1 Cor. x. 17). 10.

The command was probably given in

caught. 11 Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.

order to mark the gifts of the Lord as gifts to be used. Perhaps the use of oybapiov (fish as food) here as contrasted with IxBvt (fish generally) in the next verse emphasizes the idea.

Simon Peter therefore went up] 11. Peter at once again first in action enters the vessel to which the net was fastened, and then draws it up after him on to the land.

—

an hundred and fifty and three] Jerome quotes an opinion that there were so many kinds of fish, and adds that one of each kind was taken to shew the universality of the work 1 For of the apostles ( 4 In Ezech. xlvii. 9). other interpretations see Additional Note. The record of the exact number probably marks nothing more than the care with which the disciples reckoned their wonderful draught. The significant differences between the circumstances of the miraculous draught of fishes at the beginning of the Lord's ministry (Luke v. 1 ff.), and of this after the Resurrection, have frequently been noted. Augustine draws them out very well. The one miracle, he says, was the symbol of the Church at present, the other of the Church perfected ; in the one we have good and bad, in the other good only ; there Christ also is on the water, here He is on the land ; there the draught is left in the boats, here it is landed on the beach; there the nets are let down as it might be, here in a special part there the nets are rending, here they are not broken; there the boats are on the point of sinking with their load, here they are not laden ; there the fish are not numbered, here the number is exactly given (*In Joh.' cxxii. It seems impossible not to acknowledge 7). that there is a spiritual meaning in these variations of the two narratives which consistently converge to distinct ends. ii. The Lord's Gift (12—14). The completion of the apostles work, hallowed now by the offering of first-fruits, is 1

followed by the bestowal of the Lord's blessAs He had made their labour fruitful, ing. so now He gives them of His Own. The absence of connecting particles in the true 12 f. gives a peculiar solemnity to text of

the description.

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St.

302

JOHN. XXI.

12 Jsfus saith unto them, Come And none of the disciples durst as'< him, Who art thou ? knowing that it was the Lord. 13 Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish like-

and dins.

wise.

12. o-arc).

dine]

Rather,

breakfast

tigation as unfitting.

Jesus then...']

As the

Omit then.

disciples hang back " Jesus cometh," and gives Je

to them of "the bread" and u the fish" which He had Himself provided. The articles in the original (top aprov, to o^rapiov) point back to Nothing is said either as to the use of v. 9. the fish caught (i>. 10) or of the Lord Himself sharing the meal. He appears only as the Giver of the food which He brings, and this fact probably explains the absence of the customary "blessings" or "thanksgiving" (vi. 11;

Luke xxiv. 30). This is now ...] 2 Pet. iii. 1. Comp. 14. v. 1. The " third " time most probably refers to manifestations to "the disciples" in a body. St John himself relates three appearances before this, the first being to Mary Magdalene, xx. 11 ff. Perhaps the form of expression (this is now \r\hr\\ ...) may be chosen with a view to distinguish this appearance, which was not preserved in the popular tradition, from the later appearances which were preserved in it It is possible also that " the third time" may describe "groups" or " days " of appearances ; the appearances on the first day being reckoned as one appearance; but the exact interpretation or the words seems to be more natural.

11.

The Lord and Individual Disciples (15—43). This section also falls into two parts i.

ii.

The work of St Peter to act (15—19). The work of St John to wait (ao 23). :

This

12—15.

now the third

time

that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that

he was risen from

the dead.

15 11 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more

(apiary-

The *purrnp was the morning meal, as

contrasted with the afternoon meal (ddirvor). Comp. Luke xiv. 12. In St Matthew xxii. 4 ff., the guests invited to u the breakfast refuse the invitation and go away to their day's work. The Lord seems to have been still standing at some little distance when He gave the invitation. The disciples held back in awe. They " knew that it was the Lord;" and still it is evident that He was in some way changed. And none ... ask] Omit And. The original word for ask (c£erdoat) describes precise and careful inquiry and examination, Matt. ii. 8, x. 1 1. There is a conviction of reality which (in a sense) precludes certain forms of inves-

13.

[v.

The contents are peculiar to St John, The work of St Peter. The apostolic charge (15-^17); the personal issue (18, 19).

So <wben tbey bad dined (breakAfter the common meal the fasted)...] personal charge followed naturally. saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas (John, and so irv. 16, 17; see i. 41, note)] The contrast of the names is significant. The address of the Lord, thrice repeated, recalls the first words addressed to St Peter (i. 41), when he received the surname Cephas (Peter). At the same time it must be observed tnat the Lord never addresses St Peter by his new surname ; nor does St Paul speak of him by the Greek form of it (Peter) according to the true text, but only as Cephas. On the other hand, the surname is commonly used either alone or with Simon in the narrative of the Gospels, and always in the Greek form. This varying usage, which exactly corresponds with the circumstances under which the title was substituted for the original name, is a striking indication of the exactness of the records, and specially of the exactness of the record of the Lord's words (Matt. xvi. 17, xvii. 35 ; Mark 15.

37; Luke xxii. 31; comp. Acts x. 5 ff.). son of Jonas (John)] The mention of St Peter's natural descent here (comp. i. 4a ; Matt, xvi. 17) appears to direct attention in the first place to the man in the fulness of his natural character, as distinguished from the apostle. lowest tbou me more than these f] i.e. more than these, thy fellow-disciples, love me. The reference is probably to St Peter's words (ch. xiii. 37; Matt. xxvi. 33), in which he had claimed for himself the possession of supreme devotion (comp. xv. 11 ff.). In the record of St Matthew (I.e.) this profession is placed in immediate connexion with the Lord's promise of an appearance in Galilee after His Resurrection, which gives peculiar force to the question. It is unnatural to suppose that " these " is neuter, and that the Lord refers to the instruments or fruits of the fisher's craft. lovest (dyanys, Vulg. diUgis)] It will be noticed that the foundation of the apostolic Love office is laid in love and not in belief. (dyeftn;) in its true form includes Faith (comp.

xiv.

Cor. xiii. 13). Tea, Lord...] St Peter in his answer affirms his personal attachment to the Lord, appealing to the Lord's own knowledge; but bis 1

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x6— 18.]

St.

JOHN. XXI.

than these ? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord ; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. 16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me ? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord ; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed

my sheep. profession differs in

two important

points

from the question proposed. He does not assume any superiority over others (more than these) and he lays claim only to the feeling of natural love (<£iAo> <rc, Vulg. onto te), of which he could be sure. He does not venture :

to say that he has attained to that higher love (ayanqv) which was to be the spring of the Christian life (ch. xiii. 34, xiv. 15, 31, a 8, &c). Moreover now he says nothing of the future, nothing of the manifestation of his love (xiii. 37). Comp. Bernard, 4 Serm. de div.'

xxix. fin. Experience had thou (emphatic) knowest] taught St Peter to distrust his own judgment of himself. Even when the fact is one of immediate consciousness he rests his assertion on the Lord's direct insight In response to the sincere Feed my Iambi] confession the Lord imposes a charge which shews that he accepts the apostle's answer. The privilege and the work of love are identical The image is now changed. The fisher's work Those is followed by the shepherd's work. who are brought together and taken out of 44 the many waters " need to be fed and tended. This office of the shepherd with which St Peter is entrusted is regarded under three different aspects. The first portrayed here is the simplest and humblest. The little ones in Christ's flock need support, which they cannot obtain of themselves ; this the apostle is charged to give them. Feed] The original word (fioo-tuw), which occurs again in v. 17, is found elsewhere in the New Testament only of swine {Matt viii. 30, 33; Mark v. n, 14; Luke viii. 3a, 34, xv. 15). As distinguished from the word which follows (v. 16, irot/iati'fu') it expresses the providing with food.

303

17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me ? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest

thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things ; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed mv sheep. 18 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, care and rule to be exercised over the maturer Christians calls for greater skill and tenderness than the feeding of the young and simple. Feed] Tend (irot/wuvc), Acts xx. 18 1

Pet. v. % ; Matt.

ii.

Comp. Rev. ii. 17,

Jude ia. The Vulgate does not distinguish feed and tend (pasce, pasce). &c.

;

17.

lovest thou (</>iA*tf, Vulg.

amas) me]

When the Lord puts the question the third time," He adopts the word which St Peter 44

had used.

Just as the idea of comparison

was given up before, so now the idea of the loftiest love is given up. It is as if the Lord would test the truth of the feeling which St Peter claimed. The three questions could not but recall the three denials ; and the form of this last question could not but vividly bring back the thought of the failure of personal devotion at the moment of trial. So Peter was grieved not only that the question was put again, but that this third time the phrase was changed that the question was not only put once again, but at the same time put so as to raise a doubt whether he could indeed rightly claim that modified love which he had professed. His 44 grief" lay in the deep sense that such a doubt might well be suggested by the past, even if it were at the time ungrounded. Men might reasonably distrust his profession of sincerity after his fall, but he appealed to the Lord (Thou (av) knowest...). The answer of St Peter meets the points in the changed question. He leaves out the affirmation (Tea, Lord) of his former reply and throws himself wholly on the Lord, upon His absolute knowledge, and upon His special knowledge. Lord, Thou knowest (otbas)

moment Thou seest I love Thee. The knowledge to which he appeals is not only that of divine intuition, out of immediate observation. Comp. ii. 15, note. The Vulgate again fails to distinguish the two words. In reply the Lord completed His commission, Feed (Boo-Ki) my sheep. The mature no less than tie young Christians require their appropriate sustenance. Provision must be made for their support as well as for their all things,

and

at this

(yivoa<TK€is) that

A short pause, as we must suppose, 16. followed; and then the question was repeated a second time, but so that the thought of comparison is omitted Simon, son of John, lovest (Ayanqs) thou met St Peter's answer* He still is identically the same as before. shrinks from taking to himself the loftier word. In reply the Lord lays upon him a new part of the shepherd's duty: Tend be shepherd of—my sheep. The lambs require to be fed the sheep require to be guided. The watchful :

—

guidance. And this is the last and difficult part of the pastor's office.

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St.

304

JOHN. XXI.

[v. 19.

When thou wast young, thou girdcdst

and another shall gird thee, and carry

and walkedst whither thou but when thou shalt be wouldest old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands,

thee whither thou wouldest not.

thyself,

19 This spake he, what death he should

by Goo.

signifying glorify

my lambs... my sheep,. .my sheep...] It will be noticed that the Lord retains His own right to those who are committed to the apostle's care. Comp. 1 Pet. v. 2 f. Augustine paraphrases admirably: "Si me diligis, non te pascere cogita, sed oves meas sicut meas

different. The Evangelist throws himself back to the time when the death of St Peter was as yet future. As martyrdom was a " glorifying God," so conversely the martyr himself was said to be "glorified" by his death.

non sicut tuas; gloriam meam in eis quaere, non tuam, dominium meum non tuum..." (' In Joh.' cxxm. 5).

£a(ttp.

pasce,

18.

The threefold apostolic charge resting

on the assurance of personal love was given.

The revelation of the personal issues of that love followed. There was a most true sense in which the bold declaration of the apostle (xiii. 37) was destined to find a literal fulfilment : Verily, verily, I say to thee The Risen Christ uses once Verily, verily] more His familiar formula. When thou wast young (ytdrtpot, Vulg. The earlier outward junior, lit. younger)] freedom of St Peter in his youth is contrasted with his final complete outward bondage. At the moment he stood between the two states. Perhaps the thought of a congrowth of spiritual freedom underlies the image. cwhen thou shalt he old] The martyrdom of St Peter is placed in the year a.d. 64, and he seems to have been already of middle age verse

(Matt. viii. 14). stretch forth thy hands] as helpless and seeking help.

gird

thee]

bind

thee

condemned

criminal.

whither thou wouldest not]

The way to a

violent death must always be terrible, because unnatural ; and that exactly in proportion as

the violation

19.

of nature by such an end

Comp. xii. 27.

realised.

This spake he

signifying

(comp.

xii.

(Now this he spake) 3$, xviii. 32) by

(what manner of) death...]

what

The cruci-

of St Peter at Rome is attested by Tertullian ('Scorp.' 15) and later writers. Origen further stated that he was crucified with his head downwards at his own request (Euseb. 4 H. E.' in. 1). Though the language of the Lord has very commonly been adapted to the details of crucifixion, it does not appear that it points directly to anything more than martyrdom, when " another girded him," and he was taken "whither he would not" The u stretching forth the hands " can hardly be referred primarily to the position on the cross, since this detail is placed first. Literally, he shall he should glorify God] glorify. The construction in xviii. 32 is fixion

Comp. vii. 39,

xii.

23,

and Suicer s. v. do-

Follow me] The end of martyrdom having now been shewn, the Lord repeated the command given before under different circumstances to others (i. 43; Matt viii. 22, Xx. 9, xix.

21),

"Follow me."

What had been

impossible before the apostle's

fall

became

possible for him now (xiii. 36 ff.).

The command itself, as given before and after the Resurrection, has necessarily differ-

ent though analogous meanings. During the Lord's earthly life following Him implied the abandonment of previous occupations (Matt. ix. 9) and duties (Matt. viii. 22); attendance upon Him even when He entered on strange and mysterious paths ; participation in disgrace and danger (Matt x. 38). Now to "follow Christ" required further the perception of His course; the spiritual discernment by which His movements can still be discovered and yet further the readiness to accept martyrdom as the end.

These different thoughts appear to have a place in the words follow me, but the command had also, as appears from the next verse (following), a literal meaning also, though it is impossible to decide for what purpose the Lord called St Peter away from the other disciples.

Augustine's comment on the promise of the glory of future martyrdom to the penitent and restored apostle is pregnant with thought: " Hunc invenit exitum ille negator et amator

praesumendo elatus, negando prostratus, flendo purgatus, confitendo probatus, patiendo coronatus; hunc invenit exitum ut pro ejus

nomine

perfecta

dilectione

moreretur,

cum

quo se moriturum perversa festinatione promiserat

Faciat ejus resurrectione firmatus, infirmus. Hoc enim oportebat ut prius Christus pro Petri salute, deinde Petrus pro Christi predicatione

quod immature pollicebatur

moreretur.

Pracposterum fuit quod audere

coeperat humana temeritas, cum istum disposuisset ordinem Veritas. Animam suam se

positurum pro Christo Petrus putabat, pro liberatore lioerandus;

cum Christus venisset

animam suam positurus pro suts ovibus in quibus erat et Petrus quod ecce jam factum ;

est...

Jam pretio pro te fuso, nunc est [Petre]

ut sequans emptorem, et sequaris omnino usque ad mortem crucis" ('In Joh. cxxm. 1

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And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.

20 Then Peter, turning about, c !, 33.

? a^ & 20. a. *" •

seetn tnc disciple '

XXI.

St. JOHN.

23-]

305

22 Jesus saith unto him, to thee ? follow thou me.

23 Then went this saying abroad

"whom Jesus loved

following ; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee ? 21 Peter seeing him saith to Jesus,

among the brethren,

Lord, and what shall this man do?

what is that to thee ?

It is impossible to translate adequately 4). this epigrammatic African Latin. ii.

The work of St John.

Peter (omit Tfcit), turning about] Tbe command of the Lord appears to have been

20.

accompanied by some symbolic action. As St Peter literally obeyed the call thus expressed under a ngure, and moved away from the group of the apostles, something attracted his attention, and he " turned about " to the direction indicated (cVurrpa^Ktr, Mark v. 30). The whole picture is full of life. Comp. xiii. 23, note. tbe disciple.. A

leaned (leaned back).. .the The reference is to the special act of supper] the apostle («wVc<rc *), and not to the position which he occupied at the table (fjy avwet /pc vor, The notice is added here to explain xiii. 23). the close connexion of St John with St Peter, and the confidence with which St John ventured to follow even without a special invita-

which

also

tion.

No question Peter therefore...] 21. could be more natural The fact that St John was following was itself an unspoken auestion as to the future, an asking of the Lord s will. Lord,

and...]

The original is singularly

and pregnant, "Lord, and this man, what?" (Kupw, ovros dc W; Vulg. Domine, bic autem qutdf) What of him? What shall he suffer or do ? what shall be his lot ?

brief

22.

In the Lord's answer the emphasis

is laid

upon the pronouns "him" and "thou"

The thought is of (tap avrhv B...avjiot ok.). the individual offices of disciples. St Peter's fortune corresponded with his work, and so too St John "s. If I will (comp. xvii. 24, note) that...] The hypothetical form of the sentence veils the Experience has shewn what divine counsel. that was. The exact force of the tarry till I come] 11 (for original is rather "while I am coming The "coming" is not regarded as tpvofxat). a definite point in future time, but rather as a fact

which is in slow and continuous realisa-

tion.

The prominent idea is of the interval

to be passed over rather than of the end to be reached. Comp. ix. 4, xii. 35 f. ; Mark vl 45 (AroXvfOi * Tim- "*• f 3f Luke xix. 13

If I will

that he tarry till I come, what is that

that that dis-

not die : yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die 5 but, If I will that he tarry till I come, ciple should

" Tarrying " is the corand according to the manifold significance of this word it expresses the calm waiting for further light, the patient resting in a fixed position, the continuance in (iv ^) ; Matt. v. 25.

relative to " following ;"

life.

The " coming " of the Lord is no doubt "the second coming" (frapovo-t'a, John ii. 28); but at the same time the idea of Christ's " coming " includes thoughts of His personal coming in death to each believer. And yet further the coming of primarily .1

Christ to the Society is not absolutely one.

He came " in the destruction of Jerusalem. •'

Thus St John did tarry till the great " coming," nor is there anything fanciful in seeing an allusion to the course of the history of the Church under the image of the history of the apostles.

The type of doctrine and character

represented by St John is the last in the order of development. In this sense he tarries still.

Comp. xiv. 3, note; and Rev. ii. 5, 16, iii. xvi. 15, xxii. 7, 12, 20.

what is that to tbee t] The arrangement of the various parts in the whole body of the Church does not concern men. That rests with the divine will, and the divine will is unfolded in the course of life. 23. Then went this saying...] This saying (word) therefore went... the words which the Lord had spoken. These were inexactly repeated, and taken to affirm "that that disThe tradition that St John ciple dieth not." was sleeping in his grave at Ephesus, and that the moving dust witnessed to the breathing of the saint beneath, survived for a long time.

Augustine mentions it doubtfully "on tbe authority of grave men " ( l In Job.' cxxiv. 2). amon§ tbe brethren] This use of the phrase which is common in the book of the Acts (ix. 30, &c.) is found here only in the Gospels

(comp. ch. xx. 17 ; Luke xxii. 32).

The manner in which the yet Jesus...] error is corrected seems to shew clearly that it had not been refuted by fact, or, in other words, that this Epilogue to the Gospel was written by St John. The apostle, still alive and looking to the uncertainty of the future, rests on the simple repetition of the precise

language of the Lord.

He does not claim to

know all that He meant; he repeats what He

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St.

306

JOHN. XXI.

24 This is the disciple which tesof these

tifieth

these things : and

things,

and

wrote

we know that his

testimony is true. * chap,

25 b And there are also many other

was for history. It

obvious that St Peter and St John

occupy

this narrative representative positions both as to their work and as to the issue of their work. The one is the minister of action whose service is consummated by the maityrdom of death: the other is the

minister of thought and teaching whose service is perfected in the martyrdom of life. Augustine (* In Joh.' cxxiv. 3) has a very interesting comparison of the two charges, which is thus summed up : " Perfecta me sequatur actio, informata meae passionis exemplo: inchoata vero contemplatio maneat donee venio, perficienda cum venero." See

the

also

Preface

Commentary of

the

Rupert of Deutz.

Concluding Notes These two

w. 34, %$.

verses appear to be separate

notes attached to the Gospel before its publication. The form of v. 24, contrasted with that of xix. 3$, shews conclusively that it is not the witness of the Evangelist The words were probably added by the Ephesian elders, to whom the preceding narrative had been given both orally and in writing. See Introduction, p. xxxv. The change of person in

(/ suppose, compared with <we knvw) marks a change of authorship. It is quite possible that this verse may contain words of St John (comp. xx. 30), set here by those who had heard them. n>.

*4» *5-

things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

The true interpretation of the words

said.

[v-

24.

testifietb... testimony]

beareth wit-

ness.. .witness. The witness is spoken of as present, but the form of the phrase (a /*oprvp«Si% contrast 6 ypdyfrat) does not in itself shew conclusively that the apostle was alive at the time when the note was written (comp. i. 15), though this is the most natural interpretation

(comp. v. 3a, 33). these things'] The phrase may be referred to the whole contents of the Gospel (xx. 31), or be limited to the narrative of ch. xxi. The plural (contrast xix. 35) <we know] taken in connexion with this is the disciple and J suppose (y. 25) seems to be undoubtedly a true plural, and not a usage like 1 John i. 1. Compare Col. iv. 3, where there is a corresponding change from the apostolic group (Col. i. 1) to St Paul himself. The thought true] true in fact (aAqdijt)is not brought out here as in xix. 35, that it satisfies the ideal conditions of testimony The words read like an echo of (akn&ivri).

John 12. 25. I suppose] The word (ot/xm) is rare intheN.T. (comp. Phil. i. 17; James i. 7). From the form of the sentence (far ypa<pm-ai... 3

Staprftrtiv)

appears that the recollection of

le other deeds was still fresh, so that the record

of them was possible. could not

The

contain]

bold

expression

A complete account

answers to a deep truth.

{every one) of the perfect human (Jesus) life of the Lord would be practically infinite. Amen] is no part of the original text

ADDITIONAL NOTES on Chap. xxi. The precise statement of the number 11. has naturally attracted the attention of commentators from early times, and the interpretations which have been assigned to it do more than form a sample of ingenious combinations. They illustrate a method of viewing Scripture which, however different from our own, was at one time nearly universal. It will then be not

without use and interest to notice one or two of the prominent explanations of the number which have been offered. There is, as far as I have noted, no explanation of the number preserved in the great ante-Nicene fathers, Clement, Irenseus, and Origen, Tertullian and Cyprian. But Cyril of Alexandria (f444) and Augustine (f43o) have probably preserved earlier interpretations In their own comments.

Cyril of A lex ANpRiA(i»/w.), followed by

Ammonius the Presbyter (Cramer *Cat.' in loc), Euthymius (doubtfully) and Theophylact

(ad loc.) t regards the number as being

significant

its

three

simple

elements:

The 100, he says, represents the fulness of the Gentiles, for 100 (= 10 x 10) 100 + 50 + 3.

" the fullest number," and as such it is used to describe the Lord's full flock (Matt xviii. 11) and full fertility (Matt xiii. 8). The 50 represents " the remnant of Israel according to which falls short of completeness election, is

Uo = *— Y The 3 indicates the Holy Trinity, to whose glory all alike are gathered.

Augustine ( in Joh. Tr.' cxxii.) adopts a c

more complicated interpretation. Ten, he says, But the Law is the number of the Law. To the number of the without grace kills. Law therefore we add /m», the number of

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St.

JOHN. XXI.

the Spirit, in order to obtain the fulness of the divine revelation as a power of life. But, he then adds, the sum of the numbers from one to seventeen inclusive is one hundred and fiftythree (1 + a + 3 &c. +17 = 153). So that the number 153 signifies all those who are included in the saving operation of divine grace, which makes reconciliation with the Law. Nor is this all. The three is the symbol of the Trinity ; and the triple fifty brings out the idea of unity in the Spirit, who is revealed in a sevenfold operation (50 = 7x7 + 1).

GregorV the Great adopts in part the symbolism of Augustine, but emplovs it even

more ingeniously. The Evangelist, he writes, would not have given the exact number unless he had deemed that it contained a mystery. All action under the Old Testament is ruled by the Decalogue and under the New Testament by the seven gifts of the Spirit (Isai. xi. ;

Our action, therefore, under both aspects a). can be represented by 10+7. But it is by faith in the

Holy Trinity that action is made

effectual.

We therefore multiply 1 7 by 3 and

obtain the number 51, which expresses the idea of true rest, being unity added to the number of the year of jubilee. This symbol of rest (51) is again multiplied by three and we gain the result 153, the symbol of the elect citizens of the heavenly country, the final heirs of rest ('Horn.' xxiv. 4).

Rupert of Deutz ('In Joh.' xiv.) regards the three numbers as representing the proportions of three different classes united in one faith. The " hundred" are the married, who are the most numerous, the ** fifty" the widowed or continent who are less numerous, the *' three," " But," the least in number, are the virgins. he adds, " there is much that has been profitably written on this 153 by learned divines, which the careful reader will easily find."

Bruno Astensis (xith—xiith cent; the homilies were wrongly published under the name of Eusebius of Emesa) adopts a simpler

307

view. Three," he says, " has the same significance as 150 = 3 x 50. There are three parts **

of the world, Asia, Africa, Europe. Therefore 150 + 3 represents the sum of all the faithful throughout the world." (Inloc. [Horn. Lxxi.] igne, * Patrol.' cxlv. 599.) It may be worth while to add, if such interpretations seem alien from our way of thinking, that Volkmar has recently surpassed them in extravagance. He gravely argues

('Mose Prophetic' 61 f.) that the number repreobtain this sents Simeon Bar Jona Kepba. result he is obliged to leave out one letter in Kepba, and to give the Hebrew letters values inconsistent with ancient usage.

Note on the Readings in w. 15 ff. The readings in the three charges of the Lord are somewhat perplexed. 15.

So Bootcc ra dpvia pov. Vulg. agnoj. But :

almost all

KABLX and

C*D read npo-

In this case howftara, and old Lat. oves. ever the reading cannot be doubtful. The substitution of npofiara shews the tendency

of scribes. 16. Hoifuupt ra " some old copies."

irpoftaria fiov*

So BG,

But KADX'and nearly all others read irp<$Old Lat. o*ves. Vulg. agnos.

fiara.

The reading here may be fairly considered doubtful. The force of the diminutive is seen below. 17.

But

Boo-jtf ra npoftdrid fjuw.

So ABC.

KDX and nearly all others npopara.

Lat. oves (some agnos). A dpvia. In this case there can be little doubt that irpoparta is the true reading. The diminutive, which is a form of tender endearment, goes naturally with /Soo-rc In the second charge there is no special fitness in the diminutive, though the use of the diminutive throughout has an appropriateness to the cir-

cumstances.

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THE

ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. INTRODUCTION BY CANON COOK, THE EDITOR. PAGE

PACK

General statement Tttleoftbe Book Contents of the Book

.......

Its plan and object

Internal evidences of authorship

External evidences

§ i.

309 310 311 321 328

General Statement.

which THEreader ofpoint Book first

this

strikes

the

that it pur-

ports to have been written by the author

of " a former treatise " addressed to the

same person,

Theophilus ; a treatise which gave an account of all the acts and words of our Lord from the beginning to the conclusion of His earthly ministry, terminated by His Ascension. This statement at once throws us back upon the only one of the four Gospels the only work in fact known to Christian antiquity which answers to this description, viz. the third Gospel, which from a very early period was attributed to St Luke. No Father indeed of primitive Christendom ever questioned the fact that both the Gospel and the Acts were written by that Evangelist, well known from the Epistles of St Paul as a companion of the Apostle, more especially

—

Historical character of the Book

Discourses in the Acts . . . Sources of information . . . Place and time ofpublication . Manuscripts and early Versions. Works helpful for the interpretation

339 343 345 345 346

It was reserved for writers of a school remarkable for learning and ingenuity, but not less remarkable for temerity, to question both the authenticity of the Book, and the truthfulness of the comWith the arguments adduced by piler. those scholars it will be our duty to deal in this Introduction ; here it may suffice to state that at present they stand almost alone in their rejection of the Book. They belong to the extreme section of the rationalists of Tubingen, who adhere, not, however, without important modifications, to the views of Ferdinand Baur,

and during his imprisonment at Rome.

the first who advanced the hypothesis of a fundamental discord between the In fact leaders of the early Church. both points, the identity of authorship, and the authorship by a companion of St Paul, are now generally received both in Germany and France, and that not only by scholars who accept unreservedly the statements and notices of Holy Writ, but by those who subject all its contents to a searching and jealous

The

scrutiny, even

in the last part of his missionary career,

internal evidence to the identity of authorship and to the composition of this book by a companion of St Paul is not less conclusive.

by many who reject with-

out scruple any facts involving the recognition of supernatural interposition, and

who readily admit attacks upon the cha-

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INTRODUCTION TO

3io

and authority of the chief repre-

racter

The title "The Acts of the Apostles *

Among the most conspicuous of these scholars for learning, ability, and historical

we may refer in Germany to

tact,

Credner and Bleek, in France to Ernest Renan. In Credner's Introduction, § 104, we find this statement " The Acts :

of the Apostles describes itself as a continuation of the third Gospel; and the common object of both writings (Luke L 3) ; the common peculiarities in regard to language and style ; the common building

up of doctrine on Pauline principles and foundation the common striving after ;

exactness,

with

historical tact "

—

evident

deficiency

— notice the tone of the

" prove irrefragably (unwidcrlcgbar) that the author of the third Gospel, the physician Luke, must on no account be separated from the author of the Acts of the Apostles." Credner published his Introduction in 1837. The opinion of Bleek is expressed with equal force in his Introduction, published in 1862, and

writer

republished by Mangold, a farther

critic

much

advanced in sceptical tendency,

The Title of the Book.

sentatives of early Christendom.

is generally assumed not to have been given to this work by St Luke himself. It is, however, of high antiquity Some It is extant in the oldest MSS.* of the most ancient Versions, the Coptic, the Syriac, and the Arabic Erpenii, retain the Greek word unchanged, a fact which proves very early and general acWe find it in the Canon ceptance. 8 Muratori as the recognized designation of the Book, and it is repeatedly used by early Fathers from Clement Alex, downwards. It is also to be remarked that the title "Acts" was given to some of the earliest and best known Apocryphal Books, e.g. the Acts of Peter, Euseb. 1

H. E.' in. 3.

;

Jerome

De Vir. 111.'

c i;of Paul, Eus. H. E.' in. 25. 4; '

quoted by Clement and Origen ; the Acts of Peter and Paul; and the Acts of Paul and Thekla, written by a very ancient Presbyter, who was deposed for the forgery, see Tertullian de Baptismo,' c. 17, a fact noticeable as shew'

jealous caution of the early It may be inferred that the title Acts of the Apostles had been previously received as the proper designa-

ing the

in 1875'.

Special importance will be attached to the judgment of Ernest Renan on a matter to him of purely scientific interest. In the Introduction to ' Les Apotres,'

published 1866, we read, p. x., "Une chose hors de doute, c'est que les Actcs ont le meme auteur que le troisieme £vangile, et sont une continuation de cet £vangile. Les prefaces qui sont en tete des deux ecrits, la d^dicace de l'un et de Pautre a Theophile, la parfaite ressemblance du style et des idees fournissent a cet egard d'abondantes demonstrations. " After a full consideration of objections alleged by the school of

—

Tubingen, Renan says, p. xiv., " Je persiste a croire que le dernier r£dacteur des Actes est bien le disciple de Paul qui dit nous aux derniers chapitres." Again, after examining other hypotheses as to the name of this disciple, he concludes, "Nous pensons done que l'auteur du troisieme Evangile et des Actcs est bien r&llement Luc, disciple *

de PauL" 1 The results of late critical investigations are stated briefly and clearly by Meyer, * Apostelgeschichte,' Einleitung, p. 3U

Church 4

tion of this Book.

The propriety of the designation has The book does

been often questioned.

not profess to record the Acts of all the Apostles, of whom few are specially men-

1 weighty argument is thus supplied in support of the position which assigns the authorship The fact that to a writer of the Apostolic age. the name was given to the Book by writers of the second or third centuries involves a long interval of previous reception. 1 Either in the form Upd^tts kwoor6\ufp, Acts of Apostles, omitting both articles, as in B, D, or simply nod^eif, as in K. This reading is adopted by Tischendorf in his eighth edition. '

The

original

form was probably IIpd£m rCm

'Awoertikuv, as we find it quoted by Clem. Alex. 'Strom.' V. is. 13. Tne Book is often quoted by early Fathers as npd£et*, but apparently as a compendious form in place of the

well-known title. » See §6. 4 A good account of these apocryphal writings, which are of some importance in their bearings upon early Christian history, is given by Hilgenfeld in the second part of his work,, somewhat strangely entitled ' Novum Testamentum extra Canonem Receptum.' Other apocryphal Acts are enumerated by Bleek, ' Einleitung/

1 131.

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THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. tioned ; nor all the Acts of those most prominent in the narrative, St Peter and St Paul. On the other hand, it gives full notices of disciples not reckoned among the Apostles, as of the Deacons St Stephen and St Philip. But taking the title in its earliest form we find in it a certain As the Gospel records acts fitness.

and words of our Lord, so this Book records acts of the Apostles by which His last injunction and promise were fulfilled. This brings into, striking light the singular importance of the work. The Gospel, of which Renan says " that it is the most beautiful

book

in existence ,"

was yet

but one of four records, each having its

own special character: among them St Luke's holds the third place in order. It contains much that is not distinctly brought out, or that is altogether omitted, by the other Evangelists; yet it is not absolutely indispensable to a knowledge of the Saviour's personal work. But this Book stands alone*. It is the only source

from which we derive any direct, nay, in many points, any positive, knowledge of most momentous facts which belong to the very foundations of the Christian faith. From this Book alone we learn the primary facts touching the establishment and organization of the Church ; its formation as a visible society, and its development under the Fersonal Influence

of the Holy Spirit. The first twenty years would be, so to speak, a blank so far as regards the history of the first Christians a blank with some rays of scattered light from the Epistles, of which the earliest was written a.d. 52 had not St Luke been moved by the Spirit to record what he learned touching that period during his intercourse with The Christian Church recogSt Paul nizes two festivals of supreme importFor Easter-day we have the ance. Resurrection recorded in the four Gospels, and standing foremost in every Epistle as the foundation of Christian hopes ; for Pentecost we have the Coming of the Holy Ghost, the fulfilment of our Lord's last promise, the earnest and

—

pledge of His continuous triumphs ; of

"Le plus beau livre qu'il y ait." 'Les £van-

giles,' p. 382.

For his remarks on the charac-

teristics of the third Gospel, see § 5. 1 Hilgenfeld, ' Einleitung,'

See

p. 574.

that fulfilment

we have

the record in

this Book alone.

The statements here advanced demand separate and detailed consideration, with which the following paragraphs will be occupied. A general survey of the contents of the Book will be necessary in order to supply the facts and suggest the inferences of chief importance in view of modern controversies, more especially those which concern the plan of the work and the main object contemplated by the author. •

Contents of the Book. § 3. First Part, from a.d. 33 to a.d. 44.

The first chapter distinctly marks the object contemplated by the writer. In the preceding treatise the general object specified in the Introduction (see Luke L 4), viz. that of supplying the positive facts on which the elementary instruction of the reader was based, had been attained, so far as regards our Lord's personal ministry, by an account of all that He had done and taught up to the time of His Ascension. In this treatise the same object is pursued by an account of the accomplishment of the Mission, which at the time of His Ascension He formally entrusted to the Apostles "whom He had chosen." The foundation,. establishment, and more especially the extension of the Church, beginning with 120 disciples at Jerusalem, and reaching, within the lifetime of the Apostles, "unto the uttermost parts of the earth," are either directly recorded, or indicated by representative events. Chapters L, ii. Date, a.d. 33: according to Eusebius, Ussher, Pearson, Spanheim, Tillemont, Basnage, Michaelis, Schott, and Lewin

who fixes on Sunday, May 24, for the Feast of f entecost 1

appeared expedient

insert

chrono-

logical notices in this account, instead of dealing

with the subject in a separate paragraph, which, if exhaustive, must have far exceeded the limits of an Introduction. The principal authorities for each notice are given, thus enabling the reader to judge the weight of testimony. Lewin's work, the 4 Fasti Sacri,' has been used throughout, and followed without hesitation when he agrees with Wieseler and Anger, especially since in most cases he is supported by the preponder-

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INTRODUCTION TO

312

In this section we have the following the Ascension ; the completion points of the Apostolic body in the interval between the Ascension and Pentecost; the Descent of the Holy Ghost; the first discourse by St Peter, as mouthpiece and representative of the Apostles; and the immediate baptism of 3000 converts ; followed by a succinct statement of the principles and observances of the members of the Church. The Catholicity of the Church, thus inaugurated, is at once indicated (1) by the nationalities of the Converts, representing every country which was reached by the Gospel within the first century; and (2) by the gift of tongues, differing in form from other manifestations of the same power, and prefiguring the extension of Christendom to all languages of the human race . :

Chapters iii.

—

viii.

From a.d. 33 to a.d. 37: according to L. Capelle, Basnage, Eichhom, De #Wette,

and Lewin.

The five following chapters, including a period of some four years, are exclusively concerned with the establish-

ment of the Church in Jerusalem, the portion of the work assigned to the Apostles; see ch. i. 8. It proceeded rapidly. In accordance with our Lord's promise, "Ye shall receive power" (see also Mark xvi. 18; John xiv. 12), a mifirst

racle was wrought by the two chief Apos-

by a discourse of St Peter, with the immediate result of a vast increase of converts. We read at once of the first persecution, exemplifying two principles, which pervade the history of Christendom. Each persecution is the direct result of a manifestation of spiritual life in word or deed. In this case the ruling powers in Jerusalem, Sadducean in principle, were specially moved by the preaching of the tles, followed

Resurrection through Jesus. Each persecution is also the direct cause or occasion of a new ana stronger manifestation. Confronted with the Sanhedrin "Peter filled with the Holy Ghost," iv. 8, declared the fulness and exclusiveness of salvation in the name of Jesus Christ When the Apostles were restored, reluctantly on the part of the Council, "to their own company," they joined with them in the first recorded example of united Christian prayer ; and "gave with great power witness of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ." then come into contact with two effects of the outward extension and internal development of the Church. On the one hand an outburst of self-sacrifice, Christian love in its first freshness, connected with the name of Joseph Barnabas ; on the other an example of selfseeking, hypocrisy and lying against the Holy Ghost in Ananias and his wife ; at once a warning, and, in the sudden punishment, an intimation of power inherent in the Apostles, as charged with the Government of the Church. Ch. v. 12, a second persecution, provoked by the increasing power and popularity of the Apostles, probably also by the publicity of their preaching in the porch of Solomon, issued in a further extension of the Church; see ch. vi. 1. It revealed also an internal discord between the members of the persecuting body. For the first time the priestly party, Sadducean in principle, was opposed by a man who represented the nobler tendencies of the teachers of the law, and the moderate or liberal party 1 Many traces of this of the Pharisees opposition are found in the Talmud, and occasional notices in this book, cf. ch. xxiii. 6, 9; and in the Epistles. Its results, however, were of doubtful

ance of other great chronologers, ancient and modern, among whom Eusebius, Jerome, the writer of the 'Paschal Chronicle,' Ussher, Pearson, Spanheim, Tillemont, and Winer hold the foremost place. synopsis of the views of all these and many others is given by Wieseler at

the end of his

Chronologie des Apostolischen

Zeitalters.' 1

So all the great Teachers of the Church ; so too the more candid writers of the school represented by-Hilgenfeld; see his P- 557-

Einleitung,'

See the notice of Gamaliel further on, § 7. escaped notice that Gamaliel takes precisely the same position which Derenbourg, a Jewish writer of very high authority, It appears to have

assigns to his grandfather Hillel (see 'Histoire de la Palestine, p. 183), both as a Pharisee of the highest influence, and also as an opponent of the priests, who at the time of Gamaliel belonged to the Sadducean faction and bore an evil character, especially for subservience to heathens, and for luxury, covetousness and reckless cruelty*

See Derenbourg, /. c. p. 333. His account of Gamaliel is most important, p. 939 L

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THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. benefit.

On the one hand, numerous con- no Roman Governor resident in Judaea.

verts from that party were brought over

to the Church; see ch. xxi. 20; on the other hand, they certainly brought with them much of the leaven which wrought disastrous effects in Jerusalem, in Antioch,

and in Rome; and which presented most serious obstacles to the progress of Christianity in every country visited by St Paul.

Towards the close of this first period, probably in a.d. 36, we read of an internal disturbance, originating with the Hellenistic Jews, an indication of troubles likely to accompany a further advance of the Church. In this case it was at once suppressed by the wisdom of the Apostles, and it gave occasion to an important advance in the organization of the Church. Seven Deacons, a new order of ministers 1 , were appointed. Their names may indicate an Hellenistic origin, but their duties probably extended to the whole community, and were certainly not confined to merely external acts. One of them is conspicuous among the first and most active missionaries, see ch.

viii.

and

xxi 8 ; another, Stephen, stands foremost among the heroes of faith-r-bearing a name which, as is far ffom unusual in Scriptural and even in secular history, has a peculiar appropriateness in the case of the first Christian who won the crown of martyrdom*. The trial and discourse of that great Saint, his death and dying words, must have been recorded with special interest, as they are certainly recorded with unusual care by St Luke; nor can there be any doubt that he derived his knowledge of them from St Paul, an eye-witness, who repeatedly refers to them, and echoes the leading points of the discourse in his speeches and Epistles. The martyrdom of St Stephen occurred most probably soon after the Feast of Pentecost, /. e. early in May, a.d. 37. At that time there was See notes on ch.

This point has been vi. but the decisive judgment of our own Church, as expressed in the Ordination Service, is supported by the concurrence of all ancient authorities. The incidental notice of an advance towards a complete organization of the Church is characteristic of St Luke. • Hilgenfeld notices this, with an evident intention of suggesting an unhistorical origin of the *

313

contested,

•See §8.

Pilate had been deposed towards the close of a.d. 36, and his successor did not arrive until Theophilus, one of the five sons of Ananus, was High Priest, about Pente-

For a full inquiry into the date and circumstances, see Lewin, 'Fasti Sacri.' This event marked a great crisis. The disciples, who were scattered by the persecution, preached the word everywhere in Judaea and Samaria, ch. viii. 1, and thus prepared the way for the fulfilment by the Apostles, see v. 25, of the second part of our Lord's injunction, ch. L 4. cost a.d. 37.

The Gospel was preached at Samaria with singular success by Philip, who thus takes the foremost place amongst Christian missionaries ; Peter and John were sent by the Apostles to confirm the converts ; a fact at once indicating the dependence of both on the general body, and their prominent position in it

;

and by

also the reservation of powers given

our Lord (/. c.) to the Apostles and their Here we read of Simon, usually called Simon Magus, a man known from Josephus as an agent of corruption, better known from early Christian writers as the originator of unchristian heresies; and again from fabulous legends widely circulated in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, in which, as representatives.

modern critics hold, he was maliciously identified in character and works with St.

Paul The notices in this chapter are such as might be expected from one who wrote before the gnostic heresies, of which the germs are traceable in this record and in the Epistles of St Paul 8 were developed, and before any calumnious misrepresentations had been spread abroad ,

The

Clementine Homilies

so-called

and

Recognitions, which are most unfairly represented as indicating the general feelings or traditions of

Hebrew

Christians.

They were mere fabrica-

the latter especially being evidently intended to be read as an amusing fiction ; and they owed their celebrity at Rome mainly to the support which they incidentally gave to the unhistorical claim of the Roman Bishop. This point is drawn out most forcibly by Bryennios, the Metropolitan of Serrse, in the Introduction to his edition of the ' Epistles of St Clement of Rome,' published at Constantinople, a.d. 1875. * See especially Bp Lightfoot 'On the Colossian Heresy/ in his introduction to the Commentary on St Paul's Epistles to the Colossiani and to Philemon. tions,

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INTRODUCTION TO

touching the relations between the old and new members of the Apostolic body. In the same chapter, w. 26 to 40, we have in the conversion of the Ethiopian chamberlain an instance of the way in which a knowledge of the Gospel was transmitted to regions which were not visited by the Apostles or their immediate successors; and we learn the nature of the arguments which were most effectively applied by the first missionaries to persons already more or less conversant with the Old Testament

Chapter

ix.

— 22.

Conversion of

St Paul. a.d. 37, some time after Pentecost

The ninth chapter

before us this event, next in importance to those which concern the Person and work of Christ, and to the coming of the Holy Ghost It opened the way for the complete accomplishment of our Lord's combrings

mand. In the account here given we remark several points bearing upon late contro(1) St Paul's complete independence of the original Apostles at and after his conversion, a point on which, versies.

in accordance with every notice in the Epistles, he lays special stress, GaL i. 11, 12. (2) Although Saul was directed to seek out Ananias, a man in high esteem among the Jews, by whom he was bap-

yet his

tized,

instruction in his

future

work was given by Christ; compare v. 16 with Gal. L 1 2. (3) Immediately after receiving that instruction, he preached that Jesus was the Son of God; and having been strengthened he afterwards proved, i.e. demonstrated from the Scriptures, that Jesus was the very Christ both points specially enforced in his discourses and 1

Epistles.

—

23 Zlke visit of St Paul to 3°" Jerusalem\ a.d. 40 (Lewin, Basnage,

Schott, Heinrich').

"After many days," an expression which in other passages is equivalent to some 1

The reading "Jesus" instead of "Christ" MS. authority, see note on ch. ix. 20. Though St Luke does not expressly is supported by high

mention, he evidently assumes an interval between the first and second preaching, during which Saul received an access of spiritual strength. 1 This date is contested ; but Lewin's conclu' F. S.' p. 164, is on the whole satisfactory. ,

years, St Paul's life was threatened

the Jews, but saved by his fellow-Chris-

among whom there was certainly no dissension. He went to Jerusalem, where after some hesitation he was received by the Apostles, on the com-

tians,

mendation of Barnabas. He remained long enough to dispute with his old comrades, Hellenistic Hebrews; from whose machinations he was saved, as at

Damascus, by Hebrew Christians, and 1

passing by Caesarea went to Tarsus .

—

xi. 30. Growth of the Church from a.d. 40 to 44. An interval of rest and progress fol-

Ch. ix. 31

lowed, during which churches were established in all the regions to which our Lord's personal ministry had extended while preparation was made for a far wider increase by Saul's abode at Tarsus* We have then an account of St Peter's work, the healing of iEneas at Lydda, followed by extensive conversions in the West of Judaea, v. 35 ; and the raising of Tabitha* at Joppa, where the Apostle remained a considerable time. The culminating point in St Peter's ministry now comes before us. We read of the admission of Cornelius by baptism into the Church, with full participation of The case of Cornelius its privileges. differs from all previously recorded : he was not a Hebrew, nor a circumcised proselyte ; but, like the centurion in the Gospels, he was already a proselyte in heart,

ances.

in spirit,

and

in devout observ-

As such he marked an interme-

diate stage; and his baptism was assigned specially to that Apostle who was to re-

ceive from Christ " the keys of the king1 The alleged discrepancy between this account and St Paul's statements in Gal. i. will be considered further on, § 4, p. 323. * These and other miracles of St Peter are regarded by some as bearing an intentional resemblance to those recorded of St Paul ; ch. xiv. 8, 10, and xx. 9, xo. The resemblance is natural, so far as they are what St Paul calls "signs of an Apostle :" but the difference is far more striking. In each case the words and acts of St Peter recall those of our Lord, and differ altogether

from those attributed to St Paul. They differ moreover as displays of power ; Tabitha is restored by a word to life, Eutychus to consciousness by a striking act ; again each miracle of St Peter is followed by immediate conversions ; but those of St Paul issued either in open antagonism, or in simple confirmation of faith already held.

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THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. dom of heaven," Matt xvi 19, but who had not as yet any special commission to open the gate generally to the Gentiles. however, gave occasion to within the Church touching points of doctrine and of observance. St Peter, anticipating the decision of the Church, had admitted the converted Gentile, not only to full communion, but to personal intercourse, tarrying with Cornelius certain days (x. 48) and eating with his household (xi. 3). After full explanation the Church, including the opponents, acquiesced in St

This

the

act,

first

serious contention

Peter's act, and glorified God.

This section is assumed by some to be directly opposed to St Paul's statements. It is however confirmed most remarkably,

far as regards St Peter, by St Paul's

own account, who tells us (Gal iL 12) that when St Peter went to Antioch he actually did eat with

the Gentile con-

shewing distinctly his own feelings towards them ; and St Paul expresses not less surprise than indignation at his change of conduct, when, in deference to the prejudices of those who were more immediately under his charge, he receded from that position. In the case now under consideration we do not read that the Apostles distinctly approved the course of Peter in eating with the Genverts, thus

but that they held their peace (ijovtheir approval seems to have been limited to the reception by baptism When controversy into the Church. again arose, a formal decision was called for, which will have to be considered tiles,

Xaa-av):

One principle of permanent applicais

Wittichen \ to represent him as at once proceeding to the work of evangelization at Antioch, where we know from St Paul that he was present at an early period, or at Corinth, where St Paul bears witness to his activity or personal influence and :

where one of the earliest bishops, Dionysius of Corinth, asserts that he was with St Paul a joint founder of the Church.

On the contrary this book confines all notices of St Peter's work to Palestine. Within that region he took the lead accomplishing the first part of the mission entrusted to the disciples ; and by his last recorded act in that capacity he prepared the way for the accomplishment of the latter part, which was commenced independently of him, and was accomplished by other hands. Thus in w. 19 26 we read of the first movement outside of Palestine. The Gospel was brought to Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch by missionaries, not sent by the Apostles, but driven from Jerusalem by persecution. At first they addressed the Jews only, but at Antioch some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, " spoke unto the Grecians," or, as the best MSS. and modern critics read, unto Greeks, i.e. Gentiles by origin and in

—

religion. See note, ch. xi. 20. This is an important statement, shewing how far the writer was from suppressing and inventing facts which might bring either the old Apostles or St Paul into a prominent

position in reference to the first extension

of the Gospel to Gentiles. The unity of the Church was not affected by this move-

ment

presently.

tion

315

exemplified in this transaction.

In each stage of the development of the Church preparatory intimations are given of a more advanced stage, until the whole work is completed. Cornelius is linked with the past by devout legal acts, and by faith in the God of Israel. His baptism settled the question as to the possibility of extension to uncircumcised Gen-

St Peter, the head of the original Apostles, does just as much, and no more than as much, as would make an opening for the next great advance. Had it been the object of the writer to raise him to an equality with the Apostle of the Gen-

Barnabas was sent to Antioch by the Apostles, a man recognized by St Paul, Gal. iL 9, as specially connected with Gentile conversions. Under his guidance, aided by Saul, then first brought from Tarsus, the new Church, destined to be the centre of Christian missions, was organized. There first the great name of Christians, given possibly in derision, but gladly accepted or retained, marked decisively the separation from Judaism".

tiles.

tiles in

been

would have on the ground taken by

his special work, it

easy,

a.d. 43—44.

Some

time afterwards Barnabas and Saul were sent from Antioch to Jerusalem 1 In the 'Jahrbiicher fur Protestantischc Theologie,' 1877, p. 653 f. 1 See the very striking remarks of Dr Farrar in his work on St Paul, VoL L pp. 396—303.

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INTRODUCTION TO

3 i6

with large contributions, every man giv- such as, within a century, was certainly ing according to his ability (compare 2 established throughout Christendom. Cor. viii and ix.). This mission was im3. Hebrews and Grecians formed one portant as shewing the intercommunion community, not without an internal between the old and new churches, but struggle touching material interests, but as it had no other special object, and without any discordance in forms of occurred at a period when a new and worship or in doctrines: and one Gentile severe persecution was scattering the household in Palestine had been adApostles, it did not fall within the scope mitted into full communion with the of St Paul's notices in GaL L or ii. Here Church. we read simply that Barnabas and Saul, The Gospel had been preached to 4. not having any Apostolic commission, Gentiles in Syria, a course sanctioned but as messengers from Antioch, dis- and confirmed by the Apostles. charged their duty, and brought back Such was the extent and character of with them John Mark, a near relative of the work assigned to the Apostles, so far Barnabas. as regarded the first part of their commission, and executed by them within eleven years from the date of the AscenChapter xil sion.

44, as all Chronologers agree, Wieseler, Ussher, Pearson, Tillemont,

a. d.

Winer and Anger; see Lewin, 'Fasti SacrL'

The 1 2th chapter marks a most important epoch. Jt closes the accounts of St Peter's Apostolical career with an event, glorious indeed to that great Apostle, but neither here nor elsewhere does our author give any indication of the works in other places, which are assigned to him by early and trustworthy traditions. Henceforth we find important notices of proceedings of the Apostolic body and of the part taken by St Peter at Jerusalem but so far as :

regards

labours in fulfilling the Mission entrusted to them in the beginning, they pass out of our sight should, however, observe how much had already been effected, and what preparation had been made for future work. their

1. The Gospel had been preached throughout Palestine, had penetrated Phoenicia and Cyprus, and had taken

firm root at Antioch.

Second Part of the Acts, from a.d. 44 &A.D. 63.

We must pass rapidly over the remaining portion of the Book. Though more considerable in extent it presents fewer points contested by modern critics. We find in it, speaking generally, a summary account of the evangelization of representative races of the Gentile world. From first to last in this account St Paul holds the central place. St Peter appears once more, confirming by his weighty authority the position taken by St Paul; but he yields, without an indication of reluctance, the conduct of the great enterprise to the younger Apostle. In accordance with this St Paul states, GaL ii. 9, that James, Cephas, and John, recognized as pillars of the Church, gave up that work to him and to Barnabas. The Call of Barnabas and Saul. Ch. xiiL, xiv. a.d. 45 to a.d. 47.

2. The Church, in essentials, had been organized in Jerusalem. The order of Deacons had been established; the first notice of a Presbytery, or body of Presbyters, is found just before the close

Barnabas and Saul are designated by the Holy Ghost for the work whereunto He had called them. This accords with St Paul's repeated statements that his

of this period, xi. 30; and James is for the first time mentioned, ch. xil 17, as the head or representative of the brethren, in fact, if not in title, the first Bishop. Thus we find, not a formal record, but a distinct indication of a threefold ministry,

pendent of the original Apostles; see 1 Cor. L 1 ; 2 Cor. i. 1 ; GaL i. 1, 12, 15. Antioch, not Jerusalem, is now the centre of missionary enterprise, certainly not the place which a writer anxious to maintain the supremacy of the oldest

call and appointment were entirely inde-

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THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. Church would have selected;

317

certainly, the place best adapted for the

Jerusalem to consult the Apostles and 1 Elders . So St Luke states, as usual

purpose by its political importance, geo-

succinctly,

graphical position, and by its mixed population, representing the leading nationalities of the Aryan and Semitic

occurrences only.

but, as

races.

The course was rapid. circuit

In the first Cyprus and the south-eastern dis-

tricts of Asia Minor received the Gospel:

the most important places were twice a commencement of organization was made by the appointment of In ch. xiv. 4, 14 Presbyters (xiv. 23). St Barnabas and St Paul are for the first 1 time designated as Apostles An interval of some duration*, certainly more than one year, followed, during which the fusion between the Hebrew and Gentile elements appears to have proceeded rapidly under the joint influence of St Paul and St Barnabas. visited, and

The Meeting of the Church at Jerusalem. a. d. 48, Lewin, but

more probably a. d.

49 or 50, the fourteenth current year after St Paul's conversion

§ .

At this time the question previously not finally settled by a si-

raised, but

lence denoting acquiescence, not formal consent, called for an absolute decision, in consequence of the act of some persons who came from Jerusalem, as we find stated by St Paul, and who insisted upon the circumcision of Gentile con4 verts, but certainly not, as some assume, with the concurrence or knowledge of St James. St Paul and Barnabas were sent to 1 On the purport and bearings of the discourses during this period, see further on, § 8. 1

xp6ror ovk 6\lyow.

The date is conjectural.

Two intervals are

marked after the Passover A.D. 44, St Paul and Barnabas had made their first circuit and remained long at Antioch ; between the meeting at Jerusalem and St Paul's arrival at Corinth, a.d. 51, he had preached the gospel in Asia Minor, Macedonia, and at Athens. The meeting must therefore have taken place between the extreme limits of A.D. 46 and A.D. 50. Pearson, whose historical tact seldom fails him, fixes upon a.d. aq.

distinctly

4 "Certainly we may say, if we consider St Paul's own statement that he went to Jerusalem expressly to consult the chief leaders, specially St James. Gal. ii. 1, 7 9.

—

as before, public St Paul informs us

noticing,

further that he and Barnabas were accom-

who as an uncircumcised convert was specially concerned with the question at issue; and that they panied by Titus,

went up in consequence of a special a direction given by the Holy Spirit, probably through a prophet, as in the case of the first appointment of himself and Barnabas ; and also that he went with the intention of communirevelation, i.e.

cating to the Church, and specially to its chiefs, the Gospel which he had preached, i.e. its precise character and conditions, in order to secure himself from the possibility of failure.

In the discussion which followed, St Peter, as the mouthpiece of the Twelve, and St James, as the local head of the Church, both acting in accordance with their previous proceeding, maintained the cause of the Apostle of the Gentiles. The decision, notified by St James, absolutely exempted all Gentile converts from circumcision and legal obligations, the only conditions being either such as had been recognized as binding independently of the Mosaic Code, or as were indispensable for the conservation of moral and religious purity.

Some time was then passed at Antioch, where St Paul and Barnabas had the assistance, first of the two messengers from Jerusalem, then of " many others," ch. xv. 32 Among them, as we 35. learn from Gal ii. n, was St Peter,

—

visit had specially the Hebrew Christians for its object, Gal. ii. 9 ; it is not recorded by St Luke, as it had no direct bearing upon the progress of the evangelization of the Gentiles with which this portion of his work is exclusively

whose

concerned. We read however of a sharp dispute between St Barnabas and St Paul, leading to a separation, and consequently to a concentration of our attention from this time forward upon the person and work of St Paul, who with Silas was then " commended to the grace of God M by 1

The alleged contradictions between this ac-

count and that of St Paul will be furthei considered in 8 4 ; see p. 314.

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INTRODUCTION TO

3i8

the Church, and set out on his second great Missionary journey. Here we should observe the candour and absence of all party feeling in the historian, who is held by some critics to have had as his main object the deliberate suppression of all indications of difference between St Paul and other Apostles.

occasion is intimated as beginning at Troas, and ceasing at Philippi, the last time when the writer speaks in the first person being immediately before the arrest of St Paul and Silas. The suggestion that St Luke was left in charge of the Church there founded has much in its favour and is certainly open to no serious objection. One critic (Renan), even conjectures, disregarding as usual early 1 testimony , that he may have been a Afterwards the folnative of Philippi. lowing cities were visited in order: Amphipolis, Apollonia, Thessalonica, where as usual St Paul was first assaulted by his countrymen, envious of his success with the Greeks to whom they were always opposed, and the chief women among whom they usually counted their own Here we find for staunchest converts. the first time notice of a political charge, which however was not admitted by the rulers of the city, and does not appear to have been repeated in other places. At Bercea even greater success attended the Apostle's preaching driven from thence he went by sea to Athens. There we have one of his principal discourses, remarkable for force and ingenuity, and

From St Paul's Epistles we

should never have inferred the existence of a permanent separation from St Barnabas. On the other hand the notice of a previous difference, Gal. ii. 13, not mentioned by St Luke, indicates a peculiarity of temperament, which when elicited by personal motives, might naturally issue in embittered feelings and temporary alienation.

From Antioch to Corinth. A.D.

50 or 51, to a.d.

52.

•

The work then done in Asia Minor passed over very rapidly in the Acts, but it must have occupied a considerable time, if, as seems probable, Phrygia and Galatia were then evangelized. It is evident that the writer was not with St Paul at that time, but he notices one very important point which shews that the decision of the Apostles, cL xv. 24 f., was not regarded by St Paul as applicable to the child of a Jewish mother. In accordance with his own 22 principle see 1 Cor. ix. 20 he circumcised Timothy, henceforth his most efficient and beloved companion. At Troas two facts of exceeding interest are recorded. Here first St Paul ', moved by a vision, determined to pass into Europe and here for the first time we have a distinct indication of the presence of the writer of the book. He speaks in the first person of himself and St Paul's company, and in terms which imply close intimacy and a distinguished place among them. " We endeavoured asis

—

also for

its

— —

intellectual culture.

Arrival at Corinth.

a.d. 52 ; Lewin, Wieseler, Anger, Winer,

Tillemont and Pearson: probably in the autumn.

Ch. xviii.

—

suredly gathering God had called us to preach we came to Samothracia, and we were in Philippi abiding certain days." On the bearing of these statements upon the authorship we have to speak elsewhere; here we have simply to notice the fact that the personal connection between the writer and St Paul on this 1

Cp. « Cor. ii. ia.

striking dissimilarity .to dis-

courses addressed to Hebrews, to mixed congregations, and to rustic heathens*. We must also note the carefulness of the historian not to exaggerate the effects of that discourse; few were converted, but among the few was one associated with the early history of the Church as the first Bishop in the metropolis of

St Paul abode a long time, Corinth, a place destined to be the true centre of Greek Christianity, combining very peculiar advantages, and presenting also some of the most formidable obstacles to the introduction and growth of pure religion. Here, pursuing the business of tent-making, as our writer, v. 3, and as St Paul, 1 Cor. iv. 11,

x Which represents him as a native of Antioch, see Eusebius, • H. E.' ill. 4.

See 8 8, on the Discourses in the Acts.

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THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. ri, are

both careful to state, the Apostle

made numerous converts, both Jews and Greeks; at first as usual preaching in the synagogue a fact which disposes of the assumption that his mission was exclusively to the heathen, who were its principal object but when, aided by Silas and Timotheus, he testified that Jesus was the Christ, he was driven by the fierce opposition of the Jews to separate, for the first time formally, from

—

their

communion.

There is no indica-

of an internal dissension between Hebrew and Gentile Christians. After eighteen months an attempt was made to bring in the authority of the Roman Proconsul, but it failed signally, &rving only to incense the Greeks, even the unconverted, against the leaders of the synagogue. Some months were passed by the Apostle in extending and building up the Church; at Cenchreae we find St Paul observing a national rite; thence he proceeded to Ephefcus, having laid firmly the foundation of the Church among the people by whom the civilization of the ancient world, both in its noblest aspects and its most perilous tion, however,

to which he refers in 2 Cor. xi. 23

trials

—

319

Thence he came to Ephesus, where he remained three years; a most important epoch both as regards the establishment of the Church in the adjoining district, and as shewing the effect of the contact of the Gospel with Asiatic superstition. Hare we have an account of the first furious outburst of heathen antagonism, selfish in its origin, and malignant in its spirit, differing most strikingly from the slight movements at Philippi and Athens, and from the 33.

characteristic indifference of the Roman

Proconsul

just where

Corinth;

and

occurring,

might be expected, in the

which represented the wild fanaticism of the East From Ephesus St Paul departed, early in May, for Macedonia. There he remained a considerable time, probably from May to November, a period of which St Luke states the work in general terms " He went through (SifjkOw) those parts, and gave them much exhortation," terms which correspond, however, very closely with St Paul's own words, Rom. xv. 19. The extent of the journey and its city

—

tendencies, was most clearly represented.

effects are indicated in 2 Corinthians (ch.

From Corinth St Paul went to Ephe-

14 16), which was written during this sojourn in Macedonia, and in Romans (ch. xv. 19), which was written in the following winter. It must have been*a time of severe labour, probably of much trial and suffering, but one during which great progress must have been made in the organization of the Churches, and proof was given of the charitable zeal of the converts. The three winter months were passed in Greece, chiefly at Corinth, where St Luke notices a conspiracy of the Jews, owing to which, instead of proceeding to Syria, St Paul returned to Macedonia, a.d. 58 very early in the year. There he was rejoined at Philippi by the writer of the Acts certainly not Timothy, who with other of St Paul's principal companions " went before us" as the writer says, speaking of himself and St Paul, ch. xx. 5. This marks the close of St Paul's missionary journeys. The journey which He was follows had a different object constrained in spirit (v. 22) to go to Jerusalem with a certainty of " bonds and afflictions," and with a full know-

sus, but after a very short stay proceeded

by Caesarea to Jerusalem, where he arrived in time for the feast of Pentecost see note on v. 21. He then returned to Antioch, thus completing the second great missionary journey. In this portion of the history we observe a scantiness of notices up to the time when the writer gives an indication of his own presence, and an equally remarkable fulness of notices from that point until St Paul's departure from Europe. During that time there must have been constant intercourse between Philippi and Achaia. After this we have a brief summary of what occurred on the journey by Asia Minor, to Caesarea and Jerusalem and thence to Antioch.

The Third Missionary yourney. a.d. 54—57. From Antioch St Paul revisited the

Churches in Galatia and Phrygia, where he must have passed some time, not less than three months, and where he probably experienced

some of the

severe

—

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INTRODUCTION TO

320

that his "course" would be there finished. From this time to the end of the Book the writer was with St Paul ; we have his personal attestation to all the words and acts of the Apostle, with whom he remained alone, as St Paul states, at the close of the Apostle's

ledge

life.

See 2 Tim. iv. 11.

The journey from Philippi to Jerusalem. a.d. 58, from the end of March to

the middle of May.

At Troas we have the record of a and an indication of Church observances, both important as coming At Miletus we from an eye-witness. miracle,

have the only record of a discourse of St Paul addressed to representatives of the Christian Church, a singularly fit conclusion of his missionary work. On the coincidences both of language and of modes of thought with the Pauline Epistles, see § 8. The reception of St Paul and his companions at Jerusalem throws the strongest light upon the true relations between them and the Church in Palestine. They were received gladly by the bre1 thren ; and in a formal meeting of the Elders, under the presidency of St James the Apostle, gave a detailed account of "what God had wrought among the Cp. Rom. Gentiles by His ministry." Here we find a distinct notice xv. 19. of charges and suspicions, such as are repeatedly alluded to in the Epistles charges made by Jews, evidently not members of the Church, from whom they are distinguished, xxi. 21, and suspicions entertained by the general body

of Hebrew Christians, who are however represented as willing to receive an exActing planation of St Paul's conduct on the advice of the Church*, in accord1

It is very strange that his

reception should

he spoken of as cold and merely formal. Sympathy and warm approval of St Paul's work are emphatically expressed and proved. Renan, who seems first ( Saint Paul,' p. 510 513) to have suggested the adverse notion, assumes that Luke has given a false colouring to the transaction thus in fact shewing that the feelings of the Christians, as represented # in the Acts, were thoroughly cordial. ' The conduct of all parties in this transaction has been severely censured by persons who might be expected to bow to the combined authority of St James, St Paul, and the Apostolic Church. 4

ance with his own principles, distinctly stated in the Epistles which deal specifi cally with points of outward observance,

and matters of

indifference (cp.

xiv. throughout

and

Rom.

Cor. ix. 20, 23), the Apostle adopted a course which fully satisfied his Christian brethren; but which, before the seven days which it demanded were completed, brought upon him a fierce persecution, originating with 1

Asiatic Jews {not Hebrew Christians, see

27) then present in great numbers at the festival, who being joined by the Jewish populace drew him out of the Temple and attempted to kill him. The immediate result was his deliverance by the Roman soldiery, leading to his imv.

prisonment at Caesarea, and

finally

his journey as a prisoner to Rome.

Throughout this part of the work the narrative

remarkable for minuteness

and accuracy of details, impressing all critics, however sceptical on other points, with a conviction of the writer's truthfulness and personal acquaintance with the events which he records. Special importance attaches, (1) to the movements of the Jewish party, in which it should be observed that Hebrew Christians are in no way implicated, among whom in fact the Apostle counted by far the largest number of his most devoted (2) to the speeches of the Apostle addressed to Jews, and to Gentile Rulers, giving his own account of

friends;

his principles

and acts before and after and (3) to the notice of

his conversion ;

his two years' imprisonment at Caesarea,

during which St Luke had ample opportunity for collecting materials for both portions of his work. We have then a detailed account of the journey to Rome, where St Paul arrived, as all the best chronologers agree, in the spring of a.d. 61. The last occurrence noted by the writer is the discussion between St Paul and the Jewish leaders at Rome, ending with his announcement that "the salvation of God was sent to the Gentiles and that they would hear it." The Apostle remained at Rome two whole years, during which he preached Godet deals with this question far more fairly see p. 68 of the Introduction to his ' Commentaire sur l'£pttre aux Romains,' just published, 1879.

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THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. the Gospel with success, such as he describes especially in the Epistle to the Philippians, written probably towards the close of this period. a. d. 63, about March.

The book then closes; it terminates most abruptly if we read it as a personal history of the Apostles ; but not abruptly if we read it with reference to the object

which, as we have seen, was distinctly As the intimated in the beginning. xii.) ended with first portion (cch. i. the completion of St Peter's work in Palestine, fulfilling the injunction that the Apostles should be witnesses unto Christ in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria so this second portion records the principal events in St Paul's career by which the last part of the same charge was fulfilled, winding up with the preaching of the Gospel by the Apostle of the Gentiles in the city which was then the centre of the world's life, social and political, and which, as such, both represented and assured the extension of Christendom "unto the uttermost parts of the earth." If, as chronologers generally agree, the end of this history was about March, a.d. 63, it extends over a period of It is thirty years from the Ascension. also to be noted that in that case there must have followed an interval of some eighteen months before the outburst of the Neronian persecution, on the 19th of July, a.d. 64. The martyrdom of St Peter, as all ancient and most modern authorities agree, occurred at that time ; and if not at the same time, yet shortly afterwards, St Paul suffered death, as a

—

Roman citizen, by decapitation.

Both

Apostles died in the twelfth year of Nero's reign, i.e. between October, a.d. 65, and October, a.d. 66. St Luke gives no intimation whatever as to the issue of St Paul's trial, which must have taken place soon after the The most last' events which he records. natural inference is that he brought his work to a close before the trial; for, although the object which he had in view was fully accomplished, it is scarcely conceivable that he should have taken no notice of the result, whether, as seems on the whole most probable, it was an acquittal, followed by labours of which

321

we find scattered notices in the Epistles; or a condemnation, which if not then, yet certainly on a later occasion, was pronounced and executed. The only alternative, admitting the authorship of St Luke, is that suggested by Bleek, viz. that he contemplated a third work ; a suggestion which, though in our opinion inadmissible, serves to bring out very clearly the improbability that he should have written this book after the end of St Paul's life. But if it is improbable that St Luke should have passed over a notice of extreme interest to every Christian reader, far more improbable is the other alternative, proposed by those who deny the authorship of St Luke, and attribute the work to a l

later writer, who is supposed to have com-

posed it with a set purpose of effecting or forwarding a reconcilement between the conflicting parties of Hebrew and Gentile

Christians'. Such a writer could certainly have found no fact better calculated to effect that purpose than that which, at the time assumed on this hypothesis, was undoubtedly accepted by the universal Church, the fact that the great

representatives of Gentile and Hebrew Christianity were united by the most glorious of all deaths.

§ 4.

Consideration of different views as to the

Plan and Object of the Work.

The unity of plan and identity of object in this work and in the third Gospel,

may be assumed if not as proved, yet as distinctly indicated

account

by the preceding be necessary

It will, however,

x The Apocryphal Acts of St Peter and St Paul, of which an account is given by Hilgenfeld, • N.

Test, extra Canonem,' part ?, p. 68 ff., was a work probably written to supply a want which

must have been generally felt by the Church. It may have preserved some traces of an old tradition; but its existence and, as it would seem, its general reception, prove that no account of the later transactions was ever published by St Luke. The suggestion that he contemplated such a work rests on what we regard as an imperfect apprehension of his real object. Bleek 's suggestion, 'Einleitung,' § 130, has been accepted by many critics of eminence, named by Mangold in a note Thus too Thilo, 'Acta S. Thomae/ /. c. % p. 414. p. lviii., quoted and approved by Hilgenfeld, /. c, * See § 11, on the time tnd place of the pub* lication of the Acts, and the section immediately following this, p. 333.

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INTRODUCTION TO

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to examine the statements of those who have impugned both, and it will be the more expedient inasmuch as such inquiry may serve to bring out into clearer light the grounds on which the old, and, as we are convinced, the true and only satisfactory view is firmly established. First, it has been asserted that the main object of the writer was to vindicate for one or other of the two chief representatives of early Christendom the claim to the foremost place in the

ings to which the Apostle himself bears witness, 2 Cor. xi. 23 The omis27. sions may to a great extent be accounted

—

for

our attention

fixed

and him which fulfil what might be expected from one bearing such a name, and specially designated by our Lord to a charge of supreme importance. But that Apostle twelve chapters,

that works are attributed to

passes wholly Out of our sight, so. far as regards his own special work, at the close of the twelfth chapter. No notice is taken of his presence and commanding authority in cities and on occasions more or less distinctly intimated by early writers, and by passages in St Paul's EpisWe should not have inferred from tles. this book that St Peter was concerned with transactions in Antioch, Corinth, or Rome*, or that he terminated his life, according to our Lord's announcement in St John's Gospel, by martyrdom. Whatever the object of the writer might be, it certainly could not be to assert the supremacy of St Peter, who on the only occasion noticed after the 12th chapter occupies a prominent, but still subordinate position in comparison with St James. See notes on ch. xv. 7, 19. St Paul, it is true, fills a larger portion of the book, but had it been the intention of the writer to set him forth as the chief representative of the Church, he would not have omitted to record the long series of trials, labours, and suffer-

trinal system in principle and in detail set

forth

ever before the arrival of St Paul, rests upon the strongest ancient testimony, Clem. R., Irenseus, Dion. Cor., &c ; and is maintained by Hilgenfcld both in his 'Zeitschrift,' 187s, p» 349 f., and to his 'Einleitung.'

in closest har-

differing

from it

only in form and extent, or in reference to special circumstances. We may accept the testimony of adverse critics to the fact of the doctrine being what they call Petrine, without admitting any inference One thing as to the writer's intentions. is certain. The relation between the Hebrew, Hellenistic, and Gentile converts in this book is precisely the same as that which we find in the Epistles of St Paul, and especially in those addressed to the Romans and Corinthians. The Hebrews were in all cases the first objects of Apostolic preaching, the Gentiles became within a few years by far the most numerous and the most influential portion of the united Churck

injunction, cither completing, or even preceding the work of St Peter.

The presence of St Peter at Rome, not how-

in that Epistle

mony with St Paul's,

1 St Barnabas, Stephen, and Philip do works which have important bearings upon the extension of the Church and the fulfilment of our Lord's

•

avoiding

first

habit of

omissions, including the well-authenticated and indeed undisputed martyrdom of St Paul, would be inconceivable had the writer, whether a contemporary or not, been influenced by the motive attributed to him on this hypothesis. Certainly it could not have been the object of the writer to give a complete view of the proceedings of the Apostolic body, who do not come before us in their collective capacity after the introductory chapters. It has however been suggested that independently of the prominence given to the acts of either Apostle, a distinctive type of doctrine, according to some Petrine, according to others Pauline, is represented throughout the book. As to the former it is certain that the doctrine is identical with that which we find most fully expressed in the Epistles of St Peter, especially in the first ; but, as critics who impugn the authenticity of both Epistles have clearly shewn*, the doc-

chiefly, though not exclusively , upon St

Peter in the

writer's

which in the case of St Luke's Gospel has been termed his Sparsamkeit ; but such sparingness,

Church. It is true that

by the

repetitions, a habit

•

1 See additional note on Luke iv. 16, in the preceding volume of this commentary, p. 341. * See especially Hilgenfeld in the 'Zeitschrift fur wiss. Theologie,' 1873, p. 465, &c.,and in the

same periodical for 1874, an article by Seufort on the dependence of 1 Peter upon the Epistle to the Romans, p. 360 t

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THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. Again, as to the Pauline character.

Such a character there is from first to last, as indeed there must needs be in a work certainly written by a companion, or, as all admit, a follower of the Apostle of the Gentiles. We find the doctrine, on which St Paul laid most special stress, stated in his own peculiar

phraseology in the first discourse addressed by him to a mixed congregation, 1 ch. xiii. 38, 39 But it is equally certain that doctrinal statements, specially characteristic of St Paul, do not occupy a prominent, much less an exclusive place. The notices are far from bearing out the judgment of Luther* who held -that the main object of the Acts is to set aside the authority of the Law whereas the observance of purely legal enactments by Hebrews is commended by St Paul's own example, in accordance with his principles and practice as stated in the .

;

Epistles to the Romans, Galatians, and Corinthians. The teaching of the Acts is throughout in harmony with the Epistles, but certainly not in contradistinction to that of the Twelve. More plausible is the position lately adopted by Hilgenfeld, and, with some modifications, maintained by other German critics. They represent the work as written with the express intention of proving a substantial unity of doctrine between the two Apostles. Now we admit, indeed

we lay special stress upon

the fact, that, whether intentional or not, this is the strong impression made by the work. That theory indeed proves the fact, and attests the force of the impression. It is certain that the writer

stands before us as one who looked on both Apostles with equal reverence; saw no difference in their principles or teaching; and knew that, far from opposing, on the most critical occasions (see ch. xv. 7) the one supported the other. There are of course different ways of accounting for this fact One is that, being quite aware of a wide divergence, nay more, of a positive antagonism between that party in the Church which adhered to the original teaching of the Twelve, specially represented by St Peter, and the larger, and in the end generally dominant party formed and developed under St Paul's 1

Sec 1 8 on the Discourses in the Acts, p. 339.

•Seep. 317.

323

guidance, the author wrote this Book with a deliberate intention of effacing all traces of a fact so disgraceful to the Church and so repugnant to the feelings of Christians. This view rests wholly on the alleged contradiction between Acts cch. ix., xv. and St Paul's statements in Gal. i. and ii. Now a comparison of these accounts brings out distinctly certain points of difference which demand consideration, but, with not less distinctness, points of substantial agreement First as to the time of the first visit to Jerusalem. St Luke, ch. ix. 23, says "after that many days were fulfilled." In other passages this expression denotes a period of considerable length, 1 see footnote . St Paul here says three years, certainly a near coincidence, and as certainly undesigned. Next as to the object and results of the visit St Luke (ix. 26) simply states that Saul went up to Jerusalem. St Paul (GaL i. 18) says that he went up there with the express object of consulting St Peter; the word which he uses (ioropr}crat) occurs in no other passage of the New Testament, and implies far more than mere seeing*.

Here we find an indication, which will be corroborated by further inquiry, that St Luke notices those facts only which were matters of public notoriety, whereas St Paul supplies the motives and feelings by which he was actuated. St Luke then tells us that St Paul was not received at first by the disciples, who were naturally suspicious of the new convert, best known as the fierce persecutor,

until he was brought to the Apostles by Barnabas. St Paul tells us that he was received by St Peter, and abode with him fifteen days ; vpos avroV; apud eum, as the Vul1

For the usage of Itcarbt in the N.T., see

Grimm, *I,ex. N. TV /. v. sat diu % sat longum,

In reference to time

Here fear at tyiipcu as

elsewhere implies a considerable time. The time in St Luke's statement includes (1) the preaching or declaration that Jesus was the Son of God, («) a period during which St Paul was strengthened, and (3) a considerable time spent in proving that Jesus was the true Messiah. In reference to places this word denotes careful investigation ; in reference to persons a not less careful inquiry into their character, or their knowledge of matters interesting to the inquirer. Grimm, 'Lex. N. T.,' gives as the true and com-

mon meaning, $cisciUu$dt Hji'jKmj.

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INTRODUCTION TO

324 gate

correctly renders

the

expression,

which occurs but seldom, always in the sense of close personal intercourse, here

probably meaning that he was St Peter's guest, or possibly that he abode with St Peter in the house of Mary, see ch. xii. 12, when both Apostles may have been received as guests of the Church. The difference here is striking, but it tells in the exactly opposite direction to that pointed out by the hypothesis now St Luke alone tells us of in question. coldness and estrangement on the part of disciples, and of hesitation on the part of St Paul singles out St Peter Apostles. as the Apostle whom he came to consult, and with whom he had confidential intercourse; he alone names St James, the brother of the Lord, on that occasion, thus bringing into prominence the two representatives of the parties assumed to be antagonistic to St Paul, St James of the Hebrew Christians at Jerusalem, St Peter of the Twelve. The statement in Gal. i. 22 evidently applies to the relations between St Paul and the Churches of Judaea before and He was not at first known after his visit. to them by person, but when they learned what he had done, they received his testimony and "glorified God" in him. This statement is best explained by reference to Acts ix. 29, 30. Similar remarks apply to the next visit of St Paul to Jerusalem recorded by the Apostle (Gal. ii. 1 f.). He passes over that visit which is briefly noticed in the eleventh and twelfth chapters of the Acts, as not bearing upon his immediate object in addressing the Galatians.

On this occasion, in ch. xv., St Luke deals exclusively with the public transactions, St Paul not less exclusively with discussions. confidential private and These may or may not have been known to a contemporary historian, but it is certain

that

later

writer

must have

known them, having the Epistle before him, which, as adverse critics admit, was universally received.

If the result is to

exhibit an apparent discrepancy, which, to say the least, is very questionable, it

one which, like that already considered, is in direct conflict with the hy-

pothesis maintained by modern speculators.

Luke tells us, ch. xv. 2, that when

the question of circumcision had given occasion to "no small dissension and disputation," Paul and Barnabas were sent by the Church to consult the Apostles and Elders. have here the record of the public act, accompanied with a notice of internal discord, strikingly at variance with the object attributed to St Luke. St Paul tells us that he went up by revelation, probably given through a prophet ; and that he there communicated to them, Le. to the members of the Church, in public (contrasted with the next clause), the Gospel which he had preached among the Gentiles ; that is to say, the principles and system which he had inculcated. Thus far the two accounts coincide. But St Paul proceeds to state that he had also a private and confidential interview with those who were recognized as the principal men in the Church, with the special object, "lest by any means he should run, or had run, in vain." Stronger words could not be found to intimate his feeling of the expediency or necessity of thorough agreement with the elder Apostles. After a brief, and certainly a very obscure allusion to the case of Titus', he states the result of that interview; "they added nothing unto him a ; ,, but

A point which St Luke, as usual avoiding

repetitions, omits to notice, especially since all

public acts of such importance appear to have

been determined by communications such as that which he records, ch. xiii. 1. * On the disputed, and as yet unsettled, question whether Titus was or was not circumcised the reader mav consult Bp Lightfoot on Gala-

tians, the highest authority who denies it, or Dr Farrar who, after a long and ingenious dis-

The one point which stands cussion, affirms it. out distinctly, is that Titus was not compdUd to be circumcised, a statement which undoubtedly applies to the Apostles whom St Paul privately consulted, and which thus completely disposes of Baur's theory. Again it is clear that if St Paul did consent to let Titus undergo the rite, as Renan and Dr Farrar assert, his object was not to meet the wishes of the Apostles, but to put a stop to calumnious misrepresentations of his conduct on the part of false brethren, such as are expressly repudiated by St James, ch. xv. 24. » Otter T/xHraW0e*T©, as Grimm, 'Lex. N. TV 1879, explains it, eptnu suo nihil additUrunt, Le. they added nothing of their own to what St Paul had previously taught. This implies, as Bishop Lightfoot observes in his note on the passage, that the Apostles saw nothing defective or incorrect in St Paul's teaching : a stronger attestation could hardly be given to the complete accordance

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THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. "James, Cephas and John gave to him and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship," and formally recognized them as entrusted specially with the mission to Each of the three thus rethe Gentiles. presented as thoroughly in accordance with St Paul is regarded by hostile critics as his rival, his antagonist, and his calumniator On a later occasion the elder Apostle was rebuked by St Paul for inconsistency, as not acting up to his own principles, or in accordance with his own feelings, Gal. ii. 11 15: but the very form of the rebuke proves the fundamental agreement between the Apostles, and is utterly irreconcileable with the theory of a permanent antagonism \ But it is confidently asserted on the one hand that there are no indications that the writer of the Acts knew anything of these private transactions, though St Luke naturally must have known them considering his long and close intimacy with the Apostle; and on the other hand that the public transactions recorded by St Luke are not on any occasion noticed by St Paul. It might suffice to answer that it did not fall within the scope of St Luke to describe feelings or discussions not issuing in public acts, and that St Paul had no occasion to refer to transactions of public notoriety. But we may call attention to a very remarkable and satisfactory coincidence in both cases. St Luke does not mention the express compact between St Paul and Barnabas on the one hand, and the three representatives of the Church and the elder Apostles on the other; but he offers 1

what is more important than a mere stateof their principles.

Observe the reference to the

word dweOturiw which St Paul uses in describing

He laid his his own communication, Gal. ii. 2. doctrine and conduct before them ; they had no additions to propose. 1 See" Renan s 'Saint Paul,' p. 303, where he gives a summary of the most disgraceful misrepresentations of St Paul's character, which he attributes to the authors of the Epistles of St In many Jude, St Peter, and the Apocalypse. other passages similar feelings are attributed to St James, of whom a most offensive portrait is drawn in the same work. •

Thus even Renan, "Les critiques modernes

qui concluent de certains passages de l'£pitre aux Galates (Gal. ii. 1 1) que la rupture de Pierre ct Paul fut absolue se mettent en contradiction non-seulement avec les Actes, mais avec d'autres passages de l'£p!tre aux Galates." GaL i. 18,

325

ment, which would ceitainly have given occasion to cavils; throughout the remaining portion of his history he supplies full proof that the compact was executed. St Paul and St Barnabas from that time are represented by him as exclusively occupied with missionary work among The notices of St Peter the Gentiles. terminate altogether when by his vindication of St Paul at the Council he had

completed his work in Palestine. St Paul, again, does not expressly mention the decision of the Council but a very considerable portion of the Epistle to the Corinthians, the only Episde which is specially concerned with points of external observance, is devoted to the enforcement of the two principal points which were then decided. He deals, as might be expected, most earnestly with the moral point, enforcing it by the most powerful and awful of all arguments, the incompatibility of such pollution as was openly practised and legally established at Corinth, with the presence of the Holy Ghost (see ch. vi. 15 20), an argument which obviously made any notice of a formal enactment superfluous. He deals also fully with the formal point touching "meats offered to idols," at once maintaining the princifirst

—

ple on which the obligation of abstaining rests, and relieving the conscience from over-anxious scrupulosity in its observance, see ch. x. 14 22. Here again he does not allege the authority of the Council, but he supports it by an argument not less forcible than that which he used in the other case, and especially calculated to act on the hearts of communicants, see v. 21. He does not indeed notice that part of the decision which enjoins abstinence "from blood

—

and from things strangled." He may have had no special occasion to refer to it, and it may be assumed that he attached little importance to a matter which has been generally regarded *by the Western Churches as applying to temporary circumstances; but it is noticeable as a matter of fact that the prohibition has from the earliest time up to the present been maintained as binding in those Churches of the East, which were founded for the most part by himself, and which bear distinct traces of '

his influence.

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3^6

INTRODUCTION TO

As for the assumption that this book was written with an express intention either to effect a compromise* or to supply an historical basis for a reconcilement already effected between conflicting parties, we must not lose sight of the fact that so far as regards the old Ebionite, or extreme Jewish section, no compromise was arrived at. At the time arbitrarily assigned by critics of the school of Tubingen to the composition of the book, they the Ebionites received neither the Pauline Epistles, nor any of the Gospels excepting St Matthew, and that probably in a corrupt or mutilated form. So far as regards the great body of the Church Catholic no trace of a compromise, no suggestion of its need, can be adduced. Looking indeed generally at the state-

ments in the Acts, we find there just what we find in St Paul's Epistles. From first to last the Church has two external enemies; heathenism and unbelieving Judaism. Heathenism, at first indifferent, but in the course of a few years entering active antagonism. Judaism, represented in its worst aspects by the secular party, headed by the Sadducean Priesthood; with them originate the persecutions of the Apos-

upon a course of

opposed at first by the representatives of the religion and learning of the tles,

nobler party : to them are attributed the martyrdom of Stephen, and the fierce onslaught on Heljenistic Christians executed by fanatical but not hypocritical zeaWithin the Church, again, we find lots. two parties; one striving for national supremacy, and strongly opposed to the the great movement towards catholicity party drawn from converts mostly Pharisees by persuasion, who naturally retained, together with their old national habits, which they were not called upon to relinquish, many of their old national prejudices, the chief being that admission to the Church involved the obligation to circumcision, and to observance of legal enactments. But so far from leading or countenancing that party, the Apostles, specially St Peter and St James, at the most critical point gave the whole weight of their authority and influence to remove That is the statement in obstructions. That is the statement the Acts, ch. xv. which we find in the earliest writers of

—

Christendom. It might indeed seem as though voices of the early Church were uttered with a special view to demolish the wild Action invented by modern Gnostics. In Rome we hear Clement, first

in succession

to the Apostles,

with St

and nearest

in spirit

and specially connected

Paul, giving the

same promi-

nence to St Peter, and representing both as victims to that evil spirit of envious antagonism, of which they are cruelly 1 In declared to have been the leaders . Alexandria the spirits most thoroughly penetrated by Pauline doctrine are most conspicuous for their admiration of St Peter. In Asia Minor, where the signs of St John's influence are strongest, we find the fullest indications of the early reception and high appreciation of St Paul's Epistles. In fact all the points here maintained are summed up in the work of Irenseus, which is full of quotations from this Book and from the Epistles. He is one of the first and most competent witnesses to the faith of Christians in the East where he was trained under St John's own followers, and in the West where he held a foremost place among those who informed and guided the spirit of the

Church.

The fact of such perfect unity in the testimony borne by the Church as represented by its recognized leaders in all its great communities, and that at a period which in the case of Irenseus reaches directly up to the middle of the second century, and indirectly to a much earlier time, bringing us into contact with the immediate successors of the Apostles,

cannot be urged too strongly. Its importance is indeed felt by modern opponents of the authenticity of this and 1 The attention of the reader is specially requested to the words of St Clement, now completely known from the MS. lately discovered by the Metropolitan of Serrse, Philotheos Bryennios. Aid fiXov jccU tpur ol ntyurrot koX otxatoraroi <ttv~ Xot (cp. Gal. ii. 9) i5iurx0r)<r<w xal *wj fararov ^BXrjirav' X&fiwfiev rp6 (fy>0a\ûJr tjmwt roOt 6yd' 9ovs dirarroXovf , Hh-pov, fa did £i\o» a&xor ou% fra oidi 8vo, dXXci rXeiowat wnêyxc tcWovt, koI aorta fuiprvpâat tropevfof els to* o^f iXoftcw t6top r$t 86£?f . Aid ?rj\o* Ktd (pw HaOXot k.t. X. Assuredly Clement, the Ep. 1 Cor. ch. v. Romans with whom he lived, and the Corinthians whom he addressed, would have been equally astounded to be told of antagonism between -those two "greatest and most righteous pillars of the church,

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THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. other portions of* die New Testament Partly in order to evade or weaken its force, partly under the influence of motives less reprehensible, but connected with the reckless spirit of speculation characteristic of a numerous and influential school in Germany, writers of the rationalistic

and ultra-Protestant parties

within the last thirty or forty years have generally adopted a theory which, with considerable modifications, has found its

way into England, and appears to have been already productive of serious evils. This theory is that the catholicity which, as all admit, is found universally established in the first part of the second century, was then a new thing; that it was the result, whether natural and accidental, or intentional, of a compromise between two antagonistic parties, Judaism and Paulinism \ Now it is true that

on either side of the general body ex-

327

the authentic work of St Luke, shew a genuine appreciation of its value, but a less

satisfactory

insight into

its

special

Thus St Chrysostom, in his first homily on the Acts, holds that the main effect of the Book is to prove the resurscope.

The author of the Book, howwas not thinking of the proof, but of the promulgation, of this and all other manifestations of divine power

rection . ever,

in Christ Cosmas Indicopleustes*, approaching more nearly to the true view, says, that "both in the Gospel and in the Acjs he (St Luke) relates the Ascent of Christ into heaven, and the promise that He will come again and he, St Luke, completes his work, having be:

fore him this one object to which all must look forward." CEcumenius* regards the Book, in its truest and highest aspect, as the Gospel of the Holy Ghost Jerome, followed by Bede, holds that

treme tendencies were developed at an early time; but when developed they

the impression made

speedily led to the formation of heretical

infancy of the new-born Church; but for his own part, dwelling ofl the special vocation of St Luke, he says " animad-

which were separated either by their own act or by a process of excision from the Church. But it is also true that within the Church no traces of a conflict, much less of a compromise, are found in any early writer; that we have abundant proof of the reception of the Pauline Epistles in Churches under the government of St Peter, St James, St parties,

John and their successors, as also of the works of those Apostles in churches established by St Paul and thoroughly impregnated with his principles; and that the existence or continuance of any such conflict is in direct opposition to the spirit which pervades the New Testament, as indeed may be inferred from the pertinacious attacks of those who deny the authenticity or reject the authority of every book, with the exception of four Epistles of St Paul It may suffice to give a very brief notice of other views as to the main object of the writer. The early Fathers, who, without exception, recognize it as

upon the reader is that it is simply a history describing the

vertimus pariter omnia illius verba languentis animae esse medicinam/' an observation which though true is not ad rem, St Luke was certainly not thinking of his own part of the work. He heals the sick soul by shewing the fulfilment of our Saviour s last words. Luther (Werke, voL xiv. p. 106) sees one point, as usual, clearly, but also, as usual, exclusively. " In this Book St Luke teaches all Christendom unto the end of the world the real central principle of Christian doctrine; viz. that we* must all be righteous only through faith in Jesus Christ without any aid (Zuthun) of the Law, or help of our works;" a statement of which the first part touching justification

faith

would have been

stated categorically in one passage only in the Acts ; but which certainly was not con-

templated by him as his main object in 1

heartily accepted by St Luke, though it is

toOt© fidXiffra ten rovrl rb fiipkiov, dflifeifit Ed. Ben., Tom. IX., p. 3, E. See Montfaucon, 'Collectio nova Patrum,'

E. Renan brings all his ingenuity to bear upoft the defence of this theory in his latest work, published in October, 1870, entitled 'L'£glise chrltitnne,' see p. 333. He assumes that the reconciliation was completed about A.D. 140; f\*. in the lifetime of Irenaeus, and long after the publication of St Clement's first Epistle to the

ara<rT&(reioi.

Corinthians.

(0 frtpot Uap6jc\rjroi) said and did."

II.

p. 347. In this

as usual he follows Chrysostom, 'Horn, in Acta' i, who savs, "the Gospels are a history of what Christ did and said ; but the Acts a history of what the other Comforter *

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INTRODUCTION TO

328

this or in the former treatise, both of which

are concerned with the inculcation of all truths in which catechumens had previously received instruction. The views of later writers need not be recapitulated ; so far as they do not accord with those of F.

Baur and his followers, which have been already discussed, they agree generally in holding the work to be simply a history of Missions for the extension of Christendom, or more generally of the early Church; a view which correctly represents the contents, but ignores the real purport of the Book . 1

Internal Evidences of Author-

§ 5.

ship.

In addition to the evidence supplied by the unity of plan in the third Gospel and in the Acts, which as we have seen recognized

of different every unbiassed reader who gives serious attention to the two books, the following points call for

schools,

and

critics

strikes

special attention. (1)

We find a singular unity of system

This is shewn in the in both treatises. first place by the different method pur-

sued by the writer in narrating those events, of which he .must have derived his knowledge either from written documents, or from oral tradition ; and those which he either learned from his own personal acquaintance with the actors, and from participation in their work, or which he brought for the first time before his readers, giv-

ing special information touching points of permanent interest to the Church. In the Gospel that portion which coincides more or less exactly with Matthew and Mark occupies less than one-third of the whole, and is especially remarkable for conciseness and omissions of circumstantial details. But on the other hand in this portion many passages are admitted generally to have been taken from documents previously extant These

have two distinct characteristics.

When

Thus Meyer, 'Einleitung,* § 2. **If it is assumed that St Luke's object in this book was to give a history of Missions for the propagation of Christianity (Eichhorn), or a Pauline Church history (Credner), or more accurately and correctly, the history of the outspreading of the Church from Jerusalem to Rome (Mayerhoff,

Eaumgarten,

Guericke,

Lekebusch,

Ewald,

Oertel), that assumption, strictly speaking, involves a confusion of the contents with the

object."

they refer to events not recorded by the other Synoptists they are diffuse and abound in significant details, see especially the first two chapters, sometimes called the Gospel of the Infancy, which have speeches and hymns peculiar to With the exception of the this Gospel. introductory sentence, both the narrative and the discourses are thoroughly Aramaic or Palestinian in language and in tone. They occupy considerable space, whether compared with the other Gospels or with the following chapters. St Luke in all probability derived his information either from members of the Holy Family or from a disciple personally cognizant of the facts. The seven following chapters are concise, with the exception of some details not found in those Gospels, and bear few traces of the writer's peculiarities. On the other hand in the next chapters, from ix. 5 1 to xix. 28, the record of a single portion of our Lord's history, that which preceded the last visit to Jerusalem, is conspicuous for fulness ; it contains a whole series of parables, differing remarkably from those given by the other Evangelists; and ftom first to last it is stamped by the characteristics of the writer. Throughout the remainder of the Gospel the part agreeing closely with the other Evangelists is very short, but the incidents which they do not relate are presented with singular vividness of colouring and minuteness of detail.

In the Acts we find the same striking disproportion. In one respect there is a necessary unlikeness. The Gospel, as the writer states, had many precursors, and it deals with facts already well known to all Christians. The Acts was the only Book, generally received by Churchmen, which recorded the transactions subsequent to the Ascension. But nevertheless we observe, in accordance with what we have noticed in the Gospel, that although the first twelve chapters compress into a small space the events of some eleven years, they give a very full account of some principal transactions and discourses; and in that portion the same tone of thought and forms of language which we have noticed in the corresponding parts of the Gospel are conspicuous. The Aramaic colouring is so distinct that it supplies the strongest

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THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.

329

ground for the assumption that the writer used documents either written in the vernacular language, or composed by authdrs of Hebrew origin and training. Again in the far more considerable portion of the Book, which gives an account of some twenty years, we find a no less striking disproportion between the ac-

able omissions, see the additional note on St Luke, ch. iv. 16. In the Acts this habit is equally observable. In the records of the missionary journeys details which have occupied much space on the first visit to cities and districts are totally unnoticed in the second. This leaves several chasms, so to speak, which, by count of events occurring before the critics unmindful of the writer's peculiar writer joined St Paul, or at times when he method, have been adduced as indicawas not in his company, and of those tions of imperfect knowledge. Thus the where the author speaks in the first per- trials and sufferings, the successes and son. hindrances which St Paul mentions in Here again in the part which refers to 2 Cor. xi. 23 30, most of which appear to the previous history of St Paul a general have occurred during his second journey disparity is noticeable. Transactions of through Asia Minor, do not fall within public notoriety and critical importance the scope of the direct narrative but it is are recorded with a certain fulness, where- certain that they were known to St Luke as a very large number which concern for he records the speech of St Paul, ch. personal matters, or which were of a simi- xx., in which the Apostle makes distinct lar character to those which had been mention of them, v. 20. Thus too the already narrated, are either touched upon work done in Macedonia, shortly before in the most summary manner, or are St Paul wrote the second Epistle to the Corinthians, in which its extent is noted, passed over without any notice. In the latter portion which refers to is barely indicated by a few pregnant the period when the author was with words, ch. xx. 2 ; nor are any details St Paul no such omissions are tracegiven of what St Paul did during the able. Every transaction is related with three months which he afterwards spent remarkable fulness of detail. We note in Greece. indeed two periods of long duration, Some omissions may be accounted for one of St Paul's imprisonment at Csesarea, in part by the fact that they belong to the personal history of St Paul, which is another that at Rome, which are noticed in two or three verses; as may be innoticed by the writer only so far as regards his one great object of recording ferred because they did not fall within the scope of the writer, the 'outward the advance of the Gospel ; but they extension of the Gospel during that time certainly are in accordance with what has been shewn to be a general characbeing, so far as regards the Apostle, suspended. But with those exceptions, teristic of St Luke's Gospel. Unity of style. This point has which correspond to the omission in the (2) Gospel of all notice of the forty days be- been long since very generally recogtween the Resurrection and Ascension nized by critics of most opposite tendenwhich the writer himself records in this cies ; see above, p. 3 10. It is observable Book, we have as minute and full ac- in the first place in the use of the Greek count of what was done or said as could language, which differs materially from that found in other books of the New be expected from a personal witness. The omissions in the Gospel and in Testament, especially in the Gospels of the Acts which have given occasion to St Matthew, St Mark, and St John. It is the sharpest criticisms may require expla- more classical, especially in those portions where the writer speaks in his own person, nation. Those in the Gospel are confined or narrates events which are not recorded to the portion common to St Luke and This observation naturally the other Synoptists, and for the most elsewhere. applies to the Acts to a greater extent part they have been accounted for satisbut it has been fully proved to apply factorily by what, as we have already Where again the to the Gospel also. noticed, an able writer pointed out as the Sparsamkat of St Luke *' c. the habit style is less classical it supplies another of avoiding repetitions, which has cer- proof of curious and interesting resemAs we have seen, the write! blance. tainly led to some of the most remark-

—

;

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INTRODUCTION TO

330 of the

Gospel

either

common

large portions the Synoptists, or evidently taken from written documents, The writer of or from oral traditions. the Acts, especially in the earlier chapters, as certainly uses documents or traditions which he adopts without any This of itself is a material alteration. very striking peculiarity. Among ancient writers we do not find any near parallel It was reserved among modern writers to one of our own time to give life and variety to his narrative, not to speak of picturesque effect, by the insertion of long passages differing in style and local colouring from his own composition. What is not less striking is the fact that in these portions the language is full of Hebraisms, and peculiar forms of expression common to the Gospel and the Acts, but not found at all, or found very rarely, in other books of the New inserts

Testament

A list of idioms peculiar to the Gospel and "the Acts" was given some years ago by Credner'; not less than sixty-four idioms are enumerated by him, to which very considerable additions have been since

made by Lekebusch

;

by Guder ,

who calls special attention to similarity of ideas and expressions of thought; and 4 by Konig who fills nine pages with citations, most of which will stand the test of the most captious criticism; and ,

which,

extensive as they are, receive continually new support in the course

Credner wound up of careful inquiry. his note (p. 142) on this subject with the statement certainly not disproved,

—

though often contradicted, by writers who have gone to extremes in the tendency which generally marks his own critical labours— that "these very

numerous

peculiarities

attest with

cer-

tainty (sichtrn) the genuineness of the whole work, Gospel and Acts, in its

—

present form " a genuineness which, as he adds, may be demonstrated by other internal evidence.

To take a single instance, the word It does is especially significant not occur at all in the first two Gospels.

\apvt 1

M. A. Thierry.

• 1

Sec 'Einleitung,' | 50. In Herzog's 'Real-Encyclopaedic,'

viil. p.

verses; L 14, 16, 17; but not elsewhere. But in the third Gospel it occurs weight times, in the Acts seventeen; in St Paul's Epistles it comes before us some hundred of times, being in fact a very keynote of his doctrinal teaching. St Peter uses it very often in his first Epistle, which, as we have previously remarked, agrees closely in tone with St PauL The verb ixapliofuu) is found twice in St Luke's Gospel; thrice in the Acts; often in St Paul ; but nowhere else in the New Testament St Luke does not always use either word in the precise dogmatic sense most common in St Paul but it is evident that his mind was saturated with the great thought, and that it gave an unconscious colouring to his language. Here we would call attention to one very striking peculiarity, to which readers,

accustomed

observe characteristic to of personal feeling, will probably attach not less importance than to coincidences of language. The singular beauty of St Luke's Gospel, which, as we observed in a former paragraph, has been fully recognized by E. Renan *, is attributed by that critic to the hearty sympathy of the Evangelist with the deep tenderness which breathes in the words and acts of the Saviour. It must be admitted that Renan's remarks, though savouring of his habitual and at times most painful irreverence, bring out that characteristic with singular vividness. Thus he notes the peculiar stress which St Luke lays upon all notices of physical suffering, privation, and want, and what he ventures to call pure Ebionism*, the glorification of poverty ; the importance attached to liberal, unbounded charity in the form of almsgiving ; the parables, recorded in this Gospel only, which express most fully the love and sympathy of Jesus, His care for the lost and perishing, the Prodigal Son, the Good Samaritan; the full free forgiveness of repentant sinners ; the grace and beauty of all that is peculiar to St Luke in his accounts of the Infancy, and of traits

See 'Les ^vangiles/ ch. xiii. : published in

1877.

55*4

In St John's Gospel it is found thrice one section in the first introductory

'Die Echtheit der Apostelgeschichte/ p. 24

to 34.

Sec the notice of the Ebionites further on, 1 6. p. 334. *

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THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. the Passion of our Lord ; the extreme delicacy and fineness of his delineations of personal character; and, speaking generally, what Renan describes as a spirit of holy infancy, of joy, of fervour, of evangelical sentiment in its first freshness, which throws over the whole narrative tints of incomparable sweetness. Now all that is true in these remarks, which bring into clear light characteristics of the Gospel, ever felt by Christians, but not always consciously discerned or fully appreciated, is equally and in some In a points peculiarly true of the Acts. following paragraph, § 7, we shall have occasion to notice the singular depth and keenness of observation evinced by our writer in the portraiture of individual characters, both of those who stand out most prominently in the narrative, and those who are incidentally introduced.

331

own writings, but our writer dwells with peculiar interest upon all indications of tenderness and sympathy. Never does St Paul win our hearts more thoroughly than when we read his parting address to hij weeping and inconsolable friends at Miletus; and find him responding with a broken heart to the expostulations of his followers at Caesarea. These are but a sample of indications which pervade the narrative. They are not adduced as contrasting the character of the two Apostles with other saintly

The poverty and sufferings of the first

spirits, who like them were penetrated through and through with the love of their Master; but it must be admitted that they occupy so prominent a place in this Book and in the Gospel as to deserve to be reckoned among the most convincing evidences of the identity of the writer. Unity of doctrinal system. This (3) is scarcely questioned ; it certainly is not open to serious question. The Pauline character of the Gospel is a matter of general notoriety; that of the Acts is equally demonstrable. This point will

Christians, contrasted with a liberality so

come out distinctly when we consider the

transcending all ordinary manifestations of the special grace of charity as to have given occasion to bitter cavillings on the part of opponents of the faith, and to no small perplexity on the part of its defenders, occupy a foremost place in The frequent miracles of this narrative. healing are described with the care natural to a physician, and in each case accompanied with words and acts expresNo narrative sive of liveliest sympathy. has made a deeper impression upon the hearts of Christian sufferers than that which records the dying words of the 1 In St Peter's character, first martyr in all his speeches and acts, we see a lively reproduction of his Master's feelings; earnestness in exhortation not more conspicuous than affectionateness a total absence of bitterness in his deala ings with Hebrews and Gentiles; prompt and joyful acquiescence in dictates opposed to previous convictions or prejudices ; a frank and cordial recognition of St Paul's position and merits. The notices of St Paul's character are throughout in fullest accord with the Apostle's

speeches of the Apostles, especially those Putting aside all questions of St Paul. open to dispute it must be admitted that a unity of doctrine not merely in substance, but in forms of expression, in indirect allusions as well as formal statements, supplies an indication, if not conclusive proof, of unity of authorship. The unity of authorship being admitted, we have to inquire who was the

Here it may suffice to call attention to traits indicating

just that tenderness

sympathy which Renan dwells upon as specially

characteristic

the Gospel.

far

1 -See the passage from the Epistle of the Churches of Lyons and Vienne quoted in § 6, p.

335.

author. He must have been a man who had access to special sources of information, and had carefully inquired into the history of the Church from the beginning ; but one who certainly was not a personal witness of the events. recorded in the first part of this Book and probably not of other events preceding the time when the narrative passes from the third As we have seen to the first person. he certainly uses accounts previously extant The narrative is discontinuous. It differs in style, in compass, in colouring from the latter portion. What the writer does record are great critical movements what he omits are for the most part personal transactions, accounts of the proceedings of other Apostles than Peter and Paul, events not indispensable to the elucidation of his main object, but :

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INTRODUCTION TO

332

of considerable interest, and as such not been passed over by one personally engaged in them, or present when they occurred. We should naturally infer either that the writer was converted, or became connected with the Church,

likely to have

after those events, or that

distance.

he lived at a

The latter supposition is sup-

ported by the well-known fact that the geography of Palestine both in the Gospel and the Acts is singularly deficient in The country appears to specific details.

have been little known to the writer, who evidently also assumes that notices of places in Palestine would be of little inThere is indeed terest to his readers. a difference in this respect between the Gospel and the Acts, sufficient to suggest the inference that the writer had been in Palestine soon after or during the transactions which he records in the latter work ; but from first to last his notices present a very remarkable contrast with his full, accurate, and vivid accounts of places in Europe, and specially in Italy. In referring to the best known places in Palestine he gives what he must have regarded as explanations needed by his readers, see

Luke i 26, iv. 31, viii. 26,

51 ; Acts i. 12. On the other hand, we have an equal certainty, the unity of the work being admitted, that the writer was a companion of St Paul during the period which elapsed between the beginning of his last journey to Jerusalem and the end of the two years passed at Rome;

xxiii.

and moreover that he had specially full the principal information concerning events which immediately preceded that The writer was with St Paul journey. when the Apostle first visited Troas and

accompanied him to Philippi.

When he

joined St Paul he was at once in a position of confidential intercourse : he must therefore have been a convert of some standing. In notices of places after that time the writer shews a thorough familiarity with them, such as could not have been possessed by any Palestinian Jew, or by any Hellenist or Gentile who had not visited them under circumstances of special interest

Among the companions of St Paul we one in whom all these indica-

find but tions

meet

Titus, Timothy, Silas, and

in fact all others who have been proposed

by modern critics as probable or possible authors, are excluded Those three 1

joined St Paul long before the writer is personally introduced they were not with him when the writer speaks in the first person; they were with him when he speaks in the third person. Thus we learn from St Paul that Titus, who had accompanied him to Jerusalem previously, Gal. ii. 3, was not at Troas at a time when the writer speaks as being present see 2 Cor. ii. 12, 13. Silas and Timothy were with St Paul after he left Philippi, where the expression we ceases to be used. They were with him during the long periods when the writer compresses his narrative, and was certainly not present On the other hand, we have St Paul's testimony that Luke was with him during his imprisonment at Rome, 2 Tim. iv. 11; that he was trusted and loved by him, Col. iv. 14 that he was a physician, a profession which at that time, especially in Asia Minor", implied mental culture such as critics recognize in the author of both books ; a fact too which best accounts for the minute and accurate notices of bodily ailments and cures. We find an allusion to a brother (2 Cor. xii. 18) who was sent on a confidential mission to Corinth just at a time when the writer of the Acts compresses into a few lines his notice of an important epoch in the Apostle's work. Lastly, we have a notice (Col. iv., compare v. 14 with v. 11), admitted by most critics to be conclusive as to the fact # that Luke was of Gentile descent, a circumstance which accords strikingly with the indications of warm sympathy in Gentile conversions, and which may have specially designated him to the great Apostle of the Gentiles as the fittest person to record his own labours in the fulfilment of the last and most extensive portion of the Saviour's injunc:

tion. 1 See the remarks of Professor Birks, • Hone Apostolic*,* quoted by Bp Wordsworth in his 'Introduction to the Acts, p. 1, note 5. 1 In Italy physicians were often attached to great households as freed men, or even as slaves but in Asia Minor they were recognized as members of a liberal profession, belonging to the school which had produced the greatest masters Both in the Gospel in the science of healing. and in the Acts St Luke abounds in idioms peculiar to Hippocrates,

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THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. We come therefore to the considera-

by the Church

tion of the external evidence, expecting

cautious critic.

333

a captious or over-

In Clement of Rome, whose first to find St Luke named, and with a readiness to accept the attestation of Epistle to the Corinthians is the earliest competent witnesses to the fact of his* undisputed document of the Apostolic That such an expectation age, there are several coincidences 1 , authorship. has been satisfied may be seen by reference to the judgment of critics, certainly without prepossessions in favour of a follower of St Paul, which has been noticed in the first section of this Introduction. It will however be convenient here to combine the inquiry into this point with the more general one as to the reception of the Book by the representatives of the Church in the whole Ante-Nicene period, to which supreme importance is attached by churchmen, and to which high value is attached by every critic.

§ 6.

External Evidences of Reception by Early Fathers.

We have first to consider the so-called Apostolic Fathers, i.e. those who were contemporary with some of the Apostles. In reference to their writings it must always be borne in mind that it was not their custom either to cite any writer of

the New Testament by name, or to It was give full and literal quotations. sufficient for their purpose to present the general drift and purport of statements bearing upon spiritual life or Christians needed only to be practice. reminded of sayings of our Lord which were not only recorded by the Evangelists, but were constantly brought before them in the public and private teaching Even in the very nuof the Church. merous references to the Epistles of St Paul, or in the less numerous but not less certain references to those of other Apostles, no mention is made by the earliest Fathers of their names, nor are

the citations,

though

easily

identified,

verbally complete or accurate. Bearing this in mind, in the case of

a book which does not deal with our Lord's personal history nor record His discourses

some of which may of course be dismissed as accidental, but which on the whole are best accounted for as reminiscences of this Book, which must have been well known to Clement, if, as we hold for certain, it was written by St Luke, and in all probability at Rome (see The first passage indeed is suffi§ 1 1). not absolutely to prove, yet to justify, this assumption. In the second paragraph of his Epistle Clement enforces the duty of Christians by the striking words " more gladly giving than receiving," " doubtless," as Bp Lightfoot observes, " a reference to our cient

certainly

Lord's words recorded Acts xx. 35 ; see below, § 13, where the context of the passage is echoed." The saying to which reference is made is the only unquestioned utterance of our Lord which has not been recorded by the Evangelists. All commentators, Bishop Jacobson, Harnack, &c, recognize this as a distinct allusion to the passage in the Acts. Papias. It has been argued with great force, and to say the least with much probability, that Papias wrote the very extraordinary legend in Cramer's 'Catena/ CEcumenius, and other early commentators, with a special intention of reconciling the accounts of the death of Judas given in the Acts with that in St Matthew*. Zahn first defended this view in an able article on Papias in the 'Theol. Stud. u. Krit.' 1866, pp. 684 690. His position was attacked, but not overthrown, by Overbeck in Hilgenfeld's 'Zeitschrift fur wiss. Theol.' 1867. With these compare Steitz, 'Stud, u. Krit.' 1868, p. 88, who does not

—

Seven are

Clement's

first

noticed epistle

the index to St the late edition of

Gebhardt and Harnack, p. 237 very nearly the same number of references as is there given to the Synoptic Gospels, and again to that of St :

—the great central points of —the utmost we are ClementA comparison

interest to Christians

expect are coincidences of thought and expression sufficient to indicate to an unbiassed reader a certain amount of familiarity with its contents, but not sufficient to prove its reception entitled to

of the vocabulary of St with that of the Acts confirms the impression thus made, e.g. aywr, &rro$0a\fU<af xXevifw, apxrryfo* odot, &c. See also the passage concerning St Peter and St Paul quoted p. 316. • See the latest revision of the text in the edition of the Apostolic Fathers' by Gebhardt, Harnack and Zahn, Tom. 1. p. 187.

John.

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INTRODUCTION TO

334

accept Zahn's account, but admits the 1 intention of the writers in the ' Catena. But, as Zahn observes, they would hardly have quoted Papias so confidently had not his statement supported their view. Whatever may have been the intention of Papias there can be no reasonable doubt as to the allusion to St Peter's account in this Book. Polycarp, a disciple of St John, has coincidences which are satisfactorily explained by the hypothesis that he had the Acts of the Apostles in his mind.

Compare his Epistle, ch. i. with Acts ii. 24; ch. ii. with Acts x. 42 ; and ch. iii. with Acts xvi. 1 2. Traces of a similar character are found in the Epistles of Ignatius, e.g. 'ad Smyrn.' "He ate c. iii., compared with Acts x. 41 and drank with them,' a statement which is not made totidem verbis elsewhere in Compare again the New Testament ' Ep. ad Magn.' c iv. cfc tov ZSW roirov, with Acts i. 25. In another passage St Paul is represented as teaching the Ephesian elders, evidently, as Zahn points out In (p. 18, note), referring to Acts xx. the genuine Epistles many words occur which are found in the Acts, and of which some in their specific use were previously peculiar to the New Testa:

ment

e.g. Soyfui, Acirovpyta, irapo£uoyios.

—

Graecos' he speaks of Moses as partaking in all the instruction of the Egyptians, a

statement which seems to be drawn from Acts vil 22 (considering the two words "all,"

and xcUSoxris for fau8cv0i}), the

only passage in which the fact is noticed by a sacred writer. And in the ' First Apology,' he adduces many points which are recorded only by St Luke in this Book. See Otto's * Index locorum for other coincidences of language, or of '

statement. With reference to all the preceding notices we should observe that if they do not prove the genuineness of this Book, they certainly indicate its very general reception by persons representing the great communities of the Church immediately after the Apostolic age, bringing us very near the time when it was composed ; and secondly, were it conceded that the facts, statements and sayings might have been derived from other sources, from personal knowledge, or the general teaching of the Church, they would be available for a point of not less importance; they would attest the accuracy, truthfulness and absolute trustworthiness of the writer. Evidence of a peculiarly striking character is drawn from the works or records of adversaries of the Church within the

See 'Stud. u. KruV 1836, pp. 340 382. In the 'Acta Martyrii Ignatii/ written

same period.

a.d. 115 at the latest, we find in c. 5 the statement, "that when Puteoli was pointed out to him he hastened to go forth, wishing to follow the traces of the Apostle Paul."

opponents of St Paul belonged, who in fact absorbed all that portion of the Hebrew Christians which persisted in antagonism to the Apostle of the Gentiles, possessed the Acts, though in a

The 'Epistle to Diognetus,' formerly attributed to Justin Martyr, which is ad-

See corrupt and interpolated form. Epiphanius, 'Haer.' xxx. 16 . They maintained indeed one of their most characteristic doctrines by reference to St Luke's account of the early Christians, in Acts iv. 34; and they used St Paul's own words, recorded in Acts xxL 39, as convicting him of treason The fact that they so to his nation. used the book proves not only its existence at that early time, the end of the first century, but their knowledge that it was received by the Church. They had

mitted by

critics to

belong to a very

early period, at the latest to the beginl

ning of the second century, and probably to the latter part of the first, has one passage which bears the closest resemblance both in mode of thought and form of expression to the words of St Paul, Acts xvii. 24. The testimony of Justin Martyr, if not decisive as to his knowledge of the Book, is conclusive as to his agreement with the writer in matters of exceptional importance. Thus in the 'Cohortatio ad 1 So Lipsius, and Kcim. See the introductory statements in Gebhardt and Harnack, L e. L p. S05 1

The Ebionites, to whom the bitterest

1 The statement in this 16th section is ambiguous ; but the notice in the 17th section (referred to above in the next sentence) is conclusive It as to the use of the Acts by the Ebionites. agrees verbatim with St Luke's account.

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THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. indeed another spurious work, forged probably for the express purpose of correcting the impression made by our Acts; and thus giving an additional attestation to the genuineness of the Book. Theodotus, a Gnostic of the second century, quotes Acts vii. 56; using the name of Acts (fr rats IIpa£ccri) and calling it an Apostolic work. So too the apocryphal, but very ancient legend (probably about the middle of the second century) entitled the Acts of Paul and Thekla, shews, and recognizes in its readers, a thorough familiarity with the persons and transactions of our history. ' The Testament of the Patriarch Benjamin/ an apocryphal work published in Asia about the same time, uses the Acts in controversy against the Judaizing party, thus attesting their reception of it. The author reckon* it among the Holy Scriptures. The reference to the Acts is admitted by Hilgenfeld Lucian of Samosata, a few years later, has in the 'Philopatris' a scoffing notice of the " Unknown in Athens," referring doubtless to Acts xvii. 23: a very remarkable indication of the general notoriety of this Book. Of the highest importance, and of unquestioned bearing on the subject, is the quotation in the Epistle of the Churches of Lyons and Vienne. Speaking of the martyrs in the persecution under Marcus Aurelius the writer says, "they prayed for those who inflicted terrible tortures, as did Stephen, the perfect martyr, ' Lord lay not this sin to their charge.' So he prayed for those who stoned him." Observe, the word " martyr" in this special sense is first used by St Paul in a speech recorded in This testimony goes very far. the Acts. The Bishop of Lyons at that time, a.d. 167, was Pothinus, an extremely aged man, formerly a disciple of Polycarp, and the Epistle was sent from Gaul to Rome. In this case we have witness to the familiar knowledge of the Book in Asia

Minor, Gaul and Italy. The testimony of Irenaeus, however, holds the very highest place, equal in weight to the preceding so far as regards time and position, for Irenaeus succeeded Pothinus in the episcopate of Lyons, and was like him familiar with the teaching of the first successors of the Apostles in Asia Minor; in one respect of still

3 5

inasmuch as he gives quotations from more than half the chapters of the Acts, and in one passage, already referred to in this introduction, shews that he studied it closely and greater weight,

drew from it historical inferences, which have been accepted up to the present century by critics of all ages and all schools of thought For quotations consult the indices in the editions of Stieren and Harvey; special attention should be given to the statements in the fourteenth and fifteenth chapters of the third book. Dionysius of Corinth, about the same time, writing to the Church of Rome, quotes the Acts, and notes the conversion of Dionysius the Areopagite, whom he calls the first Bishop of Athens. Not less explicit is the testimony of two writers who severally represent the Churches of Egypt and of Western Africa in the beginning of the third century; the former remarkable for learning and freedom of thought, Clement of Alexandria, see * Strom.' v. ch. 12, p. 696, e& Potter; the latter for scrupulous adherence to ecclesiastical tradition in matters of historical evidence, Tertullian, see *de Baptismo/ 10; 'de Jejunio,' 10; ' c Marcion.' v. 2. Reference has already been made to the Canon Muratori, a fragment admitted by all to belong at the latest to the end of the second, or beginning of the third century. Dr Routh published it in the first vol. of his * Reliquiae Sacra;' it has since been carefully edited by Tregelles, and it has been subjected to a searching scrutiny by German critics . The passage which refers to St Luke's Gospel and the Acts is corrupt in style, but clear in meaning. give a paral

phrase, referring to the footnote for the 1

Hilgenfeld in his 'Historisch-ekritische Ein» published 1875, shews conclusively that it was translated from a Greek original, a fact now generally accepted, and he has retranslated into that language the difficult and corrupt Latin. The text stands thus in the MS. of which a facsimile is given by Tregelles, Acta leitung,

— —

autem omnium Apostolorum Sub uno libro scripta sunt Lucas obtime theofi le comprindit q^uia sub praesentia ejus Singula gerebantur sicut

— — evidenter profectione pauli ab ur — be ad

semote

passionem

petri

declarat sed et spania proficiscentis. Hilgenfeld proposes three emendations, optimo Theofilo, scmota passiprofectione. Renan fixes for the date one a.d. 170, or 175, *L'£glise chreuenne,' p. 401.

—

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INTRODUCTION TO

33<* original

text

and emendations.

"But

the Acts of all the Apostles were written 1

book , addressed by Luke to the most excellent Theophilus. It comprisesan account of events which occurred within his own personal knowledge, as is shewn plainly by the omission of all notice of the martyrdom of Peter, and of Paul's departure from Rome to Spain." As Hilgenfeld observes, we have here the testimony of the Western Church, Rome more especially, in accordance with that of Irenseus about the same time. The testimony of the whole Antein a single

Nicene Church is summed up authoritatively and decisively by Eusebius, who

places the Acts among the uncontested books*, quotes it throughout his notices of the Apostolic age as sacred Scripture, and attributes it, as a fact universally recognized, to Luke. From this time up to thelatterpart of the ninth century we have an unbroken catena of Fathers, among them Chrysostom, to whom the foremost place must be assigned, attesting the acceptance of the Book by all churches of Christendom, and attributing it without a dissentient voice to St Luke. It is however noticeable that in the time of Chrysostom, at least in Constantinople', this Book was little

known: he

says that many knew not even of its existence, much less of its author. However this may be accounted for, the fact shews a remarkable falling off from the scriptural

knowledge of earlier times *, attributable doubtless to the vast influx of ill-informed converts after the establishment of Christianity as 4he state religion. It may also account for the extreme carelessness of some transcriptions; the proportion of various readings in the Acts is far beyond

that in any other Book of the New Testament; and the oldest MSS. are remarkable for the number and extent of the 1 The expression "single book" refers to the four Gospels, or possibly to spurious Acts of separate Apostles, Peter, Paul and others, widely circulated at the time. a

See 4 Hist Eccl.' ill. 4. * The homilies on the Acts were delivered by Chrysostom at Constantinople in the third year of his episcopate, a.d 401; see Montfaucon,

Tom. IX. p. viii. ed. Gaume. 4

Meyer is not justified in his inference from this that the book was generally unknown. St Augustine speaks of it as " initia celebri leetione notissima," see § is, p. 347, note 3.

variations,

some of omission, others of See notice of MSS. §

interpolation.

11. It certainly accounts also for the extraordinary statement of Photius towards the end of the ninth century that some held Clement of Rome to have been the writer, others Barnabas, and others Luke the Evangelist Yet even in this statement the acceptance of the book as inspired and canonical is attested; while Photius himself unhesitatingly attributes it to St Luke, as he says forcibly "But Luke himself settles the question :" a position which he defends by reference to the first words of the Acts, and to the subject-matter of this treatise as a continuance and completion of his whole work. 1

Historical Character of the Book.

From the preceding discussions a clear general conclusion may be drawn that in the Acts we have a truthful and accurate record of transactions either derived from trustworthy sources or drawn from personal reminiscences, probably also from notes written at the time by the author. careful examination of the numerous passages alleged in defence, or in denial of this position, belongs properly to the following Commentary to which the reader is referred, with a request that he will look at the authorities there adduced and specially to the corresponding passages in the New Testament. Here a summary notice may suffice. Three main points must be considered: accuracy in notices of events, of persons, and of places, of which we have more or less detailed accounts in other independent sources. Events. A long list of exact coincidences has been drawn out by Paley and other English writers of the last century, to which considerable additions have been made within the last fifty years. These are dealt with in the notes on cch. v. 37, vi. 9, viii. 9, ix. 36, x. 1,

xii.

23, xiv. 11, xvi. 12, 14,

xvii. 8, xviii.

12, xix. 9,

xxiii. 14, xxviii. y,

15,

16, 22, 37, 24, xxi. 38,

and others which*

will be observed by a careful reader.

Peculiar importance will naturally be attached to those passages which present a prima facie discrepancy when compared 1

'Quest. AmphiL

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THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. with contemporary writers. It may be admitted that a certain number, bearing however a very small proportion to the whole, have not received a fully satisfactory explanation.

Even in these cases

explanations have been suggested which would have been admitted, as at the least possible, by candid in secular authors

inquirers, and which would have been accepted by them without hesitation if they were satisfied of the honesty and capacity of the writer. Such for instance are the notices of events in the speech of Gamaliel The account of that speech must have reached the author indirectly.

No Christian was present when it was spoken. Saul however was very probably present; certainly he would be thoroughly well informed, generally as actively engaged in work under the president of the Sanhedrin, and specially as the pupil of Gamaliel. In this case we have one decisive proof of the accuracy of the The character of writer's knowledge. Gamaliel, and his position in the great party to which he belonged, are certainly not likely to have been known to a writer living in another country, and, as opponents hold, at a much later time. In fact the two notices of Gamaliel in this book present a combination differing widely from notions commonly entertained until very lately by persons more or less conversant with contemporary historians and Hebrew documents. Gamaliel was indeed well known for his toleration, not to say encouragement, of liberal studies, clear traces of which are found in the speeches and epistles of his great pupil, and as the representative of the party which from the time of Hillel his grandfather was opposed to the narrow and strict school of Schammai; but he and all his family were strict Pharisees ; their lives were passed in minute investigations into questions of legal observance ; to a descendant, Judah Ha Khadosh, i.e. the Holy, the Jews owe the Mishna; it contains all the traditions of which we find notices in the New Testament, with some thousands remarkable for scrupulosity, of which by far the largest portion is attributed to Hillel,

and to his descendants the first and the second Gamaliel 1

II,

1 .

See the articles on Hillel, Gamaliel I and * Real- Encyclopaedic' of Hamburger. iit the

337

St Luke's account is singularly in accordance with these representations, and with others which notice the personal

and courtesy of the members of this family, which claimed descent on the mother's side from David a point, be it remarked in passing, which bears strongly upon the value of St Paul's emphatic attestation to the genealogy of our Lord. Rom. i. 3 ; 2 Tim. ii. 8. If in the report of Gamaliel's speech illustrations from a later period had been inserted by a reporter who shared the speaker's views and was familiar with his method of reasoning, no candid critic kindliness

—

would have imputed bad faith or ignorance to the historian j but a far more probable explanation will be found in the note on ch. y. 36, where the difficulty is fairly stated and fairly met Far more numerous are the cases in which unexpected light upon disputed points has been thrown by ancient documents either previously unknown, or more 1

Thus the titles given to Sergius Paulus, ch. xiii. 7, and to the duumvirs at Philippi, ch. xvi. 22, are carefully examined.

shewn

be precisely accurate, though

contrary to common usage; for other instances, see notes on cch. v. 7, vi. 9, viii. 9, xvii. 6, xix.

Attention

31, 35, xxiii. 2. naturally directed to the

Of our Gamaliel it is said expressly, "he stood out with extreme severity against the dominant tendency to mix and confuse biblical doctrines 1 with foreign speculations.' This strictness is specially attested by a saying in the Mishna, Sota, § 9, fol. 15; "when Rabban Gamaliel died, reverence for the Thorah ceased, the observance of the laws touching ceremonial purity and separation perished." Under such a man Saul must needs have been trained "according to the perfect manner (Kara axpLfktar) of the law of the fathers," being as he says expressly, Gal. i. 14, a zealot of their traditions, see below, M. Derenbourg, whose authority in such p. 341. matters is uncontested, exposes the common but gross misconceptions or misrepresentations of the between Hillel and the Pharisees, see Histoire de la Palestine,' p. 183. He observes that the true importance of Hillel consisted in his persistent opposition to the Priests, a*id in the new methoa which he introduced into the study of the law: but that as to the Pharisees, far from being their opponent, he was recognized as a highly esteemed leader. The Mishna is described severely but not unjustly by E. Renani as "un lourd monument de pedanterie, de miserable casuistiauc et de formal isme religieux." ' L'figlise chretienne,' p. 34^. 1 So Bleek suggests, 'Einleitung,' I.e., and so too Valesius on Eusebius, * 11. E. 11. 1 1. relations

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INTRODUCTION TO

33»

notices of character. St Luke's fineness of tact in the delineation of personal character has been recognized in his In the Acts we are specially Gospel. struck by the number and variety of the

racters, ever present to the writer's

and

mind we

calling out all his powers, that

recognize the keen observer and truthful

With not less distinctness we

narrator.

upon all regions

see on the one hand the representatives of treachery, subtlety, falsehood, imposture, prejudice, licentiousness, arrogance, ostentation, calculating and persistent malignity, in Judas, in the Sadducean priests, in Ananias, Simon, Elymas, Demetrius, in half-converted Jews and unchristian Jews, in Felix and the two Herods: and on the other hand we have examples of gracious and unselfish nobleness in Barnabas, of zeal combined with love, both in their most perfect form, in Stephen, of missionary energy and capacity in Philip, of eloquence and might in the Scriptures in Apollos, of tempered zeal, wise counsel and dignity in James and standing out among the heathens representing whole classes of early converts, Sergius Paulus and the jailor of Philippi or, though untouched by Christian influences, yet representing the better and nobler forms of Gentile character, Galiio graceful, but indifferent; the magistrates of Ephesus either friendly to St Paul, or just and discreet in dealing with his persecutors ; the commander of the Roman soldiery careful for his security ; the Roman Governor Festus anxious to do substantial justice ; and lastly Julius the centurion, like other soldiers who are singled out for special notice in the New Testament, courteous, kindly, and evidently moved by sincere sympathy with In each of these inthe great Apostle. stances we have to remark both the vividness of the impression made by a few pregnant words, and the exact correspondence with what is known from other sources of the character and circumstances of the actors. Lastly, we would bespeak the reader's attention to the coincidences between the notices of St Paul's acts with his In part the two sources of inEpistles. formation are mutually corroborative, a large part of the Apostle's acts come before us in the one and in the other/ In part they are mutually supplemental From the Acts we derive all our knowledge of some of the most important outward facts concerning St Paul, before

of spiritual life and religious thought But it is not only in the leading cha-

under Gamaliel, his employment by the

which come out without the least indication of effort, often with evident unconsciousness of their bearing on the narrative. Each person stands out as a distinct individuality, the more remarkable in cases where either a Hebrew or a Gentile writer might have been blinded by religious prepossessions We learn to or national prejudices. know the two great representatives of the Christian life by their acts and words, by their demeanour and bearing under the most varied and unexpected circumstances. St Peter among his own people, in the presence of a mixed and at first in great part unsympathetic audience, before authorities bent on suppressing his testimony, and armed with full power for his destruction* preaching, working, anxiously meditating, drawn on-

characteristics

ward

new developments at first re-

mental struggles and peronce convinced acting promptly and decisively, meeting persecution unto the death fearlessly, candid in estimating the conduct, generous in supporting the position, of an Apostle in whom a common man would have recognized, as uncandid and unsympathizing critics have represented him, an opponent and a rival. St Paul standing on the same level of nobleness, but gifted with transcendant mental powers, with passions both before and after conver-

luctantly, with

plexity, but when

sion far more easily excited, called on to

bear witness to truth once hated before the representatives of all that was evil or prejudiced, ignorant or proudly intellectual, sensual or arrogant, ignoble or noble in the ancient world: in all circumstances shewing the same fundamental character: stern, zealous, unshakeable, but adapting himself to all circumstances with a versatility and power of adaptation so marvellous as to have supplied cavillers with their most effective weapons of assault, but such as also supply candid and earnest students with materials for realizing a character unrivalled in

its

influence

and

after his

conversion;

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training

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THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. High Priest, the acts and words at his conversion, much of his work previous to his appointment, the course of all his missionary journeys, the formal proceedings at Jerusalem, and, for a very considerable portion of the narrative, all that is known of his history in the interval between the second Epistle to the Corinthians and the group of Epistles written during his imprisonment at Rome. But on the other hand, in each of these points the Epistles give us a direct insight into St Paul's feelings, into the innermost What were movements of his spirit his difficulties, and his intense prejudices as a disciple of the Rabbis ; what inward light "shined in his heart" on conversion, 2 Cor. iv. 6; what special spiritual instruction he derived immediately from his Saviour, GaL i. 15 17 ; what motives led him on two occasions to Jerusalem, Gal. i. and ii. ; what feelings chiefly animated and sustained him in the intercourse with each of the Churches of which the foundation is recorded in the Acts. And as a large portion of his life is known only from the Acts, so a vast number of incidents of a strictly personal character, according with others selected by St Luke, are known to us only from St Paul's own writings, more especially those incidents which occurred shortly before he was joined by the man who was his companion up to the end of his

—

life.

For these points the reader must search into the original sources. Here however we must direct special attention to one subject, which has of late called forth controversial writings in various directions, and demands very careful inquiry, viz. the historical character of the discourses recorded in the Acts. § 8.

Discourses in the Acts.

Among the points which bear upon the characteristic features, the authenthe accuracy of the Acts, special importance attaches to the discourses and, generally speaking, to the sayings of The the Apostles and other speakers. importance is shewn on the one hand by the pertinacity of the attacks, on the other by the great and certainly successful pains taken by those who maintain the authorship by St Luke, whether on purely scientific grounds, or because of ticity and

New Test.

—Vol.

339

connection with fundamental princi-

its

ples of the Christian faith.

Before

we discuss the questions thus

raised we

must call attention to the fol-

lowing considerations. Many of the discourses were certainly delivered in the Hebrew language as then spoken. St Luke must therefore have either translated them himself, or taken them from translations already extant. In either case a considerable number of verbal coincidences in the reports of different speeches would be a natural result. In the former case we should expect a close resemblance of style with other portions both of the Acts and the Gospels. This resemblance certainly does exist to an extent which has supplied opponents with effective arguments, but which also goes far to illustrate the unity of authorship which has been established on other grounds l

There are moreover

indications, admitted to be conclusive, that in nearly all if not in all these discourses we have a compressed account, bringing out the main points clearly, and preserving intact the most characteristic utterances of the speakers, but necessarily introducing a distinct element, viz. the style, vocabulary, and forms of language peculiar to the recorder. Bearing these points in

mind we have to inquire how far the discourses of St Peter and St Paul accord with their Epistles and with what we know from other sources of their character, position and modes of thought

First as to St Peter.

A writer* who has bestowed great pains upon the

investigation into the peculi-

of St Peter's style and mode of presenting Christian doctrine, has examined the three principal speeches assigned to this Apostle in the Acts; and he has shewn very clearly their substantial agreement with the first Epistle.

arities

The

points

on which he

special

lays

stress are (1) the representations of our

Lord's Office and Person, not in the same stage of development, but agreeing, 1

The fullest statement of objections is given

By far by the author of * Supernatural Religion. the greatest number of those objections are met by the fact here recognized that we have translations of the discourses, and most probably by St '

Luke. '

Dr Bernhard Weiss, ' Der Petrinische Lehx-

begrinV p. 199 f.

II.

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INTRODUCTION TO

340

so far as they go, with those which we find in the Pauline discourses and writings. (2) The use of prophecy, not differing from that of other writers in the New Testament, but more complete and circumstantial. The fundamental testimony (fiaprvpCa) of St Peter is, on the one hand, that all the predictions and intimations of the Prophets from Moses to Samuel have a perfect fulfilment in Christ (a point adopted by St Paul), and on the other hand for the proof of that fulfilment he appeals to the personal knowledge of himself and his fellow-disciples. In this latter point St Peter presents a striking contrast to St PaulHe is full of references to our Lord's

work on earth, as might be expected from one who had always been with

Him

;

whereas St Paul in his speeches,

as in his Epistles, directs attention if not exclusively, yet principally, to the mani1 festations of power by the risen Saviour .

Weiss also notices peculiarities of expression, e.g.

#Aov for the Cross, 1 Pet

24, which occurs elsewhere only in St Peter's discourses in the Acts, v. 30 ii.

and x. 39 St Paul uses oravpos, with one exception, a quotation in Gal. iii. 13. ;

The peculiar form of St Peter's citation of Psalm xvi. 10 in the Acts (where he avoids the word ifoxn, see Tischendorf, in loc.) indicates an agreement with the account of our Lord's descent into Hades found in a passage of the first Epistle, which has

no exact parallel in the New Testament*. In general the tone of thought and feeling, simple and earnest, but impulsive and variable under change of circumstances, must be recognized as singularly in accordance with all that we know of this Apostle.

The points of likeness with St Paul are just what might be expected considering

the mutual relations of the two Apostles, as indicated by St Paul's own statement, Gal. i. 18, the mutual action and reaction of minds differing in powers but under 8 one controlling influence , and above all 1 E. Renan frequently contrasts the notices of our Lord's person in St Paul's Epistles, with those in the Petrine writings and speeches, which, as he says truly, are full of minute personal reminis-

cences. 8 This point is urged by other critics, Giider and Konig, and is admitted as bearing upon the descent into Hades by De Wette. * The writer ventures to refer to his sermon on

the fundamental unity of Christian docThe points of unlikeness, dwelt upon most strongly by critics more or less indifferent or hostile to that doctrine, are such as invariably characterize the utterances of independent spirits in various stages of development ; and admitting their existence, they attest the fidelity of the record of these discourses trine.

in this Book.

The discourse of St Stephen is generecognized as bearing the impress of a nature ardent and intensely loving, and as being exactly adapted to the cirrally

cumstances under which it was uttered, so that it may suffice to refer to the notes in this Commentary and to the works on St Paul's life 1 for proof of its authenticity. The general opinion that it was spoken in Hebrew appears to be well founded, since it is scarcely conceivable that an address in Greek would have been tolerated by the Sanhedrin*. This is a point of some importance, since it accounts for the form of the quotations from the Septuagint, which must be due to the translator; and, as was above pointed out, for verbal coincidences with The very other portions of this Book.

resemblance between this and some of St Paul's discourses, especially his first missionary sermon, is due to a very different and far more interesting striking

cause.

St Paul must have been perfectly

this subject, published by Rivington, in a volume

entitled

'Church Doctrine and Spiritual Life/

p. «8. 1

By Conybeare and Howson, Lewin, and

Dr Farrar.

We would, however, call special

attention to the fact that F. Ch. Baur, the ablest opponent of the authenticity of the Acts, has shewn conclusively the exact adaptation of this speech to the character of St Stephen, to the circumstances under which it was delivered, and to the religious principles which are justly ascribed

See F. Ch. Baur, 'Paulus/ p. 54. In another passage, p. 42, he says that " regarded as a speech of Stephen which he holds it to be of the substantially it is unquestionably one most important documents of that time." Contrast this language of the German master, with that of the English follower; 'Supernatural Religion/ vol. in. p. 177. f It seems strange that Dr Farrar should dis1 The use of the Greek sent from this view language, however common, was regarded with dislike by the leaders of extreme suspicion and Jewish opinion ; it was barely tolerated in the case of the Gamaliels, and, as it appears to the writer, could not have been admitted at any to him.

—

time in legal proceedings.

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THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.

341

—

well informed as to the line taken by St Stephen in a defence against charges

Athens, ch. xvii. 22 31, to which may be added a short but very important ad-

which were urged by himself and his comrades ; in all probability he was himself present either as a member of the court (see note on xxvi. 10), or as a deeply interested observer, or even chief witness (see note on vi. 9). The words then spoken must have made an indelible impression, and would naturally be reproduced by him when they were accepted in their fullest import as true, and a

dress to the idolaters at Lystra, ch. xiv. 15 17. Three again are apologetic, defences of his character and proceedings, one before Jews, ch. xxii. 3 21, two before magistrates, ch. xxiv. 10 21, and

—

ch. xxvL 2

—

23.

Of all the discourses of St Paul, one

fitting

the most important of all, was addressed to Christians, his own converts, and appointed by himself as leaders of the Churches in Asia Minor,

utterance.

Gh. xx.

occasion presented itself for their The resemblance, however close, is in fact the earliest and the strongest conceivable attestation to the accuracy of St Luke's record. There are indications of verbal accuracy in the very short notices of other speeches, the characteristic discourse of Gamaliel, the short address of the Hellenist Philip, the* polished style of Cornelius in contrast with the somewhat embarrassed, though very effective words of St Peter, and in the salutation of St 1 James affixed to the Apostolic decree We come to the discourses of St Paul Of some we have only brief summaries (a) in Acts ix. 20, a single statement, in exact accordance with St Paul's own language, Rom. i. 1 ; (b) in Acts xiv. 22, urging, as is his constant habit, perseverance in the faith, and as in his earliest Epistles', announcing afflictions as the condition of acceptance; (c) in Acts xxviii. 17, agreeing with earnest protestations throughout his Epistles, e.g. Rom. .

ix.

1—5.

Five discourses are however given at Of length, or but slightly compressed. these two are missionary addresses ; the first to Jews at Antioch in Pisidia, ch. xiii. 26 41, the second to heathens at

—

1 The form Acts xv. 33, roif i$ Www go/pctr, used by St James, occurs nowhere else in the N. T. except in James i % l * T°*» '• i>v\cut x *peir. Bleetc notices this ; Mangold, whose notes indicate a constant endeavour to bring down Bleek's views to his own level, dismisses it as a mere idiom ; but idiom as it is' St James alone happens to use it, and his use agrees with other proofs of his familiarity with the Greek language as spoken and written by men of culture, ft is also

—

noticeable that St James calls St Peter Symeon, a form of the word Simon which occurs only in

only,

We have thus a selection giving examples of every kind of Pauline addresses, indicating singular wisdom

and

author of the Book, and supplying ample materials for examina-

ability in the

tion and comparison . 1

We may add that

of selection, giving one instance only of each special form of address, is characteristic of St Luke; see above, p. 322. It is evident that if there be close resemblances between any of these discourses and the Epistles they must be looked for chiefly in the only one which was addressed to Christians. No Epistle was written to Jews or to heathens, every other discourse was addressed exclusively to one or the other. The resemblances which occur in the other discourses can only be attributed to the identity of thought and feeling unconsciously influencing the speaker, and as unconsciously recorded by St Luke. In each discourse however we find very striking points of resemblance. In the first delivered at Antioch in Pisidia a critic* certainly unbiassed says truly that " from all the ideas in this discourse lines may be drawn which belong to the peculiar form of Pauline thought and doctrine." Lechler (I.e. p. 150 f.) shews the exact agreement in thought and expression; e.g. Jesus as Son of God, in special connection with His resurrecthis

principle

tion, cp.

Rom.

1 ;

redemption by His

death, attested to be guiltless, and predicted by the prophets; above all, the specially

Pauline doctrine of

justifica-

by faith, contrasted with the inefficacy of the Mosaic law. Dr Farrar, tion

this speech and in his Epistle. a

See especially 1 Thess. L 6, ii.

14,

iii.

13,

compared with the context in the Acts ; 2 Thess. t 4, &u

1 See Lechler, ' Das Apostolische und Nachapostolische Zeitalter,' p. 147.

Schneckenburger.

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INTRODUCTION TO

34*

after noticing coincidences collected

Alford in his marginal references, observes

that "the

numerous and exclu-

Pauline expressions with which this discourse abounds, shew that either notes of it must have been preserved by some Antiochene Christian, or that St Paul must himself have furnished an sively

The agreeoutline of it to St Luke." ment with the discourse of St Stephen, and to a less extent, with St Peter's great address, has been already noticed, and accounted for. The Messianic argument from the second psalm which had been urged by St Peter was naturally adopted

by all defenders of the common faith. The two discourses at Lystra and Athens are remarkable proofs of the Apostle's versatility, and power of adaptation to utterly unlike circumstances; as such they have attracted special attention, and have gone very far to form or strengthen the general impression of Here we his commanding eloquence. have to notice the fact that in the two lines of argument St Paul pursues the course distinctly intimated in Rom. i.

and ii. Speaking to uneducated heathens he dwells on the most obvious proofs of a divine government, incompatible with idolatrous superstition ; in the other case

he appeals to higher and nobler convictions, opposes the most special delusion of national and intellectual culture, and brings into contrast with dreamy speculations the mighty truth of universal judgment. In both discourses there occur distinct echoes of the teaching of the Epistles.

For coincidences not less striking in the discourses delivered at Jerusalem and at Caesarea, the reader is referred to the Commentary, and to the passages quoted below in the footnote*.

Special attention however should be directed to the discourse at Miletus recorded in ch. xx. 18 35.

—

w. 3 — 1 1, we have the Greek rendering of a Hebrew discourse ; in addition to near resemblances of general thought and expression, close verbal coincidences occur, accounted for either by the writer's familiarity with the Epistles, or by the personal intervention of the Apostle. Thus in v. 3 we find in two clauses TcraiicvfUvoi «OTtt axpipciav rod varpyov w6fiov t fyXwrip inrdprod 6cou, in exact correspondence with Gal. i. 14 pjkcJrris inr&pxw tu* xarpixup fiov TapaSfo-eur. Compare also the following clauses with Rom. x. 2. In v. 16, the verb aroXotxrcu has no parallel in the N. T. except the very close one in pari re 1 Cor. vi 1 1 and the similar one in Titus iii. 5. Hapa&ixofiai v. 18 occurs only in 1 Tim. v. 19 ; avrcvioKctp only in Luke xi. 48, Rom. i. 32, and 1 Cor. vii. 12, 13 ; ^drotfrAXw

v. 20,

a word remarkable in form and peculiarly

significant, occurs twice in Galatians, iv. 4, 6 but elsewhere only in Luke and Acts.

Two remarkable instances occur in a single sentence in ch. xxiii. 1, introducing St Paul's Zvrefintended defence before the Sanhedrin. Sipis occurs no less than thirty-three times in the Pauline Epistles, thrice in St Peter's, 1 Pet ii. 19, and iii. 16 and 21, but not elsewhere in the N. T. except in John viiL 9 (Apostolic but not Johannine, see note in Joe.) : roKtrckadau occurs only in Philippians i. 27. In ch. xxiv. 10 11, we have a summary account of the defence before Felix. In v. 10, aroXoyovfiat, a Pauline word, see above; v. 12, £jrwwra(Tij, or according to the oldest MSS. iwUnaais; elsewhere only in 2 Cor. xi. 28, where the same variant is found, a singular coK. 13, vaplararat, very common in incidence. St Paul, five times in Romans, five times in other Epistles; elsewhere only in St Luke and the Acts, excepting once in Matt. xxvi. 53, but in a V. 14, aXp€<nt ; twice in St Paul, different sense. and, as here, in a bad sense ; once 2 Pet ii. 1 V. 16, irpo<T kotost elsewhere only in Acts. only in two other passages corresponding in use and meaning, 1 Cor. x. 32 ; Phil. L 10 ; the use of vpoffKoTTta in the metaphorical sense is peculiar to St Paul ; St Peter, as usual adopting St Paul's word, has it once. V. 17, hi krurv, an uncommon expression, here and Gal. ii. 1. In is used in a classical idiom, found w. 19, 20, once only in the Synoptists, Mark xiii. 15 in have Matt, xxviii. 14, for hrl, B and Cp. 1 Cor. vi. 1, 6 ; 1 Tim. vi. 13. In ch. xxv. 10, 11 again is a short answer In v. 10, as to the question of Festus. above; dtticto, once in Matt xx. 13, seven ii-iytyr***** most times in Pauline Epistles; common in Luke, Acts and St Paul. V. 11, rapaiTovpoL, only in Luke (four times), here, and

—

See 'The Life and Work of St Paul/ vol. I. Dr Farrar notices what he regards as p. 369. a very probable hypothesis, that in general out*

line the three main sections of it (Acts xiii. 16 " f) 3* 1 * **» 2 y nave *)een °^ten re peated; see too Ewald, * H. I.' vi. 658.

—

A close examination of these discourses

brings out a much larger number of verbal coincidences than we find noticed by commentators. To proceed in order: In ch. xxii. i, St Paul prefaces his defence to the Jews with a few words, which he calls an dToXoy/a, but neither this word, nor the verb dxoXoyovfuu, is found save twice in Luke, eight times in Acts, and seven times in the Pauline Epistles; once in 1 Pet. iii. 15. In

—

in 1 and 2 Tim., Titus,

and thrice in Hebrews.

Xaplfrvdcu, a, word only used by St Luke and St Paul ; see above, p. 330, on the word %&pis. 'ExiKaXoOfiat only in Acts, Rom. thrice ; 1 Cor. L 2 ; 2 Cor. i. 23 ; 2 Tim. ii. 22 ; once, as in other cases, in 1 Pet. i. 1 7. In ch. xxvi. 2 23, we have St Paul's speech

—

before Festus and Agrippa.

Out of many ccenci-

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THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, We have first (a) a notice of personal demeanour according remarkably both in general tone and in peculiarity of expression with passages in Epistles referring to the same district, or composed very shortly Before the same time, cp. Gal. iii. 13 8. (b) A 19; 2 Cor. vii. 6 reference to temptations (rather trials) connected with Jewish plots, specially mentioned in 2 Cor. xi. 26, but which are not recorded elsewhere by St Luke, a point to be carefully noted, (c) A declaration that St Paul had withheld nothing that could be spiritually of use; apparently with reference to Gal. ii. 1 2, where he uses the word, an uncommon one, v7rooTcAAofuu, which occurs twice in this

—

See v. 27. (d) The subjectmatter of his teaching both to the Jews and also the Greeks the same order as always in his Epistles, e.g. Rom. i. 16, repentance and faith toward ii. 9, 10 God. (e) The expression "bound in the Spirit," a metaphorical use of Sew, occurring four times in the Epistles, but not elsewhere *' to finish my course," a discourse.

—

metaphor peculiar to St Paul, common in the Corinthians, and used specially in reference to the same thought in 2 Tim. iv. 7 ; "the Gospel of the grace of God," specially Pauline in tone and expression. In tw. 28, 29, we have words preparing us for the

still

dences in idiom

fuller instructions

long

we remark, v. 1, £yira\oC/&cu

Rom. viii. 33.

V. 3, fiaxpoOdfiuts : the verb fxaxpodv/xfl* and substantive txaicpodvtila, common in St Paul, are rare elsewhere, in the Gospels occurring twice only and that in one passage, Matt, xviii. a6, 29. V. 5, tfrp* Qapuralot, cp. Phil. iii. 5, and note the facts and expressions in the context. V. 6, ixayy€\la t once in St Luke, but not in the other Gospels ; twice 1 Joh. i. 5 (where the read-

ing is doubtful), and ii. 2$ ; twice in 2 Pet., iii. and 9, admitted to be Pauline in tone ; but some forty times in the Pauline Epistles, most freV. 7, Karatn-rjacu, quently in Rom. and Gal. Passing over found only in Acts and St Paul many words which are thoroughly, if not exclusively Pauline,

we notice in v. 19, dreiBrit and occurring in

Luke,

the former only Acts and Paul, the latter (important in its bearupon St Paul's convictions; see F. Ch. Baur, ings 'Paulus,* p. 296) in a precisely similar form 2 Cor. din-curia,

23, KaTayytWcw, common in ; and in v. Acts, but elsewhere occurring only in St Paul who uses it seven times. The attention of the student should be carefully given to the modes of thought as well as of expression in this discourse, which bears the unmistakable stamp of the Apostle of the Gentiles, pleading the cause of the Gospel before the representatives of the Heathen and Hebrew world. xii. 1

343

after given in the pastoral Epistles to his representatives and successors, and above all the striking description of the Church of God 1 as purchased by His

own

This statement accords, blood. being true it must, with St Peter's view of redemption, 1 Pet. i. 18, 19, but as

form and extent it is Pauline. St Peter speaks of the death of our Lord chiefly as the fulfilment of a divine purpose, and of His resurrection as the proof of His being the Messiah. St Paul dwells most strongly upon redemption effected by His blood, and upon justification as accomplished by His resurrection. The repeated mention of tears belongs to St Paul's style, see above. The fact that he supported himin

self in

though

Asia Minor by manual labour, be inferred upon St it might

Luke's notice on one occasion *of his occupation as tent-maker, is only known directly from St Paul's statement in this speech and in the Epistles; here one special motive for such work is noticed, according with St Paul's one great object in all that he said and did. St Paul concludes the discourse with a saying of our Lord, which not being recorded by the Evangelists, would certainly not have been attributed to Him by a later writer, nor have been given by St Luke, had he not heard it from the Apostle's own lips. It must also be noticed that the repeated declaration of St Paul that they wc-uld see his face no more would certainly not have been ascribed to him by any writer of a later period, nor would it have been recorded by St Luke after the Apostle's deliverance from prison, had he not been bound by his absolute adherence to historical truth*. § 9.

Sources of Information.

The question as to the sources from which St Luke derived his information concerning the earlier and the middle portions of his narrative will of course be answered differently by those who l

Or 'of the Lord,' see note on ch. xx. 18.

vol. vi. p. 448, observes of this great discourse that "the more completely all the presentiments of the greatest Apostle were fulfilled, the more ineffaceable must have been the impression which the words heard by many made upon their memory." He adds in a note, "to doubt as to the general historical truth of the

Ewaid,

discourse is foolishness itself."

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INTRODUCTION TO

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look upon it as a late composition and by those who accept it as his genuine work. The solutions proposed by the maintainers of the former position can have but little interest for the Christian as such, save so far as they indicate the baselessness of speculations mutually contradictory It would be absolutely indifferent to us whether the writer had or had not original documents before him, if, as Baur and others hold, he used them, or misused them, with a fixed intention to give a false colouring to the transactions 1

and characters which he professes to describe. But the question presents no difficulty or perplexity in the case of St Luke.

He was a convert, apparently of some standing when he joined the Apostle at Troas. Most of the events related in the first twelve chapters, as matters of pubhe noforiety must have been known to

The speeches of St Peter

all Christians.

were of too great importance not to have been preserved in writing, or if not written, substantially unaltered in the retentive

and practised memory of Hebrew ciples.

St Paul could not

fail

dis-

to give

his friend and constant follower full accounts of all that he himself knew as a pupil of Gamaliel, an agent if not a member of the Sanhedrin. It would be mere waste of thought to speculate as to other sources during that period ; but we must also bear in mind that from the time of his own conversion up to the close of his history St Luke lived in constant intercourse with converts to whom all points that concerned St Peter and the other Apostles were matters of the Philip he met himself deepest interest in Asia Minor Mnason an old convert accompanied him and St Paul to Jerusa:

lem and there received him in his house. All the inmates of Mary's house, all the

members of the Church in Palestine, and numbers of Hebrew converts must have been then

at Jerusalem for the Great Feast, and doubtless when questioned, would supply any information he might require. At Caesarea St Luke would have special opportunities for -inquiring into points which, not being a native of Palestine, he might previously 1 See Hilgenfeld, 'Einleitung,' p. 601, f. He gives a full account of contradictory hypotheses that which he himself adopts has found little

acceptance in Germany,

have known but partially. What we remark throughout, as we have previously had occasion to notice especially with reference to the earlier period, is that his style, his very language, his method of narration, sometimes diffuse, abounding in

minute details, sometimes condensed,

succinct, or so to speak bare and deficient in graphic vividness, varies to an

extent best accounted for by the fact that in the one case he tells us what he had himself witnessed or had learned from intercourse with the persons engaged in the transactions; but that in the other he depended upon written documents or oral traditions in which main facts were preserved, but details

had been lost.

Two questions of some importance have been raised, (1) whether St Luke knew the Epistles of St Paul? and (2) whether he used them as sources of historical

The first ques-

information?

must be answered affirmatively. It is impossible that he should not have known the last group of Epistles which were written during the time of their joint sojourn at Rome it is most improbable that he should not have known the other Epistles, all of which were written after his union with St Paul, and with one of which he appears to have been specially connected, see 2 Cor. xii. 18. The second question may remain untion

answered. It is quite certain that writers living long after the events which they narrate derive their most certain and important information from the private correspondence of con temporaries. Had the writer of the Acts lived, as is assumed by some, fifty years or more after the Apostolic age, he would naturally have adapted his narrative to statements found in Epistles then well known to his

own readers.

But a contemporary

personally connected with the chief actors, and with most of the transactions which he has to record, would certainly not use Epistles as primary sources, though in a critical and overcautious age he might appeal to them The points of corfor corroboration. respondence in language, in forms of doctrinal statement, in notices of occurrences have been already discussed ; they are far too numerous and complete to be accounted for by any hypothesis which writer,

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THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. assumes the

writer's

ignorance of the

Epistles.

The Question where and when this Book was written

10.

or published. As to the place there is a general unanimity among late critics. Most of those who deny and those who maintain the authenticity of the

work agree

that in all probability it was written or first published in Rome \ It is evident that the writer supposes on the part of his readers a perfect familiarity with the

geography of the neighbourhood, and of the places visited on the approach to Italy. No other hypothesis indeed is likely to suggest itself to any one who admits that the historian passed two whole years at Rome in the companionship of St Paul. The statement of Eusebius, *H. E.' m. He says 4, ought not to be neglected. that it was commonly asserted that St Paul refers to the Gospel of St Luke as

a production of his own in Rom. ii. 16, and 2 Tim. ii. 8. It is true that the assertion

inadmissible in its literal sense, there being no ancient authority or internal evidence for the assumption that St Paul wrote this Gospel; but it rests on a true perception of the extent of that Apostle's influence on the spirit of St Luke, and it accords with the probable hypothesis that this Book was composed and published in Rome. As to the time, reason has been assigned above for fixing the date of the composition at or about the time thus indicated. The only ground assigned by a very able writer (Meyer) for preferring a later date is not likely to impress those who believe in the fulness of prophetic knowledge abiding in Him who is at once its source and depository. Meyer dwells on the point admitted by all that the Acts must have been written after the Gospel, but he infers that inasmuch as the Gospel, containing specific predictions touching the fall of Jerusalem, could not have been written before that 1

So Jerome, Davidson, F. Ch. Baur, and

Zeller.

Hilgenfeld maintains the view that

was written in Asia Minor; a point to which attention ^nay be directed with reference to his assumption that St Paul's doctrines were overthrown in Ephesus by the influence of St John.

345

the Acts must have been the product of a much later period. It is scarcely necessary to observe that in the very numerous notices of Jerusalem, which shew personal knowledge and deep interest in its localities, no indication is given such as was not likely to be omitted by a man so susceptible to all kindly and sympathetic emotions thatany great change had passed over the places where St Paul had endured cruel indignities, and event,

—

where his enemies had won a short-lived but decisive triumph but it is right to call attention once more to the abundant opportunity which the writer had for completing his record of transactions up to the end of the two years, and to the force of the motives which would urge him to an immediate publication \ :

1 1.

On MSS. and Early Versions.

The great uncials, tf, the Codex Sinaiticus,

A, Codex Alexandrinus, and

B, Codex Vaticanus, preserve throughout this Book the general character assigned to them by critics. The first and third,

where they agree, are for the most part supported by early Patristic authorities, especially those of the Alexandrian school from Origen downwards; and by the Coptic Versions, both Memphitic and Sahidic. As usual they are followed by L, which indeed appears to be founded on B, being very nearly a transcript This class, to which the highest authority is now attached by critics (see p. xc. of this volume), is, however, remarkable for two points,

on which legitimate differences

of opinion exist and are likely to exist (i) They are generally conspicuous for omissions of disputed passages, doubtless following

still

more ancient recen-

sions, but apparently under the influence

of cautious, visers.

not over-scrupulous

re-

Where the other far more nu-

merous MSS., of which A is the oldest and best representative, are supported by Irenaeus and other Fathers, some of them 1 This was the ancient and well-founded view maintained also by Davidson in his Introduction to the N. T. Meyer's hypothesis is adopted, and on the same ground, by Reuss, Renan, Scholten, and Holzmann. The leaders of the Tubingen school, especially Schwegler and Zeller, assume that the Book was compiled and published early in the and century ; that is, in the lifetime of writers who quote it as Holy Scripture universally received by the Church.

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INTRODUCTION TO

346

two centuries more ancient than the most ancient Codex, it seems, to say the least, somewhat bold to reject passages certainly according in spirit and in style with other portions of St Luke's work. (2) Again, those MSS. often present texts difficult in purport, or ungrammatical in construction. It is usual to regard the less difficult or more correct readings found in and other uncials as emendations. It is almost an axiom with critics that in every case the most difficult is most likely to be the true reading. But it cannot be proved that the ignorance or carelessness of transcribers, some habituated to provincial expressions, is not likely to be the cause of statements erroneous in point of fact or doctrine, or scarcely explicable in a literal sense. It seems less reasonable to attribute such defects

to a writer remarkable for mental cultivation, and historical tact. Certainly in

mony but it is more probable that ad;

ditions, some of which

have the appearance of explanatory glosses or doctrinal suggestions, may have been made at an early period under the authority of Churchmen in the West who were well acquainted with the facts of the case,

and were animated by the same spirit which characterizes St Luke. The Codex C, well known as the Codex Ephraem Syri rescriptus, is of the highest value, but it contains only portions of the Acts, sc. i. 2

—

xxii 21

iv. 3 ; v. 35 36; xx. 10 xxi. 30; xxiil 18; xxiv. 15 xxvi. 19;

xxvii.

xxviii. 4.

42; xiii. 1

— 16 —

—

xvi.

— —

Attention should also be called to the readings of E, known as Codex Laudianus Oxoniensis, of the sixth century, which concurs with in several disputed passages, but like that MS., stands low in the estimation of critics. The cursive MSS. supply data as yet far from being exhausted. Dr Scrivener, of all living authorities best informed on

the case of classical writers the axiom, within certain limits perfectly defensible, has not been allowed to supersede all other considerations. The case is far different as regards Codex Bezae, edited with the greatest care, and thoroughly illustrated, by

in classes representing their relative im-

Dr Scrivener.

portance.

though

conspicuous for interpolations throughout the Gospels; in the Acts more than 600 are enumerated. To a great extent they are absolutely peculiar to this MS., and are rejected by all critics so many of them, however, are found in the early Italic versions as to make it all but certain that this singular MS. represents a very ancient recension*: and when, as is the case in some passages of peculiar interest, It is

the so-called interpolations are found in so ancient and important a writer as Irenaeus, they should not be set aside as unworthy of consideration, though cautious critics are not likely to introduce them into a revised text. It is of course possible that St Luke may himself have made some additions to his first copy, an assumption however not to be admitted without strong internal grounds in the total absence of external testi1

This Codex

i,g. from viii. 39

defective in

some chapters,

— x. 14; xxi. — 10; xxii. 10— 2

90; and from xxii. 19 to the end. * Such is the opinion of Bornemann, a critic of great learning, and certainly in other points not deficient in judgment.

this point, and singularly free from prepossessions, has supplied us with the following list of cursive MSS. arranged

First class.

A " C^ B— C

Cod. 13. 31. 61. 137. 40.

iii.

37 (see 'Plain Intro-

duction,' p. 237), Lectionary 12.

Second class. 1. 27. 29. 36 and Catena. 57 secund. man. 66 marg. 68. 69. 8". 81. 96. 100. 133. 180.

A^C

The completes t account of MSS. and ancient Versions is given in the 7th Edition of Tischendorf's 'Novum Tes-

tamentum;' and

in Scrivener's 'Intro-

duction to the critical study of the N. T.' The 8th edition of Tischendorf's N. T. has no prolegomena, and the value of this last revision of the text is seriously affected by his prejudice in favour of the

Codex Sinaiticus, which he first discovered and published with a critical introduction. No work is more useful for students than the edition of the ' Textus Receptus* with various readings which has been lately published by Scrivener.

§ 12.

On Works helpful for the Interpretation.

The reader will not expect to find here a full account of commentaries on

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THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 1

For the most part both in the Acts . ancient and in modern times they form but a portion of general expositions of the New Testament; and scarcely so prominent a portion as might be expected considering the singular importance of the bearings of the Book upon the external and internal life of early Christendom. Among the ancients Chrysostom stands preeminent in this as in all other departments of Biblical exegesis. The homilies on the Acts belong to the later part of his life; they were delivered in the third year of his episcopate at Constantinople (see above, p. 336, note 3) and, like other productions of that period, are less distinguished for vigour and eloquence than those of earlier years ; but they present the same combination of a devout and reverential spirit % with keen discernment, sound judgment, and a genuine historical instinct which prehim from grave errors into which some considerable scholars of our own time have been betrayed. Chrysostom is followed closely by CEcumenius, and other Greek expositors, portions of whose labours have been preserved in the * Catena ' of Cramer*. Jerome stands foremost among Latin commentators. It is to be regretted that Augustine did not give much attention to this Book, of which he says that it was read publicly in the churches at Easter-tide, and stood high in popular serves

The commentary interest in the

appreciation seriously

its

Calvin 4 shews

Book and a just value;

but

by his doctrinal pre-

affected

possessions.

the influence of this able but prejudiced writer and of his followers has left traces

our own authorized version, which disappear in a revised translation. " The Acts," however, has had its full

share of the light which has been thrown

upon the language and the history of the New Testament by modern investigations both in England and on the Continent. The commentary of Meyer is conspicuous for calm

sober judgment,

and for critical discernment It occupies a mean place between speculative rationalism and maintenance of the ancient faith of Christendom ; and with due allowance for

the

bias

scepticism

which to so great an extent pervades the literature of the Continent, the student

learn much from this writer and others of the same school, or of even more advanced tendencies, as Kuinol, De Wette, his late editor Overbeck, and Reuss. The most extensive commentary will

which has lately appeared in Germany is that by M. Baumgarten, in three parts, 1852 ; it is thoroughly sound in principle,

and well deserves the popularity evinced by its republication in 1859. The labours of Bishop Wordsworth and Dean Alford are too well known to need more than a passing reference, which must also suffice for other works written with a special view to the wants of certain classes of

readers.

The reader, however, who desires to attain a thorough knowledge of the pur-

estimation*.

deep

347

to be regretted that

1 complete list is given by Bishop Wordsworth, p. 3a f. ; 1 'Catena in Acta SS. Apostolorum ' I. A. Cramer, 1838. See the Monitum Lectori in

that work. * See the treatise

'De prsedestinatione Sanc-

torum,' § 4, "Scripta sunt fidei ejus initia, suntque ecclesiastica celebri lectione notissima." Again in Serm. 315, "Actus apostolorum liber est de canone Scripturarum : iste incipit legi a Dominico Pascha, sicut e consuetudine habet Ecclesia." This testimony is weighty, as contrasted with the statement of Chrvsostom quoted above in § 6, p. 336, proving in fact that, as was there pointed out, that statement applied chiefly if not exclusively to the people of Constantinople. 4 It occupies an entire volume in Tholuck's edition, nearly 500 pages.

port and bearings of the Apostolic history will not confine his attention to commentaries on this great work. The contemporary history, the language, manners, doctrinal and ethical principles of the countrymen of the Apostles, and of the races with which St Luke and his master were brought into contact, will demand and requite most careful study.

In this he will be assisted by works of remarkable learning and varied interest From Jewish writers, all alien, and for the most part antagonistic to the Christian faith, he will learn much which until lately was but imperfectly known or alto-

gether readers.

unknown to the generality of Thus M. Derenbourg in his

'Histoire de la Palestine' has given a and faithful portraiture of the representatives of Hebrew opinion during the whole period touched upon in the lively

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INTRODUCTION TO

348

New Testament

It is no slight advan-

tage to have the antagonists of Christendom before us as they stand out clearly delineated by a highly cultivated and It is certainly an unprejudiced judge. especially satisfactory to find that the dark colours in which the Sadducean persecutors are depicted in our records are more than borne out by these investigations drawn exclusively from RabThus too the curious binical sources publication of Hamburger, not yet completed, entitled the ' Real-Encyclopaedie fur Bibel und Talmud/ enables us to understand more completely the views and feelings of the leaders of Jewish opinion, more especially of the Pharisaic party, with which the writer is in 1

fullest

sympathy.

In this work we find

of Christian influence upon some of the principal 8 Rabbis together with abundant proofs of their general hostility and persecuting spirit. These and other sources have supplied Ernest Renan with copious illustrations of Christian antiquity, which he has used, in some instances with singular tact, in his latest treatises on The two works of the apostolic age. 3 Hausrath and Schurer on the contemporary history of the New Testament go far to supply a desideratum, which ought not to be neglected by English scholars, who, as we may hope, will bring to this subject, together with equal learning, a juster appreciation of the relative bearings of Christian and unchristian influences. Lechler's work on the apostolic and post-apostolic age, to which reference has already been made, is resingularly

distinct

traces

1 The title of Derenbourg's work is ' Essai sur l'histoire et la geographie de la Palestine, d'apres les Thalmuds et les autres sources rabbiniques.' The first part only has been published, ' Histoire de la Palestine depuis Cyrus jusqu'a Adrien.' 1 See the articles on Elieser ben Hyrcanos, the brother-in-law of Rabbi Gamaliel II. ; EHsa ben Abuja, called Acher, a name nearly equivalent to Apostate ; on the first and the second Gamaliel ; on Jehuda Ila Nasi, and Rabbi Jochanan. More traces of Christian influence than appear to have l?een previously noticed will be brought to light by scholars thoroughly conversant with Rabbinical leaders in the first and

second centuries. * Neutestamentliche Zeitgeschichte,' von Dr A. Hausrath, in three volumes 'Lehrbuch der 1 neutestamentlichen Zeitgeschichte von Dr Emil Schurer, 1874. '

plete with useful and varied information, and is written in a thoroughly Christian spirit. Lechler is also the author of the Commentary on the Acts in Lange's 'Bibelwerk.' The portion of Ewald's * History of Israel which refers to this period is of great value, especially in its treatment of the so-called negative criti'

cism.

Above all, the reader will consult the life and writings

principal works on the

of St Paul which have been published within the present century on the Continent and in England. They are written in very different tones, and represent most opposite and antagonistic principles. The older writing by Hemsen, * Der Apostel Paulus, now little read in '

Germany

remarkable for

carefully

digested and well-ordered information. In 1845 Ferdinand Christian Baur published his work entitled ' Paulus der Apostel Jesu ChristiV The sensation

which it produced was immense. It is the main source from which the most serious misrepresentations of the Apostolic age have since been drawn. The the learning, the exegetical the coryphaeus of a most influential school are universally recognized. Nor can it be questioned that points of exceeding interest have been elicited in the course of a controversy which, as a natural result, has issued not only in a permanent separation between the opponents and the maintainers of Christian principles, but in a not less striking separation between the representatives of the school to which F. Ch. Baur gave the strongest impulse, and of which he remains the recognized head. England has produced three works on this subject, equally free from the wild and interminable speculations which have disturbed our German contemporaries, each presenting characteristics of special interest. Of these the earliest ingenuity,

talent of the writer

—

in time is that of Conybeare

which

son, in 1

for

the

first

and Howtime every

even noticed in the 'Tabetic' of see p. 44 where H. gives a list of Exegetischt Hulfmittd for the Acts of the Apostles. * This work developed views which the author had first advanced in an article ' On the object and occasion of the Epistle to the Romans, 1 published in the 'Tiibinger Zeitschrift,' 1836. It is not

Hertwig

;

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THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. species of accessible illustration supplied

by archaeologists, historians, travellers, was collected and presented in a popular and most attractive form to English readers. In 1874 a work similar in form, entitled the 'Life and Epistles of St Paul,' was published by T. Lewin not less 1

remarkable for copiousness of information, and even more remarkable for The work accuracy and completeness of Dr Farrar, published since our commentary was printed and while this Introduction was passing through the press, apparently has all the characteristics of the author's * Life of Christ/ and

bids fair to rival its popularity. When once more we turn our thoughts to the labours of Continental scholars, we cannot fail to be struck by the singular contrast presented by those who have dealt with this, and indeed all portions of the New Testament with the exception of four Epistles, in a captious and sceptical spirit, and by those who retain that reverence for Holy Scripture which was formerly claimed by their forefathers of the Reformation as their most distinctive characteristic

The former have

produced works in abundance touching

on every point of language,

doctrine,

349

important books. Their work has been, and continues to be, all but exclusively destructive. Each great personage to whom Christendom owes all its conceptions of the Saviour's person, of His own works and sayings, and of the principles and acts of His followers, has

been the object of pertinacious attacks, and sophistical misrepresentations. Each 1

of the

Apostles has suffered in the estimation of all who have been influenced by those misrepresentations, and this in exact proportion to the extent in which each of them has reproduced the characteristic features of his Master, or accomplished the work imposed upon him as a founder and governor of the Church. The complaint of a general and most serious falling off the critical and exegetical departments of theological literature, in which Germany had attained a most distinin

guished

not the foremost place, has

lately made itself heard in that country. It is

a palpable fact that whatever has

been done of late even for the revision of the text of the New Testament, but

more especially for the interpretation of the Gospels, the Acts, and the Epistles, has been done by scholars who vary

much towards awakening spirits which

exceedingly in their theological position, but who one and all repudiate the negative and destructive criticism of Baur and his followers. It would indeed be strange were it otherwise. No permanent interest can attach to writings composed, as some German critics hold, of fragmentary and utterly untrustworthy documents,

seemed

historical fact, ecclesiastical organization,

and forms of worship in the Apostolic They have shewn certainly no age. deficiency in learning or keenness of observation, and whatever else may be the result of their long and laborious investigations,

they

have 'undoubtedly

done

danger of subsiding into a

collected, mutilated, and interpolated by

state of torpid indifference, and keeping

unknown and prejudiced compilers, sur-

the attention of secularists fixed upon problems and persons which can hardly be contemplated closely without raising the mind into loftier and nobler fields of thought. But one thing they have not done; they have scarcely attempted it. They have not applied the exegetical instinct which many of them unquestionably possess, and which they have manifested in the discussion of portions of Scripture, to the elucidation of the most

reptitiously introduced and incautiously adopted Such interest as still exists must needs be of a temporary and con-

1 The learned author of the most valuable work on the Chronology of the New Testament which has been published here or on the Continent, the 'Fasti Sacri,' a work which gives all the original documents on which the writer's con-

clusions are based, thus enabling the to form an independent judgment.

reader

troversial

be, to

character;

sufficient,

may

produce a series of bitter articles

1 This applies more especially to the accounts of St Peter, St John and St James, which have left painful traces in the writings of authors not wanting in spiritual discernment; but it is applicable to a very great extent to St Paul, the special object of their one-sided encomiums. There can be no doubt that the dark colours in which that Apostle is described in Renan's work are chiefly derived from the writings in which Baur, and other German rationalists, represent him as the rival and antagonist of the older Apostles, and as actuated by feelings which are glaringly inconsistent with the spirit of our Lord

HimselL

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350

INTRODUCTION TO THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.

in periodicals devoted to the propagation of sceptical or avowedly antichristian

principles ; or works in

which the prin-

ciples of negative criticism are maintained

and developed; but

certainly not suffi-

cient to produce careful, complete, and searching investigations into the character,

bearings, style, and historical import

of such a

Book as that to which our

attention is now directed

Such investigations demand not indeed a blind faith, or a general acquiescence in traditional interpretations, or a determination to bring all statements into accordance with preconceived views however sound and true, but a conviction that the student has before him a true and faithful recorder of events known to him from personal observation or from the testimony of thoroughly conscientious informants, chief agents in the events which he narrates; in this present case a man who

by early training was well fitted to com* prehend the bearings of the transactions! and to appreciate the characters, which he describes; who was singularly free from national prepossessions, and full of sympathy with all generous and spiritual emotions. Such was the man to whom the unparalleled distinction was vouchsafed, that he the only Gentile through whom any portion of the Christian revelation was communicated to the Church should be intrusted with a record of our Lord's life, which begins earlier than any other Evangelist's, and is full of discourses and acts of deepest and most

—

touching significance, as well as with the only extant account of the foundation and extension of the Church, the complete accomplishment of his Master's last charge to the Apostles even St Luke, the Gentile physician, the "beloved" companion and faithful follower of St Paul

—

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THE

ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. CHAPTER I.

They accordingly return* and* giving them'

Christ, preparing his apostles to the beholding of his ascension* gathereth them together into the mount Olivet* commandcth them to

exfect in Jerusalem the sending down of the Holy Ghost, promiseth after few days to send it: by virtue whereof they should be witnesses unto him, even to the utmost parts of the earth, 9 After his ascension they are warned by two angels to depart* and to set their minds upon his second coming. 11

Inscription to Theophilus.

Chap. I.

The former] This beginning, which has a curious verbal coincidence with that of Philo's Treatise, * Quod omnis probus liber,' is most intimately connected with the close of the Evangelical Narrative, viz. the Ascension, of which we have a fuller and more detailed account here than in any of the JL

Evangelists.

Rather, narrative, or relaChrysostom twice noted this designation for the Gospel according to St Luke as treatise']

tion.

very modest. Theophilus] See the note on St Luke i. 3. Not an ideal person with a name expressive of his religious character. That must have been Philotheus. Cp. % Tim. iii. 4, and Philo's summary of his account of Moses: n<r o*Aiko\ Ofcxfrikrfs. Probably a Gentile convert not resident in the Holy Land, or he could not have needed the many explanations of places and usages. He is said by Theophylact to have been of senatorial rank; and the title prefixed in the opening of the Gospel has been thought to imply that he was a provincial governor. Cp. xxiii. 26, xxiv. 3. The address here is less ceremonious than in the opening of the Gospel, indicating that, in the interval, St Luke's friendship with him had become more intimate. all that] Not to be understood literally: ytttv ak\cop <f>i\60*os

all that

was most important, all that was reof a catechumen. de Cons. Evang.' iv. 8. Of the

2uisite for the instruction !p. Augustin, first

thirty years, after the infancy, the sitting

in the midst of the doctors is the only event re-

corded. The universal statement of St John zv. 15 it limited by xvi. is.

began

bib to do and

teach]

did and

selves to prayer, choose

Matthias apostle in

the place of Judas.

THE O

former treatise have I made, Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given command-

taught, without any emphasis on began, as if it implied a contrast between Christ's work on earth and in heaven., A very common idiomatic expression; e.g. trapacaXtvar, Matt, 34 = ^pfovro irapoKaXflw, Mark v. 17. Cp. Matt. xi. 7 ; Mark vi. %, xiii. 5 ; Luke hi. 8, xi. 29, xiii. «5, xiv. 9, 29; John xiii. 5, 11; and Gen. ii 3, in LXX. Jesus was a Prophet mighty in deed and word ; and to the miracles and instructions previously recorded a supplement is here given in a series wrought and delivered by His chosen followers. iii.

The Eleven are prepared for the departure of their lord. taken up] This reference to the close 2. of St Luke's Gospel is emphatic, the Ascension being barely noticed by St Mark, and not at The brief elall by St Matthew and St John. liptical expression shows how familiarized the minds of the disciples had been to the with-

drawal of their Master; 1 Tim. iii. 16. In the Service Books of the Eastern Cmirch 1) 'AitiAi^ta is used for the Festival of the Ascension.

Our A. V. folthrough the Holy Ghost] the Vulgate and Chrysostom, and this construction is supported by xi. % 8, Cyril xxi. 4; Matt. xii. 38; Heb. ix. 14. Alex, and Augustin, in accordance with the Oriental Versions, understood whom He had chosen through the Holy Ghost. commandments] E.g. to preach the Gospel throughout the world, Mark xvi. 15, Luke xxiv. 46 49 ; to baptize in the Name of the Trinity, Matt, xxvhi. 19; and to enjoin the observance of all the precepts given by Christ, in the course of the forty days, for the organizing and administration of His Church. lowed

—

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THE ACTS.

352

ments unto the apostles whom he had chosen 3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them

the apostles] The fitting designation here, the period of discipleship having passed by. All the Apostles collectively, u pan consortio praediti, et honoris et potestatis," Cyprian, *de Unitate.'

whom be bad chosen] choien for Hlm-

elt

Subjoined to mark the dignity of the

office, Luke vi.

13; John vi. 70, xv. 16. Cornelius a Lapide corrected elegit in the Vulgate into elegerat.

be shewed himself'] 3. Not He appeared, Cp. John xxi. 1, 14. This form of expression was noted by Chrysostom as implying His Godhead. Horn, on the Ascension, § 9. passion] Here equivalent to death, as in iii. 18, xxvi. 23; Heb. xiii. 11; 1 Pet. iii. 18. So, in the Nicene Creed, "He suffered, and was buried;' and in the Athanasian, " Who " suffered for our salvation 4 manf\ Emphatic; more than are recorded. infallible proofs] A. V. happily followed the Geneva, 1557, in inserting infallible; and it has the advantage over that, Tyndale, and Cranmer, in substituting proofs for tokens. The original word, T€ic/ii}piov, is defined by 1

Aristotle to dvayKoiov anfuiov, the necessarily convincing proof k Rhet.' 1, ii. 1 6. These proofs were such as could not he mistaken; addressed to sight, hearing, and touch, on eleven recorded occasions. More happily rendered in Enbeing seen] glish Versions previous to 1611, appearing. Allowing Himself to be seen, not continuously, but at intervals, when He pleased, and as He pleased. The verb is frequentative, and is used concerning the Angel, Tobit xii. 19. The duration of our Lord's forty days] fasting, Matt. iv. 2 ; Luke iv. 2, as it had been of that of Moses, Exod. xxxiv. a 8, while, as mediator, Gal. iii 19, he stood between the Lord and the people, Deut. v. 5. Comp. 1 K. xix. 8. The precise length of this interval is a new fact. Cp. Luke xxiv. 50 53, where the Ascension is regarded as only the termination of our Lord's life on earth, whereas here it is viewed in direct connection with the subNotwithstanding this distinct sequent events. statement, Strauss and Renan felt themselves at liberty to suggest that the Ascension was Of on the same day as the Resurrection. this interval eight days are noticed by St John, xx. 16; again, the time required for transit into Galilee, Matt, xxviii. 10, and for a stay there, during which was the appearance to the Apostles and that to the Five Hundred;

—

then, after an interval, Christ's showing Him-

[v. 3» 4-

forty days, and speaking of the things

pertaining to the kingdom of God :

4 Ana, 'being assembled together "Or, with tbem y commanded them that^iXr they should not depart from Jeru- "*** M/"

self at the sea of Tiberias, John xxi. ; and time

for the return to Jerusalem, perhaps in obedience to a direction given through St James, 1 Cor. xv. 7. the kingdom of God] I.e. the Gospel Dispensation, the subject of the earliest teaching. The things pertaining to it included His own supremacy, Matt, xxviii. 18 ; the Commission to the Apostles, 19, 30 Marjt xvi. 15 the Promise of His Presence, Matt, xxviii. 20; and of the Holy Ghosty immediately, Luke ;

xxiv. 49,

and in perpetuity, John xx. 22, 23.

And along with these, it is piously presumed, a particular direction for the observance of the Lord's Day. Bramhall, Works, v. 58. See Bp Moberly's discourses on the Great Forty Days.' 4. being assembled] The marginal rendering follows the Vulgate; and the word was so understood by Chrysostom, Horn. iv. in Princip. Act. § 5, and Horn. 1. in Act. § 4. But it is used repeatedly by Josephus in the sense of assembling <witb; e.g. vill. iv. 1, xix. vii. 4; as by Xenophon also, Cyrop.' 1. iv. 14, 4 Anab.' vn. iii. 48. The occasion of His eating with them, noted by St Peter, x. 41, was among His earlier appearances, too remote from the time of the Ascension to have been intended here. This final interview was near Bethany, Luke xxiv. 50, with the Apos4

tles only.

not depart] Cp. Luke xxiv. 49. The great joy, v. 52, was caused by the glorification of their Lord and the assurance which that gave of His ability to protect His followTheir natural impulse must have been to

ers.

quit the scene of His death, where they had every reason to expect persecution; but the promise in v. 5 might well reconcile them to their duty. Jerusalem was still the holy city, even after the Crucifixion; and the coming of the Holy Ghost could not have been so convincing at any place or time as there, at one of the great Festivals, when multitudes, gathered thither out of all lands, would carry to their several homes tidings of the manifestation. The new Law, as well as the old, was to go forth from Jerusalem: Isai. ii. 3; Micah iv. 1, 2. Eusebius, v. 19, refers to a tradition preserved by Apollonius, a Church historian of the second century, that Christ commanded His Apostles not to quit Jerusalem for twelve years. Clem. Alex., 4 Strom.' vi. v. 43, quotes the Preaching of Peter for a direction that the Apostles were to go forth to the world after twelve years.

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THE ACTS.

5-8.]

salem, but wait for the promise of « Luke a* the Father, a which, saith be> ye have

heard of me. 5 *For John truly baptized with water ; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. 6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying,

* Matt s**

353

Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel ? 7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put 1* in his own power. io^m^ c 8 But ye shall receive ' power, after ft™?; if .

that the

you

thtHoiy

/-»!

Holy Cjhost is come upon Ghost

and ye shall be witnesses unto £/£%«.

Judaea for Jerusalem, and widest sense, as including Samaria and Galilee, the tradition is not at variance with what we know from history." Burton, > Lectures on the Eccl. Hist, of the first Century,' I. 146. the promise of the Father] ii. $$, Joel ii. 28; Matt. x. ao; Luke xii. 12, xxiv. 49; John xiv. 16, 26, xv. 26, xvi. 7 16. Their expectations were to be limited to the promise, the nature and extent of which they little appreciated. The Christian Dispensation was to be the Ministration of the Spirit. which, saith be, ye have beard] For a similar transition from the oblique to the direct form, see xvii. 3, xxiii. 34, 3$* an d Luke v. 14.

with their craving for liberation from Rome and for national independence, destruction was

Compare the

them of their duty, as in Luke xiii. 23, and con-

**If we substitute

take Judsea in

its

—

shall be baptized with]

words of the Baptist, Matt. iii. 11, Lukeiii. 16. This promise went very far beyond the receiving of the Holy Ghost, John xx. 22, and was not restricted to the Apostles, as St Peter

came to understand in the house of Cornelius, xi. 16. The Holy Ghost was poured forth abundantly, Titus iii. 5, 6. not many] Ten days. The Lord was with them forty days, v. 3, and they were baptized with the Holy Ghost on the fiftieth. Their faith was more tried by the vagueness of the expression than it would have been if the number had been specified not many encouraged hope, and the indefiniteness induced :

were come

together]

This occasion,

near Bethany, Luke xxiv. 50, is distinct from that in v. 4, at Jerusalem. Both appear to have been restricted to the Eleven. Cp. v. 11. He left the earth, to return to His glory, from the same place from which He went forth to

His sufferings and death. at this time] I.e. not many days hence. The question is in the same form as in Matt, xii.

10,

Luke xiii. 23, xxiL 49, equivalent to

Grant us to know whether. they did not ask,

Ill

their eagerness

When wilt Thou? but,

Wilt Thou now? The appearance of the kingdom had been looked for immediately,

Luke xix. 11.

restore] The same word as Matt. xvii. 11. They perhaps had Micah iv. 8 in remem-

brance. But they very imperfectly apprehended the exclusively spiritual character and world-wide extent of the dispensation which they were called to introduce and administer; and they expected that their Lord would continue with them notwithstanding what He had said, John xx. 17; Luke xxiv. 26.

It is not for you]

Our Lord's answer

was not direct, as, with His foreknowledge, it might have been in the negative.

It reminded

veyed instruction rather than censure.

It led

their thoughts away from temporal sovereignty

to the testimony which they would have to bear; and the sufferings inseparable from it were, in mercy, not noticed on this occasion.. Cp. Matt. xx. 21 23. the times or the seasons] Better without the article. The same words as in Dan. ii. 21, LXX.; times 1 periods, in some cases of considerable length; seasons, epochs fixed for particular events. "Frustra igitur annos qui huic saeculo remanent, computare ac definire

—

conamur, quum hoc scire non esse nostrum Augustin, de

ex ore Veritatis audiamus."

Civ. Dei,' xvm. 53.

watchfulness. 6.

awaiting Jerusalem.

The verb in the present tense

indicates their impression that the restoration was near at hand. But instead of the fulfil-

ment of Dan. vii

13,

14, 27, in

accordance

As in Mark xiii. 32. the Father] put in bis own power] Rather, reserved

under Hli own authority.

The word is

from that in the next verse. Cp. Matt. xxiv. 36, and see Magee on the Atone-

different

ment, ill. 52, fifth edition.

This pointed 8. shall receive power] again to Pentecost, not many days off, v. 5. Power had been expressly promised, Luke

For superhuman knowledge they 49. were not to look. Miraculous powers would be granted for the confirmation of their teaching. The marginal rendering here is less xxiv.

correct.

witnesses]

Luke xxiv. 48.

Not Princes.

Cp. John xv. 27

The discharge of their duty

as witnesses is the chief subject of this Book. My witnesses^ A, B, C, D.

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THE ACTS.

354

me both in

Jerusalem, and in

all

Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. * I^ike 24. 9 ''And when he had spoken these

fastly

behold, two men stood by white apparel

Jerusalem] The Jews were in the habit of speaking of their capital apart from their country. Judaea is to be understood here the larger sense, comprising Galilee and the country beyond the Jordan. Samaria] This cancelled the prohibition, Matt. x. 5. Those fields had been pronounced white for the harvest, John iv. 35. Literally, the uttermost part of the earth] in the largest sense, xiii. 47; Matt, xxviii. 19; Rom. x. 18. They, it seems, did not at the time understand it as extending beyond Jews dispersed throughout the world.

The Ascension. 0.

these things']

And many more, as is plain

from the Gospels. while they beheld] The Oriental Versions subjoin Him. Seeing Christ after His Resurrection qualified them for being witnesses of that fact: for their bearing personal testimony to His Ascension it was necessary that they should see it They were not left in amazement at His vanishing, as the two at Emmaus had been, Luke xxiv. 31. taken up] As He was in the act of blessing them, Luke xxiv. 51. It is a different word from that in v. 2, and denotes His first leaving the ground. This is the most circumstantial account of the Ascension. The Resurrection was to the Apostles the crowning event in His going back to His Christ's life on earth. glory was a matter of course. Both the natures of our Blessed Lord are recognized. In His Humanity He was passive, Mark xvi. In His Divinity the As19; 1 Tim. iii. 16. cension was His own act, v. 10; 1 Peter iii. So, in the case of the Resurrection also; ju.

God raised Him, 24, 32, iii. 15, xiii. 3^ 34, xvii. 31; and He raised Himself, John ii. 19, ii.

x. 18.

a cloud] A luminous cloud was often a symbol of the Divine Presence, Exod. xl. 34 Num. ix. 15 1 K. viii. 10. Cp. the bright ;

cloud at the Transfiguration,

Matt xvii. 5,

and u the glory of the Lord," Luke ii. 9. All was calm there was no whirlwind, as at the ;

rapture of Elijah. Not to envelope, but to susreceived him] He made the cloud His chariot, tain Him. Ps. civ. 3; lsai. xix. 1 ; and its interposition If He had concealed Him from human eyes. vanished abruptly, it would not have been made equally clear that His glorified Manhood had been taken up. Chrysostom, Horn.

them in

Which also said, Ye men of

things, while

-II.

And while they looked stedtoward heaven as he went up,

5»-

they beheld, he was taken up ; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

[V-

Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into

heaven?

this

same Jesus, which is

§ 2, remarked that of the Resurrection His followers saw the end, not the beginning; of the Ascension they saw the beginning, not the "It was sufficient that Christ shewed end. Himself to the Apostles alive after His passion ; for being they knew Him before to be dead, and now saw Him alive, they were thereby assured that He rose again: for whatsoever 11.

was a proof of His life after death was a demonstration of His Resurrection. But being the Apostles were not to see our Saviour in heaven, being the session was not to be visible to them on earth, therefore it was necessary they should be eye-witnesses of the act, who were not with the same eyes to behold the Pearson, on the Creed, Article vi. effect." Some have thought that out 0/ their sight] others beside the Apostles witnessed the Ascension. But St Luke's account here, 2, 4, Cp. 6, 11, seems to restrict it to the Eleven.

Mark xvi. 14, 19. Gone from them, their, Lord was still with them, Matt xxviii. 20.

And if our conversation is with Him in heaven, 20, we may hope to have the sunshine

Phil.

iii.

of His Presence even in the vale of tears and in the valley of the shadow of death. 10. looked stedfastlf[ Rather, were faxing. The word is used nine times in this Book, and twice in St Luke's Gospel. In a Cor. iii. 7, 13, A. V. gives s ted/as tfy behold. Angels in human form, as in x. t<wo men]

Angelic 22, 30; Mark xvi. 5; Luke xxiv. 4. ministration had been rendered to our Lord in the days of His humiliation, at His birth, after His temptation, in His agony, and at His resurrection.

men of Galilee] The Apostles were 11. called from that district out of which, in forget fulness of Jonah, and perhaps, Nahum also, it had been said that there had arisen no Prophet, John vii. 52.

gazing up] Not without some hope, per» haps, that He might reappear. The words of the Angels imply that the Apostles ought to have been prepared for the withdrawal of Christ's bodily presence, John vi. 62, xx. 17; Luke xxiv. 26. Henceforth they were not to indulge in vain regret, but to apply themselves to the work assigned to them, and to look forward to His second coming.

That Jesus

Christ shall come again, is the great promise of the New Testament, as the Seed of the Woman was of the Old. this

same]

The Godhead and Manhood

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THE ACTS.

«» 13]

taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. 12 Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet,

were joined together in one Person, never to be divided. Article 11. He ascended with His Body, and there sitteth till He return to judge all

men at the last day. in like manner]

ven," Dan.

vii.

Article iv. "With the clouds of hea-

13; Matt. xxiv. 30, xxvi. 64; Visibly, u every

Mark xiv. 6a; Luke xxi. 27.

eye shall see Him," Rev. i. 7. Attended by Angels, Matt. xxv. 31 1 Thess. iv. 16; and in human form, "in eadem forma atque substantia," Augustin, Epist. 187; so that meanwhile we may think of Him as retaining "all things appertaining to the perfection of man's nature," and may invoke Him as "Son of David." into heaven] The threefold repetition of these words in this verse was meant to impress the reality of the event, which the Church makes the basis of prayer on Ascension Day ;

and on the Sunday following.

Return of the Eleven to Jerusalem. Then returned they] St Luke, xxiv. 52, " with great joy." When they received the first intimation of His leaving them, sorrow had filled their hearts, John xvi. 6. Now, though withdrawn in the body, their Lord was felt to be nearer and more to them than ever. Olivet] The olive-garden, the scene of the Agony. This variation from the usual " Mount 12.

subjoins,

of Olives" faithfully represents the Original. On the mountain, N.E. of Jerusalem, the glory of the God of Israel lingered, when, in the vision of Ezekiel, xi. 13, it was leaving the city; and here Zechariah saw a manifestation of the Messiah, xiv. 4. Bethany is the scene of the Ascension in Luke xxiv. 50; and the Mount of Olives is used by him, xxi. 37, as equivalent to Bethany in Matt. xxi. 17 and Mark xi. 1. By Bethany is to be understood here, not the village, but a district on the eastern slope. Our Lord led them to the confines of this, at its junction with the suburb, Bethphage. The traditionary attempt to identify the spot with the highest of the three summits, the elevation of which has been estimated at 2724 feet above the level of the sea, but only 921 feet above Bethany, on which the Empress Helena built a church, has been pronounced a failure. "The Ascension was from the place where that tract of the Mount of Olives ceased to be called Bethphage, and began to be called Bethany." Lightfoot, *Hor. Hebr.' It cannot have been very far

from the home of Lazarus and his sisters on

which

355 from Jerusalem a sabbath

day's journey.

13 And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James,

the further side, and from the scene of the Agony, six weeks previously, on the nearer side of the Mount. Stanley, Sinai and Palestine,' 454, 5th ed. a sabbath dafs journei] This may be understood as eaual to about an English mile. It was not a Mosaic enactment, but a Rabbinical tradition based on Exod. xvi. 29, compared with the space left between the Ark and the people, Joshua iii. 4, and with the distance between the centre and the outermost verge of a Leviticalcity, Num. xxxv. 4, 5. Josephus, '

xx. viii. 6, gives five stades, and J. W.' v. ii. 3, six stades, as the distance of the Mount of Olives from Jerusalem. It was a familiar esti4

mate of distance, not at all warranting Chrysostom's inference that the Ascension was on a Sabbath, Horn. 111. 1. The fortieth day from the Crucifixion, Friday, must have fallen on a a " Thursday. The Ascension is assigned to that day in v. 19 of the Apostolical Constitutions, the first six books of which are attributed to the close of the third century, and in Eusebius* Life of Constantine, in. 43. The Commemoration of it was observed "ab uni versa quacunque se diffundft Ecclesia," Augustin, * Epist ad Januarium,' § 1. 13. come in] To the city. an upper room] the upper room. Some have that this was in assumed, from Luke xxiv. the Temple. But that passage, like ii. 46, is better understood of their regularlv resorting The thither at the hours of prayer, iii. 1. followers of Jesus of Nazareth can hardly have been allowed the use of an apartment; and the association of men and women, v. 14, would not have been permissible within the may safely follow the sacred precincts. stream of ancient interpretation in understanding the insertion of the article as identifying it with the room in which the Eucharist was in-

stituted,

Mark xiv.

15;

Luke xxii.

ia,

and

in which two appearances of Christ after His

Resurrection, John xx. 19, 26, and the coming of the Holy Ghost, took place. abode] Not dwelling there, but frequently resorting to it for devotion and consultation. Peter, and James] A. V., representing the Received Text, agrees with Mark iii. 16, 17. In K, A, B, C, D, Vulg. and Syr., Peter and John, In the two friends, are grouped together. Matt x. 2, and Luke vi. 14, the brothers are paired respectively. The fourth enumeration, given here, shows that Judas Iscariot alone

was missing, John xvil 12.

St Peter's denial, 1 St Thomas incredulity, did not exclude them.

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THE ACTS.

356

and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.

14 These

all

continued with one

had forsaken Him, they were His favour, and in the office to which He had called them. Alphaus] Called Cleopas, Luke xxiv. 18. He married a sister of the Blessed Virgin, John xix. 15, and was, it is thought most probable, dead before the commencement of our Lord's ministry. His son James, Matt. x. 3, called the Less, i.e. the Younger, Mark xv. 40, and the Just, probably wrote the Catholic Epistle. He was favoured with a special appearance of Christ after His resurrection, 1 Cor. xv. 7, and has by some been identified with the first Bishop of Jerusalem, Acts xv. 13, 19; Gal. ii. 9; but see the note on xv. 13. He is commemorated by the Church, in conjunction with St Philip, on the Although

all

reinstated in

May. So in Luke vi. 15, fixing the true meaning of the Aramaic designation very unhappily represented by Canaanite in A. V. first of

Zelotes]

Matt. x. 4, and Mark iii. 18. the brother son,

of James'] Syr. represents the which is preferred oy Meyer and Bishop

Cotterill. The relationship is not expressly given here, or in Luke vi. 16. A. V. supplied this ellipse from the opening of the Epistle of St Jude, following a tradition acquiesced in by Origen, who did not explain the relationship, but treated it as well known, as doubtless it was at the time when St Luke wrote. This

Jude is called Thaddaeus, Mark iii. 18; and Lebbaeus, Matt. x. 3. By St John, xiv. aa, he is distinguished from Iscariot 14.

The original word

<witb one accord]

occurs eleven times

book, only once elsewhere in the New Testament, Rom. xv. 6. Unanimity in prayer is one of the conditions on which we may hope to be heard: Matt, xviii. 19; 1 Peter iii. 7. prayer] the prayer; a definite form. Cp. ii. 4a; Col. iv. a. Prayer is the more general

word;

supplication,

in this

petition

some special

need, is not found in any Uncial MS. nor recognized by the VuJgate or the Syriac. the women] Including, doubtless, those

mentioned in Matt, xxvii. 56; Mark xv. 40;

Luke viii. a, 3, xxiii. 49, $$, xxiv.

10, and,

we may presume, the sisters of Bethany. Their presence is noticed as in strong contrast with Jewish usage, which assigned a separate court the Temple, and kept women apart in the Synagogue. In Christ, there is neither male nor female, Gal. iii. a 8. the mother 0/ Jesus] special mention, as Of St Peter, Mark xvl 7. This is the last

[v. i4> IS-

accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. 15 U And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said,

(the number of names

notice of the Blessed Virgin in Holy Scripture. She is distinguished from other women in accordance with the angelic salutation, Luke i. a8; but her preeminence is not made conspicuous or dwelt upon. She was stedfast in prayer, like the rest. St John made no refer-

ence in his Epistles to the charge committed to him, John xix. a 7. Of the deaths of St Stephen and St James, and of the sufferings of St Paul, we know something, but of hers nothing is told us. Her assumption is not noticed by Arethas in his commentary on the Apocalypse, A.b. 540; and in the Litui^y which bears the name of Chrysostom, she is mentioned with other Saints as in Paradise, awaiting, not yet having, her perfect consummation and bliss. his brethren] Near kinsmen, as Matt xii. 46; John vii. 3; Gal. i. 19: James, son of Alphxus, Joses, Simon, Jude, Matt. xiii. $5t xxvii. 56. They had been backward in believing, John vii. 5. Many have understood half brothers by a previous marriage of Joseph. The well-nigh universal sense of the early Church was against regarding them in any nearer relationship than that of cousins. 4 A Consanguinei Virginis Mariae fratres Domini dicebantur. Erat enim consuetudinis Scripturarum appellare fratres quoslibet consanguineos et cognationis propinquos." A ugustin, * in S. Jo. Evang. Tract.' xxvm. 3. The commendation of the Blessed Virgin to the care of St John indicates that there was no brother by blood. See the Note on Matt. xiii. $5' 15.

Between the Ascension

in those days]

and Pentecost.

Election of a Successor to Judas. Assured of his complete and mindful of the charge given

Peter stood up] restoration,

to him, Luke xxii. 3a. In the midst, among them, as one of them, not in any position of authority. The historian, it may reasonably be assumed, received through Silas detailed accounts of all transactions in which St Peter was prominent. the disciples] the brethren K, A, B, C, 4

and recent critical editors. of names] of persons, as Rev. iii. 4, xi. 13 margin. The Eleven and the Blessed Virgin had been already mentioned: v. a3 supplies two other names. There were about forty more than the Apostles and the Seventy. together] Not as inmates, but then and there assembled for devotional exercises.

an hundred and twenty]

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THE ACTS.

i6— 18.]

together were about an hundred and twenty,)

6 Men and brethren, this scripmust needs have been fulfilled, p«ai. 4 x. 'which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David Spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that 1

ture

took Jesus. Gill.

There was

Council in any city under this number. Lightfoot. In the Horologion, -August 9, the Greek Church understands that this number comprised women, notwithstanding the form of address in the next verse. It was not the aggregate of all the disciples, but of those who happened to be in Jerusalem at the time of the Ascension. The Five Hundred, 1 Cor. xv. 6, included many who had tarried in Galilee or who had gone to their homes elsewhere, and had not yet returned for Pentecost stated

16. Men and brethren] Rather, Brethren. Cp. vii. a. A solemn and respectful form of address, excluding the women in v. 14. St Peter acted throughout in concurrence with the general feeling, not with any personal authority. Chrysostom, Horn. in. 1. His

taking the initiative was in accordance with Matt. xvi. 19; his tone in speaking of Scripture and the Divine purposes fulfilled John xx. 22. this scripture"] The quotation in v. 20. Very emphatic testimony to the Old Testament is borne by St Peter in his second Epistle, i.

21.

mutt needs have been] Yet the will of the cannot reconcile human accountability and Divine foreknowledge, but we must accept both, iv. 28. agent was free.

the Holy

357

17 For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry.

-^Now this man

purchased a 'Matt, a* the reward of iniquity; and 7 falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed *

field with

out.

Ezra's great Synagogue.

Ghost]

Psalms is attested

The inspiration here, as

the

had been by

Christ Himself, Mark xii. 36. by the mouth of David] The Psalmist's words had a reference beyond any of which he was conscious. Ps. xli. 9, pointing in the first instance to Ahithophel, had been applied to Judas by our Lord, John xiii. 18. was guide] became guide: it was his own act. The sense would be better expressed if there were only a comma after Jesus and the next verse began with because. Thus much had been foretold concerning Judas, because he had been one of the Twelve.

Now

this man] 18. This and the following verse have been regarded as parenthetically inserted by the historian. To the minds of those whom St Peter was addressing the facts

were fresh and familiar, and the explanation of Aceldama needless. For Theophilus and general readers the information was most desirable; and it had not been given in St Luke's Gospel. purchased] gave occasion to the pur-

chase.

The money received by Judas was

so invested by others, Matt xxvii. 5—10. So the Jews are said to have crucified, and Pilate to have scourged Jesus; Joseph of Arimathaea to have hewn out the new tomb, and Saul to

have offered the burnt-offering, 1 S. xiii. 9. The Potters field, Matt, xxvii. 7. afield] Maundrell, 1697, was shown this in the valley of Hinnom, and another Aceldama in the valley of Jehoshaphat. And Greswell thought that the Potter's field was to be distinguished c from the scene of the suicide. Clellan, who cannot accept this distinction, very forcibly remarks that St Matthew, "in a picture in immediate juxtaposition with that of the denial and penitence of St Peter, traces the traitor's fell through all its human stages of remorse to his own extreme self-inflicted penalty; and the curtain appropriately drops over the last act of the workings of guilty despair, as it fell before over St Peter's penitential sorrow. St Luke portrays not the act of Judas in the frenzy of desperation, but the act of God in righteous retribution... The two accounts are (not, as Meyer, the result of different traditions, but) companion pictures by inspired artists, equally and perfectly informed; where-

of, in strict suitability to their several designs, the one reveals the human side of the tragedy, and the other the divine" I. p. 504. headlong] Rather, flat on his face. Cp.

Josephus, 4 J. W.,' vi. i. 6.

This feet is not

17. numbered with us] No hint of his unworthiness. even after John vi. 70. Cp.

contradictory, but additional to the circumstances stated in Matt, xxvii. 5, where the word is the same as that used by LXX. concerning Ahithophel. Theophylact explained that the rope broke, and that, after the Resurrection of Christ, Judas flung himself off some

our xxvith Article.

height.

Rather, had allotted to him. Judas had the same commission and miraculous powers as the rest of the Twelve. The word here rendered part is represented by inheritance, Eph. i. 11; Col. i. 12.

St Luke's expression, which in the Horologion is paraphrased by having fallen from the baiter on bis face. burst asunder] This statement of what befell the body of Judas is supplementary to

obtained]

There

no foundation for this in

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THE ACTS.

358

And it was known unto all the

dwellers at Jerusalem ; insomuch as that field is called in their proper

tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood. rPwd. 69 20 For it is written in the book of *p«Lxo9. Psalms, *Let his habitation be deso ' atc > anc' l et no man dwell therein : ibr cMce or. ikargt. and k his bishoprick let another take.

mode of suicide, Matt Ten thousand Idumean captives,

the account of the xxvii.

cast down from the top of a rock, after Amaziah's victory, "were all broken in pieces."

% Chro. xxv. 12. 19.

known.

was kno<wn\ Principally

Rather, It became preeminently the with the wages of ini-

and

purchase of the field " Just as St Matthew, xxvii. 8, after an interval, refers the cause back not to the immediately preceding burial of strangers in v. 7, but to the purchase-money of the price of blood in v. 6, so here, St Luke, after an interval, refers the cause back not to the immediately preceding fate of Judas, but to the purchase

quity.

in v. 18. The parallelism is strikingly close: the wages are the price, and the iniquity the c bloods Clellan, I. p. 505. all the dwellers at Jerusalem] Including the strangers, for one of whom our Lord was mistaken on the road to Emmaus, Luke xxiv.

18. their proper tongue] The Syro-Chaldaic, or Aramaic. In the Original, dialect, a word used six times in this Book, ii. 6, 8, xxi. 40, xxii. Any distinction between this and 2, xxvi. 14. the ordinary word cannot be pressed. Roberts, Discussion on the Gospels/ 188, noted their not our, as indicating that St Peter spoke in Greek. Bought with the price of field of blood] blood, Matt, xxvii. 8, and, according to received tradition, stained with the blood of Judas. The name Aceldama would remind Jewish readers of that bloodshedding, the consequences of which had been invoked on themselves and on their children. The place com4

monly shown as Aceldama "has ever been famous on account of the sarcophagous virtue possessed by the earth, in hastening the decay of dead bodies. Shiploads of it were carried to the Campo Santo in Pisa." E. D. Clarke's Travels, iv. 344, 8vo.

20. tion,

For it is written] The first quotadown to therein, is taken substantially

from Ps. lxix. 25, with some compression of LXX., and a variation in the number of the pronoun from plural to singular, by which Judas is taken as a representative of Christ's enemies. This Psalm, quoted in the New Testament oftener than any other except xxii., is

[v.

21.

21 Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out

among us, 22 Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day* that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.

preeminently Messianic; v. 9 is applied to Christ by St John, ii. 1 7 ; the words immediately following by St Paul, Rom. xv. 3 ; and the fulfilment of v. 21 is noted by St John, xix. 28 30. The second quotation is taken with verbal exactness from LXX., Ps. cix. 8, called by the The conduct ancients, the Iscariot Psalm. of Judas warranted the identifying him with Doeg and Ahithophel. David and his enemies are treated as types of Christ and His enemies. And, after the exposition given by our Lord, Luke xxiv. 44, it is out of the question to impute to St Peter misunderstanding or misapplication. habitation] Perhaps, pastoral office. In the Original, sheepcote. bishoprick] So Wycliffe, here, and in the Psalm; Luther gave Bis t hum here, and Amt in the Psalm. The word his ought to have a capital letter to show that it is the first word The ecclesiastical in a second quotation. designation had been applied to Roman officials: "Pompeius vult me esse quern tota haec Campania et maritima ora haheat im<jK<mov? Cicero ad Atticum, vn. 11.

—

21. these men] This has been understood But the reserving as n stricted to the Seventy. the word to the last in the Original points to those among the company who had seen and conversed with the Lord after His resurrection. all the time] The Twelve were chosen that they might be with Him, Mark iii. 14. Their having been with Him from the beginning qualified them for being His witnesses,

John xv. 27. went in and out]

Hebraism Cp. ix. 38. Deut xxviii. 6, for the whole course of life. 19; 1 S. xviii. 13, 16; 2 Chro. i. 10; P&cxxi. The required qualification was the having 8. been present at the Discourses and Miracles of Christ

22. Beginning] Having began from the time when John was baptizing. Not to be restricted to our Lord's Baptism. The ministry of the Baptist was the announcement and introduction of that of Christ, John L 29;

Mark

1, 2.

must one be ordained]

made or become.

There is no reference to any ecclesiastical rite. There were to be twelve Apostles because there were twelve tribes, Matt. xix. 28, and it

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THE ACTS.

23 And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen,

25 this

That he may take part of ministry and apostleship, from

which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.

26 And they gave forth their lots and the lot fell upon Matthias ; and

An apocryphal Gospel passed under his name, and his traditions are quoted by Clem. Alex. A Strom. 1 11. ix. 45, vn. xiii. 82. Jones, on the Canon, 1. 257, contends that there were no written remains, only oral

was necessary that the vacancy should be filled

St Matthias.

before the effusion of the Spirit. The one prophecy having been fulfilled by the death of Judas, the other must be fulfilled by the appointment of a successor. The vacancy was to be supplied of necessity ; but human intervention was requisite. his resurrection] The great central truth of Apostolic teaching, which involved the whole of their testimony, iv. $$, apart from which

tradition.

fact preaching and faith were alike vain, 1 Cor.

xv. 14.

23. tbey appointed] Rather, presented or set before, as in v. 27, vi. 6. It has been argued that whichever reading, disciples or brethren, is adopted in v. 15, the hundred and twenty may have taken part in the selection but does not v. 17 point to the Apostles exclusively ?

Barsabas] The meaning of this name has not been ascertained. Five different interpretations have been given: son of conversion, of an oath, of quiet, of wisdom, of an old man, as more or less probable, by Lightfbot, *Hor. Hebr.' Eusebius, 1. n, has preserved a tradition that he was one of the Seventy, and, hi. .19, states on the authority of Papias that, having drunk deadly poison, he was preserved from all harm. It has been suggested that he may have been a brother of Judas Barsabas, xv. *i. He is certainly not to be identified with Joses Barnabas, iv. 36, who, it is plain from the details there given, is then mentioned for the first time. Justus] second name in Latin was not

uncommon among

the Jews.

was only a name, not an

Cp.

xiii.

expression of moral character. But Bengel pleasantly suggests that the subjoining it here shows that the preference of Matthias in no way affected the estimation in which Barsabas was held by Some have allowed themthe brotherhood. selves to fancy that the position of the names indicates that Barsabas was the favourite. Neither he nor Matthias is mentioned afterwards in the New Testament Abbreviated from Mattathias, Matthias] equivalent to the Greek Theodorus, i.e. Gift of God; a name very prevalent among the Jews at that time. A tradition preserved by Eusebius, 1. 12, ill. 25, represents him as one of the Seventy. According to Clem. Alex. * Strom.' iv. vi. $$, the words of Zacchaeus, Luke xix. 8, were sometimes attributed to It

359

Lightfbot was disposed to identify Matthias with Nathanael, u the sense of his name being the same, though not the sound."

24. Thou, Lord] Prayer addressed to the ascended Saviour, as in vii. 59, 60, ix. 14, xiv. 23 ; 2 Cor. xii. 8. See the note on ix. 14.

The word Lord in LXX. represents Je-

hovah and Omniscience is attributed to Christ in this invocation. Cp. Jer. xvii. 10; 1 K. viii. 39, with John ii. 24, 25, xxi. 17, and see xv. ;

8 infra.

shew] Perhaps, appoint, the word being the same as in Luke x. 1. thou hast chosen] The same word as in v. 2. The Divine selection was considered already made, only waiting to be declared. Appointment to the Apostolic office belonged to Christ exclusively, xxvi. 16; John vi. 70. After His return to His glory He appointed Matthias, as while on earth He had appointed Judas. 25.

ministry]

The

duties;

apostleship,

the dignity of the office. by transgression fell] A. V. paraphrases in the sense of the V ulgate, praevaricatus est. S y r. separated. Luther, abgewiscben ist. Turned aside might have sufficed here, as Exod. xxxiL * 8 ; Deut. xvii. 20. his own place] Mason, on the Consecration of Bishops, 1. 4, in accord with Hammond, explained that Matthias might undertake the Apostolic circuit which had been assigned to Judas. Sikes, on Parochial Communion, ch. 1 and 6, understood this as a scriptural proof of the distinction between Ordination and Mission. But it is safer to follow the old, received interpretation, that this is a euphemism for the condition of the

soul of Judas. Christ had spoken of him as the son of perdition, John xvii. 12. Cp. Matt

Mark xiv. 21. See Bishop Bull's Sermons, 2 and 3. St Peter is said by Clement of Rome, § 5, to have gone into the place of glory that was due unto him; cp. Ignatius, Magn.'§ 5, "every one shall depart

xxvi. 24;

to his own place."

26. their lots] K, A, B, C, D, Vulg. gave hts

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THE ACTS. II.

36o

he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

CHAPTER II. I

The apostles, filled with the Holy G/iosl, and speaking divers languages, are admired by some, and derided by others. 14 Whom Peter disproving, and shewing that the apostles spake by the power of the Holy Ghost, that Jesus was risen from the dead, ascended into heaven, had poured down the same Holy Ghost, and was the Messias, a man known

to them.

The arrangement is not explained.

Mosheim, relying on idc&icav instead of c&a\op and on avr&v in the received text, not very reasonably contended for rotes, as indipopular election, which is inconsistent with the lot fell. The only instance of an appeal to lots in the New Testament occurs between the departure of our Lord and Pentecost. The Church could dispense with them after the coming of the Holy Ghost, who was to guide into all truth, through whom we are encouraged to hope for a right judgment in all things. No recourse was had to lots in the appointment of Deacons. The Eleven, it may be, shrank from even the appearance of taking this election into their own hands. The case was special, and could not be a precedent. The Church regards the appointment 1 as Divine; see the Collect for St Matthias cating

Day. Under the Old Testament lots were regarded as divinely directed, Prov. xvi. 33, and

[v. I*

to them to be approved of God by his miracles,

wonders, and signs, and not crucified with' out his determinate counsel and foreknowledge: 37 he baptizefh a great number that were converted, 41 Who afterwards devoutly and charitably converse together: the apostles working many miracles, and God daily increasing his church.

AND when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were with one accord in one place. jf"\.

Vulg., and, as Scaliger said,

all

the Fathers.

This was approved by Grotius, who understood the whole season from Easter to \V hitsuntide, as Pentecost is used by Tertullian, de Idololatria,'§ 14, and in the last Canon of the Nicene Council. It is said to have differed from the 4

other two great Festivals, as being limited to a single day. But it was practically of a week's duration, although the first day alone was observed with the solemnities prescribed in the Law. Pentecost] This name, in use among the Hellenistic Jews, does not occur in LXX. except in Tobit ii. 1, and 2 Mace. xii. 32. The Festival, not mentioned in the Gospels, was intermediate between the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles, on the fiftieth day after the 1 6th of the month Nisan, which was the second day of the Passover, being the morrow of the Passover Sabbath, and gave numerical roundness to the seven times seven days pre-

Among the

therefore conclusive, xviii. 18. They distintinguished the scapegoat, Levit. xvi. 8, convicted Achan, designated Saul to the monarchy,

scribed in

and distributed the promised land, Num. xxvi.

seven weeks later than the Passover, Exod. xxxiv. 22; Deut. xvi. 10; Tobit ii. 1; and the Feast of Harvest, Exod. xxiii. 16, i.^.of Wheat Harvest, xxxiv. 22. As originally appointed, it was restricted to the Offering of First Fruits, as a Thanksgiving for the Harvest; but, at least as early, according to Dr Ginsburg, as the time of Christ, the Jews combined with this a commemoration of the Giving of the Law on the fiftieth day after quitting Egypt And this has been the prominent commemoration since the Jews, driven from their own The twofold land, ceased to be agricultural. purpose, not recognized by Philo or Josephus, 4 Epist. ad Fabiolam/ is noticed by Jerome,

55, 5 6, although that might have been considered as indicated by Jacob, Gen. xlix., and deter-

mined by Moses, Deut.

xxxiii.

Lots also

assigned their several duties among the priests in the Temple; 1 Chro. xxiv. 5, xxv. 8; Luke i. 9. Augustin deemed it lawful to determine by lot what ministers of the Church should remain, and who should seek safety by flight, when persecution threatened to cut them all off, Epist. 228, §12. The Moravians in 1464 had recourse to lots for deciding the question of their having a ministry of their own, and in 1467 for the appointment of their first three ministers. As late as 1731, the retention of their own discipline instead of incorporation with the Luthe-

ran Church was determined 44

manner.

Wesley had, and indulged, a predilection for

sortilege," Southey,

136, 187.

numbered] by vote numbered. The validity of this appointment, which has been questioned by some, is incidentally recognized in ii. 14, and in vi. 2; the Twelve must have included Matthias. The appointment being directly Divine superseded the laying on of hands.

CHAP. II.

the day]

The days, Syr. and

Levit. xxiii.

15,

16.

Hebrews it was called the Day of First Fruits, Num. xxviii. 26; the Feast of Weeks, because

and by Augustin,

Faustum,'

xxxn.

12.

Christians may well be thanktul to regard the day under both aspects, as the promulgation of the New Covenant, and as the ingathering of the fruits of the Gospel Harvesf. To the Church of England it has a special interest, as the anniversary of the restoration of the Public Service in the Mother Tongue in 1549. Literally, while the day of fully come] Pentecost was being fulfilled. The same form of expression as in Luke ix. 51.

As according to Jewish reckoning the day began at the previous sunset, it points to an early hour of the fiftieth day. According to

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THE ACTS. II.

v. a- -40

2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

the

more probable

calculation,

that

3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with tom, Horn. iv. a on the Acts, and Horn. 13, on the Ascension and the beginning of the Acts. were sitting] A Hebraism for were dwellAt the nether part of Mount ing, or abiding.

Christ

instituted the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper

II.

on the 13th of Nisan, in anticipation of the legal Passover on the 14th, which was the day of the Crucifixion, the Sunday of the Resurrection must have been the day of the Omer, and Pentecost in that year must have fallen on the first day of the week, the Lord's Day. 44 That the Day of Pentecost fell upon a Sun-

Sinai

day, is undeniable; because the Resurrection of Christ was upon a Sunday, and Pentecost was the fiftieth day from the Resurrection. Bramhall, Works, v. 51. they were all] This has been understood of the Apostles alone, as in the Proper Preface for VVhitsun Day; and all Galileans in v. 7 has been thought confirmatory of this view. But the application of the prophecy, 16 a 1, seems to require a wider range, taking in those mentioned in i. 14 at all events, and, perhaps, Pentecostal pilgrim* also. The Hundred and Twenty were understood to be included, by Chrysostom, Horn. iv. § 1, by Augustin, Serm. 87 4 de Verbis Matt.' xx., •Tract, in S. Johan.' 9a, and by Jerome, 4 Epi-

—

taph. Paulae.' with one accord]

There was no impatience,

They waited longanimiter as well as unanimiter. Bp Andrewes. But K, A, B, C no rivalry.

have o/iou, together, instead of the opoBvpabov of the received text. in one place] The upper room of i. 13, in which the Eucharist had been instituted, and the Deacons were appointed. If it had been intended that general readers were to understand the Temple, the word bouse would not have been used in the following verse. At the time of Hadrian's visit to Jerusalem, then

all the people that was in the camp trembled, Exod. xix. 16, 17. This giving of the Law of liberty was awaited in calm expec-

tation.

The Coming of the Holy Ghost. appeared unto them cloven tongues] Rather, were seen by them, not on them, as Luther. Tongues, as it were of fire, distributing themselves among them. Like as refers not to the form of tongues, but to the Cp. the marginal renderfire-like substance. visible sign followed the ing, Isai. v. 24. audible, 44 the eye being the sense of love, as the ear is of faith." Bp Andrewes. Fire was the nearest earthly simile now, as a mighty wind had already been. They were baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire, in fulfilment of Matt. iii. 11 ; Luke iii. 16, and John i. 33. A fiery sword barred Paradise, a fiery tongue reopened it Cyril of Jerusalem, 4 Catech.' xvii. 15. I.e. the fire-like appearance in the it sat] singular, because a tongue as of fire appeared upon each head. The appearance was not a momentary flash the influence, which it symA lambent bolized, was to be permanent. flame upon the head was believed by the Rabbins to be a token of Divine favour, Schoettgen as by classic poets, Homer, Iliad,' xvni. 214, Virgil, Mn. 11. 683. upon each of them] Matthias included. Chrysostom. 3.

•

—

;

for the most part in ruins, there was still entire, on the alleged site, the upper Church of the

Apostles, in which Cyril of Jerusalem ministered, a.d. 348, 'Catech.' xvi. 4. Cp. Epiphanius, 4 de Mens, et Pond.' 14.

mighty wind] Strong wind was re2. garded as a symbol of the Divine Presence, Ps. xviii. 10, civ. 3; 1 K. xix. 11. But on this occasion there was no corresponding agitation of the air; it was not wind, it only admitted of being compared to it. '* Sonus enti vehementis, sed absque vento." Lightfoot So in the next verse, not tongues of fire, but as of fire. The Greek word was used in both senses, wind and spirit, by our Lord in His conversation with Nicodemus, John iii. 8. Asa bath is filled with filled all the house] water, that they might be baptized with the Holy Ghost, in fulfilment of i. 5; Chrysos-

30i

4—13. 4.

The Gift of Tongues.

to speak]

Chiefly,

seems, in praise

and thanksgiving. Cp. v. 11. u Omnibus linguis conspirantes hymnum dicebant Deo, Spiritu ad unitatem redigente distantes tribus, et primitias omnium gentium offerente Patri." Irenxus, ill. xvii. 2.

Other than their mother This snowed what had been meant by the promise of speaking with new tongues, Mark xvi. 17. Nothing short of the sudden communication of the power of speaking languages of which there had previously been no colloquial knowledge, and which were not learned in the ordinary course, can have been implied by this statement, reiterated, None of the sugas it is, in irv. 6, 8, and 11. gestions of vehement excitement, for a time other

tongues]

tongue.

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THE ACTS. II.

36:

other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of t Gr. wiu* every nation under heaven.

%ZLmMU. iOr, trou-

Now

when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were 'confounded, because that 6

affecting the organs of speech, so as to render it more or less unintelligible, of ecstatic, in-

articulate utterances, of the use of archaic words or poetical phraseology, or of new modes of interpreting ancient prophecies, can

be accepted as at all adequate to this narrative. gave them] Rather, went on giving. utterance} To feelings elevated under spiritual influence.

The word recurs only in v.

Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Ghost, spake out with a loud voice, Luke 41. 5.

dwelling at Jerusalem]

A class distinct

from natives, from original inhabitants, and from visitors to the Feast ; such as came for the study of the Law, or for religious observances. Not a few Jews, after having been occupied with

trade

5-8.

every man heard them speak in his own language. 7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans ?

8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born ? con/bunded] Perplexed, bewildered, because there was no appearance of a storm to account for the sound. They were startled, but not predisposed to receive the Apostolic teaching.

beard] In the imperfect tense, indicating the continuance of the discourse.

Its Effects.

14,

and xx vi. 25. i.

[v.

various countries,

came back to end their days in frequent attendance on the Temple services, awaiting the coming of the Messiah, and desirous of being buried in the Holy Land. Jews] All were Jews, whether natives and stationary, or of the dispersion, or proselytes.

out of every nation] Out of all the different countries in which Jews resided, who had now come to Jerusalem for the Festival. Havraxo0€v rrjg oUovfifvrjs, Philo, repeated by Agrippa junior, who at the close of the speech by which he would fain have dissuaded his countrymen from war, said that there was no nation in which some Jews did not dwell, 11. xvi. 4, vii. iii. 3. St Josephus, * J. James addressed his Epistle to the Twelve Tribes scattered abroad. There had been three principal dispersions: 1st, The Ten Tribes under Shalmanezer, b.c. 711, among Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; and, Judah and Benjamin, carried away under Nebuchadnezzar, B.C. 606, were placed chiefly in Mesopotamia ; 3rd, Ptolemy Lagus took great numbers from Jerusalem into Egypt, B.C. 329. Commercial speculation allured many to the chief seats of trade in all direc-

tions.

Pentecost, falling seven weeks later in the year, was much more favourable for travelling

than the Passover. this was noised abroad] When this ex6. traordinary sound had been heard. The word for sound here, different from that in v. a, frequently occurs in New Test.; but in no tingle instance in the sense of rumour, or report*

The sudden 7. sensation and the permanent effect of their astonishment, ail om. in B and D. one to another] These words, not in N, A, B, C, Vulg., are omitted by Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelles, and Alford. Natives of a despised district, Galileans] John vii. 5 a, where education was scanty, the standard of culture very low, and the amazed and marvelled']

spoken dialect peculiar, Mark xiv. 70, in consequence of being largely corrupted through intercourse with foreigners, Matt. iv. 15. Galileans came afterwards to be a term of reproach. Julian "countenanced, and perhaps enjoined, the use of this less honourable Gibbon, appellation, instead of Christians." XXIII. 8. every man in our own tongue] "Totus mundus ibi erat," Augustin, Serm. 44, 'in Die Pentecostes,' § a. The making all languages intelligible at the Giving of the New Law symbolized the bringing of the whole human race within the circle of the Church. The children of Israel, who were present at the renewal of the Covenant in the land of Moab,

represented all succeeding generations. Deut xxix. 14, 15. This statement does not imply that each of the Twelve was thus largely endowed. All who were present heard their respective languages from one or other of the Apostles.

We may rest satisfied with our Proper Preface for Whitsuntide, "the Gift of divers languages," although St Augustin could not content himself with admitting that "singuli in quos venit Spiritus Sanctus, singulis Unguis omnium gentium sunt locuti, illi alia lingua, et illi alia;" but insisted that " unusquisque homo linguis omnium gentium loquebatur, 19 Serm. a68. 1, * in Die Pentecostes.' Cp. 370. 6, and repeatedly elsewhere; e.g. 'Tract, in 1 S. Johan. xcn. a; 'De Civitate Dei/ xviii. 4 Enarrat in Ps.' xviii. 5 ; Serm. 71, *de Verbis S. Matt* xii. § 28; Serm. 80, xvii. § 5.

49 ;

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THE ACTS. II.

9—12.]

9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamand the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, 10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya itcs,

0. Parthian/) Placed first because of the great extent of their territory, from India to the Tigris, and from the desert of Khiva to the Southern Ocean. This is an enumeration, not of languages but of provinces in which there were Jewish settlers, called after their respective places of residence, e.g. Alexandria and Ephesus, Josephus, 4 c Apion.' 11. iv. The arrangement made by St Luke, not by the speaker, begins from the furthest East, and taking North and South in a sort of parallel, makes Rome represent all the remoter West Philo, ' Legat ad Caium,' §§ 31, 36, sets forth Jerusalem as the metropolis not of Judsea only, but of the very numerous Jewish settlements also, in Asia, Europe, and Libya. Elamites] Elam, an ancient name of Persia, Gen. x. 22 ; Isai. xi. 11, xxi. 2 ; Dan. viii. 2. Mesopotamia] The Padan- Aram of Genesis, between the Tigris on the east and the Euphrates on the west. There were not a few 44 myriads " of Jews in the neighbourhood of Babylon, Josephus, xv. iii. 1. Cp. xvn. ii. 2, xviii. ix. 1. Judaa] So in all MSS., and there is no need to nave recourse to any of the conjectural emendations, Idumaea, India, Bithynia, or, as suggested by Tertullian, 4 c. Judaeos,' It was natural for St Luke, § 7, Armenia. writing at Rome, to mention Judaea; and residents in Jerusalem might well oe astonished at Galileans speaking without their own strong provincial peculiarity, Matt. xxvi. 73 ;

Luke

xxii. 59.

Cappadocia] West of the Euphrates, north of Cilicia, east of the river Halys ; Pontus, between Cappadocia and the Euxine. These two names occur in inverse order, 1 Pet i. 1. Asia) Not Asia lyiinor, but the Roman province divided from it, " much as Portugal is from Spain," Paley, <H. P.' All the seven Churches addressed in Rev. ii. iii. were within the limits of this proconsular Asia, of which Ephesus was the capital. 10. Egypt] Two-fifths of the population of Alexandria were Jews, and they had an Ethnarch of their own, Josephus, xiv. vii. 2, xiv. v. 2 ; Philo, c. Flaccum,' § 8. Cyrene] Ptolemy Lagus, having great confidence in the Jews of Alexandria, sent some of them into Cyrene and other parts of Libya where he wished to strengthen his own in4

fluence.

Josephus,

Apion.'

11.

Jews

formed one quarter of the population of Cyrene, Josephus, xiv. vii. 2. The Cyrenians

363

about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. 12 And they were all amazed, and

had a synagogue in Jerusalem, vi. 9.

Simon,

the father of Alexander and Rufus, Matt xxvii. 32, Mark xv. 21 ; and Lucius, xiii. 1, were of Cyrene. strangers of Rome'] Jews sojourning in Jerusalem for the Passover and Pentecost. This is the only notice of Europe in the enumeration. The Jews were so numerous in Rome that, when Varus sanctioned their sending an embassy to Augustus, the fifty

ambassadors

were

accompanied

by above

eight thousand of their countrymen resident on the spot, Josephus, xvu. xi. 1. This may perhaps point to Jews banished from Italy by

Tiberius a few years previously. That edict must have sent several thousands to seek an asylum, and many would naturally turn to Palestine. About this time Tiberius revoked his decree. And many, proposing to avail themselves of this opportunity for returning, might linger in Jerusalem for the observance of Pentecost. Cretes] This form of Cretans was 11. suggested by the Vulgate, Cretes et Arabes. Crete represented the Isles spoken of by the Prophets, e.g. Isai. Ii. 5. In Crete there were many Jews; Josephus took his third wife from among them, *Life,' § 76. Cherethims, E/ek. xxv. 1 6, and Cherethites, 1 S. xxx. 14, rendered KprjTwv by LXX. in Zeph. ii. 5, have been by some fancied to be intended. Arabians] A large, vague term, pointing to the descendants of IshmaeL The grouping them with Cretes must be considered arbitrary, without any reference to geography. the wonderful works of God] Perhaps in quotations from the Psalms, e.g. lxxi. 19. So in the case of the kinsmen and near friends of Cornelius, which St Peter pronounced parallel to this, xi. 15, the first use of the Gift was to magnify God. The benefits of Christ's Death and Passion, His Resurrection and Ascension, were doubtless set before them. The effusion of the Holy Ghost taking place just when Jerusalem was most full of strangers from all parts of the world insured a widely spread knowledge of the fact, preparatory to the teaching of the Apostles.

12.

they] The devout men, v. 5.

The nar-

rative is now resumed from verse 7.

were in doubt] Not strong enough for the were thoroughly perplexed, utterh The word used concerning Herod, Luke ix. 7, and the devout women at the

Original; at a loss.

sepulchre, xxi v. 4.

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THE ACTS. II.

364

were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? 13 Others mocking said, These

men are full of new wine. 14 11 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said

unto them,

Ye men of Judaea,

[v.

i3—«7-

15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel 17 "And it shall come to pass in a i«*.44the last days, saith God, I will pour joeia.*

and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words

out of my Spirit upon all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall

What meaneth this f] What is the design ?

well-known Greek was used and Roberts, Discussions on the Gospels,' 140, positively maintains that this alone would have been,

"What will be the consequence? Something very extraordinary was surely to be expected. The timid apprehended danger from the violent excitement ; the bolder ridiculed it.

mocking] Another class of not aXXoi. These, we may hope, were native residents in Jerusalem or Palestine, who understood no one of the various languages. Waterland, Sermon 28, suggested that they said it perhaps wantonly or ignorantly, rather than spitefully or maliciously. Festus pronounced St Paul mad, xxvi. 24 and the Jews attributed some of our Lord's miracles to the power of the chief of the devils, Luke xi. 15. If any, capable of appreciating the Pentecostal miracle, remained unconvinced, their state of mind illustrated the wisdom of Providence in ordering that Christ, after His resurrection, apf»eared not to all the people but to witnesses chosen before of God, x. 40, 41. The word rendered mocking is in the Original far too strong to admit of Olshausen's suggestion that it was a good-

13.

Others

hearers,

crepot,

;

implied,

intelligible to

all

the hearers.

The quotations, agreeing for the most part with LXX., have certain variations which must have fallen from St Peter's lips. If they had been made in Hebrew, St Luke would surely have given either an exact translation, or the generally received reading of LXX. unaltered. The quotations were actually made as they are set before us by the inspired reporter. ye that dwell at Jerusalem] See Note on v. 5.

;

humoured jest. new wine] Rather, a we et wine. Pentecost fell in June, and the earliest vintage was not August. Suidas understood the juice which oozes and trickles from the grapes without any pressure. Wine artificially prepared to retain its sweetness was of extra strength. A cognate word is rendered new wine, Joel ill. 18, and sweet wine, Amos till

ix. 13.

14—36.

Discourse of Stf Peter.

Peter] The Apostles spoke in the name of the Church ; St Peter in the name of the Apostles. Chrysostom calls him the mouth of the Apostles, Horn. liv. on St. Matt. § 1, the mouth of all the Apostles, Horn, on

14.

Some if not all of the Eleven a Tim. iii. 1. taught, as well as St Peter, in the course of the day, 1/. 37Ye men of Judxa] Native home-bred residents in the Holy Land, to whom the former ax, was addressed. part of this discourse, 14 To them the vernacular Aramaic would have

—

been intelligible. Stier thought it probable that the generally

15. v. 4.

Not the Eleven only.

these]

Comp.

The earliest the third hour] From sunrise. of the hours of prayer, at which the morning sacrifice was offered, midway between sunrise and noon. At their great festivals the Jews abstained from food not only till this hour, as on ordinary days, but till midday, Josephus, 4

Life,'

before which time, on

54,

solemn occasions, the prayers of the synagogue were not concluded. that which was spoken] A form of 16. introducing a quotation in which the sense of one or more passages is given, and not the very words are used, as is indicated by the more usual form, // is written, as i. 20. The fact is identified with the prediction, as in

Luke xxiv. 44. Joel] iii.

—

5, or, as in

LXX. as well as in

A. V., ii. 28 32. Joel, about 800 B.C., is, with the exception of Jonah, the earliest of the Prophets whose writings have been preSt Peter refers to the fulfilment of prophecy in his first Epistle, i. 10 12, ii. 21, iiL 7, 10, 25 ; and in his second, i. 19

served for us.

—

a— 4. the last days]

17.

In the Original and in

LXX., afterwards, i.e. after the restoration from the captivity

the last days of the preMessianic period. The phrase often occurs with no remote reference, as Gen. xlix. 1 Dan. x. 14. In this quotation Jer. xlviii. 47 it indicates the final dispensation, as in Heb. i. 1, a Comp. Isai. ft. a ; Micah 1 Peter i. 20. ;

;

iv. 1 ;

John ij. 18.

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THE ACTS. II.

l8— 22.]

see visions, and your old

those days of shall

19 heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath ; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke

Of is distributive, as in LXX.

Portions were meted out to individuals ; and the effusion was not to be restricted to PenteGifts, administrations, operations vary cost. but the Spirit from whom they all come is One and the Same, 1 Cor. xii. 4, 5. allflesh] In earlier ages the extraordinary influences of God the Holy Ghost were Abraham saw a vision, restricted to a few.

Gen. xv. ; Isaac prophesied, Heb. xi. 20 Jacob dreamed dreams; Joseph interpreted dreams but now, those influences were to be ;

extended to all men everywhere, without distinction of age, sex, or rank, to Gentiles as well as Jews, Matt, xxviii. 19. This last feature in the prophecy was for awhile imperfectly apprehended by the Apostles themselves. The Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit was only* the first step. This prediction of Joel, like many others, had " germinant accomplishment."

The fourfold repetition of

your, implies that these gifts would be bestowed on Jews in the first instance. daughters] As upon Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, and Anna. The four daughters of Philip, xxl 9, came within the scope of this prediction.

prophesy] Not foretell only ; shall become inspired teachers, enabled to warn, exhort, encourage, rebuke, and to declare and interpret the Divine Will. Cp. xv. 3a; Matt. xi. 13. visions] In the daytime; exemplified in Ananias, ix. 10 ; St Paul, ix. la ; St Peter, By night, St Paul, x. 11; Cornelius, x. g. xvi. 9.

dreams] By night ; of rare occurrence in the New Testament, Matt. i. 20, ii. 11, 13, 19, a a. The livelier feelings of youth, open to impressions from without, are well adapted Dreams correspond better to the for visions. duller feelings of advanced life, apt to be occupied with introspection.

my servants] My is not in the Hebrew, and The in LXX. it is prefixed to servants only. marks the ascent from the serServitude was to be no bar, as the Jews considered it. Maimonides laid it down that no slave could be a prophet. In Christ there is neither bond nor

insertion of it

vice of men to that of God.

free.

31 *

the Lord come

And it shall come to pass, that

whosoever shall call on the name of ****** »3the Lord shall be saved. 22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words ; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by mira-

And I will shew wonders in

your sons, &c]

darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of

my Spirit; and they

prophesy

of my Spirit]

20 *The sun shall be turned into *jodx

men shall

dream dreams 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in

365

18. and they shall prophesy] These words are an addition to the text of Joel. 19. wonders... signs] The combination of these words, not uniformly in this order, fre-

quent in LXX., is found in Philo and Josephus. The latter refers to portents at the time of the fall of Jerusalem, in the introduction to 4 J. W.' § 11, and describes them in This passage embraces not detail, vi. v. 3. that event only, Luke xxi. ai, aj, but the terrors of the Last Day also, Matt. xxiv. 39.

The words above and beneath were inserted by St Luke.

vapour of smoke]

In the Hebrew, pillar of

smoke, sc. arising out of the earth.

20.

St Peter notable] Glorious, majestic. In Hebr. terrible; Syr. great

followed LXX.

and fearful. Cp. Rev. xvi. day of God Almighty/' 21.

whosoever]

14,

u that great

The promise was not re-

stricted to the favoured nation.

the name of the Lord] I.e. of Christ; ix. 14, 16; Rom. x. 13. Such invocation became a characteristic of Christians, 1 Cor. i. xxii.

See i. a4shall be saved]

The escape of the ChrisEusebius, in. 5, was the first instalment of the fulfilment of this prediction.

tians to Pella,

22. men of Israel] An honourable designation, by the use of which at this point St Peter enlarged the scope of his address, so as to embrace all of Jewish birth, whether resident in the Holy Land or not. In iv. 10 the Apostle Jesus of Nazareth] again employs this designation, which was in popular use and had formed part of the inscription on the Cross, regardless of the reproach which connection with the most despised town of the most despised district was intended to convey. St Paul uses it, xxvi. 9 and in xxii. 8, it is put into the mouth of Christ

Himself. approved] proofs. miracles]

Accredited

by demonstrative

This word points especially to

the power Dy which they were wrought; wo»ders, to their effect on the minds of eyewitnesses; signs, to the purpose which they were intended to serve, as proofs of the Divine mission,

John v. 36, x. 2$ i Heb. ii. 4.

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THE ACTS. II.

5C6 and wonders and

cles

signs,

which

God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know :

Him, being delivered by

the

determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and .

slain :

24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death : beye yourselves] Even those who attributed them to magic or to a league with Beelzebub admitted the fact of the miracles.

23. delivered] Given up into your power through the treason of Judas and the weakness of Pilate. Josephus, vi. xiii. 9, concerning Saul, I S. xxvi., (k^otov \mb row vnvov koI rrjs t&v <f>v\€trr6vTtov dfii\ttai» Cp. determinate] Definite and immutable. iv. a 8 Luke xxii. a a. This recognition of overruling Providence softened the reference to their guilt. The wickedness of the human agents executed the Divine purpose, xiii. a 7 Matt. xx. 19, xxvi. a4, " Praescientia quippe Dei eos quos sanaturus est peccatores praenoscit, non facit." August in *de Anima,' 1. 7. All the circumstances which became stumbling;

blocks to the Jews had been divinely foreappointed.

have taken] This word is wanting in A, B, C, in some Versions and Patristic QuoIf genuine, it represents the delivery into Gentile hands as a national act See the notes on Matt xvii. 15 and Mark xv. 8. Many tations.

of St Peter's hearers had not been on the spot at the time of the Crucifixion. wicked bands] Literally, lawless bands; or, according to the best supported reading, % by tbe band of lawless men ; of those without the Law, i.e. of aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, Wisd. xvii. a ; Rom. ii.

14;

Cor.

ix.

ai.

The instrumentality

of Pilate and the Roman soldiers was necessary for the fulfilment of ancient prophecies, and of our Lord's prediction, Matt. xx. 19 Luke xxiv. 7. If Jews had put him to death it must have been by stoning. slain]

29, xxiii.

The same word as in vii. a8, ix. a3, 15,

27, in a sense approaching to

our murder. The Crucifixion had been planned and accomplished by the Sanhedrim, and after the combined action of the chief priests, and the rulers, and the people, might be regarded as a national act, Luke xxiii. 13, 33. 24. raised up] The Resurrection is here regarded as showing God's approval. Elsewhere, when the Divine Nature of Christ was to be set forth, He is said to have risen by His own power. Cp. i. 9. The Resurrection

[v.

—

26.

cause it was not possible that he should be holden of it. 25 For David speaketh concerning him, d l foresaw the Lord al-* PmL

my face, my right hand, that I should not be ways before

for

moved: 26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad ; moreover also

my flesh shall rest in hope

The Death of Christ only one verse, the Resurrection has nine assigned to it. fains of death] Sorrows, previously to 161 1. Literally, pangs of labour, or travail, which is LXX. rendering of bands of Hades in Ps, xviii. 5, and cxvi. 3. Syr. bands of SbeoL The Hebrew word, by a change of a vowel cords, given point, is capable of either sense by Jerome, and pangs in the Vulgate. In Ps. The labour pangs cxix. 61 LXX. axoivla. were relieved by the birth of the First-born from the dead. 44 Since the death of the body is the birth of the soul into another world, death-bed agonies may not unfitly be compared to child-bed throes." M. Henry on Job xxi. a3 *5« Incompatible with the Divine not possible] purpose declared in prophecy. *There can be

was the great point is noticed in

;

—

no reference to Christ's Divinity, for that would have been a hindrance to His dying. ** Christ's Resurrection was as fixed and necessary as the purpose of God was irrevocable... Whatsoever God purposes or promises, passes from contingent and merely possible into cerSouth, Sermon 34. tain and necessary. holden] Stronger in the Original: over1

powered. 25. David speaketh] Ps. xvi. 8— 11, LXX. In the Targum and Rabbinical Commentaries In this passage is not applied to the Messiah. v. a9 the Apostle seems, as it were, to apologise for having extended the application beyond David. St Paul applied this passage to Christ, • 35concerning him] The preposition rendered concerning is used when the language of the quotation is applicable, not strictly, but only xiii.

by accommodation.

There

a parallel in

Eph. v. 3 a. foresaw] tion

Looked up to, fixed my attenThe as my helper and advocate. in the imperfect tense, expressive of

on,

verb is

A.V. was not happy in following Rheims rather than Tyndale and Cranmer, I saw God always before me.

habit.

In courts of justice on my right band] advocates stood at the right hand of their clients, Ps. cix. 31.

26.

my tongue] So LXX. In the Hebrew,

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THE ACTS. II.

27—32.] 27

Because thou wilt not leave

my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine

Holy One

to see

cor-

ruption.

1 Or,

'iliCings

« ,<x

28 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life ; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. 29 Men and brethren, 'let me freely speak unto you 'of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. my glory x language being the distinctive characteristic of man, Ps. xvi. 9, xxx. ia, lvii. 8.

my flesh] Even my lower nature shall lodge temporarily, as in a tent ; the word is near akin to that which is rendered dwelt, John L 14. in hope] Heb. in safety. The LXX. rendering admits of being understood, in hope that Thou wilt not leave. Cp. Rom. viii. ao, ai.

27. my soul] Whitby followed Hammond in preferring my life.

Hades (not Gehenna), the unseen the intermediate state, as in the Apostles' Creed. "The common receptacle bell]

world,

and mansion of souls," Barrow, Sermon a8, «On the Creed.' Cp. 1 Pet. iii. 19, iv. 6. Christ's human soul was in Paradise between His Death and Resurrection, Luke xxiii. 43. In earlier English to hele meant to bide. used colloquially for covering in Lancashire and Cheshire. In the Western counties Hellier is one who covers in houses by Wat Tyler was somecompleting the roof. Hilling

times called Wat Hellier.

So LXX. and Vulgate; not See the note on Ps. xvi. 10.

corruption]

the grave.

bast made] Heb. wilt make. ways of life] Heb. the way. The new and living way which He hath consecrated for us, Heb. x. %o.

28. the

29. Men and brethren] Rather, Brethren. More ingratiating than 14 or aa. Not a twofold address. A.V. followed the Hebrew idiom too closely. Cp. v. 37, i. 16, and the margin, Gen. xiii. 8. let me] In supplying an ellipse »n the Original, A.V. has followed Vulg., as did Luther. Some have preferred it is lawful for me. St Peter was fain to guard against giving offence by applying this Psalm to another than David, see v. i$ . He might freely speak without being thought wanting in respect for Davids name and memory. This application of the language of the Psalm magnified Christ, but did not exclude reference to David as a great type of Him. Verses a9~ 33 doubtless exhibit the Apostle's exposition in a condensed form.

tf7

30 Therefore being a prophet, •'and /p»l 13* "* knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne 31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, ^that his rPsai. »& soul was not left in hell, neither his

,<x

flesh did see corruption.

32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. patriarch]

David

styled

Chro.

xxiv. 31, LXX., as founder of the line of royalty. Abraham was patriarch, Heb. vii. 4, in a larger sense, because from him, the whole

chosen nation was descended. Among us; in this city, 1 K. witb us] David's was the only sepulchre withii. 10. Its position was in the walls, Maundrell.

known after the

return from the captivity, Nehem. iii. 16. Hyrcanus (B.C. 134) opened it, and according to Josephus, xiii. viii. 4, took out 3000 talents of silver, with a tenth of which he induced Antiochus Sidetes to raise the siege

of Jerusalem ;

W.* 1. ii. 5.

The sepulchre was again violated by Herod, who carried off much wealth vii. xv. 3, xvi. ;

did not fall into ruin till the time of Hadrian. Jerome was in the habit of prayvii. 1.

ing there.

30. Therefore] Because the words could not be understood of David himself. Being

a prophet, i.e. inspired, Matt xxii. 43.

By the assurance given by knowing] Nathan, a S. vii. 16, to which reference is

—

made, Ps. cxxxii. n, lxxxix. 3, 4, 3$ 37. of the fruit of his loins] The Davidic descent of the Blessed Virgin is implied here, as in xiii. t$. Christ] These words do according to not appear in K, A, B, C, D, Vulg., Syr., and are omitted by Lachmann, Tischendorf, and Tregelles, as they had been by Mill and Griesbach, bringing the quotation into closer agreement with the Psalm: He would cause one to sit upon his throne. If this clause were retained, this raise up] must be understood not of the Resurrection, as Beza, but of the bringing the First Begotten into the world.

31.

Heb.

seeing this before]

Cp. iii. a 6.

Under the influence

of God the Holy Ghost. Cp. xiii. 35 his soul] that he

was not left

—37.

A, B, C, D, Syr., Vulg., and as quoted by Irenaeus, %

in K,

HI. xii. a.

32. This Jesus] Referring back to v. 24. St Peter was here setting forth the Humanity of Christ Our Lord, in reference to His

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THE ACTS. II.

368

33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having re-

that

assuredly,

God

ceived of the Father the promise of

the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth

Christ.

now see and hear.

34 For David is not ascended into the heavens *p<aLno. * The

but he saith

himself,

Lord said unto my Lord, Sit

thou on my right hand, 35 Until I make thy foes thy footstool.

36 Therefore let all the house of Divinity, expressed Himself otherwise,

John

be favoured by iii. 15, v. 32, x. 41, xiii. 31. we all] St Peter, with the eleven, v. 14. Some have inclined to include the hundred

and twenty. 33.

by]

Bp Wordsworth, on the whole,

See Winer, 4 Gr. Gr.' in. xxxi. 5. This is the place of special dignity named in all our three Creeds no local limitation is intended but coequality of honour, Heb. i. 3, x. 11, xii. 2 perfect prefers to the right hand.

;

blessedness,

Heb.

Ps.

3, viii.

1 ;

Matt, xxviii.

glorious

majesty, fulness of power, Ps. xx.

xvi.

1 8.

1 1

;

Bengel combined this

with the rendering of A. V., " Christusdextera Dei exartatus est ad dexteram Dei." he hath shed] Jesus, identified with God, v. 17. This this gift, Syr. the effects of the Holy Ghost generally not to Derestricted to the lambent light lingering on their heads, nor to the gift of tongues. The Father gave

—

;

the Spirit to the Son, who distributed the gift to men. Christ's return to heaven was an indispensable preliminary, John xiv. xvi. The three Persons in the Trinity are recognised in this verse. no*iu] This word does not appear in A, B, C, D, or Vulg., but is in the quotation by Irenaeus. Syr. gives instead of it, behold.

—

34.

37 11 Now when they heard this^ they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles,

Men and brethren,

what

shall we do ?

38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ According to Stuart, Excursus iv. on the Hebrews, ** Christ's exaltation to the right hand of God means His being seated on the mediatorial throne as the result and reward of His sufferings, Phil. ii. 6— 11 The sacred writers never speak Heb. xii. 2 respecting the Logos, considered simply in His Divine Nature, as being at the right hand of God but only of the Logos Incarnate, or Epistle to the

19, x. 18.

whereof] Of which feet Some have preferred whose witnesses, which is thought to

6 ;

know

Israel

hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and

this, which ye

ii.

[. 33~3*-

not ascended]

David's soul was still

in the intermediate state.

The Lord said ] This passage, quoted verbatim from LXX., implies the Pre-existence and Divinity of Christ. It is clear that Ps. ex. was then understood of the Messiah, as our Lord applied it, Matt. xxii. 44 46. Afterwards the Jewish gloss came to be, u The Lord said unto Abraham."

—

35. Until Intake] Not that the subjection of His enemies was to bring Christ's exaltation to a close. Cp. for this use of until,

Tim. iv. 13. The injunctions there given would not cease to be obligatory after the

arrival of St Paul.

;

the Mediator, as being there."

36. This verse is a summary of the whole discourse, in which it is observable that the great stress is laid not on miracles, but on prophecy. all

Cp. */. 16, 15. of Israel]

the house

All

the people

were involved in the guilt of giving up Christ to be slain by Gentiles, made] I.e. appointed. The same word is rendered ordained, Mark iii. 14. The order of the words in the Original, hath made Him both Lord and Christ, even this Jesus, whom ye crucified, gives emphasis to the last word, to impress it more deeply on their consciences. Lord] The accepted and usual designation of Christ after His exaltation, as in v. 47.

37.

they

were pricked]

Many of them

three thousand,

v. 41 ; not absolutely all. Christ's declaration, John xvi. 8, 9, was beginning to find its fulfilment.

Men and brethren] Brethren, as in v. 29.

An address expressive of respect and affection. They were thankful for the loving rebuke which had been administered. 38. Repent] In accordance with the teaching of the Baptist, Matt. iii. 2, and of Christ Himself, Matt. iv. 17; Mark i. 15. The Greek word implies more than sorrow; a change of mind, leading to amendment of life. The nature and effects of repentance were doubtless explained by St Peter, of whose discourse no more than the general drift is given. in the name of Jesus Christ] In viii. 16, and xix. 5, in the name of the Lord Jesus; " The in x. 48, in the name of the Lord. Apostles baptized all, both Jews and Gentiles, in the same form ; in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; and

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THE ACTS. II.

• 39—42]

369

for the remission of sins, and ye shall

yourselves from this untoward gene-

receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

ration.

39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord

our God shall call. 40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save

where they are said to have baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus, the meaning only is that they baptized into the faith and religion of Christ Jesus in that method and according to that form which our Lord Himself had ;

They administered Christ's, not John's Baptism; that Baptism which Christ

prescribed.

had appointed. St Luke expresses it briefly by baptizing in the Name of Christ not because it ran in His Name only, but because it was instituted by His authority." Waterland, Sermon 8. That the Holy Ghost was named in the form of Baptism is clear from St Paul's ques;

tion to the twelve disciples at Ephesus, xix. 3. The combination, Jesus Christ, does not appear till after the Resurrection, when Christ

had become a proper name. The name Christ embodied in itself the Father who gave, and the Son who received, the unction of the Holy Ghost. Basil 4 de Spiritu S.' § ia. It has been noted that in the Apostolical Epistles Christ is spoken of only twenty-two times by His human name Jesus, and seven hundred and one times by some form of expression that acknowledges His Divinity.

far the remission of sins'] This clause is embodied in the Nicene Creed. 30. the promise] Of the Holy Ghost, communicated through the prophet Joel, and repeated by Christ in His last discourses preserved for us by St John. afar off] This has been misunderstood of the

Jews of the Dispersion.

It can hardly heathen: Isai. Ivii. 19 The Apostle did not, we

fall short of the distant

Eph.

ii.

13,

17.

may presume, at this time rightly and fully

Then they that gladly re-

ceived his word were baptized : and the same day there were added unto

them about three thousand souls. 42 And they continued stedfastly doctrine and fellow-

in the apostles

variation in the tense of the verbs shows that testify refers to what had preceded,

and mcbort

to what follows. Literally, Be saved.

Save yourselves]

saved, as Noah and Lot. Frustrate not the gracious purpose of God in providing for your salvation.

content

untoward] perverse.

The same word is

rendered crooked^ Phil. ii. 15. Cp. Deut xxxii. 5. Christ had characterized that generation as wicked and adulterous, Matt. xii. 39, xvi. 4 ;

Mark viii. 38.

Three Thousand Converts. 41.

that gladly

received]

Rather,

They

after they had gladly received. The word gladly is not in K, A, B, C, D. In compliance with one of the baptized]

then,

last injunctions of

the Lord, Matt, xxviii. 19.

This can hardly have been by immersion, even if the Twelve took part, each of them administering to two hundred and fifty. The supply of water within the walls of Jerusalem was extremely scanty, and access to the reservoirs, most precious to the population of a large city, would not have been allowed to such a multitude. This passage and xvi. 33 are referred to by the Assembly of Divines, in their Confession, § a 8, as proving that affusion or sprinkling suffices. ' There is no hint of any examination of these children of the Old Covenant, or of a full profession of belief being required from them. the same day] In the course of it, not all simultaneously.

Their Conduct.

tenor, of exhortation

42. they continued] The newly converted expanded in v. 44 to all the believers. A periphrastic form of expression in the Original marks the action emphatically as continuous and habitual. doctrine] Based on O T., dwelling, doubtless, largely on the fulfilment of Messianic Prophecies. At this time the teaching of the Apostles may have very little exceeded a brief and simple outline of the life of Christ on earth, of which not much was known to the Jews from foreign parts, who, it may be assumed, formed the majority of St Peter's

tion is implied, xx.

audience. fellowship] The fellowship ; "fellowship in the Gospel, Phil. L 5, The communicatios

understand the words which the Holy Ghost taught him to utter. He was aware that the Gentiles were to be brought into the Church, iii. «5 ; but he did not understand the conditions of their reception. He believed that they would have to pass through Judaism as a preliminary stage. The other sense given to these words, the remote posterity of the Jews, thought to be supported by Dan. ix. 7, is surely included in to your children.

40.

other words]

Words of a different

and intreaty, based on the facts to which reference had been made. Thorough and complete instructestify] ax,

»4, xxviii. 23.

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THE ACTS. ri.

37o

ship, and in breaking of bread, and in

prayers.

[t.

43—46.

45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to as every man had need.

all

men,

43 And fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44 And all that believed were together, and had all things com-

46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread ' from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and sin

mon;

gleness of heart,

and distribution of their worldly goods, and contributing to the offertory, may be understood as included. Cp. Rom. xv. 16 ; 2 Cor. viii. 4; Heb. xiii. 16, where the word is the same in the Original. This and the other two great characteristics of the infant Church were all branches of the fellowship. The breaking of the breaking of breatty bread. The administering and receiving of In the breaking of the Holy Communion. Cp. xx. 7 ; 1 Cor. x. 16. the Eucharist, Syr. The usage of the Primitive Church was to have this daily. Pearson, * Minor Theological

Works,' 1. 315. in prayers'] In the prayers; such as appersettled tained to their common worship. and recognised form, combining, we may presume, old familiar Jewish, with new Christian devotions. The use of the plural has been thought to indicate fixed times for prayer.

43. fear] A feeling of holy awe, akin to that of St Peter, Luke v. 8, awakened by the events of Pentecost, was sustained by the many conversions, and by the devoted and holy lives of the followers of the Apostles. came] The tenses employed indicate that this took place once for all, whereas miracles were wrought repeatedly. by the apostles] K, A C subjoin in Jerusalem, ,

and this was admitted by Teschendorf. 44. were together] Formed one society, were of one mind, iv. 32. It does not import that all assembled in one place; their numbers had become too large for that, even with due allowance for those

who quitted

Jerusalem

after the festival. all things common] The Apostles may have thought that they were following Christ's example in having some common fund on a larger scale than that with which they had been familiar while they were in personal attendance upon Him, Luke viii. 3 John xii. 6, xiii. 29. There was no community of goods, "as touching the right, title, and possession of the same," absolutely and universally enforced, as a necessary and permanent arrangement of the Church. This is plain from v. 4 ; from the scope for the almsdeeds of Dorcas, ix. 36; from Mary, the mother of Mark, retaining her house, xii. 12; from Mnason's ability to

Or,

could be despoiled, Heb. x. 34, xiii. 2, 5, 16; from the exhortations to almsgiving and to the distinct duties of rich and poor in the Epistles generally; and from the recommendation to the Corinthians in particular (1 Cor. xvi. 2), that every one should lay by on the first day of the week as God had prospered him. Cp. Rom. xv. 26 ; 1 John iii. 17.

The estimate of comparative needs recognised shews that property was not Whatever was beyond control. done was spontaneous, and continued to be 4 so. Tertulhan, Apol.' 39, " Modicam unusquisque stipem menstrua die, vel quum velit, in the next verse

alienated

modo velit, et si modo possit, apponit, nam nemo compellitur, sed sponte ofFert" The original arrangement did not extend be-

et si

yond Jerusalem, where many believers were very poor, Rom. xv. 26. It was not intended to be permanent and the need of it ceased to be felt when converts from Gentilism were able and willing to contribute largely. Augustin pointed out that there is no notice of ;

such practice in any Gentile Church, * De Doctr. Christiana,' in. § 11. According to Philo, quoted in Eusebius, 'Praep. Evang.' in. 11,

all

things were held

in common by the Essenes.

45. sold.,.parted] These verbs are in the imperfect tense, indicating that the sale and distribution took place from time to time, as special occasions of distress or want called for them. Some who had come for the Feast might wish to remain longer than they had proposed, for further instruction; some, by showing an inclination to accept the teaching of the Apostles, may have lost friends on whose hospitality and help they had relied. The accessions to the infant Church were from the poorer classes. possessions] Immoveable property lands, houses. Goods moveable, personal property.

—

;

provide lodgings, xxi. 16; from the Hebrew Christiana having property of which they

46. in the temple] Continually resorting 4< For to it at the appointed hours of prayer. many years believing Jews were still reverential of the Temple. Moses was to stand till the Temple fell; those rites not nullifying the death of Christ, if rightly used," Lightfoot from bouse to bouse] The marginal rendering, at borne, 16 more correct Cp. Philemon a. Mede understood some appointed house. Syr. and in the bouse they brake the bread* This has

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THE ACTS. II. III.

• 47—a]

47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

CHAPTER III. I Peter preaching to the people that came to see a lame man restored to htsfeet, i a professeth the cure not to have been wrought by his or Johris own power, or holiness, but by God, and his Son Jesus, and through faith in his name: 13 withal reprehending them for

crucifying Jesus.

Which

because they

been understood by Bp Kaye and others, of the Eucharist. But the sequel of the verse seems to point to ordinary meals and hospitality. It was characteristic of the Jews that they preferred to break their bread, not to cut it. gladness] The Original has a very strong

word.

? exultation.

of heart]

singleness

Hammond suggested

openness of heart, lioerality, and Bp Patrick approved, Mensa Mystica,' p. 306. The word in Col. hi. 2a is not the same as here in the Original. There was no jealousy on the part of the rich, nor shyness felt by the poor. 4

47. the Lord] Jesus Christ, in glory. added] Literally, went on adding. In K, A, B, C together is inserted after this word, and omitted in iii. 1. These words, wanting in to the church] K, A, B, C, Vulg., and some Eastern Versions, were regarded by Bengel as a gloss borrowed from Chrysostom. If they were genuine, this would be the earliest use of the word Church in the Acts.

A.V. was unhappy in should be saved] following Vulg. here, and in xiii. 48. Rather, those who were being laved ; such as had complied with the direction in 1/. 40, and so had placed themselves in a state of salvation, a condition of progress, 1 Cor. xv. %. The participle in the present or imperfect tense expresses not a completed act, but a continuous and progressive state. Cp. Luke xiii. 23 Rev. xx i. 24. So in Heb. x. 14, those that are being ;

course of sanctification. The expressing an accomplished fact, as Eph. ii. 8, or the future, implying certainty of the final result, might have been thought to favour Calvinism. The opposite condition of the soul is indicated by a corresponding phrase, 1 Cor. i. 18 ; % Cor. ii. 15. sanctified, in

perfect,

The Healing of a Man LAME FROM HIS BlRTH. 1. Now Peter and John] No hint is given of Chap. III.

the length of the interval since Pentecost These two Apostles had been partners as fishermen, Luke v. 10. They were much together after having been selected to make preparation for the

New Test.— Vol. II.

37i

did it through ignorance, and thai thereby were fulfilled God's determinate counsel, and the scriptures : 10 he exhorteth them by repentance andfaith to seek remission of their sins, and salvation in the same Jesus.

NOW

Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. 2 And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to

Passover, Luke xxii. 8. St Peter beckoned to St John at the Last Supper, John xiii. 14. St John obtained for St Peter admission to the High Priest's house, xviii. 16. They ran together to the sepulchre, xx. 3 6, were in close conjunction after the second miraculous draught of fishes, xxi. 7, ao 12, and wepe afterwards sent together to Samaria, Acts viii. 14. went up] were going up. At the ninth hour, midway between noon and sunset, the time for the evening sacrifice, Exod. xxix. 41, Num. xxviii. 3, 4, when the Temple was usually thronged. Together with this, the third hour, ii. 15, and the sixth, x. 9, make up the •• three times a day " of Daniel, vi. 10. Cp. Ps. lv. 17. Clement of Rome, 1. 40, recognised set hours for prayer. Tertullian, 'de Oratione,' %$, recommended not less than three beside morning and evening. This continued conformity to the Jewish ritual was favourable to the success of Apostolic teaching. It has been thought that conduct not unlike this, on the part of Luther and his followers for three years after his denunciation of the Sale of Indulgences, was helpful to the progress of his Reformation.

—

2. was carried] was being carried; not yet deposited in his usual place. from his mother's womb] He was forty years old, iv. ai. The cure, far from being the first miracle wrought by the Apostles, as Baumgarten represented it (cp. ii. 43), was selected for special mention as being more

extraordinary than it would have been if he had been disabled by accident or disease. laid]

Were in

the

habit

sat there, v. 10; one, it

of placing.

may be presumed, of

several whose presence contributed to the publicity of the miracle. Beautiful] There is no gate so called in Josephus or the Talmud. Our knowledge of the Temple is very imperfect. There were ten gates, according to Josephus, * J. W.' v.

Ant.' xv. xi. 5: and it is by no means easy to identify this in particular. If that of Shushan is to be understood, leading from the eastern side of the Court of the v. 3; seven,

Women into that of the Israelites, it was BB

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THE ACTS. III.

372

ask alms of them that entered into the temple; seeing Peter and John 3 about to go into the temple asked an alms.

Who

4 And

Peter, fastening his eyes

upon him with John, on us.

said,

Look

5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. 6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none ; but such as I have give In the name of Jesus Christ I thee of Nazareth rise up and walk. :

eighty-seven feet high, i.e. seventeen feet higher, we are told, than any of the others, and was covered with lilies in high relief. The Eastern gate has also been suggested, called the Gate of Nicanor, because his head and right hand were fixed above it by Judas Maccabacus, i Mace. vii. 47. This, of Corinthian brass, surpassed in splendour the other gates, richly decorated as they were with plates of

gold and silver. It was in the most frequented part of the Temple, well suited for the mendicant's purpose.

4. fastening his eyes] Under some special impulse of the Spirit. The details are given so fully that it may well be thought that they were supplied by an eye-witness. Look on us~] Without any interchange of words St Peter knew that he and St John were of one mind, agreed to ask for the cure of this cripple, and assured that their prayer would be answered. Hitherto they had been teaching, now they began to act in the Name of the Lord.

No avowal of faith was 6. gave beed] required in this case, or in that of jtneas at Lystra. But the Apostles were enabled to discern the faith of this cripple. Cp. xiv. ^. He had faith, v. 16, was thankful for his cure, v. 9, and attached himself to the Apostles, v, 11, even at his peril, iv. 14. have I none]

In accordance with the Matt. x. 9. The arrangements, ii. 44, 45, had not enriched the Apostles. St Peter did not regard the common fund as 6.

[v.

3—i<x

7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up and immediately his feet and ancle bones received strength. 8 And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and :

praising God.

9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God io And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple and they were :

filled with

wonder and amazement at

that which had happened unto him. fy the right band]

This action shewed

the cripple that his cure came through the instrumentality of the Apostles. St Peter was following the example of his Lord in the healing of his wife's mother, Mark i. 31, and in the recalling to life of the daughter of Jairus,

Matt ix. 25. feet and ancle bones] In the Original, exact technical terms befitting St Luke as a physician. The same peculiar word, properly soles, is used for feet, Wisdom xiii. 18 ; Ecclus. xxvi. 18, and by Josephus, * J. W.' vn. v. 3.

The touch of St Peter's hand conveyed the cure, as in v. 12, xxviii. 8, in accordance with the promise, Mark xvi. 18. The cure, instantaneous and complete, was by the circumstances placed beyond doubt and question.

The cripple was lame from his birth, was above forty years old, had been relieved by many, was known to many more, being daily earned to a place of public resort; and all passed among avowed and embittered enemies of the Apostles and their teaching. leaping up] Isai. xxxv. 6. The word 8. implies alacrity in quitting the mat on which he had been deposited. He stood and walked, as he had never done before, delighted in testIn ing the reality and extent of his cure. xiv. 8 10 a similar miracle was wrought by

—

St Paul, for the benefit of heathens as this had been for Jews.

original mission,

available for private charity.

in the name]

Luke ix. 49

;

By the authority and power,

all the people]

A great multitude. The

miracle

was wrought

resort,

and at an hour when numbers came

a place of public

together for the evening sacrifice.

John xvi. 23.

Nazareth] Inserted emphatically. To Him, whose Name the Jews despised and detested, all power had been given in heaven and on

word as in iv. 13.

earth.

prefixed, marking a reference back to verse a.

These words are not in three rise up and] of the most ancient MSS., K, B, D. The command conveyed the requisite power.

wonder and amazement] The effect of the miracle on their feelings and on their under-

10. knew]

for alms]

Rather, recognlied; the same In the Original the article

standings.

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THE ACTS. III.

i— 16.]

11 And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch

that

called Solomon's,

greatly wondering.

12 fl And when Peter saw //, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this ? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk ? 13 The God of Abraham, and of

11. as the lame man] This is a gloss on the reading of K, A, B, C, E, as be held, followed by Syr. and Vulg., which probably came into the text in consequence of a Church Lesson beginning at this point. He kept his hold on the Apostles, under a feeling like that' of the demoniac, Mark v. 18 ; Luke viii, 38, fearing, probably, that, apart from them, he might relapse into his crippled condition. called Solomon's] Not as built by him; but as having, for the foundation of the wall

on which it rested, an embankment made by him. That wall, the outer facing of one side of the hill, was four hundred cubits high, constructed of square stones, exceedingly white, each measuring twenty cubits by six, Josephus, xx. ix. 7. This colonnade or cloister survived the destruction of the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar, and was preserved in the rebuilding by Zerubbabel. All Herod's lavish expenditure failed to weaken the influence of the name of Solomon. Our Lord walked in this colonnade, John x. 23, and, as being the part of the Temple most frequented by the people, it was a place of resort for His fol-

St Peter's Address to those who had witnessed the miracle. 12.

answered]

Addressed himself to the

anxious astonishment expressed in their faces. He spoke to the occasion. Cp. Matt. xi. i$. men of Israel] Addressed to the whole See ii. a a. nation. at this] Gloag followed Alford in understanding at this man. The same word as in look ye so earnestly] i.

Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus

whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. ' 14 *But ye denied the Holy One ^atL »* and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you ; 15 And killed the Prince of life, JOj^ whom God hath raised from the dead 5 whereof we are witnesses. 16 And his name through faith in <

by His many mighty works, and by His Resurrection and Ascension. Rather, Servant, as A. V. rightly his Son] in Matt. xii. 18, where Isai. xlii. 1 is quoted and referred to our Lord. Cp. Hi. 13, xliii. 10. not* implied His Mediatorial Office, The condescenYior, His Divine Sonship. sion and humiliation of Christ, His Ministry, not His Sonship, were uppermost in the He desired to Apostle's mind at^his time. fix attention on Isai. xlii. and liii. An Apostle was not Half 8<oG, but AovXos Qcov. Matt, xxvii. a ; John xviii. delivered up] This refers to the authorities, as denied 30. him refers to the people, who thwarted Pilate's inclination, John xix. ia; Luke xxiii. ao. denied him] Refused to acknowledge as the Messiah. 14. the Holy designation, Isai.

10.

power or holiness] Syr. by power of ours, or by our own authority. The Jews believed that very high attainments in holiness were rewarded by miraculous powers.

Wisely 13. of our fathers'] introduced, to shew that no new religion was being taught glorified] Not by this miracle only, but previously, at His Baptism and Transfiguration, Cp. v. 15.

One] xliii.

3 ;

24 ; Rev. iii. 7, xv. 4.

John ii. 1.

the Just]

granted] gratify you.

lowers.

373

chosen

divinely

Luke iv. 34

;

Mark

Cp. vii. 5 a, xxii. 14 ; James v. 6 Liberated,

your request, to

The word recurs xxv. 11.

By insisting on the release of 15. killed] Barabbas* and by clamouring for the CruciThis was much bolder, and went more home than by wicked bands, ii. a3. fixion.

nntae, Vulg. The same Luther. word, strictly the leader of the vanguard of

Auctorem

the Prince of life]

Our A.V. agrees with

an army, as in v. 31 ; Heb. ii. 10, xii. a.

was the first to rise again, and the Author of the rising again of all others, John vi. 39, 40 CEcumenius and Theoa a. 1 Cor. xv. ao phylact, understanding natural life, thought that creation is here implicitly attributed to

—

Spiritual and eternal Christ. doubtless, included.

life

also are,

whereof^ Rather, whose witnesses we are, cp. ii. 3a, having seen Him after His Resurrection. 16. through faith. the faith] The mention of faith is repeated, to include the faith of the Apostles in working the miracle, and the faith .

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THE ACTS. III.

374

hath made this man strong, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. his name

whom ye see and know: yea,

17 And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did //, as did also your rulers. 18 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. of the cripple which qualified him to receive the cure. by him] Wrought by Him. Faith is the gift of God, Eph. ii. 8. Cp. 1 Pet. i. 11. Bp Pierce preferred by it, i.e. by His Name.

And swy] Not to be understood of 17. time, but as equivalent to under these circumstances.

brethren] Soothing and encouraging, as compared with the forma^ address in v. ia.

St Peter commenced with severe rebuke, but he would not drive them to desperation. J <wot] I know, am aware, as in Spenser and Shakespeare. Cp. J twist not, xxiii. 5.

The

Apostle had warrant for this in his Masters words, Luke xxiii. 34, and would encourage them to hope for forgiveness. ignorance] Syriac, delusion. The prayer of our Lord, Luke xxiii. 34, applied to the Jews

as well as to the Roman soldiers. To the same effect St Paul in the synagogue of the Pisidian Antioch, xiii. a 7. Cp. xxvi. 9 1 Cor. ;

ii.

8 ;

Tim. i.

13.

On sins of ignorance,

see Bp Sanderson's Sermon vi. * ad Populum,'

§§ 11— 11. before bad shewed] The foreknowledge God is set in strong contrast with the

18.

[V.

21.

Repent ye therefore, and be

converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord 20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:

Whom the heaven must receive

times of restitution of all God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. until the

things,

which

The express mention of Baptism, as in ii. was superseded by its administration to the three thousand, ii. 41. blotted out] This figurative expression was much more forcible with the ancient mode of obliteration, by applying the blunt end of the stylus to the wax on which letters had been Cp. Ps. Ii. 9 ; traced with the sharp end, Isai. xliii. is Col. ii. 14. when] A.V. followed Beza. Rather, as in Vulg., in order that times of refreshing (of repose, Syr.) may come ; the form of expression is the same as in Luke ii. 35. The Jews had a popular belief that a restitution of all things, v. ai, was to accompany, or immediately follow, the coming of the Messiah, in a sense very different from that indicated by our Lord when He pointed to St John the Baptist as having fulfilled the expectation that Elijah must first come. Some have understood the Gospel Dispensation. Others, the Last Judgment, as giving access to the rest anticipated by St Paul, 2 Thess. i. 7, aud to the renovation of all things, Rev. xxi. 4, 5. To believers the Second Advent ought to be a joyous thought; death is to be swallowed 38,

up in victory, and the Lord God shall wipe away all tears from all faces.

ignorance of men.

Not to be pressed to the or in ai and 24. The Prophets collectively, as in Luke xxiv. 27. This is an incidental testimony to the inspiration of a large portion of Holy Scripture. One mouth is attributed, because all spoke under the guidance of one and the same Spirit that Christ] That His Christ is the true reading. St Peter had been enlightened to welcome that against which he had vehemently protested, Matt. xvi. aa. all bis prophets]

letter here

so fulfilled]

By your instrumentality, which

was guilty, notwithstanding the result. Their acts were overruled ; but their wills were not controlled.

Cp. Joseph's language, Gen. 1. ao.

19. therefore] In consideration of these prophecies and their fulfilment. be converted] Turn into the right way; turn to Him whom ye denied.

20. And be shall] More correctly, And in order that He may send. before <was preached] The evidence of MSS., Early Versions, and Patristic Quotations, is decidedly in favour of a rarer word, used by St Luke afterwards, xxii. 14, xxvi. i6;ybrrappointedt sc. to be the Messiah. 21. must receive] No earthly kingdom, no temporal sovereignty, such as the Jews expected, was to be looked for. The rendering of our A. V., supported by Syr., which may safely be acquiesced in as correct, had been adopted by the Reformed Divines, while

the Lutheians, considering that this involved a compromise of Christ's Omnipresence, preferred to understand Who must occupy heaven* The loquutio ambigua, as Calvin pronounced it, is,

under either aspect, decisive against any

corporal presence of Christ's

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V. 22

THE ACTS. III.

— 24-]

22 For Moses truly said unto the b

» Deut is. fathers,

cLp.7.37. y<> ur

A prophet shall the Lord

G°d raise up unto you of your

orethren, like unto me ; nim shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall

say unto you.

and blood

the

sacramental bread

and

wine.

Of the length of the interval no

until]

hint is given: "Of that day and hour knoweth

no man," Mark xiii. 3a.

Cp. a Peter Hi. 10.

restitution] Syr., the fulness of the time of all

things.

Tertullian,

'Resurr.

tempora exbibitionis omnium. 1 a, dispositionis.

Carnis, § 23, Irenaeus, in.

Comp. Matt xvii. 11. The

same word is used by Josephus, xi. iii. 8, for the return from the captivity, and by Philo,

On the Decalogue, § 30, for the restoration of inheritances at the Jubilee. The times which had to run their course before the restitution of all things were already in progress. St Peter embraced the whole period between the Ascension and the Second Advent, when the regeneration, Matt xix. a8, will take full effect, when the creature shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God, Rom. «riii. 19 a 1, by the bringing back, in the new heavens and new earth, a Pet iii. 13 ; Rev. xxi. 1 5, of all things, out of the confusion caused by sin, into the harmony of creation

— —

before the Fall. Universalism.

This is quite distinct from

which God bath spoken] I.e. the times ; not

And it shall come to pass, that

every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. 24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as

great and essential characters of similitude between Christ and Moses are in the fulness and luminous intuition of their communications with God, the magnitude of the revelations made, and the institution of a In religion founded on those revelations. these points none of the other Prophets were like to Moses ; and in these Moses is like to Prophet Christ, as the less to his greater

raised up from among his brethren^ and set forth as the declared interpreter of God's will, a living oracle of Divine communication, was unknown till the mission of Moses." 4 Discourses on Prophecy,' 155 u And there arose not a Prophet since

Davison, 157.

in Israel like

unto Moses,

whom the Lord

knew face to face." Deut. xxxiv. 10.

The mediatorial relation was like unto me] the great poinbbf resemblance. The Israelites asked for "an intermediate messenger between God and them, who should temper the awfulness of His voice, and impart to them His This predicwill in a milder way," ib. 154. tion is given twice in Deut xviii. ; as through Moses, if. 15, as directly from God, v. 18. It is commented on by St Stephen, vii. 37. The rest of bear] I.e. obey; as in iv. 19. the verse after this word is not in Heb. or

LXX.

all things.

prophets] Cp. Luke i. 70. The word all is an interpolation from *v. 18. all his

375

holy

A very strong word; cut off by a capital sentence from the people who were happy in having the Lord for their God, and in having been chosen by Him for His inheritance. In this quotation the sense is given without the very words being used ; / will require it of him. 23.

destroyed']

utterly destroyed;

22. Moses] The authorship of Deuteronomy is here attributed to Moses. St Peter, in

directing the attention of his hearers to

Christ, was not shaking their loyalty to their

great lawgiver, who had borne this striking testimony, Deut xviii. 15 And belief 19. in the testimony of Moses was necessary for the reception of Christ's teaching, John v. 46, 47. The quotation here was made from

—

Deut xviii. 19. 24.

all the prophets]

See v.

18.

" Ex

quo S. Samuel prophetare coepit, et deinceps totum est tempus Prophetarum," Au-

memory, freely, but very faithfully. unto the fathers] These words are of very

gustin,

doubtful authority. They do not appear in «, A, B, C, Syr., Vulg. prophet] "That this prediction was understood, in later times at least, as relating to one distinguished Prophet, and not to a succession of inferior Prophets, is pointedly shewn, when, at the beginning of Christ's ministry, Philip, like a Jew acquainted with the ancient Scriptures, and expecting the Prophet to come, concluded Christ to be the person described in the prediction, John i. 45. The application made of it by St Peter and St Stephen strictly determines its sense. The

days of Samuel, a space of not less than four hundred years," Davison, 177. Two special Divine Messages are recorded during that interval, but the names of the bearers are not given, Judges vi. 8 10 ; 1 S. ii. a7. Samuel the Prophet closed the period of the Judges. See xiii. ao. Moses and Samuel are mentioned together, Ps. xcix. 6 Schools of Jer. xv. 1. the Prophets, it appears, were first founded

*de Civ. Dei,' xvii. i. It is to be regretted that the comma after Samuel in the original edition of A.V. was not retained. "The settlement in Canaan is succeeded by an intermission of prophecy extending to the

—

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THE ACTS. III. IV.

S7$

many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.

are the

children

of the

prophets, and of the covenant which

God made with our fathers, saying < G«n. ia. 3.

unto Abraham,

'And

shall all the kindreds

in thy seed of the earth be

blessed.

26 Unto you first God, having Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. raised up his

The ruUrs of the Jews offended with Peters sermon, 4 (though thousands of the people

by Samuel, 1 S. xix. 20.

He is called in the

Talmud the Master of the Prophets.

Now present not the times of but under the same dispensation, and leading up to them. these days]

were converted that heard the word,) imprison him and John, 5 After, upon examination Peter boldly avouching the lame man to be healed by the name of Jesus, and that by the same Jesus only we must be eternally saved, 13 they command him and John to preach no more in that name, adding also threatening, 23 whereupon the church fleet to prayer. 31 And God, by moving the place where they were assembled, testified that he heard their prayer: confirming the church with the gift of the Holy Ghost, and with mutual love and charity.

AND as they spake unto the peoJ~\ pie, the priests, and the

;

lestitution,

came upon them, 2 Being grieved that they taught ofyou turns away ; which might be understood as enforcing obedience to the exhortation in v. 19. A. V. appears to admit of being understood in either sense.

Chap. IV. 25. children] Heirs, not descendants ; of the same race out of which God had raised up His Prophets; and subjects of the prophecies, with all the provisions and blessings of the Covenant for your inheritance. the prophets] This may be understood as including the patriarchs. Cp. Gen. xx. 7 Ps. cv. 15 ; Tobit iv. 12. all the kindreds] The plain designation, Gentiles, was avoided, as liable to be distasteful to the hearers ; and irarptai was substituted for lBvr\ in the LXX., Gen. xxii. 18, xxvi. 4. 26. first] This word is to be construed with you, not with sent. First, not only in order of time, but specially, pre-eminently, beginning at Jerusalem. St Peter was already aware that the fulfilment of the promise made to Abraham would extend beyond his descendants; but, at this time, he considered circumcision an indispensable preliminary. raised up"]

cap- ]£%-

tain of the temple, and the Sadducees,

CHAPTER IV. I

25— a.

[v.

Arrest of St Peter and St John. while they were dis-

as they spake]

coursing.

Their Lord's teaching had been

liable to similar interruptions, e.g. Luke xx. 1.

St Peter addressed one portion of the multitude, while St John was speaking to others. the priests] Those on the spot, discharging their duties in the order of their course, who had been officiating at the sacrifice of the ninth hour. They may have felt affronted by unlearned men presuming to come forward as public instructors. In Jer. xx. 1, the captain of the temple] the chief governor in the house of the Lord ; in 2 Mace. iii. 4, governor of the Temple. He was in command of that one of the-twentyfour bands of Levites which happened to be on duty at the time ; Josephus xx. vi. a,' J. W.' v. v. 3. This officer had the superintendence of the night watches, three of which were priests, and twenty-one by Levites. Hence the use of the plural, Luke xxii. 4, 52.

kept by

As in v. a 2, ii. 30, Luke 69. Bengel understood, of the seed of Abraham i.

Luther, from the dead. Son] Servant, as in v. 13. Jesus is omitted in K, A, B, C, D. # to blesi you] Not externally, or by a temporal deliverance, but by the offers of salvation made in the preaching of the Apostles. Christ was a priest after the order of Melchizedec, and a chief function of that Priesthood was to bless. Pentecost had brought much of the blessing promised, through the seed of Abraham, to all nations.

in turning away] The English Versions before 16 11, with the exception of the Geneva, followed Syr. and Vulg., as did Luther, in regarding the verb as intransitive ; in your each of you turning away, provided that each

He doubtless apprehended danger to the As no Gentile might enter the public peace. Temple? it seems strange that such names as Calvin, Calmet, Hammond, Pearson, and Milman may be quoted in favour of understanding an officer of the Roman garrison, if not the commandant of the fortress Antonia. Lightfoot, who had adopted this view, afterwards recalled it There can be no reasonable doubt that a Jewish officer, next in sacerdotal rank to the High Priest, is intended. Sadducees] Not in any official capacity, but irritated by the testimony borne to the Resurrection of Jesus. Hostility to Christianity came at this time as exclusively from this sect, as in the Gospel history enmity to our Lord was shown by the Pharisees. The Sad-

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THE ACTS. IV.

3-6]

tne people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next for it was now eventide. 4 Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed ; and the

day

very

ducees,

numerous among the upper

xvm.

at this time, Josephus, l. 4, were very cruel in their punishments, xx. viii. classes,

1 ;

whereas the Pharisees were characterized original

word im-

Rather, Indignant. 2. grieved] through Jejut] After the example of Jesus. Cp. 1 Cor. xv. 22. St Peter's speech was heard, it seems, as far as iii. 13, and then some of the more hostile had gone to complain.

m hold]

Perhaps

in private custody.

The same word, v. 18, has common, i.e. public, Some have thought that the lame prefixed. man whom they had healed was imprisoned with them. Verse 10 may perhaps be presumptive in favour of this; hardly bear upon it

in/.

and 9

now eventide]

This must have been the second of the Jewish evenings, Exod. xii. 6, margin, and is noted to show that the Apostles continued their labours throughout the day. The miracle was not wrought till the ninth Some have calculated hour, about 3 p.m. that the interruption from the captain of the Temple cannot have been earlier than seven or eight o'clock.

the number of the men]

Exclusively of

women and children, as in Matt. xiv. 21. The women may have been in their own separate court of the Temple, or have returned to their homes. For further accessions see v. 14, vi. 1, 7,

number of the men was about five thousand.

5 fl And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes, 6 And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander,

St Peter's testimony before the Jewish Rulers. This enumeration implies that pains were taken to insure a full attendance at this sitting of the Sanhedrim. High Priests, Elders, and Scribes are usually named, as constituting that Council, though Chief Priests, not in any uniform order. Scribes, and Elders, Matt. xxvi. 3; Chief Priests, Elders, and Scribes, Mark xiv. s$, xv. 1 ; Elders, and Chief Priests, and Scribes, Luke ix. 22, xxii. 66. In this passage it seems as if Rulers had been substituted for Chief Priests. Cp. iii. 17, and see the note on 6.

rulers]

special

by clemency, xm. x. 6. came upon them] The plies suddenly, by surprise.

377

and xxi. 20.

Rather, had come to be. The speech of St Peter contributed, more than the miracle, to this increase. about five thousand] This has been understood as the aggregate of all who, down to this time, had embraced the Gospel, including the hundred and twenty (i. 15), and the three thousand (ii. 41). Some, following Chrysos-

was]

tom, on this passage, Jerome, on Isaiah xl., and Augustin, Tract 39 on St John, have considered that, irrespectively of these numbers, there was a fresh accession of five thousand.

The efficacy of St Peter's teaching was remembered among the heathen, and, in accordance with Christ's words, Matt x. 25, imputed by them to magical powers. Augustin, •de Civ. Dei,' xvm. $3*

Matt ii. 4. Greswell, in. 113, conjectured that there

were twenty-four representatives of each of these classes, making up the number seventy-

two in all. Annas the high priest] Called A nanus 6. by Tosephus, xvm. xi. 1, xx. ix. 1. Having held the office eleven years, till deposed by Valerius Gratus, the Roman Procurator, A. D. he retained the confidence of the people, and was deemed by them jure divmo High Priest, although the authority of Caiaphas, his son-in-law, alone was recognised by the Romans. Both are mentioned as High Priests at the beginning of the ministry of the Baptist, Luke iii. 2 ; and, in accordance with Jewish feeling, our Lord was led away to Annas first, and by him sent bound to Caiaphas, John Besides Caiaphas, four sons, xviii. 13, 24. or sons-in-law, of Annas at different times held the office of High Priest, Josephus, xx. No fewer than twenty-eight High ix. 1. Priests are enumerated in the thirty-three See the note years between 37 and 70 a.d.

,23,

on xxiii. 5. John, and Alexander] with certainty of either.

Nothing is known The former has been

identified, by Pearson, Lightfbot, and Biscoe,

with Jochanan Ben Zacchai, one of the seven great Rabbans, after whose death, at the age of a hundred and twenty years, "the glory of wisdom ceased" according to the Talmudists. He was president of the Sanhedrim after Simeon, son of Gamaliel, and being high in the favour of Titus, obtained its reThirty establishment at Jafach or Jamnia. years before the fell of Jerusalem he had expounded Zech. xi. 1 as foretelling the destruction of the Temple. Greswell thought

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THE ACTS. IV.

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and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye

the good tent man,

[v.

7—ii.

deed done to the impoby what means he is made

whole io

Be it known unto you all, and

to all the people of Israel, that by the

name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy from the dead, even by him doth Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of this man stand here before you. PsaLxil done

this ?

the people, and elders of Israel, 9 If we this day be examined of

him probably the same John whose tomb, near the external wall of the city, is repeatedly alluded to by Josephus, * J. W.' v. Alexander has been thought by Pearson, Wolf, Michaelis, Krebs, Mangey, afld Greswell to have been Alexander Lysimachus, brother of Philo Judaeus, who became Alabarch at Alexandria; Josephus, xvm. viii. 1. He is said to have embellished nine of the gates of the Temple. It is not easy to understand a priest of Jerusalem holding a civil office at Alexandria; and a chronological difficulty has been thought to be involved in the statement of Josephus, xix. v. 1, that he was an old friend of the Emperor Claudius. 7.

in the midst]

That they might be seen

by all, John viii. 3;

Matt. xiv. 6, margin. Lightfoot noted that members of the Sanhedrim sat in a semicircle. This was an opportunity for addressing the highest authorities which the Apostles could hardly have expected.

The tense implies that this they asked'] question was put repeatedly. Rather, what kind of what power] power: Divine, or magical. In either case they had no sanction from the Council. Cp. Matt. xxi. 23. name] Cp. iii. 6, 16. Our Lord's Name was so employed outside the circle of His The Jews used the followers, Mark ix. 38. name of Solomon, Josephus, viii. ii. 5, of the Patriarchs, of Raphael, and other Angels, and of Almighty God. The Sanhedrim thought that if the Apostles, in answering the question, avoided the Name of Jesus, they would lose influence with the people; if they alleged that Name, they might bring themselves within the range of a charge of blasphemy, such as had been made by the Jewish authorities against their Master. The words of St Peter, iii. 6, 16, must have been reported to the Council. See below, w. 10 and 11. They could not bring themdone this] selves to speak of it as a miracle of healing, though no question of the reality of the cure

was raised. 8. filled] The participle in the Original implies a fresh special illapse of the Holy Spirit

whole.

jg-

ii a This

the stone which was 4*

to enable St Peter to meet this crisis, in fulfilment of Christ's promise, Matt x. 19, 10; Mark xiii. 11 ; Luke xii. 11, 12. In verse 31 again this special inspiration is indicated. In vi. 3, 5, the adjective expresses an abiding influence of the Holy Spirit.

Te rulers]

A full, distinct acknowledgment,

obedience to Christ's command, of the dignity and authority of those who sat in Moses' seat St Peter, who had been overawed by a maid-servant, could now face the highest in

authorities.

of Israel] Not in K, A, B, and omitted by Lachmann, Tischendorf, and Tregelles. 9. If<wt] A.V. has followed the Vulgate. This might seem to express surprise felt or

feigned.

It is

more happily rendered in the

Geneva Bible, Forasmuch as <we. As quoted by Cyprian, adv. Judacos,' 11. 16, Ecce ms 4

hodie interrogamur.

put upon our examined] A Cp. xxviii. 18, and Luke xxiii. 14. trial. legal term,

miracle of healing could not good deed] reasonably be referred to an evil spirit, was no fit subject for legal investigation, and ought not to have been visited with imprisonment,

Rom. xiii. 3. the impotent man]

10.

Jesus Christ]

See iii. 2.

The name Jesus alone

had been used, it 22 and iii. 13. This is the first instance in which they were accused ot crucifying the Messiah. whom God raisedfrom the dead] This was not met by any reference to the allegation that His disciples had stolen the body by night,

Matt, xxviii. 13. by him] A. V. followed Erasmus, per Hunt.

The Vulgate, less correctly, in Hoc, in this Name. Emphatic, as in v. 14. He had stand] not stood previously from the day of his birth. Ps. cxviii. 22 had This is the stone] 11. been applied in like manner by Christ Himself, after the parable of the Wicked Husbandmen, Matt. xxi. 42. St Peter was fond of referring to the conduct and language of his Lord; cp. xi. 16; 1 Pet. ii. 4 8, 21—135

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THE ACTS. IV.

12 -17.]

of you builders, which become the head of the corner.

set at nought

was healed standing with them, they

could say nothing against it. 15 But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among them-

12 Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. 13 f Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled ; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. 14 And beholding the man which :

2 Pet. i. 14; and to ancient prophecies, as already in ii. 16, %$ ; 2 Pet. i. 19 az. you builders] There is more severity here than in the speech to the people, iii. x 7. the head of the comer] The top stone at an angle of the building, of great weight

—

and importance in their roofs, built of solid flat stones, to admit of being walked upon. Christ, as the Corner-stone, united Jews and

He united the two Natures, the Godhead and the Manhood. His own name must have helped to endear this Psalm to the Gentiles, as

Apostle's mind.

Cp.

Pet. ii. 4, 7.

12. salvation] The last word in this verse being the same that is rendered made whole in v. 9, has induced some, e.g. Whitby and Michaelis, to limit this to the miraculous cure. If it need not be absolutely restricted to its highest sense, spiritual well-being must surely be considered as included. St Peter made no reference to the miraculous cure after v. 10. none other name] Whoever is saved is saved in consideration of Christ's meritorious Cross and Passion. Cp. Article xvm. The words do not imply the condemnation of those who lived before the Incarnation, or of those who never heard of the Atonement.

among men] Mankind at large, not Israel only.

The two Apostles threatened. 13. boldness] Freedom of speech. Cp. iii. 1, viii. 14. Peter and John] perceived] Rather, had ascertained. The tense in the Original implies some previous knowledge of the fact They did not infer it from the appearance of the Apostles. The same word is rendered as here, in x. 34; better in xxv. aj, Ifound. ignorant] A very unhappy translation. Tyndale and Cranmer gave laymen ; equivalent to which Bentley, 'On Free Thinking,' 1. p. 80, The same word is applied to himilliterate. self by St Paul, a Cor. xi. 6, "rude in speech." They were destitute of Rabbinical learning, and were not acknowledged by the authorities as professional, official instructors of the .

379

selves,

16 Saying, What

we do to

shall

these men ? for that indeed a notable

miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny //. 17 But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly people. Cp. John vii. 15, 49. There is no warrant here for an unlearned ministry: the Apostles had been taught by their Divine Master, and were under the guidance of the Holy Ghost. took knowledge of] recognised them as Their having been among His followers. astonishment operated to the refreshing of their memories. Jewish rulers had repeatedlybeen present at the teaching of Christ, and St John

was personally known to the High John xviii. 15.

Priest,

14. standing] No longer a helpless cripple. If not apprehended along with the Apostles, v. 3, the Sanhedrim being an open Court, his presence may have been an expression of his faith and thankfulness, or he may have Baur summoned for examination. been strangely regarded this circumstance as render-

ing the whole narrative suspicious.

15. they conferred among themselves]

Some

of the many priests, vi. 7, may have communicated to St Luke what passed during the exclusion of the two Apostles. Before A. V. manifest. In Not only manifest, but The hour of the day, the place, the notoriety of the lame man, the instantaneousness and completeness of his cure, all combined to draw and fix public attention. 16.

notable]

Rheims, notorious. allowed to be so.

Cp. iii. 7.

This seems to imply qve cannot deny it] that they would have suppressed the evidence Their hearts were hardened by if they could. their repeated rejection of the miracles of our Lord, even of the most signal John xi. 47, Faith is not merely equivalent to 10. It requires intellectual insight, or conviction. the co-operation of the will and the heart. In but this case the proof was demonstrative they would not believe. ;

xii.

;

17.

spread]

Sc.

beyond Jerusalem,

throughout which it must have been generally known already. The extension of such knowledge, which could not fail to confirm the teaching of the Apostles concerning the

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THE ACTS. IV.

38o

threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name.

18 And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. 20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. 21 So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people for :

Resurrection of Christ, is spoken of as the spread of a contagious disease might have been. Cp. 2 Tim. ii. 17. straitly] Literally, with threatening, in accordance with the Hebrew idiom, e.g. Luke xxii. 15. The word is not in K, A, B, D.

name] Did they shrink from uttering or disdain to use it ?

this it,

18. not to speak] They would fain have forbidden colloquial as well as public teaching.

Their Reply, and Dismissal. 19. Peter and John] The Holy Ghost suggested the same answer to both. The Whether it he right] Cp. v. 29. Apostles were in a dilemma. The authorities were enjoining silence; their Master had commanded them to teach.

[v.

all men glorified God for that which was done. 22 For the man was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was shewed. 23 fl And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all

that the chief priests and elders

had said unto them.

24 And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is 25 Who by the mouth of thy ser-

word of God, v. 31, and a line Is drawn between them and believers generally, v. 33. the chief priests] This plural occurs in Matt. ii. 4, and again, below, v. 24. The heads of the courses, among whom the High Priest Lightfoot understood included. not the twenty-four chiefs of the courses only, but the heads of the families in each course also. In the later periods of Jewish history irregularity and corruption multiplied the numbers of those who had held the office for a longer or shorter time. Josephus, xV. ill. 1. See the note on Matt xxvii. 1.

would be

Prayer after their Return to their own Company. 24.

with one accord]

;

—

21.

further]

In addition to the inhibition

in v. 18.

This was not acquittal. They let them go] could at any time have been recalled and reexamined.

They had no evidence on finding nothing] which they could proceed; and they could not devise any punishment which would not have exasperated the people.

22. above forty] His age insured his case being generally known, and made the miracle the more remarkable.

23.

own company]

Apostles:

all

To the rest of the

who were

present spake the

Wheatly regarded was and Meyer thinks

this as proving that the prayer they used

a precomposed set form that anything short of this is at variance with the clear text. The second Psalm is repeatedly applied to Christ. Cp. xiii. 33; Heb. L 5, v. 5 ; Rev. ii. 26, 27, xii. 5, xix. 15. Lord] Not Kt/ptc, Jehovah, but AcVirora, Adonai. In their prayer, i. 24, they had dwelt on God's knowledge of men's hearts; here they turn to His creative power; a very solemn form .of invocation, Neh. ix. 6; Jer. xxxii. 17. This verse, in conjunction with v. 27, forestalled the Church's condemnation of Marcion and Valentinus, who distinguished between God the Father of Christ, and God the Creator of the Universe. thou art God] Thou art He that made, K, A, B. ;

This pronoun is strongly emphatic we, whatever you think fit to do. Throughout the three seen and heard"] years of Christ's ministry. Cp. 1 John i. 1 They had seen His miracles, sufferings, 3. death, and resurrection. They had heard His exposition of the Law and the Prophets, and His declarations concerning His kingdom.

we]

20.

18—25.

thy servant] See above, iii. 13. David so designated in the title of Pss. xviii. and xxxvi., Ps. lxxviii. 70, lxxxix. 3,20; and Luke The reading of this verse is in a very i. 69. confused state, indicating apparently that there is much authority for adding to A. V., Who, by the mouth of our father , David, Thy servant,

25.

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»PuL».x. vant

THE ACTS. IV.

— 31.]

David hast said, *Whjr did the

heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things ? 26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.,

27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,

28 For to do whatsoever thy hand didst say, through the Holy Spirit, Why, &c. The Apostle's quotation is in verbal accord-

ance with LXX. bast said]

An implicit assertion of the

inspiration of the Psalmist, as in i. 16. the heathen] The same word is rendered Gentiles in v. 27.

the people"] in v. 27.

Plural in the Original, as again

This has been understood of differ-

ent nationalities of Jews, as indicated in ii. 5, or of the tribes, which has been thought to be favoured by such passages as Gen. xxviii. 3,

and xlviii. 4. 26.

The kings]

Luke xxiii. n.

Represented by Herod, it has been

By the rulers

thought that Pilate was indicated. But is it not more in accordance with the Gospel narrative to understand Annas and Caiaphas ?

27. child] Servant, as *w. 25 and 30. See above, in. 13. A.V. was misled by an ambiguity in the Vulgate, Puerum Tuum. From the equivalent terms in the prophecy and in the declaration of its fulfilment, it appears that the Holy Child Jesus of the Acts must be the same with the Jehovah of the second Psalm. Bp Jebb, * Sacred Literature/ pp. 135 137. hast anointed] didst anoint. Cp. x. 38. gathered together] There is in MSS., Ancient Versions, and ecclesiastical writers, very decisive evidence in favour of subjoining to these words, in this city, which is highly emphatic. The Messiah had been rejected in Jerusalem,

—

His own city, John i. 11. 28. to do] This is to be understood as dependent on <were gathered together, not on Thou hast anointed. whatsoever] More precisely, ai much ai neither more nor less. thy hand] Thy overruling power and predisposing wisdom. God's hand is often felt before His purpose is understood. determined before] Cp. ii. 23 ; Luke xxii. a a ; sc. that Christ should suffer death by crucifixion. The guilt of their acts was not

381

and thy counsel determined before to be done. 29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings : and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, 30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal ; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. 31 ^ And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, extenuated by the results. It is not said that God decreed that they should do what they did, but, at most, that they did what God had decreed to be done. To do and to he done are discriminated in the Original; iroirjvai,

man's guilty agency ; ytvtaBai, to take place, the result of that agency under Providence. See Davison's 4 Seventh Discourse on Prophecy,' Of the Divine Foreknowledge and its union with the liberty of human action. Cp. Leo the Great, * Serm. 16 de Passione,' " Nee praesciendo (Dominus) quod faciendum esset coegit ut fieret, quum tamen ad hoc carnem suscepisset ut fieret." 29.

thy servants'] fco^Xoir, not irnurtv, Cp.

They asked for strength and spirit to do the work appointed for them, not for security from the consequences. They did not ask for 17.

deliverance from the threatened penalty, nor for the quelling of the secular power, nor for removal of danger from themselves, but only

for courage in the course which they felt

their duty to pursue.

30.

By stretching forth]

stretcbest

out.

Tyndale,

Syr. While Thou

Cranmer,

Geneva,

A collateral result So that Thou stretch forth. of the miraculous powers was to support and embolden those who were endued with them. See *u. 17. by the name] child] Servant, as in v. 35. An earthquake was <was shaken] 31. usually regarded as an intimation of Divine displeasure, Isai. ii. 19, 21, xiii. 13 ; Ezek. That foretold by xxxviii. ig; Joel iii. 16. Haggai, ii. 6, 7, was an exceptional case. This earthquake was a token that the foundations of the earth are in the hands of God, and that therefore all earthly powers are under His control. Cp. xvi. a6. It gave assurance of Divine approval and ultimate triumph. Bengel thought that it symbolized the agitation which was to be caused everywhere by the preaching of the Gospel. all] All of the hundred and twenty who

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THE ACTS. IV.

38*

and they spake the word of God with boldness.

And

the multitude of them were of one heart and of one soul : neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own ; but they had all things common. 33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus : and great grace was

that believed

upon them all. were together, and had taken part in offering the prayer, after the return of the two Apostles. fresh access, filed with the Holy Ghost] granted in answer to the prayer, v. 29, quite distinct from the Pentecostal effusion. spake] Imperfect, went on speaking. with boldness] This was a marked result from the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Feelings and Conduct of the Disciples. 32. that believed] that had believed. This multitude did not embrace the five thousand in v. 4, and the three thousand, ii. 41, in addition to the hundred and twenty, i. 15 but it cannot be restricted, as Meyer and others have proposed, to the most recent con-

[v.

32—36.

34 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,

And

them down at the and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. 36 And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of con-

laid

apostles' feet :

favour, as in Luke ii. 40. Bengel understood both to be intended, the context not being decisive for either.

34. Neither <was there] Rather, For, indeed, there wai not. The distribution did not go beyond supplying urgent need. Poverty there might be; there was not absolute indigence, as there easily might have been at that time, when doubtless Jewish bigotry and prejudice made themselves strongly felt by converts to Christianity. were sold] were being sold.

The process

was still going on, though in certain cases the sale and transfer of property had been completed

;

verts.

;

word

the

two MSS.

The verse is

quoted twice, with this supplement, " nee fuit inter illos discrimen ullum," by Cyprian, p. 46, and 144, Fell. any]

not even one, in the Original.

which be possessed] were not obliterated

The rights of property ;

there

was no compul-

See ii. 44. The making no reference to that previous statement, and the consequent repetition here, are quite in keeping with the style of Scriptural narrative and of Oriental history generally. sory communism.

33. great power] Of speech, not miracles. In either case the power of the Spirit of God. Cp. Rom. xv. 19.

gave]

St Paul was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, xxii. 3. This disposal of the money was an act of homage equivalent to recognising them as the teachers and rulers of the Church. The distribution of alms and charities soon passed from their hands to subordinate ministers the Deacons, vi. 2. sitting.

of one heart] Realizing Ps. cxxxiii. 1. Their Lord had prayed for this, John xvii. 21. One heart, one in affection one jok/, one in thought, memory, and the exercise of their intellectual faculties the wills of all turned to God, and, in Him, to each other. and E subjoin a clause, and there <was no difference among them^ with a variation of the

1 35. at the apostles feet] Repeated in <o. 37.

The Apostles were in the position of teachers,

went on giving. The same word

as in Matt, xxil 21. great grace] Calvin, Grotius, Casauhon,

Olshausen

understood

popular

goodwill.

De Wette, Lange, Doddridge, Alford, Meyer, Cook, Wordsworth, more correctly, Divine

—

Barnabas. This name appears in no uncial MS. The authority of K, A, B, D, E, and of Vulg. and Syr., is decisive in favour of 36.

Joseph.

Joses]

Canon Cook expresses surprise that

any transcriber should have ventured to alter a name with so many hallowed associations. Barnabas] According to a tradition preserved by Clement of Alexandria, * Strom.' 11. xx. 116, and Eusebius, 1. 12, 11. 1, he had been one of the Seventy. After the mission to which he was appointed, xiii. 2, he is called Apostle by St Luke. He was of dignified personal appearance, xiv. 12 ; and it has been assumed, from 1 Cor. ix. 6, that he was unmarried. At one time he allowed himself to be unduly influenced by the Jewish zealots, and separated himself from the Gentile converts, Gal. ii. 13. Tertullian, 'de Pudicitia,' 20, incidentally refers to him as author of the The Epistle which Epistle to the Hebrews. bears bis name was first published in 1645,

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THE ACTS. IV. V.

• 37— »•]

again imprisoned, 19 but delivered by an angel bidding them to preach openly to all:

solation,) a Levite, and of the country

of Cyprus,

1 1 when, after their teaching accordingly in the temple, ao and before the council, 33 they are in danger to be killed, through the advice of Gamaliel, a great counsellor among the yews, they be kept alive, 40 and are but beaten: for which they glorify God, and

37 Having land, sold //, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet

CHAPTER V. X

cease no day from preaching.

After that Ananias and Sapphira his wife

for their hypocrisy at Peter's rebuke had fallen down dead, ia and that the rest of the apostles had wrought many miracles, 14 to the increase of the faith: 17 the apostles are

the first four chapters and half of the fifth being extant in a Latin Version only, till

383

BUT

a certain

man named Ana-

nias, with Sapphira his wife, sold

a possession,

Tischendorf, in 1863, gave them in

and Priest, had lands in the vicinity of Jerusalem, in exchange for which Vespasian gave him others, to his great advantage. Life,' 76.

It has been assigned to the time of Vespasian,

not necessary to have recourse to the conjecture that an heiress from another tribe must have brought the property to the The possession of it, father of Barnabas.

Greek from the Sinaitic MS. The results of the collation of a second MS., found at Constantinople, were exhibited by Hilgenfeld in 1876. before a.d. 79; and Mr Cunningham concludes that it cannot have been written

i.e.

many years later, though most editors have brought its date down to the year 119. It was classed with works of doubtful authority by Eusebius, m. 25, vi. 13, 14, and with apocryphal books by Jerome, *de Script. Eccles.' and on Ezek. xliii. By Pearson, Cave, Dupin, Vossius, Hammond, Bull, Wake, and Lardner it was regarded as the production of the companion of St Paul. On the other hand, it has been said that all the external evidence is in favour of the traditional title, all the internal evidence against it. Errors concerning several prominent portions of the Jewish Ceremonial have been pointed out, such as could not have been made by a Levite, or by any educated Jew. And it has been asked, Would not the Epistle, if genuine, have been admitted into the Canon ? A spurious Gospel in Arabic, attributed to Barnabas, has

been interpolated by Mahometans. See White's

It is therefore

whether in Cyprus or elsewhere, must have given Barnabas influence in the struggles of Reference to tribes is the infant Church. extremely rare in N. I\, Luke ii. 36. Not one of the Apostles is characterized by his tribe, with the exception Of St Paul, Rom. xi. Phil. iii. 5.

1 ;

Comp. xiii. 21.

Pronounced by Josephus, 1. i. 6, to nave been the original meaning of Chittim, which came to be applied generally to islands and maritime districts known to the Hebrews. See the note on Num. xxiv. 24. At a distance of 48 miles from the coast its lofty mountains are visible in the horizon to the S. W. from the mouth of the Orontes. It was remarkably fertile, and had extensive forests and many mines. There were Jewish settlers there in the second century B.C., 1 Mace. xv. 23 and their numbers were of course increased after the copper mines were farmed by Augustus to Herod the Great. The Jews became so numerous that they held out against the Cyprus]

;

Bampton Lectures,' p. 358.

Romans after the fall of Jerusalem

of consolation] So Syr. and Vulg. According to the analogy of * children of light," one

of Trajan, 117 a.d., they massacred, if the estimate of Dion Cassius can be accepted, a4o,ooo of the Greek inhabitants, laid Salamis desolate, and were for a time in

who had received great consolation, and was the better qualified to minister it to others. Exhortation has by some been thought preferable, on comparing xi. 23, xv. 3a, 1 Cor. xiv. 3.

a Levite"] A descendant of Levi, not of the family of Aaron. It had not been allowable for Levites to hold land, inasmuch as the Lord was the portion of that tribe, Num. xviii. ao. 14 ; Deut x. 9, xviii. a ; i. e' the Levites had the tithes assigned them instead of any

Joshua xiii. 14, $3. This restriction was limited to Palestine, and it seems to have been less strictly observed as time went on. The Prophet Jeremiah, of the tribe of Levi, purchased a field, Jer. xxxii. 7—9. And after the return from the Captivity, the distribution of land, prescribed by Moses, was no longer observed. Josephus, a Levite

the

;

and, in

last year

possession of the island.

When this insur-

had been crushed they were expelled from Cyprus, and any Hebrew wrecked upon Cyprus is of its shores was put to death. considerable interest and importance in primiMen of Cyprus and tive Church history. Cyrene first made the Gospel known to the Grecians (or Greeks) at Antioch, xi. ao. Cp. rection

xiii.

—

13, xv. 39, xxi. 16.

tribal inheritance,

Ananias and Sapphira.

Chap. V.

Ananias] Variously explained. Cloud of the Lord, or Favoured by the Lord, or God 1.

gracious.

A common

Jews; e.g. ix.

10, xxiii. 2.

name among

the

Cp. 1 Chro. iii.

ai ; Jer. xxviii. 1. Sapphira] If a Syriac name,

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THE ACTS. V.

3*>*

2 And kept back part of the price, also being privy to //, and brought a certain part, and laid // at his wife

the apostles' feet. 1

Or,

3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart "to lie

eUccive.

to the Holy Ghost,

and to keep back

heart ? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. 5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost:

and great fear came on all them that heard these things. 6 And the young men arose, wound

him

own ? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power ? why

Greek, which is less likely, the gem Sap-

phire, as Margaret .= Pearl,

a possession]

Land, m. 3.

This word is rendered purkept back"] Joining, Tit. ii. 10, the only other place in N. T. in which it occurs. It is used in LXX. of the sin of Achan, Josh. vii. 1, and of that of Menelaus, a Mace. iv. 32 ; and by Plutarch, of Lucullus embezzling booty. his wife also"] The repeated statement of the wife's complicity marks the sin as the result of previous deliberation and concert. Did they propose to obtain a place among those who, having given up all their property, were to be supported out of the common fund ? Or, having low, carnal views of Christ's kingdom, did they hope to secure high position in it ? Mede and Bramhall regarded their sin as involving sacrilege. 2.

Peter said] Under the immediate direction of the Holy Ghost, who discovered to him this fraud, as that of Gehazi had been made known to Elisha. <why hath Satan] Cp. Luke xxii. 3 ; John xiii. 2, 27. The sin was conceived in the heart of Ananias, v. 4. The suggestion of Satan might have been resisted. Filled thine heart is a Hebraism for emboldened thee, made thee thus presumptuous. See the marginal rendering, Esther vii. 5 ; cp. Eccles. viii. 11. The Vulgate gives an entirely different sense, Cur tentavit Satanas cor tuum f In v. 9 to tempt the Spirit of the to lie to] Lord. Bp Pearson, on the Creed, viii. 32, points out the similar interchange of expression in Ps. lxxviii. 36, "lied unto Him," and i>. 41, 44 44 tempted God." That which none but the inner man knoweth of, and is yet but in the purpose of the heart, is under the privity of the Holy Ghost." Mede. 3.

4. Whiles it remained] Unsold. The having all things common, iv. 32, left it at the option of Ananias to keep, or to sell the land,

and to retain the sale money. but unto God] In this and the preceding verse taken together, we have incidentally a decisive proof of the Godhead of the Holy Ghost, and a condemnation of the error of Mace-

2—7.

hast thou conceived this thing in- thine

part of the price of the land ? 4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine

[v.

up, and buried him.

carried

him out, and

And it was about the space of

donia long before his birth. Not only is the Divinity of the Holy Ghost taught here, but in the Church, the Apostles. The sin of Ananias was the putting this to the test Would this supernatural endowment enable He was the Apostles to detect his fraud? laying a snare for them. If he had succeeded, he and his wife would have been maintained out of the common fund. It has been observed that there was no exhortation to repentance,

also

His abiding presence

especially

with

no hint of forgiveness the power of retaining sin alone was exercised, because the sin was against the Holy Ghost, and unpardonable. Ananias and Sapphira had been under the Divine influence; must have witnessed Apostolic miracles, and were in full communion with the Church. Their case was aggravated far beyond that of Simon Magus or Elymas. ;

Cornelius a Lapide attributes to Augustin, 44 Ananias pariter et vitam perdidit et salutem." as from Serm. 27, *de Verbis Apostoli.' The nearest approach to this, which I have been able to trace, is 44 Pecuniam quam obtulit perdidit, et quam domi reservavit amisit: pecuniam ;

inquam pariter perdidit et salutem " on which the Benedictine editors, col. 147 of the Appendix to their tenth Volume, note in the Exmargin, " Olim de verbis Apostoli 25. etiam inter Sermones S. Ambrosii et Maximi." Augustin's own estimate of the case was very different. Serm. de Verbis Act.' v. 4, "Credendum est autem quod post hanc stat

Correpti sunt vitam eis pepercerit Deus mortis flagello, ne suppliciopunirentur aeterno." Cp. 1 Cor. v. 5. So Jer. Taylor, 4 Holy Dying,' in. vi. 5, 44 Origen, S. Augustin, Cassian say concerning Ananias and Sapphira, that they were slain with a sudden death, that by such a judgment their sin might be punished, and their guilt expiated, and their persons reserved for mercy in the Day of Judgment" these words] Not imprecatory, but an5. nouncing the Divine Will. Bp Pearson, following Jerome and Augustin.

the young men] 6. Presumably in a position like that of the servants of the Synagogue,

having charge of the Upper

Room, and in

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THE ACTS. V.

8-I3-]

385

three

hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came

way at his feet, and yielded up the ghost and the young men came

in.

in,

8 And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much ? And she said, Yea, for so much.

Then Peter said unto her, How

9 is

ye have agreed together

that

and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her

husband. 11 And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things. 12 fl And by the hands of the

were many signs and won-

to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have

apostles

buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. 10 Then fell she down straight-

they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. 13 And of the rest durst no man

readiness for any manual services that might be required. In Luke xxii. 26, the younger is parallel to be that doth serve. Olshausen

followed Mosheim in understanding Officials of the Jerusalem Church, in anticipation of the Deacons for the converts generally in ch.

Bp Kaye inclined to " younger members

vi.

of the congregation." without any reference to Office. wound bim up] By drawing his garments tightly round him. This would compose the limbs after any disorder into which they might have fallen under the stroke of sudden death. Krebs thought that the use of the word by Josephus, xvii. iii. 3, xix. iv. 1, warrants understanding all preparations for interment. The use of coffins is unknown in the East. carried bim out] Beyond the walls of the city. Except in cases of embalming, burial followed death immediately, not only by reason of the rapidity of decomposition in that climate, but also in consequence of the defilement to which contact with a corpse gave occasion, Num. xix. 11 16; Deut. xxi. Lazarus was buried on the day of his 23. "

—

ders wrought among the people ; (and

more severe than that which had been addressed to her husband. at the door] Having just returned from depositing the body of Ananias.

This is more strongly 11. great fear] Having witnessed the expressed in i>. 13. awful consequences of inconsistency in the profession of the Christian faith, they felt that there was no little peril in joining a

community endued with miraculous power of discriminating hypocrisy and unworthy motives, as well as with gifts of languages and healing. If ii. 47 be interpolated, this Church as a distinct Heretofore the sacred historian had

the church]

is the first mention of the

society.

used believers, ii. 44, iv. 4, and disciples, i. 15. This is capable of including as many as] No investigation was made the Sanhedrim. by the Jewish authorities, who probably felt that any inquiry into the circumstances of the deaths would only confirm and exalt the reputation of the Apostles.

Many Miracles.

death, John xi. 1 7, 39.

Probably at the next hour of prayer. Under the shock of the death of Ananias they had not dispersed. came in] Expecting perhaps admiration and applause as the wife of another Barnabas.

This must have been a signal outpouring of healing to produce the effects in v. 15. Coming at this juncture, it was emphatically typical of spiri-

Addressed to the doubt and misgiving caused by the non-appearance of No such question had been put her husband. to Ananias. Chrysostom regarded it as an

This has been by some restricted to all] the Apostles. The understanding believers generally seems to be favoured by the rest.

three

hours after]

answered]

indication that St Peter, fain to spare Sapphira, if it might be, gave her space for con-

tual grace.

Cp.

9. to tempt]

To put to the test

;

to ascertain

whethei He dwelt in the Apostles, and whether He was liable to be deceived. This language

ii.

44.

The parenthesis marked in

A. V. is noteworthy. See above, iii. 11. Solomon's porch]

sideration and repentance.

fir so much] The Apostle may have named the sum, or pointed to the money arranged in such a way as clearly showed the amount.

many signs and wonders]

12.

13.

the

rest\

Those who had not

embraced the faith. 1

Cp.

Thess. iv. 13, v. 6. Some have to them]

others,

yet

Eph. ii 3;

understood,

to the

Apostles; others, to the Church. The word translated Join himself, it has been titled, implies intimacy and familiarity \ but this is

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THE ACTS. V.

386 join himself to

them

but the people

magnified them.

Or, fe

3wA

14 And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.) 15 Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. 16 There came also a multitude '

not warranted by

its

use,

viii.

29, ix. 26,

x. 28, xvii. 34.

14. iv.

Many more than in consequence of the many miracles,

the more added]

4, in

v. 12 ; cp. xi. 24.

If the half-hearted

were

held in check, the earnest-minded came forward in great numbers. The Lord Jesus. to the Lord] multitudes'] The additional conversions were so numerous that the historian ceased to specify

the number. The little one was becoming a thousand, Isai. Ix. 22. and women] This, on comparison with iv. 4, has been thought to indicate that no women had been included in any of the numbers reported down to this time. But compare i. The Baptism of women 14, and Sapphira. must, with Eastern habits of thought and usages, have rendered some such appointment as that of Deaconesses necessary from the first. 15.

Insomuch]

Verses 13 and 14 are pa-

[v.

—

18.

cities round about una, Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits : and they were healed every one. 17 f Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were rilled with indignation, 18 And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common

out of the

Or, 4

prison.

some] Rather, some one. They would have been thankful for even a single cure. Syr. and Vulg. subjoin, and they might be freed from their infirmities.

16.

There came]

Continually.

This is the first intimation of any conversions outside the walls of Jerusalem. vexed with unclean spirits] Possession is distinguished from bodily disease, as viii. 7 Luke iv. 40, 41 ; Matt. iv. 24 ; Mark L 32, Power to deliver those who were thus 34. vexed had been twice promised, Luke ix. 1 the cities round about]

Mark xvi. 1 7. were healed every one]

Apostolic powers at

this time far exceeded what they had previously

Now they did not fall been, Matt. xvii. 16. short of those exercised by their Lord, Matt, iv.

24, xiv. 36.

And this was not momentary

or transitory, but extended over an interval the length of which is not indicated.

The Apostles are imprisoned, and

renthetical.

Not once, but repeatedly. into the streets] Rather, along the streets.

liberated by an angel.

brought forth]

Another reading, even into the streets, has been preferred by recent critical editors. This was not in compliance with any direction given by St Peter. God was, it seems, pleased to gratify hopes which He had not directly awakened, and to allow simple, child-like faith to be rewarded by many miraculous cures being wrought. See Augustin, •Retract. 1. This may be regarded as a fulfilment xiii. 7. of Christ's Promise, John xiv. 12. Compare the woman with the issue of blood, Matt ix. 1

20 ; Mark v. 27 ; and the many that were diseased at Gennesaret healed by touching Christ's garment, Matt. xiv. 36; also the handkerchiefs or aprons of St Paul, xix. 12. Beds of a humbler and coarser couches] kind, pallets, or mattresses. If the Apostle did not lay the shadow] It has been his hand upon them as he passed. suggested that in the evening the shadow would be projected so as to fall on a greater number ; tut in the narrowness of Oriental streets this can have made no great difference.

17. iv. 6.

Probably Annas, as Cp. the note on Matt, xxvii. 1. the high priest]

rose up]

Stimulated to action by what had

Cp. vi. 9.

taken place.

that were with him] Of one mind in belief, and in hostility to the Apostles and their con-

Greswell would translate, the sect of was, the Sadducees of the day, ' Dissert/ in. 27. Sect here involved no reproach. Cp. xv. 5, xxvi. 5. Sadducees] See the note on iv. 1. verts.

the Sadducees that then

18.

All were in Jerusalem at There is nothing here or in the

the apostles]

this time.

to intimate how many were apprehended. Verse 29 has, with good reason, been thought to point to all the Twelve. common prison] Worse than iv. 3. This sequel

was treating them as if already convicted, and involved far more disgrace; but their Lord's words, John xvi. 2 4, had prepared them.

—

Their miraculous deliverance, their prayer,

iv.

29,

30,

was

answer to

all

the more

notorious and unquestionable.

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THE ACTS. V.

19—27]

19 But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and

brought them forth, and said, 20 Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.

21 And when they heard thaty they entered into the temple early But in the morning, and taught. the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

22 But when the officers came, and found them not in the prison, they returned, and told, 23 Saying, The prison truly found we shut with all safety, and the keepers 19. the angel] an angel whose existence was denied by those who had imprisoned the The words spoken by him place Apostles. ;

their deliverance outside the circle

of earth-

quakes, or any natural phenomenon. It was complete; they need apprehend no obstacle or restraint ; they were to teach not in any

obscure corner, but in the Temple.

20. the words of this life] Life is the emphatic word ; spiritual life here, eternal life hereafter, John vi. 68. Cp. "the word of this salvation,"

xiii.

a6.

Syr. all these words

of salvation.

standing without before the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within. 24 Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would

grow.

25 Then came one and told them, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people. 26 Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them with-

saying,

out violence : for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. 27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council and the high priest asked them, :

Angelic intervention replaced whatever had been moved in releasing the Apostles, and held the guards in unconsciousness, so that they were screened from any imputation of negligence or connivance. standing without] The MS. authority for without is very scanty indeed rescue.

24. the high priest] thePriestis the better supported reading, but the authority of MSS. is in favour of the omission of either word.

That the High

They teach in the Temple.

The morning sacrifice was offered precisely at suniise. The synagogue service is now often held before the sun is above the Mount of Olives. the council. .and all the senate] The former a.

has been understood of the Sanhedrim, the latter of the elders, heads of families, men of great experience, who were summoned on occasions of special importance " a council of laymen," Selden. It has been not very happily suggested that they are two designations of the same high Court of Judicature, "the Council, even the Senate." The latter word, not found elsewhere in the Greek Testament, occurs in LXX., a Mace. i. 10, iv. 44. ;

22. the officers] Ministers, before A.V., with the exception of Geneva. Probably some of the Temple guard, cp. v. a 6.

See iv. 1.

doubted] The Original is stronger: perplexed, at their wits' end. This is the first

symptom of anything like awe, or apprehension of the supernatural.

Zeller

pronounced

incredible that, after the miraculous deliverance out of prison, the Jewish authorities

could have persisted in their hostility. But see iv. 16, and compare John xi. 46 S3 and xii. 10,

11.

of them]

Concerning the things reported,

not the Apostles.

A.V. rightly followed Less correctly rendered, more recently, what this should he, Wesley ; this could be, Gr. Penn. this

would grow]

earlier Versions.

26.

the officers]

Of justice.

The word in

Original is never used of the military. This is an incidental confirmation of the right meaning of the captain of the Temple, iv. 1.

the

They are brought before the Council. 27.

precaution had been taken against escape or

x. 17.

all safety]

was intended is plain

Heads of the twenty-four chief priests] courses, and titular High Priests who had held office. See above, iv. a 3.

Thorough security. Every

23.

Priest

from v. a 7. the captain]

21. early in the morning] During a great part of the year, in Palestine the heat becomes oppressive soon after sunrise. Much of our Lord's teaching was given very early, John viii.

387

the council]

In fulfilment of

New Tut.— Vol. II.

Matt

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THE ACTS. V.

3«8

—

[v.

32.

28 Saying, *Did not we straitly 30 The God of our fathers raised command you that ye should not up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged teach in this name ? and, behold, ye on a tree.

• chap. 4.

have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. 29 4t Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, ought to obey God rather than men.

28. Did not <we] The negative is omitted, and a declaration substituted for this question, in some important MSS.: We strictly commanded you. But Chrysostom, Horn. xm. i,

quotes in the interrogative form, as in

A.V. name] They avoided the use of it, as Their abstinence is in strong contrast with St Peter's language, vy. 30, 31. have filed] There had been not one act of disobedience, but many. intend to bring] This might appear not unlikely to be the result it was not the intention of apostolic preaching. Was the High Priest not aware of the imprecation, Matt this

iv. 17.

;

xxvit 25 ? this man's]

No contempt is implied

See

lohn vii. 46. The expression has been thought to favour the more contracted scheme of chronology, which places

Luke xxiii. 4

;

these events shortly after the Resurrection.

29.

the other apostles]

See v. 18.

There

is no respectful opening of the address here.

We ought to obey] This assertion is much bolder and stronger than the reference made to this obligation at the close of the previous examination of St Peter and St John, iv. 19. And the word obey , ttc itfap^c iv, is more forcible than dicovciv, which, was there used. The immediate reference is to the command conveyed by the Angel in ,v. 20. The maxim was quoted as of general application by Polycrates, Bishop of Ephesus, in a letter to Victor, Bishop of Rome, concerning the time for the observance of Easter, Eusebius, v. 24; and by Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria, in defence of his conduct during a persecution, vii. n. Luther spoke in a like spirit before the Diet of Worms: " I cannot choose but adhere to the Word of God, which has possession of my conscience... Here I take my stand, I cannot do otherwise: God be my Helper. Amen." 30. The God of our fathers] An allusion to the long series of prophecies concerning the Great Deliverer. raised up] Of the seed of David The reference is to the Incarnation, and the Divine

Commission. i.

69.

Cp. iii. 22, xiii. 23, and Luke

When the Resurrection is intended,

from the dead is subjoined, as iii. 15, iv. 10.

Him hath God exalted with his

J t hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel,

and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are his witnesses of these things 5 and so is also the Holy

This and the Ascension are indicated exalted in the following verse.

slew and banged] Slew by hanging; a Jewish form of expression, adopted from Deut. xxu 22, 23. Cp. x. 39 Luke xxiii. 39. The use of this Jewish phrase was meant to indicate that the guilt rested on the Sanhedrim, rather than on the Roman authorities. ;

31.

exalted]

Phil. ii. 9.

<with his right hand]

See ii. 33.

The same word as in iii. 15, Prince] It is translated captain, Heb. Prince of Life, Heb. xii. 2. ii. 10, and author The inclination to reto give repentance] pent; not opportunity for repentance, as Doddridge. Repentance is the gift of Christ as Prince, forgiveness of sins, as Saviour. Repentance does not precede, but is produced a

•,

by grace. Cp. xi. 18; 2 Tim. ii. 25

;

Wisd. xii.

In the Litany we pray for true repentance to be given us, as we are exhorted to do The in the Absolution in our Daily Service. human will is free to accept or reject the gift. «* The doctrine of the Gospel See Article x. appears to be not only that Christ taught the efficacy of repentance, but rendered it of the 19.

efficacy which it is, by what He did and suffered for us; that He obtained for us the benefit of having our repentance accepted unto eternal life ; not only that He revealed to sinners that they were in a capacity of salvation by what He did and suffered for them... And it is our wisdom thankfully to accept the benefit, by performing the condi-

tions upon which it is offered, on our part, without disputing how it is procured, on His."

Bp Butler,

Analogy,* 11. v. 6. In the first instance, to Israel according to the flesh, then to the Israel of God, Gal. vi. 16, who have the circumcision of the heart, in the spirit, Rom. ii. 29. to

Israel]

32. of these things] these facts, specially A.V. folthe Resurrection and Ascension.

lowed Tyndale, Cranmer, Geneva. Wyclifle and Rheims, after the Vulgate, gave these words; more literally, but less adequately. whom God hath given] This includes not miraculous endowments only, but the ordinary graces and the inward witness of the Spirit. The Personality of the Holy Ghost is not u He gave His affected by this phraseology :

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THE ACTS. V.

v. 33—36-]

whom God hath

Ghost,

given

them that obey him.

the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and only begotten Son," John iii. 16. "The Spirit in the Prophets was Christ's first witness, and the Spirit by miracles was the second

and the Spirit, by renovation, sanctification, illumination, and consolation, assimilating the soul to Christ and Heaven, is the continual all

true believers."

Baxter, 4 Reli»

quiae,' p. 117. to them that obey bint] Believe in Him, Syr. This has been understood as including those, who, not being of the number of the Twelve, were enabled to work miracles in the Name

of Christ.

33.

cut to the heart] Literally, were sazvn,

or torn asunder. The same word as in vii. Not the salutary pangs of repentance, 54. but the irritation caused by struggling against conscience and remorse very different from the contrition in ii. 37. ;

took counsel] The tense implies that the deliberation continued some time. The issue

was overruled. There is a well supported various reading, wished, which the Syriac seems to have followed.

Gamaliel's Advice. Favour of God, or Reof God; a name of very high anti • This Gamaliel is quity, Num. i. 10, ii. 10. known as the elder, to distinguish him from a very eminent grandson. A tradition that he was the son of Simeon, Luke ii. 15, has been 34.

commanded to put the apostles forth a little space

33 ^ When they heard that, they were cut to the heart , and took counsel to slay them. 34 Then stood there up one in

witness to

389

Gamaliel]

And said unto them, Ye men

35 of

Israel,

take

heed to yourselves

what ye intend to do as touching these men. 36 For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, St John, cannot be received as historical. See Thilo's 4 Codex Apocryphus N. T.' p. 501. All Gamaliel's candour and tolerance failed, as far as we know, to induce him to acknowledge the truth of the Gospel. Bp Pearson thought that their assertion of the Resurrection, in the face of the antagonist sect, won his good offices on behalf of the Apostles. The fearfully bitter prayer against apostates and heretics, i.e. Christians (see Conybeare and Howson, I. 70), is more correctly assigned to his grandson, Gamaliel the second, who is said to have instructed Aquila and Onkelos. all the people] Universae plebi. Vulgate. to put the apostles forth] K, A, B, and Vulg. and Chrysostom, "to put the men forth." Besser's suggestion that Gamaliel would not have it publicly known that he was less hostile to the followers of the Crucified than the worldly minded priests, is unnecessary. The Apostles were excluded during the deliberation of the Council.

35. men of Israel] Representatives of the whole nation. take heed] The release of the Apostles could do no harm. Proceeding to extremities might in the state of the popular mind be perilous to the Council.

tribution

very generally received. He was the teacher of St Paul, xxii. 3. The Talmud represents him as a zealous Pharisee, unrivalled in his knowledge of the Law, of a large and tolerant spirit, liberal as well as sagacious in his exposition of ritual and ceremonial rules. He is said to have become President of the Council but on this occasion he spoke with;

out such official authority. He was the first of the seven eminent teachers to whom the title Rabban was given. His death is assigned to the year 5 a A.D., eighteen years before the downfall of Jerusalem. And with his death, it is said in the Mishna, the reverence for the Law ceased, and purity and abstinence faded away. The statement in the ' Clementine Recognitions, 1 1. 65, that he was an unavowed believer, and that before death he received baptism at the hands of St Peter and

36. before these days] No precise note of time within living memory. Theudas] This name was not uncommon among the Jews. Lightfoot, * Hor. Hebr.,' pointed to two in the Talmud, and thought that Josephus " defaced a true story by false chronology." Of this bearer of the name no notice has been found elsewhere. As he was earlier than the days of the taxing, his insurrection may with all probability be assigned to the last year of Herod the Great, in which there were ,

three insurrections, beside several pretenders to royalty, Josephus, xvn. x. 4 8 ; or to the

—

interregnum, while Archelaus was in Rome. The better known Theudas rose up in the procuratorship of Fadus, at least twelve years later than this, and had, according to Josephus, xx. v. 1, quoted by Eusebius, II. xi., a very great multitude of followers, which surely implies very many more than four hundred ; and these were not dispersed, but slain or made prisoners. Lardner wrote : " It.

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THE ACTS. V.

390

alone:

who was slain 5 and all, as many as obeyed him, we re scattered, and

work be of men,

brought to nought. 27 After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing,

39 But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it 5 lest haply ye be found even to fight against God. 40 And to him they agreed : and when they had called the apostles, and bdaten them^ they commanded

and drew away much people after him : he also perished ; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed.

from these men, and

frain

let

them

is not at all strange that there should be two impostors of the name of Theudas in the space of forty years," and enumerated four of the name of Simon between the death of Herod and the procuratorship of Felix and three of the name of Judas, who in the space of about ten years raised commotions in ;

Judaea.

Credibility,' 1. ii. 7.

The solution sanctioned by Valesius, in a note on Eusebius, 11. xL, that St Luke anticipated the order of events, was deemed by Bp Pearson too hazardous to be likely to find acceptance. somebody} Bun sen understood a sort of Messiah. Cp. viii. 9 ; Gal. ii. 6, vi. 3. Besser, as having pretensions to royalty instead of

Archelaus.

may be understood quite gene-

rally.

Ignatius, 'to the Ephesians,' §3, "I not dictating to you as if I were some-

body."

37.

Judas of Galilee]

So designated by

Josephus, xviii. i. 6, xx. v. a, and J. « 11. viii. 1, from the scene of his insurrection; and a Gaulonite, xviii. i. 1, from the district in which was his birthplace, Gamala. His avowed purpose was to restore the Theocracy,

and, as a preliminary, to resist Gentile taxation. According to Origen, who, 4 c. Celsum,' I. 57, incidentally mentions him as reputed to be wise and given to innovations, he was regarded by his followers as the Messiah, Horn. xxv. on St Luke. Of his three sons,

spirit and destiny, two were crucified by command of Tiberius Alexander,

inheriting

his

the Procurator, a.d. 47, and the youngest

was put to death with torture by the partizans of Eleazar the High Priest, a.d. 66. With his adherents, reckoned a fourth Jewish sect (4>i\o(To<t)ia) by Josephus, II.

viii.

for

if this

xviii. i. 6, * J. the organization of the Zealots

originated.

taxing] This was the enforcing of the enrol-

ment or registration, Luke ii., which did not take effect in actual payment of tribute till ten years later, when Archelaus was banished. drew away] Into revolt is implied in the Original.

much people]

counsel

or this

will

come to

nought

that they should

And now I say unto you, Re-

about four hundred, joined themselves: *

\riivtd.

v 37—41.

not speak

B, and Vulg. people only; and so quoted by Eusebius, 1. 5, according to the best supported reading.

38. / say unto you] Bengel regarded this as an ingratiating form of expression. let them alone] From this to overthrew it in 39 is a parenthesis. . if this counsel] *Eav jj, should it be; in the next verse, W tWir, but if it is. See Winer's *Gr. Gr/311, Transl. rrom this variation Bengel was disposed to infer that Gamaliel was inclined to attribute a divine character to the new teaching. Do not both the historical references seem to imply that he expected its downfall ?

cannot] According to the better 39. reading, K, A, B, C, D, ye will not be able. Destroy, rather,

bring

to nought; the

same word as in 38. it] So the Syriac, and the Vulgate. In K, A, B, C, D, them, Cp. 2 Mace. vii. 19. [fight against God] 40. they agreed] Not to put them to death, as they had been minded, v. 33. beaten them] This looks like a compromise between the two parties in the Council. All the Twelve, it seems, suffered. They had been prepared for this, Matt. x. 17. Scourging was very common among the Jews, and left

no mark of infamy.

St Paul underwent it This proceeding 14. was arbitrary and iniquitous. If the teaching was blasphemous, the legal punishment was death. If the Apostles were innocent, they had claims to commendation. If the case were doubtful, they ought to have been dismissed. The miraculous deliverance, v. 19, did not guarantee exemption from further persecution. must be thankful for protection and deliverance whenever they are granted. And we must be resigned whenever God sees fit to withhold both or either. five times,

Cor.

xi.

rejoicing] Mindful of their Lord's 41. words, Matt v. ia; Luke vi. 23. Many years

after this, suffering for conscience sake

So C, D, and Syr.

In A,

the

name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 ^ And they departed from the

was

pronounced by St Peter to be matter for

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v. 42

—

THE ACTS. V. VI.

*•]

presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer

shame for his name. 42 And daily in the temple, and in every house,

they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.

those,

391

whom he confounded in disputing, 13

and after falsely accused of blasphemy against the law and the temple.

A ND in those days, when the numJLX ber of the disciples was multhere arose a murmuring of Grecians against the* Hebrews, oecause their widows were neglected

tiplied,

the

CHAPTER VI. I

in the daily ministration.

The apostles, desirous to have the poor regarded for their bodily sustenance, as also careful themselves to dispense the word of God, the food of the soul, 3 appoint the office of deaconship to seven chosen men, 5 Of whom Stephen, a man full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost, is one. 12 Who is taken of

2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them y

and

not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve said, It

tables.

thankfulness, 1 Pet. u. 19. Suffering for Christ's sake was reckoned by St Paul among the privileges granted to the Philippians, i. 29.

decreed that no man should teach his son

Cp. 1 Pet iv. 13, 14. for bis name'] For the Name, K, A, B, C, D, Syr. ; pro Nomine Jesu, Vulg. Cp. iii. 6,

overlooked.

iv. 10.

42.

in the temple]

To casual listeners;

in every bouse, to avowed believers.

The same

marginal rendering, at borne, might have been given here, as in ii. 46. preach Jesus Christ] the Christ.

Preach that Jesus is

The same construction is more

correctly rendered in xviii. 5, a8.

The Appointment of Deacons. Chap. VI. 1. in those days] Between the liberation of the Apostles, and the outbreak of persecution after the death of St Stephen. multiplied] wai being multiplied. a murmuring] Against the Apostles, iv. $5. The first symptom of any loss of unanimous

goodwill, iv. 32. Grecians] Not proselytes, as Beza, Selden, and Basnage understood, but "the dispersed among the Gentiles," John vii. $5, i.e. Jews who had lived for a longer or shorter time out of the Holy Land, who conformed more or less to Gentile usages, capable of speaking Greek, and, as a habit, reading their Scriptures in the LXX. Version. A.V. uses Grecians for Hellenizing Jews, and Greeks for Gentiles. See the margin, John vii. $5. Hebrews] Converts from among those who had never quitted Palestine, or such as elsewhere rigidly adhered to all the peculiar and exclusive usages of Judaism, and read O. T. in Hebrew or in a Chaldee paraphrase. They reckoned themselves superior to the Hellenists. " In the Talmud is this execration, said to be made at the time when Aristobulus besieged his brother Hyrcanus : * Cursed be the man that teacheth his son the wisdom of the Greeks.' And in the war with Titus they

Gr&k."

Biscoe, 8a.

because]

Rather, that their widows were

Very early a distinct class the primitive Church, 1 Tim. v. 3 16. Afterwards the designation was extended to every form of female helplessness and desolation. Chrysostom, Horn. vi. on St Matt, spoke of three thousand widows as sustained by the Church at Antioch. ministration] Distribution of alms, or of food ; daily has been thought to point to the latter. The same word as relief xi. 29.

widows]

—

2. the twelve] St Peter not alone, nor taking a prominent part on this occasion. Up to this time all care of the poor had been in the hands of the Apostles, v. 2, iv. 33. The Christian Ministry, down to the merely charitable functions of the Diaconate, was developed from above. the multitude] This has been understood of the Hundred and Twenty. But the expression, repeated in a stronger form, in verse 5, points to a general assembly of the believers in Jerusalem at this time. The number of the men was about five thousand, iv. 4, and there were added afterwards multitudes both of men

and women, v. 14. not reason]

A.V. followed the Vulgate.

Versions

not

meet.

Rather,

not

satisfactory. serve tables] Expositors are much divided between the distribution of food or money. The former is favoured by tables in the plural, and has some support from Ignatius, ' Ep. to the Trallians,' § 2, u they (the Deacons) are not the ministers of meat and drink, but of the Church of God." The need of such an appointment could not fail to be felt by the Hebrew converts. " This office to which the

charge and care of the poor were intrusted, was translated from the Jewish to the Christian Church. For there belonged to every synagogue three Deacons, with whom that

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THE ACTS. VI.

392

3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and

wisdom,

whom we may appoint over

this business.

4 But we will give ourselves concare was deposited." Lightfoot, l Hor. Hebr.' Scaliger understood the Agapae. 3.

made by the multitude, the selection was, in to the popular voice, the Apostles reserving to themselves the fixing of the number and the statement of the qualifications. Gp. v. 6. But this was not a permanent arrangement. In the Pastoral Epistles, when their functions had become more spiritual, the Deacons were to be appointed, jiot left

elected.

seven men] Various conjectures have been hazarded to account for this number; e.g. that it was suggested by the days of the week or that the aggregate of converts at this time amounted to seven thousand; and others equally gratuitous and valueless. The Council of Neo-Cacsarea, a.d. 314, ruled that this number was never to be exceeded in any city, however large the population. From a letter of Cornelius, Bishop of Rome, a.d. 251, preserved by Eusebius, vi. 43, it appears that Church had then no more than seven Deacons, while there were forty-six Presbyters. And Sozomen, vn. xix. 3, writing about a.d. 440, noted it as one of the peculiarities of that

Rome that this restriction continued to be observed there. Justinian sanctioned there being a hundred Deacons at Constantinople. It has been remarked that in this Book Deacon is not found as an official designation in xxi. 8, they are called the Seven. In the ;

Pastoral Epistles there is no reference to their being charged with any secular ministration.

of honest report] Cp. 1 Tim. Hi. 8, 9. B and of the Holy Ghost'] omit Holy

here, but give

in v. 5 ; full, the adjective,

indicating habitual condition, as v. 5, filled, the participle, iv. 8, xiii. 9, is

xi. 24 used of a

special il lapse for a particular occasion.

wisdom] Practical sagacity qualifying to discriminate cases, combined with tenderness

which would

secure

them

against

giving

offence in their ministrations.

whom <we may appoint] Some few editions of A.V. exhibited whom ye. " Field is said to have been the first printer of this forgery, and to have received for it £15 00. Be that as it may, it is certainly to be found in several of his editions of the Bible, particularly in his fine folio of 1659, 60, and his octavo of i66i. m Derrick, in the note on Dryden's 4 Hind and 1

Panther, 35-

to prayer]

tinually to prayer,

The article prefixed to this

3—5-

and to the minis-

try of the word.

U And

the saying pleased the

whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Proword in the Original indicates common prayer, not private devotion.

The complaint having been

look ye out]

this instance,

[

they chose]

The believers generally. Cp.

w. 3 and 6. The selection is attributed by the Church to Divine Inspiration in our Collect for the Ordering of Deacons. In the first instance this was a special appointment to supply a special and urgent need. Cyprian, Epistle 3, Fell, al. 65, implies that Deacons were an ecclesiastical Order from the first. The sixteenth Canon of the Council in Trullo, A.D. 69a, quoting Chrysostom's 16th Homily on the Acts, § 3, restricts them to eleemosynary functions. If the ministry of the Word was not originally assigned, the office must have been very much modified, and very soon. St Stephen taught at Jerusalem, and St Philip made the Gospel known in Samaria, viii. 5. St Paul uses biUKovia of his own ministry, xx. 24, xxi. 19; Rom. xi. 13 ; and applies titaicopos to himself, Eph. iii. 7 ; Col. i. 25, and to the Apostles generally, 2 Cor. vi. 4. Stephen] According to tradition, one of the Seventy, as Epiphanius, 4 Haer/ xx. 4, says that all the Deacons were. Baronius, on 'very insufficient evidence, represents him as having been under the instruction of Gamaliel, along with Saul of Tarsus. But nothing certain is known concerning the antecedents of any one of the Seven. "That the first Seven Deacons were chosen out of the Seventy Disciples is an error in Epiphanius, 1. xxi. For to draw men from places of weightier unto rooms of meaner labour had not been fit." Hooker, v. lxxviii. 5.

full offaith and of the Holy Ghost] Cp. the character of Barnabas, xi. 24. The only two

concerning whom any trustworthy information has been preserved for us, St Stephen and St Philip, were, as far as we know, much more occupied with spiritual functions than with any such secular cares as those which gave occasion to their appointment. Cp. viii. 40, xxi. 8. A spurious bio5, 6, 12, 13, 26 graphy of St John the Evangelist had the name of Prochorus attached to it. Nicolas] It is by no means easy to determine, from the varying accounts of Irenaeus, I. 26 ; Epiphanius, 1. ii. 25 ; Hippolytus, 4 Philosophumena,' vn. 36, and Jerome, 'Ep/ 147, on the one hand; and, on the other, from that given by Theodoret, Haeret. Fab/ 1., and Clem. Alex. * Strom/ m. 4,

—

transcribed by Eusebius, in. 29, how tar the Nicolaitans, Rev. il 6, iy, had any warrant

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THE ACTS. VI.

6-9.]

chorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of

Antioch 6 Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. 7 And the word of God increased and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly ; and a

for claiming

him as, in any sort, the founder

Michaelis repudiated the identification. Bp Lightfoot, 4 Commentary on Ep. to the Galatians,' 288, and ed., gives some good reasons for accepting it " Irenseus and Epiphanius accused Nicolas of teaching that we may without scruple gratify our lusts, as this does not injure the Clement of Alexandria modified this spirit. by saying that, although such was the principle of the Nicolaitans, it arose from a misapprehension of their teacher, whose separation from his wife, and exhortation to abuse the flesby in the spirit of severe temperance, was afterwards interpreted into heathen licence. These statements, both pro-

of their sect.

bable,

can be

ing that

easily

reconciled,

by assum-

among the Nicolaitans that natural,

though revolting, transition took place, from a strict ascetic mortification, which was no true holiness, to reckless licentiousness." 1 Thiersch, 4 History of the Christian Church, I. 235, Transl. a proselyte] It was well to have a representative of that class. of Antioch'] Jews were numerous and very successful in making proselytes there. Josephus, 4 J. W.' vii. iii. 3. All the names of the Deacons are Greek ; but Greek names were so common among the Jews, e.g. Philip,

Nicodemus,

Didymus,

that this does not justify the conclusion that the Seven were selected exclusively out of the Hellenistic section of the Church, as likely to be most acceptable to the aggrieved. Gieseler con-

jectured that three were Hebrews, three Hellenistic Jews, and one a proselyte. ' Ch. Hist.' Div. 1, ch. 2, § 25. 1. p. 70, Transl. 6.

<wben they bad prayed] I.e. the Apostles.

The election was made by the disciples, the appointment rested with the Twelve. laid their bands on them] Signifying that the duties of their office were not merely social and economical. u In consecrations and ordinations of men unto rooms of Divine calling, the like was usually done, from Moses unto Christ, Num. xxvii. 18." Hooker, v. lxvL 1. Cp. 2 Tim. L 6.

DeuL xxxiv. 9

;

1 Tim. iv. 14;

7. increased] went on increasing. This is the third instance of a blessing granted

393

company of the priests were obedient to the faith. 8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. great

9 11 Tnen there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians,

and Alexandrians, and

to the Church after passing through peril internal,

12,

and external,

iv.

32.

The

Apostles were now at liberty to devote themselves entirely to teaching. of thepriests] Beza allowed himself to regard this as so utterly improbable, that, without any warrant, he rejected this verse as spurious. And Casaubon so far sympathized, that he was fain to alter the text to a great company and certain priests. The word rendered company (usually multitude) does not necessarily imply a very large numDer. It is used of the Hundred and Twenty, i. 15, and of the publicans among St Matthew's guests, Luke v. 29. In any case there was a very marked change from the time when the question recorded in John vii. 48 was asked. In this conversion the prediction of Malachi, iii. 3, may be regarded as having had some fulfilment. The Priests were very numerous. Four thousand, two hundred, and eighty-nine returned from the Captivity, Ezra ii. 36 39 ; although of the twenty-four Courses, 1 Chro. xxiv. 7—19, only four came back, Ezra ii. 36 39 ; Neh. vii. 39 42.

—

Stephen's Miracles and Disputations. 8. full offaith] of grace, supported by K, A, B, D, Syr., and Vulg., has been adopted in all recent critical editions.

did great <wonders] was doing. A continuous exercise of the miraculous gifts which were now for the first time extended beyond the circle of the Apostles. Chrysostom understood that these endowments accrued after St Stephen's admission to the office of Deacon. 0. Some have thought that only two synagogues are to be understood ; one for the first three names, another for the remaining two. It is far more likely that five synagogues were intended. " The Talmudists tell us that there were four hundred and sixty, some of them say four hundred and eighty synagogues in It is very probable that many of Jerusalem. these were built by Jews of particular countries for their own use." Biscoe, p. 94. Tews who had resided in other lands were more intelligent than those who had never left Palestine. Libertines] Jews who had themselves been manumitted from captivity or slavery by the Romans, or the offspring of such. So understood by Chrysostom. Pompey carried many

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THE ACTS. VI.

394

them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. 10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. Then they suborned men, which 1 said, have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and

against God.

12 And they stirred up the people, prisoners to Rome. In the time of Augustus the Trans-Tiberine quarter was occupied by Jews who were for the most part Freedmen. Philo, * Legat. ad Caium,' §23. Four thousand Jews, libertini generis, banished to Sardinia by Tiberius, Josephus, xviii. iii. 5, Tacitus, 'Ann. 11. 8.$, were permitted to return to Rome after the fall of Sejanus. Greswell, * Dissertations,' 11. 28, 29, was positive for the other view, that inhabitants of Libertina, a district of Africa, were intended. But the insertion of which is called must be understood to mark this as an exception to the other local designations. Cyrenians] Bp Pearson considered Lucius, xiii. 1, and Simon, Matt xxvii. 32, to be instances, and referred to Jason, whose five books were abridged into one volume by the author of the second Book of the Maccabees. See ii. Jewish settlers were very numerous 23. in all the Cyrenian cities; Josephus, xiv. vii. 2, in a quotation from the lost historical work of Strabo. Alexandrians'] of the five districts of that city were occupied by Jews, and there were many of them in the other three, Philo, * in Flaccum,' § 8. They were on an equal footing with the Macedonians who were settled there by Alexander, Josephus, xn. i., xix. v. 2, and they had a governor of their own in the time of Caligula, a brother of Philo, xvm. viii. 1. See the note on iv. 6. them of Cilicia] These, it has been thought highly probable, may have included Saul of Tarsus. Asia] See above, ii. 9. This word was omitted by Lachmann, but the evidence in favour of retaining it greatly preponderates. disputing with Stephen] This persecution did not come from the authorities, but .from the populace. 1

Two

;

the wisdom]^ Not his Jewish learning 10. only, but the irresistible "mouth and wisdom "

promised by Christ, Matt x. 19, 20; Mark xiii. ix ;

Luke xxi. 15.

"The word of wisdom"

was one of the gifts of the Spirit

Cor.

xii. 8.

He is accused of Blasphemy. 11.

suborned]

Privily instructed.

Baffled

[v.

— 14

and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon kim, and caught him, and brought him to the council, 13 And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law 14 For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change in argument, they

had recourse to false testi

mony. blasphemous] As alleging that there had a Teacher of higher authority than Moses, and as asserting the Divinity of Christ They misconstrued the language of St Stephen, who had not spoken disrespectfully, much less profanely, of the Lawgiver whom they so idolized that they put his name before that of arisen

God. 12.

stirred up the people]

Refugees,

who

had returned to settle in Jerusalem, would be open to such influence ; naturally indignant as they would be on finding that the religion, for which they had suffered more or less abroad, was imperilled by the new teaching at home. This was the first instance of the people combining with the Elders and Scribes in enmity to the Church. came upon him] By surprise, as iv. 1. The Sanhedrim, which had the council] usually met in a chamber called Gazitb, in the court of Israel, near the altar of burnt offerings, till, in later times, their authority having been almost lost, they thought it right to quit the sacred precincts. See the note on Matt xxvii. 1. It was enough for 13. false witnesses] the disciple to be as his Master, Mark xiv. 56 58. They were false in representing that the teaching which they attributed to St Stephen was given incessantly and indiscriminately ; false also in the allegation that they

—

had heard from his lips what could have reached them by report only ; and false again in giving a contemptuous turn to a very solemn declaration.

blasphemous] This word, wanting in K, A f B, C, D, H, Syr., Vulg., appears to be an interpolation here from 1/. 11. this holy] the holy place, K,

The Temple had

A, D, Vulg. and primary 5; but the whole

special

—

sanctity, Matt, xxvii. 3 city was considered holy, v. $$.

14. Jesus of Nazareth] This is in strong contrast with the use of the designation by the Angel, Mark xvi. 6.

The same charge had destroy this place] been brought against Christ, with a similar perversion of His words. Cp. Matt xxvi 6i 9

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i Or, fi^x.

THE ACTS. VI. VII.

IS— a]

the 'customs which

Moses deliver-

us.

15 And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

CHAPTER VII. I

Stephen, permitted to answer to the accusation of blasphemy, 2 sheweth that Abraham

worshipped God rightly* and how God chose the fathers 20 before Moses was born, and before the tabernacle and temple were built: 37 that Moses himself witnessed of Christ:

with John ii. 19. See the parallel case of the prophet Jeremiah, xxvi. 4 n. the customs] Traditionary institutions, by which the commandment of God had, in some cases, been made of none effect St Stephen probably had dwelt on some of the characteristics of the new Dispensation, and taught that the separation between Jews and Gentiles was to cease. But nothing that he had said concerning the abrogation of the Mosaic Law could fairly be understood as calling in question its Divine origin.

—

15. the face of an angel] Bright as the face of Moses, Exod. xxxiv. 30. The calm dignity which the indwelling of the Holy

Ghost gave to his countenance might have led them to mistrust their own allegations.

Chap. VII. 1. the high priest] Probably Theophilus, son-in-law of Caiaphas. The ex officio President of the Council called for the defence against the charge of blasphemy, vi. 13, 14. The question, equivalent to Guilty or not guilty, distinctly marked in Syr. and by Wycliffe as addressed to St Stephen, appears to have been put with great mildness, possibly under the influence of the angel-like aspect. Stephen's Vindication of himself. And be said] Power of speech for de2. fence was promised to the Apostles by Christ,

44 and that all outward ceremonies were ordaiticd according to the heavenly pattern, to last but for a time : 51 reprehending their rebellion* and murdering of Christ, the yust One, whom the prophets foretold should come into the world, 54 whereupon they stone him to death, who commenaeth his soul to Jesust and humbly prayeth for them*

THEN

high priest, Are

said the

these things so ?

2 And he said, Men, brethren, and hearken ; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, fathers,

received an account of all the proceedings, the speech included, from St Paul, an eye and ear witness ? The close agreement of his many

quotations with

LXX. has been thought to

indicate that St Stephen spoke in Greek. Men, brethren ? and fathers] Brethren and Fathers; cp. ii. 29. Brethren, his audience

members of the Sanhedrim and the officials, as xxii. 1. The God of glory] Cp. " the King of glory," Ps. xxiv. 7, 8; "the Lord of glory," 1 Cor. ii. The selection of this designation, im8. plying reference to the Pillar of Fire and the Shekinah, ought to have been accepted as proof that he had not spoken blasphemous words. appeared] Le. by Christ, the Image of the Invisible God, Col. i. 15. All Divine appearances in the Old Testament were by primitive writers understood of God the Son, "velut in praeludium Incarnationis suae," Bp Bull. No man hath seen God the Father at any time, generally ; Fathers, the

John i. 18.

Of this particular appearance there is no account in Gen. xi. 31. But a Divine command, which had already been given at that time, is implied in Gen. xv. 7, and reference is made to this, Josh. xxiv. 2, 3 ; Neh. ix. 7 ; Judith v. 7 9. Philo, in his Life of Abraham,^ 15, 4 de Migratione Abrahami, § 3h

—

and Josephus,

vii. 1,

agree in representing

and to the disciples generally,

that Patriarch as having been called twice: 1st, from his country and kindred in Ur ; 2nd,

Luke xii. n, 12. See vi. 10. St Stephen did not apply himself to a direct refutation of the charge. He met it indirectly by a recapitulation of the Old Testament history, in tracing the development of which he shewed that it was not reasonable to withhold belief in Jesus as the Messiah, because «He had not immediately fulfilled the expectations of the Jews of that generation. The historical element commonly prevailed very largely in Jewish speeches. Cp. that of St Paul, xiii. 16, that in 1 S. xii. and the confession of the Levites, Neh. ix.

from Haran, Terah having accompanied him in the former migration, and being dead before the second. This is one of several instances in which N. T. supplies facts supplementary to O. T., e.g. the prophecy of Enoch, Jude 14 ; the names of the Egyptian magicians, 2 Tim. iii. 8 the hope that sustained Abraham in offering Isaac, Heb. xi. 19; the acknowledgment of Moses, Heb. xii. 21 ; the motive which strengthened him to leave the court of Pharaoh, Heb. xi. 24, 25, and Egypt, 27; and the prayer of Elijah, James v. 17.

Matt.

19,

—38. This characteristic

a prima facie

proof of the genuineness of this report of the speech. No ideal or imaginary speech would ever have been cast in such a mould. Is there any room for reasonable doubt that St Luke

;

our father] St Stephen identified himself with them as long as there was any hope of his influencing them;

44, 45.

w. 11, 12, 15, 19, 39,

When he was constrained to abandon

this he severed himself from them,

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THE ACTS. VII.

396

when he was in Mesopotamia, before • Gen. 2a.

he dwelt in Charran, a ^ And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land

which I shall shew thee.

4 Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. :

Mesopotamia] Here used largely for all beyond the Euphrates, which was regarded as the boundary of the Holy Land. Chaldaea

was included

it,

Pliny, .*N. H.' VI. xxvi.

Ur of the Chaldees, Gen. xi. 31, was in the N.E. angle of it. Charran] A.V. has retained the Greek form of Haran, Gen. xii. 5. It was known to the Romans as Carrhae, the scene of the defeat of Crassus, Lucan, 1. 105. The drift of St Stephen's reference, as understood by Chrysostom, was that, before circumcision, sacrifice, or temple, worship was offered and accepted and that the ground near the burning bush, and the site of the moveable tabernacle, were holy, 'Horn, in Act/ xv. a, xvi. 1, xvn. 1. Get tbee out] " Divers expositors have 3. intricated themselves into a perplexity, they cannot tell how to get out of, by supposing these words, and the words of Moses, Gen, 1, to be the same, and to speak of the same time and thing whereas they are vastly distant and different; and they mean two several calls of God to Abraham, the one in xii.

;

Chaldaea, the other in Charran.

In Chaldaea

God bids him, u Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred ;" but maketh no mention of his leaving his father's house ; for that he took along with him, Gen. xi. 31 But when God calls him from Charran, He bids

him depart from his father's house, as well as he had done from his country and kindred before for now he left his brother Nahor and ;

all his father's house behind him."

Lightfoot

The only meaning that " out of thy country," Gen. xii. 1, can possibly have is Ur of the Chaldees, the native country of Lee, * on Inspiration,' p. 504.

which I shall shew thee]

Abraham.

Abraham went

out, not knowing whither he went, Heb. xi. 8.

when his father was dead] Terah died in Haran at the age of two hundred and five, Gen. xi. 3a. From Gen. xl a6 it has been inferred that Terah was not more than seventy 4.

the time of

Abraham's birth;

and, as

Abraham left Haran at seventy-five, Gen. xii. it would follow that Terah outlived his departure sixty years. To this it has been

answered that it is nowhere stated that Abra-

3—6.

[v.

5 And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on yet he promised that he :

would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child. 6 And *God spake on this wise,

That his seed should sojourn

strange land ; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat

them evil four hundred years.

ham was Terah's eldest

son, and that the Rabbins reckoned him the youngest. See the Abraham's pronote on Genesis xi. 3*. minence in the history, as the Father of the faithful, and the Friend of God, accounts for his name being placed before that of Haran, Gen. xi. 26. In like manner the name of Shem, the youngest, stands first among the Isaac's sons of Noah, Gen. ix. 18, x. 21 name takes precedence of Ishmael's, 1 Chro. i. Judah's is placed at the head of the 28 list of the sons of Jacob, 1 Chro. iv. 1, v. 1, a ; and Moses is mentioned before his elder brother Aaron. ye now dwell] Speaking as a Hellenist, he ;

;

did not include nimself. 5.

inheritance]

No fixed abode, no settled

property. Abraham, 'in course of time, was constrained to buy even a burial place, Gen. xxiii. 3, 4, 16; and that, and the parcel of ground which Jacob gave to his son Joseph, were not reckoned as any portion of the gift

of God. 6. This and the following verse are quoted, not with verbal exactness, from Gen. xv. 13, A parenthesis 14, according to the LXX. marked after the words land and evil would make it clear that the four hundred years are the length of the entire time throughout which Abraham and his descendants were to be sojourners, i.e. to have no country which they could call their own. The Egyptian servitude did not begin till after the death of Joseph, and did not exceed two hundred and fifteen years. If the calculation is made from the weaning of Isaac, the interval is exactly four hundred years. In speaking, the round number of the prediction was used instead of the precise total of four hundred and thirty years,

which is given in the historical statement, Exod. xii. 40, quoted Gal. iii. 17, which the received chronology makes to be the interval between Abraham's going down into Egypt and the Exodus. The same variation is found in Josephus,

who states,

11.

xv.

that the

Egypt in the four hundred and thirtieth year; but in 11. ix. z, and in a report of a speech of his own, * J. W.' v. ix. 4, gives four hundred years as the length of Israelites quitted

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THE ACTS. VII.

7—I4-] 7

And the nation to whom they

governor

397

over

Egypt

and

his

all

shall be in bondage will I judge, said

house.

God

there came a dearth over the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers

and after that shall they come

forth, and serve

me in this place.

8 *And he gave him the covenant of circumcision : r and so Abraham be3 gat Isaac, and circumcised him the ^Gen. 95. eighth day ; ^and Isaac begat Jacob * Gen. 99. and 'Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs. i'den. 37. 9 ^And the patriarchs, moved with a8 envy, sold Joseph into Egypt but God was with him, 10 And delivered him out of all *Ge&4x. his afflictions, *and gave him favour 37 and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him »G«n. X7.

found no sustenance. 12 A But when Jacob heard that* Gen. 4,, there was corn in Egypt, he sent out x our fathers first. 13 'And at the second time Joseph roen. 45. was made known to his brethren ; and «

?Gcn. ai.

Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh. 14 Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.

their stay in

Egypt

Between Jacob's going

down into Egypt and the Exodus, Josephus reckoned two hundred and fifteen years, 11. xv. 2. Isaac was born twenty-five years after Abraham's arrival in Canaan, was sixty years old at the birth of his twin sons, and Jacob was a hundred and thirty when he went down into Egypt, 25 + 60+ 130 = 215. Again, from Jacob's going down into Egypt till the death of Joseph, was an interval of seventy-one years ; thence, till the birth of Moses, sixtyfour years ; and thence again till the Exodus, eighty years, 71 + 64 + 80 = 215. 7. judge] punish; in which sense the verb not infrequently occurs in Hellenistic Greek. This declaration was fulfilled in the Plagues of Egypt

and serve mean this place] In Gen. xv. 13, 14, there is nothing answering to this clause. In Exod. in. 1, 12, " Ye shall serve God upon Horeb. It has been suggested that St Stephen blended these two passages in his memory. However this may have been, the drift of the argument is that the worship of the Patriarchs was accepted outside the limits of the promised land, before there was a Temple or even a Tabernacle. Cp. Exod. iii. 18, vii. 16, in the wilderness. this mountain" i.e.

the covenant of circumcision] The cove8. nant of which circumcision was the token, Gen. xvii. 11, or sign, Rom. iv. 11. The promise of descendants and of Canaan was given before the appointment of circumcision. and so] After he was circumcised. the twelve patriarchs] Gen. xxxv. 23 26. This designation is here used by anticipation.

—

moved with envy] Gen. xxxvii. 4, 5, 8, 0. 20. 11, 18 Joseph was, in this respect, a type of Christ, who, as Pilate knew, had been

—

delivered into his hands for envy, Matt, xxvii. Another special favourite of Heaven, 18.

even Moses, in

whom they trusted, was re-

Now

all

jected by those who gloried in being the Israel of God. See below, $s an d 39sold Joseph into Egypt] St Stephen here adopted Joseph's own words, Gen. xlv. 4, 5. The Midianites, to whom Joseph was in the first instance sold, were on their way into Egypt. God was with Joseph in that country, another proof that His presence and favour were not restricted to the Holy Land.

10. Pharaoh] A Ptolemy and Caesar.

dynastic

name,

all his house] The palace, in which, according to Oriental usage, all authority, legislative, judicial, and executive, centered.

11.

Egypt and Chanaan]

"The dearth

was in all lands," Gen. xli. 54. sustenance]

Strictly,

fodder for their cattle.

St Stephen, not aiming at elaborate exactness, did not notice the exceptional case of Benjamin. Before he went himself. first] 12.

our fathers]

13. at the second time] When they returned for Simeon. <was made known to] Strictly, was recognised by. different word in the Original from that in the next clause. Joseph's kindred was made known] Their

arrival in Egypt, Gen. xlv. 16. They were not presented to Pharaoh till later, xlvii. 2. Joseph's Hebrew origin had been known pre-

viously, xli. 12. threescore and fifteen souls] 14. So Syr. and LXX., Gen. xlvi. 27, and Exod. i. 5, and,

with the exception of the Vatican, Deut x. 22 instead of the seventy in the Hebrew text. Both modes of calculation must have been current among the Jews. Josephus, 11. also,

vii.

4, ix. 3, vi. v. 6, gives seventy.

Philo,

de Migratione Abrahami,' § 36, including three sons of Ephraim, and a son and grandson of Manasseh, gives seventy-five. It has (

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THE ACTS. VII.

393 *Gen. 46. '

Gen. 49.

33-

15 *So Jacob went down into Egypt, 'and died, he, and our fathers,

16 And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre

[v.

15—19.

mise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, 18 Till another king arose, which

Abraham bought for a sum of knew not Joseph. money of the sons of Emmor the 19 The same dealt subtilly with

that

father of Sychem.

our kindred, and

17 But when the time of the probeen suggested that seventy-five were invited but that, in consequence of the death of Rachel, Bilhah, Zilpah, Er, and Onan, only seventy arrived. But Joseph must surely have heard from his brethren that his own mother was no more. Augustin, *de Civ. Dei/ xvi. 40, understood the genealogy, Gen. xlvi. 8 27, not as limited to the number of Jacob's descendants at the time of the going down into Egypt, but as including some who were yet in the loins of those who accompanied him; grandsons and great-grandsons, whose births must have been subsequent. And some such explanation seems necessary, when, to take two instances out of several, Reuben, who had only two sons, Gen. xlii. 37, has four in xlvi. 9 and ten sons are, xlvi 11, attributed to Benjamin, who, in the story of Joseph and his brethren, is a youth. may be well content to leave the date at which the number was seventy-five undetermined; the really important point being that the great host which eventually quitted Egypt, Exod. xii. 37> 38, sprang from a mere handful, in fulfilment of the promise, Gen. xlvi. 3 ; Deut. x. In Numbers i. 46, six hundred thousand, 22. and three thousand and five hundred and fifty, exclusive of old men, women, and children ; in addition to which there were of the Levites twenty and two thousand males from a month old and upward, iii. 39 ; increased to twenty-three thousand, xxvi. 62, during the time spent in the wilderness.

—

;

16.

And were carried]

Syr.

And was

Jacob only, not the Patriarchs generally. But in Gen. 1. 13 it is stated that Jacob was buried in the cave of achpelah. carried,

i.e.

If the received text is understood as applying to the last words of the preceding verse, the Patriarchs, exclusive of Jacob, it is in accordance with the statement of Jerome, who spent above thirty years at hardly more than a day's journey from Sychem, in his letter to Paula, * Epist. 86/ and in 'De Optimo Genere 1 Interpretandi: " Duodecim Patriarchae non sunt sepulti in Arbes sed in Sychem." By Arbes is to be understood Kerioth Arba, the city of the Four, jc. great Patriarchs, Adam,

was at Sychem, or Shechem, that the first vision was granted to Abraham after he had entered Canaan, Gen. xii. 6, 7 and thither Jacob repaired immediately after his return from Padan Aram, Abraham,

Isaac, Jacob.

;

fathers,

evil entreated

our

so that they cast out their

Gen. xxxiii. 18. The bones of Joseph were Sychem, Gen. 1. 25 ; Exod. xiii. 19 Josh. xxiv. 32. The bodies of the Patriarchs, according to Joseph us, II. viii. 2 t interred at ;

were taken to Hebron for burial and, 'J. W.' IV. ix. 7, the monuments of the children of Abraham who went down into Egypt were shewn there, of elaborate workmanship, in ;

beautiful marble. Abraham] Calvin, Beza, Bochart,

Wall,

Calmet, Pierce, Whitby, pronounced this name an interpolation. If they are followed, the difficulty disappears, for the context then refers the word bought to Jacob, in v. 15.

Abraham is retained, two transactions, at

interval of a hundred and twenty years, must have been combined in St Stephens rapid and concise sketch one purchase, by Abraham from the children of Heth, Gen. xxiii. 13 20; another, by Jacob from the sons of Hamor, Gen. xxxiii. 19; Josh. xxiv. 32; the

;

—

name of the purchaser without that of the vendor being given in the first instance, and in the second, the name of the vendor without that of the purchaser. the father of Sychem] This mode of supplying the ellipse is warranted by Gen. xxxiii. 19. In the Vulgate, the son of Sychem. 17. when] Rather, In proportion ai. In the first two hundred and fifteen years after the death of Abraham, his posterity did not exceed forty-five persons; in the subsequent period of the same length, they had increased to six hundred thousand men, besides women and children, Exod. xii. 37, in fulfilment of repeated promises, under a special blessing.

had sworn]

Had promised with an oath,

Syr.

18. another king] "Erfpor, not 3X\oc There was a change of dynasty, Josephus, 11. ix. 1. This was the first native sovereign after the

expulsion of the Shepherd Kings. knew not] Had no respect for Joseph's name or memory. Cp. 1 Thess. v. 12, "to know them which labour among you;" and Ps. i. 6, "The Lordknoweththe way of the righteous." 19.

dealt subtilly]

Ps. cv. 25.

Chrysostom

understood this of the instructions given to the midwives, t Exod. i. 16, where, v. 22, the result of the cruel policy which seems to be implied here was expressly enjoined by the king.

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THE ACTS. VII.

20—25-]

young children, to the end they might 20 ""In which time Moses was born, Miefar.ti. and "was 'exceeding fair, and nouihr/air rished up in his father's house three u dad. months 21 And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. 22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. *» Exod. a.

young children] Rather, babe* might not live] Might not be preserved* alive so as to continue to propagate the race. The word is found only here, and Luke xvii. 33 {shall preserve it), unless the authority for it, 1 Tim. vi. 13, is thought sufficient.

20. exceeding /air] Literally, fair to God; the same idiom as in Gen. x. 9, xxx. 8 ; Jonah Moses was a iii. 3 ; Ps. xxxvi. 6, lxxx. 10. goodly child, Exod. ii. 2 ; a proper child, Heb.

xL 23* 21. Pharaoh's daughter] Thermuthis is given as her name by Josephus, n. ix. 5, 7, x. 2. Philo, ' Life of Moses/ 1. 4, represents her as the only daughter, childless after long wedlock, and feigning pregnancy. Heb. xi. 24 implies the repudiation of adoption. Instructed. Cp. Ps. xxv. 8, in the Prayer Book; a sense by no means obsolete, as Johnson pro-

22.

learned]

cxxxn. 13,

See Brockett"s Glossary of North Country Words,' Hunter's Hallamshire Glossary,' and Forby's Vocabulary of East Anglia.' wisdom of the Egyptians] This was proIt verbial, 1 K. iv. 30; Isai. xix. 11, 12. comprehended natural philosophy, medicine, astronomy, and geometry which was necesi

nounced.

sary for ascertaining the boundaries of lands after the inundations of the Nile. mighty in words and in deeds] Cp. Luke xxiv. 19. Moses was not naturally eloquent, Exod. iv.

12;

but he was both historian and

poet, ov'x 6 tvx&v dvtfp, in the estimation of Longinus, ix. 9; and by Divine help he was capable of exercising a higher influence than

that of rhetoric, as the irkjBtaiv optA* tr m$a-

pmrarot of Josephus, ill. i. 4, must be understood to imply. Pointing, as this does, to a period in the life of Moses anterior to his Divine Legation, the reference to his deeds may be to some traditionary exploits, as the repulse of Ethiopian invaders, Josephus, 11. x.

23. full forty years old] This exact statement of the age of Moses at the time is a new fact known to St Stephen from trustworthy tradition.

And when he was full forty

old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of

years

not live.

Ixxxii. 5,

399

It is not in the original history,

Israel.

24 'And seeing one of them suffer * Exod. ». wrong, he defended hsm y and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian 25 For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them but they understood not. :

Exod. ii. 11. Moses was eighty years of age when he first spake unto Pharaoh, Exod. vii. 7, and a hundred and twenty years old when he died, Deut. xxxiv. 7 so that his life was dis;

tributed into three periods of ecjual length. came into bis heart] By Divine impulse, as, according to Maimonides, the Jews believed. It is hard to estimate adequately the distance between the inmate of the palace and his de-

—

graded countrymen, Heb. xi. 24 26. Moses must have had some intimation that it was God's pleasure and purpose that eventually he was to be their deliverer. to visit] I.e. to help, relieve, as in Matt. xxv. 36 ; Luke L 68, and James i. 27.

24. avenged] There is no praise of Moses' conduct expressed, as Michaelis thought. Calvin and Hammond agreed with Augustin, 4 Quaest. 11. 2, in Exod.,' " jam divinitus admonitus; " c. Faustum,' xxn. 70, u in persona prophetica ad hoc divinitus fieri permissum est, ut futurum aliquid praesignaret." oppressed] On the point of being worn out ana overcome in the struggle. *

25.

For he supposed]

Rheims, more cor-

And he supposed.

There is no warrant for attributing to the act of Moses the motive and deliberateness implied in the other English rectly,

Versions.

would deliver] Rather, was delivering. Josephus, 11. ix., has preserved a tradition that an impression prevailed that a Hebrew would arise to work Egypt woe and exalt the Hebrews; and that intimation was divinely given to Amram that his son was to be the agent. Calmet thought that St Stephen might have had this tradition in mind. understood not\ Just as those whom St Stephen was addressing had railed to understand the character and conduct of a greater Deliverer. If they had borne in mind the promise, and the time fixed for its fulfilment, the Hebrews in Egypt ought to have' been prepared for hailing their deliverer. And the Jews of that generation ought to have marked the fulfilment of Daniel's Seventy Weeks and other indications of the advent of the Messiah.

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THE ACTS. VII.

400

26 ' And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren j why do ye wrong one to another ? 27 But he that did his neighbour

' Exod. a. X3#

wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over

26-33.

expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fife in a bush.

3 When Moses saw it y he wondered at the sight and as he drew near to behold 1/, the voice of the :

Lord came unto him, I am the God of thy God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Then Moses trembled, and Jacob.

32 Saying,

us ?

Wilt thou

kill

me,

thou

diddest the Egyptian yesterday ?

rExod. 3.

[v.

29 Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land ot Madian, where he begat two sons. 30 *And when forty years were

26. shewed himself] The same word is translated there appeared in i>. 30.

would have set them] A.V. represents the imperfect, for which there is better authority than for the aorist. brethren] Near relationship aggravated this beyond the outrage of the preceding day, between an Egyptian and a Hebrew. The common suffering under their cruel taskmasters should have kept them from quarrelling with one another. The unwillingness of their forefathers to accept the intervention of Moses was caused by the consciousness of wrongdoing. This was parallel to the backwardness of that generation in acknowledging the Mediator of a new and better covenant.

the

fathers,

durst not behold.

33. Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet : for

Exod.

22,

ii.

and Eliezer, My God is my help,

xviii. 4.

30.

forty years]

Reckoned from the time

when Moses was forty years old, v. 23.

The

length of this interva^ not stated in Exodus, must have tried the faith of Moses ; but there is no trace of impatience during this humble seclusion, which must have contrasted strongly

with his position in the house of Pharaoh. mount Sina] In Exod. Hi. 1, Horeb. These two names were used interchangeably for the mountain range in which both were peaks. Cp. Deut. iv. 10, xxxiii. a. an angel] Cp. v. 38. In v. 31, Jehovah; in v. 32, God; in Exod. iii. 2, the Angel of Jehovah in v. 4, Jehovah. Cp. Gen. xlviii. 16 Exod. iii. 4 Hosea xii. 3, 4 Isai. lxiii. 9. An Angel was sent to bring them forth out of Egypt, Num. xx. 16. Cp. Judges ii. 1, 4. The Angel of God went before the camp of Israel, Exod. xiv. 19. ;

27. he that did his neighbour wrong] Rather, was doing. This utterance of an individual expressed the general feeling, v. $5. It has been asked whether Moses was not anticipating his mission; whether the forty years' interval in Midian does not look as if the time of Providence had not yet come.

28. Wilt thou] Art thou minded toT yesterday] This word is not in the Hebrew,

Exod. ii. 14, but in LXX. 29. fled] Because Pharaoh sought to slay him, Exod. ii. 15. at this saying] Rather, on aceonnt of this aylng. A very much higher motive is attributed in Heb. xi. 24 26. the land of Madian] The descendants of Midian, fourth son of Abraham by Keturah, Gen. xxv. a ; 1 Chro. i. 3a, came to occupy a considerable territory, extending along great part of the eastern frontier of Palestine, and along the eastern shore of the Red Sea for three hundred miles from its northern extremity, and stretching deep into the interior, traversed in part by two chains of mountains parallel with the coast The people were nomadic, and had very few towns.

—

two sons'] Gershom, A stranger in the land,

;

wondered] The bush, burning but 31. not consumed, Exod. iii. 2, 3, figured the condition of the children of Israel in their slavery ; " cast down, but not forsaken, perSee Keble's secuted, but not destroyed." 4 Christian Year/ Fifth Sunday in Lent. to behold] to contemplate, examine, take a more exact view of the phenomenon. The verb is the same as in Luke xii. 24, a 7. Not of the Angel the voice of the Lord] " God spake unto him,' Mark xii. a6.

32. trembled] At the evidence of the Divine Presence. Another instance of terror felt by

33.

Moses is given in Heb. xii. ai. Put off thy shoes]

In Exod. iii. 5, this

command comes before the statement of the relation in which God stood to the Patriarchs. It was the Oriental mode of expressing reveCp. Juvenal rence, Josh. v. 15 ; Eccl. v. 1. The Jewish priests were barefoot in vi. 158. the Tabernacle

and Temple,

lest

anything

unclean should have attached

itself to their

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THE ACTS. VII.

34-38.]

401

the place where thou standest is holy ground. 34 I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groan-

that he had r shewed

and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send

said

ing,

thee into Egypt.

whom

Who

Mosques are not entered till slippers sandals. have been substituted for the shoes worn in the road or street. 34. J have seen] phrase represents the

have seen,.

The repetition of this Hebrew idiom, seeing I

Cp. Matt xiii. 14 ; Heb. vi. 14. Language is unavoidably

am come down]

accommodated to human conceptions in describing any manifestation of Almighty God. i" will send thee] There is a great preponderance of MS. authority in favour of / send thee. have here a concise summary of Exodus iii. 7 10.

— —

36. This Moses] In the Original, four verses in succession, zs 38, bejgin with this demonstrative pronoun. This repeated pointing to Moses in the contrast between his Divine mission and his rejection by the people is very emphatic. they refused] The feeling expressed by one Israelite is taken as indicative of that of the

whole people. did God send] Rather, hath God sent The mission of Moses still held good, and was perfected in the true Ruler and De-

forth.

liverer.

The Alex. MS. has "Apxrvov, a word than "Ap^ovra, immediately

ruler]

stronger before.

deliverer] Rather, redeemer, ransomer.

The use of this combination, frequent in the Old Testament, indicated that Moses was to be considered as a type of Christ. by the band] with the hand is the better supported reading, followed by the Vulgate tc. with the help and protection of the Angel. 36. land of Egypt] More particularly in the district of Zoan, Ps. lxxviii. 12, a very ancient city, the seat of the court and government, Isai. xix. 11, 13, afterwards called Tanis. Manifestations of God's power and goodness had not been restricted to the Holy

Land. forty years]

Red sea, 'and in the wilderness *E»>d.i6L

the

forty years.

37 U This is that Moses, which unto the children of Israel, 'A /D«*- **. IS prophet shall the Lord your God raise ' up unto you of your brethren, like Or, mym unto me ; him shall ye hear. '

This Moses

they refused, saying, made thee a ruler and a judge ? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. 36 He brought them out, after

wonders and 'End 7.

* signs in the land of Egypt, and in

that was in the "EwhU*

38 *This is he, church in the wilderness with angel which

him

mount Sina, and with our

who received

the lively

the the

fathers

oracles

give unto us

ment waxed not old upon them, neither did their foot swell,

Deut. viii. 4.

This passage had already prophet] 37. been quoted by St Peter, with the same application to our Lord, iii. 22. If the Jews had really felt for Moses the reverence which they professed, they would gladly have welcomed the great Teacher to whom Moses directed *

their attention. like unto me] I.e. as He raised up me. The marginal rendering is no improvement him shall ye bear] MS. authority is against

these words in this place. They were interpolated from Deut. xviii. 15.

38. the church] So in Wycliffe; then congregation till A.V. The host of Israel in the wilderness might not unfitly be designated by Ecclesia; for they had been chosen out of the heathen world, and, at the particular time here intended, were called together in a solemn assembly to receive the Divine Law, Exod. This was a further confirmation of xix. 17. God's revelation and favour not being limited to place. The Law in which they gloried was not given in Judaea. Cp. <with the angel. .and with our fathers] Moses had relations with both, as, in v. 30. one sense, a mediator, Gal. iii. 19, receiving the Law on the one hand, giving it on the other. .

The Vatican MS. has a remark-

received]

able variation, chose out for us, lively] As having come from the living God; Words, the doing of which was life, Lev. xviii.

Deut.

iv.

Luke x. 28 in

40, xxxii. 47;

Ezek. xx. 11;

John vi. 63. Cp. the contrast Ezek. xx. 11 and 25. Not lifegiving, but

spiritual,

;

Rom. vii. 14

;

not mortal words, to

die with Moses, but to have vitality and force for ages after his death ; cp. the u reasonable service," and the " living sacrifice," Rom. xii. *4 Thy true and lively Word," in the 1 ; and

Prayer for the Church Militant oracles]

Throughout which their rai-

spake

Heb. v. ia;

The same word as in Rom. iii. % \ 1 Pet iv. 11.

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THE ACTS. Vn.

402

39 To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt* 40 * Saying unto Aaron, Make us »Exod.3a. *• gods to go before us : for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the 89.

Not in desire to return

turned back]

thither, as

Exod. xvi.

3, xvii.

3; but as ad-

dicted to its idolatries, Ezek. xx. 7, 8. Their worship of the molten image was intended to express thankfulness for having been brought out of Egypt, not prayer for a return to it

gods] A.V. misled by LXX. and Vulg. gave this plural, Exod. xxxii. 1, 4, 8, Cp. »3, and elsewhere, instead of a god. Neh: ix. 18. to go before us] As the heathen, when they marched, had their idols carried in the van of

40.

their armies. this Moses]

Contemptuously so designated;

cp. vi. 14. <wot not] Know not, as Hi. 17, and therefore cannot loolc for further guidance from him, neither need we apprehend his opposition

to this relapse.

41. they made] I.e. constrained Aaron to make, Exod. xxxii. 1 4. a calf] Rather, a bull, full-grown, but never yet yoked, Selden and Spencer. See Heb. ix. 12, 13. This was not meant for Apis, nor as a symbol of the generative powers of nature but for a visible representation of the Divine Presence, Exod. xxxii. 5 Neh. ix. 18. Aaron's ascent of Sinai, Exod. xxiv. 9, 10, had given him some notion of a cherub, and he now produced a material emblem of the Angel whose guidance had been promised, xxiii. 20. See Henry More's Works, 399, In like manner Jeroboam did not pur809. pose to bring in the worship of another God, out only to stop the periodical resort to Jerusalem. But the people were betrayed into idolatry in both cases. in those days] At the very time when the

—

;

Law was being given. Held a festival, not without grossly licentious observances, Exod. xxxii. 6 1 Cor. rejoiced]

;

x. 7.

42. turnedt] His face and favour away from them who had already turned aside from Him. They were allowed to sink deeper and deeper into paganism. Their worship of an image betrayed them into the worst forms of idolatry, Rom. i. 23

—

25.

idol,

[• 39—43-

and rejoiced

the works of

own hands. 42 Then God turned, and gave

their

them up to worship the host of heaven ; as

written in the book of

ye house of Israel, ***** ** have ve offered to me slain beasts and

the prophets,

sacrifices by the space of forty years in

the wilderness ?

43 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your up] By the withdrawal of His Their sin brought retribution in kind,

gave them grace.

Rom. 24. The worship of the host of heaven, Sabaism, i.

was the earliest form of idolatry, the only form to which there is any reference in the

Book of Job, xxxi. 26

—

28.

Cp. Deut. xvii.

3 ; 2 K. xvii. 16, xxi. 3 ; 2 Chro. xxxiii. 3 Jer. viii. 2, xix. 13. the prophets] The Twelve Minor Prophets,

regarded as one Volume, cp. xiii. 40, xv. 15 Ecclus. xlix. 10. St Stephen went on to combine several passages into a summary of the national conduct, which had continually involved more dishonour to God than any with which he himself could be considered chargeable. The quotation from Amos v. 25 27 is very nearly in the words of LXX. have yc offered] Did ye offer to me t This •question implied a negative answer. The many precepts concerning sacrifices were given prospectively, to become obligatory after settlement in the promised land, Deut. xiL

—

8, sq. sacrifices]^

All other forms of offerings be-

side the slain beasts. in the ^wilderness]

Where the power and

goodness of the one true God had been so signally displayed. The round number forty is used here, as in Num. xiv. 33, 34, for the exact thirty-eight years and a

often and

about the time of forty years,

half;

below,

18.

xiii.

43.

took up]

elevated, at halting-places, Cp. xix.

the portable model of the tabernacle. 24.

Otherwise explained, packed for transport,

when the march was resumed. Moloch]

The king, and Baal, the lord, are

different names of the Sun-god.

See the note

on Jeremiah xxxii. 35. Moloch was worshipped by the Ammonites, 1 K. xi. 7. The practice of burning children alive in his honour, Ps. cvi 37» 38 ; Jer. vii. 31, expressly forbidden, Lev. 21, xx. 2; Deut. xviii. 10, lingered at Tyre and Carthage to a late period. Various forms of gross idolatry are imputed to Israel, xviii.

a K. xvii. ai 23.

—

15—17

;

Jer. xix. 4, 5, xliv. 3, ft,

amd the star, ..to *uorsb& them]

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THE ACTS. VII.

v. 44—49-]

god Remphan, figures which ye made and I will carry to worship them you away beyond Bab Aon. 44 Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, rExod. 25. * that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. 45 Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, :

whom God drave out

before

the

clauses are here given in the order of LXX., which inverts that of the Hebrew. Remphan] or Repban, represents Raiphan, substituted by LXX. and by all Versions for

Cbiun, Amos v. 26, which has been identified with Kivan, Rawlinson's Herodotus, 1. 509 and with Rampo, the Egyptian god of war, Cornelius a Lapide had been disII* AS 3posed to identify with Lucifer or Stella Veneris ; Vossius with the Moon; Kircher and Jablonski with Saturn. This variety may well dispose us to acquiesce in Schoettgen's words, 44 In talibus aliquando ignorantiam fateri gloriosum est." The same word is used by figures] Idols. iosephus, 1. xix. 10, of Laban's images stolen y Rachel, Gen. xxxi. 19. Baboon] Damascus, in Amos v. 37, both Heb. and LXX. The Prophet spoke of the Assyrian captivity of Israel, a K. xvii. 6, not St of the Babylonian captivity of Judah. Stephen substituted the remoter destination as likely to make the deeper impression on his bearers; or he may have combined Jer. xx. 4, 5 with the quotation from Amos. A similar amplification, by LXX., of this Minor Prophet, ix. 12, was followed by St James in xv. 17.

44. tabernacle of witness] Cp. Rev. xv. 5. This is LXX. rendering of the tabernacle of the congregation, in the Hebrew; e.g. Exod. xxvii. 21, or, as

Meyer saw reason to prefer,

tabernacle of meeting, sc. of God with His people, = tabernacle of revelation. It is in strong contrast with the preceding verse. of witness] Num. ix. 15, xvii. 8, as containing the ark in which were the two tables of the Law, the testimony of God's covenant, Exod. xxxi. 18. Their having this was an aggravation of their backslidings. The divinely pre-

scribed form of the worship of the One True God ought to have been a safeguard against idolatry and superstition. speaking unto Moses'] Rather, as Ho that

pake unto Moses appointed. the fashion] The pattern,

Heb. viii. 5.

Exod. xxv. 9, 40:

In the Original the same word

•*figures, v. 43-

403

face of our fathers, unto the days of David ; found favour before God, 46 and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. 47 * But Solomon built him an * * Chron.

Who

I7# IS *

house.

48 Howbeit 'the most High

dwell- * chap. 17.

eth not in temples made with hands ; as saith the prophet, //

49 Heaven is my throne, and earth my footstool what house will ye :

45. purfathers] Strictly, the contemporaries of Joshua. Rather, having sucthat came after] ceeded to It as their Inheritance. In previous English Versions received, with the exception of Cranmer's, which A.V. followed. Jesus] The Greek form of Joshua, most unhappily retained here, in A.V., as again,

Heb. iv. 8. Rather, In their takinto the possession] ing possession of the land which had been

occupied by seven Gentile nations, and therefore had no inherent or traditionary sanctity. A.V. followed the Vulgate, as also did Luther. When, and not before, the days of David] the expulsion of the heathen was completed, a S. v. 6 ; 1 Chro. xi. 6 ; and, the Tabernacle having become a fixture on the threshingfloor of Araunah, the new era of temple-worship was beginning to dawn; and the king, not allowed to build, set himself to collect materials for his son and successor.

46. desired] asked permission, Ps. 12. exxxii. 1 5 ; a S. vii. a ; 1 Chro. xvii. 1 The determination of the site was to find] not left to human selection, a S. vii. a, xxiv.

—

18 ;

Chro. xxi. a6

—

xxii. 1.

a tabernacle] aicqvMpa, implying more permanence than crjcnnf, v. 44. for the God] For the house, K, B, D, H. 47.

an house]

The Temple displaced the

Tabernacle, which had been built after a heavenly model ; and the Temple itself was to give way to a more spiritual service.

As Solomon declared prayer, a Chro. vi. 18 St Paul used the same lan1 K. viii. a 7. guage at Athens, xvii a 4, having, in all likeli48.

dwelletb not]

in his consecration

hood, this speech of St Stephen in rememThe word temples, not in K, A, B, C, D, unrepresented in Syr. and Vulg., has been omitted by Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelles, and Alford. The name is not given here the prophet] any more than in v. 4a. This passage, Isai. lxvi. 1, a, does not follow LXX. with the brance.

same verbal exactness that

observable in

Ntw Test.—Vol. II. Digitized by

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THE ACTS. VII.

404

me ? saith the Lord

50 Hath not my hand made all

kept it.

U Ye stiffhecked and uncircum-

cised in heart and ears, ye

do always

resist the Holy Ghost : as your fathers

did, so do ye.

52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted ? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One 5 of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers

most of the quotations in the course of this speech. 61. stiffnecked] Exod. .xxxiii. 5. This is the only instance in New Test, of this word, which occurs very frequently in Old Test. uncircumcised] Having a covering over heart and ears which made them inaccessible to the truth, Lev. xxvi. 41; Deut. x. 16; Jer. vi.

26 ; Ezek. xliv. 7. Gp. Rom. ii. 28, has been suggested that symptoms of impatience and displeasure on the part of the Council gave occasion to this abrupt change of tone. The thought of all the idolatry and corruption after the time of Solomon might well excite holy indignation in the mind of St Stephen. "Saevior videbatur Stephanus lingua ferox, cor lene; clamabat et amabat, et Augustin, Serm. 315. salvos fieri volebat." In any case the address was, it seems, cut short; no application was made of all the copious statements; there was not even a word of warning or exhortation to repentance based 10, ix.

;

upon them.

The Council had threatened St so do ye] Peter and St John, iv. 21, had taken counsel to slay them, v. 33, had scourged them before dismissing them, v. 40. 52. Which of the prophets] See a Chro. xxx vi. 16; Matt, xxiii. 34 37. This designation of our the Just One] Blessed Lord, suggested possibly by Isai. liii.

—

11,

appears in

Book, iii.

14,

two other passages of this xxii.

14; and in James v.

by whom it was applied See Schoettgen's 'Horae

all addressed to Jews,

to the Messiah. Hebr.' 11. 18. Bp Middleton thought that it was adopted by the centurion, Luke xxiii. 47. betrayers] A harsher word than that transThey betrayed lated delivered up, iii. 13. when they bargained with Judas.

63. cepts

Who

hai*e received the law by 53 the disposition of angels, and have not

or what

these things?

29.

50—56.

the place of my rest ?

build is

[v.

the disposition of angels]

of Angels, Syr. ;

edictts

By the preAngelorum, It is to be

Augustin, *de Civ. Dei,' x. 151. A.V. followed the Vulgate.

regretted that

54 U When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

Wycliffe and Tyndale had given the ordinance, and Cranmer, more happily, the ministration.

Some have preferred the explanation of Grotius, amidst ranks of Angels ; with which Surenhusius agreed, stipantibus myriadibus Angelorum. Chrysostom, Horn. xvn. 3, strangely reverted to the Angel that appeared in the bush, v. 30. The attendance of Angels at the giving of the Law is implied, Ps. lxviii. 17, and Deut. xxxiii. 2, LXX., where A. V. Gal. iii. 19 faithfully represents the Hebrew. and Heb. ii. 2 are not favourable to Donaldson's view, 'Book of Jasher, 229, that angelic agency on that occasion was a feature of later Judaism. Josephus and Philo both speak of this ministration of Angels as a recognised The statement in a speech attributed to fact. Herod by Josephus, xv. v. 3, that the Jews learned the best of their doctrines and the most sacred portions of their Law through the instrumentality of Angels, was explained by Krebs as referring to the Prophets. T. Aquinas followed Euthymius and Theophylact in understanding messengers, e.g. Moses, Aaron, Joshua. 1

54.

cut to the heart]

As in v. 33.

being full of the Holy Gbosf] The permanent character of St Stephen's spiritual endowments is strongly marked by the use of special, occasional vnapx*>v instead of <bv. influence, to meet the emergency, would have been expressed by ytpofitvos. sa<w the glorj of God] Cp. John xii. 41. For similar visions see Isai. vi.; Ezekiel, repeatedly; Rev. iv., v. This was seen by St

56.

Stephen alone.

56. the heavens'] Cp. Matt iii. 16. The very highest. St Paul was caught* up into the third heaven, a Cor. xii. St Stephen saw more than that on which he had hxed his gaze.

Between him and the light which no man can approach unto, 1 Tim. vi. 16, he was permitted to see the glorified Humanity. The spiritual world is always near us ; and,

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THE ACTS. VII.

57—6o.]

57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.

whenever it pleases God, it becomes visible e.g. to Elisha's servant, a K. vi. 17, to Isaiah, vi., to Ezekiel, and to St John, in Patmos.

the Son of man] This designation, found in Daniel vii. 13, 14, occurs in. the New Testament eighty-two times, as applied by our Blessed Saviour to Himself. This is the only instance of its use atter the Ascension. Rev. L 13 and xiv. 14 do not give exactly the full form of the appellation assumed by our Lord. See Bp Middleton on the former passage. standing] Not, as usual, sitting, Matt xxvi. Mark xvi. 19 but as ready to sustain 64 and welcome. " In labore certaminis positus stantem vidit quern adjutorem habuit." Gregory the Great, * 11. Horn, in Evang.' xxix. 7. The sight of the glorified Humanity was the strongest support that could have been granted. The posture and position of the Saviour were introduced into the Collect for St Stephen's Day at the last revision of our Book of Com;

;

mon Prayer. The bystanding mulmembers of the Council, to drown the voice of Stephen. There is no ex57.

they cried out]

titude, not the

press mention of votes taken, or of any sentence pronounced. But, if the first outbreak of zeal was tumultuary, several formalities were duly observed. The language of Tertullus, addressed to a Roman governor, xxiv. 6, the executions to which reference is made, xxvi. 10, and the fact that the purpose of the Sanhedrim to inflict capital punishment, v. 33, was not met by Gamaliel with any question of their power, are unfavourable to the view that this power had been absolutely lost when Judxa became a Roman province. The sanction of Law to capital sentences is implied in xxvi. 10.

58.

out of the city]

Too holy, as the camp

had been, to be defiled with bloodshed, Lev. xxiv. 14. The attempt on our Lord's life, in the Temple, John viii. 59, was made in reckless forgetfulness of this. The Crucifixion was " without the gate," Heb. xiii. 12. Naboth was carried forth out in the wilderness

of Jezreel, 1 K. xxi. 13. stoned him] were for iteming, prepared to stone. The punishment for blasphemy, Lev. xxiv. 16. the witnesses] vi. 13. Two, at least, were indispensable, and the Law required their hands to be foremost in the execution, Deut,

And

59 calling

405 they

stoned

Stephen,

upon Gody and saying, Lord

Jesus, receive my spirit.

And he kneeled down, and with a loud voice, Lord, lay

60 cried

not

this

sin

And

to their charge.

when he had said this, he fell asleep. a regulation which must have often been a powerful indirect check to false testimony, though it had failed in this instance. their clothes] Their outer garments, Matt. v. 40, that their action might be free and unimpeded. The keeping the clothes of the witnesses, if not an official act. committed Saul to hearty approval of their deed, xxii. 20. a young maris feet] The word in the Original has a very wide range, from twenty-four to forty years of age. Saul, if a member of the Sanhedrim, xxvi. 10, must have completed Chrysostom, de Petro thirty years at least. It has been et Paulo,' understood thirty-five. questioned whether Philemon v. 9 has any bearing on this passage. See Bp Lightfoot's note in favour of an ambassador rather than xvii. 7,

the aged*

59. stoned] went on toning, sc. while he was praying. calling upon God] Our A.V. agreeing with Wycliffe, doped tod to help, had the authority of Chrysostom for thus supplying the Without any supplement, invoking ellipse. and sayings as in SyT. and Vulg., the language of the statement and the purport of the prayer are equivalent to an assertion of the Divinity of Christ. St Stephen, full of the Holy Ghost,

knew well to whom it was right to address Calling on the name of Jesus was prayer. a characteristic of Christians, ix. 14. 21, xxii. Bentley thought 16 ; cp. ii. 11 ; 1 Cor. i. 2. that a word had been dropped ; either e«<W,

6N, as absorbed in the last syllable of cViKN, in the kul following. Remarks upon Free-thinking,' § 36.

KoXovpevovy or Kvptov, *

Lord Jesus]

Cp. Rev. xxii. 20. The first martyr followed the example of his Lord, Luke xxiii. 46. Kay has noted several instances of the language of Ps. xxxi. 5 having been used by Christians at the approach of death Polycarp, Basil, Bernard, Huss, Columbus, Lutner, and Melanchthon. u Si Martyr Stephanus non sic orasset, Ecclesia Paulum hodie non haberet," Augustin, Serm. 382 4 de Sanctis,' § 4. receive my spirit]

—

60. And he kneeled down] The change of posture and the loudness of voice, after stoning, were regarded by Basnage as a supernatural testimony to his innocence of blasphemy. lay not] Literally, weigh not; reckon not, place it not in Thy balance against them.

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THE ACTS. VIII.

406

A ND Saul was consenting unto his XIl death. And at that time there

CHAPTER VIII. I

[v.

By occasion of the persecution in Jerusalem* the church being planted in Samaria, 5 by Philip the deacon , who preached, did miracles, and baptized many, among the rest Simon the sorcerer, a great seducer of the people: 14 Peter and John come to confirm and enlarge the church: where % by prayer and imposition of hands giving the Holy

Ghost, 18 when Simon would have bought the like power of them, 20 Peter sharply reproving his hypocrisy and covetousness, and exhorting him to repentance, together with John preaching the word of the Lord, return 26 But the angel sendeth to Jerusalem. Philip to teach, and baptize the Ethiopian

was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem ; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And devout men carried Stephen

and made great lamen-

to his burial^

tation over him.

eunuch.

Again St Stephen imitated xxiii. 34.

his

Lord, Luke

The martyrs of Vienne and Lyons

adopted his words in praying for their tormentors, Eusebius v. a. Cp. xiii. 36; John xi. 11 fill asleep] 1 Thess. iv. 13. 1 Cor. xi. 30, xv. 6, 18, 51 Hence the Christian use of Cemetery, properly a sleeping-place. The Vulgate subjoins in Domino. ;

3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women commit-

ed them to prison. than by Tertullian, who protested against any flight under any circumstances, in de Fuga in Pereecutione, written after his lapse into '

Montanism. See the note on i. 4.

except the apostles]

Bishop Pearson,

Wolf, and Professor Blunt

were disposed to accept the tradition preserved by Eusebius v. 18, that they were directed by our Lord to restrict their teaching to Jerusalem for ia years. Clem. Alex. Strom.' vi. v. 43, which has been alleged to the same effect, applies, not to the city, but to Israelites. The Apostles were not exposed to this persecution, being Hebrews, regular atten*

Persecution, in which Saul was prominent.

Chap. VIII.

And Saul']

This

first

clause, concluding the narrative given in vii.,

ought not to have been severed from it. The words, And at that time, are the beginning of

dants at the Temple services, revered and beloved for their miracles,

the second great division of this history.

was consenting] A.V. was misled by Vulg. into this very feeble rendering of the Original,

which expresses the

heartiest

sympathy and

approval, as well as the continuousness of that feeling. This same phrase, not improbably suggested here by St Paul, was incorporated by him in his speech from the castle stairs, xxii. 20. Cp. the strong language, ix. 1, xxvi. 11.

at that time]

on that very day ing.

The Original literally implies

immediately after the stonSt Stephen was by no means a solitary

devout men] Simeon is so styled, Luke 2. a5, as also Jews, resident in Jerusalem,

and Ananias,

xxii. 12. These were not unfavourably disposed to the teaching of the Apostles, and holding Stephen innocent of the charges brought against him. St Luke would have called avowed believers brethren or disciples. ii.

probably

lews

carried] The word implies all preparations for burial, which, in accordance with Jewish usage, took place immediately after death.

The words to bis burial should not be in

;

Cp. v. 3, xxii. 4* xxvi. 10, 11. His case immediately developed itself into a general persecution. all] In the first instance, the teachers and the most prominent among the disciples. Cp. the limited use of all, Jer. xliv. 11, ia ; Matt large proportion may iii. 5 ; Mark i. 33. have followed ; but many could not flee, and there still remained some for the Apostles to instruct, and for Saul to imprison. scattered abroad] For the extent of the dispersion, overruled to the enlargement of the Church, see xi. 10, ao. It was not merely the result of panic, out in obedience to Christ's victim.

command, Matt. x. 23, far better understood by Augustin, Ep. to Honoratus' (180 or 128), 4

ii.

italics.

great lamentation] Jewish usage again. Cp. 1 Mace ii. 70, iv. 39, ix. ao; Mark xvi. 10. Conformity to it in this instance was equivalent to an avowal of belief in the innocence of Stephen.

Gen. 1. 9, 10;

made havock] Gal. i. 13. This was 3. under the sanction of authority, xxvi 10. The word used is most appropriately applicable to the ravages of wild beasts. and women] To this aggravation, which, under Oriental feeling and usage, was a most emphatic proof of his violence and bitterness, reference is made, ix. 2, xxii. 4.

— 11;

Cp. his con-

Tim. i. 13. Not a few of these were put to

fessions, xxvi. 9

to prison] death, xxii. 4, xxvi. 10.

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THE ACTS. VIII.

v. 4—9-]

4 Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word. 5

Then Philip went down to the

and preached Christ unto them. 6 And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which rhilip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying with city of Samaria,

were scattered] had 4. referring back to verse 1.

been scattered;

every where] Le. throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, ix. 31 ; and beyond those limits, xi. The facts there recorded, 19. though subsequent to the conversion of Cornelius in the order of the narration, belong to the period immediately following the dispersion of the disciples. Bp Pearson was prepared to believe that Andronicus and Junias, who were in Christ before St Paul, Rom. xvi. 7, may have been converted by some of these scattered teachers. preaching the word] Rather, conveying the glad tidings, as again in v. ia. There is no official character implied, as there is in another word used in the following verse.

Philip teaches in Samaria. 5.

Philip]

Not the Apostle, as represented

by Polycrates, in Eusebius in. xxxi., xxxix.; by Tertullian, *de Baptismo,' 18, and 'Apost. Const.' vi. 7 ; and left uncertain by Augustin, 4 Tract, vi. in Evang. S. Johannis,' or the presence of St Peter and St John would not have been required. This was the Deacon, vi. 5, appropriately styled the Evangelist, xxi. 8, as having been the first preacher of the Gospel beyond the walls of Jerusalem. As one of the Seven, Philip probably was in special danger from the persecution that arose about Stephen; and as a Hellenist, he was more acceptable to the Samaritans than a born Jew would have been. The dispersion in verse 1 must have left less for the Deacons to do in It is noticeable that SI Luke's Jerusalem. Gospel alone records the healing of a Samaritan leper and the parable of the Good Samaritan. It is not the city] K, A, B have the article.

C, D, E, H, nor in Chrysostom, Horn, By Erasmus, Bp Pearson, Michael is, De Wette, Bp Wordsworth, and Bp Lightfoot, Samaria, at that time called Sebaste, has Grotius, Lange, Bengel, been understood. Olshausen, Norris, Denton, and Plumptre incline to some other city in the district of Samaria, perhaps Sychar, John iv. 5, about • six miles from the capital. On behalf of the in

xvill. a.

loud voice,

407

came out of many that

were possessed with them : and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. 8 And there was great joy in that city.

9 But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the

same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one :

former view it has been urged that the absence of the article is not decisive, cp. a Pet. ii. 6;

and that Sebaste, the name given by Herod, after fortifying it, Josephus xv. viii. 5, * J. W.' 1. ii. 7, on the site of the ruins to which Hyrcanus reduced it, xm. x. 3, did not supersede the use of Samaria, xx. vi. a. The appearance of the name as that of a district in verses 9, 14, has been thought favourable to the view that Sebaste was intended. A large popula-

tion is implied in v. 6.

The same word is used of

gave heed]

Lydia, attended unto, xvi. 14 ; " when she bad yielded assent unto (so npoatx*iv doth import

Acts not only irpovixtw voitv, to yield but irpoa4x*iv nlanv) the things spoken by Paul" Barrow, Sermon 1 v. on the Creed/ in the

;

attention,

unclean spirits] In his Gospel St Luke 7. used Dxmonia more frequently than the other Evangelists. In the Acts that word does not once occur. Bengel regarded this as showing that, after the death of Christ, possession was less powerful than previously. Lange and Lechler, not disposed to lay much stress on this, observed that, in this Book, cases of possession are either among the heathen, xix 1 a, or in the border-land between heathenism and Judaism, as here, in Samaria. Possession is clearly distinguished from bodily affections, palsy, and lameness.

Simon Magus. Simon] A native, according to Justin Martyr, i Apol.' 1. a6, of Gittom, a village of Irenaeus, Preface to Book 11., atSamaria. tributes the origination of all heresies to him and Cyril of Jerusalem, i Catech.' vi. 14, calls him the deviser of every heresy. bewitched] Rather, amased, or bewildered. So again v. 11. some great one] A fuller form of expression According to Irenaeus, 1. than in v. 36. xxiii. 1, Simon claimed to combine in himself the Three Persons in the Trinity, alleging that he appeared to the Jews as the Son, to the Samaritans as the Father, and among the Gentiles as the Holy Ghost. 9.

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THE ACTS. VIII.

408

10 To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of

God. 11 And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries. 12 But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 10. they all] Young and old, high and low, educated- and uneducated. the great power of God] The power of God, which is called great according to MSS. fol.

lowed in recent critical editions. This was but a faint echo of what Simon said of himself, as reported by Jerome, on Matt xxiv., u Ego sum Sermo Dei, Ego sum speciosus, Ego Paracletus,

Dei."

Ego Omnipotens,

Power of God, Origen, 11.

Ego Omnia

He was called by his followers the had regard]

Celsum,' v.

The same word as gave

heed in v. 10. sorceries] Juggleries, based on some knowledge of physical science ; cp. xiii. 6, 8. The cures wrought by Philip impressed Simon quite as deeply as anything done by Simon had Witchcraft, absoimpressed the populace. lutely forbidden by the Jewish Law, Exod. xxii. 18 ; Lev. xx. 27, is among the works of the flesh, Gal. v. 20.

12. were baptized] The tense implies many, on successive occasions not all at once. men and women] This does not invalidate ;

Infant Baptism. Adults received Baptism after profession of faith. Admitted into the Christian covenant, they brougfit their offspring with them ; the promise, Gen. xvii. 7, was not restricted to the Old Dispensation ; the bless-

ing of Baptism was not narrowed or lowered in comparison with that of circumcision.

13.

believed]

If sincerely at the time, his

not affecting his heart and life, was very shortlived, Mark iv. 16, 17; Luke viii. 13. Cp. v. 1 8. His continuing with Philip was the result of curiosity mingled with hope of obtaining similar powers. He may have received the outward sign without the inward spiritual grace. Daily renewal throughout life

faith,

regeneration, Titus iii. 5 ; Eph. iv. 23 ; as we are reminded by the Collect for Christmas Day. and wondered] This variation in the rendering of the same word as in v. 9, is very unSimon was now himself amazed or happy. bewildered; he was under an influence stronger than that which he had ever exercised over is necessary, as well as

others.

[v.

10—15.-

Then Simon himself believed

and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondereu, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. 14 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John 15 Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: also:

the miracles and signs] tke eigne and great wonders would be nearer to the best

supported reading. 14. the apostles] Collectively, as vi. 2 ; all that were in Jerusalem. Samaria] Probably the district, not the city. This was the first overpassing of the limits of Judaism, an epoch in the history of the Church. Peter and John] These two Apostles were frequently associated, iii. 1; John xviii. 16, xx. 3, xxi. 7, 20. were sent together, in compliance with our Lord's practice; with the Twelve, Mark vi. 7 ; and with the Seventy,

Two

Luke x.

See below,

trast in character

xiii.

The con-

made the combination, in

this case, very advantageous : St Peter ardent, bold, and zealous ; St John mild, gentle, persuasive. St Peter was sent as well as St John by the Apostolic College ; he had no supremacy; and there was peculiar fitness in his being employed in this intermediate stage, previously to the admission of Gentiles, Matt, xvi. 19. The jealousy between the Jews and the Samaritans might well be thought to call for express sanction to Philip's proceedings being given by the heads of the Church. This, with the exception of xii. 2, is the latest notice of St John in this Book. But we know from Gal. li. 9 that he was in Jerusalem at the time of St Paul's visit, xv. 2. Probably he did not quit Palestine within the period of this history. There is no evidence of his being in Asia Minor during the life-time of St Peter and St Paul.

15. come down] So usually in reference to quitting Jerusalem, Luke ii. 51; John vii. 8. might receive the Holy Ghost] In His extra-

ordinary influences, x. 44, xi. 15, which were visible to Simon, *v. 18. These converts had received the ordinary, sanctifying influence of the Holy Ghost, in the remission of sins at their baptism. The Apostles themselves received Him in different measures at different times. Compare the Pentecostal effusion with John xx. 22, 23. The bestowal of miraculous gifts was not at the discretion of the Apostles they prayed previously. And the restriction of the conveyance of such gifts to the Apostles

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V. 1 6

—

THE ACTS. VIII.

22.]

16 (For as yet he was fallen upon only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.

none of them

18 And when Simon saw that through laving on of the apostles* hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,

19 Saying,' Give me also this powis a very strong presumption in favour of the view that miraculous powers ceased with the generation amongst whom there survived some

on whom the Apostles had laid their hands. Here, as ii. 38, 16. upon none of them] the reception of the Holy Ghost followed Baptism : in x. 44, 47, it preceded that Sacrament The descent of the Holy Ghost, reserved in this case till the Apostles were on the spot, was timed according to the pleasure of Him who divideth to every age as well as to every man severally as He will.

name] Literally, Into the name. See note on ii. 38. 17. laid they their bands on them] u Even

on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. 20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. 21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not

er, that

right in the sight of God.

22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the offer of money. He was convinced without being converted. 'Epam-lath}, d\\' ovk ((fxoTiaOr), Cyril of Jerusalem, * Procatechesis,' There may have been much ignorance. 2. Simon was more leniently treated than Ananias,

whose sin was committed against fuller and He was invited to repent but, known, he never complied. " Frustra flevit," Tertullian, de Anima,' 34. The gift of discerning of spirits was not always in exercise, or Simon would have been

clearer light. as far as is

sary as well as Baptism, that persons might become complete members of the Church and partakers of the grace of Christ And that grace was conferred by peculiar hands; for though Philip had the power of miracles, yet he could not do that which belonged to a higher order. So great a regard had the Spirit of God to order and discipline." Bp Wilson/ Sacra Private," Sunday Meditations,' 4 Episcopacy.' Imposition of hands signified the conveyance of the blessing. Both these verbs, laid their bands, and received, are in the imperfect tense, which implies the repetition of the act and of the reception of the Holy Ghost in all the several cases; whereas prayed, in v. 15, being in the aorist, indicates a single act. This laying on of hands, together with Heb. vi. a, cp. Acts xix. 6, has been considered as authorizing Confirmation; "a solemn, ancient, and laudable custom in the Church of God, continued from the Apostles times." Canon lx. See Hooker, v. 66; Cyprian, Epist. 73, 74, Fell. In the Western Church it has, except in very extraordinary cases, been reserved exclusively for Bishops. See, again, our sixtieth Canon. Cp. Augustin, *de Trinitate, 1 xv. The Eastern Church allows its adminis46. tration to Presbyters, but with oil consecrated by a Bishop. 7

18. Simon] spoken of as a bystander, did not receive the Holy Ghost If he had been under His influence he could not have made

;

rejected.

in the

in the Apostles' times Confirmation was neces-

409

was given] was being given. In law, Simony is the corrupt presentation of any

one to

an ecclesiastical benefice for gift, money, or reward; and was so called from the resemblance it is said to bear to the sin of Simon Magus; though the purchasing of Holy Orders seems to approach nearer to his offence."

Our

fortieth

gainst it, to benefice.

Canon provides an oath a-

be taken at <

institution

into

As Simon receive the Holy Ghost] 19. understood, may have the power of working miracles. He did not ask for the sanctifying influence.

20. Thy money perish] An expression of horror and indignation highly characteristic of St Peter understood by the Fathers generally as conveying a prediction, not an imprecation. Simon was ur&ed to repentance and prayer, v. %i. may be purchased] Rather, because thou ;

thougnteet to acquire by means of money. Apparently a 21. neither part nor lot] proverbial phrase, Deut x. 9 ; a S. xx. 1. this matter] Rather, in this teaching of on re : A6yy, not pij^xart ; Syr. in this faith.

22. pray God~\ Pray the Lord must be regarded as the true reading. Better, in order that, as if perhaps] If A.V. is again, xvii. 27, and Mark xi. 13. retained, no more is implied than great difficulty and unlikelihood of repentance, after so

near an approach to the sin against the Holy

Ghost

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THE ACTS. VIII.

410

the thought of thine heart

may be

forgiven thee.

23 For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.

Then answered Simon, and Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me. 25 And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the 24

said,

23. gall] Suggested by Deut xxix. 18, as the bond of iniquity was by Isai. lviii. 6. 24. Pray ye] The pronoun is emphatic in the Original. There is no hint of any purpose of praying for himself. His thoughts did not turn to forgiveness ; the only feeling expressed was anxiety to escape punishment If his profession of raith had been more than superficial, such a triumph, of the Gospel And the could not have been unnoticed. cloud under which Simon is left by the inspired historian may be regarded as affording at least a priori probability to the accounts of the error and impurity brought into the

Church through his instrumentality. ye have spoken] St John's concurrence must have been clearly shown beyond mistake or question.

This is the latest notice of Simon Magus in the

New Testament.

In the sequel of his history, full of marvels, as given, in more or less of detail, by Irenaeus, 1. 23, Cyril of Jerusalem, 4 Catech.' vi. 15, and in the * Clementine Recognitions,' it is hardly possible to discriminate facts from fables.

many villages] Among them, possibly, on which one of these two Apostles had been fain to call down fire from heaven, Luke ix. 54. 25.

in that

Philip and the Eunuch. 26. the angel] an Angel, as correctly given in both recensions of Wycliffe. A.V. agrees with Luther. Gaza] Called Azzah, Deut. ii. 23 1 K. iv. It had towns and villages Jer. xxv. ao. 34 attached to it, Josh. xv. 47. One of the most ancient cities in the world. Gen. x. 19, in a sandy plain, on the edge of the desert, about three miles from the sea, the key of the south of Palestine. Travellers to and from Egypt supplied themselves with provisions there. Joshua could not subdue it, Josh. x. 41. It was assigned to Judah, xv. 47, but even that ;

;

warlike tribe was unable to retain possession. It had passed very early into the hands of the Philistines, Judges xvi. ai, and became

their

five chief

cities,

vi.

17.

one of It cost

[v.

23-

Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans. 26 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto

Gaza, which is desert. 27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace Alexander the Great five months1 siege; but he did not destroy the city, of which mention is made repeatedly in the history of the wars of the Maccabees, 1. xi. 61, xiii. 43. The predictions of Zephaniah, ii. 4, and of Jeremiah, xlvil 5, had not up to this time been fulfilled, as they were by the Jews not long before the siege of Jerusalem, Josephus, 4 J. VV.* 11. xviii. 1. At the date of this narrative Gaza was flourishing, Josephus, xiii. xiii. 3, xiv. v. 3, xv. vii. 9. which it desert] The road, not the city. The Angel thus distinguished the southern route across Hebron, from the northern road usually taken, by Ramleh, through a populous country. The former, as fitter for carriages, and passing through a wild and little frequented district, was better suited for the eunuch's reading of Scripture, and for his receiving instruction and Baptism from St Philip.

27. a man of Ethiopia] The firstfruits and the representative ot " the uttermost parts of the earth," i. 8. He came from the high land south of Egypt, of which the capital was Meroe, called Sheba, Gen. x. 7 1 K. x. 1 Seba, Isai. xliii. 3, and Saba, Ps. lxxii. 10. Ethiopia and Seba are coupled in Isai. xliii. 3, ;

xlv. 14.

If a Cushite, a descendant of

Ham,

Gen. x. 6, 7, he was more decidedly an alien

His than the Gentiles generally, Amos be. 7. conversion must have opened the way to the fulfilment of Ps. Ixviii. 31. an eunuch] If this is to be understood literally and physically, as from Gen. xxxviL 36, xxxix. 1, appears not to be of necessity, those who hold that he was a proselyte must consider that the prohibition, Deut xxiii. 1, had been cancelled. Such relaxation has been thought to be indicated by Isai. lvi. 3 5, and

—

Jer. xxxviii.

Candace] The name of a dynasty, as Pharaoh of the earlier, and Ptolemy of the later Strabo, xvn., mentions a kings of Egypt Candace contemporary with Augustus; and 1 Pliny, * N. H. vi. a9, another under Vespasian. Eusebius, 11. i. 10, incidentally notices the female sovereignty as having continued hereditary to his own time. for to worship] Cp. xxiv. 11 ; John xii. 20, where see the note. This has been thought

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28—3&]

THE ACTS. VIII.

queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, 28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.

29 Then the Spirit said unto PhiGo near, and join thyself to this

lip,

chariot.

30 And Philip ran thither to him^ and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? 31 And he said,

How can I, ex-

some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. 32 The place of the scripture

cept

decisive

favour of his being a proselyte.

But Eusebius, 11. 1, speaks of him as the first convert from among the Gentiles and Scaliger pointed out more than one instance, in ;

Josephus, of Gentiles not only praying in the courts of the Temple, but also offering sacrifices. Ghrysostom regarded it as worthy of admiration that this Ethiopian had gone up to worship at a time apart from any of the great Festivals. Greswell, 11. 31, thought that he was returning home not long after one of the Feasts, presumptively Pentecost. Other calculations have pointed to the Feast of Tabernacles.

read Esaias] In the spirit of the precept, Deut. vi. 7. From v. 30 it appears that he was reading aloud, in accordance with Eastern usage even in solitude. The quotation from Isai. liii. 7, 8, agrees with LXX. throughout, and we may safely assume that he was reading that Version, which was widely circulated in Egypt. The Prophets would, on many accounts, have been more attractive to him than the Isaw, and, above all the rest, the Evangelical Prophet, large portions of whose writings are nearer to the Gospel than anything that was within his reach. Verse 34 shows that there is no foundation for the notion that he had been led to select this portion by any thing which he had heard concerning Jesus at Jerusalem.

28.

29. the Spirit J**/] As in x. 19, xvi. 6. noted by Cyril of Jerusalem, * Catech. xvi. 14, as an incidental evidence of the Personality of the Holy Ghost 7 ;

30. Understandert...readest] In the Original a paronomasia, not unlike that in 2 Cor.

makes it at least highly probable that Philip spoke Greek. The question is so worded as to imply that a negative answer was expected. Circumstances had not been favourable lii.

411

which he read was this, 'He was led mUaL <* as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth 33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall dehis generation? taken from the earth.

clare

for his life

34 And the eunuch answered Phiand said, I pray thee, of whom

lip,

speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man ?

35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. 36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and to the chamberlain's receiving instruction at Jerusalem ; the few Christians lingering there

met in secret at this time.

How can

Notwithstanding

his

was modest and docile enough to take in good part the questioning of a plebeian

dignity, he stranger.

Mysteries are revealed to the meek. The Morians' land was beginning to stretch out her hands unto God.

32.

The place]

It has been suggested that

this may perhaps oe understood of one of the

sections into which the Law and the Prophets were divided for use as lessons in the syna-

gogue service. 34. of himself] It has been asked whether the Ethiopian knew the tradition of Isaiah's being put to death by Manasseh. " Communis Judaeorum,et post hos Patrum Christianorum traditio." Schoettgen, * Hor. Hebr.' 1. 987.

phrase frequently 35. opened %is mouth'] employed: for introducing a subject of unusual weight and importance, and for giving special solemnity to what follows, x. 34 ; Matt. v. 2, preached... Jesus] The Gospel of Jesus, Luther. Evangelized unto him Jesus, Rheims. Cp. v. 4. St Philip took Isai. liii. for the basis of his instruction.

Christ's Incarnation, Life, Suffer-

ings, and Death were the fulfilment of

declarations

made by

Isaiah.

Divine

The passage

quoted from that Prophet could not be rightly understood of the prophetic office, or of any It is impersonation of the Jewish people. referred expressly to our Lord Himself by St Matthew, viii. 17, and by St Peter, 1 Pet ii. *3-

36. a certain water] Placed by Eusebius, and by Jerome, who writes the name Beth" soron twenty miles south of Jerusalem, and two miles from Hebron. If this tradition y

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THE ACTS. VIII.

412

thc eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized ?

And Philip said, If thou believ-

est with all thine heart, thou mayest.

And he answered and said, I believe that

Christ

Jesus

the

Son

God. 38 And he commanded the chariot still: and they went down

to stand

well founded, Philip

was never very near

Gaza.

what doth binder] Philip must have spoken of Baptism and its necessity, cp. xvi. 32; and the asking for it was equivalent to a profession of acceptance of all the preliminary instruction.

with all thine heart] Very different belief from that professed by Simon Magus, 37.

whose case must have been

St Philip's

thoughts.

This verse

rejected

by the best critical

authorities in accordance with

its omission in K, A, B, C, G, H, and in Syr., and an extraordinary variation of reading in patristic quotations. It is thought to have found its way into the text from the margin, on which it may have been inserted from a feeling that it was expedient to have an express statement that Baptism was not administered till a profession of faith had been made. On the other

37—40-

[v.

both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch ; and he baptized him. 39 And when they were come up out of the water, tne Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he

went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip was found at Azotus and passing through he preached in the cities, till he came to Caesarea.

all

which may have been suggested by a doubt whether, without such intervention, the admission of the eunuch into the Church could be complete till he had received Confirmation. There is no further mention of Philip for twenty years, xxi. 8. rejoicing] Not feeling any void or need. His discipleship had been sealed he had been admitted to that kingdom which is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost The Abyssinians regarded him as the founder of their Church. Eusebius and Jerome, quoted by Bp Pearson, state no more than that he ;

taught in Ethiopia after his return thither.

40. was found] Not more than was. Cp. Esther i. 5, margin Exod. xxxv. a 3 ; Mai. ii. 6. Usually understood as indicating that he was not seen at any intermediate point, that he was next heard of there. Azotus] Ashdod, Josh. xi. a a 1 S. v. 3 ; Neh. xiii. a3 1 Mace. iv. 15, x. 77, 84. It hand, Irenaeus, older, by two centuries, than was about sixty miles west from Jerusalem, any extant MS., read the verse, 111. xii. 8 ; % nearly midway between Gaza and Joppa. not Cyprian, as also 'Testimon.' ill. 43. Augusactually on the seashore, of great importance tin, while refusing to admit it as an argument by reason of its position on the military route for shortening the form of profession made at between Syria and Egypt, the capital of one Baptism, did not question its genuineness, de of the five states of the Philistines, and the Fide et Operibus,' § 9. Mill and Calmet chief seat of the worship of D. gon. It susthought it had been interpolated here on the tained a siege of twenty-nine years, the longest strength of Rom. x. 9. -No profession of faith on record, by Psammetichus, Herodotus, ix. is recorded in the case of the 3000 converts Its destruction, foretold by Jer. xxv. 157. on the Day of Pentecost The jailor at PhiZech. ix, ao ; Amos i. 8 ; Zeph. ii. 4 lippi received Baptism instantly after avowing 6, was wrought by the Maccabees, 1. v. 68 t himself a believer. x. 77 It was rebuilt by Gabinius, 85, xi. 4. I believe] This was an echo of the sumB c 55* Josephus, xiv. v. 3, and was one of mary of the instruction given him by Philip. the cities bequeathed by Herod the Great to 39. caught away] The same word as in his sister Salome, xvn. viii. 1. The Bishop 1 Thess. iv. 17. Cp. 1 K. of Azotus was present at the Councils of a Cor. xii. a, 4 xviii. ia; a K. ii. 16; Ezek. iii. 14; Mark Nicaea and Chalcedon. A little village, near The work of conversion having been the ancient ruins, is still called Esdud. i. 1 a. completed by Baptism, this miraculous withail the cities] Le. between Azotus and drawal of the Evangelist confirmed the EthioCaesarea. The circuit may have included pian's assurance of the Divine mission of his Ekron, Rama, Joppa, and Lydda, in all of teacher. There was no need of further instrucwhich Jews were numerous. tion from a fellow-creature for one who had Caesarea] Of Palestine, so called to distinguish it from Caesarea Philippi, Matt. xvi. 13. the Word of God in his hands, and the influences of the Holy Ghost on his heart. The It was reckoned to belong to Phoenicia, JoAlex. MS. subjoins, And the Spirit of the sephus, xv. ix. 6, Strabo, xvi. p. 758 0. Lord fell upon the eunuch, but the Angel of the Though assigned to Judaea, by Josephus, 4 J. Lord snatched away Philip; an interpolation VV7 jii.ix. i, it is described as in Phoenice 'Ant,' ;

;

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THE ACTS. IX.

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CHAPTER IX. I

AND

Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the

XV. ix. 6.

Cp. xii. 19, xxt. 8,

10.

If it had

been fully and distinctly in Judaea, the temples and statues set up by Herod in the course of ten years, throughout which he went on embellishing it, could hardly have been introduced. On the coast, just south of Mount Carmel, in the line of the great road from Tyre to Egypt, S5 miles N. W. of Jerusalem, with a very fine harbour, secured by a breakwater constructed at an enormous expense by Herod, Caesarea was called by Josephus, xix. viii. 2, the greatest city in Judaea ; and by Tacitus, 4 It was the Hist.' II. 79, u Judaeae caput." official residence of the Roman governor, and the military headquarters of the province. The population was mixed; but the Gentile element preponderated, so that the Greek Version of the Old Testament was read in its synagogues. A massacre of twenty thousand of the Jewish section of the population in its streets was among the earliest events of the great war, 1 Eusebius was Josephus, * J. W. 11. xviii. 1. Bishop of this, his native city, from 315 to

340 A.D.

Philip

of the Lord, went unto the high priest, 2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. 3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there

disciples

Saul, going towards Damascus, 4 is stricken down to the earthy 10 is called to the apostleship, 18 and is baptized by Ananias. 20 He preacheth Christ boldly, 23 The Jews lay wait to kill him : 29 so do the Grecians, but he escapeth both. 31 The church having rest, Peter healelh AZneas of the palsy, 30 and restorcth Tabitha to life.

4i3

made it his home, xxi. 8,

after a considerable interval; for he can hardly

have been there at the time of the Baptism of Cornelius. The house reputed to have been occupied by the Evangelist was shown in the time of Jerome, * Epitaph. Paulae.'

Conversion of Saul.

According to Josephus, 1. vi. 4,

15, xv. a.

was founded by Uz, grandson of Shem. The situation was of singular beauty, on a plain watered by the Abana and the Pharpar, it

1 a.

The ancient capital of Syria,

a S. viii. 6 ; Isai. vii. 8, it was brought into subjection to Rome by Pompey, B.C. 64, Josephus xiv. ii. 3 ; but at the close of St

Pauls sojourn in Arabia it had been suffered to fall into the hands of Aretas, a Cor. xi. 3 a, who, it may be presumed, took possession of it as one of the fruits of his victory over Herod Antipas, and retained it for a while at the time when Vitellius, president of Syria, had to leave his province for Rome on receiving intelligence of the death of Tiberius. There were several synagogues in Damascus, v. 20 indeed the Jews were so numerous there, that, 1 according to Josephus, * J. 11. xx. a, ten thousand, shut up unarmed in a gymnasium, were slain within an hour ; and eighteen thousand, with their wives and families, perished in a massacre in the reign of Nero, vii. viii. 7. At this time the authorities of Damascus must have been favourable to the Jews, 14

and a4. the synagogues] Professor Rawlinson, following the lower of the estimates of Josephus, 40,000, as the numbers of the Jewish population, thinks that there were thirty or forty in Damascus. To these, at this time, Jews

and Christians resorted together. The Romans

Chap. IX.

yet]

This refers to vii. 58

have no clue to the length of time occupied by the events in Samaria and the mission of St Philip. It has been thought not unreasonable to assume that these were chronologically parallel with the statements concerning St Paul and St Peter which now

and viii. 1, 3.

follow. slaughter]

went]

Cp. xxii. 4, xxvi. 10.

He volunteered for this mission.

the btgb priest]

See vii. 1.

Rather, a latter. The plural is so used by Polycarp, Ep. to the Philippians, § 3, and Eusebtus, vi. xl. and xliii. The Roman troops would have prevented any such proceedings at Jerusalem. Damascus] about 160 miles N.E. of Jerusalem, may oe regarded as one of the oldest cities in the world, built before Baalbec and Palmyra, and surviving both. Cp. Gen. xiv. 2.

letters]

allowed Jews to seize and chastise in their synagogues wherever the authority of their Sanhedrim was acknowledged. Cp. xxii. 19, xxvi. 11. this <way]

the way, i.e. sect or school, ac-

cording to Eastern idiom,

xviii. 26, xix. 0, 33, xxii. 4, xxiv. 14, aa, with a reference, in all cases, Bp Lightfoot suggests, to John xiv. The way of the Nazarenes was a 5, 6. Jewish phrase for the manner of Christians. or women] Specified as among his victims,

viii.

3, xxii.

4 ; an aggravated feature of his

cruelty.

3. as be journeyed] There were three roads from Jerusalem to Damascus. The distance, about 160 English miles, to the N.E., usually

occupied six days. near Damascus]

The spot now, and for the last two hundred years, pointed out—one of four fixed upon at different times can

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THE ACTS. IX.

4*4

shined round about him a light from

heaven

Who

And the Lord said, I am Je-

Lord ?

sus whom thou persecutest : it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

hardly have been the scene of the event, as it the city, and it might seem more a matter of course that Saul should have approached from the south or the west. suddenly] About noon, xxii. 6, xxvi. 13. Of this conversion, to which, in the Sacred Records, a prominence is given second only to the Passion of our Blessed Lord, three accounts have been preserved for us. Here, in the course of the history, for Christians in xxii. as narrated by St Paul to a tumultuous assemblage of Jews and in xxvi. principally addressed to Gentiles who were present. Cp. references made to the event, 1 Cor. xv. 8 Gal. i. 13 16. There is no ground for the suggestion of Neander and Olshausen that the mind of Saul was full of doubts and scruples. However mistaken, he was honest and conis on the eastern side of

;

—

scientious, xxii. 3, xxvi. 9 ;

about him]

Tim. i. 13.

And them which journeyed with

him, xxvi. 13.

a light] The same word as 1 Tim. vi. 16 never used for lightning. It is more distinctly characterized by St Paul, xxii. 6, xxvi. 13, who naturally added to this very brief and concise account several important particulars which could not have railed to impress themselves deeply on his mind. If he were not on 4. fell to the earth] foot, this was, in all likelihood, from the back

of a camel, not of a horse, as painters have usually represented it joying unto him] Articulately, in Hebrew, xxvi. 14 ; the God of his fathers was speaking to him it was not thunder. Saul, Saul] The Hebrew form of his name, as v. 11, xxu. 7, xxvi. 14 ; used in New Test, by Christ and by Ananias, v. 17, xxii. 13. The repetition of the name marked the importance of the communication. Cp.' Gen. ;

31.

;

Matt,

xxiii.

37 ;

Luke x. 41, xxii.

The glorified Speaker was seen by Saul,

w. 17, 27, xxii. 14, xxvi. 16; 1 Cor. ix. 1, xv. 8.

<why persecutest thou me f] This quotation reported in the very same words in the Our other two accounts, xxii. 7, xxvi. 14. is

4-8.

6 And he trembling and astonished Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. 7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. 8 And Saul arose from the earth; said,

4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me ? art thou, 5 And he said,

xxii. 11

[v.

Lord had identified Himself with His faithful followers,

Matt xxv. 40, 45. Cp. Zech. ii. 8.

Saul's first lesson

was the mystical union be-

tween Christ and His Church.

And the Lord said] What was said 5. by our Lord is, according to the best critical evidence, limited to / am Jesus, <wbom thou persecutest. But arise, 5cc. The clauses it is bard for thee said unto him, have no MS. authority, Uncial or Cursive, and are not represented in Syr. in this context They must be regarded as an interpolation here from xxvi. 14, where they are unquestionably genuine. <wbom thou persecutest] Not, who have risen again ; not, who am sitting at the right hand of God. Chrysostom.

what wilt thou have me to do f] This 6. question is substantially involved in xxii. 10. Here, St Luke passed over great part of Christ's address, xxvi. 16 18, considering that it was only after the mission of Ananias that the words acquired their full force and significance. And St Paul's own narrative before King Agrippa was so condensed, that the injunction subsequently conveyed to him by

—

human intervention was represented as having come immediately from the lips of Him by whose authority it was transmitted. <which journeyed <with him] Travelling companies was necessary for safety. The route in Trachonitis lay through country abounding with caves, which were the haunts of robbers, Josephus xv. x. 1, xvii. ii. 2. stood speechless] From alarm. Cp. xxvi. 14.

At first they fell prostrate;

after a while,

had arisen, they

were on their

before Saul

but

they stood still. It is to their stationariness, not to their posture, that St Luke meant to direct attention. The effect on his fellow-travellers showed that there was no fancy or delusion. hearing a voice] the voice; the voice of In the Original there is no the Lord, v. 5. discrepancy between this account and that in The word voice here is xxii. 9 and xxvi. 14. in the genitive case, implying that they did not understand what was spoken, which was intelligible to Saul, in reference to whom the accusative is used, as previously in verse 4, indicating understanding as well as hearing. feet,

in their perplexity

Cp. John xii. 29. On the 25th of January, annually, the Christians in Damascus walk in procession to the traditionary scene of the conversion, and read

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THE ACTS. IX.

.«.]

415

and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Da-

and to him said the Lord in a vision,

mascus.

ii And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is

And he was three days without

sight, and neither did eat nor drink.

10 ^ And there was a certain disciple at

Damascus, named Ananias;

Ananias.

And he said, Behold, I am

here, Lord.

called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus for, behold, he prayeth, :

the history from the Acts of the Apostles, under the protection of a guard furnished by < Footsteps of St Paul/ p. 64. the Pacha.

and striving to build up by his persecutions

The glorified Humanity was

but he never pleads sincerity as an excuse he confesses his guilt, and makes no attempt to extenuate it." Macbride.

seeing no man]

visible to none but Saul.

Compare Dan. x. 7.

8. <wben bis eyes were opened] The form of blindness— ** dazzled by excess of light," xxii. 11, xxvi. 13, was not perceptible to others. Like the dumbness of Zacharias, it was a sign and a lesson, admonishing Saul, that, with all his legal knowledge, he was spiritually blind.

In his case Christ had made good His own words recorded by St John, ix. 39. The

temporary withdrawal of sight and the fasting combined to call his thoughts off from the outer world and to turn them on his past life. be saw no man] Nothing, Syr. and Vulg.

The blinding brilliancy was restricted to Saul. Lightning would have affected his fellow-tra-

There was no irresistible influence exercised on his will. He surrendered himself at once, heartily and thoroughly, to the vellers.

heavenly vision, xxvi. 10. into Damascus'] Professor Rawlinson gives good reasons for believing that he was conducted around the walls, so as to enter by the eastern gate. *St Paul in Damascus and Arabia/ 109.

According to the Jewish reckoning, as in the interval between the death upon the Cross and the Resurrection; the sequel of the day of his conversion, the entire day following, and the day after that till the This was an interval, not arrival of Ananias. of stupor" or mere humiliation, but of mental ** It conflict, repentance, and deep devotion. 9.

three days]

is an usual

method with God to lay the founda-

tion of a great sanctity in affliction." Bp Ken. " The period of their conversion some have

been able to state with accuracy, and the change itself cannot be denied; but the number of such is few indeed, compared with those who, having in infancy been received as the children of God, have never needed a second spiritual birth, though they have been all more or less polluted by the world, or have yielded to their own infirmities, and have had need of continual renewal to holiness. Certainly the doctrine of the instantaneous conversion of notorious sinners is not supported by the case of St Paul, for he had been no profligate or sceptic, but exceeding zealous for the Law,

a legal righteousness.

He sinned ignorantly,

and

from a mistaken con-

in unbelief acted

science,

;

Ananias sent to Saul.

10. Ananias'] Cp. xxii. 12. Jewish Christian it may be presumed from his name. v. Dan. Cp. i. 6. There is no evidence for 1 ; the tradition that he was one of the seventy disciples. He may have been one of the Pentecostal converts. He was not one of those dispersed from Jerusalem, viii. 1 ; and he and Saul had no previous knowledge of each other, 11 The Greek Church commemo13.

—

rates his martyrdom, as Bishop of

on the first of October.

Damascus,

The Ananias who,

according to Josephus, xx. ii. 3, 4, was instrumental in bringing Izates, king of Adiabene, to worship the true God, but dissuaded him from being circumcised, comes a little too late to admit of identification. Human agency and divinely appointed ordinances are not superseded by the intervention of the supernatural. Cornelius, under similar circumstances, was instructed to send for St Peter. 11.

the street]

The original word implies

a narrow lane, as in Luke xiv. ai, more befitting its condition at present than in a former age; "a narrow thoroughfare, inclosed on either side by bare unsightly walls," having been miserably contracted, on the right hand and on the left, from a broad and noble highway, colonnaded throughout, and in its entire width extending above 100 feet. Rawlinson. There is no street now called Straight except one so named by Christians, running upwards of a mile from east to west through the city, and that does not contain the traditional house of Judas or of Ananias, which are shown elsewhere. Judas'] Nothing is known concerning this

name. Tarsus] The capital of Cilicia, on the river Cydnus, described by Xenophon as great and flourishing. It was made a free city by Antony, but was not a colony till long after the time of St Paul, so that his birthplace did not give him the rights of Roman citizenship. As a seat of learning it surpassed Athens and Alexandria in the estimate of Strabo.

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THE ACTS. IX.

4i6

12 And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and

hand on him, that he might receivers sight. 13 Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem 14 And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. 15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the chilputting his

dren of Israel

be prayetb] Not at this particular time Prayer was doubtless a chief occupation of the three days. Saul had been in the habit of observing the appointed hours of prayer with Pharisaic exactness. Now he prayed with faith in that Name, the invocation of which by Stephen he had regarded as blasphemy. Verse 17 shows that more than this

was said by Christ. 12. in a vision] Parallel to this of Ananias, as afterwards in the case of St Peter and Cornelius. The simultaneous correspondence of the Divine communications shuts out the possibility of illusion or self-deception in all the three cases. The character of Ananias, xxii. 12, makes it highly probable that his name was not unknown to Saul.

Ananias was a resident in that city. Saul had been there for three days, time enough for intelligence and caution to have reached the Christians there from Jerusalem. bvw much evil] St Paul himself retained a vivid consciousness of this ; xxii. 4, xxvi.

Damascus.

9—

12 ;

Tim. i. 13.

This is the earliest instance of this appellation, expressive of the normal standard of the Christian character, which became thy saints]

afterwards so prevalent, 7 ;

Eph.

w. 32, 41

The pronoun

;

Rom. i.

implies the

Divinity of Christ.

The most dignified chief priests] members of the Sanhedrim, put for the whole 14.

body. that call on thy name] descriptive of Christians.

to Christ see vii.

Rom. x. 44

Here, and in v. 21, For prayer addressed 59, xxii. 16, and compare

1 Cor. i. 2 2 Tim. ii. 22. 13 Carmen Christo, quasi Deo dicere" was one ;

;

of the characteristic practices of Christians reported by Pliny to Trajan, EpisL x. 96.

—

19:

16 For I will shew him how great must suffer for my name's

sake.

17 And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that ap-

peared unto thee in the way as thou hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales and he received sight forthwith, and arose,

earnest,

and was baptized.

And when

he had

received

Note C on p. 764 of Liddon's Bampton Lectures exhibits eighty-three instances of devotional addresses to Christ in the Services of our Church. 15. vessel] Instrument has been suggested But Rom. ix. ai, as a preferable rendering. 23 ; 2 Cor. iv. 7 ; 2 Tim. ii. 20, 21 seem to justify A. V. the Gentiles] First in the enumeration, because this was to be his special office, xxii. 15, 21, xxvi. 17; Gal. i. 16 ; 1 Tim. ii. 7; 2 Tim. i. 11. and kings] St Paul bore his testimony before the governors of Cyprus, Achaia, and Judaea ; before Herod, Agrippa, and Nero.

16. phatic.

Fugitives from the perse13. by many] cution in Jerusalem had made their way to

things he

only.

[V.

The pronoun J is emThe word rendered shew means no

/ will she<w]

more than bint, indicate, be must suffer] St Paul reckoned "all patience " among the signs of an Apostle, 2 Cor. xii. 12, and rejoiced in his sufferings, CoL i. 24.

All the terror felt by 17. Brother Saul] Ananias had passed away. even Jesus] The word even is an unneces-

sary and unhappy insertion. that appeared unto thee] That the Lord was seen by him is distinctly stated in v. 27, in xxii. 14, xxvi. 19 ; 1 Cor. ix. 1, xv. 8. mightest receive] Rather, recover thy sight, as Luther and Wesley. 18. immediately] This word is of Tery doubtful authority. as it bad been scales] Cp. Tobit xi. 13. This effect is not noticed in either of St Pauls statements, xxii. and xxvi. And it has been regarded as an appearance observed by A nanias and the bystanders, of which St Luke has here gjven a medical account. Chrvsostom considered it a proof that the blindness had been neither feigned nor imaginary. was baptized] By Ananias, it seems. So

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THE ACTS. IX.

20— 2$.]

meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus. 20 And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. 21 But all that heard him were amazed, and said ; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests ? understood in the * Apostolical Constitutions,' viii. 46, where

it is

said that if any question

4i7

22 But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded

which dwelt

the

Jews

Damascus, proving

that this is very Christ.

23 f And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him 24 "But their laying await was *•£«•««• ^ known of Saul. And they witched the gates day and night to kill him. 25 Then the disciples took him by came hither] Rather, had 00m a ; his purpose was frustrated.

were raised, it was to be remembered that the

22. increased] want on Increasing, was

faithful brother in this case, and the Deacon

enabled to preach more vigorously. confounded] By his complete and exact knowledge of the Old Testament. The word for proving in the Original implies the combination and comparison of various passages one with another, and also, doubtless, with events in the life of Christ here on earth.

in that

special

of the Ethiopian eunuch, had each a appointment from the great High

Priest, Christ Himself. There was no preparatory instruction. All need of that was superseded by the miraculous conversion. But the Sacrament of initiation was not dispensed with, even when the repentance was beyond all doubt, and the commission from Christ was direct There is nothing, in this record, answering to Confirmation. The being filled with the Holy Ghost was more than

an equivalent. 19.

As he needed to

preached Christ]

The

authority

MSS. is very strongly in favour of the other reading, preached Jesus.

The Son of God, used

by St Luke in this passage only of this Book, was a designation of the Messiah commonly received among the Jews, John i. 49. Great stress is laid

on confessing that Jesus is the

Son of God, 1 John iv. 15. Preaching was not of necessity an act of Apostleship. Comp. the case of A polios, xviii. 24 28. The same

—

word here as viii. 5. the synagogues] This plural shows that the Jews were very numerous in Damascus. See

above, v. 2. Is not this he] 21. This was asked by Jews who had heard his preaching, not by Christians, whose inquiries about him must

have been answered before this time. that destroyed'] made havoo o( Plumptre. The same word, used by St Paul, is translated

wasted, Gal. i. 13. on tins name] The v. 14.

23. many days] days, v. 19.

An expansion of certain

Literally,

as a considerable

number of days were being fulfilled. This indefinite form of expression is used by St

was strengthened]

be after the vision (cp. Dan. x. 8), after the self-condemnation, the fasting, and the hours of blindness. the disciples] Ananias was for from being the only Christian in Damascus. In the course of certain days they would be satisfied of the reality of the conversion. 20.

Jewish plot against the life of Saul.

Name of Jesus.

See

Luke for a considerable time, v. 43, xviii. 18

;

compare Exodus ii. n, 23, iv. 18. Paley, *H. P.' v. 7, noted it as favourable to the understanding that this interval embraces the three years, Gal. i. 18, that the same phrase is used to indicate the same period, 1 K. ii. 38, 39. Canon Rawlinson understands one entire year and part of two others, perhaps altogether not more than a year and a half. This time must be understood as intervening between verses 22 and 23, or between irv. 15 and 26 and the former arrangement is the more likely. See the note on Cp. immediately Gal. i. 16. »,

xxvi. 20.

24. laying await] Rather, plot. This, it appears, was after his return from Arabia, in the

third year current after his conversion, a.d. 39, according to Lewin. Bp Pearson inferred that the Jews had not at this time the same influence and authority which they had when St Paul first came to Damascus, or it would have been easy for them to seize him and send him back to Jerusalem. watched the gates] With the sanction of the ethnarch who had charge of the city under Aretas was the name Aretas, 2 Cor. xi. 32. of a dynasty which ruled northern Arabia from Petra, 2 Mace v. 8.

Saul escapes to Jerusalem, and passes on thence to tarsus. 25.

the disciples]

There

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THE ACTS. IX.

4i8 night, and let him

down by the wall

MS. authority for his disciples, converts already made oy the teaching of Saul. by the wait] Probably through the window of a house on the wall, a Cor. xi. 33. Cp. Josh. ii. 15, and 1 S. xix. 12. in a basket] The same word, <rm>pU, is used in the account of the feeding of the Four Thousand, Matt xv. 37, xvi. 10, and Mark ao; as «o<£i"or, a small portable basket, Five Thousand, Matt

is in the feeding of the

ao;

Mark vi. 43; Luke ix. 17; John

vi 13. 26.

And when Saul was come] The autho-

name has been considered doubtful here, as in verse 19. He went to Jerusalem " to see Peter," Gal. i. 18, to announce his conversion and calling to the Apostolic office, not to receive instruction, Gal. i. 11, 12. believed not that be <was a disciple"] Such misgivings could hardly have existed if the whole interval had been spent at Damascus, however interrupted the communication with Jerusalem may nave been at that time in consequence of the hostilities between Herod rity for the insertion of the

Antipas and Aretas. Any rumour of his conversion may have faded out of memory during his absence in Arabia; and of his labours in Damascus, after his return, no account may have reached Jerusalem.

—

27. Barnabas] Seeiv. 36, xi. a a a6. Being of Cyprus, which was annexed to Cilicia as an integral portion of that province, he might easily have heard particulars concerning Saul

from friends in Syria. to the apostles] Only St Peter and St James the Less, peculiarly ministers of the circumcision, were in Jerusalem at the time, Gal. i. 18, 19. It was not till his second visit, fourteen years later, that he saw St John, Gal. ii. 9.

coming in and going out] Cp. i. ai. implied, xxii. 18, that his stay in Jerusalem on this occasion was short. From Gal.

28.

3T.

preached boldly at Damascus in the

26 And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had

xiv.

—

name of Jesus.

in a basket.

viii. 8,

[v.

we learn that it was limited to fifteen

days, in the course of which he received Christ's command to go to the Gentiles.

28 And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem.

29 And he spake boldly

the

name of the Lord Jesus, ana disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay him.

30 Which when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus. 31 Then had the churches rest disputed] The same word as in vu This may have been in the same synagogue in which he had argued with St Stephen. Grecians] Jews who knew Greek, Syr. Cp. vi. 1 xi. ao. There can be no doubt of Grecians being the true reading, though the Alexandrine MS. has Greeks, Saul would not have had any discussion with Greeks, nor would they have

29.

plotted against his life. It was natural for a Cilician to turn to Hellenists; and, having been present at the death of St Stephen, he would feel a special interest in those who had been the bitterest assailants of the first martyr. went about to slay bim] Cp. xxi. 31, xxvi. ai. this mode of answering there had already been recourse in Damascus, v. a3. The bitterness of those with whom he thought it right to argue was more intense than that of the native residents in Jerusalem.

30.

knew] had come to know. bim down] To the sea.

tbey brought

The

Apostle at this time was expressly directed by a vision to quit Jerusalem, xxii. 17, 18. to C*sarea] Cp. viii. 40; that he might sail thence to Tarsus, Some have thought, from the mention of Syria and Cilicia, Gat i. a 1, that he went overland, and that the inland city, Caesarea Philippi, is meant. But Carsarea, without any adjunct, is correctly understood as designating Caesarea Stratonis, the residence of the Roman governor, on the sea coast. Saul may have hoped that in his native city he might have the success denied him in Jerusalem. The time of his leaving Tarsus is not stated. Bp Pearson assigned three years to his journeying through Syria and Cilicia. However this may have been, it had been completed before Barnabas came to Tarsus to seelc him, xi. a5- The narrative, from this point, is not resumed till xi. 30. For subsequent visits of the Apostle to Jerusalem see xi. 30, xv. 4, xxi. 17 ; this last being in accomplishment of his purpose, xix. ai. sent bim forth] There is nothing to imply whether by sea or along the coast The latter, by some thought more likely, commended itself decidedly to Paley's approval, * H.P.' v. il 4.

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THE ACTS. IX.

• 3*—35]

throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified ; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were

man named jEneas, which had kept his

bed eight years, and was sick of

the palsy.

34 And Peter said unto him, jEneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole

multiplied.

419

^ And

came

pass,

arise,

and make thy bed.

And he

Peter passed throughout all quarterj, he came down also to the saints which dwelt at Lydda. 33 And there he found a certain

35 And all that dwelt at Lydda and Saron saw him, and turned to

Respite from Persecution.

St Peter at Lydda and at Joppa.

31. the churches'] If this reading were acquiesced in it would be the first instance of the plural ; but the singular, supported by the best MSS., the Syriac, and the Vulgate, and followed by Luther, has been adopted in all recent critical editions. Gal. i. a, a a are the earliest unquestionable instances of the plural. rest] Suspension of persecution for the first time since the death of Stephen, viii. 1. The conversion of Saul contributed to this. But the troubles occasioned by Caligula's insisting on his statue being placed in the Temple engrossed the attention of the Jews, Josephus, 1 xviii. viii. 7-^9, 'J. 11. x.; Philo's 'Embassy to Cams;' Tacitus, Hist. 1 v. 9.

32. Peter] He had not left Jerusalem during the persecution. Now he availed himself of an opportunity for showing that he was mindful of the charge repeated to him, have not data to John xxi. 15—17. enable us to determine positively whether this Apostolic circuit is to be understood as following v. 31, or whether St Luke, not adhering to the order of time, resumes here from viii. 25. all quarters] Brethren or dleciplea would have been a much happier supplementary word, as the Vulgate might have suggested. All is to be regarded as masculine here, as in

Jewish authorities and Roman officials were alike interested in preventing any disturbances which might afford a pretext for the Emperor's severity.

Persecution

commenced again after

his death, xii. 1.

Their constitution and organizaedified] tion were completed. The following words point to their spiritual condition and progress. the fear of the Lord] Plumptre remarks that this, so frequent in the Old Testament, is in the

New Testament found only here, and n, where it is rendered the terror

in a Cor. v.

of the Lord. the comfort]

has been thought that this

was more appropriate to a time of persecution, and that for a season of tranquillity the other meaning of the word, exhortation or warning, conveyed under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, is preferable. But a few words of Bp Bull may help us to be well content that A.V. followed the Vulgate. U A seemingly incongruous couple, fear and joy, fear and hope, or comfort. But indeed these two are so far from being inconsistent that they can hardly be separated. The more a man fears to offend God, and the greater his care is to please Him, the greater his hope and comfort will be. The more we fear, the less reason we have to fear ; #. e. if we fear God, we need not fear any thing else There is many a one who might have been in a much more comfortable state of mind than he is, if he had minded his comfort less and his duty more.*1 Discourse in.

arose immediately.

the Lord.

x. 36.

Lydda] In the Old Testament Lod, 1 Chro. ia; Ezra ii. 33; Neh. vii. 37, xi. 35; about 18 miles N.W. of Jerusalem, on a gentle eminence in the great maritime plain of Sharon, on the main road into the interior. Its inhabitants were sold as slaves by Cassius, Josephus, xiv. xi. a. It was burned by Cestius, 4 J. W. 11. xix. 1, at a time when, with the exception of fifty, the male population had gone to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. It was a great seat of Jewish viii.

having seventy schools, Lightfoot, A bishop of Lydda sat in the Nicene Council a.d. 335, at Constantinople For a time it 381, and at Chalcedon 451. was named Diospolis; and a* Council held there in 415, having acquitted Pelagius, was called by Jerome, "ilia miserabilis Synodus Diospolitana." learning,

on Matt. xii.

jEneas, paralytic for eight years, is

healed,

33. jEneas] A Hellenist name. Some have doubted whether he was a convert, because St Luke does not call him a disciple; but St Peter's words imply that he was a believer.

34. make thy bed] for thyself what for eight years has been done for thee. His rising immediately was a proof at once of the

strength of his faith of the cure.

35.

and of the completeness

Saron] the Sharon.

The article is

prefixed here, as it is invariably in the

New Test.—Vol. II.

Old

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THE ACTS. IX.

420

36 % Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which

by interpretation is called Dorcas: woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did. this

37 And it came to pass in those was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber. 38 And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent unto him two men, desiring him that he would not ' delay to come to them. 39 Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him days, that she

lOr.ie

Testament.

extending from Joppa to Caesarea, extremely fruitful, Isai. xxxiii. 9, xxxv. 2. turned to the Lord] To Jesus Christ This is said of those who acknowledged the Old Testament £p. 2 Cor. iii. 16. Converts from among the Gentiles are said to turn to God; xv. 19, xx. ax; 1 Thess. i. 9.

AND TABITHA RECALLED TO LIFE. Joppa] Now Jaffa; in Josh. xix. 46,

36. Japho

; a place of very great antiquity, the port of Jerusalem from the time of Solomon, a Chro. ii. 16. This is the first reference to it in Scripture since Jonah i. 3. It was twice 1 destroyed by the Romans, Josephus, 'J. Its Bishop sat in the 11. xviii. 10, in. ix. 2. Council of Ephesus, a.d. 431. The Syriac equivalent for the Tabitba] Greek Dorcas, a gazelle. The name was expressive of personal beauty, Prov. v. 19, Song of SoL ii. 9, 17, iv. 5, vii. 3. She is the first woman named in this history after Sapphira. and almsdeeds] There would have been no scope for these if community of goods, literally understood, had prevailed among believers at Her mode of helping the poor was Toppa. better than the giving of money, which is often spent unwisely. she did] The tense implies, she was in the habit of doing. No hint of her age or condi-

turning him to the body said, TabiAnd she opened her eyes and when she saw Peter, she sat up. 41 And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her tha, arise.

alive.

42 And it was known throughout all

37. an upper chamber] May we not understand the large upper room, used for purposes of devotion? The interment was delayed in the hope of the Apostle's arrival. There is no notice of any great lamentation. Chrysostom held that death had come to be regarded more calmly, x Thess. iv. 13 ig.

—

Joppa; and many believed in the

Lord.

43 And it came to pass, that he many days in Joppa with one Simon a tanner.

tarried

38.

nigb to Joppa]

About twenty miles.

that be would not delay] The unquestionably true reading is in the direct form, Delay not to coma to us. There was perhaps no definite expectation, only a general hope of

comfort in their sorrow. 39. widows] A class specially cared for by the Church, 1 Tim. v. 3 16, remembered See the in the intercessions of our Litany. note on vi. 1. coats and garments] Inner and outer clothing, Matt. v. 40, which they were then and there wearing, as is implied by the participle

—

being in the middle voice. which] how many in the Original, indicating the largeness of her bounty.

tion in life is given.

3*—43-

weeping, and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them. 40 But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and

A level tract between the moun-

tains of the Holy Land and the Mediterranean,

[v.

made] was in the habit of making. put them allforth] After the example of his Lord in the house of J aims, Luke viiL

40.

Mark v. 40.

Christ retained the parents Elijah and Elisha excluded even the mother, 1 K. xvii. 19, 23;

;

and three of His disciples.

2 K. iv. 33. kneeled down, and prayed] Having in mind the original commission, Matt x. 8. No prayer was offered by Christ. turning him to the body] The Apostle must have felt assured that his prayer was heard, and that the power of his Lord was in him. St Peter's use of the Syriac name has been regarded as an indication that he was using that

language.

41. presented her alive] The sorrow of the widows was expressly noticed, their exulting thankfulness for the restoration to life is passed by in silence.

43. many days] A long time, as in v. 13. A large, busy seaport afforded many opportunities for making the Gospel known.

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THE ACTS. X.

'-4-J

CHAPTER X. I Cornelius, a devout man, 5 being commanded

by an angel, sendetk for Peter; 1 1 who by a vision 15, 10 is taught not to despise the Gentiles. 34 As he prcacheth Christ to Cornelius and his company, 44 the Holy Ghost folictk on them, 48 and they are baptized,

THERE was

a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian handy

a tanner] In Jewish estimation an unclean and degrading occupation, because of the frequent contact with dead animals which it involved. Graves, carcases, and tanners' workshops were all to be kept at a distance of fifty cubits from the walls of any town. If a tanner kept his trade a secret, a contract of marriage into which he had entered became null and void. Schoettgen. The converts at Toppa were, it seems, of lowly condition, or better Quarters would surely have been provided for le Apostle. He was quite free from any ceremonial scruple in this case, but hesitated to go to a Gentile in high position.

Cornelius, his character and vision. .

Chap. X. 1. Qesarea] See viii. 40. The scene of this conversion was well selected for making generally known the fact that the new faith was to extend beyond the limits of Judaism. band] Cohort, as xxvii.

A cohort, as

generally understood, in its full strength, was one-sixth of a legion, i.e. a thousand men and

a hundred and fifty horsemen, under a tribune, xxi. 31. But from the early days of the Republic there had been cohorts, not incorporated in any legion, having distinguishing names, e.g. Conors militum Italicorum voluntaria, quae est in Syria. Gruter, * Inscr/ p. 434. This cohort, called Italian, as having, at all events originally, consisted of Italians, acted as the body-guard of the Roman governor, who could thoroughly rely on their '• fidelity. Separate, independent cohorts were sometimes formed out of the choice of the legionary soldiers, and were esteemed more honourable than the legions," Biscoe, . . .

A devout man]

fully given in v. n.

His character is more

He was not a proselyte,

18, 34, 35* 45, xi. 1, 3, 18, xv. 7. Although he had not renounced heathenism, he was not an idolater. He was under the influence of the Old Testament Scriptures, and can hardly have foiled to hear something of the teaching and miracles of Christ, through Philip, who had settled in Caesarea, though it seems that he was not at home at this time. One of the ery many who in that age were thoroughly

A devout man, and one that

God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. 3 He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. 4 And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? feared

with their ancestral and national Cornelius had the honest and good heart for the reception of the good seed. He turned to the light, and made the best of that which was allowed him, and therefore more was given to him. Whether his conversion was antecedent to those in xi. ao, there are no adequate data for determining. They were well prepared for all bis bouse] compliance with the Divine direction, xi. 14. to t be people] According to the distinction observed in the use of this word, xxvi. 17, 23, xxviii. 17, to the Jewish section of the population of Caesarea. This must have been in striking contrast with the usual practice of Italian soldiers, who were too often men of corrupt lives, like wolves in their treatment of the provincials generally, and with special hatred and contempt for the Jews. alivay] Cornelius observed the Jewish stated hours of prayer, 3, 30; but did not restrict his devotions to them. More is indicated than mere fidelity to a round of ceremonial observances. His practice was regulated by a higher standard than that of many who profess and call themselves Christians. St Luke's estimate of the importance of this conversion is shown by the vision being told thrice: here, below, 30—33, and xl dissatisfied religion,

This account

is given at greater length and more circumstantially than that of

13,

14.

thousands at Jerusalem. The first-fruits of the Gentiles, without the intervention of any stage of Judaism, as in the case of the Samaritans and the Ethiopian, was of the highest importance in this history, and the account is accordingly given with a fulness of detail little short of that in the case of St Paul 3.

p. 310. •

42 r

He saw] While at prayer, v. 30.

When awake, not in a trance, as St Peter saw his vision, v. 10, xi. 5. The Angel showed himself in human form, v. 30. evidently]

Cp. departed, v. 7. tbe ninth hour]

The time of the evening pan.

ix. ai ; about three o'clock in the afternoon, daylight still clear

oblation,

iii.

1 ;

and bright. 4. looked on bint] With the attention required to satisfy himself that he had more than a fellow-man before him.

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THE ACTS. X.

422

And he said unto him. Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a me-

[T.

S— !*•

these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa.

9 f On the morrow, as they went And now send men to Joppa, on their journey, and drew nigh unto

morial before God.

and

for one

call

Simon, whose sur-

name is Peter:

He lodgeth with one Simon a

tanner, side:

whose house

shall

tell

is by the sea thee what thou

oughtest to do.

the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour io And he became very hungry, and would have eaten : but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, 1 And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the

7 And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on

four corners, earth:

him continually 8 And when he had declared all

fourfooted beasts of the earth,

come up] As incense, Rev. viii. 3, 4, t. 8 as a sweet savour, Lev. ii. 9, v. 12, vL 15 ;

" The prayer of the humble Phil. iv. 18. pierceth the clouds," Ecclus. xxxv. 17. Cornelius had all the faith which his circumstances permitted; faith which, however limited and feeble, was the basis of prayer and " Cornelius, for his honest piety, almsgiving. correspondent to the portion of knowledge vouchsafed him, was so acceptable to God that in regard thereto he obtained from Him the revelation of truth in a peculiar and extraordinary manner." Barrow, Sermon 73-

Joppa]

About 40 miles from Cae-

sarea.

one Simon] The word one need not have been in italics. Lachmann and Tischendorf have admitted it into the Original Meyer thought that it might have been omitted by copyists from a feeling that it was unsuitable for the great Apostle. Peter] The Greek name is subjoined as likely to be more acceptable to Gentile ears. The keys of the kingdom of Heaven had been given to this Apostle. He had opened that kingdom to Jews on the day of Pentecost ; and now, the time having come for the admission of Gentiles, he was sent for.

be shall,.. to do] This clause must be 6. considered as an interpolation from v. 32 and xi.

14.

7. departed] This word does not imply vanishing on a sudden. a devout soldier] Military life does not preclude personal religion. Honourable mention is made of centurions, xxvii. 43; Matt viii.

5—13, xxvii. 54. 8.

declared all these things]

The Apostle,

on the other hand, made only a distant reference to his vision, v. 2 8.

and

down

let

12 Wherein were

all

the

manner of and

St Peter prepared by a Vision for the application from cornelius. the housetop] 0. Flat, according to the usage of the East, protected by a parapet,

Deut xxii. 8, accessible by an outside staircase, xx. 10; Matt xxiv. 17 ; Luke v. 19, xiL 3, xvii. 31.

The housetop was suitable for privacy,

1 S. ix. 25, and was used for various purposes,

Neh. viii. 16 ;

1 S. ix.

26 ; Jer. xix. 13.

Noon, one of the set bonis of prayer, Ps.lv. 17 ; Dan. vi. 10. the sixth hour]

10. very hungry] The sixth hour was the usual meal-time with the learned among the Jews. Schoettgen. Literally, an ecstasy^ or fell into a trance] rapture, fell on him; marking more distinctly that it was supernatural The word is the same that is used in LXX. of the deep sleep of Abraham, Gen. xv. 12. Very important revelations were made to St Paul when in a similar condition, xxii. 17 ; 2 Cor. xiL 2. descending] Its coming down from the 11. opened heaven was an assurance that no defilement could be involved. The words unto him, lacking in the best MSS., have been omitted

by critical editors. at the four corners] This has been, not without good reason, understood of the extremities of the vessel attached to the edges of the opening in Heaven. But Augusta's view, " Quatuor lineae quibus vas illud anneoM tebatur, Serm. 149, 'de Verbis Act. x. 10/ has been generally adopted. A very interesting illustration of this, supplied by a passage in Diodorus Siculus, may be seen in Bp Middleton on the Greek Article. Chrysostom, as well as Augustin, considered that the four cardinal points of the compass and the wide applicability of the lesson conveyed by the vision were symbolically expressed.

12.

all manner of fourfooted beasts]

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13— 27.]

THE ACTS. X.

wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. 14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. 15 And the voice spake unto him rain the second time, What God hath eansed, that call not thou common. 16 This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven. 17 Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house, and stood before the gate,

whole animal creation, without any distinction of clean and unclean. Christ doubtless observed the legal classification; which is noticed Gen. vii. 1, viii. 10, long before the legal enactment, Lev. xi. He did not cancel the statute, though some of His recorded teaching, which St Peter must have heard, showed that the prohibitions were not to be of permanent or universal obligation, Matt. xv. 1 1, 1 7, 1 8; Mark vii. 19. The distinction of meats was regarded as suggestive of distinctions among men. The lesson of this vision was that the distinction of meats was withdrawn, and that Gentiles were no longer to be considered unclean, xv. 9. " Non Petro carnalis cibus offerebatur, sed mundatus Augustin, Serm. Cornelius nuntiabatur." cclxvi. 6. Cp. Eph, i. 9, 10, iii. 5, 6. The Rabbins taught that the distinction between clean and unclean meats was to cease in the days of the Messiah. and wild beasts] These words, not represented in Syr. and Vulg., were rejected by Griesbach, Lachmann, and Tischendorf.

18 And called, and asked whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter, were lodged there. 19 11 While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee.

20 Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing for I have sent them. %i Then Peter went down to the men which were sent unto him from Cornelius ; and said, Behold, I am he whom ye seek : what is the cause wherefore ye are come ? 22 And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy :

three times, that the Apostle's mind might be more deeply impressed with the importance of

the lesson. again] immediately ported reading.

same word is translated defiled in Mark viL 1. St Peter's feeling was that of loathing. Cp. Ezek. iv. 14; Dan. i. 8, 11; 1 Mace. vi. 18, 19, and vii. This prepared him for dealing gently and wisely with the censure which he incurred, xi. 2.

done thrice]

the better sup-

when the Apostle's mind was exercised about the purport of the vision,

Cornelius arriving

solved his doubts. Rather, the vestibule. the gate]

18.

called]

To the servant who had charge

of the gate, xu. 13

;

John xviii. 16, 17.

St Peter had not heard the 10. inquiries made by the messengers of Cornelius. The purport of the vision was explained to him by a supplementary revelation, which is an incidental evidence of the Personality of the Spirit]

the Holy Ghost.

The word three does not ap-

pear in many important MSS.

The same word as James i. 6. / have sent them] Through the Angel's message, v. 5. The pronoun is emphatic: 20.

doubting nothing]

Rom. iv. ao, xiv. 13

not Cornelius.

;

St Peter's obedience

was

prompt and complete. which were sent unto him from CorThese words must be regarded as an interpolation. Recent critical editors have followed Griesbach in omitting them. 21.

cleamed] Declared to be clean, x Tim. iv. 4 ; Titus i. 15. See Burgon on the last twelve verses of St Mark, p. 180. call not thou common] The Original is stronger ; literally, Pollute thou not, following the Hebrew idiom, Lev. xiii. 3, 6. 15.

16.

17. doubted] This shows that the vision had not been suggested, as some have supposed, by any previous meditation on the conversion of the Gentiles. The messengers from

three men]

14. common] Unclean ceremonially, apart from the recognised distinction, by contact with the miscellaneous contents of the vessel. The

423

The Voice was

heard

nelius]

22.

of good report]

Cp. Luke vii. 4, 5-

Cornelius was respected even by those who groaned under the Roman yoke.

was warned from Cod]

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THE ACTS. X.

424

angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee.

23 Then called he them in, and lodged them. And on the morrow Peter went away with them, and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied

him.

ing, Stand

man. 27

[v.

23—29.

up ; I myself also am a

And as he talked with him, he

went in, and found many that were come together. 28 And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep

24 And the morrow after they entered into Caesarea. And Cornelius waited for them, and had called together his kinsmen and near

company, or come unto one of another nation ; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man

friends.

common or unclean.

And as Peter was coming in,

Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. 26 But Peter took him up, sayii. 11; Luke ii. 26; Heb. xi. 7. Cornelius had made his vision known while he yet knew of no result. There had been no delusion, and there was no contrivance after the event.

as in Matt.

had learned the and the time came for his inculcating it, 1 Pet iv. 9. The tanner must have been a convert. went away] There is very strong authority for rose up and went. 23.

lodged

them]

lesson of the vision well ;

St Peter may have foreseen the desirableness of having unexceptionable witnesses to prevent misrepresentation. At all events the expediency was demonstrated afterwards, xi. 2. certain brethren]

Six, xi. 11.

St Peter goes to Cjesarea. the morrow after] The fourth day from the vision of Cornelius, w. 3, 8, 9, 23. They halted for a night on their return as they had done on their journey out. waited for them] was waiting. He had not allowed his mind to be distracted.

24.

near friends] Intimate. He may have had both kinsmen and friends under his command. He had no thought of keeping to himself the light which had been granted to him. have here incidental proof of the prevalence of

a craving for more and better light. Without this, educated men of good position would hardly have come to listen to an obscure Jewish stranger.

St Peter welcomed by Cornelius. 25. fell

coming in] Into the house.

down at it Vts bis feet]

Cp. v. 27.

The words of the

Angel, reported xi. 14, had given Cornelius a very exalted estimate of the Apostle's office and power. Homage from a Roman meant much more than if offered by an Oriental, with whom it might have been no more than

29 Therefore came I unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was sent for: I ask therefore for what intent ye have sent for me ? ordinary courtesy, Gen. xix. 1, xxiii. 7, xxxiii. 3, xlii. 6.

In like manner Paul and Cp. Rev. xix. 10, xxii. 8, Christ, on the contrary, accepted any and 9. all homage. 27. be went in] To the chamber, in which Cornelius, to the friends were assembled. show the greater respect, had gone out to meet

26.

Stand up]

Barnabas, xiv. 14.

SfPeter.

28. be said unto tbem] Presumably in Greek, which was in familiar use at Joppa, as at Csesarea, and other sea-coast towns of Palestine.

an unlawful thing]

For this feeling com-

pare John xviii. 28. The distinction of meats tended to sever the Jews from other people. The Pharisees founded on it the holding of all It was an unlawful thing Gentiles unclean. by the teaching of the Rabbins, not by the law 6 referred immeof Moses. Deut vii. 2 diately to the seven nations; and, if it had admitted a wider application, it would have required a very bigoted commentary to make it any warrant for such feeling and conduct as were attributed to the Jews by Tacitus, ' Hist.' Josephus, V. $t and by Juvenal, xiv. 103. 4 c. Apion.' II. 28, 29, 36, defended his

—

countrymen against similar misrepresentations. come unto]

Enter the house of.

Conversa-

Bentley would have omitted this word, which is not represented in Syr., but is in all MSS., as a margiBut the nal gloss on the preceding word. prohibitions are distinct ;—one more stringent than the other. Not only familiar intercourse, but even as much as entering the house was forbidden. This word foreigner. of another nation] was carefully and kindly selected, to avoid the use of heathen. There is no such delicacy of feeling in v. 45 or xi. 3.

tion and traffic were allowed.

29.

I ask]

St Peter knew all ; but it was

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&•]

THE ACTS. X.

30 And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour ; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, 31 And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God. 32 Send therefore to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose surname is Peter * he is lodged in the house of one Simon a tanner by the sea side :

who, when he cometh,

shall

speak unto thee. expedient that the statement of Cornelius should be made in the presence of his friends. It has been thought that in w. 30—33 a variation of the style from that of the general narrative is observable.

33 Immediately therefore I sent and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now therefore to thee ; are we

COPNELIUS RELATES HIS VISION.

32. Send therefore to Joppa] The Angel had no commission to give instruction. He only directed Cornelius to the earthen vessel to which the treasure of heavenly truth had been committed. Our Lord did not, in the first instance, teach Saul, but referred him to Ananias. by the sea side] The subsequent words of this verse, not found in K, A, B, and Vulgate, have been omitted in recent critical editions.

33. tbou bast <well done] A courteous and classical expression of thankfulness, PhiL iv. 14*

Another reading, before thee, before God] which has the support of D, Syr. and Vulg., was decidedly preferred by Bengel and Stier. At the end of the verse, by the Lord is accepted by Lachmann, Tischendorf, and Tregelles, on the authority of K, A, B, C, £, and the Vulgate.

Sf Peter's Discourse to Cornelius

AND HIS FRIENDS, 34. opened bis mouth] See above, viii. 3$. I perceive] An inference from God's having heard the prayers of a Gentile, deemed him worthy of the light of the Gospel, and sent

all

here present before

God,

to hear all things that are commanded

thee of God.

34 1F Then Peter opened bis mouth, and said, a Of a truth I perceive that **>«*• «* Ronua.ix. God is no respecter of persons lPeL, J7 35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteous:

ness, is accepted with him.

36 The word which God seht unto the children of Israel, preaching an Angel to direct him to it. What the Apostle was now witnessing was more distinctly satisfactory than the vision itself had been.

no respecter of persons] different

30. Four days ago] In exact accordance with verses 9, 23, 24. The messengers were two days on their return, as they had been two days in going to Joppa. At the time of my vision I ovaj faJ ting] four days ago, I had been fasting to this hour Not, at which we are now assembled here. as it has been misunderstood, that he had been fasting for four days previously to the vision, or for the same interval after it. The word fasting is not in four of the oldest MSS.

425

In a sense quite

from that in which this expression

occurs, Deut. x. 17; 1 Chro. xix. 7; Job xxxiv. 19, where the reference is to the administration of justice exclusively. Here, as Rom. ii. 11, the meaning is, that the distinction between Jews and Gentiles had been done away, that both were alike admissible to the privileges and blessings of the New Dispensation. For the contemptuous aversion with which the Gentiles were regarded, see 2 Esdras vi. 56 59.

—

35. word.

in every nation]

Every is the emphatic

u Non

indifferentismus religionum, sed indifferentia nationum hie asseritur," Bengel. Compare our eighteenth Article. If

modes of faith had been visions

indifferent, the

two

and the journey to Joppa would have

been superfluous. feareth him] Duty towards God. nvorketb righteousness] Duty towards our neighbour. accepted] Rather, acceptable; capable of becoming a Christian when the opportunity is granted, not of obtaining salvation without Christianity. The Apostles had not rightly understood their Lord's words, i. 8 ; Matt,

ao ; Mark xvi. 15.

They persisted

in regarding circumcision as

an indispensable

xxviii. 19,

preliminary.

36.

The word which God sent]

The con-

struction here is peculiar, and somewhat obscure. At this great epoch in the history of the Church, the breaking down of the middle

wall of partition, in which so prominent a party had been assigned to St Peter, he, with the marvellous preparation for it which had been granted to him, must have been under the influence of very deep and strong emotion. And it seems as if he made an earnest, and perhaps hurried, effort, to give utterance to

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THE ACTS. X.

426

peace by Jesus Christ: (he

Lord

of all :) 37 That word, / say y ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached 38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power who went about doing good, and healing all that were op:

thoughts by which his mind was not only filled, but overpowered. Three accusatives are put forward : 1st, the word, in v. 36 ; and, the word, in v. 37 ; 3rd, Jesus of Nazareth, in v. 38, all of them governed by/* know. And it is to be noted that the word in v. 37 is quite distinct from that in *v. 36, in apposition with it, and explanatory of its meaning. Ye know top Xoyoy, the teaching or message which God

—

sent ; Ye know, again, to prjfia, the matter, or the fact, the subject or basis of to* Xoyov, which took place throughout all Judaea, the area of our Lord's teaching and miracles;

Once more, ye know Jesus of Nazareth. preaching peace] publishing glad tidings of peace, as in

Peace, not as it has been arbitrarily explained, peace between Jews and Gentiles; twt peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ be is Lord of all] This parenthesis was to save Cornelius from regarding Him as no more than a teacher or prophet. of all] All is to be understood, not with Luther, as neuter, but as masculine, cp. ix. 32 ; Lord of Jews and Gentiles alike.

37.

Isai.

lii.

This might

ye know]

fairly

be as-

sumed if the Italian cohort had been for any time quartered at Caesarea, where Philip resided and had doubtless made converts. Christ Himself had been not far from Caesarea when He visited the borders of Tyre and Sidon.

was published]

Rather, which happened.

began from Galilee]

Cp. Luke xxiii. 5.

38. anointed] This was understood by Cyril of Jerusalem, by Ambrose, Jerome, and Bede, as pointing primarily to the Incarnation; the Unction being supplemented at Christ's Baptism. See Pearson on the Creed, Article II. Athanasius referred it to the Baptism only.

and with power]

In vi. 3, wisdom, in xi.

51, joy, are mentioned in connection with the Holy Ghost, through whom all the manifold gifts of grace are con»4, faith, in

xiii.

veyed. In this and the two following verses Bede remarked that the Apostle comprised all the His lanchief articles of the Christian faith. guage concerning the dignity of Christ was

[• 37—41-

pressed of the devil; for with him.

God was

39 And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem ; whom they slew and hanged on a tree

40 Him God raised up the

third

day, and shewed him openly ; 41 Not to all the people, but unto

witnesses chosen before of God, even

subdued from consideration of the capacity of his hearers for receiving the assertion of it. oppressed of]

;

Rather,

tyrannised oyer

what strong contrast with

God's

The deliverance chastisements ! wrought by Christ for demoniacs was a token of His delivering the Gentile world from the bondage in which it was held by Satan, xxvL 18; Col. i. 13. This, and the reference to the Prophets in v. 43, show that St Peter understood that those whom he was addressing, though Gentiles, were more or less acquainted with the Jewish Scriptures. God was with him] In this verse we have the three Persons in the Blessed Trinity. fatherly

30. And we] The Apostles. Cp. v. 41, and i. 8. slew and banged] Le. slew by hanging, as in v. 30. Hanged on a tree is an Old Testament phrase, selected that the guilt might be fastened on the Jews, although the instrumentality of the Romans had been employed.

40. Version,

The Rheims openly] much nearer to the Original, gave

shewed him

Him to be made manifest. 41. Not to all the people] " This is an announcement which no impostor would ever have made." Paley. Accuracy of knowledge was the great requisite, not a multitude of testimonies. The Apostles themselves needed to touch and eat with their Lord that they might be assured of His Resurrection. Had

He shown Himself to all the people, some would have acquiesced; others would have doubted, or denied; and the expression of conviction would have lost its value in the confused division of the multitude. Chrysostom regarded the restriction

mercifully intended ; any more general manifestation would only have aggravated the guilt of that generation, Horn. iv. 7, 'in Princip. Act.' chosen before] Philo, 4 de Praemiis et Poenis/ § 9, uses the same word of the selection of Moses by God. The witnesses were chosen

because of their familiar acquaintance with Him for some time previously to the Resurrection, which

was to be the subject of their

testimony.

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THE ACTS. X.

42—48]

to us,

who did eat and

drink with

him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. *J«3*. Micah 7.

43 *To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.

44 1F While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. eat and drink']

There is no literal distinct

statement of the latter in the Evangelists, Luke xxiv. 41 43 ; John xxi. 13 ; but it is implied Bede understood it to be exin the meal pressly mentioned as a fulfilment of Matt

—

xxvi. 29.

42. unto the people] The Jews. The preaching of repentance ana remission of sins among all nations was to begin at Jerusalem, Luke xxiv. 47.

ordained] The same word as in xvii. 31. In Rom. L 4, it is rendered declared quick and dead] Explained figuratively by several of the Fathers, whom Olshausen has followed. But it is clear from 1 Tim. iv. 1 1 Pet iv. 5, and 1 Thess iv. 16, 17, that the ordinary acceptation is correct Judgment to come was the first subject on which St Paul dwelt, xvii. 31, when, as St Peter here, he was to make the Gospel known to those who had not been born Jews*

427

45 And thev of the circumcision which believea were astonished, as

many

came with

Peter, because

that on the Gentiles also was poured

out the gift of the Holy Ghost. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then

answered Peter, 47 Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?

And he commanded them to

this case

any more than it had been after St

Paul's miraculous conversion.

45. they of the circumcision] The brethren from Joppa, v. 23, six in number, xl 11. were astonished] Because uncircumcision and ceremonial uneleanness had been no bar to the reception of the firstfruits of the Gentiles into the Church on a footing of equality with the converts on the Day of Pentecost. This exceptional bestowal of the Holy Ghost, previously to Baptism, must have helped those who had accompanied St Peter to overcome their scruples about the admission of the uncircumcised.

The general drift of prophetic testimony is to

46. speak with tongues] Not with other What was said tongues here, or in xix. 6. was not in the way of instruction, but in rapturous thanksgiving for their having been In 1 Cor. xiv. grafted into Christ's Church. 1, 4, 13, 14, 19, 17, it is observable that the prefixing of the word unknown is a gloss of our A.V., for which there is no precedent in any previous translation except the Geneva,

be understood. It is not necessary that instances should be found in each Prophet singly. Cp. iii. 18. whosoever believeth] Gentiles as well as Jews, Rom. x. 13.

which inserted strange, Chrysostom understood that, in the first instance, Baptism was accompanied by a gift which appealed to the senses, in gracious condescension to a generation which had little

43.

alt the prophets]

Cp. Luke xxiv. 27.

u—

WHO RECEIVE THE HOLY GHOST, AND ARE BAPTIZED. St Peter had been prepared to speak at considerable length, xl 15. In some visible mode, the Hofy Ghost fell] and in His extraordinary influences, v. 46, xi. At Samaria, viii. 16, 17, this took place 15. In this case there had been after Baptism. neither Baptism nor laying on of hands. This descent of the Holy Ghost, taking place when it did, showed, independently of the Apostle, that the admission of Gentiles was the will of Heaven. It decided in the negative the question of circumcision being a necessary preliminary. Although the grace of God is not restricted to its appointed channels, the Sacrament of Baptism was not dispensed with in

44. yet stake]

capacity for discriminating spiritual Horn. in. 4, 4 in Princip. Act'

gifts,

47. Can any man forbid] This question was addressed to the six brethren who accompanied St Peter.

water] the water, sc. of Baptism. the express language of the

After

Lord Himself,

John hi. 5 ; Matt xxviii. 19 ; Mark xvi. 16, the outward visible sign was required even when the inward spiritual grace had already been incontestably given. The water was to be brought to the converts; and this suggests affusion, not immersion. In the same measure, and as well as we] with similar results, as on the Day of Pentecost ; cp. xv. 8. 48.

commanded them to be baptized]

The

Apostles did not often administer Baptism,

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THE ACTS. X. XI.

428

be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry cer-

CHAPTER XL Peter, being accused for going in to the Gentiles, 5 makcth his defence, 18 which is accepted. 19 The gospel b:ing spread into

Phenice,

and Cyprus, and Antioch, Bar-

26 The dis11 They send relief to the brethren in Judaa in time offamine.

nabas is sent to confirm them.

ciples there are first called Christians.

AND the apostles and brethren /V. that were in Judaea heard that Gentiles

the

had also received the

word of God. 2

And when Peter was come up

to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him,

3 Saying, Thou wentest in to men x Cor. i. 14

— 17, as neither did Christ Him-

John iv. 2. The administration by one of St Peter's companions was a strong ex-

self,

pression of their hearty concurrence in the admission of the Gentiles. in the name of the Lord ] In the name of

Jesus Christ must be considered the true reading. See the note on ri. 38. to tarry] He consenttd, and during that interval ate with Gentiles, xi. 3.

St Peter reproached at Jerusalem. Chap. XI. 1. in Judaea] Rather, throughout Judaea. Caesarea, as compared with Jerusalem, was so largely occupied by Gentiles that it was felt to stand in contrast to the Holy Land. See the note on viii. 40. tbe Gentiles bad also] Rather, that the Gentiles also, i.e. as well as the Samaritans. %

Cornelius and his friends were representatives; their Baptism was a precedent 2.

Peter] And the six brethren from Joppa

with him, v. 12. they... of the eireumcision] This has been by some understood of proselytes, jealous of any being admitted on easier terms than they had been; by others, of the high Jewish party

who held circumcision to be absolutely indisIt has been said that the heretic Cerinthus was among them, and that he was one of those who went to Antioch to enforce circumcision, xv. 1. He is also charged with taking part in the attack upon St Paul, xxL Burton could find no older authority »7, 28. for these statements than Epiphanius, u who

pensable.

wrote late in the fourth century, and is by no means worthy of implicit credit" Bampton *

uncircumctsed, and

didst

eat

with

them.

4 But Peter rehearsed the matter

tain days.

[v.

Lectures, 174. It has been asked whether any Apostles

from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying, 5 I was in the city of Joppa praying and in a trance I saw a :

vision,

A certain vessel descend, as

had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners ; and it came even to me 6 Upon the which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. 7 And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter ; slay and eat. 8 But I said, Not so, Lord for :

were in Jerusalem at the time of St Peter's Only his name and that of returning thither. St James the Less occur in the latest notice bearing on this question, xv. 7, 13. contended] They had no notion of his supremacy or infallibility, and he was quite ready to report and explain.

men uncircumcised] They did not say 3. Gentiles, because they, on submitting to circumcision, were allowed to be on equal footing with the Jews.

The

Vulgate puts this

interrogatively : Wherefore didst tbou go in f

They did not comdidst eat with them] plain of the instruction given, or of the admission to Baptism, but of a violation of ceremonial rules, which were based not on the Divine Law, but on human tradition. Cp. x. 28.

His Vindication, rehearsed the matter] This was the mode of argument most usual with Hebrews. An historical statement was made ; and the inference was suggested by mere allusion, or left to be drawn by the hearers. St Peter did not claim superiority ; he spoke with gentleness, having himself had the gravest doubts a very short time previously. 4.

5. and it came even to me] This is an additional circumstance to x. 11, and the language is more vivid here than let down to the earth ; as again, all <were drawn up again into heaven , v. 10, compared with x. 16.

J considered] Here we have St Peter's 6. account of his own impressions, as in the preceding chapter a statement of the facts by St Luke.

But I said]

St Peter could sympathize

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THE ACTS. XI.

9~i 8.]

nothing common or unclean hath at

429

<4 Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall

any time entered into my mouth. 9 But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleans-

be saved.

ed, that call not thou common.

Holy Ghost fell on them, * as on us * «***• *

10 And this was done three times:

and

all

were drawn up again into

heaven. 1 And, behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where I was, sent from Caesarea unto me. 12 And the spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man's house 13 And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter j

with those

whom he was addressing. The

strictness is here expressed more strongly than in x. 14.

answered me] The pronoun does not 9. appear in K, A, B, and is omitted by Tischendorf and Lachmann. 10.

drawn up again]

St Peter's attention

had been fixed on the miscellaneous contents. In St Luke's statement the vessel was

made

more prominent 11. immediately... already] These two words shew the close and unquestionable connection between the vision at Joppa and what took Come unto place in the house of Cornelius. is the same word that is rendered stood before, x. 17.

sent

from Cxsarea]

Syr. sent to

12.

nothing doubting]

These words are

these six brethren]

Cp. x. 20.

This appeal to their testi-

mony is noted by Cnrysostom as exemplifying the humility and discretion of the Apostle.

13. shewed us] The six accompanying witnesses were present. an angel] the Angel, x. 3 ; of whose appearance St Peter, certainly, and, in all likelihood, his hearers were aware ; for the circumstances of the conversion of Cornelius were notorious in Jerusalem.

14. Who shall tell thee words] Implied, though not expressly said, x. 6, 22, 32. all thy house]

An additional circumstance.

The family of Cornelius were, it seems, baptized with him. All received the Holy Ghost,

x.44.

And as I began to speak, the

at the beginning.

16 Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, 'Johny01 indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy

Ghost. 17 Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as be did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could

withstand God? 18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance

unto life. as I began to spealt] Rather, as I wai St Peter had spoken at some length, x. 44. This is an instance of the same idiom as in i. 1. Cp. Luke iv. 21, xx. 9. at the beginning] On the Day of Pentecost, the birthday of the Church. The fact of the descent is all that is expressed; there is no hint of any accompaniment of tongues of fire. 15.

speaking.

16.

Then remembered I]

As he had in a

great crisis of his life, Luke xxii. 61. Christ had promised that the Holy Ghost should bring all things, whatsoever He had said unto them, to the remembrance of His Apostles, John xiv. 26. St Peter had witnessed the extension to Gentiles of the promised Baptism with the Holy Ghost.

17.

Cornelius from C*sarea.

of questionable authority here.

gave them]

These words might be

better arranged : Forasmuch then as God gave them who believed the like gift as He did unto us

when we believed.

was on their em-

bracing the Faith in both cases that the Holy

Ghost was received.

who believed] The aorist, very commonly used of the definite act of accepting the faith, not of continuous belief.

WHICH IS ACCEPTED. 18. held their peace] Acquiesced. But the same objection was raised again, xv. 1 5. Compare the odium with which St Paul was regarded, xxi. 30, 31, and xxii. 22. glorified] The tense of this verb shows that

—

the action was continued beyond the time at which they held their peace. Rather, to the Genalso to the Gentiles] tiles also, as in v. 1. granted repentance] Repentance, the gift of

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THE ACTS. XL

430 «d»p. 8.

'Now

[v. 19,

they which were scat19 1T tered abroad upon the persecution that

preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.

arose about Stephen travelled as far

20 And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when

as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch,

God the

through the Son, by the Repentance has the article prefixed in the Original: the repentance which the Saviour had commanded the Twelve to Spirit.

Father,

Cp. v. .31.

preach, Luke xxiv. 47. Repentance, being the basis of acceptance, stands for the whole economy of salvation. The majority of those who listened to St Peter were candid, and had now been initiated in the great mystery, Eph. iii. But the leaven of Jewish bigotry re4. mained in many hearts, and for a long time gave occasion to painful conflicts. Life under all aspects; new, unto life] Christian, eternal. This verse is the last notice of St Peter till

imprisonment by Herod Agrippa, xii. 3. felt warranted in accounting for •this interval of silence by alleging that after the Baptism of Cornelius the Apostle went to his

Dollinger

Rome.

Great Extension of the Preaching of the Gospel. 19.

scattered abroad]

viii. i, 4.

This refers back to

The Apostles were not included.

the persecution] Literally, the tribulation.

about Stephen] on account of, or over Stephen, has been thought preferable. Pbenice] It would have been better if in A.V. the other form, Phoenicia, had been used here and xv. 3, as well as in xxi. 2. The land of palm-trees was a narrow plain, about 120 miles long, with an average breadth of 15 miles, between the western slope of Lebanon and the Mediterranean, having Tyre and Sidon for its chief cities, and four rivers larger and deeper than any in Palestine. The inhabitants were of Canaanitish descent, Gen. x. 15, 19,

and their language did not differ widely from the Hebrew. Cyprus] See iv. 36. In Syria, on the Orontes, at the Antioch] junction of the Lebanon and Taurus ranges to be distinguished from Antioch in Pisidia, It had been the capital xiii. 14, xiv. 19. 21. of the Greek kings of Syria, and was the residence of the Proconsul, to whom the Procurator of Judaea was subordinate. Josephus reckoned it the third city in the Roman .' Empire, 4 J. hi. ii. 4 ; and Jerome placed it next after Rome and Alexandria, Com-

ment, on Amos vi. Chrysostom, a native, estimated the population in his own time at 200,000, above half of whom were Christians, 1 Horn, in S. Ignatium,' § 4, and * Horn* in Its harbour, Seleucia, S. Matt* 86 or 87. about 16 miles from the city, commanded the trade of the Mediterranean, and on the other

side it was accessible to caravans from Meso-

potamia.

Its groves of Daphne were infamous

for the grossest sensuality.

The Jews were

very numerous in Antioch, and made many proselytes there, Josephus, xii. Hi. 1, * J. W.' vii. iii. 3. It was the mother Church of Gentile Christendom, the starting-point of St Paul's three missionary journeys, and it became the second of the five patriarchates. have not the elements for calculating the time at which the faith was first introduced at Antioch, whether before or after the conversion of Cornelius. Always beautiful and rich, highly privileged by Vespasian and Titus, Antioch suffered frequently from earthquakes, Chry1 sostom, * Horn. in. ad Pop. Antioch., of more than the usual severity between A. d. 340 and 528. In 526 A. D. 250.000 lives were lost, and 60,000 in 588. As late as 1822 it was reduced to a heap of ruins. The candlestick of the Church of Antioch was long ago removed out of its place. The only remaining trace of Christianity, it was once said, is that the Aleppo gate bears the name of St Paul. Its population is now reckoned at 10,000 or 12,000, of whom a certain proportion profess

Christianity, Ritter, 'Syrien,' 11. 1198.

preaching]

Not official preaching, in our discoursing.

sense of the word ; the word']

Cp. x. 36.

Wide extent of the Teaching of those who were scattered abroad after the Death of Stephen. 20. some of them] Who were scattered abroad ; reference is here made to viii. 4. Cyprus] E.g. Barnabas; and Mnason, xxi. 16.

Cyrene]

See ii. 10,

vi. 9.

One-fourth of it

was occupied by Jews, Josephus, xiv. viL 2, xvi. vi. 1. Simon, and his sons, Alexander and Rufus, Mark xv. 21, and Lucius, xiii. 1, are the names of Hellenists; and the reading followed by A.V., supported by B, E, G, H, see ix. 29, was preferred by Calmet, Whitby, Burton, Wordsworth, and Shirley, who

thought Greeks incompatible with xiv. 27. • On the other hand, in favour of Greeks, are A, D, Syriac, Vulgate, Chrysostom, Eusebius, II. 3, and this has been adopted by a large majority of recent critics. Westcott deems it the true antithesis to Jews, 19. Preaching to Grecians, it has been urged, would have been nothing new. Bp Lightfoot, in his Commentary on the Ep. to the Galatians, p. 291, regarded this as the first instance of preaching to idolaters, the door being opened by Hellenists, after the example of Philip,

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T. 21

—

THE ACTS. XL

26.]

they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the

Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord. 22 1F Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem : and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. 23 Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was gU°\ and exhorted them all, that with pur:

who had broken down one barrier by teaching Samaritans and converting the Ethiopian. 21. the band of the Lord] The same expression as in Luke i. 66. Cp. u the arm of the

Lord," Isai. liii. 1, quoted in John xii. 38. This divine, miraculously attested blessing, without which their labours would have been ineffectual, 1 Cor. iii. 5 7, crowned the efforts of the Cypriots and Cyrenians wherever they had been made. unto the Lord] I.e. unto Jesus Christ See the Note on ix. $$*

—

pose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. 24 For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith : and much people was added unto t he Lord. 25 Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul 26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And that a whole year it came to pass, they assembled themselves ' with the J^Jj^a church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. t

24. For he <was a good man] This accounts for his selection for this mission. parenthetical.

22.

of these things]

This has been under-

stood not as neuter but as masculine; of them, the Teachers and their converts. Cp. ix. 32,

and they sent forth] St James and St Peter were, it may be assumed, at Jerusalem. The Apostles did not consider new converts, made by themselves or by their disciples, as independent congregations, but as members of an organized body, additions to the one Catholic and Apostolic Church, the unity of which was to be maintained. Barnabas] See above, iv. 36. He was recommended for this service as being a Grecian and a Cypriot, and familiar with Antioch as the convenient port from which to proceed to his native island. go as far as] The language implies that, on his way, he was to visit all the places in which the Gospel had been preached. 23. the grace of God] The results were other and greater than he had anticipated. He had only to sanction the teaching already given, and to enforce it: no modification was necessary.

exhorted] This was characteristic of Barnabas, iv. 36 , ix. 27. purpose of heart] The purpose the stedfastness which was required, 2 Tim. iii. xo. The same word as in xxvil 13.

—

Verse 23 is

a good man] Benevolent, candid, liberal in but having a right judgment assured to him by the abundant indwelling of the Holy Ghost. Any such commendatory expressions St Luke had not been are extremely rare. prejudiced against Barnabas by the variance between him and St Paul, xv. 3 7 40. spirit,

—

Brings Saul thither from Tarsus. 25.

Barnabas, sent by the Church at Jerusalem to Antioch,

43i

to seek Saul]

Saul had not put him-

And Barnabas, well aware

self at all forward.

of the extraordinary manifestations which had been made to him, showed himself modest and disinterested in seeking for his help.

Saul's residence at Tarsus, a seat of philosophical education, must have qualified him for dealiug with the high mental culture which prevailed at Antioch.

The Disciples first called Christians. 26.

a whole year] Corresponding to AlD.

43, Cook. St Paul's practice afterwards was to be He spent a year stationary in large towns. and a half at Corinth, xviii. 11, three years and more at Ephesus, xx. 31.

" A competent number of Barrow, Discourse concerning the

much people] persons,

Unity of the Church/

Is this in addition to Perhaps this inthe much people in v. 24 ? struction grounded and settled converts al-

ready made. Christians] A name coined on the model of Herodians, Pompeians, &c. by the Pagans of Antioch, the population of which was given

much influenced by Roman manners and modes of thought, in

to jests and gibes, and

consequence of their city being the residence of the President of Syria. It cannot have originated with the Jews, for they would not have chosen the name Christ as the basis of a designation for those whom they hated and It was despised as the sect of the Nazarenes.

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THE ACTS. XL

432 27

prophets

And

days came

which came to

from Jerusalem unto An-

Claudius Caesar.

these

tioch.

28 And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the that there should be great spirit dearth throughout all the world : not assumed by Christians, for St Luke did not adopt it, and it is found in only two other passages of the New Testament, in each case the mouth of an adversary ; as a matter of feet, xxvi. 28, twenty years later than this date; and hypothetically, 1 Pet. iv. 16. Tertullian complained of the detestation with which the name was regarded: " Christianis

permittitur loqui, quod causam purget, quod veritatem defendat, quod judicem jion faciat injustum. Sed illud solum exspectatur quod odio publico necessarium est, connon examinatio criminis," fessio nominis, 1 Apol.' 2. Christians were not long in coming It occurs five times in to glory in the name. the Epistles of Ignatius; compare Eusebius, V. i. In the Clementine Liturgy thanksgiving was expressly offered for it. Julian would fain have revived the use of the name Galilaeans as a substitute. first in Antioch] Where, it seems, Christianity solis

nihil

shewed Judaism. first

27.

itself

distinct

in these days]

and

free

from

Probably early in the

year of their stay in Antioch.

u Jerusalem was still came'] Came down. the religious metropolis, although Antioch was the political capital," Bp. Cotterill. See xiii. 1.

stood up]

Probably

an assembly

for public worship.

Agabus] Known only here, and xxi. io twenty years later. The name may be identified with Hagabah, Ezra ii. 45, 46, and Neh. vii. 48. Its meaning has been differently t

given, Beloved^ or a Locust. signified by the spirit] The inspiration which enabled him to predict was not immanent, but occasional. Famines had been foretold by our Lord, Matt. xxiv. 7 ; Luke xxi. 11. throughout all the world"] The Roman Empire, Greswell, II. 50, S5i not Judaea only, as Lardner and MichaeUs understood but the pressure was not universal or at one and the same time. Several famines occurred during the reign of Claudius, i.e. between

A.D. 41 and 54, 8,

12,

Eusebius, 'Ch.

and Chronicle.

tates," Suetonius, § 10.

Hist.'

11.

"Assiduas steriliTwo were in Rome

one, in his eleventh year, of such fearful were provisions for barely 15 days, and the Emperor's life was in danger, Suetonius, § 18 ; Tacitus, * Annals/ xii. 43 ; itself;

severity that there

27—30.

pass in the days of

29 Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea 30 Which also they did, and sent one in Judaea, in his fourth year, a.d. 45, to which Eusebius, II. 12, understood reference to be made here ; and another in Greece These visitations may be in his ninth year. regarded as having embraced the extremities of the empire, although the famine was intense only in certain places and at particular times.

The sufferings of Judaea were much alleviated by Helena, Queen of Adiabene, who caused corn to be imported from Egypt and figs from Cyprus, Josephus, xx. ii. 5, v. 2, quoted by Eusebius, 11. 22. Biscoe was in the days of Claudius Casar] disposed to inter from this that the prediction was given in the last year of Caligula.

29. Then the disciples'] The Christians of Antioch, after the prediction of Agabus had begun to be fulfilled. according to bis ability] 1 Cor. xvi. 2 ; 2 Cor. viii. 12, ix. 7. This is an incidental proof that community of goods was not generally practised among Christians.

Archbp. Sumner

considered this to be "the first transaction of the kind in the history of the world." unto the brethren which dwelt in Judxa] The Church at Antioch shewed gratitude to the Church at Jerusalem in the spirit of 1 Cor. ix. 11.

Jerusalem might at this time be con-

sidered hostile to the faith ; but from Antioch, where Antioch us had once raged furiously

Famines foretold by Agabus. 28.

[v.

against the Jews, 2 Mace. vi. 1, relief was sent.

30. the elders'] In this, the first occurrence of this word, there is nothing to imply that it was an official designation ; but in the Elders, commended unto the Lord with prayer and fasting, xiv. 23, we have an Order whose duty it was to superintend and feed .the flock of Christ. Cp. xx. 17, 28. Such an office became necessary when the Apostles were No frequently called away from Jerusalem. account of the first appointment of Elders The is given, as in the case of the Seven. Church of Jerusalem would naturally be the earliest in the completion of its organization. Probably by this time some modification of the office of Deacons had taken place. The Elders at once became prominent and important, xv. 6, 22, 23, xxi. 18. Their functions are recognised in James v. 14 ; 1 Tim. v. 17 ; 1 Thess. v. 12 ; Heb. xiii. 7, 17, 24. Barnabas and Saul] A difficulty has been made of there being no mention of this journey But the in the Epistle to the Galatians. errand was not to the Apostles directly ; and

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THE ACTS. XI. XII.

1,2.]

it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

CHAPTER XII. I

King Herod persecuteth the Christians, killeth James, and imprisoneth Peter ; whom an angel delivereth upon the prayers of the church, ao In his pride taking to himself the honour due to God, he is stricken by an

up to this time Saul's position had been retiring and subordinate. His purpose in writing to the Galatians did not require a complete enumeration of all his visits to Jerusalem, but only the mention of those which were important in establishing the fact of his Apostleship. Great care and pains were bestowed on charitable contributions in the early Church. The charge in this case was entrusted to Barnabas and Saul. The collection and transmission of alms occupied much of the Apostle's attention afterwards, 1 Cor. xvi. 1 3; 2 Cor.viii.

—

Herod tares the life of St James, Chap. XII. 1. about that time'] This is very indefinite. Cp. xix. 13. It has been understood of the time of the mission of Barnabas and Saul to Jerusalem, or of their stay in that city.

Herod the king']

In Syr. Herod, the king,

who is surnamed Agrippa.

"The accuracy

of our historian, or, rather the unmeditated coincidence which truth of its own accord produces,

this

instance

remarkable.

There was no portion of time, for thirty years before, or ever afterwards, in which there was a king at Jerusalem, a person exercising that authority in Judaea, or to whom that title could be applied, except the last three years of this Herod's life, within which period the transaction recorded in the Acts is stated to have taken place," Paley, Evidences, 7 Part 11. vi. 4. Herod Agrippa, the first of that name, sometimes called Agrippa the Elder, to distinguish him from his son, before whom St Paul made his defence, xxvi, was son of Aristobulus and grandson of Herod the Great, who sought the life of the infant Saviour, and nephew of Herod Antipas, who beheaded John the Baptist Bred at Rome, he was at one time so deep in obscure poverty that his wife could hardly keep him back from suicide then high in the imperial favour ; then again, for an unguarded word, accidentally overheard and mischievously reported by a servant, he was imprisoned by Tiberius. From Caligula, on his accession, he received the tetrarchies which had been held by Philip and Lysanias, Luke iii. 1, together with the ensigns of royalty; and Perza was added afterwards. In acknowledgment of very important services rendered to Claudius, that emperor, on his accession, early in a.d. 41, added Judaea and Samaria, so that the whole extent of his 4

433

angel, and dieth miserably. 14 After his death , the word of God prospereth.

NOW

about that time Herod the stretched forth bis hands J£j^ to vex certain of the church. 2 And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.

king

dominions was equal to that of Herod the Great, Tosephus, xix. v. 1, and he was an independent sovereign as far as any Roman provincial governor was concerned. But the title, king, was applicable to only the last three years of his life. He was very luxurious, and at the same time a strict observer of the ritual of the Jews, whose goodwill he courted, Josephus, xix. vii. 3. At no little personal risk he prevailed on Caligula not to insist on his statue being placed in the Temple. He

fortified Jerusalem, and would have made it impregnable if his life had been prolonged. A" profession of bigotry and a love of popularity combined to make him a persecutor. stretched fortH] Rather, laid hands on, as Luther. to vex] The rest, ix. 31, did not last long. This persecution must again have driven many

believers away from Jerusalem, viii. 1.

The son ot Salome, called St James the Great, i.e. as generally understood, the elder, in distinction from the son of Alphaeus, the writer of the Epistle, v. 1 7 ; Mark xv. 40. He was not only one of the Twelve, but one of the eminently favoured Three. It had been foretold that he should drink of his Master's cup, Matt. xx. ao 14. The quiet selfsurrender of his martyrdom, in the account of Hegesippus, preserved by Eusebius, v. 18, implies that a great change had come over 2.

James the brother of John]

Zebedee and

—

spirit, Luke ix. 54. Eusebius, 11. 9, has preserved a fragment of a lost work of Clement of Alexandria, which embodies a tradition that the accuser of St Tames, or the officer who led him to the judgmentseat, was so influenced by the good confession which he witnessed that he avowed himself a Christian and, having received from the Apostle the kiss of pardon and peace, was beheaded along with him. This is the only one of the Twelve of whose death there is any account in Scripture; and how extremely brief is this record compared with the details of St Stephen's martyrdom. He is commemorated by the Church on the 25th of July. His martyrdom having taken place as early as A.D. 43, the legend which connects his name with Spain cannot have had any foundation in fact. Down to this time no Apostle had travelled beyond the limits of Palestine. Sixteen years later St Paul's purpose of visiting Spain had not been accomplished,

his

;

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THE ACTS. XII.

434

3 And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to (Then were the take Peter also. days of unleavened bread.)

4 And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him ; intending after Easter

bring

him

forth

the

people.

5 Peter therefore was kept in pri-

Rom. xv. 24,

28.

Calmet says that at the

Council of Lateran, 1215, this was urged on the Archbishop of Compostella by Ximenes, the Archbishop of Toledo. Baronius retracted an expression of his acceptance of the story. with the sword] Decapitation was deemed by the Jews the most ignominious of their four forms of capital punishment, and was inflicted on those who drew away the people to any strange worship. The language of this verse seems to imply that there was no interval of imprisonment. St James appears to have been summarily put to death by the military mandate of the king, without any process of Jewish law. Blasphemy, the only crime of which he could have been accused, was punished by stoning. Milman, 'History of

Christianity,

374.

AND IMPRISONS ST PETER, it phased the Jews] A great change in 3. the popular feeling since ii. 47. The Jews may be understood collectively. All sects and parties were united in aggravated hatred of the new teaching, after the admission of Gentiles into the Church without circumcision.

Herod's motive was neither hatred of the Gospel nor zeal for the Law, but a wish to ingratiate himself with his subjects. to take Peter also] The Apostle may perhaps have thought that the time had come for the fulfilment of his Lord's words, John xiii. 36. days of unleavened bread] A week, Exod. xii. 15, 19, xiii. 6, 7 ; Deut xvi. 3, during which Jerusalem was unusually crowded, and capital punishment could not be inflicted. St Peter, apprehended on the eve of the Passover, the 14th of Nisan, could not be put to death till the 21st. It was the habit of this Herod to leave Caesarea for Jerusalem at that season,

Luke xxiii. 7.

Sixteen in all. The 4. four quaternions] regular practice of the Roman military discipline, Vegetius, 111. 8. One party of four soldiers for each watch of the night; two soldiers keeping the door of the cell, and the other two attached by a chain to either hand of the prisoner, v. 6. The frequent relief ensured the wakefulness of the guards. If

[v.

3—7-

son : but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for

him. 6 And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.

7 And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light

Herod had heard of the miraculous deliverance,

—

17 25, he may have inclined to attribute to bribery, and accordingly appointed such a number as he thought could not be corrupted. So in Cranmer and Parker. after Easter] Passover was, with advantage, substituted the Geneva Bible. In the fourteenth Homily of the Second Book, on the Resurrection, "As the Jews did eat their Easter lamb." Wycliffe rendered John xviii. 3, u a company of knights, and ministers of the Bishops and of the Pharisees." to bring bim forth] For public trial, John xix. 13, the issue of which was predetermined.

v. it

The adversative conjuncbut prayer] 5. tion emphatically sets the prayers of the Church in antagonism with the power and precautions of the king. They persevered in prayer, although they could hardly believe the gracious answer when it had been given, v. 15. without ceasing] A.V. has followed the Vulgate. The word in the Original rather implies earnestness and fervour, which is the sense given to it in Luke xxii. 44 ; Acts xxvi. 7 ; 1 Pet i. 22, iv. 8. The adverb is employed frequently in the Services of the Greek Church, in the comparative as well as in the positive degree, to stimulate to greater ardour of devotion. The intercessions on behalf of St Peter did not flag, notwithstanding the loss of St Tames and the passing of day after day of the brief respite without any token of deliverance or help of any kind. St Paul trusted that the prayers offered on his own behalf would bring him deliverance out of prison, Philemon 22.

WHO IS MIRACULOUSLY DELIVERED. the same night] God's opportunity.

sleeping]

Man's extremity

Soundly, as appears from the next

Did the spirit of his own precept, x Pet. iv. 19, sustain him ? two chains} The Apostle's right hand being attached to the left of one of the soldiers, and verse.

his left to the right hand of the other.

the angel]

an Angel.

came upon him] Suddenness is implied. Tke

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THE ACTS. XII.

8— IS]

shined in the prison and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. 8 And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. 9 And he went out, and followed him ; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel ; but thought he saw a vision. io When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the :

city ;

which opened

them of his

own accord and they went out, and :

passed on through one street ; and forthwith the angel departed from him.

435

And when Peter was come to he said, Now I know of

himself,

a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the

Jews. 12 And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose

surname was Mark;

where many

werft gathered together praying.

13 And* as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came ' to % J£*J? hearken, named Rhoda. «w tA*r». 14 And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate. 15 And they said unto her, Thou But she constantly affirmart mad.

same word is used of angelic appearances in Luke ii. 9, and xxiv. 4, and also of the appearance of our Lord to St Paul, xxiii. 11. a light sbined] A usual accompaniment of such communications, which gave assurance of deliverance and also helped the Apostle's movements. in the frijon] The cell in which St Peter was a different word from that in v. 5. raised him up] Rather, awakened him.

11. the people of the Jews] Present at Jerusalem during the Passover week in numbers

Gird thyself] In preparation for active movement. Cp. Luke xii. 37, xvii. 8. The supremacy of Divine power over that of Herod was indicated by the absence of hurry, and by each article of dress being assumed in the

correctly expressed by cousin in Wycliffe.

;

usual order. The time for the Apostle's being girded by another had not yet arrived, John xxi. 18. thy garment] The outer garment or cloke; St Peter, having loosed his girdle, had Iain down to sleep in his inner garment or coat,

Matt v. 40

;

Mark x. 50.

Cp. ix. 39.

be went out] From his cell 0. thought be saw a vision] Cp. Ps. cxxvi

far beyond the average.

12. Vulg.

bad

and...

Enough to give assurthrough one street] ance of security, and no more. With the usual economy observable in supernatural agency, the Angel at once retired.

New Int.

—Vol.

agrees

with

The relationship between him and Mark is Cp. John, whose surname was Mark] v. 25, xiii. 5, xv. 37. There appears to be no sufficient reason for questioning, as several He have, his identity with the Evangelist. had, it seems, been converted by St Peter, 1 Pet. v. 11.

His Roman surname is brought

into more frequent use because of his increasHe may have ing intercourse with Gentiles. been in his mother's house at this time, and

have supplied St Luke with particulars for this most graphic account.

13.

door of the gate]

Wicket of the outer

gate.

a damsel] 10. ward] Sentries ; one at the door of the prison, the other at the iron gate. Rather, into. The prison unto the city] apparently was outside the walls. they went out] From the prison buildings. subjoins, and went down the seven steps

A.V.

considered]

Perhaps, had become aware of the fact. The word is the same as in xiv. 6. Mary] The context seems to imply that she was a widow. Col. iv. 10 does not warrant the regarding her as sister of Barnabas.

Cp. John xviii. 16, 17. Greek idiom, meaning to

hearken] A answer the door. to

14.

Humphry suggests speech, as

voice]

Matt xx vi. 73

but that is XoAto, not <£a>*"j, as here. gladness] Which she was eager to impart to those who were praying. 15.

;

Tbou art mad]

They could not be-

lieve that their prayers nad been answered.

constantly] Persisted in affirming.

II.

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THE ACTS. XII.

43^ ed that

was even so.

Then said

they, It is his angel. But Peter continued knocking 1

for

other place. as soon as it was day, 18 there was no small stir among the

country.

The order of the words in It is his angel] the Alex. MS. disposed Bp Middleton to It has been understand, His Angel is there. very commonly understood of a guardian Angel, the Jewish belief in which, Tobit v. 21, may have been thought to receive confirmation from our Lord's words, Matt, xviii. 10. No more is conveyed here than the recognition of a prevalent popular belief as a matter of fact. Calvin thought that the host round about Elisha, 2 K. vi. 17, and the appointment of single Angels to great nations, Dan. x. 13, 20, 21, preclude the notion of individuals having guardian Angels. Waterland leaned to the explanation that they thought St Peter was already slain, and that his disembodied spirit was there, Sermon 24* Vol. v. 670. Hammond inclined to understand a messenger from the Apostle; not in accordance with Scrip-

21.

amined the keepers, and commanded

pleased with

soldiers, what was become of Peter.

—

19 And when Herod had sought him, and found him not, he ex-

and when they had opened the door^ and saw him, they were astonished. 17 But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into* an-

Now

[v. 1 6

that

they

should

be put to death.

And he went down from Judaea to Caesarea, and there abode.

20 1F And Herod ' was highly dis- IOr, them of Tyre and Si- mind, intending don : but they came with one accord him, and, having made Blast us the king's chamberlain their friend, \Gx.tkm* desired peace j because their coun- tktkmfs kedcmamtry was nourished by the king's

to f

21 And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon Nero,

fourteen

years after this miraculous

deliverance.

Herod might have 19. found him not] been moved, as Nebuchadnezzar and Darius were by the miraculous preservation in the He might furnace and in the den of lions. have remembered the failure of his grandfather's attempt to make the Wise Men from the East instrumental in discovering and destroying the Infant at Bethlehem. examined the keepers] Put on their trial the four who were on guard at the time of St Peter's disappearance. Casarea] See viii. 40. The Greek implies that he had intended to make some stay there. Not more than a month, it is thought, can have intervened before his death, which is placed by Eusebius, 11. 10, immediately after the design to take St Peter's life.

ture usage.

17.

beckoning']

A sign that they should

hold their peace. Cp. xiii. 16, xix. 33, xxi. 40. Any loud expression of their feelings might have exposed the Apostle to fresh peril. The frequent notices of gesture, xxiii. 19, xxvi. i, are indicative of reports from eyewitnesses. See the note on xv. 13. unto James] * and to the brethren] Calvin understood, not to the Church generally, but to the Apostles

and Elders. Left the house, in compliance with Matt x. 23. He was in Jerusalem again, six or seven years later, xv. 7. another place] Antioch has been suggested, or among the dispersion in the East, 1 Pet i. 1, v. 1 3. But the quitting Jerusalem is not of necessity implied. There may, possibly, have been no more than a withdrawal to some less known Rome cannot have been intended, for house. no Apostle had been in that city at the time of LacSt Paul's writing to the Church there. tan tius 4 de Mortibus Persecutorum,' », says that St Peter was not in Rome till the time of

departed]

20.

highly displeased]

Josephus tells no-

thing of the reasons for tnis feeling. Possibly he had apprehensions of their interfering with the growing prosperity of Caesarea. Roman name, according to the Blastus] Inscription given by Wetstein. In his affecta-

tion of Roman habits, Herod had selected a Roman for his confidential minister. The Syriac gives, They gathered together and came to him by the persuasion of Blastus, the chamberlain of the king.

Herod could not have made desired peace] war without the sanction of Rome, and that would never have been given but it was in his power to inflict very severe injuries by the ;

mere suspension of commercial relations. nourished] As in former times: 1 K. . 8 it ; 2 Chro. it 10; Ezra iii. 7 ; Ezek. xxvii. The large population of Tyre and Sidon 17. had not territory enough to supply needful food and there may already have been signs of the impending famine, xi. 28. ;

21.

upon a set day]

The first of August,

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V. 23

—

THE ACTS. XII. XIII.

I.]

his throne, and made an oration unto them. 22 And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. 23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory : and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost. 24 f But the word of God grew and multiplied. 25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had

the birthday of the Emperor Claudius, was the commencement Of a quinquennial festival in his honour. On the second day, which completed the third year of Herod's reign over all Judaea, the king appeared in the theatre, built by his father, to give audience to envoys from Tyre and Sidon ; and, after five days of dreadful suffering, he died at the age of fiftyfour, Josephus, xix. viii. 2. royal apparel] Of silver tissue, his throne being so placed in the theatre as to catch the rays of the rising sun. The dazzling splendour, according to Josephus, suggested the profane adulation. unto them] The representatives of Tyre and Sidon.

437

fulfilled their ministry, and took J^ with them John, whose surname was chap.

9*30.

Mark.

CHAPTER XIII. I

Paul and Barnabas are chosen to go to the Gentiles. 7 Of Sergius Paulus, and Elymas the sorcerer. 14 Paul preacheth at Antioch, that Jesus is Christ. 41 The Gentiles believe: 45 but the Jews gainsay and blaspheme: 46 whereupon they turn to the Gentiles. 48 As many as were ordained to life believed.

N OW

there were in the church

that was at Antioch certain pro-

word of God grew] Went on This was not the first time that persecution had been overruled for the good of the Church. 24.

the

growing.

25.

Barnabas and Saul]

The names are

this order, the latter

not having yet

still

become prominent returned]

To Antioch, xi. 27 — 30, xiii. 1.

Their ministry or charge was the relief of the distress of believers in Jerusalem by means of the bounty of the Church at Antioch, xi. 29,

The Original has the same word again, Rom. xv. 31. This return is placed in the 30.

same year as the death of Herod Agrippa; after it, rather than before it, by Greswell,

22. the people] A distinction in the use of words, uniformly observed in the Original, makes it clear that the shout came from the

Dissert/ 11. 48. John, whose surname was Mark] Grotius, without sufficient reason, understood that this was not the Evangelist. And so Greswell, u

heathen section of the population.

86.

Herod

Chap. XIII. Here begins the second part of this history, having for its subject the labours of St Paul. It has been noted that, from this point, the language has much less of Hebrew colouring, which makes it probable that St Luke, relying more on his own personal knowledge, made less use of written documents. This xiiith chapter was one of the portions of Scripture which Bishop Ridley specially desired and paid his household to learn by heart Life, by Glocester Ridley, p. 299.

in the height of his arrogancy is smitten with death by an Angel.

23.

the angel]

An Angel.

Cp. 2 S. xxiv.

Josephus, xix. viii. 1, noted that Herod did not rebuke the impious 16;

xix.

35.

adulation. eaten of worms] As Antioch us Epiphanes had been, 2 Mace. ix. 9. Details of the deaths

of Herod the Great and Herod Antipas by the same horrible disease, not recorded in Scripture, are given by Josephus, xvii. vi. 5 ; '

W.' 1. xxxiii. 5.

seen in Tertullian,

Other instances may be ad Scapulam,' 3, and in

Eusebius, viii. 16. Mead considered this quite distinct from the morbus pedicularis,

Medica Sacra/ 107. The death of this Herod is the only fact in this history of which the date can be precisely fixed with certainty, August 6, a.d. 44. His son, Agrippa the Second, was at the time only *

seventeen years of age ; so Judaea passed into the hands of a Procurator, Cuspius Fadus, whose unpopularity with the Jewish authorities gave Christians a respite.

See xi. 19. Here and in the Antioch] 1. following chapter, this, the mother Church of Gentile Christendom, takes the place of Jerusalem. certain] This word is of very doubtful authority. It is wanting in 6t, A, B, D, in several Cursive MSS., and in most of the ancient VerIf it is to be regarded as a gloss, it sions.

shews that what follows, in irv. 2 and 3, was understood of the five who are named, and not of the whole Church. u Such men having otherwise prophets] learned the Gospel, had from above bestowed

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THE ACTS. XIII.

438

phets and teachers ; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and

jo^^ foster brother.

Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and oaul. '

upon them a special gift of expounding Scripture and of foreshowing things to come," Hooker, v. lxxviii. 6. Exposition was their primary function, to be discharged according to the proportion of faith. The exercise of their gift is noticed along with prayer in the congregation, i Cor. xi. 4. Prophets come next to the Apostles, Eph. iii. 5, before Teachers, 1 Cor. xii. 18, xiv. 6. They are placed between Apostles and Evangelists, Eph. iv. 11. Prophecy is foremost in the enumeration of gifts, Rom. xii. 6 comes immediately after miracles, 1 Cor. xii. 10 before tongues, xiii. 8 ; and is commended as edifying beyond all ;

;

—

[v. a, 3-

2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. 3 And when they had fasted and Herod the tetrarch]

So styled, as in Luke

ix. 7, to distinguish him from Herod the king, xii. 1.

This must have been Herod Antipas,

who slew St John the Baptist, and mocked our Lord. He had been deposed by Claudius, and was at this time in exile at Lyons or in Spain. Antipas and his brother Archelaus were brought up at Rome, Josephus, xvn. L 3 ; and Manaen, an Essene, was fosterbrother to the former. This relationship to a prince was held in high estimation, and is found recorded in several sepulchral inscriptions. The Essene of this name, who, according to Josephus, xv. x. 5, foretold his eleva-

endued with it, e.g. Agabus, xi. 28, xxi. 10, Also they occasionally received instruc11. tions in the right course of action to be taken,

tion to Herod the Great in early youth, and, after the fulfilment of his prediction, won the goodwill of that prince by promising him thirty years of royalty, may perhaps have been father of the Manaen mentioned here. For a very ingenious and interesting notice of Manaen, see Plumptre's * Biblical Studies,'

as in 1/. 2.

376—389.

other gifts, 1 Cor. xiv. 3 5. The foretelling of events was not the prominent characteristic of the New Testament Prophets generally, though some of them were

as Barnabas] . Our A. V. had no warrant for inserting as, which, in opposition to the drift of the Original, suggests that there were more than the five whose names are given. The distribution of the following names was by Alford thought to indicate that the first three are those of prophets, and the last two of teachers.

Simeon] Apparently a Jew, who, having formed some profitable connection with Rome, had found it convenient to adopt a Roman name. Nothing is known of him. He has been called one of the Seventy disciples. Lucius] It has been thought not unreasonable to identify him with the countryman, if not kinsman or St Paul, saluted Rom. xvi. ai. He may have been among the Cyrenians present on the day of Pentecost, ii. 10, and one of those who, in the dispersion consequent on the martyrdom of Stephen, travelled as far as Antioch, xi. 20. The ' Apostolical Constitutions,' vii. 46, give this name to the first

Bishop of Cenchrea. Calmet and Wetstein most strangely followed Origen in his utterly unwarrantable identification of this Lucius with St Luke, who came from Antioch, not from Cyrene, and whose name is a contracted form of Lucanus. Lucius was a Jew, as the other four named were; cp. Rom. xvi. 11; whereas Luke was a Gentile and distinguished

—

from those of the circumcision, Col. iv. 10 14. Cyrene] Cp. ii. 10, xi. 20. Manaen] The Greased form of a Jewish name, Menahem, comforter, which occurs among the kings of Israel, 2 K. xv. 14 aa.

—

Saul] Mentioned last because of his subordination to Barnabas at this time. There is no ground for Schleiermacher's objection that the arrangement of the names is unhistorical.

Barnabas and Saul set apart to go to the Gentiles. ministered to the Lord] Were conduct2. ing divine service. The same word, from which our Liturgy is derived, is used in LXX.

concerning the Levites, Deut x. 8. Cp. Heb. 11. It seems best to understand worship generally rather than to restrict it to prayer or to preaching, as Chrysostom understood, or to the Eucharist All were doubtless combined ; but the word fasting implies that prayer was prominent. The application of Liturgy to the Holy Communion exclusively did not become usual till a later period. fasted] The notice of this in a section of the Church that was exempt from the distinction of meats is very observable. The practice being followed on this occasion, as it had already been in the case of Cornelius, x. 30, under a special revelation, cannot be regarded as less than a proof that it had the Divine sanction under the new dispensation. It is not very likely that at Antioch there was any reference to the weekly fasts of the Tews on days corresponding to our Monday and x.

Thursday. In all likelihood by the Holy Ghost said] the mouth of one of the prophets, v. x. The

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THE ACTS. XIII.

• 4—7]

prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. 4 f So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia ; and from thence they sailed to

Cyprus. 5 And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in appointment of ministers of the Church is to the Holy Ghost, xx. 28. He speaks as the Lord; and the mission of Barnabas and Saul was as much a mission of Christ as that of the Twelve. Separate me\ Cp. Gal. L 15, 16. A.V. was unhappy in following the Vulgate in referred

omitting after me the word »©«;, which makes the command more emphatic and urgent See the Note onxv. 36. This has been regarded by Bishop Moberly, Denton, and others, as far more than commendation to the blessing of God, as equivalent to their Consecration. Saul had received his call and his appointment to labour among the Gentiles from Christ Himself. But neither his miraculous conversion nor the supernatural communications made to him in Arabia, Gal. i. 15 17, dispensed with regular mission. See our Twenty-third Article. The Twelve, after receiving their commission, Matt, x., had waited till the Day of Pentecost. From this time onward Barnabas and Paul are styled Apostles, xiv. 4, 14.

—

3. fasted and prayed] Reference is made to this precedent in the Archbishop's moving the congregation to pray, previously to the saying of the Litany at the Consecration of a " In the Greek Church the Fast of Bishop. the Holy Apostles begins the week after Whitsuntide, being the time in which they judge that the Apostles prayed and fasted when they prepared themselves to preach the Gospel, which ends on the Festival of St Peter. " Ricaut, p. 129. sent them away] Rather, let them depart. The special selection by God the Holy Ghost did not dispense with ecclesiastical sanction to their mission. Those who laid their hands on them were the same that ministered to the Lord, v. a, not the whole Christian community.

They visit Cyprus. 4. being sent forth by the Holy Ghost] The organization of Christian Missions may be considered as dating from this, the first expedition undertaken in obedience to Christ's

command, Matt, xxviii. 19. Seleucia]

Cp. xi. 19.

The port of Antioch,

from which its distance, overland about sixteen miles, was by water made forty-one miles, through the windings of the Orontes.

The

439

the synagogues of the Jews and they had also John to their minister. 6 And when they had gone through the isle unto Papnos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-jesus 7 Which was with the deputy of :

the country, Sergius Paulus, a prutown, built at the mouth of the river by the first Seleucus, had at this time attained the privileges of a free city. Polybius, v. 59, described a very extensive excavation, which was the only communication between the city and the sea; and vestiges of its slopes and

Two

tunnels are still conspicuous. piers, the remains of its once magnificent harbour, retain the names of Paul and Barnabas. Cyprus] About eighty miles S.W. of Seleucia. See the note on iv. 36. 5.

Rather, had arrived at. The Greek capital of the island,

at) were at]

Salamis]

on its eastern side, the nearest port to Seleucia, at the mouth of the Pediacas, the largest river in Cyprus, a little to the north of the VeneFamagusta. Under its subsequent name, Constantia, given when it had been rebuilt by Constantine after an earthquake, Salamis had Epiphanius for one of its Bishops. Div. Instit. If the authority of Lactantius, 1. 11, is accepted, human sacrifices were offered there periodically till the time of Hadrian. tian capital,

the isle] The whole isle, supported by 6. MSS. Versions and quotations in the Fathers,

has been accepted as the true reading since Griesbach. Pathos] Now Baffo, at W. extremity of the island, about 100 miles from Salamis, on a rocky eminence about a mile and a half from the sea, with a small harbour, which at certain seasons affords no shelter from the prevalent winds. The city was restored by

Augustus after suffering most severely from an earthquake; but in Jerome's time its site was covered with ruins. sorcerer] Maglan would have been a better Orientals having some knowledge rendering. of natural philosophy had a strange hold on the Roman mind, distracted as it was, at this time, between scepticism and credulity. Bar-jesus] Son of Joshua. Cp. Bar- Jonas, Bartholomew, Bartimxus. This name underwent various modifications in MSS. and quotations, dictated doubtless by reverence for the name of our Saviour.

Sergius Paulus the proconsul, and Elymas. 7.

the deputy] The Proconsul.

The use of

this designation is an incidental but very striking proof of the accuracy of the sacred bis-

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THE ACTS. XIII.

440

man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.

dent

8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.

Then Saul, (who also is called

Paul,)

filled

with the Holy Ghost,

set his eyes on him,

And said, O full of all subtil ty

and

all

mischief, thou

child

of the

devil, thou enemy of all righteousness,

Cp. xii. 1. In the allotment of the provinces, Cyprus had been, in the first instance, reserved for Augustus, and was accordingly governed by a Pro-praetor. But it was afterwards transferred from the Emperor to the Senate, Dio Cassius, liii. 12, liv. 4; and coins of Claudius prove that in his reign torian.

the bland was under proconsular government. See Morell's 'Thesaurus Numismaticus,' p. 106, and Akerman's * Numismatic Illustrations of the New Testament, p. 41. Beza, Grotius, and Bengel, in whose time the Claudian coins were not known, had recourse to forced explanations or conjectural emendations. This is one of the cases which should be a warning against haste to be rid of difficulties in Scripture. See the note on xviii. 19. Sergius Paulus] Biscoe believed that no history now extant names any governor of Cyprus, or mentions any event in the island during the time covered by the Acts. prudent] Judicious, intelligent, desirous of 1

ascertaining truth, dissatisfied with his national religion, and with the mixture of Judaism and Oriental theosophy presented by Elymas.

who called for] They had not volunteered to go to this Gentile. word of God] In v. 8 the faith, in *v. 10 the right ways of the Lord. Elymas] A Grecised form of the 8. Arabic for wise man which the Magi an had assumed. withstood them] Probably by some effort of his pretended art, or, it may have been, by blasphemous falsehoods. If it had been by arguments, St Paul would have been satisfied with refuting them. Paul] The other name, it appears, was 0. dropped after this full assertion of his Apostolic commission, when he felt that the Gospel of the Uncircumcision had been committed to him. Jerome, Catalogue,' § 5 and Comment on the Epistle to Philemon; and Augustin, Confess.' vm. iv. 9, regarded it as a substitution in memory of this illustrious convert. It is possible that there was no more than a *

[v.

wilt thou not cease

8— 13.

to pervert the

right ways of the Lord ?

And now, behold, the hand of 1 the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a seaAnd immediately there fell on son. him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. when Paul and his com13

Now

A second name was so very common, e.g. Simeon Niger, Barsabas Justus, John Mark, that it might fairly be assumed coincidence.

that the Apostle had all along borne both names, Saul as a Hebrew, and Paulus as a Roman citizen. The Gentile name befitted

the Apostle of the Gentiles, and, from this point in the history, is used constantly except when reference is made to his earlier life. Not an adjective, but a participle, filled] See indicating an occasional, special impulse. the note on iv. 8.

10. subtilty] Internal, as a false teacher; mischief external, as Magian. The thrice repeated all is very emphatic. In marked contrast to child of the devil] Cp. the purport of his Hebrew name, v. 6.

John iii. 8, 10, 12. So in Syr. interrogaLuther and Tyndale followed Vulg. tively. Either way, in treating it as a declaration. the form of expression makes the rebuke apply John viii. 44

;

wilt thou not cease]

to the whole

life,

not to the particular act.

We are told no more than that he would fun have kept Sergius Paulus in ignorance of the Gospel.

The first recorded shalt be blind] 11. miracle of St Paul was the infliction of the same privation which he had himself experienced immediately after his conversion. Hope of restoration was held out at the very moment of this infliction; and this may have given it to be understood that the blindness was a sign for the Proconsul as well as the punishment of Elymas. a mist] In the Original a technical term, such as it was natural for the beloved Physician to employ, used by Hippocrates for a filmy condition of the eye bringing on temporary blindness. 12. doctrine of the Lord] Concerning the Lord, as in Heb. vi. a, " the doctrine of baptisms."

This,

seems, impressed the

Pro-

consul's mind more than the miraculous visitation.

Sergius Paulus was more decidedly tho

firstfruits of heathenism than Cornelius.

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—

THE ACTS. XIII.

x6.]

party loosed from Paphos, they

came

to Perga in Pamphylia : and John de-

parting from them returned to Jerusalem.

14 f But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down. 15 And after the reading of the St Paul and his Company go to Pamphylia. 13. Paul and bis company] Henceforth he has precedence, as in v. 43, with the exception of a few occasions, xiv. 14, xv. 25, on which a certain prominence was still recognised as belonging to Barnabas. loosed from Paphos] They did not linger to enjoy the patronage and hospitality of their distinguished convert, but proceeded at once to fresh labours and perils. in Pamphylia] Subjoined, because Perga was little known. It was an ancient city, on the river Cestrus, about seven miles from its mouth. The stay in it was very short, and there seems to have been no preaching till the return journey, xiv. aj. Some of the perils from robbers and rivers, a Cor. xi. a6, may have been encountered at this time. departing from them] Various motives have been assigned for this. Probably, a weak, lingering remembrance of his home and his mother. St Paul's language, xv. 38, sounds like some confirmation of the view that Mark shrunk from perils and hardships which, at the time of his leaving home for Cvprus, there was no reason for expecting. The suggestions that St Paul's treatment of Sergius Paulus offended him, that he was unable to take part in admitting Gentile converts to all the privileges of the Gospel without circumcision, that he could not brook any appearance of Barnabas being superseded, can hardly be accepted. Such presumption in a subordinate must surely have been noticed with censure. St Paul was more than recon-

—

law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Te men and brethren, if ye have any

word of exhortation

for the people, say on. 16 Then Paul stood up, and beck-

oning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience.

ing that permission to address the congregaThe following verse out of courtesy to strangers in the first instance. tion would be welcome. was addressed to them

15. the law and the prophets] Bengel thought that the first chapters or Deuteronomy and of Isaiah, still read on the same Sabbath in the synagogue service, may have been tne Or the three very lessons on this occasion. peculiar Greek words, w. 17 19, represented in A.V. by exalted, suffered their manners, and divided their land by lot, the first is found in Isaiah i. a, the second and third in Deut. i« A series 3*» 38, according to LXX. of lessons from the Prophets was introduced B.C. 163, when the reading of the Law was forbidden by Antioch us Epiphanes; and this was not discarded, but combined with the old lessons, when, in the time of the Maccabees, that tyranny was overpast, and the public reading of the Law was resumed.

—

the rulers of the synagogue] At Capernaum, where, from John vi. 59, it appears that there was only one synagogue, we have one of the Whitby added to this rulers in Mark v. aa. that the mention of Crisp us and Sosthenes, xviii. 8, 17, implies a plurality of such officers at Corinth.

St Paul's discourse in the Synagogue

—

ciled afterwards, 2

Tim. iv. 11

;

CoL iv. 10

Philemon 24. 14. Antioch in Pisidia] So distinguished from the better known city in Syria, xi. 19. Both were founded by Seleucus Nicator. This

was to the north of Perga, in the highlands of the Taurus range, so near the frontier that Ptolemy assigned it to Pamphylia and Strabo to Phrygia. Its site, Jalobatscb, with many magnificent ruins, was not distinguished from that of Philomelium till 1833. See ArundelTs *

Asia Minor,' 1. a 68. the synagogue]

Only one apparently In the

city.

sat down]

The posture of teachers, intimat-

44i

at Antioch in Pisidia. In conformity with Greek stood up] In Judaea the teacher sat, Luke iv. ao. Paul was the chief speaker, as in v. 45 and 16.

usage.

xiv. 1 a.

of Israel] This was omitted by Tischendorf without due consideration of the preponderating evidence in support of it ye that fear God] Gentiles who had renounced idolatry, but had not yet avowed themselves proselytes, and submitted to circumcision. The classification, which recurs in v. a6, was regarded by Josephus, xiv. vii. a, as comprehending all adherents of Judaism throughout the world. The prominence given in this address to the historical element may have been suggested by that of St Stephen, which must have been deeply impressed on the Apostle's mind. St Paul's audience was as favourably disposed as

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THE ACTS. XIII.

442 « Exod. x.

The God of this people of Ischose our fathers, and exalted 14, 16. the people a when they dwelt as stran*Gr. etropogers in the land of Egypt, *and with pkoresen. perhaps for an high arm brought he them out ttrofnoof it. fAerrsen, tone, or, 18 And about the time of forty thrm, fed as a nuru years buffered he their manners in beartth, or, ftttUth the wilderness. fur child, 19 And when he had destroyed Dcut.1.31. 9 Mac. 7. nations in the land of Chanaan, seven 27. according to the LXX. and so Chrysost. x.

Exod. 13. rael

that of the first martyr had been hostile. opening is studiously conciliatory.

17.

The

Paul was by no means indifferent to the peculiar privileges of the Jews, Rom. ix. 4, 5. exalted the people] By the honours conferred on Joseph, by the miracles wrought on their behalf, and by the extraordinary multiplication of their numbers, Exod. shall be great ,

Gen. xlviii.

7, 9, ia, 20.

19, is represented

by the same word in LXX. 18. suffered be their manners'] The balance of MS. authority is slightly in favour of this reading. But the variation in the margin has the support of most MSS. of LXX. in Deut. is favoured by Num. xi. ia ; Isai. xlvi. i. 31 ; 3, lxiii. 9, and suits the spirit of the context here best.

19. seven nations] So in Deut. vii. 1 In Exod. iii. 8, as Josh. iii. 10, xxiv. 11. again in Neh. ix. 8, only six are enumerated and in Gen. xv. 19 ai, ten. divided their land] This reading of the received text is not authorized by a single Uncial MS. The other reading, gave them the land for their inheritance, largely supported, has been adopted in all recent critical editions.

—

The same word occurs Deut iii. a 8. Num. xxvl 55, 56.

22.

'he divided their land to them by r Jo*.«* lot.

20 And after that ''he gave unto *)***.* 9 them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel "

the prophet. 21 'And afterward they desired a'' 5*"- 1 king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.

And when

removed

he had

and the building of the Temple 59a years, which have been distributed thus 40 years to :

As a Christian, St

chose our fathers]

[v.

Cp.

20. four hundred and fifty years] There has been no very good success in various attempts to reconcile this with t K. vi. 1, where the Hebrew gives 480, and LXX. 440 years, as the interval between the Exodus and the building of the Temple, which leaves only 300 years for the period of the Judges. It has been proposed to alter the punctuation so as to connect the 450 years not witfi the Judges, but with the allotment of the land as the termination of a period commencing with the birth of Isaac. But the Exodus is the -earliest event to which any reference is made by St Paul ; and he may be understood to have followed a chronological arrangement familiar with the Jews, Josephus, vm. iii. 1, which made the interval between the Exodus

the wandering in the wilderness; 18 years to the time under Joshua ; 450 years to the period of the Judges ; 40 years under Samuel and Saul ; 40 years to the reign of David, and the first four years of Solomon. All this applies to the received text followed in A.V. But it is to be borne in mind that another reading, authorized by K, A, B, C, D, and supported by the Vulgate, gives a different sense. He distributed their land for an inherit' once, about 450 years ; And after that He gave them Judges until Samuel the Prophet. This sets forth the 450 years as the interval between the birth of Isaac and the taking possession of the promised land. By adopting it we escape the difficulty of reconciling this passage with 1 K. vi. 1, in which the period begins with the Exodus, whereas here it ends with the entrance into Canaan. As Bengel pointed out, the allotment of the land was not the beginning but the close of the 450 years. Samuel the prophet] Cf. iii. 24, All the Prophets, from Samuel. So Augustin, 4 de Civ. Dei,' xvn. 1, u Ex quo S. Samuel Pro-

pheta coepit, et deinceps donee populus Israel totum in Babyloniam captivus duceretur tempus est Prophetarum." Jerome, 4 adv. iovinianum,' " Samuel propheta fuit, judex lit, Levita. fuit, non pontifex, ne sacerdos

quidem." 21.

tribe

of Benjamin]

tribe, Rom. xi. 1 ; Phil. iii. 5. notice of tribal connexion in

Paul's

own

The only other

New Testament

the case of Anna, Luke ii. 36, and of Barnabas, iv. 36. forty years] The length of Saul's reign is not stated in the Old Testament. According to Josephus, vi. xiv. 9, he reigned 18 years dunng the lifetime of Samuel, and a a years after his death. Saul was young when he was anointed ; and his youngest son was 40 years old at the time of Saul's death, a S. ii. 10: is in

22. had removed him] Not by death, but by the rejection of him and his dynasty, 1 S. xv. a6.

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•i Sam. 16. hj

THE ACTS. XIII.

23—29.]

m /h c raised up unto them David

26 Men and brethren, children of

whom also he

the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is

to be their king; to j-PttL

89.

gave testimony, and said, *I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after

mine own

fulfil all

which

heart,

shall

my will.

23 A Of this man's seed hath God

*i»Lix. *"

according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus •Matt. 3. 1. 24 'When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. :

25 And as John fulfilled his course, John t. 90,

443

he said, *Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.

raised up] A word of higher meaning than gave in the preceding verse. J have found David] This looks like a

fusion of Ps. lxxxix. 20 and 1 S. xiii. 14. Such blended quotations were not unusual with the Jews. Cp. vii. 43 Matt. ii. 23. ;

after mine own heart] I.e. in his public, kingly capacity, uniformly and promptly obedient to the will of God as announced by His messengers; not wilful and perverse, as Saul had shewn himself, 1 S. xiii. 13, 14, xv.

28 ; compare

K. xi. 3$,

38,

and

xiv.

The expression does not assert unblemished purity of moral character, and affords no ground for the objections made to it on ac-

count of David's having fallen into grievous sins.

23.

Of this man's seed]

Son of David

was a received designation of the Messiah,

the word of this salvation sent. 27 For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.

28 'And though they found no' M »"-«7. cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. 29 And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.

25. fulfilled] was completing. Towards the close of his ministry the Forerunner more and more turned men's attention away from

Cp. John i. 19, 20, 27. Luther followed the Vulgate in exhibiting this not as a question 1 am not be whom ye think. Whose disciple I am not worthy to loose] not worthy to be. Cp. Matt iii. 11 ; Mark himself.

Whom think ye]

L 7.

26.

brethren]

So St Paul loved to regard

Rom. ix. 3. of the stock of Abraham] Of that race which

his countrymen, really

began in Isaac, the child of promise.

A more precise designation than children of Abraham. 27. they that dwell at Jerusalem] Jews of the Pisidian Antioch were not involved in

Matt. ix. 27, xii. 23.

this guilt.

according to bis promise] E.g. Isai. xi. 1, 10 Jer. xxiii. 5, 6 ; the Messianic promises generally, the fulfilment of which was expected at that time. raised] There is a considerable preponderance of MS. authority for brought, the word in Zech. iii. 8, LXX.

Both Apostles had St Peter, iii. 17. their Lord's authority for using such language, Luke xxiii. 34. Cp. 1 Cor. ii. 8. This ignorance led on to the fulfilment of the prophecies concerning His sufferings. St Paul took his share in this ignorance home to himself, 1 Tim.

Jesus]

This

Name was of importance in

this context, and therefore the meaning of it is

given, to fix attention on it.

But the whole

because they

knew him not]

13. the voices of the prophets]

The great testimony to Christ, Luke xxiv. 25 27. read every sabbath day] As they had been

of the argument was stated first, because the Name might be thought likely to excite pre-

since the days of the

judice.

note onv. 15.

John] The excitement caused by his ministry in judara must have been known to the Jews of the dispersion generally. His entering on His public bis coming] ministry. The same word as in Malachi iii. 2, LXX. Several of the Fathers understood His Incarnation, in defiance of chronology. Cp. xix. 4. baptism of repentance]

24.

To the same

effect

—

Maccabees. See the Providence had so ordered it

that increased attention was drawn to that portion of Scripture as the time for its fulfil-

ment drew near. in condemning him] Sanhedrim, the people

The Rulers in by

their

the

clamours

before Pilate's judgment-seat.

29. they took him down] The soldiers concerned in the crucifixion, by whom the

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THE ACTS. XIII.

444

^o ""But God raised him from the

£Matt.a8.

dead 31

And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from

[v.

3o—35-

raised up Jesus again ; as it is also * P»i- • % written in the second psalm, "Thou 'iaLss^. art my Son, this day have I begotten *^; fij%

thee.

And

Sw£?

to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. 32 And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which

more to return to corruption, he said }^ </ p on this wise, *I will give you the'^.ss-a-

was made unto the fathers,

sure T mercies of David.

Galilee

God

the same 33 unto us their children, in that he hath

hath

fulfilled

34 raised

concerning

They who had taken His life commanded His body to be delivered. In Luke xxiii. 53 the taking down from the Cross appears to be attributed to Joseph of Arimathaea personally. His loving and reverent intervention, in con-

junction with Nicodemus, John xix. 39, is left unnoticed here, because all that was required for St Paul s argument was the death

and resurrection, as facts.

The burial is inci-

noticed only as a necessary consequence, and so a positive proof, of the death. In his Epistles St Paul frequently refers to it, Rom. vi. 4 ; 1 Cor. xv. 4 ; Col. ii. 12. The Chief Priests and Elders had caused the death by delivering Jesus to Pilate ; and they took forcible possession of the sepulchre when they sealed it, and obtained a Roman guard for it,

dentally

Wherefore

another

psalm^

many saith

>Thou

30. raited bim from the dead] The immediate conjunction of the Passion and Resurrection of our Lord is characteristic of St Paul, xvii. 3; Rom. iv. 24, 25. St Peter, having been an eye-witness, referred to the

and miracles, ii. aa, x. 38, 39.

31.

many days] I.e. forty, i. 3.

them which came up with bim] This has been understood of the Eleven and the Hundred and Twenty, too many to have been under an illusion for that period. <wbo are bis witnesses] There is ample authority for inserting now before His witnesses\ and the word has great weight; the fact of the Resurrection did not rest on tradiwitnesses were still alive. tion ;

In the Original the word unto the people] regularly used for the Jewish people.

32.

we declare unto you]

are in the Original.

Both pronouns

fVe, here in

Antioch, as

His witnesses, unto you, having a commission to make the Gospel known among the Gentiles.

33.

fulfilled]

A stronger word than in

Tne fulfilment was complete; was nothing further to be expected.

v. 27.

us tbeir cbildren]

in f^St

also

* Psad. 16. xo.

unto our children in MS. authority

the Vulgate, with very strong in its favour.

batb raised up Jesus again] Bp Bull regarded St Pauls words, Rom. i. 4, declared to be the Son of God with power, by tbe

comNon ita accipien-

resurrection from tbe dead, as the best

mentary on this passage

dum, quasi demum per ac post resurrectionem Christus coeperit esse excellentissimo

modo

Dei Filius, et ab eo gigni, sed quia turn potentissime per resurrectionem verus atque unigenitus Dei Filius declaratus atque ostensus ruerit. Hie enim est Scripturae mos, ut res turn dicantur

produnt."

fieri,

cum manifestantur et sese

'Judicium Ecclesiae Catholicae,'

V. 7, vol. vi. p. 114, ed. Burton. tbe second psalm] This has great MS. authority, K, A, B, C, E, G, but tbe first ; Psalm in the Vatican MS., largely supported by patristic quotations, was adopted by Lacbmann and Tischendorf. Our first Psalm was not unusually regarded as an introduction to the whole Psalter. The first and second Psalms were sometimes regarded as together forming one Psalm, Schoettgen. Our second Psalm was understood by the ancient Jews as directly applicable to the Messiah. have I begotten tbee] »* The grave is as the womb of the earth; Christ, who is raised from thence, is as it were begotten to another life; and God, who raised Him, is His Father." Pearson, on the Creed, Article a.

there

34. now no more] Rather, not heroafter, Rom. vi. 9. Christ never had returned to corruption. He was to rise again ; and corruption took no effect upon Him. ii. 31. Perhaps, the tbe sure mercies of David] holy promises made sure to David. Isai. Iv. 3, quoted, not with verbal exactness, from LXX. That Version gives ra oaia in this passage for the same Hebrew word which David is rendered mercies in 1 Chro. vi. 42. had been promised a successor whose throne should be established for ever, 2 S. vii. 13 16.

Cp. Ps. lxxxix. 3, 4, a8, 19, $$* 3^.

35. in another psalm] xvi. 10. Here we have authority for applying that Psalm to

Digitized by

-8

notjg^jf*

shalt

Matt, xxvii. 66. tbe tree] Cp. v. 30, X. 39.

life

he which 1

brew, mercies,

body was delivered to Joseph of Arimathsea.

that

him up from the dead, now no Lxx.boch

Google

THE ACTS. Xlfl.

• 36—43] suffer thine Holy

One to see corrup-

tion.

36 For David, x after he had served own generation bv the will of J££2/$God> 'fell on sleep, ana was laid unto G«t his fathers, and saw corruption Kingi sl to. 37 But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. 38 f Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

1 or,

tfur

40 Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in r the r HaKi. * prophets 41 Behold, ye despisers, and won-

kisew*" his

Christ

Compare

Peter's

argument,

ii.

36. after be bad served] The marginal rendering here is no improvement on the text. The ministering of Christ was not limited to

any one generation. This expression is used of fell on sleep] David, 1 K. ii. 10. Compare vii. 60. It is better to understand the words, by the will of God, as immediately connected with this phrase. The termination of Davids life on earth was fixed by Divine wisdom. laid unto bis fathers'] Gathered unto bis people, Gen. xxv. 8, 17, xxxv. 29; unto thy fathers, 2 K. xxii. ao. 38.

men and brethren] Brethren, as vii.

2, and elsewhere.

through this man] That forgiveness of sins through Him is preached unto you. He died for our sins and rose again for our justification.

39.

all that believe]

that belleveth.

Rather, every one

With a faith working by

445

der, and perish : for I work a work in

your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. 42 And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them f the next sabbath. *Pr *» 43 Now when the congregation Set^L was broken up, manv of the J ews and V<d&tk religious proselytes followed Paul and ***"*• Barnabas who, speaking to them, :

to understand the latter passage, the

Minor

Prophets forming one book according to the Jewish reckoning. Cf. vii. 4a, xv. 15. The Suotation is made with slight variations from le LXX. Compare the use of the passage

Rom. i. 17, and Gal. Hi. 11. The original reference was to a Chaldaean invasion, Habak.

—

6 That warning was given about 10. twenty years before the destruction of one

Temple; it was now repeated at much the same interval previously to the destruction of

The calamities endured in the first instance were very much like those which were

the other.

impending from the Romans.

So LXX. and Syr. In 41. despisers] Hebrew, jr among the heathen. Adam Clarke believed that the LXX. had followed the reading,

right

letters Daleth

the

difference

between the

and Vau making this variation

in the sense.

Its effect on the Gentiles.

is here a combined reference to Isai. xxviii. 14,

This verse, as it stands in A. V., gives the ordinary effect of St Paul's teaching on Jews and Gentiles respectively. But can Gentiles have been present in the synagogue ? Any such question is superseded by the reading exhibited in recent critical editions on the authority of K, A, B, C, D, E, Syr. and Vulg., and of quotations by Chrysostom and other Fathers. And when they (Paul and Barnabas)' were going fort by they (the congregation generally, Jews and proselytes) besought them... the next sabbath] This rendering agrees with Syr., and is supported by Krebs, who cites two instances of the same use of ficratv by Tosethe That 11. xi. 4» v. iv. 2. phus, * J. margin might be understood of the reading of the Law in the synagogue on Monday and Thursday, the two days in the week on which the Pharisees fasted, Luke xviii. 12. The intervening week gave many opportunities for

as well as to Habakkuk L 5.

instruction in private.

love,

Waterland, * Doctrine of the Eucharist,'

ix. a.

ye could not be justified] " The attentive reader will observe by these words that justification was not to be had in the Law, or in its system. He will observe also that St Paul does not say to the Israelites, 4 Of the justification which ye had under the Law Christ was the source ; but that, ye had not so much as the power of the justification.' The same disparity between the Mosaic and the Christian Covenants in the article of Atonement is stated In Heb.ix. 15." Davison, * Remains,' 75.

40. Beware"] Did St Paul, at this point, observe any symptoms of dissent or disapprobation in the countenance of any of his hearers? the prophets'^

Some have thought that there But it is better

42.

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THE ACTS, XIII.

446

persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. 44 41 And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. 45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting

and blaspheming.

46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that

the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves

continue in the grace of God] In the was attainable

43.

belief that forgiveness of sins

without meritj circumcision, or works of the Law. Cp. xiv. aa, to continue in the faith, John viii. 31, Ifye continue in my word.

44. almost the whole city] Such an assembly can hardly have taken place within the walls of a single synagogue different audiences may have been addressed in the course of the day. This is a striking illustration of the help to the spread of the Gospel which was continually rendered by the dispersion of the

[v.

unworthy of everlasting life,

44—50* lo,

turn to the Gentiles. 47 For so hath the

Lord commanded us, sayings *I have set thee *i«i.4** to be a light of the Gentiles, that

thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. 48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region. 50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and

47. I have set thee] Isai. xlix. 6, according LXX., which refers primarily to the Messiah in His prophetic office, but admits of application to those appointed by Him to act or speak in His Name. It is quoted here to shew that provision had been made for the, admission of the Gentiles, that this was no arbitrary, incidental result of Apostolical teach-

to the

;

Jews.

Isai. xlii.

lxi. 6, 9, lxii. a, lxvi.

48. iii.

1 ;

1, 6, xlix. 6,

ia ;

lx. 3, 5, 16,

Rom. xv. 9

—

11, 16.

glorified] Spoke honourably of a Thess. expressed thankfulness for the offer of

There is no hint of any miracles having been wrought. were ordained] A.V. has followed the Vulgate. Rather, were set In order for,

salvation.

the Jews]

45.

Principally their teachers, zealous for exclusiveness, and insisting on conformity to Judaism as an indispensable preliminary. multitudes] Of Gentiles, whose admission into the Church on such easy terms provoked the Jewish envy till it became the fertile source

of bitter persecutions Cp. v. 16. spoken by Paul]

This implies expressly stated xiv. ia, that he was the chief speaker.

what

Cf.

ing.

This word is of very doubt-

contradicting] ful authority.

Venting

blaspheming']

calumnies against

Jesus Christ

46. waxed bold] Rather, used great freedom of speech, seeing their way more clearly

to addressing

Gentiles, xiv. 3.

Cp.

disposed for eternal life, as in Syr. ; or, the passive of this verb being used as equivalent to the middle, e.g. xx. 13, and repeatedly by Josephus, as many as bad marshalled themselves, placed themselves in the ranks of those who welcomed the offer of eternal life. Cp. The reference is to the effi1 Cor. xvi. i$. cacy of God's grace, not to His eternal puri.e.

pose. St Luke was stating a fact, not setting forth a doctrine. Made public profession of the believed] faith, as viii. 13, xi. ai ; Rom. xiii. 11.

40. Pisidia.

1 Thess. ii. a.

necessary]

counsels.

the 8,

iii.

order of the Divine a 6 ; Matt. x. 6, xv.

14 ; Luke xxiv. 47 ; Rom. i. 16. put it from you] 4 * Thrust away, disdaining to embrace the overture of everlasting life.** Barrow, Sermon 71. <we turn to the Gentiles] Sc. here, in Pisidian Antioch. The Divine commission for evangelizing the whole world was taking effect but there was no general and final repudiation of the Jews. Cp. xvii. a, xviii. 5, 6, 19.

throughout all the region] This imconsiderable time was spent in

that

plies

Jealousy of the Jews. devout] Proselytes, whose zeal was easily inflamed against those whom they heard spoken of as apostates from the faith which they had themselves recently adopted. Cp. Justin M., 4 Dialogue/ § iaa. honourable] The insertion of and before

50.

this

word was very ill-advised.

Only one

class is indicated ; proselytes whose husbands

were in a position to influence the local authoAccording rities against Paul and Barnabas.

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THE ACTS. XIII. XIV.

51-*]

4*7

the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their

so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks

coasts.

2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds

51 'But they shook off the dust of

' Matt 10.

»4-

their

feet

against

them, and came

unto Iconium.

52 And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.

CHAPTER XIV. 1

Paul and Barnabas are persecuted from Iconium. 8 At Lystra Paul kealeth a cripple*

believed.

evil affected against the brethren.

3 Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands. 4 But the multitude of the city was divided and part held with the Jews, and part with the apostles. 5 And when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully, and to stone them, 6 They were ware of it y and fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Ly:

whereupon they are reputed as gods.

Paul is stoned.

They pass through divers

churches, confirming the disciples in faith and patience, 16 Returning to Antioch, they report what God had done with them.

AND

came to pass in Iconium,

X"\ that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and

11. xx. a, at Damascus to Josephus, * J. the great majority of the married women were

proselytes.

expelled them] Not by any legal proceeding, but tumultuously. They revisited the city, xiv. 11.

Borders,

coasts]

boundaries, as xxvi. 20,

There is reference to this outbreak of persecution, a Tim. iii. 11, as even then fresh in St Paul's memory. and Matt. ii. 16.

shook off the dust] In compliance with 51. On returning from abroad, Matt. x. 14. Jewish sandals were carefully cleansed, that no heathen dust might be carried into the Holy Land. Now Konieb. More populous Iconium] and important than Lystra. «• Urbs celeberrima," Pliny, ' H. N.' v. 17. About 90 miles S.E. of the Pisidian Antioch, in a fine position on the central table-land of Asia Minor, near the boundaries of Phrygia and Pamphylia as well as of Lycaonia. Several of the Roman roads met at this point, and Iconium was therefore an important centre for missionary Timothy was with St Paul, a Tim. labours. iii.

10, 11.

52. with joy, and with the Holy Ghost] Cp. Rom. xiv. 17 ; Gal. v. a a.

Paul and Barnabas are driven out of Iconium. CHAP. XIV.

went both... into the synaNothing daunted by the ill success at 1.

gogue] the Pisidian Antioch. Greeks] These must have been in some If they had avowed no stage of proselytism. inclination to Judaism, they would not have

been admissible to the synagogue; if circumcised, they would not have been called Greeks. unbelieving) The best supported read2. ing gives past time to this participle. Jews who bad not accepted the instruction of Paul and Barnabas. This seems to imply that a the brethren] Christian community had already been formed in Iconium. subjoins here, But the Lord quickly gave peace ; and £, But God made peace,

therefore]

Because of the success in

v. 1, and of the need of counteracting the opposition in v, a. Evidences of Divine mission ; wo»signs] Cf. ders, startling, and arresting attention. ii.

aa.

Paul and Barnabas, the apostles] styled for the first time. Cp. v. 14. 4.

an assault] There was a strong impulse, 5. and perhaps some tumultuary preparation for an assault, which was only not made because Paul and Barnabas withdrew. Probably those of the synatheir rulers] gogue. Gentile magistrates would hardly have lent themselves to this movement The penalty of blasphemy, to stone them] vii. 57 59 ; cp. Deut. xiii. 10. St Paul was on the verge of suffering it more than once, a Cor. xL aj.

—

were ware of it]

The same word in

the Original is represented by when he had considered, xii. 1 a.

andfled] In compliance with Christ's direcThis was not a retrograde movement ; they did not quit Lycaonia. Lystra] Its site is assigned by Hamilton,

tion, Matt x. a3.

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THE ACTS. XIV.

448

caonia, and unto the region that lieth

round about: 7 And gospel.

there

they preached

the

8 4[ And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked 9 The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, 1

—

* Asia Minor, 11. 316 319, to some ruins 30 miles south of Iconium, at the foot of Kara Dagb, the Black Mountain, among which are traces of twenty churches. It was the home

of Timothy, xvi. 1. Derbe] The birthplace of Gaius, xx. 4. Its position has not been exactly ascertained, though it was reputed the fourth town in Asia Minor. Divle, near the opening of the pass through the Taurus range into the table-land of Lycaonia, has been thought to correspond to its site, by Hamilton, Leake, and Howson. "In the Apostolic history Lystra and Derbe are commonly mentioned together. In % Tim. iii. 10, 11, Derbe is not mentioned. The distinction will appear to be accurate for St Paul is here enumerating his persecutions ; and, although he underwent grievous persecutions in each of the cities through which he passed to Derbe, at Derbe itself he met with none." Paley, 4 Horae Paulinae,' xii. 5. cities] the chief cities. the article is prefixed.

In the Original

The form of ex7. preached the gospel] pression implies that some considerable time was thus occupied. There is no hint of any synagogue. Paul and Barnabas, now for the first time face to face with a rude heathen population, taught, it seems, in the market and in other places of public resort.

Paul having healed a cripple, they are reputed as gods. 8.

sat]

Perhaps begging.

who never bad walked] A most important circumstance for the miracle.

Cf. iii. a.

beard] Rather, was listening, persisted In listening to. perceiving that be bad faith] By the gift of discerning spirits, not merely from the earnest expression of his countenance. Faith was required by our Lord, Luke xviii. 4a, viii. 48 ; Matt. xiii. 58 ; Mark ix. 23. 9.

10. with a loud voice] That the attention of the bystanders might be called to the miraouloos cure.

[v.

7—13-

io Said with a loud voice, Stand And he leaped upright on thy feet.

and walked. 1 And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. 12 And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. 13 Then the priest of Jupiter,

leaped] Sprang up a single act, expressed by the aorist walked, the continued exercise of his new powers, by the imperfect. This miracle has been treated as a duplicate of that wrought by St Peter, iii. 6 8. But in ;

;

—

that case the cripple looked for alms only, there was distinct reference to the Name of Jesus, and St Peter raised him up ; whereas here the man had faith to be healed; there

was no reference to the Name (unless, with Lachmann, the reading of C and D is admitted), and there was leaping and walking without any assistance. 11. the speech of Lycaonia] It has been suggested that this was a corrupt form of Greek, possibly a mixture of Greek and Syriac. Jerome found that the dialect in use at Ancyra, the capital of Galatia, was like that spoken in Treves. A local form of Celtic may have left Paul and Barnabas in ignorance of the popular feeling and intention till they heard of the oxen and garlands. Bentley understood that the cure had been wrought at a distance from the lodgings of the Apostles, holding, in opposition to Chrysostom, that the speech of Lycaonia could not have been unknown to them, because immediate neighbours to that district heard their own several

dialects on the day of Pentecost, and Paul and

Barnabas were able to preach in the cities of Lycaonia. The gods are come down] Baur treats this as incredible, on the ground that such childlike belief had passed away. But Lystra was inland, quite out of the world, and may have imbibed little or nothing of the scepticism of the age. in the likeness

made like,

of]

Literally,

having been

"They who in their own nature

were of a more august stature and glorious visage had now contracted and debased themselves into the narrower dimensions and meaner aspects of mortal men." Bentley. 12.

gave

Mercurius] All our English Versions Latin name instead of Hermes

this

cp. xix.

24,

17,

28.

Hermes was always

represented as vigorous and graceful. The feet that St Paul was thus identified is not

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THE ACTS. XIV.

14— 19-1

which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people.

14 Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard ofy they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out,

And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of 15

449

* which made heaven, and earth, and

jSjii'J"

the sea, and all things that are therein : Rev. \+ 7l 16 *Who in times past suffered all *p*«i. *«• nations to walk in their own ways. 17 Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven,

and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. 18

And with these sayings scarce

and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God,

restrained they the people, that they

favourable to the exaggerated notions of the Apostle's personal appearance which are derived from the legend of Paul and Thecla. See Jones on the Canon, 11. 355. The tradition of the visit of Jupiter and Mercury to Baucis and Philemon, Ovid, 4 Metamorph.' vm. 620, had its scene in the neighbourhood of Lystra.

Creation, according to our conception, is one of the facts of revelation, Heb. xi. 3.

13.

passions with you,

before their city]

The temple of. the

tutelary power was outside the walls.

garland/]

Priests, altars, victims, votaries,

were all decked with these. Corona/ xo. the gates]

Tertullian, *de

Of the outer court of the house

which the Apostles were lodged. The same word as in x. 17, xii. 13 Luke xvi. 20; in

;

Matt. xxvi. 71. Some have incorrectly understood the city gates ; others, the doors of the temple. The homage was intended for Paul and Barnabas.

There is a very large balance 14. ran in] of authority in favour of r ashed out. Having retired to their lodging, they were, for a time, unaware of the popular feeling, which, Bentley thought, had been only whispered by those who believed themselves to be in the presence of Jupiter. 15. of like passions] Mortals, liable to the suffering of death, like yourselves; as in

James v. 17, So in the Nicene Creed, He " Otherwise the suffered and was buried. antithesis is not so plain; for the heathen mythology made the gods themselves subject to passions and appetites, and exempted them from nothing but death and old age. Bentley. these vanities]

Having no real existence

vain things which cannot profit nor deliver, 1 S. xii.

21.

Cp. 1 K. xvi. 13

;

Amos

ii.

4 ;

Cor. viii. 4 ; 1 Thess. i. 9. The speaker may have pointed to some idols, as well as to the decorations of the intended victims. 1

The eternal made heaven, and earth] existence of 'matter was very generally held, with varying estimates of the extent to which a plastic, moulding power had been exercised.

had not done sacrifice unto them. 19

f And there came thither r<r-

16. suffered... to walk] Cp. xvii. 30. A punishment for their not liking to retain God in their knowledge. all nations] Rather, all the heathen. Bentley, 194. Cp. Rom. xv. 11, xvi. 26; a Tim. iv. 17.

17. without witness] The Gentiles had some knowledge of Divine things, for which

they were answerable, xvii. 27 ; Rom. i. 20, See Cicero, Tusc. Disp.' 1. 28. They 15. had fallen away from the patriarchal faith, had invented many superstitions and blasphemies, and had been betrayed into cruelty and licentiousness in their ceremonies. did good] Bentley thought that the true punctuation is indicated by the Syriac version, in that He was always doing good from heaven. The participle in the present tense implies the continuity of the Divine beneficence. ram] Plural in the Original. Possibly with reference to the earlier (autumnal) and latter (vernal) rain. Rain was regarded as preeminently the gift of God, 1 K. viii. $$, 36; Job v. 10, xxxvi. 17, 18 ; Ps. lxv. 9 12, cxlvii. There was peculiar 8 Jer. v. 24, xiv. 22. propriety in this mention of it ; for, according to Strabo, xn. 6, the pastures of Lycaonia, a region in which the streams from the surrounding mountains do not form rivers of any importance, were liable to suffer severely from drought, and in one of its cities water cost more than milk, in consequence of the unusual depth to which it was necessary to sink the ii.

—

;

wells.

food and gladness] Ps. cxlv. 16. Indigence and starvation are not in the order of Providence, but results of man's perversity and sin. Perhaps we have only these sayings] 18. an epitome of a longer address. scarce restrained they] So strong and deeply seated was the love of idolatry.

19.

St Paul is stoned. And there came] But there came.

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THE ACTS. XIV.

45© '•Cor. zt.

[v.

25.

tain Jews from Antioch and Iconium,

ciples, and exhorting them to continue

who persuaded the people, 'and, hav-

in the faith, and that we must through

ing stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. 20 Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. 21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught, many, they returned again to Lystra,

much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. 23 And when they had ordained

and to Iconium, and Antioch, 22 Confirming the souls of the dis-

Who

may have imputed the certain Jews] miracle to sorcery, and so led the populace to think that Divine honours had been declined from fear of the gods. This could not fail to exasperate ; and these Jews found it easier to persuade the Pisidians to take Paul's life than he and Barnabas had found it to avoid idolaFor a parallel to this fickletrous homage. ness of popular feeling see xxviii. 4, 6. Barnabas, as well as Paul, stoned Paul] had been in danger of this at Iconium, v. 5. Cp. a Cor. xi. a 5 ; a Tim. iii. 11. Paul's zeal and eloquence exposed him to peril rather than his companion. Scars left by the wounds and bruises received on this occasion were among the marks of the Lord Jesus which he bore in his body, Gal. vi 17. drew him out of the city]

And left his body

as unworthy of burial. The rapture into Paradise and the third heaven, a Cor. xii., has by some been referred to this time.

20. the disciples'] Recent converts. Timothy may have been among them. came into the city] Stoning could hardly be without broken bones, and St Paul had also been dragged through part of the city and outHis restoration was as miracuside its walls. It was complete as lous as his surviving. well as instantaneous, for he was capable of travelling the next day. If, as some have suggested, Derbe belonged at this time to Antiochus, king of Commagene, whereas Lystra was in the Roman province of Galatia, they were taking refuge under another jurisdiction.

them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.

And

throughout Pamphylia.

they had passed they came to

after

Pisidia,

And when they had preached

had left no time, was absolutely necessary for permanence. Accordingly they did not consult their own safety by taking a different route, but revisited the scenes of persecution. Lystra^ 8cc] The names are enumerated here in an order the reverse of that followed above,

22.

Confirming]

The same word as in

xv.

3a, 41, xviiL a^.

ing.

Luke ix. a3, xiv. a 7.

It implies additional strengthening of faith by supplementary instruction given by the Apostles on second or subsequent visits to Churches Which they had founded. that we must] The pronoun is here no indication of St Lukes presence. The teachers identified themselves with the taught This is the first recorded intimation to this effect in Apostolic teaching. It was especially true of the primitive converts; but all Christians must be prepared for the discipline of suffer-

self " went not up to joy,

Their Lord Him-

but first He suffered

pain."

much tribulation]

Literally,

lations. the kingdom of God]

many tribu-

The kingdom

glory, the happiness of heaven ; sense from that in i. 3, xxviii. 23.

23.

ordained]

them.

a different

Rather, had chosen for

The context makes it 41. the selection was the act of the

Cp.

clear that Apostles. Jerome, on Isai. lviii., explained it

of Ordination. But does not the word, vc«used here, and in only one otner place in the New Testament, a Cor. viii. 19, where A.V. has cbosen t point to something poroptlv,

After revisiting Lystra and Iconium, 21. and bad taught] The marginal rendering, had made many-dlsciples, is much

distinct from xctpodc <rc'a ? elders']

Cp. xi. 30, xv. a.

mained there for some time. Not without peril, which returned again]

One Elder in each, where there were several Churches in the same city. with fas ting] As in xiii. 1 3. The je-

they cheerfully faced, considering that the wants of the recent converts had a claim upon their attention beyond the indefinite prosecuOrganization of their missionary labours. tion, tor which the restless malice of the Jews

junia quatuor temporum, our Ember weeks, assigned to Ordinations, have not been traced higher than 450 a.d. under Leo' the Great. Bingham, iv. vi. 6, xxi. ii. 7. the Lord] I.e. to Jesus Christ

to be preferred.

This implies that they re-

in every cburcb]

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THE ACTS. XIV. XV.

a.]

CHAPTER XV.

the word in Perga, they went down into Attalia:

26 And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled. 27 And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gen-

451

Grtat dissension ariseth touching circumcision. 6 The apostles consult about it, 12 and send their determination by letters to the churches. 36 Paul and Barnabas, thinking to visit the brethren together, fall at strife %

and depart asunder.

AAND

certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, a Except ye be circumcised * GaL * after the manner of Moses, ye cannot

tiles.

be saved. 2 When therefore Paul and Barna-

28 And there they abode long time with the disciples.

bas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined

26. preached the word] As, it seems, they bad not done on their previous visit to Perga, xiii. 13. Attalia] Now Adalia, about sixteen miles S.W. of Perga, on the coast of Pamphylia, at the mouth of the river Catarrhactes. It was named after its founder, Attalus Philadelphus, king of Pergamus, who desired to have a port as convenient for trade with Syria and Egypt as Troas was for the commerce of the jfcgean. •

they return to antioch, rehearse all that God had done with them, and abide there a long time. 26. Antioch] In Syria; strictly, to its port Seleucia, which had been their starting-

This Antioch was the Mother Church of Gentile Christendom. And Paul and Barnabas, specially guided as they were by the Holy Ghost, regarded themselves in point, xiii. 4.

close connexion

with

it,

not

under

its

There is no instance in Scripture, or in the practice of the primitive Church, of missionaries acting independently, on their

control.

own responsibility.

We have not the elements for calculating exactly the time occupied by this the first missionary circuit of St PauL Conjectural estimates have varied between two and eight years.

27.

the church"]

Consisting probably of

several congregations.

with them] Not avv avroit but /xct avr&ir, Cp. x. 38, xv. 4

in gracious cooperation.

Matt, xxviii. ao. the door] a door,

extremely

difficult.

Pearson calculated

from the end of 47 to 49 A.D., not much

more than a year.

Dissension concerning Circumcision.

Chap. XV. 1. certain men] Converts from among the Pharisees, still zealous for the Law, xxi. ao, unable to understand the spread of the Gospel among the Gentiles, with by admissions to the Church without circumcision. Their teaching had no sanction from the Church at Jerusalem, v. a4, and St Paul characterized them as false brethren, GaL ii. 4. the brethren] Gentile converts at Antioch, who understood the freeness of the Chris ian dispensation all the better after the successful results of the mission of Paul and Barnabas. Except ye be circumcised] This was their principal tenet, but they were fain to impose the whole Law, v. 5. Cp. Gal. v. 3. They regarded Christianity as the consummation of Judaism, and held that the previous stage their prejudices exasperated

was indispensable. of Moses] Of the Law, Syr. Making circumcision an absolutely necessary condition for admission to the Passover. Exod. xii.

43—48.

Appeal to the Apostles in Jerusalem. 2.

dissension]

popular gathering;

disputation with the erroneous teachers. they determined] The brethren. This seems to imply that the Divine intimation which St Paul had, GaL ii. a, was not made to him

1 Cor. xvi. 9 ; a Cor. ii. Col. iv. 3. This implies great progress, beyond any heretofore made in the conversion of the Gentiles.

He and Barnabas must have felt of the result of this appeal. The Apostles in Jerusalem were guided by the same Spirit under whose influence they had been acting.

time.

long time'] Literally, not a little One striking instance of the vagueness in expressing intervals of time which is charac-

1, as a Gentile convert deeply interested in the

and makes any attempt at settling the chronology of the Acts

settlement of the question, and so richly endued with spiritual gifts' that he was himself a proof that the admission of the Gentiles had

1a ;

28.

teristic of St Luke's style,

exclusively.

certain

certain other]

Among them Titus, Gal.

New Test.— Vol. II.

ii.

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THE ACTS. XV.

452 that Paul and Barnabas,

and certain

other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders

about this question. 3 And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles and they caused great joy unto all the brethren. 4 And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them. 5 But there rose up certain of the

sect of the Pharisees

saying,

help. apostles and elders] This combination occurs five times in this chapter, irv. 4, 6, a a, Here, in this second verse, the article is 23. not prefixed to Elders, as it is in the four other

places, indicating

two distinct classes.

The

Apostles were governors of the whole Church.

matter. 7

of that Order in the Churches throughout Judaea and elsewhere. In the result of this discussion the whole community took part, w. ia, aa but the decrees are attributed to the Apostles and Elders alone, cannot determine exactly how xvi. 4. many Apostles were on the spot at this time that St Peter, St James, and St John were, may be gathered from Gal. ii. 9 ; but whether it is strictly correct to speak of this as the Apostolic Council has by some been thought doubtful. That designation occurs in one of the prayers appointed for the opening of our Convocations. ;

brought on their *way] mark of 3. respect and confidence. The sympathy of the

Church in Antioch was with them, not with the Judaizers, xx. 38, xxi. 5. Phenice and Samaria"] They travelled along the coast, as far southward as Ptolemais, xxi. 7, and then crossed the plain of Esdraelon into Samaria, taking their course among converts not nurtured in Jewish prejudices. The fruits of the disperall the brethren] sions caused by the persecutions, viii. 4, xi. 19. 4.

Jerusalem]

This was St Paul's third

And when there had been much

juting,

Peter rose

up,

and

said

*Men and brethren, ye *<**•» know how that a good while ago God & «. «> unto them,

made choice among us, that the Genby my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. 8 And God, which knoweth the tiles

about seventeen See for the earlier visits, ix. a6 t

visit since his conversion, and

years after it.

and xi. 30. received] Rather, welcomed; sc. officially, in acknowledgment of their authorized mission. It is not easy to determine whether the private conference in which St Paul doubtless obtained a distinct recognition of his Apostolic character was before or after this public reception. with them] Cp. xiv. %y. But in v. ia by them.

The Apostles and Elders, after much deliberation, 6.

apostles

and elders]

The whole body

of the Church were present at the deliberation, v, 1 a, and concurred in the decision. Cp. v. a a.

The Elders were not merely local, but representatives

which believed,

That it was needful to cir-

cumcise them, and to command than to keep the law of Moses. 6 f And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this

the Divine sanction. It has been thought probable that the Prophets, xiii. i, and the men of Cyprus and Cyrene, xi. ao, were included. go up to Jerusalem] The presence of Apostles gave that Church pre-eminence. The Mother Church of Gentile Christendom had ministered to the temporal needs of the Church of Jerusalem, xi. 39, 30; and now, in her own spiritual exigency, she turned to Jerusalem for

[v. 3-8.

to consider]

There was no plenary inspira-

tion to enable them to come immediately to a final decision.

There were two great quesMust the Gentiles be circumcised? Answered in the negative, v. 19. and, Were they bound to observe the Ceremonial Law ? They were not to give offence, and to avoid this

matter]

tions : 1 st,

sins of the flesh, v. ao, a 8, 39.

disputing] Rather, discussion. This, must be assumed, was in Greek, Those who came from Antioch could not be expected to understand Aramaic Cp. v. 16. Peter rose up] This is the last notice of him in this history. He had not presided in this Council, which he neither convoked nor dismissed. And the advice which he gave was based not on personal or official authority, but on acknowledged facts. The name of James is placed before those of Cephas and

John, Gal. ii. 9. a good while ago] Ten or fourteen years, according to different schemes of chronology; a long time in proportion to the entire interval since the day of Pentecost Some have extended the reference as far back as to Matt xvi. 19.

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THE ACTS. XV.

9— 14-]

hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as be cud unto us; 9 And put no difference between « d»p. io. us and them, c purifying their hearts Jfcor. i. 9 .

Now therefore why tempt ye

* Matt a 3 God, 'to put a yoke upon the neck * of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear ? II But we believe that through .

made choice] for Himself. among us] Apostles. There is a strong balance of authorities in favour of among you, A, B, C, and Irenseus, where in the Latin version St address and the letter are given at

believers generally, K,

in.

xii.

14,

Peter's length.

the gospel] This word is used in the Acts only here and xx. a*.

knowetb the hearts'] And so seeth far 8. beyond the outward ceremonial purity for which the Pharisees were contending, and cannot be deceived as to the character of those who had received the Holy Ghost The word is found in the Greek Testament only here and in i. 24. even at he did unto us] The identity of the bestowed on the Gentiles and on the Jews had already been urged by St Peter as a proof of its being God's pleasure that the Gentile converts should be on a footing of perfect equality in the Church. Cp. the similar appeal to the bestowal of miraculous gifts, Gal. Hi. a, 5. gifts

purifying their hearts] Cp. x. 15. The of the Gentiles was not in the body, as the Jews thought, but in the heart; and for that, faith, not circumcision, was the true remedy. by faith'] the faith; faith in Christ. 0.

real uncleanness

10.

tempt ye]

Sc.

provoke, Exod. xvii. 7 ;

Deut vi. 16;

rs. lxxviii. 17, 18; Heb. iii. 9, 16, by your inclination to act in opposition to His will clearly manifested in the case of

Cornelius, betraying doubt whether that maniwas to be absolutely relied on, and presuming to fetter the gifts of God with burthensome ceremonial conditions. a yoke] Not circumcision in particular, but the Law generally, to which circumcision would have bound them, Gal. iv. 9, v. 1, a, 3. Bp Bull understood the Ceremonial Law, Gill refers to Rabbinical « Examen,' xix. 9. authorities for its being common with the Jews to speak of the Law as a yoke. pur fathers] Not Abraham, Isaac, and J; cob, to whom the seal of the Covenant was festation

the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. 12 fl Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles

faith.

453

and wonders

God had wrought

among the Gentiles by them. 13 ^ And after they had their peace,

held

James answered, saying,

Men and brethren, hearken unto me 14 Simeon hath declared how God

—

no burthen, Rom. iv. 9 ia but the Israelites under Moses, and afterwards. nor <we] A most remarkable appeal to the consciences of the Jews, especially as coming from the Apostle of the circumcision. ;

The Gentile converts, not 11. as they] the Patriarchs, as some, following Augustin, have understood. 12. all the multitude] The whole Church, v. a a, 30. Cp. vi. a, 5, xxi. aa. gave audience] Disinclined to listen, down to this time, through the strength of their prejudices. The verb being in the imperfect tense implies sustained attention. return to the origiBarnabas and Paul] nal order, more familiar and acceptable to the Church in Jerusalem. So again v. aj. by them] Miracles at Paphos and at Lystra. These showed that the admission of the Gentiles was well pleasing to God.

13.

James]

Cp. xii.

17.

The question

of the identity of this James with the son of

Alphxus was pronounced by Neander the most difficult in the Apostolic history, and classed by Milman with those on which we can scarcely expect further information, and cannot therefore decide with certainty. It may be said to have divided Christendom. The Eastern Church has regarded the brother of the Lord, commonly spoken of as the Bishop of Jerusalem, as distinct from the son of Alphaeus. In the West, swayed by the authority of Jerome and Augustin, the opposite view has generally prevailed. Of his martyrdom, to which allusion is incidentally made by Josephus, xx. ix. 1, Eusebius, II. a 3, has preserved a circumstantial account given by Hegesippus, some of the details of

which are by no means free from difficulties. This Hebrew form of the 14. Simeon] name was most natural in the mouth of St James. It was used by St Peter himself in the opening of his second Epistle, according to the better reading. Usually it was superseded by the contracted form, Simon. No reference is made to Barnabas and PauL Their testimony could avail little in this dis-

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20—22.]

THE ACTS. XV.

455

20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of

being read in the synagogues every

and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. 21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach* him,

22 Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church,

idols,

20. that they abstain"] As here arranged, the first two were prohibitions of Gentile practices ; the third and fourth claimed respect for ordinances which God had given to Israel The enumeration is repeated, v. 19 and xxi. »5, in a different order, and with some variation in the expression. pollutions of idols] A phrase of wider sigMeats which nification than that in v. 29. had been offered to idols being exposed for sale in the market gave occasion to much To the trouble, 1 Cor. viii., x. ; Rom. xiv. Jews, familiar with their own sacrificial feasts, anything that could be regarded as involving, in any degree, participation in idolatrous sacrifices,

must have appeared not as a ceremonial

as little short of an act of apostasy. This prohibition, highly expedient for Gentile converts, was absolutely necessary for the securing of anything like unity between them and those who had been born and bred under the Law of Moses. At this time the heathen had fornication] sunk so low that they did not regard chastity as a virtue. Violations of it, for from involv-

defilement, but

ing immorality or disgrace, were incorporated with their idolatrous rituals, 2 Mace. vi. 4. This prevailed to a most remarkable extent in Syria, where, down to this time, most of the conversions from heathenism had taken place. There is the same combination, Rev. ii. 14, 20. Those who, in surprise at finding a deadly sin included among the other points on which abstinence was enjoined, have had recourse to conjectural emendations, or to understanding fornication as used for marriage with a heathen, or marriage within forbidden degrees, have not sufficiently borne in mind the condition of the Gentiles, "who being past feeling had given themselves over unto lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness," Eph. iv. 19. things jtrangled] Omitted in D, by Irenseus, 4 Testim.' ill. 119; TertulIII. 12; Cyprian, 1 4 de Pudicitia, 12; and Ambrose, Comlian, ment, on Gal. ii. The flesh of an animal so killed retained the blood, and was considered Eastern a great delicacy, A thenar us, ix. Christians have continued to abstain. Ricaut, 4 For State of the Greek Church,' p. 372. transgressors an intercessory prayer was proSee Daniel, * Codex Liturgicus,' iv. vided. 710. blood]

Strangely misunderstood of the shedding of blood, homicide, by Tertullian, *de Pudicitia,' 12; and Cyprian, 'Testim.' 119. The prohibition, as early as the per-

sabbath day.

send chosen

men

of their

own

company to Antioch with Paul and mission to eat flesh, Gen. ix. 4, and equally applicable to all mankind, was repeatedly enforced in the Law of Moses, Levit iii. 17, vii. 26, 10, xix. 26; Deut. xii. 16, 23. Blood had a ceremonial sanctity, Heb. ix. 18—22.

xvii.

The eating it was an idolatrous observance, Ezek. xxxiii. 25. Abstinence was absolutely necessary as long as converts from Judaism continued to feel the obligation, and it was rigidly observed by the early Christians, Tertullian, * Apol.' 9. See the Epistle from Christians of Vienne and Lyons, preserved by Eusebius, v. 1. The Apostolical Canons visited eating blood with deposition in the clergy and excommunication in the laity. As long as sacrifice continued to be a Divine ordinance, eating blood, which was offered on the altar to make atonement, involved sacrilege. After the destruction of the Temple the conditions of the question were altered. Augustin, ' c. Faustum,' xxxn. 13, implies that the prohibition was no longer observed in Africa, when the distinction between Jews and Gentiles within the Church was obliterated. •

21. of old time"] Since the days of Ezra. No offence was to be given to Jews resident in Gentile cities, who were reminded, week

by week, in their synagogue service, of their obligation to observe the Mosaic Law, and would have found it very hard to understand systematic neglect on the part of Gentile converts.

SEND THEIR DECISION BY LETTER. 22.

pleased if]

As in v. 25, it seemed

apostles and elders] "The Apostles join the Elders and brethren with themselves. So doth St Paul join one or other with him in no less than eight of his Epistles and in both cases the meaning plainly is, not to allow them equal authority, but merely to express their concurSeeker, Sermon xix. rence." This is the first notice of any action on the part of the Elders, to whose appointment reference was made in xi. 30. <witb the whole church] The discussion was carried on by the Apostles and Elders, but openly, and the decision was accepted by all, laity included ; all were collectively consulted as to the best mode of making the :

decision known. chosen men] Rather, that having ohoien

they should send.

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THE ACTS. XV.

45«

Barnabas; namely^ Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren 23 And they wrote letters by them after this

manner \ The apostles and

elders and brethren send greeting un^

the

which are of the Antioch and Syria and

brethren

Gentiles

Cilicia

24 Forasmuch

we have heard,

Judas surnamed Barsabas] Not mentioned It has been suggested that he may have been brother of that Joseph, who also is He was endued with called Barsabas, i. 23. the gift of prophecy, v. 27, 32. This shorter form of the name is Silas] the larger and invariably used by St Luke more ethnic, Silvanus, by St Paul and St He was a prophet, v. 32, and a Peter. Roman citizen, xvi. 37. St 'Paul chose him for his companion on his second missionary journey. His name occurs in the salutation of both Epistles to the Thessalonians, in conjunction with that of Timothy, as also 2 Cor. have no materials for determining L 19. whether he was the same with Silvanus, elsewhere.

;

[v.

23—25.

that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such command-

ment

It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

blood was not to be imposed on the Christian Church as a perpetual yoke, Sermon v. 4 ad Populum/ 16. And again, u The Apostles, §

in the first Council

holden at Jerusalem, laid

upon the Churches of the Gentiles, for a time, a restraint from the eating of blood, and things sacrificed to idols, and strangled/ § 29. Bp Kaye considered that "the decree promulgated by the Apostles at Jerusalem applied only to the Gentile converts," Sermons and " Whatever conformity of Addresses, 448. 1

positive

Laws the Apostles did bring in be-

tween the Churches of Jews and Gentiles, it was in those things only which might either cease, or continue a shorter or longer time, as

occasion did

most

Hooker,

require."

iv.

1 Pet. v. 12.

xi. 5.

chief men] Leaders, men of authority. The same word as tbem that have the rule over you, Heb. xiii. 7, 17, 24. Some of them probably with a Jewish bias, Paul and Barnabas being on the Gentile side.

and Cilicia] This is the first intimation of conversions there; probably the fruits of St Paul's labours while he was at Tarsus, ix. 30.

23. wrote] There is no hint of any primacy of St Peter ; not even any special The document, incorporatreference to him. ing several expressions used by St James, was

drawn up under his direction. and brethren! According to A, B, C, D, and Vulg. brethren without the article; the Apostles and Elders so styling themselves. It was to the Apostles and Elders that Paul and Barnabas had been sent, v. 2 they came ;

together to consider, v. 6 ; and the decision

was made by them, xvi. 4. Only here, xxiii. 26, and James greeting] The coincidence i. 1, in the New Testament has been noted as favourable to St James having drawn up the document Cp. with v. 17, ii. 7 of his Epistle. Cyril of in Antioch and Syria and (Alicia"] Jerusalem, 'Catech.' xvn. 29, understood that the decisions conveyed in this letter apWere they not, plied to the world at large. with the one moral exception, temporary and St Paul made no reference to them in local ?

writing to Churches in Europe, 1 Cor. v., vi. 18, 19, viii. throughout, and Rom. xiv. The prohibitions are regarded by Bishop Lightfbot as "a temporary expedient for a temporary emergency," 'Galatians,' 296. Bishop Sanderson held that abstinence from

24. went out~\ Of their own accord, not commissioned by us These words saying, Te must... the law] do not appear in K, A, B, D, and have been rejected oy recent critical editors as a gloss gathered out of w. 1 and 5. In favour of retaining them, it has very reasonably been urged that, without them, the question which had been discussed and determined is not noticed in the letter. The present tense of these participles, subverting and saying, implies that the erroneous teachers were still in Antioch. no such commandment] There is no authority in the Original for the word such, which is found in Tyndale, Cranmer, and the

Geneva. 25.

assembled with one accord]

Rather,

after we had unanimously come te this conclusion; implying perhaps that there had been diversity of opinion. to

send chosen]

Rather, to

choose and

end. beloved] This epithet and the following verse were intended to confirm and exalt their authority in the estimation of those who read

or heard the letter.

Barnabas and Paul] The old precedence resumed, xiii. 2, because Barnabas was much better known in Jerusalem.

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3°-]

THE ACTS. XV.

26 Men that have hazarded their our Lord Jesus

lives for the name of

Christ.

27 We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;

hazarded their lives'] xiii. 50, xiv. 19.

27.

j hall also tell]

28.

to the Holy Ghost,

In the Original the participle is in the present tense. Judas and Silas assumed the character of special messengers from the time they entered on their journey. Winer, Gr. Gr. ill. 45. the same things] That we are now writing to you, not the same as the subjects of Barnabas' and Paul's teaching. Accredited oral testimony was a great security against forgeries, which were sadly common. Apprehension of such deception was expressed by St Paul,.* Thess. ii. a.

and to us]

" This

style they did not use as matching themselves in power with the Holy Ghost, but as testify-

ing the Holy Ghost to be the Author and themselves but only utterers of that decree, Hooker, * E. P.' in. x. a; cf. vin. vi. 7. 44 1 do not find that any general Council since, though they did implore (as they ought) the assistance of that Blessed Spirit, did ever take upon them to say, in express terms of their definitions, It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us.... The Fathers, when they

met in council, were confident, and spake it out, that they had assistance from the Holy Ghost; yet so as that they neither took themselves nor the councils they sate in as infallibly guided by the Holy Ghost, as the Apostles Laud, 4 Conf. with Fisher,' Sect 33, viu God the Holy Ghost had shown His approval of what was now decreed, by His descent on Cornelius, his friends, and kinsfolk. St Peter insisted on this, irv. 8 11, x. 47, xi. were."

—

15— 17. This phrase expresses the to lay upon you] consciousness of "Full authority on the part of the Council. burden] Cp. Rev. ii. 34. necessary] Not for salvation, but for the peace of the Church; necessary, by the law of charity, Rom. xiv. 15, with the exception of the prohibition of fornication. K, A, C, have a reading equivalent to suited to meet the present necessity and distress, sc. in mixed communities of converts from Judaism

and idolatry.

was an opinion constantly received among the Jews that God did deliver unto It

That ye abstain from meats

and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye

offered to idols,

well.

30 So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle :

26.

457

the sons of Noah seven precepts : namely, first, to live in some sort of regiment under public laws; secondly, to serve and call upon the name of God; thirdly, to shun idolatry; fourthly, not to suffer effusion of blood; fifthly, to abhor all unclean knowledge in the flesh ; sixthly, to commit no rapine; seventhly and finally, not to eat of any living creature of which the blood was not first let out. If therefore the Gentiles would be exempt from the Law of Moses, yet it might seem hard they should also cast off even those things which were observed before Moses, and which were not of the same kind with Laws that were necessarily to cease. And peradventure hereupon the Council saw it expedient to determine that the Gentiles should, according unto the third, the seventh, and the fifth of those precepts, abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from strangled, and blood, and from fornication." Hooker iv. xi. 6.

29. meats offered to idols] More precise than the term used by St James, v. 20. The arrangement also here is more accurate, the three points concerning food being brought together. things strangled] This is not included in any of the quotations of this verse by Irenarus. Jerome spoke of a suffocatis 'as wanting in

some copies.

The language of if ye keep yourselves'] counsel and advice, not a command. shall do well] You will find a blessing and enjoy peace. "In support of another sense, you will do what will be acceptable to us and to all of the circumcision, what will conduce to the peace of the Church, reference has been made to x. 33 ; Phil iv. 14 ; 3 John 6 ; but the verb there used is ttokIp not npavativ as here. In there is subjoined, cf>«p6fit voi cV r<j> 'Ayt'y IlufvfjxLTi; and in the quotation by Irenaeus, in. xii. 14, after u et fornicatione;" et quaecunque non vultis fieri vobis, aliis nc faciatit : a quibus custodientes vos ipsos, bene agetis, ambulantes in Spiritu Sancto.

The effect of the Letter. 30. Silas.

they]

St Paul, Barnabas, Judas, and

The dismissal was accompanied by

some solemnity.

Cp. xiii. 3.

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THE ACTS. XV.

458 31

Or,

*xkwt&> tit*.

Which when they had

read,

^ e y rej°i ced for the consolation. 32

And

Judas and

Silas,

being

prophets also themselves, exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them. 33 And after they had tarried there a space, they were let go in peace from the brethren unto the apostles.

34 Notwithstanding it pleased Silas to abide there still.

35 Paul also and Barnabas continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

general assembly of all the multitude] the congregations in Antioch. The decision rested with the best informed, acting under direction of Apostles and Elders ; the knowledge of the decision concerned all alike.

This, and not exhorother sense of which the word is And it capable, was the drift of the Epistle. must have been very consolatory to learn that their proceedings had been approved by the mother Church at Jerusalem, and that they were not to be burthened with ceremonial observances. 31.

the consolation]

tation, the

32. prophets] xi. 27, xiii. 1. In that capacity they were well qualified to speak fully concerning the Will of God, and to show the bearings of the decision of the Council on various points of Christian doc-

[v. 31—39.

36 U And some days after Paul Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do.

said unto Barnabas,

And Barnabas determined

them John, whose surname was Mark. 38 But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work. 39 And the contention was so take with

sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: Antioch, in the course of which he was rebuked by St Paul, Gal. ii. 11, has been commonly assigned to this interval, which Denton estimates at one or two months. Let us go] The same word, left unnoticed here in A.v. as in xiii. 2, expresses the Apostle's earnestness, Let us at once retrace our steps. Cp. Lukeii. 15. This missionary journey had results far beyond its primary purpose. It introduced the Gospel into Europe.

There is a well-sup37. determined] ported various reading, wished, admitted by Lachmann, which, it has been suggested, may have arisen from a desire to soften the altercation.

Mark]

Cp. xii. 12, xiii. 5, 13.

thought not good] The Vulgate gives a softening turn Paulus autem rogabat cum

38.

trine and practice.

non dehere recipi.

confirmed] Reassured and tranquillized them after the trouble to which they had been exposed, v. 24.

departed) The word has been thought capable of being understood, had fallen away. This seems to imto the work] xiii. 13. ply that the previous journey and the voyage to Cyprus, where Mark doubtless had other friends beside his kinsman, hardly deserved to be called " work." "It is not impossible that this incident (Gal. ii 13), by producing a temporary feeling of distrust, may have prepared the way for the dissension between Paul and Barnabas, which shortly afterwards led to their separa-

33.

a space] Long enough to satisfy all

inquiries, and

apply remedies to all the misdone by the Judalzers. A month or two has been suggested, but we cannot go beyond conjecture. Doubtless with testimonials of in peace] gratitude and affection. chief

unto the apostles] to those who had tent them is the better supported reading.

tion."

Bp Lightfoot

34. Verse 34 appears in only two Uncial MSS., and is not recognised by the most important Versions. It may have been, without due consideration, interpolated from a marginal note intended to make •v. 40 intelli-

in the Original :

gible.

35. teaching] Giving additional instruction to those wno had already received the word ; preaching, making the Gospel known to those who had not yet received it

36.

some days]

The visit of St Peter to

The parting of Paul and Barnabas. A very strong word 30. the contention] \ exasperation ; the same that found in LXX. for indignation, in A.V., Deut. xxix. 28. It admitted of being applied in a good sense, Heb. x. 14. " Paulus severior, Barnabas dementior. Uterque in suo sensu abundabat. Et tamen dissensio habet aliquid humanae fragilitatis," Jerome, 4 adv. PelaChrysostom, Horn, xxxiv. gianos,' 11. 6.

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4o—3]

THE ACTS. XV. XVI.

and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus; 40 And. Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.

459 31 The

16 The prison doors are opened. jailor is converted, 37 and they are delivend.

came he THEN Lystra :

disciple

was

Derbe and

and, behold, a certain a named

there,

theus, the son of a certain

Timo- * Rw* «*• woman,

which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek 2 Which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and :

CHAPTER XVI. 1

Paul having circumcised Timothy, 7 and being called by the Spirit from one country to another* 14 converteth Lydia, 16 casteth out a spirit of divination. 19 For which cause he and Silas are whipped and imprisoned.

Waterland, Sermon 9, 1, excused both. thought Barnabas "blameable in favouring his kinsman more than became him when the public interest of the Church lay at stake." Excess of sharpness was perhaps the only thing really wrong. They acted respectively according to their several gifts. And there was no permanent variance. St Paul, six years later, spoke of Barnabas with great regard and respect, 1 Cor. ix. 6 Gal. ii. 9. The effect on St Mark must have been very wholesome and happy, Col. iv. 10 ; a Tim. iv. 11 Philemon 24. Barnabas] The last notice of him in this ;

;

history.

St Paul takes Silas for his Companion on his second missionary journey. 40. chose Silos'] In accordance with our Lord's arrangement, Luke x. 1. He was, like St Paul, a Jew and a Roman citizen. Cp. xvi. a 1, 37. He is spoken of as a faithful brother, x Pet. v. 12, where 1 conclude from abundant evidence is nearer the true sense than / reckon. Silas must, it seems, have come back to Antioch since v. 33, the following verse being regarded as an interpolation. The result of the sharp contention was good for the Church. Barnabas chose a distinct held of labour, and the number of missionaries was increased. The wisdom of St Paul's selection is attested, x Thess. i. 1 ; a Thess. i. 1 ; a Cor. i. 19. grace of God]ot the Lord, in recent critical editions. This recommendation in the one case, while there is nothing of the sort in the other, has been thought to imply that the Church of Antioch gave, more or less expressly, a sanction to t|p undertaking of Paul and Silas which was withheld from Barnabas

and Mark.

And be went] Overland. The time 41. of the commencement of this missionary journey is not determined. See above, v. a3. Cilicia] eonfrming] The same word is rendered strengthening in xviii. 13.

Iconium. 3

Him would

forth with

Paul have to go

him ; and took and cirTimothy.

Derbe and Lystra] The 1. order of xiv. 6 is inverted, because the route was now in the opposite direction, from east to west. Opinions have been there] At Lystra. divided as to the birthplace of Timpthy. The order of the names of the two places here seems to indicate Lystra rather than Derbe ; and in xx. 4 the Syriac subjoins who was from Lystra after the name Timothy. a certain woman] There is very little MS. Eunice, authority for the word certain. a Tim. i. 5, iii. 15, was perhaps at this time a

Chap. XVI.

widow. a Greek]

A Gentile, persisting, it may be presumed, in idolatry notwithstanding the piety of his wife and the education of his son. The prohibition of intermarriage with the nations of Canaan, Exod. xxxiv. 16; Deut. vii. 3; Joshua xxiii. ia, came to be understood as applying to the Heathen generally, 1 K. xi. a;

Ezra ix., x.; Nehemiah xiii. 3.

well reported of] Timothy was endued with qualifications for the duties to which he 2.

was summoned, 1 Tim. iv. 14 of which St Paul, it seems,

a Tim. i. 5, 6, received some

extraordinary

Tim.

;

intimation,

18.

Timothy was addressed as still young twelve years later than this, 1 Tim. iv. ia. 3. to go forth with him] Timothy's mixed descent was in favour of his cooperation being very serviceable in St Paul's field of labour, which included Gentiles as well as Jews. There is no hint here of Ordination but reference is distinctly made to it 1 Tim. iv.

14, and a Tim. i. 6.

him] This rite might be performed by any Jew. The circumcision of Timothy was matter of expediency to secure for him free access to Jews, in the spirit of 1 Cor. ix. ao, not of necessity, and therefore circumcised

not at variance with St Paul's language, Gal. 3 and v. a, which was directed against those who, disregarding the determination of the Council of Jerusalem, had themselves

ii.

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THE ACTS. XVI.

460

[v.

cumcised him because of the Jews

blished in the faith,

which were

number daily.

those quarters:

for

they knew all that his father was a Greek. 4 And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees * chap. 15. for to keep, b that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem. 5 And so were the churches esta-

circumcised

a matter

of indispensable

obligation.

because of the Jews'] In concession to the prejudices of those whom Timothy would have to instruct. They would have regarded

with horror an uncircumcised Israelite, even of half-descent, and would have deemed St Paul unclean in consequence of such companionship.

The Apostle,

became a Jew to the Jews,

this instance,

Cor.

ix.

ao;

The

case of Titus was entirely different. Both his parents were Gentiles, Gal. ii. 3. The circumcision of Timothy showed that the Apostle did not condemn those who continued to observe the cf.

xxi.

25,

26.

Levitical Law. His conduct in respect of Titus showed that he did not mean to enforce such observance.

4. the cities'] Of Pisidia, a district closely connected with Cilicia. Some have regarded verses 4 and 5 as a parenthesis. Others have

suspected a transposition, and that their original place was immediately after v. 41 of the preceding chapter. Jerusalem] Not the residence of the Elders any more than of the Apostles. They had met at Jerusalem for the consideration of a question which was determined by decrees passed there. established... and increased] Converts 5. already made rejoiced in the relief given by the determinations of the Council ; and Gentiles would no longer be deterred by apprehension of having to take upon themselves the yoke of the Mosaic Law.

After Phrygia and Galatia they visit Troas, throughout Phrygia'] There were mul6. titudes of Jews here in the time of the Maccabees. thousand families of Babylonian

Two

Jews settled there, Jost, * Geschichte Judenthums,' 1. 349. The length of time occupied by this circuit has been variously estimated, between a year and a half and half a year. No particulars have been preserved for us beyond those supplied in the Epistle to the Galatians.

4—7.

and increased in

6 Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,

7 After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia but :

the Spirit suffered them not.

Phrygia and the region of Galatia']

Rather,

the Phrygian and Qalatlan country. The second tt/u of the received reading ought to be omitted with the best MSS., in which case Qpvyiav becomes an adjective. The form of the Greek expression, which is varied in the account of the second visit, xviii. 23, implies that Phrygia and Galatia here are not to be regarded as separate districts. The country which was now evangelized might be called indifferently Phrygia or Galatia. It was the land originally inhabited by Phrygians, but subsequently occupied by Gauls. Bp Lightfoot on the Ep. to the Galatians, p. a 2, and on Colossians, p. 23. forbidden of the Holy Ghost] This prohibition may have been conveyed immediately, or through a Prophet. St Paul was fomiliar with both modes, xx. 23, and 2 Cor. xii. 1. The restraint was only temporary. Three years later the Apostle was at Ephesus, and preached the word to all that dwelt in Asia, both Jews and Greeks, xviii. 19, xix. 10. Asia] In the same narrow sense as ii. 9, and elsewhere in this Book. Cp. Rev. i. 11. 7.

Mysia] Rather, in the direction of

or, to the borders of Mysia.

Bithynia] As for as we know, St Paul never entered Bitnynia. But the Gospel was early planted and flourished there. Cp. Pliny's Letter to Trajan, x. 97, which may be placed seventeen years later than this. the Spirit] The Spirit of Jean*, an expression found in this place only, supported by K, A, B, C, D, E, by the Syriac and Vulgate, has been received as the true reading by all critics since the time of Mill. Cp. PhtL It has been suggested that the Name i. 19. was dropped by Nestorians, or omitted by Oriental copyists, as seeming to favour procession from the Son. I Stillingfleet, * Origines suffered them not] Britannicae,' chap. 1, thought, because Pontus and Bithynia seem to have keen reserved as the peculiar province of St Peter. There is no more authority for this view than for that of Prosper, that reprobation of Bithynia was implied. The introduction of the Gospel into Europe was to be delayed no longer.

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THE ACTS. XVI.

8—12.]

8 And they passing by Mysia came

down to Troas.

And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man 9

of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. 10 And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured

passing by] Apparently, having skirted

its southern border.

Not the district, but the city so on the coast of Mysia, opposite the south-east extremity of the Isle of Tenedos. Troas]

called,

It was Its full name was Alexandria Troas. a Colonia Juris ltalici, and the great link of communication between the north-west of Asia Minor and Macedonia. It was reputed very healthy. Socrates, 'Ch. Hist vn. 37. Julius Caesar, Suetonius, § 79, thought of making it the capital of the empire ; and Constantine began building there before he decided on Byzantium. St Paul visited Troas a second time, xx. 6 The site is full of a Cor. ii. ia. 1

;

colossal granite fragments.

where a Vision directs them to proceed to Macedonia. appeared] This, and after be bad seen in the following verse, show that it was not a dream, but a waking vision. a man of Macedonia! This must have been intimated supematuratly. The Apostle had been enabled to identify Ananias, ix. ia. Grotius followed Bede in understanding the tutelary Angel of Macedonia. 0.

This change in the 10. <we endeavoured] pronoun is the simple, quiet intimation that at and from Troas the narrator became the companion of St Paul. See the note on v. 40. This was just after the sojourn in Galatia, where sickness had detained the Apostle, Gal. iv. 13; and it has been thought not unlikely that the beloved Physician, being found resident at Troas, was consulted by St Paul about his health. From this point the narrative becomes

more circumstantial. But, after this chapter, St Luke does not refer to himself again till xx. 5, 6. The same word as assuredly gathering'] (roving, ix. a a. St Paul must have consulted nts companions as to the purport of the vision. As St Luke, it appears, was included, we may infer that he was not a recent convert. Perhaps he had met the Apostle in his birthplace, Antioch.

the Lord]

A, B, C, E, and Vulg., God.

a straight course] A nautical word ; ran before the wind, xxL 1. This voyage •

11.

461

to go into Macedonia, assuredly ga-

thering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. Therefore loosing from Troas, 1 we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis \

12 And from thence to Philippi, which is 'the chief city of that partj^/.'*'

On a passage in the opposite direction five days were spent, xx. 6. The minute circumstantiality here, of no importance to the history, for nothing is recorded as having happened in Samothracia or at Neapolis, is a convincing incidental evidence of the writer's having been an eyewitness. Samothracia] Eight miles long by six occupied not two days.

broad; very lofty, and conspicuous from both continents ; from Troas, Homer, 4 Iliad,' xiii. ia, and from the hills between Neapolis t and Philippi This little island was a chief seat of the mysteries of the Cabeiri, a great link between the superstitions of the East and the West. the next day] They spent a night in some harbour of the isle. Neapolis] Now Cavallo. North-west from SamotJirace, at the mouth of the Strymon; the port of Philippi, from which it was about This was the regular landten miles distant ing-place for those who proposed to travel by the Via Egnatia, the great military road across

Macedonia. Philippi] So called after it had been 12. enlarged, fortified, and embellished by the Silver and father of Alexander the Great gold mines on Mount Pangarus increased its commercial importance; but, at this time, the military character given to it by the

favour of Julius Carsar and Augustus preponderated. The first place in which the Gospel was preached in Europe fairly represented the civilized portion of that continent; originally a Greek city, it had become a Roman colony. The inhabitants spoke of themselves as Romans, v. ai. the chief city] Not the capital ; that was Casaubon, Bengel, Winer, Thessalonica.

Howson understood the first city in the line Perhaps a principal, of the Apostle's route. or first-class city, as Michaehs, Middleton, De Wette, Humphry. Ufxinj rr6\it frequently occurs on the coins of cities enjoying certain privileges, e.g. Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamus. Of the thirty-three Roman towns in Britain, St Alban's and York were similarly distinguished, as being the two colonies.

Bp Wordsworth understands the word fart in its Hellenistic sense, frontier, or border-land*

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THE ACTS. XVI.

462

of Macedonia, and a colony

and

we were in that city abiding certain days.

13 And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side,

where prayer was wont to be made and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. 14 H And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God,

a colony] KoXa)vta, the Latin word, not the Greek dnoiKia. A Roman colony was a miniature Rome, governed by Roman laws, with the Roman language spoken, and Roman

Roman colonies were coin in circulation. planted for the defence of the frontiers of the empire, and for keeping provincials inlorder. There is some very slight in that city] authority for in the city itself which would mark a contrast with the position indicated in the next verse. abiding] The Vulgate has conferentes, which has been explained of discussions as to the steps which it would be best to take for introducing the Gospel. Besser certain days'] In v. 18, many days. thinks twenty or thirty. on the sabbath']

13.

The first after their

arrival.

out of the city] out of the gate is, undoubtedly, the true reading. a river side] The Gangras, a small stream, The Strymon was a nearly dry in summer. day's journey to the west of Philippi, with the plain on which the great battle was fought between it and the city. The Jews had a Cp. the partiality for proximity to water. visions of Ezekiel by the river Chebar, i. 1, iii. 13, x. 15, xliii. 3 ; and of Daniel by the It was not unusual with them Tigris, x. 4. to resort to the seaside, Josephus, xiv. x. 23 ; Philo *.in Flaccum/ § 14; Tamilian 'de Jejuniis,' § 16,

ad Nationes,' 1. 13.

prayer] Some would prefer, where was a customary place for frayer, as again in v. 16; and, perhaps, Lukevi. 12 ; and as in Josephus, Philo, and Juvenal ; often no building, only an inclosed space open to the sky. St Paul went there to secure an opportunity for teaching. It seems clear that there was no synagogue, Therefore the number of Jews in cp. xvii. 1. Philippi must have been very small ; a circumstance favourable to the first planting of the

Church there. sat

down]

The posture of teachers, xiii.

14 ; Luke iv. ao.

purple]

13—16.

heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. 15 And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us. 16 11 And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel pos-

most probably the latter, imported from Thyand sold among the mountaineers of Haemus and Pangaeus. " Purple of the sea" is mentioned among the spoils taken by Judas Maccabseus, 1 Mace. iv. 13. Thyatira] On the river Lycus, on the confines of Mysia and Ionia, so that it was doubtful to which district it belonged. It was a Macedonian colony, Strabo, xm. 4, and a woman of Thyatira was naturally met with in a Macedonian town. Fragments of three inscriptions, in which mention is made of the atira,

dyers as a corporate guild, have been found among the ruins of Philippi. which worshipped God] Had renounced idolatry, was a proselyte, xiii. 50, xvii. 17. St Paul had been forbidden to preach the word in Asia, but the first convert made in Europe was an Asiatic. Lydia doubtless carried the Gospel to the place of her residence which the Apostle had been withheld from visiting. A Church must have been founded in Thyatira very early, Rev. ii. 18 29. whose heart the Lord opened] Cp. Luke

—

xxiv. 45 ; 2

Mace. i. 4.

attended unto]

See the note on viii. 6.

Not inmates and her household"] domestics only, we may presume, but assistants in the business of dyeing possibly slaves. This establishment and the hospitality to St Paul and his companions show that Lydia must have been wealthy. In this case, as in v. 33, xviii. 8 1 Cor. i. 16, if we have no positive proof, there is a very strong presumption in favour of Infant Baptism. For other recognitions of family religion, see Rom. xvi. 5 1 Cor. i. 15-, 16, and xvi. 15 15.

;

Philemon 2. If ye have judged] Not hypothetically or doubtfully, but as equivalent to an affirmation, Since ye have... Cp. Gal. v. 25 ; 1 Pet

— i.

17.

constrained us]

The invitation was not at

once accepted. The Apostle's rule was to keep himself from being burdensome to any. a Cor. xi. 9.

At Philippi Lydia is converted. 14.

[v.

The dye,

or dyed goods;

The article prefixed in to prayer] 16. K, A, B, C, E, has been thought to indicate the place of prayer; but this is not unusual

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JPttkam,

2a ]

THE ACTS. XVI.

4^3

sessed with a spirit ' of divination met

in the name of Jesus Christ to come

which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying 17 The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of sal-

And he came out the same hour. 19 f And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew

vation.

rulers,

us,

out of her.

them into the

But Paul, being grieved, turned and

20 And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being

command thee

Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,

And this did she many

18 said

to the spirit," I

days.

m *be sense of prayer. See Matt. xxi. aa 1 Cor. vii. 5 ; Col. iv. a. a spirit of divination] This was a case of real possession, v. 18, oy a spirit like that under which the priestess at Delphi claimed to speak. If St Paul had only dispelled imposture, the people would have taken part with him rather than with the masters of the No hysterical or other morbid affecdamsel. tion will answer to the conditions of this case. soothsaying] A.V. was happy in not adoptCranmer's prophesying. ing Tyndale and Geneva and Rheims agreed with Wycliffe, The word in the Original occurs divining. only here in New Testament. before *y><xrcvx4 ;

marketplace unto the x

and impostors availed themselves indiscriminately of all or any means of acquiring or strengthening influence. But the truth rejects all impure and superstitious adjuncts. The Apostle could not accept Satanic adulation,

nor leave himself open to the suspicion of being ut any sort of league with false gods. Christ Himself rejected the testimony of evil

Mark i. 25, 34; Luke iv. 41. said to the spirit] This language, together with And he came out, implies the personal presence of an agent of the Evil One. This exercise of power by the Apostle was in fulfil-

spirits,

ment of Luke ix. 1

;

Mark xvi. 17.

her masters'] A partnership. Her qualifications had, it seems, raised the amount of purchase money so high that it was not convenient for any individual to advance the sum, or to risk it on a single life. their gains] The same word is translated 19.

Luke, Silas, and Paul and us] 17. Timothy. But for this incident, Philippi seemed to offer unusual facilities for the spread of the Gospel. The Jews were few and quiet. The Roman authorities had detected no difference between Jews and Chris-

craft, xix. 25.

Paul and Silas]

tians.

cried}

The tense expresses that this was

repeated, if not continuous. the most high Go<Q This designation occurs Mark v. 7 ; Luke viu. 28, where, the demoniac and his friends being pagans, he was constrained to confess the true God explicitly, in

a form of words excluding u gods many, and lords many."... The only other instance in the New Test, is Heb. vii. 1, showing that the God w^om Melchisedec served was the true God, not one of the gods of the nations. See Townson, Discourse v. § j. shew unto us] There is considerable authority for. unto you. The word rendered sb <w is the same that is translated teach in v. ai, shew forth, 1 Cor. xi. a6, and preach,

;

the converts. the rulers'] Roman colonies were governed by Duumvirs, who commonly affected the rank of Prcetors, which title is given in verses 30, aa, $$, 38, instead of the more general

Cicero ridiculed the magistrates of Capua for the marked preference which they betrayed for the higher title, 'de Lege Agraria,' § 34. This is the first heathen persecution; all that preceded had been caused by Jews. designation.

In consequence of which Paul and Silas are beaten and imprisoned.

Phil. i. 16.

A Spirit of Divination dispossessed. did she"] the went on doing. being grieved] A very strong word in the Original: painfully grieved. Recognition by demons who had held the heathen world Such in bondage could not be acceptable. usurping spirits could not be allowed to act as heralds of the kingdom of God. Fanatics

18.

Timothy and Luke may

not have been on the spot at the time or, at all events, they were less prominent. And it was mercifully ordered that they could remain in the house of Lydia, free to teach and cheer

20. being Jews] The Jews had been for some time odious to the Romans. Cicero, 4

pro Flacco,' § a 8.

Their condition had been

somewhat better under Augustus; but they were ejected from Rome by Tiberius, and again by Claudius. Cp. xviii. a. No distinction was at this time made between Christianity and Judaism.

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THE ACTS. XVI.

464

21 And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans*. 22 And the multitude rose up together against them : and the magis'1 Cor. ix. trates rent off their clothes, 'and com5 i Thcss. a.

•

manded to beat them. 23 And when they had laid many stripes

upon them, they

into prison,

charging

the

cast

them

jailor

keep them safely 24 Who, having received such a

21. vi. 14,

customs]

Religious observances,

thrust

prison,

and made their

26.

feet

fast

the stocks. fl And at midnight Paul and prayed^ and sang praises unto God : and the prisoners heard them.

Silas

And

suddenly

there

was a

great earthquake,

dations of the

so that the founprison were shaken :

and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.

24.

inner prison]

noisomeness.

Speaking of Jesus as Lord not lawful'] and King was regarded as revolutionary. being Romans] Citizens of a colony, v. ia.

them into the inner

charge,

xx vi. 3, xxviii. 17.

[v.

Doubtless of aggravated

Roman prisons were usually

better than dungeons.

little

Eusebius v.

vi. 39 ; Sallust, * Catiline/ § ssin the stocks] By thus exceeding his instructions he was adding torture to constraint.

tumultuary 22. the multitude rose up] movement, in the hurry and confusion of which the Apostle may, on this occasion, have deemed it safer to submit to the illegal proceedings of the magistrates than to fall into the hands of the populace in the interval required for urging the plea of his Roman citiThe zenship, as he did afterwards, xxii. 25. first instance of Gentile persecution occurred in the first European city in which the Gospel was preached; that city beingf a miniature Rome ; a fitting prelude to the series of cruel persecutions, which, for three centuries, were not unusually commenced by the populace,

When their wounds would be smarting most prayed, and sang praises] Rather, in their devotions tang praises. The combination of prayer and praise was inculcated by St Paul, Phil. iv. 6 Col. iv. a. He and

and carried on, more or less directly, under

Silas gloried in tribulation, Rom. v. 3 ; a Cor.

Their wounds were undressed, v. 33 ; and now their legs were kept painfully asunder. Their case was very different from that of St Peter, xii. Mention of the stocks occurs repeatedly in the accounts of the Martyrs. Origen suffered in old age, Eusebius, vi. 39. Cp. iv. 16, v. 1, and de Mart. Palest* 1. 4

25.

at midnight]

;

After shameful treatment, bruised, and in a posture which must have denied sleep, they were able not only to pray, but to offer thanksgiving to Him who giveth songs in the night " Nihil cms sentit in 10.

Imperial authority.

xii.

The clothes of Paul and Silas were rent oft, down to their waists,

bleeding,

rent off their clothes]

that their backs might be laid bare for scourging, by the attendant lictors, who usually acted with the utmost roughness and violence. The

magistrates of a military colony had absolutely independent jurisdiction, and were not responsible to the governor of the province. With rods. This is the to beat them] only recorded instance of the three to which reference is made, a Cor. xi. 25.

23. many stripes] There was no limitation of the number, as under the Mosaic Law.

The Apostle refers to this outrage, 1 Thess. ii. a a Cor. vi. 5. The magistrates probably ;

intended to investigate the case on the morrow. This scourging, it may be presumed, was to keep the people quiet for the night. Identified by CEcumenius, folthe jailor] lowing Chrysostom, with Stephanas, 1 Cor. But he was the first-fruits i. 16, xvi. 15, 17. of Achaia, not of Macedonia. Perhaps, after the to keep them Ja/ely] exorcism, it was apprehended that they might have some mysterious power for effecting their

own liberation.

nervo, quum animus in coelo est," Tertullian

ad Mart/ a. prayed beara*] were praying... were listening. The latter verb is of a compound form, implying interest and admiration in the 4

•

hearers.

26. a great earthquake] Welcome to Paul and Silas, as a miraculous attestation of the Divine Presence, protection, and Cp. iv. 31; Exod. xix. 18; Ps. favour. xviii. 7 Matt, xxviii. a. In the year 53 a.ix, the date of this event, according to one scheme of chronology, Apamea suffered so severely from an earthquake that all tribute was remitted for five years. Such a shock might well have been felt in Macedonia; and the coincidence, if it admitted of proof, would not impair the emphasis and importance of the testimony borne to the teaching of Paul and ;

Silas.

were opened] See above, xii. This might be the effect of the earth-

all the doors

zo.

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THE ACTS. XVI.

• 27-34-]

27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm for we are all here.

29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 And brought them out, and quake.

The loosing of the bands was a distinct

miracle.

27. keeper of the prison] Often a veteran soldier; most likely to have been so in a military colony.

would have killed himself] Wason the point of killing himself, being liable to whatever doom awaited those whom he had in custody, xii.

19, xxvii. 43.

Suicide to a Roman of that

said.

465

what must

Sirs,

do to be

saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.

34 And when he had brought them had been stirred by the earthquake and his own rescue from suicide. He was now relieved from all secular apprehensions, and his question is therefore to be understood in the highest sense, as is evident from the answer in the following verse. He may have heard that these prisoners had shown to the people the

way of salvation, v. 17. And they said] Silas bore his part 31. Christ^ Not in N, A, B. Believing in a Saviour implied consciousness of sin, and

day was very much a matter of indifference. Brutus and Cassius, models of Roman virtue, had committed it "at or near Philippi; and

therefore repentance.

many of their adherents, finding themselves

tially the same as that of St Peter

proscribed, did the same. Christianity first taught men to estimate life and death rightly. that the prisoners bad been fled] the

question, ii. 38.

Was

contrary the result of awe, or were they under supernatural restraint ?

28. Paul cried] Perfectly self-possessed, as afterwards in the shipwreck. Did some desperate utterance of the jailor betray his purpose, or was it divinely intimated to the Apostle ? <ive are all here] This may have impressed the mind of the keeper of the prison, as a portent hardly exceeded by the earthquake. He had doubtless heard of the spirit of divination, vu. 16 18.

—

29. a light] light!; several borne by some of his awakened household, beside that which he himself was carrying. The minute detail of this account shows that it must have been furnished by an eye-witness. No rebuke followed, as fell down before] in z. 36; if the nomage was in excess of lawful veneration, Paul and Silas made allowance for the terror of the moment, and held the jailor free from anything like impiety.

30.

Sirs]

A respectful address

;

a differ-

word from that in xiv. 15 and xix. 35. His question showed that he had heard of the

ent

leading subjects of the instruction given by Paul and Silas, to which the case of the damsel possessed with a spirit of divination must nave called general attention. His conscience

This answer is substanto a similar

32. the word of the Lord] A summary of the fundamental doctrines of the Gospel, including, as is plain from v. 33, the nature and importance of Baptism. all that were in his bouse]

His family and

household had come after him, and were ready to follow his example. The good precedent of Lydia had not long to wait for imitation.

The Keeper of the Prison and all 33.

his

Household baptized.

the

same hour]

Literally,

that

hour, unseasonable as it was. washed] From the blood that had coaguHe washed and lated after the scourging.

was washed sins,

;

them from stripes, himself from

Chrysostom, Horn, xxxvi. a,

be and all his] Under all the circumstances of time and place this administration of BapIt tism can hardly have been by immersion. was an approximation to later and more

Many Gentile conversions general practice. had doubtless taken place since that of Cornelius ; but this is the first concerning which any particulars are preserved for us. Emphasis is given to this straightway] word by its being placed last in the Original, as in A. V. Literally, brought brought them] ; sc. out of the inner prison, which, was on a lower level than his house, v. 14.

34.

them up

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THE ACTS. XVI.

4^6

into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.

And when it was day, the ma-

gistrates

sent

the

Serjeants,

saying,

Let those men go. 36 And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go now :

therefore depart, and go in peace.

37 But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemnea, being Romans, and have cast us into prison ; and now do they thrust us out privily ? nay verily ; but let them come themselves and fetch us out.

feared,

[v. 35--40.

when they heard

that they

were Romans. 39 And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired

them to depart out of the

city.

And

they went out of the *and entered into the home** of Lydia and when they had seen

prison,

the brethren, they comforted them, and departed.

CHAPTER XVII. I

Paul preacheth at Thcssalonica, 4 where seme believe* and others persecute him, 10

He is sent to Berea, and preacheth there.

38 And the Serjeants told these words unto the magistrates : and they

13 Being persecuted at Thessalonica* is he eometh to Athens, and disputeth, and preacheth the living God to them unknown* 34 whereby many are converted unto Christ.

35. the Serjeants'] the lictori, who had been employed to scourge them. The Praetors may have been alarmed by the earthquake, as in it is stated that they were. There is something contemptuous in their message they were for retaining the appearance of authority while they evaded the consequences of an illegal act.

it, and he knew how to vindicate his character and assert his rights. Publicly declare our innofetch us out] cence by escorting us. The insisting on this must have convinced the whole city, secured the jailor from suffering in consequence of indulgence shown to prisoners, and raised the public estimation of the new faith.

Paul and Silas, having maintained

as they

their Privilege as Roman Citizens, quit Philippi. 37. unto tbeni] The lictors who had accompanied the keeper of the prison. openly] Rather, by public sentence, without trial or investigation.

being Romans]

Silas also

must have been

Roman citizen, which accounts for the Roman form of his name Silvanus. St Paul was free-born. See xxii. 28. The Praetors

of Philippi had involved themselves in a complicated violation of the laws of Rome. Causa cognita possunt multi absolvi, incognita nemo condemnari potest, Cicero, Facinus est vinciri civem 'in Verrem,' 1. 9. Roman um, scelus verberari, v. 66. Portia Lex virgas ab omnium civium Romanorum corpore amovet, 4 pro Rabirio,' § 3. Ilia vox imploratio, Civis Romanus sum, quae saepe multis in ultimis terris opem inter barbaros et salutem tulit, 4 in Verrem,' v. 57. St Paul's word was taken at once. Claudius punished unfounded claims to citizenship with et

death, Suetonius, § 25. Cp. xxii. 26. Quitting the city clandestinely privily] might. have been understood as involving an acknowledgment that their treatment had been

not deserved; and this would have had a very bad effect on the minds of the converts made in Philippi. The Apostle never shrank from persecution, but he did not

justifiable,

court

38.

they

feared]

Abject in submission,

had .been tyrannical in oppression. They were liable to an action for damages, or might have been criminally indicted, and if convicted would have become infamous and incapable of holding office. Lewin, and Biscoe.

The chief captain was afraid, xxii. 29.

In the year 44, Claudius had deprived the Rhodians of their privileges because some Roman citizens had been put to death by them. besought] Rather, 39. comforted; cheered them with expressions of regret, and assurances of the conviction of their innocence.

40.

And they went out]

The narrative

here passes into the third person. St Luke remained at Philippi, probably to confirm the faith of the converts, and rejoined the Apostle at Troas, xx. 6, after an interval of seven years, according to a calculation followed by

Cook and Plumptre. the brethren]

The first-fruits of the first

Church in Europe, than which no Christian community gave more abundant proofs of

—

and love, Phil. i. 5 7, 29. St Paul expressed himself as under obligations to this Church such as he felt to no other, 2 Cor. xi. 18. • 9 ; PhiL iv. 10, 14 comforted] The word embraces exhortation and encouragement departed] To have persisted in remaining would have exposed them to suspicions of obstinacy and vindictiveness. Timothy, it appears from xvii. 14, went with them, faith

—

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THE ACTS, XVII.

I-S-]

NOW

when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews 2 And Paul, as his manner was,, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,

3 Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this

At Thessalonica the Jews, oppose the Teaching, Chap. XVII.

When they bad passed}

There was no halting

at either Amphipolis or Apollonia. The Apostle now understood the wide extent of the held in which he was

The movement is westward

called to labour.

throughout, bringing him nearer to the capital of the world. Amphipolis] About 33 miles from Philippi, to the S.W., had its name from the river Strymon flowing almost round it It was originally called Nine Ways, because the roads north and south converged in its site. The Romans made it a free city and the capital of the first of the four districts into which they divided Macedonia. Apollonia] According to the Itinerary, 30 miles S.W.irom Amphipolis. The exact site has not been ascertained. Thessalonica] Originally Therma; it received this name after a sister of Alexander the Great,

born on the day of a victory won by her father in Thessaly, and married to Cassander, who rebuilt the city. Always a great resort of iews, who, it is said, form little less than one alf of its present population, 78,000. It was the capital of Macedonia Secunda, made a free city after the battle of Philippi. and its commerce rendered it a good centre for the spread of the Gospel, 1 Thess. i. 8. It was 37 miles due west from Apollonia, the entire distance from Philippi' being 100 miles to S.W. a synagogue] In E the synagogue, which would imply that it served for the Jews of the surrounding district There was none at Philippi, xvi. 13 probably, as no stay was made in either city, none at Amphipolis or ;

Apollonia. Wetstein and Rosenmuller went too far in saying none elsewhere in Macedonia, for there was a synagogue at Berea, v. 10. 2. as bis manner was] All along, to make the first offer of the Gospel to the Jews, ix. The denunciation of xiii. ao, xiii. 5, xiv. 1. 46 applied not to the Jewish people generally, but to that particular assembly. three sabbath days'} This is the only clue to the length of St Paul's stay. It must not

467

Jesus, whom I preach unto you, Christ.

4 And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas ; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. 5 fl But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, be understood as positively limiting it to three weeks. A much longer residence in Thessalonica is indicated by 1 Thess. ii. 9 11 % Thess. Hi. 7 10, and by his receiving supplies once and again from Philippi, Phil. iv. From in 16, at a distance of 100 miles. power, 1 Thess. i. 5, it has been understood that miracles were wrought during this in-

—

terval.

reasoned}

xviii. 4.

The tense implies that,

on both occasions, the argument was resumed and continued. Discussion was allowed in synagogues, Matt xii. 10; Lukeiv. 34; John vi. 59.

n—

3. Opening} Luke xxiv. 3 a. Explaining passages of the Old Testament, and so, demonstrating that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer, Luke xxiv, 26. alleging] Quoting passages from the Prophets in support of his own statements.

And some o/them] A few of the Jews 4. to whom reference is made in v. 1. consorted with] Rather, were associated with them, were added to them as their portion, under Divine influence; adjunct i sunt, Vulgate. of the devout Greeks'] 1 Thess. i. 9, and ii. 14, indicate that the converts were for the

most part Gentiles. This is a combination not found elsewhere. But the authority for inserting and between these two words so as to distinguish proselytes and Gentiles, is confined to A, D, and the Vulgate. There is a most remarkable absence of quotations from the Old Testament in the two Epistles, which were intended primarily for Gentile readers.

which believed not] These words, 5. found in only and a few Cursive MSS., are not represented in Syr. or Vulg. For the hostility of the Jews, cp. 1 Thess. ii. 15, 16. lewd fellows] Idle and needy loiterers in the Agora, ready for any mischief, depending for their livelihood partly on the distribution of portions of sacrificed animals, and on that account easily exasperated against teachers of

the Gospel. The present familiar sense of lewd is modem.

Niw Test.—Vol. II. Digitized by

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THE ACTS. XVII.

468

and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.

And when they found them they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the 6

not,

world upside down are come hither also;

Whom

Jason hath received : and 7 these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there

another

IX These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness

of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

Xncre f° re many of them beof honourable

which were Greeks,

heard these things.

not a few.

ecclesiastics,

was used

for unlearned,

ignorant.

Generally supposed to be the same If so, a tribesman, perhaps a kinsman of St Paul. The name may be a Hellenized form of Jtsus, i.e. Joshua, 1 Mace. viii. 17 ; 2 Mace. iv. 7, 13 ; Josephus,

Jason]

as in

Rom. xvi. ai.

XII. v. 1.

colony. 6.

the rulers of the city]

also

discussed

by Jews

women

and of men,

but a charge of having

;

Laws could not be sum-

violated the Julian

marily dismissed by the magistrates, even if they thought it frivolous and vexatious, because of the jealousy and suspiciousness of the Imperial Government. The charge of disloyalty continued to be brought against Christians, and was rebutted by Apologists,

29—35.

e.g. Tertullian, §§

Perhaps that Jason would not harbour them any longer; not bail for security]

their appearance,

for they quitted the city

that very night

Chrysostom, Horn, xxxvn.

understood that very serious personal risk to Jason was involved. the other] In the plural, the rest, the brethren mentioned in v. 6. 2,

A more precise

designation than xvi. 19 ; Politarcbs, a Greek name for the magistrates of a Greek city, which till recently might be read on an arch spanning the main street of Saloniki. The entablature, preserved by the intervention of the British Consul at the instance of Dean Stanley, in 1876, is in the British Museum. The inscription on it, assigned to the time of Vespasian by Boeckh, * Corpus Inscript/ 1967, shows that these officers were seven in number,

Conybeare and Howson, 1. 395, 1838. The same unusual official designation has been Researches in found at Monastir, Tozer, the Highlands of Turkey/ 1. 145, in an inscription given by him entire, in facsimile, 11. 4

358. 7.

lieved ;

the people] Thessalonica, a Greek free city, had its popular assembly, cp. xix. 30, and was on a different footing from Philippi, a Roman

ia.

Jews.

In earlier English it was equivalent to lay; and, as learning was very much restricted to

—

9 And when they had taken secuand of the other, they let them go. 10 1T And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the

people and the rulers of the city, when they

rity of Jason,

king, one Jesus.

And they troubled the

[v.

10. immediately] Constrained to depart thus abruptly, St Paul proposed to return as soon as tranquillity was restored, 1 Thess. ii. 18 ; but, being disappointed in this, he sent Timothy to them, 1 Thess. iii. 2. Bereaj About 60 miles west from Thessalonica ; now Verria, in some sort a return to the more ancient name Pheraea, from Pheres, the founder. It is called oppidum drvium by Cicero, 4 in Pisonem,' § 26. The shelter which its secluded position gave to the Apostle did not avail him long, ru. 13. 11.

Whom Jason bath received]

Paul and

Possibly the converts assembled for worship in his house. The artful malice of the Jews these all] was signally displayed in this account of a riot made by themselves. They took the same line against Paul and Silas as had been taken against Christ, John xix. 12. 15 ; Lukexxiii. a. The people would probably have been indifferent, to any religious question raised or Silas were, it seems, his guests.

Luther

The Jews of Berea. More by birth or station, as Calvin and

These']

noble, not

understood,

but

better

disposed,

more ingenuous and candid. One of the very few instances of St Paul being well received by his countrymen, for whose spiritual welfare he yearned so earnestly, Rom. ix. 3.

searched the scriptures] Examined the prophecies to which the Apostle had appealed. That this was done daily seems to imply that he was for some time at Berea.

12.

not a few]

The name, of one of these

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THE ACTS. XVII.

. 13— 18.]

13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica had

knowledge that the word

of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people.

14 And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea but Silas and Timotheus abode there still. 15 And they that conducted Paul and rebrought him unto Athens ceiving a commandment unto Silas :

converts, Sopater, is preserved xx. 4. The Church at Berea remained steadfast in the faith under very severe trials from Arianism in the latter part of the fourth century. Letters were addressed to its Bishop, Theodotus, by Basil the Great

AND PURSUE THE APOSTLE TO BEREA. 13.

came thither also]

Cf. xiv. 19. In the Original a strong word, figurative of the action of a storm upon the sea. 1 Thcss. ii. 15 has been thought to refer to this action of the Jews. They were numerstirred up]

ous and influential in Berea. Akerman suggests that the absence of any pagan figure or symbol from coins of that city was a concession to the feelings of its Jewish population. Rather, towards the sea. The insertion of as it were misrepresents a form of expression common in Polybiusand the later Greek writers. Syr. gives, dismissed Paul, that he should go down by sea. There was no feint or stratagem, no pretence that St Paul was to take ship and return to Asia. But for the restless malice of the Jews, the overland route would doubtless have been preferred, as likely to afford opportunities for making the Gospel known in several import* ant towns between Berea and Athens. Silas and Timotheus] Less prominent, as not equally endued with the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, and so less exposed to Jewish malignity. 14.

as it <were to]

St Paul at Athens,

Took charge of him for 16. conducted] protection as well as guidance; more than an ordinary escort, as in xv. 3. They accompanied the Apostle through the whole distance. Having founded three Churches in Macedonia, St Paul felt that he was acting in the spirit of the directions given him by the Vision at Troas in enlarging the field of his European labours beyond the limits of that district. for to come to him] They obeyed the summons, and Timothy was sent from Athens to Thessalonica, x Thess. iil 1, a, 6. Probably

469

and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed, they departed.

U Now while Paul waited for 1 them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city 'wholly \9 X

given to idolatry. 17 Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him. Then certain philosophers of 1 the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks,

accompanied him. They both rejoined St Paul at Corinth, xviii. 5.

Silas

Rather, perhaps, keen<was stirred] The imperfect tense expresses the continuance of this feeling. wholly given to idolatry] The marginal rendering is given in Syr. and is decidedly No place had so many idols, preferable. Pausanias, 4 Attica,' xvn. 24. The entire city was, as it were, one altar; and twice as many religious festivals were held there as by any other people, Xenophon, *de Rep. Ath.' xi. 8. It was easier to find a god in Athens than a man, Petronius, 'Satyricon,' 17. 16.

ly excited.

17.

disputed]

Imperfect,

went on dis-

coursing. in the synagogue] Even at Athens the Jews had the first offer of the Gospel. The attempt on his life in Thessalonica and the persecution which drove him away from Berea, had not abated his love for his countrymen. market] It might have been better to retain the original word, agora, or forum. It

was a quarter of the city devoted to purposes very different from those of a market, e.g. political business, and philosophical discussion and embellished with colonnades which were richly decorated with frescoes and statues. daily] While the Agora was full for two ;

or three hours in the early forenoon. The Apostle availed himself of an opportunity afforded by a characteristic habit of the Athenians.

18. the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks]

The

two most prominent and popular schools of philosophy at this time; in their points of agreement and difference alike predisposed against the teaching of the Apostle. The Epicureans, having perverted the teaching of their founder, that pleasure is the inseparable attendant upon virtue, into making the gratification of their senses their great object, referred the origin of the material universe to a fortuitous concourse of atoms, and had no belief in Providence or the immortality of the soul. The Stoics, whose name was derived from

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THE acts: XVII.

A7° l

j%fc£" ,

mIWhhl it

rathe

coffin Athens.

[v.

19—23.

encountered him. And some said, What will this 'babbler say-? other some, He seemeth to be a setter

things to our ears : we would know therefore what these things mean.

of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the

strangers

resurrection.

to tell, or to hear some new thing.)

forth

19 And they took him, and brought *" unto ' Areopagus, saying, May

we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is ? 20 For thou bringest certain strange

the frescoed arcade which they frequented,

did not believe in the personality of God, regarding Him as the anima mundi, substituted inexorable fatality for an overruling Providence, held a migration of souls, and considered absolute apathy as the highest moral attainment of which man is capable. babbler] A scoffing word, used in all likelihood by the Epicureans. In the first instance it meant a bird picking up seeds ; then a very poor man collecting any fragments that he might for food ; and again, one who picks up, in a desultory, random way, scraps of know-

and gives them forth without sense, order, or purpose. It was one of the reproachful terms applied to jEschines by Demosledge,

thenes.

strange gods'] Very much the same charge as had been brought against Socrates, Xeno-

phon, 4 Memorabilia, the resurrection]

1. i.

Many who believed the

soul to be immortal could not accept the resurrection of the body. Hammond adopted Chrysostom's suggestion, that the Athenians took Anastasis, the word for resurrection in the original, to be preached to them as a goddess. Bentley rejected it as a fancy for which the use of gods in the plural gave no warrant. 44 Such a permutation of number is frequent have another example in all languages. of it in the very text, certain also of your own poets; the Apostle meant only one, Aratus."

IS BROUGHT UNTO AREOPAGUS.

There was took Aim] By the hand. no violence, or any judicial formality ; it is the same word as in ix. 27, xxiii. 19. Cp. Matt, xiv. 31 ; Mark viii. 23. unto Areopagus] Not as before a court for 10.

trial, as Chrysostom supposed, but as to a public place of general resort and easy access, where he might be heard with less liability to interruption than in the Agora. There was no accusation made, no evidence taken, no sentence of condemnation or acquittal pronounced. The Apostle's address was not a defence; and the termination, in v. 32, not at See Warburton, Note all like that of a trial. on the ' Divine Legation,* Book II.

(For

all

which

the Athenians

were

there

and spent

their time in nothing else, but either

22 f Then Paul stood in the midst of 'Mars' hill, and said, Te men ofjOj.*? Athens, I perceive that in all things uu at*> */«va*. ye are too superstitious. 23 For as I passed by, and be-

—

Our A. V. is very unhappy in the variation of the name here and in v. 22. May we know] A request as to a teacher, in quite courteous language, hardly warranting any suspicion of subdued mockery, or any touch of sarcasm. 21. 'strangers] Many resorting thither for the study of philosophy ; the flower of the

youth of Italy among them. some new thing] In the Original this ad» is in the comparative degree, some novelty beyond the last news, the appetite of

jective

curiosity growing with what

it fed on. This had been the Athenian character in the time

of Demosthenes. Addressing them that 22. and said] were without law he spake as without law, abstaining from all reference to Scripture here, as he had at Lystra. in all things] In all respects; number of idols, frequency of festivals, and variety of ceremonies. So, following the Vulgate, English Versions, since WyclifFe, who gave vain worshippers. So also Luther and Calvin. This sense, for which the authority of Chrysostom may be pleaded, was accepted by Bp Sanderson, Preface to the Sermons 4 ad Clerum,' 1657, § 16 : " St Paul doth not call them idolaters, though they were such, and that in a very high degree ; but tempering his speech with all lenity and condescension, he telleth them only of their superstition, and that in the calmest manner too, the comparative degree in such kind of speaking being usually taken for a diminuent term." On the other hand, it has been, with very good reason, urged that the antecedent improbability is very strong indeed against St Paul's having used, in the opening of his address, a word that admitted of being understood as, to say the least, distasteful to his hearers. The substantive is put into the mouth of Festus, xxv. 19, when he could not have allowed himself to use a term that might be offensive to Agrippa. It occurs in five passages of Josephus, x. iii. 2, xix. v. j, too superstitious]

all our

* J. W.' 1. v. 3, 11. ix. 3, and xii. 2, and in a good sense throughout, Religion. And it may

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Or./*** n*>rsA*/t

• The*.*

THE ACTS: XVII.

24—26.]

y0ur

found an

altar with this inscription,

TO THE

held

devotions,

UNKNOWN GOD. Whom there-

fore

ye ignorantly worship, him de-

•^hap. 7.

clare I unto you. 24 * God that made the world and all

things therein, seeing that he

Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands

47.1

25 Neither is worshipped with 1 s* men's hands, * as though he needed J^** any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things 26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath de«* termined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation

be understood here as more than ordinarily,

beyond the average, religious, beheld] 23. served.

oartfully

Rather,

ob-

rendered a god in Wisdom xiv. ao. WyclifFe gave mawmets here, and Rheims, idols. Ifound] This has been understood as implying that the altar was not among the masterSieces of high art in conspicuous places, but 1 some obscure corner of the city.

with this inscription] Literally, on which there had been Inscribed. The use of the preterpluperfect, it has been thought, suggests that this was an ancient, decayed altar, which had been restored, after its original dedication was forgotten. THE De Wette and others would have preferred AH but Bishop Wordsworth contends that the article was often omitted in short inscriptions. Altars of unnamed and unknown gods, in the plural, are spoken of by Pausanias, * Attica* iv.; by Philostratus, * Life of Apollonius,' VI. 3 Tertullian, 4 ad Nationes,' 11. 8 ; and by Jerome, on Titus 1. Augustin, *de Civitate Dei/ Hi. ia, has tt Deos...certos atque incertos." * Tertulhan, c. Marcion.' 1. 9, u Invenio plane ignotis Diis aras prostitutas; sed Attica idololatriaest: item incertis Diis; sed superstitio Romana est." There must have existed an inscription exhibiting the singular number, or St Paul never would have made this assertion. Caligula taunted the Jews with their nameless God. Philo, * Legat. ad Caium/ 44.

UNKNOWN]

UNKNOWN;

Whom therefore]

What

therefore... thin

the "better authorized reading. To the insinuation that he was a setter forth of strange gods, the Apostle replied by reminding them that they, not satisfied with all the variety of Polytheism, were already worshipI,

Cp.

vi. x6.

K. viil

Another sense of the worshipped] here used, served, or ministered unto, suits the context better. as though he needed] Ps. 1. 10 14 ; a Mace, 25.

devotions] The marginal rendering is more correct: the object! of your worihlp. It is the same word as in a Thess. ii. 4, and is

declare

lful people,

Cor. iii.' 16 ; % Cor. 27; Isai. lxvi. 1. 1

ping an unknown God. ignorant If] In the Original, a participle, whom ye, not knowing, in allusion to the Unknown God.

24. that made the world] a new idea to the Greek mind.

Creation was

Cp. xiv. 15.

dwelleth not in temples] St Paul had St Stephen's speech in his memory, vii. 48. God

word

—

xiv. 35 .

givetb]

The pronoun

emphatic.

Life, the vital principle, breath, the continued is the Preserver action of that principle.

God

and Sustainer as well as Creator. 26.

blood]

As in John

13.

This word,

not found in K, A, B, and not represented in the Vulgate, is omitted by several critical editors. The unity of the human race was in 1 direct opposition to the Athenians notion of their own origin as apart from the rest of mankind; they boasting themselves to have sprung from the soil. The popular belief of the ancient world made different races aliens to each other, and led to haughtiness towards foreigners and cruelty to slaves.

Von Hum-

boldt maintained this unity ; in his judgment " the greater part of the supposed contrasts to which so much weight was formerly assigned, have disappeared before the laborious investigations of Tiedemann on the brain of the negro, and the anatomical researches of Vrolik and Weber on the form of the pelvis." * Cos-

mos/ translated by Sabine, 351—356Compare Sir Charles Lyell, 'Principles of Geology,' p. 660, " If all the leading variations of the human family sprang originally from a single pair, a doctrine against which there seems to be no sound objection, a much greater lapse of time is required for the slow and gradual formation of races, such as the

Caucasian, Mongolian, and Negro, than is embraced in any of the popular systems of

chronology."

Whether a far higher antiquity than that assigned by the generally received systems of chronology is required by the results of geological and other investigations, may be an open question. But all that is taught us concerning the Fall, Original Sin, and Redemption, involves the descent of the whole human race from one pair. Rom. v. 15 19. times! The epochs, rather than the periods of the development, growth, vigour, and decay

—

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THE ACTS. XVII.

472

27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and

though he be not for from every one of us : 28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being ; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we find him,

are also his offspring.

29 Forasmuch then as we are the « isai. 40.

offspring of God, c we ought not to

think that the

Godhead is like unto

gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art

and man's device.

of authority for another reading, assigned to them. The larger or bounds of their habitation} smaller portion of the earth allotted for their occupation by Providence oven*uling war, policy, and migration, Gen. xi. 8 ; Deut xxxii.' 8. All this was in direct opposition to the Epicureans.

27. the Lord] God is the better supported reading ; but it has by some been regarded as a correction, made under the impression that the Lord would not have been used before a heathen audience, as being liable to misapprehension from its applicability to the Emperor. See the note on xxv. 26. feel after} The verb properly expresses the groping movements of a blind man. Easily traced in His works, not far from} Jer. xxiii. 23, 24.

Cp. Wisdom xiii. 1.

Cp. v. 25. vfyour own poets'] This quotation is taken verbatim from the opening of the * Phaenomena* of Aratus, a countryman of St Paul, as a native if not of Tarsus, of Soli in Cilicia. This versification of a work under the same title by Eudoxus, who flourished 368 B.C., a century earlier than Aratus, was in such high 28.

lit*]

repute that it was translated by Cicero, and, afterwards, by Germanicus. passage of nine lines, in the course of which these words occur, is preserved in Eusebius, 'Praeparatio Evangelical xiii. 12. The statement was adopted with very slight modification in a hymn to Jupiter attributed to Cleanthes, a Stoic, a native of Assos in the Troad, contemporary with Aratus. For other quotations from Greek poets see 1 Cor. xv. 33; Titus i. 12.

as we are]

Being by our origin. Original a vague, philosophic term, used, we may presume, by St Paul, in consideration of the habit of thought of his hearers.

29.

the

Godhead}

In the

—

32.

30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained ; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, *2j^ in that he hath raised him from the/**** dead. 32 1T And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mock'

of various nations. " He increaseth the nations,

and destroyeth them He enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again," Job xii. 23. before appointed} There is a preponderance

[v.

silvery or. stone}

The Athenians had very

at Laurium, and marble quarries on Mount Pentelicus. In the Parthenon facing the Apostle was Minerva's statue in ivory and gold, and towering over it the bronze colossus of the same Power. See Bp Wordsworth's * Athens and Attica,' pp.

productive

silver

mines

77 and 125.

30. winked at} overlooked; i.e. in mercy, did not note for punishment. Bentley. The same word as in the LXX., Deut. xxii. li 1. iwtpibw here, and napopap Wisdom xi. 23, is the direct interpretation of God's irap€o~is, Rom. iii. 25, differing from 5<£f<m, pardon, as pretention doth from remission ; as passing by, not yet laying to their charge for punishment, doth from absolving, acquitting of them." Hammond. Idolatry was not

extirpated. Mankind were left to their own devices till the coming of Christ; and the length of that interval of darkness must be referred to God's will, not curiously called in question, but reverently regarded as a mystery,

Rom. xvi. 25

;

Eph. iii. 9.

will judge the world} The Judgment, prominent here, as in St Peter's speech in the house of Cornelius, x. 42, was acknowledged See Pearson on by the Gentiles generally. the Creed, Article vn. note i. that many a man has been thought nearer This is the only hint of any to the Original. reference to Christ throughout this address. The words are quoted by Theodoret, Dialogue 11., in proof of the perfect humanity of the ascended and glorified Saviour. Cp. our 31.

Fourth Article. given assurance} The marginal rendering is no improvement. unto all men} Cp. Col. i. 6, 23 ; Titus ii.

11.

32. resurrection of the dead} This was denied by philosophers generally. The Stoics believed in a survival of souls till the general conflagration, but had no notion of individual conscious existence after death. Whatever belief there was among the Gentiles was restrict.

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THE ACTS. XVII. XVIII.

33—*.]

cd : and others said, will hear thee again of this matter. 33 oo Paul departed from among them. 34 Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed : among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

CHAPTER XVIII. 3 Paul laboureth with his hands, and preach-

ed to the soul of the resurrection of the bod/ they had no notion. Bull, ' Harmonia Apos-

473

eth at Corinth to the Gentiles. 9 The Lord ourageth him in a vision. 12 He is accused before Gallio the deputy, but is dismissed. 18 Afterwards passing from city to city he strengthened the disciples. 14 Apollost being more perfectly instructed by Aquila

and Prisciila, 28 preacheth Christ with grtat efficacy.

AFTER these things Paul deL

parted from Athens, and came

to Corinth

2 And found a certain Jew named * Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come

Ront l6. J.

tolica,' 11. x. 13.

*de Sacerdotio, iv. 7, has been misunderstood as implying that she was the wife of Dionysius. Nowhere did St Paul more lovingly con-

some mocked] The Epicureans, it may be presumed, were foremost, but not alone. "Ut carnis resurrectio negetur, de una omnium philosophorum schola sumitur." Tertullian, 'de Praescript.' § 7. Pliny, 4 N. H.' vn. 56,

descend to the peculiarities of his hearers, and nowhere was his success so scanty. This was in marked contrast with Corinth, Thessalonica, and Rome. In all his Epistles there is only one reference to his visit to Athens, 1 Thess.

bitterly ridiculed the belief as childish.

iii.

;

bear thee again]

Some other time, not at

greater length. If this had been more than a courteous intimation that their curiosity was satisfied, and that they desired to hear no more, St Paul would have remained longer at Athens.

After his teaching had been 33. So] received with derision by some, with indiffer-

ence by many.

From the assembly on departure from the city is expressly noticed in the first verse of the following chapter and, Paley remarks, there is no hint of his quitting Athens sooner than from among tbern]

Mars' Hill.

His

;

he had intended.

34. certain men] pression than if they Bentley.

A more diminutive exhad been called a fe<w.

Dionysius'] Eusebius, on the high authority of Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, reckoned him

the first Bishop of Athens, in. 4, iv. 23. According to Aristides, an Athenian philosopher and apologist, he suffered martyrdom. Routh, 4 Rel. Sac* 1. 76; Grabe, 'SpicuV 1. 126. Suidas represents him as a native of Athens, who, while studying in Egypt, witnessed the preternatural darkness at the time of the Crucifixion, and exclaimed, " Either the Godhead is suffering, or the frame of nature is on the point of dissolution." He has been confounded with the tutelar Saint of

France, whose death is assigned to a.d. 270.

The writings which passed under his name are beyond question spurious. Pearson, 'Vindic. Ignat.' ch. x. pp. 249 164, ed. Churton. The first recorded public appeal to them was made by the followers of Severus, a Eutychian, at a conference held under the

—

direction of Justinian, a.d. $$*.

Damaris]

Chrysostom's reference to this,

The highest

intellectual

training

availed

very little as a preparation for the Gospel in the city which was regarded as the great fountain of civilization and law, of learning and religion. Cicero, * pro Flacco, 26. The Church at Athens never became eminent. But several of the Fathers were educated, and the earliest Apology was produced there. It was highly commended for meek1 ness and tranquillity by Origen, c. Celsum, in. 30, and in his Commentary on St John. Its orthodoxy and good order were restored by Quadratus, after having been very severely triedby a persecution in which its Bishop Publius was martyred. Eusebius, iv. 23. 1

St Paul goes to Corinth; Chap. XVIII. 1. After these things]

have no grounds for determining the length of St Paul's stay at Athens. Some have assigned only a fortnight, others have seen reason to extend it to three months. He had intended to await the arrival of Silas and Timothy, xvii. 16; but they did not rejoin him till he was at Corinth. He left Athens not under any pressure of persecution, but because his teaching found no acceptance there. Though once and again near Athens in his third missionary circuit, he did

not revisit it. Corinth] At this time was far more the centre of Greek life than Athens; the residence of the Roman governor of Achaia, populous, busy, wealthy, and licentious commanding, by its two ports, Lechaeum and Cenchreae, Rom. xvi. 1, the commerce of the East and West. "Totius Graeciae lumen," " Achaiae Cicero, 4 pro Lege Manilla,' § 5. caput, Graeciae decus," Floras, 11. 15. ;

Aquila]

His being called a Jew has

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THE ACTS. XVIIi;

474 from Italy, with

his wife

Priscilla;

(because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome :)

and came unto them. 3

And because he was of the same

he abode with them, and wrought for by their occupation they were tentmakers. craft,

been misunderstood as indicating that he was not at this time converted. It was inserted in explanation of his having been involved in the consequences of the decree of Claudius while Jews and Christians were still undistinguished.

Pontus] i.

Jews were numerous there, i Pet.

Some of them were in Jerusalem at the

Pentecost, ii. 9.

Aquila, the translator of the

Old Testament into Greek, about 130 A.D., was a native of Pontus. Priscilla] A diminutive from Prisca, which occurs a Tim. iv. 19. Cp. DrusUla, Livilla. Her name is placed before that of her husband in v. 18, and by St Paul,

Rom. xvi. 3, a Tim.

Chrysostom thought, she was the more fervent in spirit. Both were helpers to the Apostle in Christ Jesus, and

iv.

19, because, as

risked their lives in their devotedness to him, Rom. xvi. 4, possibly in the onset made by the Jews, v. 12, or in the uproar caused by

Demetrius at Ephesus, xix. 14. Both took part in completing the instruction of A polios, a/.

a6. all Jews to depart"]

Bp Pearson assigned

It was not very long the decree to a.d. 52. in force: Claudius died A D. ssAquila had

returned, Rom. xvi. 3,

and there were many

[v.

3—6

4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. 5 And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.

And when they opposed them-

Cilician haircloths was one of the employments of the inmates of a monastery in which Chrysostom spent four years. The fertile plain in

which Tarsus stands is, in harvest time, still studded with these haircloth tents. Beaufort, ' Karamania,' a 7 3. The tents were of a dark colour, Song of Sol. i. 5 ; Rev. vi. ia. There has been a disposition to assign a genteeler occupation Erasmus suggested tapestry, and Michaelis scientific instruments ; but our A V, ;

has the authority of Chrysostom in its favour. At this time there was no Church to which the Apostle could look for the supply of his wants. Afterwards, he insisted strongly on the claim of Christian ministers to be supported by Christian people, 1 Cor. ix. 4 14. He chose not to put the Ephesian converts to any expense, xx. 34. Cp. 1 Cor. iv. ia; a Cor. xi. 8, 9, 10 ; x Thess. ii. 9 ; a Thess.

—

iii.

persuaded]

the Greeks]

Sought to persuade.

A peculiar use of the word

for proselytes attending the synagogue; xiv. 1, xvii. 4.

cannot be understood here in its

larger sense ; for Gentiles are distinguished in In the Original the article is not pre*v. 6. fixed to either Jews or Greeks.

there with confidence or safety, if the mother

from Macedonia] I.e. from Thessalonica, Paley, H. P.' 1 Thess. No. 4, thought that Timothy and Silas came early to Athens, and were sent away again, Titus to

country was in a state of revolt A breach with the Roman government was never so near at any time before the final revolt as now res well, and in the last year of Caligula. '

Thessalonica, Silas to Philippi or elsewhere; and now they came together, or about the same time, to Corinth. For the effect of their coming on St Paul's feelings see x Thess. iii.

Jews in Rome, xxviii. 17. 44 The number of the Jewish inhabitants of Rome was too considerable to be tolerated

1 Thess. iii. 1 , a.

iv. 136. in the spirit]

There is a great balance of

lodges and works with aquila and

MS. authority, supported by Syr. and Vul-

Priscilla.

gate, by Chrysostom and Basil, in favour of another reading, in the word. St Paul was Pressed engrossed with earnest teaching. represents the same word as that translated straitened\ Luke xii. 50, and constrametb, 2 Cor. v. 14 ; Phil. i. 23. Till the arrival of

In accordance with xx. 34, 3. wrought] and with Jewish practice. The highest education did not dispense with the attainment of some handicraft. Circumcising, teaching the Law, and training to some employment, were considered the three great parental duties. The Rabbins held that any one who failed in this last, taught his son to be a thief. tentmakers'] Portable tents, for the use of soldiers and travellers, were made of the soft

under hair of the goats of Cilicia. The work of preparing the material was not uncongenial to a contemplative mind ; and the making of

—

and Timothy with contributions from Macedonia, the Apostle had to labour for his own support, v. 3 ; now he was relieved from Silas

that necessity, a Cor. xi. 8, 9.

Vehement Opposition of the Jews. 6.

opposed themselves'}

A military term,

implying organized and systematic oppositioa

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THE ACTS. XVIII.

7—12.]

J*«tt «<>. selves, and blasphemed, b he shook his

€ i Cor. x.

raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads j I am clean : from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles. 7 11 And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the

475

9 Then spake the Lord to Paul the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy in

peace

10 For

am with thee, and no

man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city. 1 And he Continued there a year pr * -

synagogue. 8 c And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house j and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were

and six months, teaching the word of God among them. 12 U And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judg-

baptized.

ment seat,

blasphemed] xiii. 45. Resistance to the truth on from bad to worse. Cf. Matt. xii.

A Vision to cheer and strengthen the Apostle.

led

24—3*Your blood be] Not imprecation, but earnest, solemn warning. Cf. 1 K. ii. 3a, 33, 37 Ezek. iii. 18, xxxiii. 4 ; Matt, xxiii. 35. unto the Gentiles] This repudiation of the

Jews was local, limited to Corinth. Elsewhere, after this, St Paul strove with all his energy for the conversion of his countrymen. See above, xiii. 46, compared with xiv. 1.

this

Out of the synagogue, ceasing tune to attend its services. c£

Justus]

Titus is prefixed to this name in a

from

thence']

xix. 9.

few MSS. and in the Syriac and Vulgate. Cp. Col. iv. 11. Grotius followed Chrysostom in identifying him with Titus to whom St Paul wrote an Epistle. But this is inconsistent with a Cor. xii. 18. Justus evidently was a settled resident in Corinth.

The house of a

proselyte afforded to both Hebrews and Greeks greater facilities for access to the

Apostle than any other. joined bard to the synagogue]

Houses so situated were commonly set apart for the reception of travellers and strangers. 8.

Crispus]

A Jewish name. Schoettgen,

'Hor. Hear.'

Cp. Mark v. aa. From may"be presumed that he was a

the chief ruler] his office

man

of learning and high character. His conversion was regarded as of great importance, for Crispus was one of the very few who received Baptism from the hands of St Paul, 1 Cor. i. 14. There was a tradition * that he became Bishop of Angina. A post. Const.' vii. 46. with all bis bouse] The first recorded instance of the conversion of an entire Jewish family. Cf. x. a, xu 14, xvi. 15. of the Corinthians] From the middle and lower classes, it seems, 1 Cor. L a6.

not afraid] Possibly, St Paul, poor success at Athens, was disheartened and had thought of quitting Corinth. 1 Cor. ii. 3 has been understood as indicating that the Corinthians had detected this feeling. 9.

after the

/ am <witb thee] 10. special confirmation of the promise, Matt, xxviii. ao. There

was no assurance of immunity from assault, 1/.

1 a,

but of security whatever might happen.

much people] Not actual converts, but with honest and good hearts, ready and desirous to receive the Gospel. in this city]

Luxurious and profligate. Where

sin abounded grace did much more abound.

11.

a year and six months] We are left means the whole

in uncertainty whether this

time spent at Corinth, or only the interval previous to the incident with GalHo. This, with the exception of Ephesus, was the longest residence in one place of which we have any knowledge. The two Epistles to the Thessalonians were written in the course of it. The time, full of annoyances from the pride and thanklessness of the Corinthians, was not long enough for the completion of the work, 1 Cor. iii. 6, 10.

Gallio, Deputy of Achaia. Gallio] Brother of Seneca, and uncle 13. of the poet Lucan. He dropped his original name, Marcus Annaeus Novatus, and assumed that of Lucius Junius Gallio, in consequence of his adoption by the eminent rhetorician, called " Pater Gallio" by Quintilian, 111. i. He was extremely amiable, ai, IX. ii. 91. called dulcis by Statius, Sylv.' 11. vii. 3a, "Quem nemo non parum amat, etiam qui amare ; plus non potest " and again, " Nemo mortali urn uni tarn dulcis est quam hie omnibus," Seneca, l Nat Quaest* IV. Praef. He quitted his 4

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*"*

THE ACTS. XVIII.

476

[v.

13—18.

16 And he drave them from the 13 Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the judgment seat. law. 17 Then all the Greeks took Sos14 And when Paul was now about thenes, the chief ruler of the synato open his

mouth, Gallio said unto Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you 15 But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such the

matters.

gogue, and beat him before the judg-

ment

And

seat.

Gallio cared

for

none of those things.

And Paul after this tarried yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and 1

there

sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila \ having shorn his head in Cenchrea for he had a vow. :

government in consequence of an attack of

Josephus, xiv. x. 17 and xvi. vi. 2.

fever, " non corporis sed loci morbum," as he

was acting in the spirit of a rescript of the Emperor Claudius which inculcated universal

said; Seneca, Ep. civ.

This Cf. xiii. 7, Proconsul. style of the governor of Achaia at this time; Claudius having transferred to the Senate, Suetonius, § 25, that province, which, under Tiberius and Caligula, had been in the hands of the Emperor, Tacitus, the deputy]

was the correct

'Annals,' 1. 76, and accordingly governed by a Procurator. If the Life of Claudius by Suetonius had not survived, the designation here employed might have been noted as an excepSee the tion to St Luke's habitual accuracy.

note on xiii. 7.

Achaia] The Roman province, with Corinth its capital, answering very nearly to the modern kingdom of Greece, i.e. Peloponnesus and Greece Proper. The other province comprehended Macedonia, Epirus, Thessaly, and part of lllyria. insurrection] an onset. for

13. persuadeth] The word in the Original implies the undermining of previous belief. contrary to the law] I.e. of Moses; in the mouth of Jewish accusers. This is only a Gallio brief summary of the accusation. understood little or nothing of the subject but it is clear from his reply that the charge brought against St Paul must have gone more into details.

wrong or wicked lewdness] In the 14. Original the former word points to a crime of violence ; the latter, not to licentiousness, cp. xvii. 5, but to fraud. that I should bear] Rather, that I should

have borne with yon. 15. names']^ Of the application of prophetic designations of the Messiah to Jesus of

Nazareth.

of your law]

Cp. xxiii. 29, and xxv. 20.

A shade of contempt is implied in the Original. ye yourselves shall look Within certain limits the Roman authorities conceded to the Jews the settlement of their own disputes, John xviii. 31 look ye to it]

It.

toleration, Josephus, xix. vi. 3.

Gallio

At this time

Roman Law had taken no notice of Christianity in any way.

Legally authorized persecu-

tion began under Nero.

drave them]

16.

By thelictors.

This, not found in K, 17. the Greeks] A, B, not recognised by the Vulgate or Chrysostom, is omitted in all recent critical editions. The other reading, the Jews, has not much authority from MSS., and it is most unlikely that the head of their synagogue was thus treated by them. Both Greeks and Jews came in from marginal glosses. All is to be understood of the crowd generally. Sosthenes] fication

with

The commonly assumed identi1

Cor. L 1 must be regarded as

arbitrary and uncertain. beat him] Cuffed and buffeted, not scourged. The Greeks were provoked by the maliciousness of the attack made on St Paul, and by the part which Sosthenes had taken in bringing the charge against him before the Proconsul. Galliot non-interference in this case was not strictly consistent with his language in v. 14. He was right in declining to adjudicate in a Jewish controversy, but his answer was contemptuous; and, sitting on the judg-

ment seat, he ought not to have allowed the treatment of Sosthenes.

St Paul goes to Ephesus. 18.

having shorn his head]

ing had his head polled.

Rather, hav-

The word

implies the use of scissors, not of a razor, as xxi. 24. The two processes are in contrast, 1 Cor. xi. 6. Wearing his hair long must have been to St Paul's feeling humiliating,

Cor. xi. 14. in Cenchrea] The eastern port of Corinth, on the Saronic Gulf, about nine miles from the city, to which it invited the trade of Alexandria, of the Asiatic shores of the Mediterranean, and of the isles of the i£gean ; as 1

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THE ACTS. XVIII.

19—»4-]

And he came to Ephesus, and them there but he himself en-

19 left

tered into the synagogue, and reason-

ed with the Jews. 20 When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not 21 But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this d OT ** feast that cometh in Jerusalem : but ,J! James 4. j return agai n un to you, ''if jjj '

the other harbour, Lechzum, on the Gulf of Corinth Corinth, connected it with Italy. was an entrepot for the commerce of the East

and the West.

There was a Church in Cen-

chreae very early, Rom. xvi. 1.

a vow] Grotius, Hammond, Meyer, and Howson have followed the explanation, which, with the support of Chrysostom and the Vulgate, refers this to Aquila a view which Bede noticed and refuted on the authority of Jerome. On this, or on the more generally received understanding that it is to be understood of St Paul, it is not in our power to explain the nature of the vow or the circumstances under which it had been made. There ;

nothing in the statement to determine whether the cutting off the hair was the commencement or the termination of the period of the vow. The locality, and the absence of is

—

the prescribed offerings, Num. vi. 1 11, show that it cannot have been the Nazarite vow. 1 4 Spencer, de Legibus Hebr. in. vi. 1, conjectured that the Apostle's hair had been allowed to grow in compliance with a vow made when he was leaving Athens for Corinth, Cp. Josephus, in the hope of a good passage. * Nemnder, 4 Planting, &c.' J. W.' 11. xv. 1. 1. ao7, thought that it might have been an expression of humiliation and thankfulness after deliverance from sickness or peril. Michaelis understood that the Apostle had contracted ceremonial defilement, from conborn Jew, tact with a corpse or the like. he continued to observe the Law, though he would not have it enforced on Gentile converts.

And be tame] And they came, in 19. the four oldest Uncial MSS. to Ephesus] One of the eyes of Asia, Pliny, *N. H/ V. 31 ; Smyrna being the other. Cp. xvii. 2, entered into the synagogue] xiii. 14. This seems to imply that St Paul's stay in Ephesus included a Sabbath. reasoned] Cp. v. 4. The tense here shows that it was once for all, not continuous, as at Corinth. 20.

When they desired]

The Jews, mol-

perhaps in their feelings by his recent observance of a vow and by his anxiety to be at Jerusalem in time for the Festival.

lified

God

477 And

will.

sailed

from

Ephesus.

22 And when he had landed at gone up, and saluted the church, he went down to Antioch. 23 And after he had spent some time therey he departed, and went over all the country of Galatia and Caesarea, and

Phrygia in order, strengthening

all

the disciples.

24 11 'And a certain Jew named ', Cor 1 x

I must by all means] Not as bound but that he might secure the

21.

in conscience,

opportunity for instructing a large concourse of his countrymen, allowing himself, it may bt, to hope that his conformity to this observr ance might smooth the way to their acceptance of the Gospel. this feast] In all likelihood Pentecost, as xx. 16, which Festival, as the birthday of the Church, is in this history as prominent as the Passover is in the Gospels. Navigation was not open as early in the year as the time of the Passover, and was considered dangerous after the Feast of Tabernacles. The balance of MSS. and Versions is decidedly against the words, J must Jerusalem: but, and they have been omitted in several recent critical editions.

Cp. 1 Cor. iv. 19, xvi. if God <wilf] James iv. 15. He did return, xix. 1.

22.

•

at Casarea]

See above, viil 40.

much safer haven than that of Joppa, which was nearer to Jerusalem. and gone up]

To Jerusalem

;

as xi. 1, xv. a,

xxi. 11, 15, xxiv. ji, xxv. j, 9. This, in St Luke's brief narrative, is the only notice that

the purpose of his recent travelling had been accomplished.

went down]

Probably by land, xv. 3.

23. some time] In the course of which he found himself constrained to withstand St Peter, Gal. ii. 11.

be departed]

This is the commencement of

his third great missionary journey.

in order] systemaUc visitation, implying not a few established congregations, taken successively. Galatia and Phrygia, here in an inverted order as compared with the previous circuit, xvi. 6, may fairly be understood as including Lycaonia and Lydia. Colossac, and Laodicea also, may have been on this route. strengthening] The same word as in xiv.

aa, xv. 31, 41.

Apollos, 24. Apollos] This has been thought to be an abbreviation of Apollonius, which is given in Codex Bezac. Several names were similarly contracted, e.g. Epaphras, from

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THE ACTS. XVIIL

47«

Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus.

This man was instructed

the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of

John.

And he began to speak boldly

whom when Aquifa had heard, they took

in the synagogue :

and

Priscilla

Epaphroditus. Apollos was with St Paul when the first Epistle to the Corinthians was written, and references made to him in it, iii. 5, 22, express the highest estimation

of him.

The latest notice of him in the New Testament is the commendation of him. along with Luther's conjecture that Zenas, Titus iii. 13. he wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews, which found wide acceptance abroad, was adopted

by Alford.

A tradition, on which no stress

can be laid, made him Bishop of Cxsarea. From the foundation born at Alexandria] of the city Jews had been very numerous Alexander the Great admitted the there. first Jewish settlers on a footing of equality Ptolemy Lagus with the Macedonians. brought many Jewish captives there, josephus, xii. i. They occupied a considerable portion of the city, and had an ethnarch of their own. Josephus, xiv. vii. 21 (from Strabo) and xix. v. 2. Alexandria was a great school of Judaism as influenced more or less by Greek culture, and of Philosophy as taught by the Neo-Platonists, and also of Christianity.

an eloquent man] The word in the Original expresses learning as well as eloquence ; aptitude for stating tacts as well as for maintaining an argument. Our A. V. chose very well for mighty in the Scriptures takes in all Jewish learning.

25.

the <way

of the Lord]

This phrase,

from Isai. xl. 3, was applied to the ministry of the Baptist, Matt. iii. 3 ; Mark i. 3. fervent in the spirit] Rom. xii. 11. This cannot be understood of the Holy Spirit, for His gifts are the seal of Christian faith, and that Apollos had not yet embraced in its fullness. spake and taught] Spake, in conversation taught, in the synagogue. Both these verbs are in the imperfect tense, implying that it was the habit of Apollos to be so employed. There is far more authority for the things of Jesus than for the reading represented by A.V. diligently] Rather, accurately. The same adverb as in the following verse in the comparative degree. the baptism of John] Cp. xiii. 14, xix.

—

The Baptism of John was a Bap-

[v.

25—18.

him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. 27 And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him who, when he was come, helped

much which had believed through grace: 28 For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publickly, shewing scriptures that Jesus was them

Sthe irist.

tism of repentance for the remission of sins, in expectation and preparation for the coming of the Messiah. Christian Baptism is a Baptism of faith in the Great Deliverer already come, administered in the Name of the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity. Apollos, it may be assumed, acknowledged Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah, and as the Lamb of God, John i. 29, 36. He had probably heard of the Crucifixion and Ascension ; but of the coming of the Holy Ghost and of all that the Church owed to that, of the universality of the Gospel, and of the freedom of the Gentiles from the Mosaic Law, he knew nothing.

more fully instructed by a qui la and Priscilla. 26.

to speak boldly]

Any one, invited to

do so, might expound in the synagogue. expounded]

Aquila and

Priscilla

felt

jealousy, they taught in private one who outshone them in public. Priscilla's teaching, strictly domestic, involved no contrariety to 1 Tim. ii. 12, and 1 Cor. xiv. 34.

more perfectly] Rather, more accmrattly. into Achaia] I.e. to its capital, Corinth,

27.

Cor. i. 12, probably, that he might ascertain the results of St Paul's teaching. xix. 1 ; 1

to receive him] tality is implied.

More than ordinary hospiFrom 1 Cor. L 12 it appears

that the teaching of Apollos gave occasion for sectarian feeling. He was so for from fostering it, that he was disinclined to return to Corinth even when St Paul desired it, x Cor. xvi. 12.

helped] He watered where Paul had planted, Cor. in. 6. through grace] Some have thought it better to connect this with helped. Through his gift x

for teaching, his eloquence, and great knowledge of Old Testament Scriptures, Apollos greatly helped those that had believed.

28.

The same word is trans-

mightily]

lated vehemently^ Luke xxiii. 10.

convinced]

word

In the Original a very strong

? thoroughly

Christ]

confuted.

Rather, tfc* Christ.

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THE ACTS. XIX.

I— 0.]

have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.

CHAPTER XIX. 6 The Holy Ghost is given by PauPs hands, 9 The Jews blaspheme his doctrine, which is \x The Jewish exconfirmed by miracles, are beaten by the devil.

orcists l6

19 Con-

juring books are burnt. 24 Demetrius, for love ofgain, raiseth an uproar against Poult 35 which is appeased by the tow rulerk.

AND

came to pass, that, while

jfl. Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts

they said, Unto John's baptism.

4 Then said Paul, ' John verily ""'Matt. 3. baptized with the baptisih of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. 5

disciples,

He said unto them, Have ye

believed ?

the

Holy Ghost

since

And they said unto him,

And he said unto them, Unto And

what then were ye baptized?

came to Ephesus and finding certain

received

479

When

they heard

this y

they

were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost

Chap. XIX. 1—20. At some time daring

withdrawn ; and they were not aware of His

was, it has been thought, a visit of St Paul to Corinth, of which no particulars have been preserved for us, a Cor.

having returned to Israel in the Pentecostal Effusion, that signal fulfilment of the Baptist's declaration that Christ would baptize with the Holy Ghost.

this interval there

xiii. 1.

Twelve Disciples of St John the Baptist at Ephesus. while Apollos <was at Corinth] This 1. must have been for some considerable time;

but he rejoined the Apostle at Ephesus before the First Epistle to the Corinthians was writCor. xvi. 12. There is no further 1 notice of Apollos in this history. The name

ten,

appears in Titus iii. 13. the upper coasts] Coasts used here as xiii. 50 Matt. 11. 16, xv. a 1 ; Mark vii. 31 ; the interior of the country, eastward from Ephesus, mountainous in contrast with the neighbourhood of that city. Cp. "the high countries" 1

Mace. iii. 37, vi. 1 came to Ephesus]

;

Mace. ix. 23, 25.

As he had promised that

he would, xviii. 21.

Not yet advanced beyond This must have been immediately after their arrival at Ephesus, before they had any intercourse with the Christians there. Ephesus contained a great number of Jews, many of whom were citizens of Rome, Josecertain disciples']

xviii. 25.

phus, xiv. x. 13.

Have ye received] Rather, Did j% 2. receive' the Holy Ghost (i.e. any of His gifts)

when ye became believers? Rather, We did not so

We have not]

much as hear, sc. at the time of our Baptism. whether there be any]

Rather, whether the

Holy Gh jst be yet given. The words are Of the precisely the same as in John vii. 39. Holy Ghost all Jews must have heard in the Psalms and in other portions of their Scriptures. But it was a received tradition that, after the time of Makchi, the Holy Spirit had been

Johns baptism] xviii. 25. Further 3. distinguished from Christ's Baptism by this, that one was of water, and the other of the Spirit, xi. 16. Possibly they had been taught by Apollos before his fuller instruction by Aquiia and Priscilla, xviii. 25, 26. 4.

Cp. Matt. iii.

baptism of repentance]

11 ; not of remission, Chrysost. 'Horn. xi. in Act.' § 2. " The two heads of the mission to the two great divisions of mankind, the Jews and Gentiles, here acted in one another's province. Peter, the Apostle of the Jews, administering Baptism to the Gentile household of Cornelius; and Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles, administering the same rite to the Jewish converts. And why was this crossing of hands, but to obviate that silly evasion, that

water Baptism was only partial or temporary ?

Warburton, 6. the

in the

D. L.' vi. 1.

name of the Lord Jesus] Into

name, as in v.

viii.

16;

*.*.

into the

Lord Jesus, according to the form of Baptism prescribed by Bp Bull, Discourse the Lord Himself. I. This was no iteration of Baptism. They had never received Christian Baptism. Beza faith and religion of the

has had few followers in regarding this verse as a portion of what was said by St Paul, which would involve St John's having administered Baptism in the name of Christ. 6.

laid bis bands]

Ordinarily, the impo-

sition of Apostolic hands conveyed Gifts;

but

not invariably. A polios had them without it, and Cornelius before he was even baptized. the Holy Ghost came] In His extraordinary Gifts, with perceptible effects. Cp. viii. 15 17.

—

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THE ACTS. XIX.

480

came on them ; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. 7 And twelve.

all

the

men were about

8 And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the king-

7—12.

departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus. io And this continued by the space of two years ; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

And God wrought special mi-

dom of God.

racles by the hands of Paul

9 But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he

12 do that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed

spake with tongues'}

the circle of the Apostle's teaching, might perhaps be traced, more or less directly, the origin of the Seven Churches. The proconsular province, as in Asia} in xvi. 6, of which Ephesus was the capital

See the note on x. 46. Received illumination which enabled them to understand Scripture and to prophesied]

explain doctrines.

And all the men} Rather, And they 7. were in all about twelve men. This has been understood as implying that there were no women ; and thereupon has been based an arbitrary conjecture that these were ascetic followers of the Baptist, abstaining from marriage.

about] The Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic Versions read twelve without the addition of about. 9.

Denton. divers'}

Of those who

resorted to

the synagogue, (were hardened] Rather, hardened themselves. More correctly rendered before 161 1, waxed hardhearted. Both the verbs are in the imperfect, indicating that this spiritual condition was gradually developed. that way} Cp. v. 13, ix. «, xxiv. a a. Some MSS. have the way of the Lord, others, the way of God. Neither is necessary, if John xiv. 5, 6, is borne in mind.

separated}

From the synagogue. As at Athens, xvii. 17.

disputing daily}

The school was a public hall for lecturing and discussion. Of Tyrannus nothing is known. It has been usual to regard him as a sophist or a rhetorician. It has been urged that if he had been a Christian, St Luke would not have spoken of him as he does. But the word represented by one is not in three most important MSS. The name does not preclude his having been a Jew. Cf. a Mace, iv. 40, margin; Josephus, xvi. x. 3, * J. \V7 I.

[v.

xxvi. 3.

Forty-eight years after this, the Gospel had pervaded Bithyniav Pliny's Letters, x. 97. of the Lord Jesus} The Name, Jesus, has been omitted here by Lachmann and Tischendorf, following X, A, B, D, E. both Jews and Greeks} Cp. xx. 21.

Special Miracles wrought by St Paul. Literally, no ordispecial miracles] 11. nary miracles. Cp. no little kindness, xxviii. Miracles wrought without personal cona. tact or intervention, possibly without even consciousness on the part of the Apostle. Luther regarded this statement as an illustration of St Paul's words, Gal. ii. 8. This great effusion of healing power, which, it is implied by the tense of the verb wrought, continued for some time, was granted as a counterpoise to the magical andtheurgic practices to which the Ephesians were addicted, w. 13, 19. It was a parallel case to the endowment with extraordinary powers which enabled Moses to vanquish the magicians of Egypt, and Daniel to surpass the Chaldean astrologers. A yearning for some such display could hardly foil to be felt by the young converts, and God was

pleased to satisfy it. by the bands of Paul} laid

Not as, in all cases, upon the sick, but through his instru-

mentality.

Both are 12. handkerchiefs or aprons} Latin words. The former is translated nap* kin,

Luke xix. 20; John xl 44, xx. 7. There

The three months in v.

may have been a little more of superstition

8, and the time occupied by the events subsequent to v. ao, complete the three years during which St Paul supported himself by manual labour. Meyer understood the three years in xx. 31 as a proximate rather than an exact statement. To this long interval, in the course of which the varied attractions of Ephesus must have brought numbers within

here than in placing the sick within reach of St Peter's shadow v. 15. But the desired result was allowed in both cases, as it had been to her who thought to steal a cure of her issue of blood, Matt. ix. ao, ai, by a method or instrumentality from which our Lord did not withhold His sanction afterwards, Matt'

10.

two fears}

xiv. 36.

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THE ACTS. XIX.

. *3— 19-]

from them, and the evil spirits went out of them. U Then certain of the vagabond 1 Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the

Lord Jesus, saying,

We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.

And there were seven sons of

one Sceva, a

Jew, and chief of the

priests, which did so.

and

And the evil spirit answered said,

Jesus

know, and Paul

I know ; but who are ye ?

481

And the man in whom the evil

spirit was leaped on

them, and over-

came them,

prevailed

and

against

them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus \ and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. 18 And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.

Many of them also which used

evil spirits went out] Possession is distinguished from disease, as above, v. 16.

In the Original two different the former implying knowledge that produces an emotion of the mind ; the latter,

Jewish Exorcists.

knowledge more familiar, but with no such

13. vagabond] Itinerant. A.V. is, in the present day, needlessly harsh. They travelled wherever there was any probability of commercial advantage. exorcists'] This practice was very prevalent amongst the Jews, and the references made to it by the Evangelists indicate more than mere pretension. Matt. xii. 27; Mark ix. 38; Luke ix. 49, 50, xi. 19. Josephus attributes a case of the exercise of this power in the presence of Vespasian, his sons, and his staff, to charms alleged to have been handed down from Solomon, vm. ii. 5. Justin Martyr expresses himself as if the Name of the God of Abra-

ham, Isaac, and Jacob was employed, * Dialogue/ § 85 ;

but in

>Jame of our Lord.

Apol.'

11.

§ 6,

the

The power of expelling

though possessed by St Paul in fulfilment of our Lord's promise, Matt. x. 8 ; Mark xvi. 17, is not enumerated among the miraculous endowments granted to the Church, 1 Cor. xii. 8— 11; and there can have been no warrant for the institution of a distinct order of exorcists at the close of the evil

spirits,

third century.

We adjure] I adjure must be regarded as the true reading. whom Paul preacbetb] The name Joshua or Jesus was so common that this specification was necessary.

14. chief of the priests] This designation might imply that he had once held the office of High Priest, or that he was head of one of the 14 courses into which the Priests were distributed. Josephus uses Chief Priests in the ague sense of holding priestly rank. See the note on Matt xxvii. 1. Some have thought that Sceva was no more than ruler of the synagogue at Ephesus. The name does not appear in the list of High Priests given

is singular in its reading,

by Josephus,

a Priest.

I know]

15.

words

;

Jesus I acknowledge, and

result as reverence.

Paul I know has been suggested by Bp Lightfoot The authority of Jesus was repeatedly acknowledged by evil spirits, Matt. viii. 29

Mark

14, v. 7 ;

Luke iv. 41, viii. 18.

Our

Saviour did not interfere to check the use made of His Name by one who had not become His follower, Mark ix. 38 ;

Luke ix. 49, 50. But no belief in Christ; they were disposed to turn the use of His Name to secular account. In some degree their feelings must have been like those of Simon Magus. these exorcists had

16. the man in whom the evil spirit was] The reality of possession could not have been

more clearly expressed than by this phrase in combination with the evil spirit answered in the preceding verse.

overcame them] In this third repetition of the pronoun the weight of MS. authority is in favour oitbem both; he. two of the seven brethren, more forward and conspicuous than the rest, underwent this discomfiture. Bentley allowed himself to think that this reading might justify the substitution of two for seven in the preceding verse. naked] With their clothes torn from their backs. In John xxi. 7, and Mark xiv. 5a, without the upper garment 17. fear] Jews and Greeks alike were awestruck by the ignominious defeat of thr exorcists.

was

magnified]

In the

imperfect tense,

began to be, and went on being magnified.

That had btoomo 18. that believed] btlltvtrs some time previously, but had not up to this time been so far influenced by their faith as to renounce the magical arts which they practised before their conversion. confessed]

Collectively and publicly.

The

same word as in Matt ui. 6, and James v. 16.

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THE ACTS. XIX.

482

curious arts brought their books tothem before all nun: and they counted the price of

gether, and burned

them, and found

fifty

thousand

of silver. 20 So mightily grew the word of

pieces

God and prevailed. 2 11 After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and

10.

Books of Magic burned. Many of them] In the Original,

a word of narrower scope than that

in the

Many confessed, several burned their books. The same distinction in

preceding

verse.

Cor. xi. 30 is again disregarded by A. V. curious] So all our English Versions, following the Vulgate; arts which pryed into matters beyond the limits of human knowledge, Horace, Epode xvn. 77. The same 1

word, 1 Tim. v. 13, is represented by busy bodies, with the exception of Wycliffe and Rheims, which again give curious, Cp. Augustin, * Confess/ x. 4a, " Desiderium curiosarum visionum." Ephesus was a great school of magic. Its spells, often worn as amulets, were in very high repute. Some strange words, originally only six, taken from them, are explained by Clemens Alex. 'Strom.' V. 45, which may be seen in Wetstein's notes. burned them] This was very much more effectual then and there than it can ever have been since the invention of printing. By actually destroying the books, they not only acknowledged the sinfulness of the practices taught therein, but also cut off at once and absolutely the possibility of relapse on their own part, or of leaving a temptation or stumbling-block in the way of others. Traffic in these impostures was not put an end to by this destruction of the books. The seducers in a Tim. iii. 13 were practisers of these

[v.

24.

Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.

22 So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus ; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season. 23 And the same time there arose no small stir about that way. 24 For a certain man named Depurposed in the spirit

Resolved with himself,

Not under any special direction of the Holy Ghost.

when he had passed through] Made a rapid inspection of recently founded Churches, in Philippi, Berea, Thessalonica, and Corinth. This plan was contracted to the exclusion of the last-named Church, by reason of the machinations of the Jews, xx. 3. to go to Jerusalem] ith the money collected for poor Christians there, xxiv. 17. Cf. 1 Cor. xvi. 1 4 ; a Cor. viii. ; Rom. xv.

»5— 18.

—

Rome] The great centrt of the Gentile world, St Paul's field of labour. This settled purpose in the Apostles mind, Rom. i. 13, xv. aa 3a, for the fulfilment of which he had the Lord's assurance, xxiii. 11, found its accomplishment in a way of which he had little thought.

—

town probably drachmae =£1875. Jewish shekels, as understood by Grotius and Hammond, would amount to £7000.

22. So he sent] Probably to make all needful arrangements about the collections. Timotheus] Sent by St Paul from Ephesus to Corinth by way of Macedonia, a little before the writing of the first Epistle to the Corinthians. See 1 Cor. iv. 17, xvi. 10. Bp Wordsworth. Cp. Paley's * Horae Paulinae,' IV. 4, 5Erastus] It is safest to say that we know nothing of this Erastus. For it is not at all likely that the chamberlain, i.e. treasurer, of the city of Corinth, Rom. xvi. a 3, a Tim. iv. ao, could have been free from his official duties to attend on St Paul at Ephesus. for a season] Perhaps till Pentecost. This delay may have been occasioned by the great door being opened for him at Troas, a Cor.

20. grew...prevailed] While there was great extension of the faith, its influence on the hearts and lives of the converts became stronger. No form of superstition, Jewish,

Demetrius, a maker of silver shrines, causes a Tumult.

curious arts. fifty

thousand pieces of silver]

—

In a Greek

13 18, 19, could 17, or heathen, withstand it. A great door was opened at Ephesus, but there were many adversaries, 1 Cor. xvi. 9. the *word of God] Word of the Lord SS. in the best

trv.

At the expiration 21. jifter these things'] of the two years and three months, 10

and 8.

And the same time'] about the same Only a general indication. The time of St Paul's intended departure is not marked 23.

time.

with strict exactness. no small stir] The arrival of ApoUonius of Tyana may have contributed to this, if, as has been thought probable, it took place a little before St Paul s quitting Ephesus. that <way] tht <way ; as above, v. 9.

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THE ACTS. XIX.

as— 2 9-]

metritis, a silversmith,

which made

Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen ; 25 Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. 26 Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands 27 So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought ; but silver shrines

24.

for

for Diana]

Rather, of Diana,

The

shrines were miniature models of the temple, containing a representation of the statue of the goddess. Compare the tabernacle of Moloch, vii. 43. These were reverently placed in private houses, or worn as amulets. According to Pausanias, iv. 31, more private devotion was paid to the Ephesian Diana than to any

other divinity.

Diana]

A. V. followed the Vulgate in subCp. xiv. 12. The Ephesian Diana was not the beautiful huntress goddess of the popular mythology, but an impersonation of the productive and fostering powers of nature, combining attristituting this name for Artemis.

butes so various that Creuzer, Symbolik,' 11. 115, says that she was in herself an Asiatic and Egyptian pantheon. She was represented wearing a turreted crown like that of Cybele, with very numerous breasts, and below them heads of lions, stags, and oxen, tier under tier, encircling her lower person as though they were so many swathing bands, so that the figure resembled a mummy quite as much as a statue. Her temple at Ephesus, built in a marsh on layers of charcoal and hides stuffed with wool, as protective against earthquakes, called by Pliny, N. H.' xxxvi. 14, the wonder of the world, having been burned in the year Z$s B -C- in the night in which Alexander the Great was born, was rebuilt with greater magnificence. It is said to have had 127 columns, 60 feet high, each the gift of a king; and that seven of these, made of jasper, were brought to Constantinople and applied to the support of the dome of St Sophia. Leake pronounced that not a fragment on the spot can be assigned with certainty, and that even the site cannot 4

be ascertained. the craftsmen] The designers and skilled labourers of the highest class.

25. the workmen] Those to whom the rougher parts only of the manufacture were assigned. It is observable that priests are not

483

that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth. 28 And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. 29 And the whole city was filled with confusion and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macealso

Paul's companions in travel,

donia,

they rushed with one accord into the theatre. St Paul had abstained from any on the established system, and had laboured quietly to attract the people to a higher creed and a purer practice by a free and full declaration of evangelical truth. The same word as gains, xvi. 19. craft]

mentioned.

direct attack

26.

all

Asia]

Bp Wordsworth most

aptly quotes Apuleius, II., u Diana Ephesia, cujus nomen unicum multiformi specie, ritu vario, nomine multijugo, totus veneratur orbis." this Pauf] Contemptuously expressed. This portion of their that they be no gods] teaching gave occasion to Christians being

called atheists.

The popular belief identified

the divinities: "simulacra Detim, Deos immo ipsos convulsos ex sedibus

the

idols

with

suis, ablatos esse."

Livy, xxxvm. 43.

This persecution, like that at Philippi, originated with the heathen; there the pretext was political, at Ephesus it 28. full of <wratb]

was religious.

wtnt on crying out. Great is Diana] Great was a distinctive epithet of this goddess, *u. $$' cried out]

Known in this passage only. 29. Gaius] The Gaius in xx. 4 was of Derbe, and the Gaius in Rom. xvi. 23 and 1 Cor. i. 14 was of Corinth. The name Gaius or Cains was so very common that it is safer to keep these three distinct than to reduce them to two by conjecturing that the native of Macedonia had There is a fourth Gaius settled in Corinth. to whom St John addressed his third Epistle. Aristarcbus] A Thessalonian, xx. 4, who had been in peril at Ephesus, xix. 29. In the Epistle to Philemon, 24, St Paul classes him with his fellow-labourers, and in Col. iv. 10 he calls him his fellow-prisoner. He was probably one of the wealthier converts, for he was able to be absent from home in attendance on the Apostle for three years, from xx. 4 to

xxvit 2. the theatre]

Cp. xiL 21.

These buildings

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THE ACTS. XIX.

4»4

30 And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not.

And certain of the chief of Asia,

which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theatre.

32 Some therefore cried one thing, and some another for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come :

together.

were continually

Greek cities for and the transaction of

used in

gatherings

political

public business, as at Antioch, Tacitus, 4 Hist.*

11. 80; Josephusf The vil. iii. 3. »J. outlines of the ground-plan of the theatre at Ephesus are all the traces now left. Fellows thought it larger than that at Miletus, which exceeded in scale any which he had seen else-

where.

30.

Asia Minor/ p. a 7 4.

suffered him not]

1 Cor. xv. 3 a canhas been suggested, refer to this tumult, for the Apostle was not in the theatre.

not,

the chief of Asia] Ten officers elected 31. annually, by the several cities in the proconsular province of which Ephesus was the capital, to superintend and bear the expense of the public games and festivals. Three of them were held to represent Jove, Mercury, and Apollo; and one selected by the Proconsul was president, and in a special sense the Asiarch. Their presence in Ephesus may be taken as indicating the season of the year. The games in honour of Diana were held in the month of May, that month being sacred to her, and accordingly called Artemisium. On such an occasion the city would be more than usually thronged, and Demetrius might

safely reckon

on more than ordinary zeal on

behalf of the local divinity. The provision for the games, especially for those in which wild beasts were introduced, involved very heavy expenses, and the Asiarchs accordingly were rich men, one among them almost always from Tralles, a very wealthy city. Philip, a Trallian, is mentioned, in the Martyrdom of Polycarp, §§ ia and ax, as holding the office. The having five children was admitted as an exemption ; and no one, except in special cases, deemed

worthy of being recorded in inscriptions, was obliged to hold the appointment a second time. Those who had once filled the office retained the title for life.

bis friends']

This slight,

incidental notice

of such a circumstance as that the Apostle had friends among the Asiarchs was noticed by Paley, * H. P.,* as an illustration of St Luke's veracity.

It shows that the new religion was

[v.

3°—35-

33 And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defence unto the people. 34 But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. 35 And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Te men of Ephesus, what man is there that

not unfavourably regarded by some of the higher classes. These may have heard the Apostle's teaching in the school of Tyrannus; but there is no reason for regarding them as converts.

32.

Some therefore'] This reverts to v. 19.

Alexander] Some have understood had been converted to Christianity. Others have added to this that he apostatized, perhaps under the alarm of this tumult, and have gone on to identify him with the coppersmith, a Tim. iv. 14, who has by some been

33.

that he

thought to be the same as in 1 Tim. i. ao. But all this is gratuitous. The name was too common to warrant attempts at identification. putting him forward] That he might assert a broad distinction between Jews and Christians, disclaiming all sympathy with St Paul, and so, by showing that his countrymen had nothing to do with any diminution of the profits of Demetrius and his craftsmen, concentrate the popular indignation on the Christians.

Erasmus contended for another sense altoJews had instructed him beforehand, and engaged him as their advogether, viz. that the cate.

34. tbey knew] Recognised, as iii. 10, iv. 13. that be <was a Je<w] The Jews were generally

unpopular,

e.g. at Philippi, xvi.

ao, and

at Corinth, xviii. 17. about the space of Pwo hours]

This continuous outcry was probably, in some sort, an act of homage to Diana. Cf. 1 K. xviiL 26.

Intervention, by which this was appeased.

So in all English Versions since Wycliffe, who gave scribe. Keeper of the archives^ recorder, secretary to the council, have been proposed. But as one of the three chief Asiarchs had this designation, ypaufiartvs, as keeping the official register of the victors in the games, it has been thought likely that it is to be understood of him. 35.

the

tovunelerk]

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—

THE ACTS. XIX. XX.

i.]

knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is f a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter ? 36 Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly. 37 For ye have brought hither

J2L?* b~j*r.

these men, which are neither robbers

of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess. 38 Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, Or, Or have a matter against any man, 'the *Zjkr/t?* law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another. 39 But if ye inquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be i2&*wy. determined in a 'lawful assembly. worshipper]

The original word, answer-

ing very nearly to sacrist, has been found in inscriptions, and on several Asiatic coins, especially Ephesian. One of the latter bearing the name of Nero must have been nearly contemporary with St Paul's visit. See Donaldson's 4 Architecture Numismatica,' p. 3a, and Akerman's * Numismatic Illustrations of the Acts,' p. ssgoddess] This word, wanting in K, A, B, D, E, has been rejected in recent critical editions.

the image which fill down] Tarsus, Troy, and Athens claimed to possess such. In some

cases they were, in

all

This at Ephesus was,

probability, aerolites. it

seems, a very rude

wooden figure of earlier than Grecian workmanship.

Pliny, * N. H.' xvi. lxxix. 7, reports

two accounts, one, that it was of ebony, the other, that it was of vine wood. According to Vitruvius, 11. 9, it was of cedar. Xenophon, Anabasis/ v. 3, implies that it was of gold.

40 For we

485

are in

danger to be

called in question for this day's uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse. 41 And when he had thus spoken,

he dismissed the assembly.

CHAPTER XX. Paul goeth to Macedonia, 7 He celebrateth the Lord's supper, and preacheth. 9 Eutychus having fallen down dead, 10 is raised

to life,

together,

it At Mileturn he collet h the elders telleth them what shall befall to

himself 28 committeth God's flock to them, 39 warneth them of false teachers, 31 commendeth them to God, 36 prayeth with them, and goeth his way,

AND after the uproar was ceased,

Xx Paul

unto him the disci-

called

ples, and embraced them, and depart-

ed for to go into Macedonia.

recurring, for the administration of justice. Some have misunderstood that the courts

were sitting at this time. deputies]

Proconsuls,

the

authorities

whom such cases would be legally referred, spoken of generally. It is not necessary to understand a particular Proconsul with his assessors.

39. m a lawful assembly] Rather, in the lawful assembly, i, e. of the district of Ephesus convened according to the provisions of the Roman Law, on a fixed day, with due formality, not in a sudden tumultuary gathering.

The Roman danger] tumultuous popular assemblies with great jealousy, and sometimes punished them by a massacre. uproar] This word and concourse ui the Original are thought to correspond to two offences which Roman Law pronounced capi-

40.

are in

authorities regarded

" Qui coetum et concursum fecerit, capi-

tal.

The very ancient idol may have been heavily

tate sit, "Seneca, 4 Controv.' 111. 8.

survived not only the arson of Herostratus, but seven rebuildings of the temple. Pliny, as above.

explained by conspiracy in 13, was designedly chosen to indicate the view which might be expected to be taken of these proceedings by the Romans, whose interference would involve consequences much more serious than the loss attributed by Demetrius to the

gilded.

37. these men] Gaius and Aristarchus. robbers of churches! In this very infelicitous rendering, A. V. followed Tyndale, Cranmer, and the Geneva Bible, instead of

Wy-

clifFe,

who gave sacrilegers,

Profaners of your

temple has been suggested. nor yet blasphemers of your goddess"] The image which fell down from Jupiter, v. $$, was not to be included in the gods made with hands, t>. 26.

38. the law is open] The marginal rendering is very much better: court days are kopt, i.e. there are fixed times, periodically

xxiii.

The latter,

12,

Apostle's teaching. no cause] Strangely rendered in the Vulgate, there being no one responsible for

—

Having shown that the popular excitement was discreditable, w. 33* 41.

thus spoken]

36 ; unjustifiable, v, 37 ; unnecessary, w. 38, 39 ; and dangerous, *v. 40.

St Paul goes to Macedonia.

Chap. XX.

offer

the

uproar

was

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THE ACTS. XX.

486 2

And when

he had gone over

those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece,

3 And there abode three months. And when the Jews laid wait for

4 And

there

[v.

2—5-

accompanied

him

into Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and

him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return through

Secundus ; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus. 5 These going before tarried for us

Macedonia.

at Troas.

ceased] It is not stated, and it is not probable, that St Paul left Ephesus because of the riot. Previously to that he had purposed to go

Not mentioned elsewhere. This was added to distinguish him from tne Gaius in xix. 39, who was a

through Macedonia and Achaia, xix. 21, %% ; and had planned not to remain at Ephesus beyond Pentecost, i Cor. xvi. 8.

Macedonian.

2. those parts'] This may have included the confines of Illyricum, Rom. xv. io. Paley,

'H. P.'n. iv.

The Christians in Macedonia.

them] Greece]

Achaia, which, according to the

Roman provincial division, included all to the south of Macedonia.

Cp. xix. ax. This verse covers nine or ten months, from the early summer of a.d. 57 to the spring of 58. Howson, after Wieseler. there abode three months'] 3. At Corinth, the capital of Achaia, it may be presumed. The writing of the Epistle to the Romans is usually assigned to this interval. the Jews laid wait] Baffled in their attempts to rouse the Roman authorities against him at Thessalonica and at Corinth, they now thought fit to act for themselves by taking the Apostle's life between Corinth and Cen-

The Jews were numerous and

chrea.

in-

fluential in all sea-ports.

Carrying the amount of the contributions tor the relief of the distress of the Christians in Judaea, xxiv. 17. Collections had been made in Achaia, 1 Cor. xvi. 1 a Cor. ix. a, and in Macedonia, a Cor. 4

—

;

—

through Macedonia]

He escaped the Jews

by instantly quitting Corinth, and taking an overland route. This change of plan must have given opportunities for receiving supplementary contributions. 4. into Asia] as far as Into Asia. These words have not the support of K, B, and Vulgate, but have been retained in most recent editions. They had not intended to go further but Trophimus went to Jerusalem, xxi. 29, and Aristarchus to Rome, xxvii. a. ;

Sopater]

Son of Pyrrhus is subjoined in all on the authority of five most important Uncial MSS., thirty Cursives, and the Vulgate. This insertion does not favour the identification with Sosipater, Rom.

later critical editions,

xvi. a 1.

Aristarchus]

Timotheus] The Syriac subjoins ofLystrm* See xvi. 4. Asia] In the narrower sense, the proconsular Asia.

Tychicus] stood very high in St Pauls estimation : " a beloved brother and faithful minister," Eph. vi. ai ; Col. iv. 7. This latter passage implies that Tychicus was with the Apostle in his first imprisonment. In Titus iii. 12 he is mentioned as on the point of being sent into Crete; and from a Tim. iv. ia it appears that he must again have been with St Paul in the course of his second imprisonment. It has been conjectured, with great probability, that Tychicus was one of the two brethren, Trophimus being the other, associated with Titus for superintending the collections made on behalf of the distressed Christians in Judaea, a Cor. viii. 16 a4. Gentile and an Ephesian, Trophimus] whose going on to Jerusalem gave occasion to the apprehension of the Apostle, xxi. 29. He was with St Paul in the interval between the

—

two imprisonments, and was left at Miletus

to sail into Syriaj

viii. 1

Secundus]

of Derbe]

See above, xix. 29.

sick, 2 Tim. iv. 20.

must have been very

gratifying to the Apostle to make known to the Church of Jerusalem so many Gentile converts.

These] It seems arbitrary to limit this 5. to Tychicus and Trophimus. It has generally, and with good reason, been understood as comprehending all the seven names in v. 4. going before] Probably to prepare for the Apostle's visit, which, in consequence of the change in -his route, v. 3, could not be expected. for us] St Luke had now rejoined the Apostle, after having remained at Philippt Henceforth there was no sepasince xvi. 40. ration within the limits of the time comprehended in this Book. The addition of his name to those enumerated in v. 4 is not favourable to the fanciful stress which somt have been disposed to lay on the coincidence of the number of these fellow-travellers accompanying the charitable contributions, with that of the originally appointed Deacons. Troas] The city, not the district, as shove, in xvi. 8, 11.

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T. 6

THE ACTS. XX.

IO.]

6 And we sailed away from Philippi

after

the days of

unleavened

the upper chamber, where the/ were gathered together.

bread, and came unto in five days ;

them to Troas where we abode seven

days.

And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came to7

-^hap. a.

gether *to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. 8 And there were many lights in

from PbilippQ

apolis, xvi. 11.

I.e.

from its port, Ne-

A city and its harbour were

commonly regarded as one; but in this case they were ten miles apart This was six years after the outrage, xvi. 22.

days of unleavened bread] During which St Paul remained quietly at Philippi, out of respect for the Festival, which, to him and his companions, was doubtless a commemoration of Christ as the true Paschal Lamb. Absolute non-observance would have given offence

487

And there sat in a window a young man named Eutychus,

certain

being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. 10 And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.

were answered, doubts satisfied.

difficulties

explained,

and

many lights] From the word being the 8. same as in Matt. xxv. 1 Lange inferred that hand lamps are to be understood here. the upper chamber]

See i. 13.

where we were gathered together has been received by recent critical editors, following four Uncial MSS., many Cursives, the Syriac, and the Vulgate.

where

they]

to both Jews and Jewish converts. in fve days']

Literally, at the

Eutychus, killed by a Fall, recalled to Life.

end of five

They must have had rough weather, it being not far from the equinox. The passage

days.

had been made in two days, xvi. 11. seven days'] This is noteworthy, hastening to Jerusalem as St Paul was, v. 16. For the same length of stay in one place, see xxi. 4, xxviii. 14.

Celebrates the Lord's Supper at Troas. the first day of the week] The Day of 7. the Resurrection ; Matt, xxviii. 1 ; Mark xvi. 2 Luke xxiv. 1 ; John xx. 19. This and 1 Cor. xvi. 2 have been regarded as the earliest notices of its observance. Its designation as the Lord's Day, Rev. i. 10, in use early in the second century, was legalized by Constantine, Sozomen,

Sunday is found in Justin Martyr, 'Apol. 1. 67, and in Te/tul1.

8. 1

* Apol.' § 26. the disciples'] This reading

lian,

was perhaps introduced in consequence of a Church Lesson being made to commence with this verse. The authority of MSS. is decidedly in favour of <wben wt bad come together. This is to be understood as matter of course from habit, not that they were specially summoned because the Apostle was on the spot. The Sacrament of the to break bread] Lord's Supper. See ii. 42 1 Cor. x. 16. preached] went on discoursing. The ;

same word is translated reasoned, xvii. 2. It was not so much a continuous discourse as conversation, in the course of which questions

a window]

The same word as 2 Cor.

The window ; only one in the room. $3. If the house had been in Jewish occupation it probably looked in the direction of Jerusalem. xi.

Not a window in our sense, but a large unglazed opening, having latticed doors, which, at the time, were wide open because of the numbers present. Eutychus fell from the third story, either on the pavement of the street, or, more likely, on the hard

the courtyard.

ground of

The death of Ahaziah, king

of Israel, was occasioned by a similar fall, 2 K. i. 2, 17. young man] The word used in v. 12 implies still earner youth.

being fallen] sleep.

Sinking, as he sat, into deep

Quum mergeretur somno gravi

Vul-

gate.

went down] Quickly, by the outside Cp. Mark xiii. 15. Mindful of the course taken fell on him] by Elijah, 1 K. xvii. 21, and by Elisha, 2 K. 10.

staircase usual in the East

iv. 34.

Trouble not yourselves] St Paul went straight to the fact which would reassure and comfort, as with the jailer, xvi. 28. bis life is in him] By the time that he said this, St Paul was assured of the miracuVerses 9 and 12 put the lous restoration. Compare our fact of death beyond question. Lord's language in the case of the daughter of Jairus, Matt. ix. 18, 24; Mark v. 39; Luke viii. 52. Miraculous powers were not pex-

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THE ACTS. XX.

488

11 When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even

break of day, so he departed. 12 And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little com-

till

forted.

before

and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take in Paul for so had he appointed, minding himself to go ship,

afoot.

—

IOW

14 And when he met with us at Assos, we took him in, and came to Mitylene. 15 And we sailed thence, and came the next day over against Chios ; and the next day we arrived

Samos, and tarried at Trogyl; and the next day we came to

V And we went

[v.

Hum

Miletus.

16 For Paul had determined to by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia: for sail

manent endowments, to be exercised at will. In xxviii. 8, St Paul healed a pagan stranger. For Timothy's often infirmities he had only advice to offer, 1 Tim. v. 13 the dangerous sickness of Epaphroditus had to run its course, Phil. ii. 17; and he was constrained to leave

landing, allowed xxvii. 3, is mentioned as if it had been a most welcome indulgence. It has been suggested that the Roman road offered opportunities for Apostolic work, that he preferred an interval of solitude, or was glad to prepare his friends for the separation which

Trophimns at Miletus sick, a Tim. iv. ao.

awaited them.

broken bread] The bread, in the best critical editions, points to the Eucharist. and eaten'] Made a meal ; the Agape following the administration of the Sacrament talked] A word implying more familiar conversation than that used in 7 and 9. till break of day] An instance of the Apostle's being in watchings often, a Cor. xi. He disregarded personal comfort in a 7. prospect of his voyage, if he might but confirm and edify. so he departed*] Without delay, or further

14. Mitylene] The chief town of Lesbos, on the eastern coast of the island, the name of which it has displaced in modern geography. It was considered very unhealthy.

;

11.

refreshment

Compare xxvii. 17

;

John iv. 6.'

12. brought] Rather, led. The restoration of Eutychus was complete ; there was no debility left. to ship] the ship, i.e. our ship, refer13. ring to v. 6. coasting vessel, it seems, had been hired as far as Patara, xxi. 1, a. The Apostle had absolute control of its movements, passing by Ephesus, v. 16, and now leaving his companions onboard. This arrange-

ment, adopted, as Michaelis thought, as a security against the plots of the Jews, held

good till xxi. a, after which it was no longer requisite.

Assos] A town of Mysia on the north shore of the Gulf of Adramyttium, and difficult of access by sea. It was opposite to the Isle of Lesbos, only seven miles distant. The ruins, which cover a considerable area, are pronounced by Fellows to contain no trace of the Romans; and by Leake to give the most perfect idea of a Greek city. 'Asia Minor,' it<), Cp. Matt xiv. afoot'] Rather, overland.

Mark vi. 33. By sea the transit was 13 much longer, and the headland Lectum had St Paul may have suffered to be doubled. ;

from the late rough voyage, v. 6, and have preferred to avoid the sea when he could. The

Separated from the mainland 15. Chios] by a strait of only five miles.

arrived at]

Rather,

put In at. Samos The nights, it

was 50 miles south of Chios.

appears, were spent in various harbours. Trogyllium] The rocky extremity of the ridge of Mycale, between which and the southern extremity of Samos the channel is barely a mile wide. The words tarried at

Trogyllium; and, unauthorized by most important MSS., and not recognised by the Vulgate, have been omitted in most recent critical editions. 1

Miletus'] Ioniae caput, Pliny, ' H. N. V. 31. Nearly twenty-eight of our statute miles south of Ephesus, according to Biscoe's calculation, Even in St Paul's time it had lost its p. 342. strictly maritime position by the silting up of the river Maeander, and now it is several miles from the coast. Fellows found the remains of an enormous theatre, traces of an aqueduct, the Sites of several temples, and the ruins of a Christian Church, formed out of a Greek temple of the Corinthian order. The retention of the erroneous form Miletum a Tim. iv. 20, in A. V., is remarkable; for in this place the correction was made in 161 1. y

It has been sugto sail by Ephesus] 16. gested that he was apprehensive that, if he went up the gulf to Ephesus, he might be detained by the west winds very prevalent in *

Perhaps he could not trust himthe spring. self to visit the place in which he had many friends, and where many urgent claims on his attention could hardly fail to delay his arrival be there at the time of the at Jerusalem.

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—

THE ACTS. XX.

a 1.]

he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost.

17 11 And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.

18 And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, 19 Serving the Lord with all

Feast of Pentecost was of more importance than staying at Ephesus. If he had been able to adhere to his original plan of sailing from Corinth, there would have been time for both. be basted] That he might report his mission and its results to St Tames and the Elders deliver the amount of the collections, xxiv. 1 7 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 3, 4 ; Rom. xv. a 5 ; refute the calumnies circulated against him, xxi. ai ; and avail himself of the opportunity afforded by the presence of many strangers for making the Gospel known to a greater number and variety of people than would ordinarily have been

found there.

At Miletus he calls together the Elders of the Church. Here, it appears, he 17. from Miletus] spent several days. Irenxus, in. xiv. a, represents that Bishops and Presbyters came from all the towns in the neighbourhood as well as from Miletus. elders^ In v. a 8 overseerj. "These persons ecclesiastical being termed as then, Presbyters and Bishops both, were all subject unto Paul as to an higher governor appointed of God to be over them ; as appeareth by his sending to call the Presbyters of Ephesus before him, and by his leaving Timothy in his place with his authority and instructions for ordaining of ministers there, 1 Tim. v. a a ; and for proportioning their maintenance, 17, 18; and for judicial hearing of accusations brought against them, 19; and for holding them in an uniformity of doctrine, i. 3." Hooker, vn. v. 1. 18.

Ye knovjy

D is singular in making

with Brethren. A better arrangement would be, Ye know after what manner I have been with you at all seasons from the first day that I came into Asia. See xix. 10. Asia"] this address begin

after

what manner] ((

" In

all

patience,"

holily, justly, and unblame1 Cor. xii. ia; St Paul was magnifyably," 1 Thess. ii. 10. ing his office, not himself. It can hardly be

489

humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the

Jews 20 And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house,

21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

reasonably doubted that we have a verbal report of this address. Many of the thoughts, idioms, and single words, are characteristic of the speaker. It is the only one which St Luke heard. The others, preserved for us in this history, were made to Jews, or heathens, or both. This, accordingly, alone admits of being compared with the Epistles. at all seasons] Rather, throughout the h 1 1 time; per omne tempus. Vulgate.

19. all humility] The utmost, as Eph. iv. a. Humility was a favourite word with St Paul, Eph. iv. a Phil. ii. 3 ; Col. ii. 18, 33, iii. ia. ;

Elsewhere, in 1 Pet. v. 5 only. many tears] Many, not authorized by several most important MSS., has been omitted by Proneness to tears recent critical editors. was one of the characteristics of the great See below, v. 31. Apostle. He wept as he " Weepwrote, a Cor. ii. 4 ; Phil. iii. 18. " ing," said Luther, goes before working, and suffering before doing." temptations] I.e. trials, afflictions; as in

Luke xxii. a 8

James i. a. ; wait] Rather, plots; more activity is implied than in A.V. Cf. v. 3; "perils by mine own countrymen," a Cor. at Ephesus especially, 1 Cor. xv. xi. 26 lying in

;

—

3a ; a Cor. i. 8 10. of the Jews] Gentile persecutions did not Denton. affect him so deeply.

nautical word for tak20. kept back] ing in a reef; rendered draw back, Heb. x. 38. Cp. It implies the fear of giving offence. a Cor. iv. a ; 1 Thess. ii. 4 ; Gal. i. 10. publickly] In the synagogues, and afterwards in the school of Tyrannus, xix. 8, 9.

repentance] This word has the article 21. prefixed ; the repentance due from them. The Apostle's ministry was twofold. the Gentiles he primarily testified repentance to-

wards the God from whom they had wandered; to the Jews, who already acknowledged and adored Him, the necessity of faith 1 in Christ See Bp JebbV Sacred Literature, § i*t P- 343.

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THE ACTS. XX.

490

22 And now, behold, I go bound the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall in

me there: 23 Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth

every city,

saying that i Or, wait bonds and afflictions abide me. ffrm*' 24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. in

22. bound in the spirit'] Under mental constraint from an overpowering sense of duty,

which rendered him indifferent to dangers and insensible to remonstrances.

Cp. xxi. 12

— 14;

John xiii. 21. The Spirit is distinguished in the next verse by the epithet xviii. 25,

xix. 21;

Holy. to me, in five Uncial and Not by direct inward communication only, but by the ministry of prophets, e.g. Agabus, xxi. 10, 11. St Paul's apprehensions of danger from the violence of

23.

witnesseth]

many Cursive MSS.

his own countrymen are expressed more clearly

and with less despondency, Rom. xv. 31; and that Epistle had been written shortly before his leaving Corinth.

See Paley, 4 H. P.' 1. § 5.

This was nut a natural anticipation for a Roman citizen. But it was realised four years later, Eph. iii. 1, and Philemon 1, 9, and two years after that, 2 Tim. i. 8. bonds']

24.

neither count I my life dear]

To him

to live was Christ, and to die gain, Phil. i. 21. might finish my course] A very favourite similitude with St Paul, Phil. iii. 11 14;

—

Cor. ix. 26.

This aspiration was realised,

2 Tim. iv. 7.

This is wanting in A, B, D, <with joy] and in the Syriac and the Vulgate. the Lord Jesus'] This expression of affectionate 1

loyalty

recurs frequently,

xxi.

Cor. v. 4, xi. 23 ; 2 Cor. i. 14, iv. 10.

25. J know] He had no supernatural assurance as to his future, v. 22. Cf. 1 Tim. iii. The word expresses not absolute 14. knowledge but firm persuasion, xxvi. 2 7 Rom. xv. 29. In Phil. L 20 it is explained by earnest expectation and hope. These passages, Philemon 22; Heb. xiii. 23, have been understood as indications that St Paul did actually revisit Asia, after his first imprisonment, of release from which a very strong presentiment is expressed.

Phil ii. 24.

that ye all] " That ye will not all of you. The fulfilment of this would require no more

[v.

22—28.

And now, behold, I know that

ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.

26 Wherefore I take you to record day, that I am pure from the

this

blood of all men.

For

have not shunned to all the counsel of

declare unto

you

God. 28 f Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to

all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of

than that some of those then present should never see St Paul again." Greswell, iv. 223. The MS. authority the kingdom of God] for of God is very defective. 26. pure from the blood] Perhaps a reference to Ezekiel iii. 18, 20, a book of which it has been said that it is never quoted in the New Testament. See the comparison of portions of it and of the Apocalypse in Bp Wordsworth's notes on Ezekiel xx xviii.

27. all the counsel of God] This has by some been restricted to the admission of the Gentiles. It must surely have comprehended the teaching of the Great Forty Days. There is no warrant here for any obligation to bring all doctrines before all people indiscriminately.

The Apostle was addressing Presbyters and Teachers.

28.

therefore]

Because

henceforth

the

responsibility must rest with you.

unto yourselves] The necessary groundwork for the oversight of others, 1 Tim. iv. 16. over the which] In <which t Wycl. following

Vulgate; among <wbom, with Luther.

Cranmer, agreeing

Personality and Divinity the Holy Ghost] are implied. Cf. v. 3, 4, viii. 29, xiii. 2,4; 1 Cor. xii. 11 and 28. In the first age Ordination

was by His special intervention, i. 24, xiii. 2 1 Tim. iv. 14. " Episcopus, overseers] Presbyters, v. 17. whose general idea is overseer, was a woni in use long before Christianity, a word of universal relation, to economical, civil, military,

naval, judicial,

and

religious matters.

This

word was assumed to denote the governing and presiding persons of the Church, as Diaconus (another word of vulgar and diffused use) to denote the ministerial. The Presbyters therefore, while the Apostles lived, were Episcopi, overseers. But the Apostles, in foresight of their approaching martyrdom, having appointed their successors in the several cities

and communities, as St Paul did Timothy at

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THE ACTS. XX.

. «9— 34]

God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

29 For

know

my departing shall

this, that after grievous worves

enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years

Ephesus and Titus in Crete, a.d. 64, four it was thought well to keep that name proper and sacred to the first extraordinary messengers of Christ. And in years before his death,

the very next generation after the Apostles, it was agreed over all Christendom at once, to assign and appropriate to the successors of the Apostles the word Episcopus or Bishop.*' Bentley, * Remarks on Free Thinking,' § 35. to feed'] To be shepherds of. Cp. John xxi.

16 ; 1 Pet. v. a. church of God] The reading represented in A.V. has the support of the two oldest Uncial MSS., N, B, of ao Cursives, of the elder Syriac, and the Vulgate ; and appears in quotations by Ignatius, 'Ephes.' 1, and Tertullian,

ad Uxorem,' 11. 3. The Church of the Lord is in four ancient Uncials, A, C, D, E, and 14 Cursives, is represented in the Armenian and Coptic, and appears in a quotation by Irenaeus, ill. xv. a. Along with this statement, which, before K was known, had been considered nearly balanced, it is to be borne in mind that in the Epistles of St Paul the Church of God occurs ten times, the Church of Christ but once, and 4

that indirectly, Rom. xvi. 16. Alford, in his third editiqn, replaced tov Btov. Independently of this passage, the eternal Godhead of Christ is established elsewhere, e.g.

by John i. 1

—

14, and Rom. ix. 5; but

the evidence for it cannot be adequately set forth by any number of isolated texts.

I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. 32 And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. 33 I have coveted no man's silver, , lCor ". or gold, or apparel. ***** Yea, yourselves ye know, *that J. 34 Thcm * these hands have ministered unto my ^

'Three Primers, 51, or Jackson's Works, Not persecutors, but false teachers, as is indicated by the next verse. Cp. Matt. vii. 15. The term was thus used by Ignatius, Ephes.' 8 Justin M. Apol. 1. 58; and Irenaeus, 1. Praef. a. Although fearful errors were numerous and early in the Churches of Asia, Rev. ii. 6, 14, 15, ao, Hi. 9, yet this warning was effectual for some time at Ephesus. Rev. Ephes." § 6, " Ye all ii. a. Cp. Ignatius, live according to the truth, and not one heresy '

viii. 181.

departing] A.V. happily followed the Vulgate, as did Luther also, in giving this, rather than the more usual meaning of the word, arrival; for which Bengel and others have contended, understanding a hint of the dark character of the next arrival to be looked for, as in contrast with his own. It is neither necessary nor natural to understand departure

out of this life. grievous wolves] So in Erasmus* Prayer for the Peace of the Church, given in English in Henry VIII.'s Primer, 1545,

"Thou seest,

;

dwells among you."

30. ofyour own selves] To be understood, probably, not of the Elders only, but of the

whole community. Hymenaeus and A lexander, 1 Tim. i. ao, Phygellus and Hermogenes, a Tim. i. 15. and Philetus, a Tim. ii. 17, fulfilled this prediction. disciples] the disciples, those who professed and called themselves Christians. after them] after themselve s, Lachmann, on the authority of some of the best MSS.

A round number, of 31. three years'] which two years and three months are specified,

xix.

—

10.

Compare

the

indefinite

for a season, xix. a a. night and day] In season, out of season, a Tim. iv. a.

with tears]

Cp. v. 19.

32. which is able] Who is able, as Syr. and Vulgate. The sequel of the verse shows that this is to be understood of God, and not of the word, as some have proposed. 33.

apparel]

One form in which wealth

was accumulated m the East, Gen. xlv. a a Exod. Hi. aa; 1 K.x. 15; a K. v. a6; a Chro. a4 ; Ezra ii. 69 ; Neh. vii. 70 Job xxvii. 16 ; Zech. xiv. 14 ; a form liable to suffer from moths, Matt. vi. 19 ; James v. a. Ephesus was famous for a manufacture of luxurious apparel. Athenzus, xu. 5*5. ix.

;

34. these hands] At Corinth, xviii. 3, as well as at Ephesus. Cp. 1 Cor. iv. n, ia. Reference is repeatedly made to his declining to avail himself of his rightful claims, 1 Cor. ix.

Cp. 1 Cor. iv. 14, 15, based on Matt x. 10. 1 Thess. H. 9; a Thess. Hi. 8; a Cor.

O good Shepherd, what sundry sorts of wolves

ia;

have broken into Thy sheepcotes."

xi. 9.

Burton's

Warning against False Teachers. 29.

49V

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THE ACTS. XX. XXI.

492 necessities,

support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. 36 U And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed

with them all. 37 And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him, 38 Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they And should see his face no more. they accompanied him unto the ship.

35.

ways

More correctly, In all not by precept only but by example.

all things'] ,

Cf. 1 Cor. x. 33; the weak]

Eph. iv. 15.

The context seems to point to

the poor, though this sense belongs rather to

the adjective than to the participle which is used here. Bengel, following Calvin, refers to 1 Cor. ix. 22 as warrant for understanding the weak in faith; and this was approved by

Tholuck and Meyer. how he said] He Himself said. St Paul was quoting a saying of our Lord which, he felt sure, was familiar to those whom he was Clement of Rome referred to it In of his Epistle to the Corinthians. Appendix C to Westcott's 'Introduction to the Study of the Gospels,' there is a collection of the apocryphal traditions of the Lord's words and works, with this weighty remark prefixed <4 It is a fact of great significance that traditional accounts of words or works of the Lord which are not noticed in the Gospels are extremely rare The Gospels are the full measure of what was known in the Apostolic age, and (may we not add ?) of what was designed by Providence for the instruction of future ages." addressing. in § 2

37. kissed him] The verb in the Original expresses earnestly affectionate and often repeated kisses.

Cp. Luke vii. 38.

Paul will not by any means be dissuaded

from going to Jerusalem ters prophetesses.

9 Philip's daugh-

Paul cometh to Jen*

salem: 11 where he is apprehended, and tn great danger\ 31 but by the chief captain is rescued, and permitted to speak to the people.

AND

came to pass, that after we

il were gotten from them, and had launched, we came with a straight course unto Coos, and the day following unto Rhodes, and from thence unto Patara: 2 And finding a ship sailing over unto Phenicia, we went aboard, and set forth.

Now when we had discovered

Cyprus, we left

it on the left hand, and sailed into Syria, and landed at

it appears,

went .back from Miletus with the

Elders.

were gotten from them] The Original was understood by Chrysostom as implying that the separation cost a painful struggle. came with a straight course] The same word as in xvi. 11. Coos] Or Cos, the chief city of the small, fertile, and populous island of the same name, about 40 nautical miles south of Miletus. Jews had settled there from early times, 1 Mace. xv. 23, and were very wealthy, according to a quotation from Strabo in Josephus, xiv. vii. 2. Rhodes] About 50 miles south of Cos.

Here also was a Jewish settlement. It does not appear that St Paul landed. * This island, on the verge of two of the basins of the Mediterranean, became the intermediate point of the eastern and western trade. It was the point from which the Greek geographers reckoned their parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude." Howson. Patara] The port of Xanthus, the capital of Lycia, from which it is distant ten miles, at the south-west extremity of Asia Minor, immediately over against Rhodes. Its extensive ruins are almost covered with sand, and its once commodious harbour is now described as a pestilential marsh. 4

38. see] A much stronger word than This imthat used by the Apostle, v. 25. plies gazing on, with reverence and love. accompanied him] There was some distance between the town and the ship, v. 15.

35-3-

CHAPTER XXL

and to them that were

with mc. 35 I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to

[v.

Phenicia]

See xi. 19.

had discovered] Had come near enough 3. for the island to rise above the horizon. St Luke, as usual with him, uses the correct nautical term. on the left hand] I.e. passed to the south-

The weather must have been or their course would have been between Cyprus and the mainland, xxvii. 4. ward of it.

St Paul sails, by Coos, Rhodes, and Patara, to Tyre,

very

Chap. XXI. 1. we] Trophimus, v. 19, Aristarchus, xxvil a, and St Luke. Timothy,

Syria] The Roman Phoenicia and Palestine.

fine,

province,

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including

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THE ACTS. XXI.

4—9 ]

Tyre:

for

there

the

ship

was to

unlade her burden.

4 And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem. 5 And when we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way ; and they all brought us on our

way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city : .and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed. 6 And when we had taken our

was to unlade] A.V. agrees with the Vulgate, as also Luther. Tyndale, Cranmer, and the Geneva, unladed her burthen, are nearer to the Original, which implies that the discharge of the cargo occupied some time. finding disciples] Having found tilt disciples, jc. that were resident there. Probably they were neither numerous nor well known, for the word implies that the Apostle and his companions took pains to find them. The Gospel had been carried as far as Phoenice after the death of Stephen, xi. 19 ; and Paul and Barnabas passed through that district, xv. s Our Blessed Lord had been on the verge 3. of the territory of Tyre and Sidon, Matt. xv. The foundation of a 21 ; Mark vii. 24. Church there was an opening to the fulfilment

of Isai. xxiii. 18. jeven days] Occupied in discharging the cargo, and shipping a new freight. This must have included a Lord's Day. through the Spirit'] Cf. xx. 23. The foreknowledge was inspired; the advice based upon it was a merely human inference. St Paul accepted the information, but did not yield to the warning. Christ's approval of his conduct is implied in xxiii. 11.

accomplished those days]

A full week.

The expression in the Original is very peculiar, and has been understood to convey the

fact

that all preparations for the further prosecution of the voyage were completed during their stay at Tyre. The more ordinary posture kneeled do*wn] at prayer among the Jews was standing. But in times of sorrow, such as they might regard that of parting with St Paul, they fell upon their knees. and prayed] There is great preponderance of MS. authority for and having prayed, we

493.

leave one of another,

we took ship;

and they returned home again. 7 And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, and saluted the brethren, and abode with them one day. 8 And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed,. and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, * which was one of the seven; and *cl»p.6.s, abode with him. 9 And the same man had four

of the Old Testament, Judges i. 31, and the St Jean d'Acre of the Crusades and more modem history. It is repeatedly mentioned in 1 Mace, v. 15, $$, x. 1, 58, 60, xii. 48, and is still

the best harbour on the coast of Syria.

Jews were very numerous there; two thousand were slain, and not a few made prisoners early in the war. Joseph us, * J. W.' 11. xviii. 5.

8. that were of PauTs company] These words, wanting in K, A, B, C, E, Syr. and Vulg. f are omitted by all recent critical editors, who consider them a gloss inserted for the purpose of giving greater clearness to the opening of a 4 section marked for reading in the Church Service.

departed]

From Ptolemais they travelled

by land. Casarea]

See above,

viii.

40.

The coast

line was taken, and Galilee was avoided, as it

had been by the deputation from Antioch, xv. 3. Little sympathy was to be expected from Churches exclusively Jewish. On this, the third occasion of St Paul's being in Caesarea, ix. 30, xviii. 11, St Luke may have heard the account of the Ethiopian eunuch from St Philip himself. Philip] If viii. 40 is to be understood of his having begun to make this city his home, there had been ample time for the Church to

take root. the evangelist] Not in the popular sense, but as having a special aptitude and commis-

sion

for preaching the

Gospel,

viii.

—40.

Compare Eph. iv. 11, and % Tim. iv. 5. one of the seven] vi. 5. He appears to have been prominent among them. There is no notice subsequent to their appointment of more than three, Stephen, Philip, and Nicolas. Calvin was disposed to think that their office as almoners was temporary and limited to Jerusalem.

took leave one of another.

AND PTOLEMAIS. 7.

Ptolemais]

The name given during the

Macedonian ancfRoman periods to the Accho

The four Daughters or Philip the Evangelist. 0. virgins] According to Polycrates, in the fragment preserved by Eusebius, v. 14,

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THE ACTS. XXI.

494 daughters, phesy.

virgins,

which did

pro-

And as we tarried there many

days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus.

And when he was come unto

us, he took Paul's girdle, and

bound

own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man his

[v.

10—16.

place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord

Jesus.

14 And when he would not be

that

persuaded, we ceased, saying, will of the Lord be done.

Gentiles.

up our

owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the

And when we

heard these things, both we, and they of that

one of them married afterwards.

This how-

ever implies that in the quotations given by Eusebius, ill. 30, 31, and v. 24, the distinction between the Evangelist and the Apostle was overlooked. Routh did not ac26. quiesce in this, 4 Reliquiae Sacrae,' 11. 24 Had a gift for teaching, by the prophesy] expounding of Scriptui«e, which they exercised

—

Thiersch in their home circle, or in private. was not warranted by 1 Cor. xi. 5 in maintaining that the daughters of Philip taught in the congregation 1 Cor. xiv. 34, 35 is decisive. ;

The Prophecy of Agabus. 10. many days'] Rather, stvtral. Wiesevery careful calculation gives five days. St Paul was hastening to Jerusalem ; but he was now within two days of it, and it must have been interesting to him to be with St ler's

And after those days we took

carriages, and went up to Jerusalem. 16 There went with us also certain

Jerusalem, conveyed as a prisoner to Carsarea, xxiii. 33, kept in custody there

for two years,

xxiv. 27, and then sent to Rome as a prisoner. deliver bim] As they had delivered his

Master before him.

when we... both we] St Luke took 12. part in the protest against St Paul's resolution. At the time of his writing this account he doubtless appreciated the Apostle's firmness very differently. See the note on v. 4. I am ready] St Paul had previously 13. yielded to similar solicitations ; as in his escape from Damascus, and in abstaining from enterNow he felt it ing the theatre at Ephesus. right to adhere to his purpose, xix. 21, notwithstanding the repeated warning, 4 and .

12.

The same Spirit who enabled Agabus to

had also spoken to the heart of the He felt the great importance of a better understanding and closer union between the Jewish and Gentile converts, and doubtless thought that the representatives of the latter who were with him would exert such a happy influence over the minds of his countrymen, that, although anticipating trouble and foretell,

Apostle.

Philip.

down from Judaea]

See xii. 19. xi. 28 may safely be assumed. "That he is thus introduced, after the previous notice, may have arisen from the fact that St Luke is here an eyewitness of the events which he is recounting, and that this was his first sight of Agabus."

Agabus]

The

Identity with

Denton.

This is the correct bis own bands'] 11. rendering, not bis hands, leaving room for ambiguity as to whose hands are intended. So, in the sequel, not the man- 1 bave bound, but the man who ownetb ibis girdle. Similar symbolical acts are recorded of ancient Prophets, Isai. xx. 2 ; Jer. xiii. 4, xxvii. 2 ; Ezek. iv. 1, xii. 4, and of our Blessed Lord, John xiii. 5. New TestaThus saitb tbe Holy Ghost] ment formula, answering to Thus saitb tbe Lord in the Old Testament. This prediction was not intended to prohibit the Apostle's going, but to test his resolution and to con-

firm it.

Their machinations shall tbe Jews... bind] gave occasion to St Paul's being bound at

suffering, xx. 23, he was ready to face any personal hazard in bringing them together.

14.

Tbe will of tbe Lord be done]

Pro-

fessor Blunt regarded this as a familiar quota-

tion of the corresponding clause in the Lord's 4 Prayer. The First Three Centuries,' p. 38.

Notwithstanding which, St Paul continues HIS JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM, Placed our baggage on the 15. took up] Another reading, of very beasts of burthen. inferior authority, implies that the greater part was left at Csesarea, and only what was immediately required taken on to Jerusalem. Carriage occurs in the same antiquated acceptation in Judges xviii. 21 ; 1 S. xvil 22 ; ImL x. 28.

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V. 17

—

THE ACTS. XXI.

22.]

of the disciples of Caesarea, and brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, with whom

495

20 And when they heard /r, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him,

Thou seest, brother, how many thou-

we should lodge. 17 And when we were come to

sands of lieve y

Jews there are which beand they are all zealous of the

Jerusalem, the brethren received us

law: 2

And they are informed of thee,

gladly.

And

the day following Paul went in with us unto James ; and all the elders were present.

19 And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles

by his ministry.

16. brought with them] A.V. here agrees with Erasmus, Calvin, and Beza. Some have preferred conducted us to the bouse of one with

whom we should lodge.

But the arrival at

Jerusalem had not yet taken place. Giving lodging was a most valuable kindness at the time of a great Festival, when the city was full to overflowing. There is nothing in the Original to connect Mnason with Cxsarea. of Cyprus'] A countryman of Barnabas. It has been thought that he was one of the men of Cyprus, xi. 20; but his being called an old disciple probably indicates that Mnason was among the converts on the Day of Pentecost, of which St Peter spoke as the beginning, xi. 15. It is within the limits of possibility that he had heard Christ's teaching.

that thou teachest all the Jews which

are

among

the Gentiles

to forsake

Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. 22 What is it therefore ? the multitude must needs come together:

gladly availed himself of an opportunity for shewing that he had dutifully followed the regulations of the Council, xv. 23 At 29. this interview the amount of the collections made on behalf of the poor believers in Judaea was delivered into the proper hands.

—

AND FOLLOWS ADVICE GIVEN BY JAME8 and the Elders. 20.

the

Lord]

is decidedly to

The other reading, God,

be preferred.

The Christians generally. St Paul did not see the Elders till the next day.

and said] The advice was given not by St James, who presided, but by the assembly. thousands] I n the O rigi nal tens of thousands a strong expression, not to be pressed to the letter. Cf. 1 Cor. iv. 15, xiv. 19 Luke xii. 1. The proportion of converts to the entire population must have been very large. The preaching, viii. 4, 25 and ix. $$, had been effectual; and, at this time, the festival had gathered numbers from all quarters in addition

Cp. xxviii. 15.

to the residents in Jerusalem

received us gladly] The hearty welcome was the more noteworthy after his long occu-

the undoubtedly better reading.

WHERE HE IS WELCOMED, 17.

the brethren]

pation in teaching the Gentiles. 18. is an

with us]

The presence of the writer

incidental attestation of the truth of the

narrative.

James] See xii. 17, xv. 13. No one of the Twelve, it appears, was in Jerusalem at this time. elders'] Of the various congregations in {erusalem and its immediate neighbourhood. *hey assembled on all occasions of import-

Cp. xv. 6. 19. saluted] Given the kiss of peace. Cp. xviii. 22; Rom. xvi. 16; 1 Cor. xvi. 20; ance.

2 Cor. xiii. 12 ; 1 Thess. v. 26. particularly] In detail, reporting place after place, and his success in each. This statement was made, not because St Paul was responsible to the Church of Jerusalem, or needed any confirmation of his proceedings ; but because he knew the deep interest which was taken by that Church in the extension of the faith, and

;

of Jews]

among tht Jews, according to

Literally, who havt beBp Wordsworth understands, have

which believe] lieved.

made profession of the faith, as again in v. 25. Beyond the standard zeafouj of the law] of St James and the Elders. St Paul himself had been exceedingly zealous of the traditions of his fathers. Gal. i. 14. 21. are informed] pains had been taken this information, for

The word implies that to make them believe

which there was no Exemption from the Law as taught by St Paul was limited to Gentile converts. Cp. xvi. 3, and 1 Cor. vii. 18.

ground

the customs] vi. 14. Ceremonial observances,

from which not even the destruction of the Temple could absolutely wean the Jews of Palestine.

22. What is it therefore f] What then is Cp. expedient under these circumstances? x Cor. xtv. 15, 26. the multitude]* multitude. Jewish Christians

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THE ACTS, XXI.

495 for

they will

hear

that

thou

art

come.

Do therefore this that we say

have four have a vow on them

men which

24 Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with that they may b shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing ; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly,

Numb. 6. them, J chap. 18. sS*

and keepest the law. 25 As touching the Gentiles which

would certainly throng around him, in the Temple and elsewhere, to watch his proceedings, and ascertain what ground there was for the prevalent suspicions.

23. lievers.

We have"] The four men were beThe vow has been regarded as a tem-

porary form of that of the Nazarites, or a sickness or escape from danger. Cp. Josephus, 'J. W.' 11. xv 1, where 30 days are spoken of as a customary time. St Paul had already been under a vow, xviii. 18. The obligations now incurred by him were not coextensive with those of the original votaries. His pecuniary aid was the great object. The relieving of needy Nazarites from the expenses involved in their vow was regarded by the Jews as very meri-

vow made after recovery from

Agrippa the elder, after the restoratorious. tion of his royalty by Claudius, did this on a large scale. Josephus, xix. vi. 1. In the Nazarites the offerings were numerous and costly, Num. vi. 14, 15.

case of

very

24. purify thyself"\ Take part in the abstinence and the devotional exercises to which Some course of purifythey are pledged. ing was usual before the great Festivals, John xi.

55<walkest orderly]

in all respects,

Not as observing the Law and under all circumstances,

but as being no apostate.

25. the Gentiles] Emphatic. St Paul's compliance with this advice was not to be understood as in any way interfering with the liberty secured for Gentile converts, xv. 20, ewe have written'] Rather, we wrott. Eight years had intervened since xv. 13. There is decided authority for another reading, we sent, i.e. messengers.

that tbey observe .. .only that] These words are not authorized by A, B, Syr. and Vujg. Nothing of a ceremonial no such tbing^ character like this vow. The Jews were not

23—27.

'we have written and con- £**• **• they observe no such thing, save only that they keep thembelieve,

eluded

to thee:

[v.

that

selves from things offered to idols, and

from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication. 26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with

them entered signify

the

into

the temple, 'to' 1*1"1K4 of the

accomplishment

days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them. 27 And when the seven days were

to be prohibited from continuing their ceremonial observances; the Gentiles were not bound to adopt them. See Augustin's * Letter to Jerome,' § 9, lxxxii, or xix. If there had been a shade of evil in the transaction, or any foreseen liability to the misleading of weak believers, St James would never have suggested this course, and St Paul could not have acquiesced in it It was an exemplification of his becoming as a Jew that he might gain the Jews, 1 Cor. ix. ao.

26. Then Paul took the men] His conduct has been by some thought open to censure. Calvin regarded the Apostle as "nimis facilis in obsequendo." It would have been better, he tlipught, if St Paul had remonstrated with St James and the Elders for not having done more towards clearing the minds of the converts from Jewish prejudices. So Wesley thought the submission of St Paul's own judgment to the suggestion unaccountable, and that he suffered for it afterwards, v. 33. The compliance led to most important consequences. And if his desire to become all things to all men had carried him too for, his conduct would surely have been blamed, either in the course of this narrative, or by himself in

some of his Epistles. the next day] Jerusalem. to

signify

The third after his arrival in

the accomplishment]

There has

been here a very remarkable divergence among commentators. Some have understood that the Apostle announced that the interval for which the four men had pledged themselves to their

obligations

had expired.

Many have

explained that he gave notice of the number of days for which he meant to hold himself bound by his compliance with the suggestion made to him by St James and the Elders; and the reference made to seven days in the following verse has been reasonably thought to favour this view.

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THE ACTS. XXL

28—35-3

almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him, 28 Crying out, Men of Israel, help : This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people,

and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place. 29 (For they had seen before with him in the city Trophimus an Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.) 30 And all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple and forthwith the doors :

were shut

He is in danger of his Life from Jews who were of asia.

497

31 And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32 Who immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them and when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul. :

33 Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded htm to be bound with two chains and demanded who he was, and what he had done. 34 And some cried one thing, some another, among the multitude: and when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded

him to be carried into the castle. 35 And when he came. upon the the doors were sbui] It may be presumed by the Levite guard, to prevent the return of

27. the seven days] Which were still due for completing the time of the four men. Asia] Some among them, doubtless, from

the crowd, and the riot, if not profanation, which might be expected to ensue. The clos-

Ephesus, would be sure to recognise Trophimus. If St Paul's respect for the national religion soothed his believing countrymen, it only inflamed the fury of the adversaries of the Gospel.

from any responsibility for whatever outrage might be perpetrated in the outer under the cloke of •' a judgment of zeal."

28.

The chosen people

the people]

;

the

word, regularly used concerning the Jews, is quite distinct from that in xii. 22, xix. 30, 33. This charge brought against him must have reminded him of that against Stephen, in making which he probably had taken a prominent part, vi. 13. Before Jewish authorities blasbefore the Roman, sedition. Not content with the unfounded assertion that St Paul preached everywhere among the Gentiles against the Law and the Temple, they accused him of having brought one uncircumcised into the second court, from which Gentiles were warned off, on pain of death, by an inscription in Greek and Latin. Joseph us, xv. xi. 5, 4 J. W.' v. v. a, vi. ii. 4.

phemy was alleged

29.

known.

;

an Epbesian\ the Epbesian ; well Out of one Greek seen with St Paul

in the streets, they fabricated several in the

more sacred part of the Temple. 30.

drew him out]

Out of the court of

the Israelites into that of the Gentiles, that the pollution of the sacred precincts with bloodshed might be avoided. That they might prevent his taking refuge at the altar has been suggested ; but that was available in cases of

manslaughter only.

ing of the doors saved those in the inner court

went abouf] Rather, were seeking. 31. This expression in A. V. is in the present day ambiguous. Cp. xxiv. 6, and John vii. 19, 20. They were endeavouring to beat him to death. tidings] Rather, Information, in the legal

The only instance of the word in the New Testament. The tribune in command of chief captain]

sense.

the cohort, about 1000 foot and 120 horsemen, being one-sixth of a legion.

He is rescued by the Roman chiep Captain. immediately] During the Festivals the Roman garrison in the castle Antonia was kept under arms in readiness to suppress any tumults. Josephus, * J. W.» v. v. 8.

32.

33. with two chains] Each attached to a soldier ; cp. xii. 6. He was released from this constraint, xxii. 30.

demanded]

Called on the crowd to say.

34.

Rather, were shouting. Cp.

cried]

xix. 32.

35. the stairs'] The rock, on which the barracks of the Antonia were built, was 50 cubits high at the angle in which the west and north colonnades of the Temple met

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THE ACTS. XXI. XXII.

498

stairs, so it was, that he was borne of the soldiers for the violence of the

beckoned with the

people.

a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,

36 For the multitude of the people 37

unto the chief speak unto thee ? said, Canst thou speak Greek ? 38 'Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers ? 39 But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people. 40 And when he had given him licence, Paul stood on the stairs, and the

castle,

May

said

Who r chap. 5.

CHAPTER XXII.

And as Paul was to be led into

captain,

borne of the soldiers'] Either lifted up by them that he might Be out of the reach of violence, or forced upon their shoulders by the pressure of the mob from behind.

hand unto the

And when there was made

people.

followed after, crying, Away with him.

[v. 36—3.

Paul declareth at large, how he was converted to the faith, 1 7 and called to his apo72 At the very mentioning of the 24 He should have been scourged, 25 but claiming the privilege of a Roman, he eseapeth.

stleship.

Gentiles, the people exclaim on him.

MEN, ye my

brethren, and fathers, hear

defence which I make

now unto you. 2 (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence : and he saith,) a I

am verily a man which am a* chap. •«. ** born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, Jew, yet brought up in this city at the feet 3

which, in the course of a circuit through tne outskirts of the desert, increased to 30,000, for the most part, it may be presumed, an

unarmed rabble.

murderers'] Sicarii, from the sica, a curved dagger carried under their clothes. Josephus, xx. viii. 5, 10; * J. W.' 11. xiil 3, VII. x. 1. Rather, 37. Canst thou speak Greek f] Hireling assassins, who murdered in broad Dost thou understand Greek 7 The daylight Felix employed them to take the name Lysias, xxiii. 26, has been thought to- life of the High Priest, Jonathan. indicate that the chief captain was of Greek 80. Tarsus] See above, ix. ix. descent.

36.

xxiii.

38.

Away with him] xxii. 22. Cp. Luke

18; John xix. 15.

Art not thou]

preferred,

Thou art not

Winer and Meyer then.

But A.V.

supported by Chrysostom and the Vulgate. that Egyptian] An impostor, who, five called himself a prophet, Josephus, xx. viii. 6, and is described as a 1 false prophet and a magician, * J. W. 11. xiii. These passages have been pronounced in5.

years previously,

consistent, because, as the objectors allege, in

the * J. the impostor brought to the Mount of Olives 30,000, and most of these were slain whereas in the * Antiquities ' we read that the Romans slew 400 and took 200 prisoners. But the statement of Josephus refers these numbers not to the whole body of his followers, but to a few of them who escaped from Felix along with him. See Lardner, * Credibility,' 11. viii. 1 Eusebius, in his 'Church History, 11. 21, gives 30,000 as the number of the Egyptian's followers; in his 4 Chronicle/ 3000. four thousand] the four thousand; the number being known, as it might well be; for before these days implies that the event

was still recent This is to be understood as the number collected in the first instance,

Having obtained leave to speak to the People, he tells them of his Conversion, 40.

beckoned with gesture to quiet them.

band] Made a The same word as in

the

17. the Hebrew tongue]

xii.

See i. 19. If he had spoken Greek he would have exasperated those whose attention he desired to gain. The Roman officers and soldiers probably understood little or nothing of this address, which was virtually a confidential communication between the Apostle and his countrymen.

Chap. XXII. 2.

Men, brethren]

See vii.

The address was quite courteous, not-

withstanding the treatment which he had just received at their hands. Some rulers, 01 chief men, were fathers] among the crowd, personally known, or distinguished by some badge of office. now] That the uproar has ceased. 3. after

in this city] city,

There should be a comma from

indicating that his removal

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THE ACTS. XXII.

4—10.]

and taught according to

unto Damascus about noon, suddenly

the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. 4 *And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding* and delivering into prisons both men and

there shone from heaven a great light

of Gamaliel,

*chap. 8. 3-

499

women. 5 As also the high priest doth bear

round about me. 7 And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me ? 8 And I answered, Who art thou, Lord ? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou per-

me witness,

secutest.

and

all

the

estate

the elders : from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them

which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished.

6 And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh

Tarsus had taken place in early youth.

The

o And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid ; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. io And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into

Damascus ; and The Sanhedrim.

the estate of the elders]

education of teachers of the Law began ordinarily at eleven, never later than thirteen years

His hearers could not fail to see what great sacrifices of worldly prospects he had made.

of age.

letters] In the plural, perhaps, as addressed to various synagogues in Damascus. the brethren] Jews resident at Damascus. Throughout this speech the designation, brethren, is exclusively reserved for Jews. went] Rather, Wat on way to. Damascus] Named four times on this occasion; only twice in the longer speech

Cp. Luke x. 39 ; Deut.

at the feet of]

xxxiii. 3. The elder sat in chairs, the middleaged on benches the juniors on mats on the floor, if they did not stand. Gamaliel See above, v. 34. He died ;

eight years before this time. Exactly instructed in the perfect manner] the traditional interpretation of the Old Testament, the only learning valued by the Jews, and trained accordingly in the observance of traditions as well as of the written law, Gal.

Absolute strictness is 5, 6. Josephus to the Pharisees, 4 Life,' 11. viii. 14; and in his own 'J. sect, xxvi. attest most str Compare the 38. 5. § An affectionate the law of the fathers'] mode of designating it, intended to be coni.

14 ; Phil.

attributed

iii.

Compare the chazealous toward God] racter of Phinehas, Num. xxv. 13. The Vulgate, zealous for the Law, must have followed a different reading.

Compare vii. 58, viiL x, persecuted] 3, ix. 1, 2, 13, xxvi. 10 ; 1 Tim. i. 13. 4.

way]

at Caesarea.

about noon] 6. An additional circumstance, not given in the original account, ix. 3 ; of importance as shewing that it could not have been a meteor. there shone] Rather, there flashed. light] In ix. 3, "a light

a great

heaven;" and, more precisely, in xxvi " above the brightness of the sun." 8.

ciliatory.

this

See

ix. 2, xviii.

25, xix. 9, 13,

xxiv. 22.

More were apprehended than one prisons] prison could receive. This has been gene5. rally understood as referring to the holder of the office at the time of his mission to Damascus, ix. 1, 2, still surviving at this time. This was probably Theophilus, son of Annas, or A nanus, who, having been substituted for his brother Jonathan by the procurator, Vitellius, Josephus, xviii. v. 3, was deposed by the high trust]

Agrippa, xix. vl 2.

from 13,

As in xxvi. 9; This fuller form was

Jesus of Nazareth]

in ix. 5, only Jesus. fresh in the Apostle's

Our Lord,

memory.

after His return to glory, retained the human

associations of His earthly Ministry.

saw indeed the light] This circum0. His own stance is not noticed in ix. or xxvi. impressions were clear and strong ; but to his companions all was vague and indistinct. Cp. John xii. 28, 29, and Dan. x. 7. Conscious of the brilliancy of the

light,

they did not

see the glorified Messiah.

and were afraid] This clause does not appear in four Uncial MSS., but it has been retained by most of the critical editors. beard not] So as to understand. A Hebraism. Cp. ix. 7. They were aware of a sound, not of articulate utterance in the Hebrew tongue.

10.

there it shall be told thee]

Niw Tat.— Vol. II.

Christ did

Kit

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THE ACTS. XXII.

500

ii— 19.

[v.

One, and shouldest voice of his mouth.

there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee

Just

to do.

15 For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. 16 And now why tamest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

1 1

And when I could not see for

the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus. 12. And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which

dwelt there^

Came unto me, and stood, and unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. 14 And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that 13

not give the instruction Himself. He employed human instrumentality, establishing a precedent for His Church hearing His voice through His ministers. So the Angel did not teach Cornelius, but directed him to apply to St Peter.

for the glory} Here we have not only the fact of his temporary blindness, but also 11.

In ix. 9 we are told that it the cause of it. lasted for three days.

a devout man according to the law}

This description was intended to be conciliaIn ix. 10 he is simply called a disciple. Before his audience at this time St Paul did not dwell on the feet of his being a Christian. Of the vision which Ananias himself had seen, no notice is taken in this speech. tory.

looked up upon him}

13.

And it came to pass, that, when

was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was I

said

12.

With my restored

tight is the full force of the Original, the word being the same as in Matt. xi. 5 ; Mark x. 51,

in a trance

And saw him saying unto me,

Make

haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me. 19 And I said, Lord, they know :

Literally, have thyself 16. be baptized} See ii. 38. " Baptism was at length baptized. his grand absolution, his patent of pardon, his instrument of justification granted him from above : neither was he justified till he received

that divine seal, inasmuch as his sins were upon him till that very time." Waterland, * Summary View of the Doctrine of Justifi-

cation/

Invoking the Name of Christ calling on} a declaration of His Godhead. Chrysostom, Horn, xlvii. 3. Cp. vii. 59. of the Lord} In the best MSS., the Syriac, and the Vulgate, His Name, i.e. the Name of the Just One. 17. years.

come again] After an interval of three

Cp. ix. a6, and Gal. i. it, 18.

prayed in the temple} An incidental answer to the charge that he despised the Temple and Chrysostom, Horn. xxi. 18. its services, xlvii 1., thought that this circumstance was

added to shew that the 14.

was

The God of our fathers'}

conciliatory.

This and

This, again, the following

verses are supplementary to the original account

and see]

vision

was no mere

fancy. in a trance}

2 Cor.

xii.

One of the many revelations,

1, distinct

from the rapture, w.

*, 4.

in ix.

chosen]

hear the

Rather, foreordained.

As Simeon, under different cir-

cumstances, in answer to lifelong aspirations, was allowed to see; as many prophets and 'kings had desired to see. If St Paul had not seen Him, he could not have been a witness of the Resurrection. Great stress is laid on his having seen Christ, ix. 17, 27; 1 Cor. xv. 8.

Cp. vii. 52. This desigthat Just One~] nation was likely to be more acceptable to the Jews than the name Jesus. 15. all men} The offensive designation, Gentiles, was avoided.

And saw him saying^] Cp. Rev. i. 11. 18. There is no hint of this vision and command in ix. a 6

30. —out

quickly

of Jerusalem]

His stay there

was limited to fifteen days, Gal. i. 18. The Jews resident in Jerusalem. they]

And I said] This has been under19. stood as a plea for his being allowed to remain in Jerusalem, where his previous hostility, contrasted with his present devotedness, would surely make a deep impression, and dispose his countrymen to accept his teaching ; or, as an extenuation of their obduracy.

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THE ACTS. XXII.

20—26.]

and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee 20 c And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him. 21 And he said unto me, Depart for I will send thee far hence unto

23 And as they cried out, and cast threw dust into

that I imprisoned

'J***-

the Gentiles. 22 And they gave

him audience word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth : for it is not fit that he should live. unto

this

imprisoned]

Literally, was continually

im-

prisoning.

20. tby martyr] Tby witness, previously to A.V. Cp. Rev. ii. 13, xvil 6. The exceptions to the earliest witnesses for the faith sealing their testimony with their blood were so rare that the first meaning of the word At Lyons, easily passed into the second. a.d. 177, those who had been scourged and branded, and once and again exposed to wild beasts, rebuked those who called them martyrs, appropriating that designation to Christ, Rev. i. 5, iii. 14, and to those to whose testimony He had set His Seal in their passage out of this life; but speaking of themselves as mean and lowly confessors. See Eusebius, v. a, or Routh's 4 Reliquiae Sacrae,' I. 320. unto bis death] The weight of MS. authority is against these words.

and of his Mission to the Gentiles, 21.

/ will send thee far hence]

This had

begun to find its fulfilment in his. mission with Barnabas, xiii. a, 3. The interval between conversion and that mission was spent chiefly in Cilicia and at Antioch. his

—

to the traditions of their Fathers. The admission of Gentiles into the Church exasperated them more than the alleged profanation of the Temple: cp. xxvi. ai. Compare the effect of our Lord's reference to the cases of Naaman, and the Widow of Sarepta, Luke iv. %$ a9. Literally, according to the it is not Jit] best reading, // wai not fit; i.e. he ought to have been put to death long ago ; the chief captain had done wrong in rescuing him.

—

Rather, shook ; an expresimpatience and abhorrence. The

cast off]

the air,

24 The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him. 25 And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and

uncondemned ? 26 When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, other explanation, that they were preparing to stone him, is untenable ; for St Paul, under shelter of the chief captain, was out of their reach. dust into the air]

Compare ShimePs behaviour to David, a S. xvi. 13. They meant to express detestation of what they had heard, and hoped, by their vehemence, to prejudice the Roman authorities against the Apostle. 24. should be examined] To extract by torture a confession of the offences which, because of the uproar, Lysias concluded must have been committed. It would have been more reasonable to ask the multitude what charges they had to bring against the prisoner. Torture was contrary to Roman Law : " Non esse a tormentis incipiendum, D. Augustus constituit." * Digest' L. 48, Tit 18.

he asserts his privilege as a roman Citizen. 25. bound him] were In the act of binding him, in the posture of leaning forward so as to expose his back to the scourge. thongs] the thongs, regularly used on such A.V. is right, not, as has been occasions.

The l^ids has the sense of tying, Mark

22. unto this word] Their contemptuous hatred of the Gentiles, a Esdras vi. ss 57, was stronger than even their attachment

23.

off their clothes, and

suggested, for the thongs, i.e. for the scourge.

BY WHICH THEY ARE EXASPERATED.

aon of

501

Luke iii. 16

very different from the fiaoTi^. It was this act of binding which made Lysias apprehensive, v. 29. It involved ignominy, and was therefore quite distinct from the chain, v. 30, xxiv. 37, xxvi. 39, ;

John i. a 7

;

xxviii. ao.

Who

had it in charge to see the centurion] the tribune's orders executed. Cf. Matt xxviL 54; Luke xxiii. 47. #

Is it lawful]

26.

Cf. xvi. 37.

When the centurion heard that]

believed it at once, as did the chief captain in the next verse. The assertion had not been

Unfounded claims to had always brought very heavy

questioned in xvi. 38. citizenship

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THE ACTS. XXII. XXIII.

502 saying,

Take heed what thou doest

for this man is a Roman.

27 Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman ? He said, Yea. 28 And the chief captain answered,

With a

great

sum

and and

mandelh them to smite him.

to dot as in the Syriac.

The position of the pro-

art thou]

noun in the Original makes it emphatic: Art thou a Roman ? betraying contemptuous surprise.

28.

With a great sum]

Citizenship was

and

7 Dissension

God encouragtth 14 The Jews' laying wait for Paul 11

him. 20 is declared unto the chiefcaptain.

punishment, and under Claudius were a capital Suetonius, § 25. offence. Take heed] A.V. has followed the reading of D. The preponderance of MS. authority is decidedly in favour of What art thou about

priests

As Paul pleadeth his cause, t Ananias comamong his accusers.

ex"

amined him and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him. 30 On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty

chief

CHAPTER XXIII. f

*mt*Z ec* fr° m n m wmc ^ Should navc

the

their council to appear,

brought Paul down, and set him before them.

29 Then straightway they depart-

27.

commanded all

obtained I this

free born.

27—1.

wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from bis bands,

And Paul said, But I was

freedom.

[v.

27 He

sendeth him to Felix the governor.

AND Paul, earnestly beholding the ±\. council, said, Men and brethren, I

have lived

before

in all

good conscience

God until this day.

the power of the Procurator during his abIn the confusion and anarchy which sence. was at this time beginning to prevail. Jewish independence in religious matters was seriously impaired. to appear] to assemble is the better reading. The Council, according to the Talmud, ceased to sit in the hall Gazitb forty years before the destruction of the Temple. If they had continued to meet within its precincts, Lysias and his soldiers could not have been present

sold, at first at a very high rate; afterwards,

under the influence of Messalina, for a "per avaritiam Claudianorum tem-

trifle;

Hist/ v. 12. Rather, this citizenship. do not know how / was free horn] Certainly not as a native of this was. Tarsus. That city, in consideration of its sufferings under Cassius, and because of its adherence to Julius Caesar, was admitted by Antony to many privileges; but it was not a colony, only a free city, and that did not Some of the Apostle's confer citizenship. ancestors, it may be assumed, had been ad-

porum," Tacitus, this freedom]

mitted to citizenship in acknowledgment of good service, civil or military.

30. because be would have known] Rather, desiring to know. from bis bands] Not those of v. 15, but the chains by which he was attached to two soldiers,

xxi. 33.

These words, wanting

several of the most important MSS.. have been omitted by recent critical editors ; but with-

out them the meaning would be set bim at liberty.

commanded] Gessius Florus summoned the High Priests and the Council. Josephus, J. W.' 11. xv. 6. And it has been suggested that 4

Lysias may, at this time, have been exercising

Pleads before the Jewish Council, CHAP. XXIII. 1. earnestly beholding] The same word as in xiii. 9 and iii. 4. Cook and Denton suggest that he scrutinized those in conjunction with whom he had acted long before, whom it may be presumed he had not seen since his conversion. Men and brethren] Not fathers, as in xxiL It has been suggested that this was not 1. a regular meeting of the Sanhedrim, but a hurried gathering of such men of weight and position as could be brought together. There can hardly have been any marked informality after the intervention of the Roman tribune. / have lived] Some have preferred to limit this to his life as a member of the Hebrew

community, in which religion and civil polity were nearly identical Others have understood a special reference to the discharge of But our A.V. is fully his Apostolic office. justified by the use of the same verb, Phil u a 7, and of the noun, iii. 10. in all good conscience] Cp. xxi v. 16 ; 1 Tim. He had acted coni. 5, 19 ; a Tim. i. 3. scientiously, according to the light which he had. Bp Sanderson, * De Oblig. Conscientiae,' His persecution was a grievous sin, IV. 13. but a sin of ignorance, and he thought that

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THE ACTS. XXIII.

a— 6.] 2

And the * high

priest

Ananias

commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth. 3

Then said Paul unto him, God

shall smite thee,

thou whited

wall: for fittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law ? 4 And they that stood by said, Re vilest thou God's high priest ?

503

5 Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest : for it is written, *Thou shalt

not speak

evil

*-"*'

'jf*

of the ruler of thy

people.

6 But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, arjdthe other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, *I am a 'Pho.** Mp%H' Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee : c of[^

he was doing God service. " And surely his zeal had been good, if it had not been blind nor did his will run cross to his judgment, but was led by it;... and verily his will had been good, had it not been misled. But the

smite.

error was in his understanding."

chres,

*ad Aulam,' § 16. Populum,' § 24. Though he made and maintained this assertion before the Council, he

liantly white, to prevent the contraction of ceremonial defilement from touching them in the dark. This burst of human feeling fell short of the one spotless and perfect example, John xviii. 23. But Stier retained throughout the interval of 30 years between the editions of his * Words of the Apostles* the persuasion that St Paul "on this occasion committed

Sermon IV. Compare Sermon iv. *ad

condemned himself unreservedly before God. See 1 Cor. xv. 9 Phil. iii. 6 1 Tim. i. 13, 15. ;

;

Ananias] Son of Nebedzus, nominated to the office, a.d. 48, by Herod, king of C hale is, to whom the Emperor Claudius granted that privilege. Josephus, xx. v. 2, VI. 2. Sent to Rome, with his son Ananias, 11. xii. 6, he was honourJosephus, * J. ably acquitted; and the Procurator, Cumanus, who had listened to Iks Samaritan accusers, was banished. Jonathan, who was made High Priest during his absence, was murdered by the procuring of Felix, who had become impatient of his repeated admonitions, Josephus, XX. viii. 5 and Ananias, on his return to Jerusalem, without any express sanction, it seems, resumed his office. The Sanhedrim, recognising no better claimant, must have acquiesced. He held it till Agrippa, shortly 2.

;

before Felix quitted the province, transferred the office to Ismael, son of Phabi ; Josephus, XX. viii. 8. u The reason why he removed Ananias was the vile insult committed on the inferior priests and people by the forcible seizing on the tithes which were due to the inferior priests, so that they who before subsisted on their tithes perished for want," After his deposition Ananias Biscoe, p. 65.

by lavishing wealth which he had accumulated. them that stodd by] Not any officer of the

retained great influence

court. Christ Himself to j mite bim on the mouth'] had been so smitten, John xviii. 22. St Paul's prompt and stern utterance perhaps antici-

pated compliance with this direction, which was quite illegal in itself, and must have been considered to be aggravated as given against a Roman citizen, placed at a Jewish bar by the Roman commandant 8.

shall smite]

will smite, is about to

The words conveyed not a threat, but a prophecy, which was fulfilled by his assassination five years afterwards. Josephus, * J. W.* 11. xvii. 9.

<whited wall]

Suggested by Jewish sepul-

Matt xxiii. 27, which were kept bril-

neither sin nor error."

I wist not] Some have understood that 5. these words are to be taken literally, and that St Paul, having been for some time very little in Jerusalem, xxiv. 17, was actually ignorant that Ananias was the High Priest. He did not know that any one was lawfully in that office. According to Greswell, iv. 119, *'it was a time when there was no regular High Priest, but when some one was either usurping the office, or, at the utmost, was only*/*© tempore acting instead of the regular High Priest This some one in either case was Ananias."

Others

have

thought

whether

that,

seriousness or in irony, the Apostle was expressing his opinion that the conduct and character of Ananias rendered it impossible to regard him as the High Priest.

Bp Sanderson considered that St Paul, against the usual habit of his mind, was overtaken by human infirmity; and, not remembering to whom he was speaking, forgot himself. Sermon * ad Aulam,' xm. § ii ; Praelectiode Obligatione Conscientiae,' 1. § 9. '

<wben Paul fierceived] There was no6. thing in this unworthy of the Apostle. His object was not to save himself from danger or ill-usage, but to obtain a hearing for the Gospel. His reference to his conduct on this occasion, xxiv. 21, shews that there was, to his apprehension, nothing blameworthy in it If there had been anything like duplicity or unworthy compromise involved, it would hardly have been so soon followed by such a vision of his Lord, as in v. 11.

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THE ACTS. XXIII.

;5°4

[v.

7— u.

I am called in question.

ken to him, let us not fight against God.

7 And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Phari-

dissension, the chief captain, fearing

the hope and resurrection of the dead

sees and the Sadducees : and the mul-

titude was divided.

8 d Yox the Sadducees say that there

* Matt u. •3»

no resurrection, neither angel, nor

spirit:

but the Pharisees confess both.

o And there arose a great cry and the scribes that were of the Pharisees' part arose, and strove, sayfind no evil in this man: ing,

but

if a spirit

or an angel hath spo-

of a Pharisee] ofPharlsees, according to the best supported reading. His ancestors for several generations had been Pharisees. On all the points in controversy between Sadducees and Pharisees, St Paul sided with the latter. The great national hope of the the hope] coming of the Messiah, the hope of Israel, xxviii. ao.

the Dissensions of which are so vehement That his Life is thought to be in danger. 7. the multitude] This may be understood to include bystanders as well as the great body of the Council.

no resurrection] The Sadducees held 8. that the soul ceased to exist along with the

body.

The Pharisees, that the souls of the

good migrate from body to body, while those of the wicked are chastised with everlasting punishment. Josephus, vm. i. 3, 4, * W.' J. II. viii. 14. There is reference to belief in the transmigration of souls in Matt. xvi. 14; Luke ix. 8 ; John ix. a. The Sadducean views were attributed to the Jews generally in the Code of Justinian, * Novel.* 146, a. neither angel] They explained away the angelic appearances in the Pentateuch as of beings created for a particular time and service, having only a transient existence. See Biscoe, p. 91.

confess both] The Resurrection; and the immaterial world, in its two great divisions, spirits intermediate between God and man, and souls disembodied awaiting the Resurrection and the Judgment.

a great cry]

The Pharisees were now

eager to protect the Apostle, and the Sadducees to prevent his escape. the scribes] Some of them. There is no sufficient authority for the prefixing of the article.

strove]

A very strong word, implying

vehemence and obstinacy.

io And when there arose a great Paul should have been pulled in commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle. II And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be for as thou of good cheer, Paul hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. lest

pieces of them,

if a spirit] This language could not fail to exasperate the other party. It did not correctly represent St Paul, who had spoken of an appearance, not of a departed spirit, but of the Lord Himself, xxii. 18. let us not fight against God] The authority for the insertion of these words in this place is so defective that they must be regarded as an interpolation from v. 39. If they were genuine, they would express a state of feeling beyond that of Gamaliel. The sense is clearly Indicated by the unfinished sentence, as in St Luke's report of the Parable of the Barren Fig Tree,

10. the chief captain] From the tower Antonia the soldiers had a full view of whatever was going on in and near the Temple. pulled in pieces] Between Pharisees striving to rescue, and Sadducees bent on seizing, if not destroying him. This was the second deliverance, by Gentile hands, of the Apostle of the Gentiles from imminent peril, xxi. 3 ». Pharisees and Sadducees afterwards combined in accusing him before Festus, xxv. 24.

He is cheered by a Vision. 11.

the Lord]

The Lord J«sus, as in the

vision at Corinth, xviii. 9.

good cheer] There was great need of encouragement. To human apprehension there was at this time nothing between the Apostle and death but the shelter afforded in the

Roman barrack. Paul] The weight of MS.

authority is

against the retention of the name in this place. also at Rome] His wish, xix. 21 ; Rom. i, 10, ix, was to be gratified in a way of which

he had had no thought. These few words from Christ were sufficient to sustain him in his present peril, throughout his imprisonment at Czsarea, in storm and shipwreck just before which this assurance was repeated, xxvii. a4, and under the precarious circumstances of his arrival in Rome. They must have recurred to his memory as an intimation that he was to appeal to Caesar.

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T. i a

—

THE ACTS. XXIII.

19.]

And when

it was day, cerJews banded together,

tain of the

lOr, w/M and bound themselves t0ath if

"under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. 13 And they were more than forty

which had made this conspiracy. 14 And they came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse,

we will eat nothing

that

until

have slain Paul. 15

Now therefore ye with the

council

signify to the chief captain

down unto you to morrow, as though ye would inquire something more perfectly concerning him and we, or ever he come near, that he bring nim

are ready to kill him.

A CONSPIRACY OF JEWS TO KILL HIM So in the 12. certain of the Jews] Vulgate. The authority of MSS. is decisive for the Jews.

Most awful forms of imprecation were in use. Josephus, * Life,' §53. But release from the obligation was attainable without difficulty. Easy absolution, it was thought, was sanctioned by Proverbs xii. 18. See Lightfoot, Horae Hebr.' iv. 147. The under a curse']

conspirators felt themselves exempted, as soon as the prisoner was removed. There was a similar combination against Herod, of ten men, one of them blind, provoked by his building a theatre, and instituting prizes for horse and chariot races and for gymnastic exercises.

Josephus, xv. viii. 3, 4.

this conspiracy] It has been urged that Sanhedrim had been allowed to retain the power of life and death in causes affecting the Jewish religion, there would have been no

13.

if the

necessity for this plot.

14. the chief priests and elders] These doubtless were of the Sadducee party, which, at that time, supplied the majority of Jewish magistrates. The conspirators, it is plain, felt quite sure of the hearty concurrence of the highest authorities. The words of Christ,

John xvi. a, found their fulfilment.

legal term; give official 15. signify] notice; a formal request for a regular investi-

gation, to which Lysias, it might be assumed,

would be disposed to accede, after the abrupt interruption of the previous day. If they meant by this the house unto you] of the High Priest, the distance from Antonia would afford more choice of opportunity for the assassination. They might reckon on the

505

16 And when Paul's sister's son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told Paul.

17 Then Paul called one of the centurions unto him y and said, Bring this young man unto the chief captain : for he hath a certain thing to

him. 18 So he took him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said, Paul the prisoner called me unto him y and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee, who hath something to say unto thee. 19 Then the chief captain took him by the hand, and went with him aside privately, and asked him^ What is that thou hast to tell me ? tell

guard being in no great force. The murder would admit of being represented as the result of an accidental tumult, and the Sanhedrim

would exert themselves to appease the Roman authorities. to morrow] This word has not the support of MSS. and Versions here, as in v. 20.

PauTs sister's son] His friends had 16. access to him now in Jerusalem, as they had afterwards at Csesarea, xxiv. 13. This is the only reference, throughout the whole history, to any of the Apostle's relatives. The sister and nephew can hardly have been resident in Jerusalem, or what need could there have been for the arrangement with Mnason, xxi. 16 ? 17. one of the centurions] One of the ten under the tribune. The assurance given by Christ, v. 11, did not dispense with the best precaution and exertion on the part of St Paul, any more than the Angel's declaration that there should be no loss of any man's life made

him indifferent to the mariners' proposing to leave the ship, xxvii. 2a, ,u. He thought it prudent that the information should be conveyed immediately to the chief captain himself, not through the centurion. IS MADE KNOWN TO THE CHIEF CAPTAIN,

St 18. brought him to the chiff captain] Luke, we cannot doubt, had the particulars of this most graphic account communicated to him by the young man himself. 10.

Then the chief captain]

His position

was very embarrassing. If he was prejudiced by the representations of the Jewish authorities, backed by the influence of Agrippa, on the other hand there was fearful risk in anything that looked like remissness in protecting the life and liberty of a Roman citizen.

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THE ACTS. XXIII.

506

10 And he said, The Jews have agreed to desire thee that thou wouldest bring down Paul to morrow into the council, as though they would inquire somewhat of him more perfectly.

21 But do not thou yield unto them for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, which :

have bound themselves with an oath, that they will neither eat nor drinlc till they have killed him and now are they ready, looking for a promise from thee. 22 So the chief captain then let the young man depart, and charged him, See thou tell no man that thou hast shewed these things to me. 23 And he called unto him two :

20. The Jew/] The authorities, the Sanhedrim, as, repeatedly, in the Gospel according to St John, e.g. i. 19, v. 15, 16. as though they would] Recent criticism is strongly in favour of the participle in the Original being in the singular: as though thou

wouldest. 23.

t<wo centurions']

One was to go no

[v.

20—28.

centurions, saying, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Czsarea,

and horsemen threescore and ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night 24 And provide them beasts, that they may set Paul on, and bring him safe unto Felix the governor.

And he wrote a letter after this

manner 26 Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix sendeth greeting.

27 This man was taken of the Jews, and should have been killed of them : then came I with an army, and rescued him, having understood that he was a Roman. 28 And when I would have known

A freedman of Felix] See xxiv. 25. Antonia the mother of Claudius, brother of Pallas the all-powerful favourite of that emperor, was raised to the equestrian order, and, a.d. 5a, appointed Procurator of Judsea. His corrupt and oppressive administration was, in many ways, most disastrous to the Jews: " Intempestivis remediis delicta accendebat," Tacitus, Ann.' xn. 54. Suetonius, in his Life of Claudius, § 18, calls him "trium reginarum maritum." His first wife was a daughter of Juba, king of Mauritania, granddaughter of Antony and Cleopatra, Tacitus, 4 Hist.* v. 9. His second was Drusilla, xxiv. Of the third no particulars have been 24. '

further than Antipatris, v. 32. soldiers]

spearmen]

Heavy-armed legionaries. A. V.'has followed the Vulgate.

The word is extremely rare. Suidas understood military lictors who kept on the right side of the prisoners whom they had in charge.

A various reading in the Alex. MS. means slingers.

The escort was in all 470, a very large number

but the conspiracy had the sanction ; of the Jewish authorities ; the strength and organization of the sicarii were very formidable; and the forty conspirators within the city would have had little difficulty in securing the cooperation of any numbers outside the walls.

at the third hour] About 9 p.m., the end of the first and beginning of the second watch, a time for relieving guard.

WHO SENDS HIM TO FELIX AT GffiSAREA. 24. beasts] In the Original a general word which might include camels and asses as well as horses. Cacsarea was about 70 miles northwest from Jerusalem, and relays would be If the Apostle rode, the soldiers necessary. to whom his chains were attached must have been mounted also. And from Antipatris to Cxsarea his escort consisted entirely of

cavalry.

preserved.

Between verses 24 and 25 the Vulgate has Timuit enim ne forte raperent eum Judaei et occiderent, et ipse postea calumniam susti44

neret,

tamquam accepturus pecuniam."

interpolation recognised by only one Cursive

Greek MS. 25. after this manner] It has very commonly been assumed that a letter from a Tribune to a Procurator must of course have been written in Latin. But, as Greek was at the time in very extensive use, it is quite possible that St Luke had only to transcribe, not to translate the original document.

26. most excellent] A.V. has followed the Vulgate here, and in Luke i. 3 ; but varied the rendering in xxiv. 3, xxvi. 25.

27.

<with

an army]

Rather,

with the

force under my command.

and rescued him] the

first

This certainly

refers

interference of the Tribune, xxi. 32,

and there

a dextrous suppression of the

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THE ACTS. XXIII. XXIV.

v.29-1.]

cause wherefore they accused I brought him forth into their council I perceived to be ac29 cused of questions of their law, but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or of bonds.

507

the

the governor, presented Paul also be-

him,

fore him.

Whom

30 And when it was told me how that the Jews laid wait for the man, I sent straightway to thee, and gave

34 And when the governor had read the letter^ he asked of what province he was. And when he understood that he was of Cilicia ; 35 I will hear thee, said he, when thine accusers are also come. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's judgment hall.

commandment to his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him. Farewell. 31 Then the soldiers, as it was

commanded them, took

Paul,

and

brought him by night to Antipatris. 32 On the morrow they left the horsemen to go with him, and returned to the castle 33 Who, when they came to Caesarea, and delivered the epistle to

truth which

falls

little

short of falsehood.

The letter states facts, but not in the order of Lysias rescued the Apostle

their occurrence.

from the rioters, before he knew that he was a Roman, as well as afterwards from the Council, xxiii. 10. But he had not rescued him because he was a Roman, nor did he thereupon place him before the Council. Nothing is said of the erroneous impression under which he had acted, xxi. 38. Credit was taken for having rescued a citizen of Rome from Jewish outrage, but no hint was dropped of having been on the verge of scourging him.

29. nothing laid to bis charge] See xxv. 25. 31. by night] A precaution against any violence on the part of the Jews. It is not said that they reached Antipatris in one

CHAPTER XXIV. I Paul being accused

by Tertullus the orator, 10 answeretk for his life and doctrine, 24 He preacheth Christ to the governor and his 26 The governor hopeth for a bribe, wife, but in vain, 27 At tost, going out of his office; he leaveth Paul in prison.

AAND

after five days Ananias the high priest descended with the elders, and with a certain orator named Tertullus, who informed the governor

against Paul.

35.

J will hear thee]

In the Original a

compound verb, implying patient and full investigation. It was a maxim of the Roman law that whoever was sent from one authority to another, with a written statement of the charges against him, should have a fresh hear4 Digest ' L. 48, Tit 3, 1. 6. ing. judgment hall] Rather, palace, as Phil, Built by Herod the Great, on a large i. 13. scale and of great splendour, it had become the residence of the Roman governor. Comp.

Mark xv. 16 John xviii. 28, $$, xix. 9. It was a very indulgent arrangement that the Apostle was lodged in the residence of the ;

governor and not in a prison.

Tertullus, employed by the High Priest and the Elders, accuses him.

night.

Antipatris]

called

honour of his

father, Antipater, by Herod the Great, when

he rebuilt it The old name Caphar Saba, Josephus, xiil. xv. 1, * J. W.* IV. viii. i, still survives in Kefr Saba. Jerome spoke of it as *'semirutum oppidulum." By the usually understood route, through the pass of Bethhoron, it was forty-two Roman miles from It Jerusalem, and twenty-six from Cxsarea. has been ascertained that there was a shorter road, by Gophna.

The 200 legionaries and the 32. they] 200 spearmen. The danger was now less, and so large an escort was no longer necessary. 34.

Cilicia]

In the same presidency as

iudsea, viz. Syria, and therefore equally with1 the jurisdiction of Felix.

Chap. XXIV. 1. Jive days] I.e. after the This interval Apostle's arrival in Csesarea. may very well have been occupied with preparatory arrangements for the journey of the High Priest and Elders, which included the engaging the professional services of Tertullus. Ananias] See xxiii. 2. Calvin considered this decisive against his being the regular High

The undertaking this journey would have been beneath the dignity of that office. with the elders] A deputation from the Sanhedrim. Tertullus] A name formed from Tertius, as Catullus from Catius, and Lucullus from Lucius. The provincials, ignorant of Roman law, and not familiar with Latin, employed Roman advocates, who by such practice prepared themselves for the forum. In some

Priest.

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THE ACTS. XXIV.

5o8

2 And when he was called forth, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, ana that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy providence, accept it always, and in all 3 places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness.

4 Notwithstanding, that I be not tedious unto thee, I pray thee that thou wouldest hear us of thy clemency a few words.

further

5 For we have found this cases young gratuitously.

men of good

man a

family pleaded

Often they were hireling rhe-

toricians.

who informed] sc. Ananias and the Elders as well as their advocate. 2. began to accuse him] The proceedings of provincial law courts were registered by intelligent reporters paid by the state. See Valesius note on Eusebius, vil. n. we enjoy] Tertullus here and in v. 6 identified himself with his clients, but he drew a line by saying this nation, not our nation. great quietness] Tertullus shewed his professional skill in availing himself of the only pretext for any sort of compliment. Felix had put down banditti and assumed the title of Provinciae Pacificator. But the sequel of his government was sadly at variance with this. He employed some of the sicarii to assassinate Jonathan the High Priest; and plunder and arson became very prevalent. Josephus, xx. 1

viii.

5, 6,

ii. xiii. 2, 6.

deeds] There is a various strongly supported by MSS. and favoured by the Vulgate and the Syriac : and

very worthy

reading,

reforms are made. thy providence] An expression in frequent use on coins and medals. Some have preferred to connect always and in all places immediately with this. It has been suggested that, after this commencement, which was not only fulsome but false (cp. v. 27), only an abstract of the speech was given by St Luke.

a pestilent fellow] Cp. 1 Mace. xv. 3. sedition] There is good MS. authority, supported by Chrysostom and the Vulgate, 5.

Tertullus put foremost the for seditions. charge most likely to move Felix to take cognizance of the case. throughout the world] In a Roman court of

law this was equivalent to the Roman empire. a ringleader] Literally, the foremost in a rank of soldiers, a file-leader. This was a second charge, before the original accusation of profaning the Temple was brought forward*

[v.

2—

and a mover of se-

pestilent fellow,

among all the Jews through-

dition

out the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes 6 Who also hath gone about to profane the temple whom we took, and would have judged according to our law. 7 But the chief captain Lysias came upon us, and with great violence took him away out of our hands, 8 Commanding his accusers to come unto thee by examining of :

the Nazarenes]

A name expressive of con-

This is the only instance of its appli-

tempt.

cation to Christians in Scripture. They did not shrink from speaking of thHr Lord as Jesus of Nazareth, ii. 22, iii. 6, iv. 10. Indeed He had Himself adopted the designation, xxii. 8. Somewhat later, a Judaizing sect in Palestine bore the name of Nazarenes. 6.

hath gone about]

attempted,

as in

Tertullus knew the circumstances too well to echo the charge of actual profanaxxi. 31.

by the Jews of Asia, xxi. 28. offence was, by the Roman law,

tion, as alleged

Such an

punishable with death. whom we took] All the subsequent words, down to come unto thee in v. 8, included, are

omitted

most critical

editions.

And ex-

ternal evidence is certainly against their genuineness.

They

MS.

Many variations have been thought to

are found

only one Uncial

betray their spuriousness. Their omission, it has been urged, is inexplicable, whereas interpolation,

from

xxi.

32,

xxiii.

27,

easily

understood. On the other hand, the clause is recognised by the Syriac and Vulgate, and the report of the speech is extremely brief and meagre without it. Tertullus must surely

have made some reference to this incident, and the language is quite in keeping with his sycophancy.

would have judged] They had all but murdered him, xxi. 31, without any judicial process. The Jews attested this misrepresentation of Tertullus, whose purpose was to have the Apostle handed over to a Jewish court, in which case his assassination would have

been effected without much difficulty.

with great violence] If Tertullus was 7. not confounding the riot with the assembling of the Council, this was gross exaggeration. There had been no violence, because there had been no resistance. Such an expression is not likely to have been used by an interpolator, and it is so far an argument for the genuine* ness of the clause.

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THE ACTS. XXIV.

• 9— 1+] whom

thyself mayest take knowledge of all these things, whereof we

accuse him. 9 And the Jews also assented, saying that these things were so. 10 Then Paul, after that the governor had beckoned unto him to speak, answered, Forasmuch as I know that thou hast been of many years a judge unto this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself: 11 Because that thou mayest understand, that there are yet but 8.

of whom]

This pronoun

the

singular, and must be understood either of St

Paul or of Lysias. The a and verse seems to point the reference to the latter, and so Chrysostom understood it. This, again, is favourable to the genuineness of the clause. For, if that were omitted, of <wbom must be understood of the Apostle, to whom the accusers would never have thought of turning for support to this allegation. Tertullus, by way of impressing Felix with the confidence which he felt in the goodness of his cause, would naturally refer to Lysias, and not to the prisoner at the bar. 0.

assented]

The High Priest and Elders

supported the statement by their testimony. The reading of the best authority, by a very slight variation, gives another sense, joined in the attack^ combined in assailing St Paul.

The Apostle makes his Defence. to speak] St Paul had to answer three 10. charges: sedition, irv. 11 13; heading the sect of the Nazarenes, 14 16 ; and profanation of the Temple, v. 18. of many years] Observe, a judge not governor. The procuratorship of Felix, estimated by Bp Pearson at five years and a half, by Biscoe at seven years, and by Greswell extended to upwards of eight years, was, according to the lowest calculation, a long period, when all officials were changed so very frequently as, for some time past, they had been Palestine. The government of the three immediate predecessors of Felix could not have lasted much above eight years and a half at the furthest. And it is to be borne in mind that, previously to his appointment as successor to Cumanus, Felix had been for several years in joint administration with him: "iampridem Judaeae impositus," Tacitus, Ann. xii. 54. This reference to the duration of his power over such a people, under all the circumstances, could not St Paul made rail to be gratifying to Felix. the opening of his speech complimentary without falling into flattery.

—

•,

509

twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem for to worship. 12 And they neither found me in the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people, neither in the synagogues, nor in the city : 13 Neither can they prove the

things whereof they now accuse me.

14 But

this

that after the

confess unto thee,

way which they call

heresy, so worship I the God of mv believing

fathers,

things

all

law and

are written in the

which in

the

prophets

I do cheerfully is

the more cheerfully] better authorized.

11.

mayest understand]

easily ascertain.

Rather,

canst

From the shortness of

his stay in Jerusalem any offence committed There could be there must have been recent. no difficulty in obtaining witnesses and proofs. but twelve days] To the five days in v. 1 there are to be added two for the transit from Caesarea to Jerusalem, xxi. 15 17 ; the day of his interview with St James and the Elders, v. 18; the day on which he purified himself, v. a 6 ; that on which he was rescued by Lysias,

—

33 ; that on which he stood before the Council, xxiii. 1; that on which Lysias was informed of the Jewish conspiracy, xxiii. 17. Emphatic. It could not be to worship]

thought at all likely that one who had made so long a journey for such a purpose would be guilty of profaning the Temple. 12.

synagogues]

See vi. 9.

E subjoin to thee, and this is represented in the Syriac and the 13.

prove]

A, B,

Vulgate. 14.

heresy]

rectly rendered

The same word is more corby sect, v. 5, v. 17, xv. 5,

It is used of the 5, and xxviii. 21. Jewish sects by Josephus of schools of philosophy by Greek writers generally of schools of medicine by Galen. the God of my fathers] A classical phrase which must have been familiar to Felix. Old hereditary associations of time and place had still a very strong hold on the Apostle's mind, see xviii. 18, xxi. a6; and they remained with him to the very last, 1 Tim. i. 3. His new creed had nothing to disturb these, nothing to make him feel that he was severed from the The Roman law refaith of his ancestors. garded fidelity to hereditary belief and ritual as one of the duties of a good citizen. the law and in the prophets] The whole Old Testament. See Matt. vii. 11. St Paul found in Christianity the consummation of the Law and the fulfilment of Prophecy.

xxvi.

;

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THE ACTS. XXIV.

5*o

is- -22.

Who ought to have been here

15 And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow,

before thee, and object, if they had

that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. 16 And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience

ought against me. 20 Or else let these same here say, if they have found any evil doing in me, while I stood before

void of offence toward

God, and to-

the council,

21 Except it be for this one voice,

ward men.

• chap. u. **'

[v.

17 Now after many years I came to bring alms to my nation, and

that I cried standing among them, * Touching the resurrection of the dead *<****>

offerings. 18 * Whereupon certain Jews from

Asia found

22 And when Felix heard these having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them,

me purified in the tem-

ple, neither with

multitude, nor with

things,

tumult.

This must have 15. they themselves] pointed to the Pharisees among the deputation Their goodwill, xxiii. 9, from Jerusalem. was very transient. of the dead] Not authorized by K, A, B, C, or Vulgate. Alford suggests that the omission was intentional, in consideration of the preCp. xvii. 3 a. judices of his hearers. and unjust] The Pharisees restricted the transmigration of souls to the righteous. Josephus, xvin. i. 3, * J. W.' 11. viii. 14. herein]

16.

Rather,

in accordance with these

on this account,

my principles.

A. V.

gives by this for the same expression in John xvi.

where Tyndale and Cranmer have

30,

therefore.

void of offence]

am called in question by you this

day.

Literally, unhurt, faultless.

Compare xxiii. 1.

18. Whereupon] Rather, At which time, or Amidst which occupations, as in xxvi. ia. certain Jews from Asia]

Not residents in

Jerusalem, as Tertullus had understood, v. 5.

left

to be

reference had been made to purified] this in his speech to the people, or in that to

the Sanhedrim.

Who ought to have been here] The 19. policy and interest of the Sanhedrim forbade Any the presence of the Jews from Asia. examination of them in a court of law must have proved that they were the authors of the disturbance, and that it had its origin in circumstances not connected with Palestine, and beyond the cognizance of Roman law. and object] Better, accuse, previously to

1611. after many years] After several; a

17.

little over four since his last visit to Jerusalem,

That interval was long enough to make it most unlikely that he had formed Denton party or excited any disturbance. understands the two and twenty years since xviii. a a.

his conversion.

Rom. xv. 15, a 6

—

1 Cor. xvi. 1 ; 4 ; a Cor. Offerings were for religious or charitable purposes generally ; the two words 1

—

warranting the combination of "alms and oblations," according to one acceptation, in the Prayer for the Church Militant. Some have by offerings understood those which the Apostle made on behalf of the four

men who had a vow, xxi. 24, 26.

But this had been no part of his purpose in this visit to Jerusalem ; it was done in compliance with the advice given by St James and the Elders after his arrival.

rebuking Ananias. 21.

The conveying of alms... and offerings] which was part of his ministering to the Alms, the result of the saints, Rom. xv. 25. collections in Macedonia and Achaia for the relief of the poor Christians at Jerusalem, viii.

20. if they have found] Rather, What erll doing they found in me. He was nubile I stood before the council] under no apprehension of being censured for Touching the resurrection] Cp. xxiii. 6.

22. having more perfect knowledge] I.e. Felix doubtless understood because he had. the position of Christians, and the bearing of their belief on civil and political affairs, too accurately to be misled by the allegations of the Jews. Much of his time had been spent in Caesarea ; and it is probable that the example of Cornelius may have influenced other Roman His cohabitation with Drusilla, a soldiers. Jewess, may have contributed to turn his thoughts in that direction. See ix. a. that way] A legal term; adjourned deferred them] The Jews had not established their the case. But Felix may have been perplexed charges. by St Paul's acknowledging himself a Nazarene, while he denied that he had profaned the

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THE ACTS. XXIV.

. 23—27]

and said, When Lysias the chief captain shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your matter. 23 And he commanded a centurion to keep Paul, and to let him have liberty, and that he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or come unto him.

24 And after certain days, when came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith Felix

in Christ.

And as he reasoned

25 Temple.

He did

not

set

the

of rightApostle at

him up to the

liberty,

neither did he give

Jews.

The knowledge which Lysias had of

the circumstances and his opinion of the prisoner's innocence required to be borne in

eousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answer-

Go thy way for this time ; when have a convenient season, I will call

ed, I

for thee.

hoped

also

that

money

should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him: wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him. 27 But after two years Porcius Festus came into Felix' room and Felix, willing to shew the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound. :

silla, with her son by Felix, perished in the eruption of Vesuvius, A.D. 79, Josephus,

xx. vii. a.

all

mind. have no means of ascertaining whether Lysias came down to Czsarea. He must have done so, in the course of two years, if he retained his command. But the Jews may have made interest with Felix to keep the questions connected with St Paul in abeyance. One motive for delay appears in v, 16.

know

the

uttermost]

Rather,

give

final decision. 23. a centurion] the centurion who had charge of him. See above, xxii. a 6. Probably the same that had come all the way with the cavalry escort when the other of the two centurions, xxiii. 23, went back to Jerusalem with the foot soldiers, v. 3a. liberty] Some relaxation of the strictness of the custodia militaris under which he had been kept possibly to the extent of the soldier accompanying him without any chain. But, as St Paul was left bound, v. 17, any such indulgence seems to have been withdrawn. hij acquaintance] Rather, any of his own ;

sect

brotherhood.

The expression is the

same as in iv. 13. Felix perhaps hoped that some of these would ransom St Paul. came] He may have been absent from Czsarea, or they came into the hall of

24.

audience. Drusilla] Glad of an opportunity for seeing the ringleader of the Nazarenes no higher motive than that of Herod Antipas, Luke xxiii. 8. She was the youngest daughter of Herod Agrippa I. (ch. xii.), six years old at the time of her father's death, Josephus, xix. ix. 1; and sister of Herod Agrippa II., xxv. 13. Under the influence of a sorceref , Simon, a Jew of Cyprus, whom some have been disposed to identify with Simon Magus, she deserted her husband, Azizus, king of Emesa, ;

to marry Felix, Josephus, xx. vil

Dru-

Teaches concerning the Faith before Felix and Drusilla. 25. righteousness] Fit subject of warning to one of whom Tacitus wrote: "cuncta 1 malefacta sibi impune ratus," 4 Ann. xn. 54 and " per omnem saevitiam et libidinem, jus 1

4 Hist. v. 9. Rather, continence. This temperance] was not in the judgment hall, but in a private interview. In public the Apostle had spoken with all deference and respect

regium servili ingenio exercuit,"

judgment] the judgment, 26. that money should have been given hirn^ 1 In defiance of the Lex Julia, ' Digest. XL. xi. This malpractice was carried by Albinus, 3. who succeeded Festus, to such an outrageous length that the prisons were emptied, and the Josephus, province swarmed with robbers. xx. ix. 5.

communed]

Conversed

familiarly.

The

imperfect tense implies that this took place repeatedly.

27. after two i«*rs] Reckoned from the commencement of St Paul's imprisonment. This delay must have been a severe trial to

His seeing Rome and all his the Apostle. plans for the further propagation of the Gospel must have appeared to him to be deferred in-

No deliverance was wrought for him as had been for St Peter. Norris suggests

definitely.

that after his incessant exertions this interval of quiet may have been good for the Apostle's health, spiritual as well as bodily.

The writing of the Gospel according to St Luke has been, not without some probability, assigned to this interval. The note of time here given is of very great importance in determining the chronology. According to a received calculation, Felix

summer of a.d. 6a Others have brought it down to A.D. 62 or 63.

quitted Palestine in the

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THE ACTS. XXV.

512

CHAPTER XXV. Paul before Festus. 8 He answerethfor himself n and appealeth unto

* 77ic Jews excuse

Casar. 14 Afterwards Festus openeth his matter to king Agrippa, 13 and he is brought forth. 25 Festus cleareth him to have done nothing worthy of death.

NOW

when

was come

Festus

into the province,

after

three

days he ascended from Caesarea to Jerusalem. 2 Then the high priest and the chief of the Jews informed him against Paul, and besought him, 3 And desired favour against him, that he would send for him to Jerusalem, laying wait in the way to kill him.

4 But Festus answered, that Paul should be kept at Caesarea, and that he himself would depart shortly thither.

5 Let them therefore, said he, which among you are able, go down with mey and accuse this man, if there be any wickedness in him. 6 And when he had tarried among them more than ten days, he went Or, down unto Ca-sarea ; and the next pies read, day sitting on the judgment seat com- 7fcm*ojg*t '

manded Paul to be brought. 'dJZZ 7 And when he was come, the Jews which came down from Jerusalem

They followed him from Caesarea

to Rome with heavy accusations, and he escaped only through the intervention of his brother Pallas, who at that time stood very high in the favour of Nero. Josephus, xx. vii. 9.

Felix is succeeded by Festus, Chap. XXV. 1. Festus] Nothing is known of him. His name does not occur in Tacitus or Suetonius. He carried on with great energy the operations of Felix against the robbers, Josephus, XX. viii. 10, * J. II. xiv. 1 ; but his administration was terminated by his death in less than two years. the province] In absolute strictness this did not apply to Judsca, inasmuch as it was subordinate to Syria, which was governed by a

Legatus Caesaris.

The Procurator of Judaea

was the representative of that functionary he exercised almost independent

;

but

authority.

The Emperor Claudius retained Judnta when he constituted a kingdom for Herod Agrippa. Josephus, xx. vii. 1. See v. 13. after three days] It has been suggested that this may have coincided with the Feast of Tabernacles. But without any such special purpose a new Procurator would naturally visit the capital as soon as he conveniently could after his arrival in Palestine.

Before whom the Jews accuse St Paul. the high priest] 2. If this is accepted as the true reading, Ismael, son of Phabi, who succeeded Ananias, xxiii. 2, must be intended, Josephus, xx. viii. 8. But the balance of authorities is very strongly in favour of High Priests here, as in v. 15. the chief of the Je<ws] The more eminent

and influential among them, as well as members of the Sanhedrim.

round about, and

stood

many and

to shew the Jews a pleasure] In this attempt

he failed.

grievous

informed him] tion.

complaints

laid

Brought a formal accusa-

The same word as xxiv. 1.

3. desiredfavour against him] Apparently, condemnation without a trial. The interval of two years, xxiv. 27, had done nothing towards assuaging their enmity. They had now adopted as their own the plot for assassi-

nation, xxiii. ia

—

15.

should be kept] Rather, wai in iafs cut tody; they need have no apprehension of his escaping. This is merely a statement of the fact. Festus, it may be presumed from v. 9, was not aware of the plot. would depart] Was about to go to Caesarea, and therefore it was inexpedient to remove St Paul. The tone of this reply is distant, but not as rough as A. V. may be thought to represent it. 4.

are able] Your chief man, officials, 5. and men of influence generally, as priests and elders. The same word is translated migbty % 1

Cor. i. 26 ; Rev. vi. 15.

Compare Josephus,

xii. 4, II. xiv. 8.

more than ten days] The reading in 6. the margin, not more than eight or tan, is to be preferred. It has the support of many MSS. and of the Vulgate. and the next day] By this promptitude Festus shewed that he considered the case to be of great importance. He may, as is suggested by Chrysostom, have been prejudiced against the Apostle during his short stay in Jerusalem, and have concluded that he must not seem to countenance a profanation of the Temple which had already caused disturbance, and might* cause -more. On the other hand, there was the plain duty of securing his just rights for a Roman citizen.

There is ample authority 7. round about] for subjoining him, i.e. the Apostle,

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THE ACTS. XXV.

8— 13-] Paul, which

gainst

they could not

prove.

8 While he answered for himself, Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I offended any thing at

all.

9 But Festus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure, answered Paul, and said, Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem,

and there be judged of these things

me ? Then

before

said

Paul,

stand at

Caesar's judgment seat, where I ought

many and grievous complain ts] It is clear, from the answer in the following verse, that these were the same which had been urged by Tertullus before Felix, xxiv. 5, 6. against Cxsar] There is no reference 8. to the Emperor, xxiv. 5, 6, or in x8, 19 of this chapter.

to do the Jews a pleasure] At the com9. mencement of his administration, as Felix at the close of his. This proposal was made in compliance with the suggestion of the Jews Compare xxviii. 18, 19. in v. 3. There is an ambiguity in this before me]

before me, as judge, or, in my The Apostle understood Festus as

expression ; presence.

asking him whether he would waive his rights as a Roman citizen, and consent to be tried by the Sanhedrim, in which the Procurator could take his place as an assessor only. Festus can hardly have expected an answer of assent, but the question served the purpose of ingratiating himself with the influential Jews.

He appeals unto Cjesar. / stand] The full force of the Origistand as I have now long been standing, and as I resolve still to stand ; I am under Roman jurisdiction, and my case cannot be transferred to any other tribunal. The Apostle would not place himself in the hands of his implacable enemies. His answer conveyed a rebuke to Festus, who had betrayed readiness to compromise the dignity of his office and it insured St Paul's being sent to Rome, which the Apostle knew was in accordance with the Divine Will, xxiii. 11. Cesar's judgment seat] " Quae acta gestaque sunt a Procuratore Caesaris, sic ab eo comprobantur, atque si a Caesare ipso gesta sunt." Ulpian. very *welf] In the Original, better; sc. than thy language implies or, than to need any explanation from me. Compare % Tim. 1. 18. Festus must have known what passed under 10.

nal is,

;

5*3

to be judged to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well :

knowest. 11 For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar. Then Festus, when he had con1 ferred with the council, answered, Hast thou appealed unto Caesar ? unto Caesar shalt thou go. 13 And after certain days king :

his predecessor; the record of proceedings before Felix was in his hands.

no man] courteous form of remind11. ing Festus that he could not do it.

gratify them ; may make a deliver me] present of me to them. / appeal unto Cxsar] The right of appeal to the people was secured by the Valerian Law, and confirmed by the Porcian and Sempronian. The powers of the tribunes of

the people had passed into the hands of the

Emperor.

Not with any council of 12. the council] Tews, as Chrysostom understood, but with his own advisers. Probably the quaestor and chief military officers. Tosephus, 4 J. W.' 11. xvi. 1. Consiliarii and Assessores in Suetonius. They had no authority, but gave advice when They found that there called upon to do so. was legal ground for the appeal. Bast thou appealed] Some have thought it better to understand this affirmatively: Thou bast appealed, &c. Festus was not loath to be quit or a prisoner whose case he was unable to understand.

AGRrPPA AND BERNICE VISIT FESTUS. 13.

king

Agrippa]

Distinguished

Agrippa II., or Agrippa Minor. He was son of Herod Agrippa, whose death is recorded in ch. xii., by Cypros, a grandniece of

Herod the Great. Being only seventeen years of age at the time of the death of his father, A.D. 44, it was represented to the EmperoClaudius that he was too young to be intrusted, with the government of Judaea, Josephus, xix. ix.

which was accordingly,

and,

reduced to a province under Cuspius Fadus. In his twenty-third year he was permitted to succeed his father's younger brother in the kingdom of Chalcis, to which, four years afterwards, were added the two tetrarchies that had formerly been in the hands of Philip and Lysanias, Luke iil x proved,

finally,

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THE ACTS. XXV.

5*4

Agrippa and Bernicc came unto Caesarea to salute Festus.

14 And when they had been there

many

days, Festus declared Paul's cause unto the king, saying, There certain man left in bonds by is a Felix

15 About whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed m*, desiring to have judgment against him. 16 To whom I answered, m It is not the manner of the Romans to

any man to die, before that

deliver

Josephus, XX. v. a, * J. W.* 11. xii. x, 8, xiii. % ; together with the control of the Temple and its treasury, and the power of appointing and displacing the High Priest, Josephus, xx. in the exercise of which last prei. 3, viii. 8 Nero rogative he shewed no great wisdom. added Tiberias and a part of Galilee, together with Julias, a city of Peraea, and fourteen neighbouring villages, Josephus, xx. viii. 4. At this time he was king by courtesy only he had not yet actually obtained the title which appears on most of his coins, and which he was the last to bear. His waiting on Festus thus early after his accession to the procuratorship was in keeping with his uniform obsequiousness. He went to Alexandria to salute the governor sent thither by Nero, Josephus, J. VV.' 11. xv. 1 ; and, accompanied by Bernice, to Berytus, that they might pay the same compliment to Gessius Florus, Josephus, Life,' § 11. He would fain have dissuaded his countrymen from entering on the war, J. W.' 11. xvi. 4, and was wounded at the siege of Gamala, iv. i. 3. After the fall of Jerusalem he retired to Rome, and died there, according to the common account, questioned by Pearson and Wetstein, in his seventy-third year, A.D. 100. His ancestors had been persecutors. His great grandfather, Herod the Great, doomed the infant Christ ; his grandfather, Antipas, slew the Baptist and mocked our Lord; his father killed St James, and intended to take the life of St Peter also. He himself seems to have been tolerant, although in his official relations to the Temple conversions to Christianity must have been distasteful to him. Bernice] His sister, older than Drusilla, xxiv. 24. She married her uncle, Herod, king of Chalcis, Josephus, xix. v. 1; and, after some years of widowhood, Polemon, king of Cilicia, but was soon separated from him, whereupon he fell away from Judaism, of which he had made profession. She was vehemently suspected of living in incest with ;

14—19.

[v.

he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have licence to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him. 17 Therefore, when they were come hither, without any delay on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat, and commanded the man to be brought forth. 18 Against whom when the accusers stood up, they brought none accusation of such things as I supposed :

But had

her brother, xx. Tacitus, 'Hist'

certain questions a-

vii.

3 ;

Juvenal, vi. 156

II.

ii.

lxxxi.

Titus

was

fascinated by her, but the Romans could not Dio Cass. tolerate her influence over him. lxvi. 5 ; Suetonius, « Titus,' § 7. She stood barefoot before Florus, the procurator, imploring his mercy on behalf of her countrymen,

Josephus, * J. \VV 11.

at the risk of her life.

xv. 1. to salute]

To congratulate Festus on his

accession to his office.

The Governor consults the King concerning THE CASE OF THE APOSTLE. 14. many days] This indicates no very keen interest on the part of Festus. Stated the charge declared Pauts cause] brought against him; expecting help from A grippal knowledge of the character and usages of the Jews.

15.

the chiefpriests]

See iv. 6.

judgment] Condemnation a sentence based on a conviction previously obtained, as they ;

alleged.

16.

die]

This

omitted in the best

critical editions.

licence] Opportunity ; the same word is trans-

lated place ^

Heb. xii. 17 ; Eph. iv. 27.

This seems to without any delay] insinuate some censure of his predecessor, under whom the two years of the Apostle's detention had led to no result. 17.

18.

whom. whom.

Against <whom] Rather, Concerning

Meyer

preferred

standing

around

There is good authority none accusation] He had probably exfor no evil accusation. pected complaints of such conflicts between the Jewish and Gentile sections of the population of Caesarea as had given occasion to bloodshed in the two or three years preceding. 10. superstition] Rather, religious belief, in which sense the word is repeatedly used by

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THE ACTS. XXV.

20— as-]

gainst him of their own superstition,

and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. ior,/«w 20 And because 'I doubted of such ASf^ manner of questions, I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem, 'ZVtifi and there be judged of these matters. 21 But when Paul had appealed Or.sW/tto be reserved unto the 'hearing of ~ Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I might send him to Csesar. 22 Then Agrippa said unto Festus, I would also hear the man myself. To morrow, said he, thou shalt hear him. 23 And on the morrow, when Josephus

;

e.g. x. iii. a,

v. 5, 11. ix. 3, xii. a.

XIX. v. 3, * J.

Our A. V. seems to have

followed Luther too closely here, as in xvii. 22. to be alive'] Festus perhaps understood no more than that Paul contended that death had not taken place.

20.

/ doubted]

There is here a rather than doubt. departure from exact truth, not unlike that into which Lysias was betrayed, xxiii. %j. The real motive had been to gain the goodwill of the Jews. of these matters] The margin of A. V. follows a various reading for which there is very little authority, instead of rovrair. rovrov, which, if it had a claim to consideration, might equally well be understood as referring to the name of our Lord in the preceding verse.

Augustus] Le. Nero, not yet a perse21. This was a title given by the Senate cutor. to Octavius, B.C. 17. It was retained, though not without scruple, by Tiberius, who regarded it as involving a qualified pretension to

was freely assumed by later Emperors who could claim no connection either by blood or adoption. Divinity ; and it

Cesar] Originally a name of the Julian family, it was conferred on successive Emperors it became the designation of a dynasty. till 44 Caesarem et Augustum, et omnia principatus vocabula," Tacitus, 'Hist.' 11. 80. After a time it was given to all within the possible limits of successorship^ especially to the heii presumptive, Augustus Deing reserved for the

Emperor himself. 22. $.e.

/ would]

Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and was entered into the place of hearing, with the chief cap-

Literally,

/ <was wishing;

fain would, if I might be allowed.

The

past tense was used that the request might not Bp Lightfoot proposed, " / appear urgent. nn self also could have wished to hear the man, if the favour had not been too great to ask."

and principal men of the city,

tains,

commandment Paul was brought forth. 24 And Festus said, King Agrippa, at

Festus*

and all men which are here present with us, ye see this man, about whom all the multitude of the Jews have dealt with me, both at Jerusalem, and also here, crying that he ought not to live any longer.

25 But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death, and that he himself hath appealed to Calvin thought that the imperfect implied that the wish was of some standing, but Agrippa would not run the risk of its being thought that he had any second motive for coming to Caesarea beyond congratulating Festus. the man]

The Original implies per-

plexity

5»5

23.

A contemptuous phrase.

Berniee]

She accompanied Agrippa

everywhere, even on occasions of danger, as when he endeavoured to repress the warlike ardour of the Jews. Josephus, 4 J. W.' 11. xvi. 3. Letters on public affairs were addressed to Agrippa and her conjointly. Josephus, *

Life,' I 11.

pomp] The word is used often by Polybius for display or parade. place of bearing] Audience chamber; not a court, for there was no trial. chief captains] Tribunes ; of whom there were usually five in Caesarea. Titus brought five cohorts thence to reinforce the army of

Vespasian.

Josephus, * J.

VW in.

iv. a.

24. sXsng Agrippa] His royalty at this time was only titular, and by courtesy. The recognition of it occurs ten times between xxv. 13 and xxvi. a 7, seven times in directly addressing him, five times by St Paul. all the multitude] The two great parties, Pharisees and Sadducees, must have waived their differences, and combined against the Apostle, and then succeeded in exciting the populace. have dealt with me] Made application to me. The same word is rendered complain against, 1 Mace. viii. 3a; complained^ a Mace,

36 to accuse, 1 Mace. x. 61. and also here] The Jews in Caesarea were as bigoted and turbulent as those in Jerusalem. See Josephus, J. \V7 11. xiii. 7, and xiv. At the outbreak of the war 10,000 were massacred by the Syrian inhabitants, xviii. 1. iv.

;

25. nothing worthy of death] St Paul's innocence had been strongly attested by

New Ttst.—Vou II.

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THE ACTS. XXV. XXVI.

5i*

Augustus, I have determined to send him. 26 Of whom I have no certain thing to write unto my lord. Wherefore I have brought him forth before you, and specially before thee, king Agrippa, that, after examination had, I might have somewhat to write. 27 For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not

withal

signify

the

crimes

laid

against him.

CHAPTER XXVI. 2 Paul, in the presence of Agrippa, declareth his life from his childhood, 17 and how miraculously he was converted, and called to his apostles hip, 24 Festus chargeth him to be mad, whereunto he answdreth modestly* «8 Agrippa is almost persuaded to be a Christian, 31 The whole company pronounce him innocent.

Lysias, xxiii. 29, as it was again by Agrippa, xxvi. 31.

have determined']

Rather, I determined.

no certain thing] Nothing trustworthy. my lord] I.e. the Emperor, Nero. This title had been repudiated by Augustus and Tiberius. Suetonius, Aug. § 53 ; Tib. § 27; Tacitus, * Ann.' II. 87. Compare Tertullian, 4 Apology,' § 34. Caligula accepted it. Pliny so addressed Trajan. But it was not a recognised part of the imperial style till the time of Domitian ; and Antoninus Pius was the first who put it on his coins. Polycarp refused to

26.

utter it, * Martyrdom, § 8. examination] the examination. In the Original a law term for a preliminary inquiry, distinct from the trial. Nothing judicial was intended. All legal investigation had been superseded by the appeal to Caesar.

27. unreasonable] It would also have exposed him to the displeasure of Nero, if there had been no tangible case clearly within the cognizance of Roman law.

St Paul gives an Account of his previous Life.

CHAP. XX-VI. 1. Thou art permitted] Agrippa expressed himself thus generally that he might not seem to compromise the Procurator by assuming authority in his presence. In consideration of his rank and his being a guest he was allowed to preside; and his rising terminated the proceedings. Then Paul] This speech is very distinct from that in xxii. His appeal had placed him beyond the jurisdiction of those whom he addressed, and he did not notice the charges of apostasy and profaning the Temple. He

[v.

—5-

Agrippa THEN Thou

said unto Paul, permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself: art

think myself happy, king Abecause I shall answer for myself this day before thee touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews 3 Especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews : wherefore I beseech thee to hear me pa-

grippa,

tiently.

manner of life from my 4 youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews 5 Which knew me from the begin-

asserted the dignity of his office as a messenger of heaven, and aimed not so much at his own defence as at the conviction of his hearers. the hand] That which he had at liberty, not chained.

/ think myself happy] Agrippa's official Rome were a warrant that he was not fanatical or bigoted in his Judaism and his birth, education, and habits qualified him to understand the questions that had been raised far better than any heathen Procurator 2.

relations with

ever could.

In thy presence. There is no before thee] recognition of Agrippa as a judge. the Jews] Repeated four times in 7. 2 On this particular occasion the Apostle severed himself from his countrymen in as marked a way as elsewhere and generally he identified himself with them, e.g. xxiii. 6. He was addressing Festus as well as Agrippa; and he set forth Christ as not only the glory of Israel, but also as a light to lighten the Gentiles.

w. —

3. because I know] These words in italics represent a supplement devised by Beza, unsupported by any MS., and quite unnecessary to complete the sense; before thee, especially expert as thou art in all, 5c c. customs and questions] Practices and controversies.

4. from my youth.. at the first] These ex{ pressions imply that he must have left Tarsus, for the teaching of Gamaliel, at a very early Probably, according to Jewish usage, age* about twelve. See above, xxii. 3. at Jerusalem] The best reading is, and at Jerusalem. 5.

most straitest]

in their interpretation

Most exact and rigorous of the Law and in en-

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THE ACTS. XXVI.

6— ii.]

ning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. 6 And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of

thought with myself,

trary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

10 a Which thing I also did in -chaP-* Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received anthority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against

7 Unto which promise our twelve

God day and hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. 8 Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead ?

tribes, instantly serving

night,

them,

11 And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme ; and being exceedingly

3; Phil. i. 18; a different form of expression used ; and the abruptness of the question would hardly have suited the calm tenour of

ceremonial observances. Josephus, 4 1. v. 2, 11. 6, xviii. i. 3, J. viii. 14. Compare St Paul's account of himPhil. iii. 5,6. On this occasion self, Gal. i. 14 his Hellenistic birth might, without this statement, have been thought to favour the charge of his undue conformity to Gentile views and

forcing

iii.

ii.

verily

that I ought to do many things con-

God unto our fathers:

xvii.

5'7

this address.

;

with you] The pronoun is emphatic "to you that have such previous notions and persuasions about God's omnipotency." Barrow, Sermon 29. ;

practices. religion] Strictly, external, ceremonial observance ; the same word as in James i. a 6, 27 and Col. ii. 18 ; in which latter place it is rendered worshipping.

that I ought] " St Paul confesseth him-

self to have been a persecutor, and blasphemer,

and injurious for so doing, although he followed the guidance of his own conscience therein ; and to have stood in need of mercy for the remission of those wicked acts, though he did them ignorantly, and out of zeal to the Law." Sanderson, Sermon I v. ad Cle-

the promise] Of the Messiah. Cp. xiii. 6. 32; and, through Him, of the Resurrection. Cp. xxiii. 6.

References to the our twelve tribes] tribal division are extremely rare in the New Testament; iv. 36. See Luke ii. 36; James i. The whole Jewish people 8. 1 ; Rev. vii. 4 throughout their history had looked for the Messiah, and the Twelve Tribes continued to be spoken of; for, though only two are expressly said to have returned from the Captivity, not a few of other tribes, it appears, 7.

rum,' § 19. Jesus of Nazareth] This designation was chosen to shew that the Apostle thoroughly appreciated the prejudices which he had at one time largely shared.

—

10. the saints] This designation was in such received use (cp. ix. 32, 41), that the Apostle employed it, as a matter of course, even when he was addressing aliens from the faith. they were put to death] St Stephen was not the only martyr in the first persecution. J gave my voice] It has been suggested that this may have been more than assent or approval ; that he may, perhaps, have voted as a member of the Sanhedrim. The Jews were aHowed to retain power of life and death over

were mixed with them, Ezra i. 5, vi. 17, viii. The descendants of the dispersed con35. tinued to resort to Festivals;

Jerusalem at the great

and it was a point of the national

faith that the entire people would be reunited

under the Messiah. instantly]

Earnestly, with intense devotion.

See the note on xii. 5. day and night] Cp. Luke i. 75, ii. 37, xviii. 7, xxiv. 53 ; 1 Thess. iii. 10; 1 Tim. v. 5. Cp. Phil. iii. 11. hope to come] king Agrippa] The title is retained in several important MSS. which omit the name. There is an emphasis in this the Jews] being kept back to the last ; and the emphasis is heightened by the omission of the article, which is not found in the best MSS.

Why should it] Some have preferred to 8. understand, What I is it thought But in the passages refetred to in support of this, Rom.

—

their

own people, as far as strictly religious

matters were concerned. 11. punished them] With stripes. •

xi.

24.

This was

Cp.aCor.

fulfilment of Christ's

words, Matt. x. 17 Mark xiii. 9. in every synagogue] Synagogues were very ;

numerous in Jerusalem, see vi. 9. compelled]

The tense of the verb implies

no more than the effort, and that repeatedly made he had done what he could to compel. ;

blaspheme] To speak against Christ and the faith in Him. Cf. Pliny, Ep. x. 97. to

LL 2

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THE ACTS. XXVI.

5««

mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities, chap.** 12 b Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, king, I saw in 13 At midday, the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.

[v.

—

16.

tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. art thou, 15 And I saicfr,

thou me ?

Who

And

Lord?

said,

Jesus

whom thou persecutest. 16 But

14 And when we were all fallen to

and stand upon thy have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of

the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew

those things in the which I will appear unto thee;

Polycarp was urged to this, Euseb. iv. 15. This expression could hardly have been used before an audience exclusively Jewish, as in xxii.

Not intended as any

mad']

extenuation.

He had come to regard the persecution as unreasonable as well as wicked. strange cities] Damascus was one of several outride the limits of Palestine in which converts to Christianity were to be found.

Whereupon ] While I was thus occu12. pied; compare xxiv. 18. These verses, 11 15, give a third account of his conversion. from the chiefpriests] There is more authority for this than for the singular, Chief Priest, Probably the presidents of the in this place. 24 courses, who were ex officio members of the Sanhedrim, v. 10, Luke xxii. 52, are to be understood. See above, xix. 14.

At midday] xxii. 6; a circumstance

13.

—

There had been no in ix. 3 9. no ecstasy; a voice was distinctly a question was put, and an answer

not stated delusion,

heard

;

received.

above the brightness of the sun]

This is far

beyond ix. 3 and xxii. 6. <were all fallen] His com<we 14. panions, under a general impression of terror, for only a very short time, ix. 7. He himself, with his clearer apprehension of the manifestation, and having had the address directed to him personally, remained longer prostrate. See xxi. 40. This, in the Hebrew tongue] again, is an additional ctrcumstance, not given in ix. 4, or xxii. 7. It had been no vague impression; he heard articulate words of a familiar language. St Paul addressed Agrippa and Festus in Greek ; when he was speaking to his countrymen the language used by Christ was not noticed. The name Saul appears in its Hebrew form in all the three accounts. nvhy persecutest thou met] The order of these words in the Original gives a strong emphasis to me. The introduction of this to kick against] proverb, in ix. 5, is spurious, and in xxii. 7

rise,

feet: for I

supported by only one Uncial MS. Here undoubtedly genuine; and there was propriety in this notice of its having been quoted, of frequent occurrence as it was in both Greek is

it is

and Latin, e.g. Pindar, iEschylus, Euripides, Terence, and Plautus. It was suggested by an ox becoming restive at the plough, injuring itself, and gaining nothing by the struggle.

The Oriental goad, according to Maundrell, was eight feet long, having one end sharp for urging on the animal, the other flat, for cleaning the ploughshare. It was capable of being used as a formidable weapon, Judges Hi. 31 1 S. xiii. 19, 21.

In this and the three following verses 15. St Paul was giving a compendious statement, combining the substance of what was said by the Lord at the moment of his conversion with the communication made to him afterwards through Ananias, and yet again in the vision in the Temple. He did not distinguish the occasions, or go into any details. Agrippa would not have been influenced by the name of a Jew living in obscurity at Damascus. Festus might have been disposed to treat the vision with ridicule.

And he said] In every Uncial one, and the Lord said. 16.

But rue]

Verses 16

MS. but

— 18 contain par-

ticulars supplementary to the accounts in ix.

and xxii. for this purpose]

Not to take vengeance for thy hostility to the Gospel and for thy

My Name. make thee] Rather, to appoint thee; the same word as in xxii. 14. hatred of to

ivill appear unto thee] An implicit promise of further revelations, amply fulfilled, to our knowledge. Cp. xviii. 9, xxii. 18, xxiii. 11; 2 Cor. xn. 1 7.

—

Delivering thee] This implies that sufferings, dangers, and persecutions awaited him. Some have proposed selecting\ choosing But the word occurs four other times thee. in the Acts, vii. 10, 34, xii. 11, xxiii. 27, and in Gal. L 4, always in the sense here given.

17.

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»•

THE ACTS. XXVI.

17— *3-]

17 Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom

now I send thee, 18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, 2nd from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins,

and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

king Agrippa, 19 Whereupon, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: 20 But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and

It is not easy to understand how St Paul could be said to be chosen from the Gentiles.

5'9

throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.

For these causes the Jews caught

me in the temple, and went about to kill

me.

22 Having therefore obtained help of God,

I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come 23 That Christ should suffer, and

Dispersion, cf. v. 23.

Gal. iv. a4, a*, that, having wandered on into the region of Sinai, during a sojourn amidst memories of Moses and Elijah, St Paul received those visions and revelations which in his case superseded personal intercourse with Christ,

bow] This word is not authorized by any of the ancient MSS. Three years elapsed

struction, Gal.

The Old Testament designation

the people]

of the Jews, surviving the Captivity and the

before this mission was actually given.

18.

Matt.

darkness]

and ignorance, as

Error

Rom, ii. 19;

16; John Eph. v. 8; Col. i. 13. to turn them] Rather, for tbem to turn, or iv.

viii.

ia;

that tbey may turn. The verb is neuter, as in v. ao. Cp. iii. a6, xiv. 15, xv. 36; 1 Thess.

L9. the power of Satan]

John xii. 31 ; a Cor. 4; Eph. ii. a, vi. 1a. antong tbem which are sanctified] There should be a comma after sanctified, to shew that faith in Christ is the one great instrument of all the effects here enumerated. The true order of the words is, that, through faith in iv.

Me, tbey may receive forgiveness, &c. It is as very members incorporate in the mystical body of Christ that we become heirs through hope of the everlasting kingdom. 19. ible.

not disobedient]

Grace is not irresist-

Human agency was free, even when the

call was so extraordinary and powerful.

20. first unto them of Damascus] This was after his return to that city from the retreat in Arabia, which immediately followed his conversion, Gal. i. 16, 17, of which no hint is given in St Luke's narrative. There is good reason for believing that, at the great crisis of his life, feeling the need of absolute solitude for communing with his own soul and with God, he plunged into the desert tract close to

Damascus,

xix.

15.

The district ad-

joining that city on E. and S.E. was considered a part of Arabia; and Justin M. f 1 Dialogue,' § 78, speaks of Damascus as belonging to Arabia rather than to SyroPhoenicia. And it may be presumed, from

and made him independent of all human inSee Bp ii. 6 ; 1 Cor. xi. a3. Lightfoot's 4 Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians,' pp. 88 108, and Canon Rawlinson's 4 St Paul in Damascus and Arabia,' pp.

—

ia7— 145.

On comat Jerusalem] See ix. a8, 39. paring Gal. i. 17, 18, aa, it appears that either the Apostle did not observe the order of time, or that St Luke did not attend to the details of a period of which he had no personal knowledge. See xiii. 50. the coasts] to the Gentiles]

Cf. xx. ai.

Cp. Matt. iii. 8. meet for repentance] A. V., in this passage, appears to have followed Beza, convenientia resipiscentiae. For these causes] Because I had taught 21. the Gentiles ; not because of any profanation of the Temple. the Jews] That were of Asia, xxi. a 7. They did not bring me to a to kill me] fair and regular trial, thereby betraying their consciousness of being in the wrong.

22. obtained help] In repeated rescues and escapes; as e.g. quite recently, xxv. 3, 4. witnessing] There can be no reasonable doubt of this being the right reading. Only one MS. has the passive participle, testified to, well reported of Meyer strangely and strongly preferred this, inconsistent as it is with the facts.

small and great] In respect of rank. Agrippa and Festus were included in the scope of the Apostle's commission. Cp. Rev. xi. 18, xiii. 16, xix. 5.

23.

That Christ should suffer]

Literally,

should

be capable of suffering.

sibilis

Chris tus,

Vulgate.

Deeply

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THE ACTS. XXVI.

520

that he should be the first that should

for

the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.

corner.

rise from

24 And as he thus spake for himFestus said with a loud voice,

self,

Paul, thou art beside thyself; learning doth make thee mad.

much

whom also I speak am persuaded that none

before

freely: for I

of these things are hidden from him

•

to the Jews, John xii. 34 ; 1 Cor. i. 23 Gal. This and the preceding verse echo v. 11. Luke xxiv. 44 47. the first that should rise] Col. i. 18 ; 1 Cor. xv. 20, 23 Rev. i. 5. Christ so resumed His life that death had no more dominion over Him, not as the son of the Shunammite, as Lazarus, and the son of the widow of Nain, who had to die a second time. light'] Hope and comfort as well as in-

—

;

6, lx.

Luke ii. 32 1—3.

the people]

;

Isai. ix. 2, xlii. 6, xlix.

See above, v. 17.

The Effect of his Statement on Festus, 24.

a loud

voice]

He raised his voice

because of the surprise which he felt. He spoke in earnestness, not at all jestingly, as some have understood. Festus was not as well acquainted with the character and customs of the Jews as his predecessor, xxiv. 10. To the apathy of Roman scepticism the Apostle's earnestness was unintelligible. much learning] Some have thought that the Original admits of being understood of the many documents or records to which the Apostle's attention was given.

25.

thing was not done

mad] The same word in the Original

believest.

28 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a

29 And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that

hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds. 30 And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up, and the governor,

and on Agrippa. Then Agrippa] He did not answer Cp. the question, but changed the subject.

28.

v. 30.

Almost] The rendering in our A.V., which has the support of the Syriac, of Erasmus, and Luther, gives so complete a sense, and makes the rejoinder of the Apostle so veryapt, that it is most unwelcome to have it questioned. But, as may be seen by quotations in Wetstein, this is not the sense in which the expression is used by Plato, Plutarch, or Polybius. The Vulgate is as obscure or ambiguous as the Original. Chrysostom quoted, but did not explain. Instead of Almost ist, various meanings have been suggested In a short time; 2nd, With a brief argument; which is equivalent to in few words, as A.V. renders in Eph. iii. 3 3rd, With little trouble; 4th, In a small measure; which is very near to Tyndale and Cranmer, somewhat. Of these the second has been generally preferred, and the reference made to it by St Paul has been regarded as an assurance that he would most gladly give time and argument to any extent that might be required to bring :

;

his hearers to believe in Christ.

This is stronger than the thou persuadest] Original, thou art endtavouring to persuade me.

The words of Agrippa have been regarded ;

as a light jest, as a contemp-

tuous sarcasm, as cold irony. 26. not done in a corner] Most true, whether this thing is understood of his conversion, on the high road, at midday, or of the Crucifixion and Resurrection, in the capital, at the time of the Passover.

True and intelligent

would have involved acknowledgment And St Paul that Jesus was the Messiah. was doubtless proposing and proceeding to

belief

demonstrate this when Agrippa interrupted

Cp. v. 30.

a Christian] Compare xi. 26. This was more courteous than Nazarene used by Tertullus, xxiv. 5.

20.

/ would to God]

pression in the Original believest thou]

27 King Agrippa, believest thou prophets? I know that thou

very differently

as beside thyself'in v. 24.

27.

the

;

struction,

24—30.

Christian.

25 But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness. 26 For the king knoweth of these things,

this

[v.

The form of ex-

b very peculiar:

would have prayed for it, if I had followed my own wish, and could have hoped to be heard.

30. when he had thus spoken] These words are wanting in the most important MSS., and

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vox-*.]

THE ACTS. XXVI. XXVII.

and Bernice, and they that sat with them: 31 And when they were cone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds. 32 Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar.

CHAPTER XXVII. Paul shipping toward Rome, 10 foretelleth

in the Syriac and Vulgate.

The omission of

them would represent Agrippa's action as more abrupt. the king rose up] Without expressing an opinion or consulting Festus whether they should listen any longer. Was he apprehensive of some practical, personal remark after *v. 27, or ashamed of acknowledging before Gentiles his belief in the Old Testament ?

31. aside ] Into another room, for private conference. doetb nothing] This strong attestation refers not to any particular point in his conduct, but to the habits of his life generally.

32. might have been set at liberty] The power of Festus to deal with the case was superseded by the appeal. If the Apostle had been liberated he would have been exposed, and probably fallen a victim, to the malice of the Jews. At all events he would have missed the voyage and the two years of teaching in Rome. The hearing before Agrippa brought a crisis it put an end to the delay which had already lasted more than two years, and Festus was constrained at once to send him out of ;

the reach of his enemies. The rancour of the Jews and the indifference of the Romans were alike overruled for the accomplishment of the Divine purpose. Christ's announcement, xxiii. 11, was fulfilled, and St Paul's prayer, Rom. xv. »3, 3a, was granted.

CHAP. XXVII.

<was

determined]

go by sea, and not overland, and the time for sailing was fixed. that *we] This indication of St Luke's presence is resumed from xxi. 18. The Apostle's arrest and imprisonment had kept them apart throughout the interval. The minute details of this portion of the Book are

I.e.

521

of the danger of the voyage, 1 1 but is not believed. 14 They are tossed to andfro with tempest, 41 and suffer shipwreck, ?*, 34, 44 yet all come safe to land.

when AND we

was determined that

should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band. 2 And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia ; one ArisL

other prisoners] Josephus, * Life,' § 3, says that Felix sent several priests to Rome on a very trivial accusation, and Eleazar, a chief of banditti, * J. W.' 11. xiii. 2 ; that Varus sent the' leaders of a sedition, ib. 11. v. 3. Wordsworth and Meyer point to hipovt (not #X\ovr) as indicating a different class of prisoners. Alford adopts the remark of De Wette, that St Luke was not discriminating in his use of these words. Cp. xv. 35, xvii. 34, and viii. 3 of the Gospel. Julius] Howson considers that he may, with a high degree of probability, be identified with Julius Priscus, afterwards prefect of the pnetorian guard under Vitellius.

Augustus band] Band is to be understood here as meaning a cohort, as in x. 1. In the absence of any satisfactory explanation, all that can be attempted is a mention of some of many conjectures, all more or less arbitrary. Greswell, iv. 200, considered the expression in the Original a Greek form of Cohors Praetoria. Josephus uses Sebastenes 1

(Augustans) xxvi. 1, and J. W.' 11. xii. 5, as a designation of cavalry; but this name probably designated that they had been originally enrolled at Samaria, which was called Sebaste. bodyguard of Nero, called Augustanis Tacitus, 4 Ann.' xiv. 15, Suetonius, § But their organisa25, has been suggested. tion, for the purpose of accompanying and 4

applauding his theatrical performances, was too near this period of our history. And it has been urged that, though some legions were entitled Augustan, there is no authority for attributing this designation to any cohort.

There is nothing to indicate that Julius had been quartered in Czsarea. It has been thought at least equally likely that he was on his return from some special mission to the East.

not extraneous to its chief purpose. They show how the Gospel had penetrated incidentally into remote and isolated localities. In the whole range of Greek and Roman literature there is nothing that gives so much information about ancient ships and seaman-

St Paul, with other Prisoners, embarks for Rome. Adramyttium] In Mysia, at the mouth 2. of the Caicus, giving its name to a deep gulf over against the island Lesbos. There was

ship as this chapter.

little

direct communication between Palestine

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THE ACTS. XXVII.

522 tarchus, a

Macedonian of Thessalo-

nica, being with us.

And the next day we touched And Julius courteously

Sidon.

entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself!

4 And when we had launched from But the centurion reckoned that, by placing himself on the main line of traffic, he should find a vessel bound for an Italian port, as he did at Myra, v. 6. From the and Italy.

timt of Jerome there has been a strange tendency, to which Grotius yielded, to confound this place with Hadrumetum in Africa. meaning to jail] The better supported reading puts the participle in construction with the coasting vessel: a ihlp which wai about to sail. Lightfoot and Wall fancied that in the course of this voyage opportunity was taken for leaving Trophiraus at Miletus, Lardner approved this, and a Tim. iv. 20. thought that the omission of his name in the first verse of this chapter was owing to his not having completed the passage to Italy. To touch at places along the to sail by]

See above, xix. 29, xx. 4.

The supplementary word in italics was needlessly and most unhappily introduced.

PERMITTED TO SEE FRIENDS AT SlDON. They must have had a the next day]

Doubling the headland very good passage. of Carmel, and crossing the Bay of Ptolemais,

had their perils for ancient navigation.

Now Saida, 67 geographical miles Sidon] very ancient city, Gen. x. from Caesarea. 19; u great Sidon," Josh. xi. 8, xix. 28; assigned to the tribe of Asher, but never con-

The river Judges i. 31, x. 12. Tamyras ran through it, contributing to its very considerable commerce and various manufactures. For some time Sidon gave its name to the narrow plain between Lebanon and the sea, Josephus, v. iii. 1. Christian teaching may have reached it in consequence of the dispersion after the death of Stephen, quered,

xi. 19.

courteously entreated] Bengel suggested that Julius may have been present in the audience chamber, xxv. 23. bis friends] Christian brethren, who had probably heard of him from the men of Tyre who urged him not to go to Jerusalem, xxi. 4, 12. Rather, to receive to refresh himself] The time allowed for their attention. this is not noted.

sailed

under]

island, between

the island on their left If the wind had been favourable they would have passed to the

southward of it. Cyprus]

See above, iv. 36. were contrary] The west and north-west are prevalent at that season of the year. See the * Voyage and Shipwreck of St Paul,' by James Smith, of Jordanhill, pp. 66, the <wi:ids

74, second edition.

sea of Cilicia] 5. Off the coast familiar to St Paul. The course, indicated in general outline only, had the advantage of the land breeze and of the current which always runs westward along the southern coast of Asia

Minor.

At Myra is transferred to a Ship or Alexandria, Myra]

that in xx. 16. one Aristarcbus]

Under the

lee

of the

and the main land, leaving

3-6-

thence, we sailed under Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. 5 And when we had sailed over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia. 6 And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy and he put us therein.

The word is different from

coast in passing.

[v.

Now called Dembra by the Turks.

One of the most important cities of Lycia, which, in its prosperity, numbered twentythree; more than two miles inland, on the river Andriaki, which has silted up since the time of Strabo. u The stupendous magnitude of its theatre attests the extent of its former population the splendour of its tombs its wealth," Smith, 69. " It was common for ;

ships bound from Egypt to the westward to be found in the neighbourhood of Myra when See the references the winds were contrary.

to Socrates, Sozomen, and Philo in Wetstein."

Howson. a ship of Alexandria] Not one of the 6. imperial corn transports, but very large. This vessel accommodated two hundred and seventysix,

passengers

and crew

beside her cargo,

together,

*v.

37,

w. 10, 38. The ship in

which Josephus was wrecked had six hundred on board, Life,' § 3. And that described by Lucian, as it has been calculated from the measurements which he gives, must have been of eleven or twelve hundred tons burthen. It was in consequence of the foul wind that In ordinary this vessel was found at Myra. weather the Alexandrian ships stood right *

across the Mediterranean. put us therein] The accommodation on board the Alexandrian ship was doubtless much better. Another advantage was avoiding the delay caused by touching at the many ports which the ship of Adramyttium had to visit.

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Or,

THE ACTS. XXVII.

7—".]

523

And said unto them, Sirs, I

7 And when we had sailed slowly many days, and scarce were come

perceive that this voyage will be with

over against Cnidus, the wind not we sailed under ' Crete, over against Salmone 8 And, hardly passing it, came unto a place which is called The fair havens ; nigh whereunto was the city of Lasea. 9 Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them^

hurt and much damage, not only tnntry .^* of the lading and ship, but also f our lives. 1 Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul. 12 And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might attain to

suffering us,

7. many day/] The distance between Myra and C nidus was only 130 geographical miles,

which, with a fair wind, might have been accomplished in one day. A.V. scarce] Rather, with difficulty. is open to giving a wrong impression, as if they had barely reached it when the wind

The same word

became unfavourable.

rendered hardly in the next verse. Cp. Josephus, XIV. xiv. 3, fio\t£ «fr 'Po&op diao-wfcTai. Cnidus] Just below the extreme southwest point of Asia Minor, Triopium, now Cape trio. The city was partly on the mainA causeway which land, partly on an islet. united them formed two harbours; and those who had the direction of this voyage would have done wisely in availing themselves of one of them. the wind not suffering us] To proceed in the regular course. By abandoning which, in order to be under the lee of Crete, they committed themselves to the open sea. Some have misunderstood that the wind prevented their entering the harbour of C nidus. The easternmost point of the Salmone] island,

retaining

still

its

name.

far as

Cnidus, the ship had the advantage of a weather shore, smooth water, and a westerly current; and, by running under the lee of Crete to Cape Salmone, similar advantages were secured as far as the Fair Havens. Smith, 74.

WHICH TOUCHES AT THE FAIR HAVENS. 8.

hardly passing it]

island slowly.

Coasting along the

Some have preferred to under-

stand, <we with difficulty came unto.

The fair havens] This name survives in Limenes Kali, an open roadstead, or rather two roadsteads contiguous to each other, on the south coast of the island, a few miles to the east of Cape Matala, well protected by reefs, but not equal to Lutro as a winter harbour. Smith, 81, 84. See v. 12. Lasea] This name does not occur in

any ancient geographer, and is very variously written in

MSS.; Lasaia,

Laissa,

Alatta.

This form of it was found, in 1856, surviving in

some ruins about

five miles east of Fair Smith, p. 80, and in Appendix 11 1.

Havens.

9. much time twos spent] In the Fair Havens, seems, under stress of wind and weather.

The Syriac has, And we were there much time. sailing] Rather, the voyage; the long voyage to Italy. the fast] On the tenth of Tisri, answering to the end of September or the beginning of October, Levit. xvi. 29, xxiii. 27 ; Num. xxix. Cp. Josephus, in. x. 3. It was the only 7. fast of Divine appointment for the Jews. According to Philo, in his 4 Life of Moses,' no prudent man went to sea after that. Ancient navigation was suspended between the Feast of Tabernacles and that of the Dedication, an interval which may be regarded as corresponding to that between

Michaelmas and Lady Day. 10.

/ perceive]

He was expressing his

own opinion, for which his experience of the sea and its perils qualified him, 2 Cor. xi. 26. And the sequel proved that his advice was

sound and judicious. Afterwards, w. 22

—25,

he spoke under Inspiration. hurt] The word seems to point to the fury of the storm. The apprehension about the cargo was verified, v. 38. our lives] Two hundred and seventy-six were exposed to this hazard. Though the Apostle knew that he himself was to see Rome, he had not, down to this time, been assured of the safety of all his fellow-voyagers.

Who

had the charge of the 11. the master] navigation. the owner it must have been of very great consequence to have the cargo delivered in Italy with as little delay as pos-

sible. But there was no thought of continuing the voyage, only of moving to a more commodious port in the neigbourhood.

Rather, not well 12. not commodious] situated; "open to nearly one half of the

compass."

Smith, p. 84.

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THE ACTS. XXVII.

524

Phenice, and there to winter ; which is an haven of Crete, and lieth toward the south west and north west. 1 3 And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete.

Phmice]

This is thought to have been with Lutro, in 1853, by Captain Sprat t, whose opinion was confirmed after careful examination by Tennent and Brown, in 1856. It is about 40 miles to the west of Fair Havens, in which direction it is the only secure shelter for vessels of any size. Smith, 89, 244 sq. Pashley acquiesced in this, * Crete/ II. 251. As St Luke never reached this harbour, his account of it must have been based on what he heard of the discussion at Fair Havens. The imminent risk of being blown out to sea between Fair Havens and Phenice fully justified the opinion of the Apostle. Meyer considered it uncertain whether this haven was the modern Lutro. identified

toward

the

south

quest

and north

quest]

The haven formed u such a curve that one shore stretched towards the north-west, and the other towards the south-west." Meyer. Howson understands that u the harbour is sheltered from these winds, and that the difficulty is to be explained simply by remembering that sailors speak of everything from their own point of view ; and that such a harbour does look from the water towards the land which incloses it in the direction of southwest and north-west." Smith explains that the harbour is open not to the point from which the wind blows, but to the point towards which it blows; i.e. not open to south-west but to north-east. Looking in conformity with the motion of the

—

winds mentioned is what is meant.

This was

accepted by Alford.

Bp Wordsworth pronounces it inconsistent with the principles of grammatical interpretation to render the

words in any other way

than that in which they have been translated in A.V. and the Vulgate; and deems it not improbable that, when the southern coast of Crete has been more accurately surveyed, another harbour may be found corresponding with the words of St Luke so understood. 13. loosing] Having weighed anchor, or, set sail, according to the supplement adopted for the elliptical form of expression. sailed close by] Nearer the coast than usual, or than they had previously ; the adverb being in the comparative degree. Erasmus and Luther followed the Vulgate in treating the word asson, rendered close by, as a proper name, Assos; and so, with the exception of the Geneva, our English Versions

[v.

13— id.

14 But not long after there

arose IOr* *^

against it a tempestuous wind, called

Euroclydon. 15

And when the ship was caught,

and could not bear up into the wind,

we let her drive. 16 And running under a certain previously to i6it. Crete supplies nothing nearer than Asus, Pliny, iv. xii. 20, and that

was inland.

A violent Tempest. After having passed 14. not long after] the point beyond which they could no longer keep close to the shore. against it] Kar avrrjs. It has been taken for the ship; to which it has been objected that the noun, used thirteen times, is neuter.

Tyndale and Cranmer went with Luther in understanding their purpose in the preceding The Vulgate referred it to Crete, on which understanding it would be well to follow Howson and Alford, and for against it to substitute down from it, i.e. from the high lands of the island, Mount Ida in particular, the gusts from which are spoken of as terrific. See Smith, 97. verse.

The Original is more precise,

tempestuous]

Such a shift-

like a hurricane or a whirlwind.

ing of the wind

common in that quarter.

Captain Spratt, having left the Fair Havens with a light southerly wind, had, after rounding Cape Matala, a strong northerly wind directly down from Mount Ida. And Captain Stewart, in his remarks on the Archipelago, observed that "it is always safe to anchor under the lee of an island with a northerly wind, as it dies away gradually but it would be extremely dangerous with southerly winds, as they almost invariably shift to a violent northerly wind." Smith, 97, 99. Euroclydon] This was pronounced by Bentley, Remarks on Free Thinking/ § 32, to be an incongruous compound from wind and waves, and a corruption of the reading ot the Alexandrine MS. Euracylon. This judgment is confirmed by K and B. The Vulgate has Euroaquilo. The E.N.E. wind is to be ;

understood. Bp Wordsworth and Mr Smith agree in following Bentley. St Luke having, contrary to his usual practit e, 12, 13, prefixed the word called to this name, has been thought to favour the suggestion that he was employing a word which he had heard usrd by the crew.

Having yielded to 15. we let her drive] the wind we scudded before it. The wind, which drove them to Clauda and made them apprehensive of being driven towards the Syrtis, must have been E.N.E. Smith, 96, 98. 16.

under]

Under the lee of.

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THE ACTS. XXVII.

T.I 7— «•]

525

island which is called Clauda, we had

with our own hands the tackling of

much work to come by the boat 17 Which when they had taken

the ship.

up, they used helps, undergirding the ship ; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and

stars

so were driven.

taken away. 21 But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed

18 And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship 19 And the third day we cast out

20 And when neither sun nor in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us y all hope that we should be saved was then

Josephus, * J. W.'

had smooth water for ten or fifteen miles, of which they took advantage to complete their

incurring war with Rome.

preparations for riding out the gale. A small island, about ao miles Clauda]

strake sail] This unfortunate translation represents them as depriving themselves of the only possible means of avoiding the danger

south-west of Crete, called by Ptolemy Claudos ; by Pliny and Suidas, Cauda, which appears in B and the Vulgate; by Mela, Gaudoj. Its modern Greek name Gaudonesi has been contracted by the Italians into Gozzo under which designation it must be distinguished from the larger island of that name near Malta.

bad much work]

Literally,

had barely

strength enough. to

which they feared. Rather, lowered the great yard, which, with its enormous sail, strengthened by bands of rope sewn across it, was extremely heavy. It has been explained of lowering the mast but that was practicable ;

rowing galleys only; in the large sailing vessels it became, under certain circumstances, in

necessary

away the mast.

to cut

Juvenal,

xii. 61.

come by the boat]

To hoist it on board

the ship. This could not be attempted as they were running down to Clauda. The boat, of considerable size, v. 30, having been towed between twenty and thirty miles through a rough sea, must have been full of water. The passengers, it seems, gave their help.

Cables 17. helps, undergirding the ship] passed under the keel, round the null, and made fast on the deck. The process is called frapp'mg a ship. Lord Anson had recourse to it in 1743, and Sir G. Back, on his return from his Arctic voyage in 1837; and the Albion frigate was frapped after a hurricane in coming home from India in 1846. The imperfection of their build, and the manner in which they were rigged, having nothing to distribute the strain upon the hull when the great sail was filled by the wind, rendered the ancient ships far more liable to starting planks, and to foundering, than those of modern times, in which the strain is spread over three Smith, masts, with small sails easily handled. Under-girdles were among the regular 102. Boeckh's sea stores of the Athenian galleys. * Inscriptions.' Repub.' x. 3 Cp. Plato, Thucydides, I. 29 ; Horace, * Odes,' I. xiv. 6. Singular in the Original the quicksands] the Greater Syrtis, on the north coast of Africa, now the Gulf of Sidra, almost exactly south-west of Crete. A. V. has gone back to WycluTe. InTyndale, Cranmer, Geneva, and Rheims, the proper name was retained. The See Agrippa's Syrtis was a word of fear. *

remonstrance with

11. xvi. 4.

bis

countrymen against

No longer under canvass.

and so] 18. to

Imperfect: set themselves

lightened]

lighten,

clearing the deck of superspars and such like. It may be

numerary assumed that, by this time, the ship had begun to leak. 19.

From the commence-

the third day]

ment of the storm. <we cast out]

The balance of authority is

in favour of they cast out,

the

Rather, the

tackling]

furniture;

beds, tables, benches, baggage chests, and the like. They waited till things had become very much worse before any of the freight was cast overboard, v. 38. The word here is not exactly the same as that used by LXX. in Jonah L 5.

many days]

20.

Possibly

all

the dreary

interval between Crete and Melita, v. ^.

This was a great aggravation of it impossible for them, to whom the compass was unknown, to ascerappeared]

their peril, rendering

tain the direction of their course. lay on us]

The word expresses very great

violence.

then] thenceforth, from that time, taken away] Literally, was being pared away all round.

21.

abstinence]

of desperation.

Not total, nor the result

The provisions must have been

damaged by salt water and the state of alarm, ;

together with the continual and urgent calls to exertion, must have prevented cooking and regular meals.

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THE ACTS. XXVII.

526

from Crete, and to have gained this

[v.

22—3a

26 Howbeit we must be cast upon

harm and loss.

a certain island.

22 And now I exhort you to be of good cheer for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship.

27 But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and

23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and

to some country

whom I serve, :

sail with thee.

Wherefore,

be of good

sirs,

cheer for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. :

This has been understood But both the Greek and Latin

to have gained]

as gentle irony.

idiom admit of its being taken as equivalent Cp. Josephus, to escaped^ have been spared. rliny, * N. H.' vn. 40, II. Hi. «, vii. viii. 1. " lucrifecit injuriam."

barm and loss] The same words as in v. 10; the former pointing to the fury of the storm, the latter to the actual damage. 22. there shall be no loss] What a conbetween St Paul's position and that of the Prophet who knew that the great tempest was on his account, Jonah i. 12. trast

During which the Apostle is cheered by an Angel with assurance of the 8afety of all on board. 23.

stood by

me]

n. the angel] an

Not in a dream.

Cp.

xvi. 10, xxiii.

angel.

Of God

&c. was

subjoined, because the heathens whom he was addressing might have fancied that Mercury was intended. I serve] I worship, as Rom. i. 9. Some of those on board must have seen St Paul's

devotions.

24.

Therefore his

thou must be brought]

was assured to him till he had stood in Caesar's presence; a Tim. iv. 16, 17 has been usually understood as shewing that he had a

life

personal hearing before Nero. God hath given thee] In answer, we cannot reasonably doubt, to St Paul's prayer on their This did not dispense with the due behalf. use of all ordinary means, v. 31.

26.

we must]

be cast upon] fall into , v. 17.

27.

in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near

28 And sounded, and found it twenty fathoms and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms. 29 Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished :

24 Saying, Fear not, Paul ; thou must be brought before Caesar and, lo, God hath given thee all them that 25

down

By Divine appointment. The same word is translated

the fourteenth night]

their quitting the Fair

Reckoned from

Havens.

The average

rate at which such a ship would drift before a

for the day.

30 And as the shipmen were about gale of wind is calculated at thirty-six mQes Having left Clauda in twenty-four hours. late in the evening, she would by midnight on the fourteenth be less than three miles from

Bay in

the entrance to St Paul's Smith, in 114.

—

Malta.

Of much larger extent than the Ptolemy, in. 16. says that Sicily is bounded on the east and Crete on the west by Adria. It answered very much to that division of the Mediterranean which Rennel Adria]

Adriatic.

distinguished as its middle, and Humboldt as its Syrtic, basin, lying between the coasts of Sicily, Italy, Greece, and Africa. Joseph us and eighty of his fellow-voyagers, when their ship foundered in the middle of Adria, were

rescued by another vessel on her way from Barca to Puteoli, 4 Life,' § 3. deemed that they dre<w near] In the nautical language of this account, that the land was approaching them. The ears of the shipmen were alive to the sound of the breakers before the passengers were aware of it. At the courtmartial held after the loss of the frigate Lively very near this spot in i8iq, it was stated that the land, being extremely low, was not to be seen a quarter of a mile off, but the surf on the shore was visible. Smith, 126.

28. And sounded] Off Koura Point, the south-eastern extremity of St Paul's Bay, the soundings are twenty fathoms, and a little further, in the direction of the assumed drift, fifteen fathoms. Smith, 117.

20. four anchors] Ancient anchors were very much smaller than those now used, and therefore ships carried many.

This kept the ship's head out of the stern] towards the shore, in the best position for stranding her when daylight gave the opportunity.

30. about to flee] Feeling no confidence in the declaration of the Apostle, v. n, they

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THE ACTS. XXVII.

• 3I—39-]

to flee out of the ship, when thejr had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would

have cast anchors out of the foreship, 31 Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.

32 Then the

soldiers cut off the

ropes of the boat, and let her fall off.

33 And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing.

34 Wherefore I pray you to take some meat

for this is for your health

thought it not unlikely that, in her leaky conwould go down. Their alleged purpose could not possibly have been of any advantage under the circumstances. dition, the ship

cast... out]

Rather, carried out,

i.e.

the boat.

31.

the centurion]

Who, as a landsman,

had been deceived by the pretext of the crew. He, as the representative of imperial authority, could exercise control. The ship, abandoned by the mariners, would have been in the hands of the soldiers and passengers who were incapable of managing her. ye cannot be served] This, notwithstanding the positive assurance which had been given 22 him from Heaven, To look for 24. the end without using the means is not to trust God, but to tempt Him.

—

5^7

for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you. 35 And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all and :

when he had broken //, he began to eat.

36 Then were they

all

of good

cheer, and they also took some meat. 37 And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore

and six-

teen souls.

38 And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea. 39 And when it was day, they knew not the land: but they disno fear of ridicule from heathen soldiers and no imminency of peril was allowed by St Paul to interfere, in his own practice, with the discharge of an obligation which he 5. enforced in bis teaching, 1 Tim. iv. 3 sailors,

—

broken it] The usage of a Hebrew table was to break and distribute bread immediately u This was not a after the giving of thanks. celebration of the Eucharist, but a common meal." Bp Patrick, *Mensa Mystica,' vi. v. 2.

37.

two hundred

threescore

and sixteen]

See the note on v. 6. The enumeration is not repeated after the escape from the wreck. The Divine assurance in v. 24 was enough. The Vatican MS. is singular in exhibiting about seventy-six; and Granville Penn pronounced the smaller number the more likely.

32. fall off] go adrift To human apprehension the loss of the boat might well appear to be a great aggravation of the perils.

But the ship in which Josephus was wrecked had about 600 on board, Life/ § 3.

while the day was coming on] The Original points to a still earlier hour, until it was beginning to be day. The interval before daybreak was available for taking food, while any work about the ship was still difficult and doubtful. having taken nothing] Not to be understood literally. Their food had been taken at ir-

tained as long as possible; but now, when they were preparing to run the ship on the beach, a light draft of water had become of The wheat must the utmost consequence. have been shifted, more or less, during the gale, and this discharge of it not only relieved but righted her so that she would answer the helm better. Meyer understood not the cargo,* but their provisions. But the remainder of these can hardly have been in such a quantity as to affect the draft of the ship.

33.

regular intervals, in no great quantity, and in haste.

34.

See v. 21, and compare Matt xi. 18. health]

Welfare, preservation.

The

coming day would task their strength, in beaching the ship or in swimming. shall not an hair fall] A proverbial expression for perfect safety, 1 S. xiv. 45 ; 2 S. xiv.

There 11 ; i K. i. 52 ; Luke xii. 7, xxi. 18. considerable authority for shall not a hair

perish.

36.

in presence

of them

all]

No hurry,

38.

the

wheat]

The cargo had been re-

39. knew not the land] St Paul's Bay is remote from the great harbour of Malta, and has no marked features of any kind to be recognised by even a native coming upon it unexpectedly.

It is not at all likely that that

had ever been seen by the Alexandrian ship's company on any previous voyage. Smith, 136, 143*

side of the island

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THE ACTS. XXVII.

528

covered a certain creek with a shore, into the which they were minded, if

were possible, to thrust in the ship. 40 And when they had taken up cho™'they the anchors, they committed themfo'thZZa, selves unto tne sea > and loosed the &c rudder bands, and hoised up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore. 41 And falling into a place where it

JOr,r«/

two seas met, they ran the ship aground ; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves.

a shore] sandy beach, free from rocks. Cf. xxi. 5 ; Matt. xiii. 2. 40. taken up the anchors] The marginal rendering is more correct in the text A. V. has followed an inaccuracy of the Vulgate. The four anchors were detached and abandoned, that the water-logged ship might be relieved of their weight. and loosed] The Original has a word which shows that the loosing of the rudder- bands was simultaneous with the abandoning of the anchors. Luther did not express this, although the Vulgate has simul lax antes. The only notice of it in any English Version is loosing withal, in the Rheims. the rudder bands] Literally, the bands of the :

rudders. Ancient ships had two large paddles, one on each quarter. The bands were the lashings by which these bad been secured out of the water, close to the sides of the vessel, when it was found expedient to anchor by the stem. Letting down the rudders, by depressing that end of the vessel, and so elevating her prow, would be helpful in stranding her. the mainsail] This mistake is in all the

English Versions since Wycliffe who, more correctly, gave a little sail. The mainsail must

have been incapable of being used after *v. 17, even if it did not go overboard along with

A small foresail, hoisted on a short mast at the prow, is to be understood here. Cp. Juvenal, xn. 68. u The word in the Original does not occur in any ancient or in any mediaeval Greek author." Smith, 185. the yard.

a place where two seas met] In Tyndale, Cranmer, and the Geneva, a place which had the sea on both the sides. In St Paul's 41.

Bay, an islet, Salmonetta, is severed from the mainland of Malta by a channel not above 100 yards in breadth. Of this channel they could not be aware till they were well within the bay. " The sea rushing into the bay from the north-east strikes against the outer point

of this small island, which causes it to divide

[v.

40—44.

42 And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape.

43 But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose ; and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea y and get to land

44 And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship.

And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.

CHAPTER XXVIII. I

Paul after his shipwreck

tained of the barbarians.

kindly enterThe viper on

and meet again at the inner point, in a small cove, where any shipmaster would run his ship if in distress." Cole, quoted by Bp Wordsworth. The adjective in the Original is as applicable to water uniting two seas, e.g. the Bosphorus, as to land like the Isthmus of Corinth. It has been suggested that the ship grounded on a shoal or on a tongue of land projecting under the surface of the sea. Dio Chrysostom, indicated by Casaubon, mentions rpa^ca {y. 29) *cm diBakarra among the difficulties in the way of getting clear of the Syrtis. stuck fast] In the "bottom of mud, graduating into tenacious clay," in which the forepart of the ship fixed itself. Smith, 139. was broken] Rather, was going to pieces.

42. soldiers,

kill

the

holding

The Roman

prisoners]

life

very cheap,

were

in-

fluenced by the liability of guards who allowed the escape of prisoners, accused as well as convicted, to undergo the punishment which the Law would have inflicted on their prisoners, xii. 19, xvi. 27.

43. willing] This archaism, for wishing, the English Versions. that they which could swim]

is in all

Under

the

circumstances the chains must have been taken off for the time. The centurion, by incurring this responsibility, gave the strongest possible proof of his esteem and regard for the Apostle.

44.

And the rest]

is continued to the

The centurion's order

word ship.

escaped all safe to land] The assurance given to St Paul, v. 24, was made good notwithstanding all the risks and perils. The soldiers would have perished by the selfishness of the sailors, the prisoners would have been sacrificed by the cruelty of the soldiers, if He who orders the wills and affections of men, as He controls the elements, had not heard the prayers of the Apostle. This was the fourth time that St Paul had suffered shipwreck, 2 Cor. xi. 25.

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THE ACTS. XXVIII.

T. 1-6.]

hand hurteth him not.

his

many diseases in the island.

He healeth 11

They de-

part towards Rome. 17 He cUdareth to the Jews the cause of his coming. 24 After his preaching some were persuaded, and some believed not. 30 Yet he preacheth there two years.

when they were AND then they knew

escaped,

that the island

was called Melita. 2 And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness : for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because

of the cold. 3 And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out

Chap. XXVIII.

they hne<w]

There

b much more authority for the other reading, <wben we <were escaped, then we knew. This refers to xxvii. 39. Melita] Constantine Porphyrogenitus, Emperor of the East, A.D. 911 959, thought that Meleda, an island off the coast of DalHe was followed by matia, was intended. Georgi, a Benedictine, native of that island, 1730; by Jacob Bryant; and, with no little ingenuity and learning, by Falconer, the editor of Strabo. A misapprehension of Adria, xxvii. 27, and of the meaning of the barbarous people contributed to the acceptableness of this view. But all the details appear to be The wind, either E. or in favour of Malta. N.E., more or less fair for the transit thither from Clauda, would have made it impossible for the ship to be taken up the Gulf of Venice. And, if that had been her course, there could have been no ground for any apprehension of the Syrtis, xxvii. 17. The time occupied in drifting 468 miles, by a calculation based on assuming 36J miles in 24 hours, Smith, 122, corresponds with the distance between Clauda and Malta, rather less than 480 miles; whereas the drift to Meleda would have been 780 miles, not through open sea but amidst many islands. The exactness of the coincidence in the soundings, xxvii. 28, is startling, Smith, 127. Malta was in the track from Alexandria Syracuse, Rhegium, to Rome, xxviii. 11. Puteoli all come in due order from Malta, whereas, in the course from Meleda, Dyrrachium and Brundusium must have been pro-

—

of the heat, and

Hospitality shown by the people of Melita. 2.

the barbarous people]

Not savage or

uncivilized. Melita had manufactures, Cicero, *in Verrem,' 11. iv. 46; Silius Italicus, xiv.

•j 1 ; and handsome buildings, Diodorus Sicu-

fastened

his

hand.

4 And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. 5 And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. 6 Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly : but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and $aid that he was a god. lus, v. 12. The natives were so characterized Cp. as being neither Greeks nor Romans. Rom. i. 14; 1 Cor. xiv. 11. They were, for

the most part, of Phoenician descent Modern Maltese has, for its base, a not very pure form of Arabic, which is found in the north of Africa.

Heavy rain. present rain] Greswell's calculation points to the cold] the beginning, if not the middle of November, iv. 196.

The Apostle unharmed by the bite of a Viper.

minent

529

It has been urged in favour of Meleda that, although there are serpents in But the comMalta, they are not venomous.

a viper]

plete clearance of the aboriginal forest, the very high cultivation of that island, and its Raving 1200 persons to a square mile, may fully account for such a change. Smith refers to the Isle of Arran and parts of Galloway as instances of the disappearance of noxious animals before an increasing population, and quotes LyelKs 'Principles of Geology' for the

same result in Brazil. out of the beat]

P. 146.

Rather, out of the bundle

of sticks, in consequence of the heat. In the Original this verb suffereth not] a past tense, expressing that the natives thought that his doom was sealed. 4.

be shook of]

The full force of the best

having shaken of from himself Though it is not distinctly stated that the viper bit him, it seems clear that this was a case in which the words of our Lord, Mark xvi. 18 and Luke x. 19, were fulfilled. supported reading

have swollen]

The word implies in-

flammation as well as swelling. An illustration they changed their minds] of the fickleness of popular feeling, the verse of that in xiv. 11 13, 19.

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THE ACTS. XXVIII.

53o

7 In the same quarters were posof the chief man of the

[v.

7— 13.

many honours; and when we

de-

sessions

parted, they laded us with such things

island, whose name was Publitis; who

as were necessary.

received us, and lodged us three days

courteously.

And it came to pass, that the

father of Publius lay sick of a fever

and of a bloody flux to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him. 9 So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island, came, and were healed io Who also honoured us with

was Castor and Pollux. 12

The chief Roman 7. the chief man] magistrate of the island, a deputy of the Praetor of Sicily. Inscriptions have been found in Malta, Latin and Greek, in which this word appears as an official title, as it here gives the son precedency over his father. us] Not every one, as in v. 2. This is to be understood of the Apostle and his two companions.

Cp. 1/. 10.

of a fever] The same expression In as taken <with a great fever , Luke iv. 38. the Original the plural is used, implying fever accompanied by fits, an intermittent fever, dysentery. Dr Galland of Valetta informed Mr Smith that this disease is by no means uncommon in Malta, 169; and Howson's 8.

sick

testimony is distinct to the same effect, II. 428. See the note on xx. 10. and prayed] So St Peter, ix. 40.

He heals many who had Diseases in the Island. 9.

others]

The Original is more extensive

all the rest came, and were healed] One striking fulfilment of Mark xvi. 18. St Luke, in his great brevity, says not a word of the moral effect of these miracles, or of any labours of St Paul in making the Gospel known in Malta. 10.

honours] Demonstrations of reverence

and hospitality, distinct from the presents in the last clause of the verse. <we departed] we were setting sail. In February, or early in March, it has been calculated.

The Voyage resumed after three months. In the course of the fourth month after the shipwreck. a ship of Alexandria} xxvii. 6. bud wintered] Having taken refuge from the storm in which the other ship had been wrecked. 11.

after three months]

And after three months we de-

parted in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle, whose sign

And landing at Syracuse, we

tarried there three days.

13 And from thence we* fetched a compass, and came to Rhegium and after one day the south wind blew, and we came the next day to Puteoli

Not projecting as a figure-head, but nigh relief on either side of the prow. Castor and Pollux were the tutelary powers of seamen. Horace, 4 Odes/ 1. iii. 2, xiL 25 28; Catullus, iv. 27. "The meteoric appearance sometimes seen in the Mediterranean, at the close of a storm, which was anciently called Castor and Pollux, is now hailed by the sailors with equal joy under the name of St Peter and St Nicholas." Blunt's 'Vestiges of Ancient Manners and Customs sign]

—

in Modern Italy and Sicily/ p. 37.

Syracuse, Rhegium, Puteoli. 12. Syracuse] About eighty miles from Malta. three days] For commercial purposes, or, perhaps, waiting for a fair wind. 13. fetched a compass]* " Proceeded circuitously ; worked to windward, availing themselves of the sinuosities of the coast; but with the wind north-west they could not proceed through the Straits of Messina."

Smith, 151.

Rhegium] Now Reggio, at the south-west extremity of Italy, at the southern entrance to the Straits of Messina, which are little more than three miles in width between it and the Sicilian city, Messina. Its coins exhibit Castor and Pollux as its tutelary powers. "The distance is about 181 the next day] miles. If we suppose* the ship sailed at the rate of seven miles an hour the mean of the foregoing examples the time consumed would be about twenty-six hours." Smith, 200. Puteoli] Now Poz%uoli, in the north-east angle of the Bay to which it gave the name Sinus Puteolanus before it was called the Bay of Naples. Ostia being capable of admitting only small vessels, this was the wellsheltered port at which the imperial cornships from Alexandria discharged their cargoes. Seneca's seventy-seventh Epistle gives a verr graphic and lively description of their arrival Josephus landed there, after his shipwreck,

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THE ACTS. XXVIII.

14— »7]

14 Where we found brethren, and desired to tarry with them seven days and so we went toward

saw, he thanked God, and took cou-

Rome.

the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard : but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him. 17 And it came to pass, that after

were

rage.

15 And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, thev came to meet us as far as Appii forum, and The three taverns : whom when Paul

Life,' § 3.

Ignatius would fain have landed

there and followed the footsteps of St Paul to Rome, from which it was distant 150 miles, 4

Martyrdom,' § 5.

Having been previously called Dicaearchia, it had this name from a number of strong mineral springs and a considerable extent of the coast in its neighbourhood was shattered by earthquakes. Among its ruins those of a great temple of Serapis, and of the mole which had twenty-five arches, are very conspicuous. ;

Christians; an incidental 14. brethren] proof of the spread of the knowledge of the Gospel even in Italy. seven days] Cp. Troas, xx. 6, and Tyre, xxi. 4. This gave an opportunity for spendIf it was not ing a Lord's Day at Puteoli. convenient to the centurion to have an interval for communicating with the authorities in Rome, the allowance of this delay so near the ultimate destination seems to imply great indulgence on the part of Julius.

15. from thence] From Rome, where, a few years before this time, St Paul's Epistle had oeen received, in which he had expressed a la. most earnest desire to visit that city, i. Appii forum] About 33 miles from Rome, at the junction of the road from Puteoli with the Appian Way, the great road from Rome to Capua in the first instance, afterwards prolonged to Brundusium, at the northern extremity of a canal parallel with the road through the Pontine Marshes. Horace, 'Sat.'

9—

531

4—9.

And when we came to Rome,

assurance that the Faith had taken root in the imperial city.

This form the captain of the guard] 16. of expression in so exact a writer as St Luke, has been thought to imply that St Paul must have arrived in Rome before March, A.D. 6a, when Burrhus Afranius, who had, with Seneca, acted as tutor to Nero, and was afterwards his Greek secretary, Josephus, xx. viii. 9, Tacitus, * Ann.' xm. a, died, under suspicion of having been poisoned, that the Emperor might be free from his opposition to the divorce of Antonia, Tacitus, xii. 42, xiv. 51. It has been stated that it was only between 51 and 6 a A d., that the praetorian guards were under the command of Burrhus, as their one Praefect, Greswell, iv. 199.

appears from

that neither Sejanus nor Macro had a colleague. As the entire clause, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard, is not found in K, A, B, nor recognised by the Syriac and the Vulgate, and as critical editors since Mill have very generally omitted it, much stress cannot

Josephus, xviii.

vi.

be laid upon it. to dwell by himself] Apart from other prisoners, at first, with some friend who wel-

comed him,

v. 13, afterwards, in hired lodgings, v. 30. This indulgence must have been due to a favourable report in the letter from Festus, confirmed by the testimony of the centurion, Julius. It might be considered that the Apostle had done the state good service in contributing to the safety of the military escort and of his fellow-prisoners.

The three taverns] Ten miles nearer Rome, at the point where the road from Antium fell

a soldier] the soldier, to whom he was bound by a chain, v. ao, xxiv. a 7 Eph. vi.

Both these stations into the Appian Way. are mentioned by Cicero in a very brief letter to Atticus, 11. 10. The Bishop of this place

Col. iv. 18. The frequent relief of this sentry must gradually have brought St Paul into acquaintance with many of the praeAgrippa I. was similarly bound as torians. soon as he fell into disfavour with Tiberius, Josephus, xviii. vi. 7.

was one of nineteen appointed by Constantine to decide between Donatus and Czcilianus. Optatus, * de Schism. Donatist.' 1. 23. There had been much pretook courage] The wearisome viously to depress St Paul. captivity in Caesaxea, the disastrous voyage, and the winter months spent in Malta, brought little or nothing to call his thoughts off from the great heaviness and continual sorrow which he had in his heart on account of the obduracy of his countrymen. The sight of these Roman Christians cheered him with the

;

St Paul explains to the Jews his coming to Rome. 17.

after three days] Only this very short entire it

—not three days, may be presumed, according to the Jewish mode of reckoning—was taken for and prayer,

interval

rest

and for refreshing, private intercourse with

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THE ACTS. XXVIII.

532

three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together : and when .they

were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. Who, when they had exa1 mined me, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me. 19 But when the Jews spake against it j I was constrained to appeal the Roman Christians, whom he had earnestly longed to see. The heads of the the chief of the Jews] Synagogue or Synagogues, and the wealthier men among the Jews, who, being restricted to the Transtiberine quarter, were very numerous in Rome. Eight thousand of them supported the deputation of fifty sent from Jerusalem to complain of Archelaus shortly after his accession. Josephus, xvii. xi. 1. To the very last the offer of the Gospel was made to the Jews in the first instance. The edict of Claudius, xviii. 2, though not formally

The Jews had returned to Rome in the first year of Nero and if unable to feel themselves settled there, must, it is plain from the Apostle's repealed, soon became inoperative.

;

being able to convene them, have enjoyed the fullest toleration.

Aquila and Priscilla were

there when the Epistle to the Romans was written, Rom. xvi. 3. If they prolonged their stay,

may be conjectured that St Paul spent

some time under their roof. Men and brethren] The same form of address as that used to the Jews at Jerusalem, xxiii. 1.

though I have committed nothing] This was said with reference to such evil reports as those noticed in xxi. 21, 28. prisoner... into the hands of the Romans'] In exact fulfilment of the prediction of Agabus, xxi. 11.

18. no cause of death in me] St Paul had used this expression concerning our Blessed Lord in his speech at the Pisidian Antioch, xiii. His statement here had the support of 28. Lysias, xxiii. 29, of Felix, xxiv. 23, of Festus, xxv. 18, 19, 25, and of Agrippa, xxvi. 31, 32. 19.

spake against it]

Against his release,

by insisting that he should be taken back to Jerusalem. / <was constrained] His having done this was most distasteful to the Jews, as involving a turning away from their own ecclesiastical court to a heathen jurisdiction, and so a sur-

[y.

18—aa.

unto Caesar ; not that I had ought to accuse my nation of. 20 For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you y and to speak with you : because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain. 21 And they said unto him, neither received letters out of Judaea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came shewed or spake any harm of thee. 22 But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest : for as concern-

render of Jewish independence in religious matters. He was most anxious to show that the step was strictly defensive and quite unavoidable. to accuse

my nation of] Nothing was* said of the malignity of his countrymen from which he had been rescued by the Romans, after two designs of assassination, xxiii 12, xxv. 3.

20. the hope of Israel] The hope of the coming of the Messiah, which was the sum and substance of the Old Testament prophecies and types, xxvi. 6, 7, and, through the Messiah, of the Resurrection.

We neither received letters] During 21. the two years of his imprisonment at Caesarea the Jewish adversaries of St Paul had no communication to make, as they hoped eventually to take his life. His appeal to the Emperor and the consequent decision to send him to

Rome took them by surprise

;

and his depar-

ture, very soon after, was so late in the season

for navigation, that letters from Jerusalem could hardly have anticipated his arrival in

Rome. any of the brethren] No special messenger, no complaint had come from Judaea.

22. this sect] There is no hint given here of the existence of a Church in Rome and Baur allowed himself to use this silence as an argument against the genuineness of the last two chapters of the Epistle to the Romans, These Jews probably felt, or affected, indifference to everything connected with Christians, and were disinclined to make mention of any residents in Rome, of whom they could not have spoken with goodwill. Under the circumstances of the time, they may have been loath to commit themselves, insecure as they must have felt, more or less, after the edict of Claudius and their stealthy return after Nero's accession. If they were aware of the attempts made to assassinate the Apostle, they might, seeing the high favour with the military authorities which he enjoyed, have apprehended ;

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THE ACTS, .XXVIII.,

23—30.]

ing this sect,

we know that

every

where it is spoken against. 23 And when they had appointed , him a day, there came many to him

whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of

into his lodging; to

God, persuading them concerning Jelaw of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morn-

sus, both out of the

ing till evening. s,

24 And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.

And when they agreed not a-

• isaL&9. mong themselves, they departed, after Matt. 13. *p lac| spoken one WO rd, Well t h at

auj j

Markj. xa. spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the ' J . Luke 8. 10. r c , John is. prophet unto our fathers, 26 Saying, "Go unto this people, Itm. ii.il

that their countrymen had gone too far in provoking the Romans. even where] Wherever it had been heard of, and there were any adherents. The early spread of Christianity was on a very wide scale. Justin Martyr, 'Dialogue with Trypho,' § 117, said that there was no nation in which prayers and thanksgivings were not offered to the Father and Maker of all through the Name of Jesus, the Crucified. Cp. Tertullian 4 adv. Judaeos,' § 7, in the course of which he

notes "Britannorum inaccessa Romanis loca, Christo vero subdita." " Exitiabilis superstitio." spoken against] " Superstitio nova Tacitus, * Ann.' xv. 44. ac malefica." Suetonius, Nero/ § 16. " Superstitionem pravam et immodicam." Puny, *

Epist. x. 96.

Many of them come to him, and listen 23.

to his Teaching. many] Not the chief men only, as in

v. 17. bis lodging]

Some temporary arrangement,

v. 16, previous to that in v. 30.

with Aquila and Priscilla; whose

Possibly, return to

Rome, after xviii. a, is noticed, Rom. xvi. 3. the kingdom of God] Not according to the carnal notions of the Jews, but in its spiritual

533

and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand ; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive 27 For the heart of this people xs waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed 5 lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. 29 And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves.

30 And Paul dwelt two whole have been startled and perplexed when they found that one who was in bonds for all that they most revered and loved was a leading teacher of the new sect St Paul's quotation seems to imply that the majority were unbelievers.

26. one word] This one inseparable proposition consisting of two particulars: that the Jews were self-blinded in their obdurate rejection of Christ, and that the offer of salvation through Him would be accepted by the Gentiles.

Denton.

unto our fathers] External authorities for our and your are balanced; our is more like St Paul's usual language ; jour may have been thought better suited to the tone of reproof.

After which he declares that the Salvation of God is sent to the Gentiles. 26.

unto tins people]

Not unto my people

God was speaking in displeasure. This passage, Isai. vi. 9, 10, was quoted by our Lord at the beginning of His parabolic teaching, Matt xiii. 14, 15 ; Mark iv. ia, in verbal coincidence with the LXX. It was alleged by St John, xii. 40, and by St Paul, Rom. xi. 8, to account for the unbelief of the Jews.

character, the Gospel Dispensation ; in which tense the expression is used throughout this

28. therefore] and irreclaimable.

Book, with the exception of xiv. aa. out of the law] Moses wrote concerning Christ, John v. 46, e.g. Gen. iii. 15, xlix. 10 Deut xviii. 15. (i The Old Testament is not

the salvation] There is very good MS. authority for this salvation. they will bear it] This is in the spirit of

contrary to the New," Article vu. from morning till evening] Discussion, not a continuous discourse of the Apostle.

24.

some believed not]

The Jews must

Because you are hardened

our Lord's words, Matt xxi. 43. An intimation to this effect had been previously given in the Synagogue of the Pisidian Antioch, xiii. 46, 47, and also at Corinth, xviii 6. 29.

departed]

A different word from that

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THE ACTS. XXVIII.

534

years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him,

31 Preaching the kingdom of God,

in 25, where it might have been better rendered, were in the act of separating ; here, the Original indicates actual withdrawal. This verse is of very doubtful authority. Not in-K, A, B, E, and not represented in the Syriac and the Vulgate, it has been omitted in several recent critical editions.

His Teaching is continued for two years. 30.

two (whole years] The forms of Roman

occupied much time. Accusers were bound to appear in person. Witnesses, we may presume, had to be summoned from Jerusalem. And it is possible, as suggested by Howson, that the official report of the case and the documents connected with it may have perished in the shipwreck, and required to be replaced. legal proceedings

The word of God was not bound during this interval, for within its limits the Epistles

to the Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon, and the Philippians were written. The current of opinion has for some time past set strongly in favour of the old tradition that, at the end of this time, St Paul was liberated, as it seems that, by the spirit of prophecy, he knew that he should be, Phil. i. 25 Eusebius ac27, ii. 24; Philemon 22. cepted it; and the evidence for it, if not copious, was by the early Church considered conclusive. Bp Pearson, * Minor Theological Works/ 1. 391. Neander and others have said that, if the genuineness of the second Epistle to Timothy is admitted, a second imprisonment before the Apostle received his crown of martyrdom follows as a matter of course. For the length of the interval between the two imprisonments, where it was spent, and how it was occupied, after such hints as may be gathered from the Pastoral Epistles, we can have recourse to conjecture and speculation only. And this can hardly be thought surprising, when, but for an apparently casual allusion, 2 Cor. xi. 24, 25, we should have known so very little of St Paul's labours and

—

sufferings. It may with the best reason be assumed that after his restoration to liberty his cherished

purpose of visiting Spain was accomplished, Clem. Rom. 1. 5. See Bp ;

Rom. xv. 24, 28

[* 3*-

and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.

Pearson, 11. 3 6 1 Hints of journeys, for which no place can be found previously to the first imprisonment, occur in 1 Tim. i. 3, for Ephesus and for Macedonia; Titus i. 5, far Crete 2 Tim. iv. 20, for Corinth and Miletus; 2 Tim. iv. 13, for Troas, unquestionably a distinct occasion from Acts xx. 5 y and .

;

Tit. iii. 12, for Nicopolis. in bis own hired bouse"] Perhaps, hired room ; within the wide precincts of the great praetorian camp, not the comparatively small quarters attached to the imperial residence on the Palatine. See Bp Lightfoot, in the 'Journal of Philology,' iv. 58. This arrangement took effect after the Apostle quitted the lodging provided for him in the first instance, v. 16. Some have allowed themselves to regard this as an indication that there was no very strong friendly feeling towards St Paul at Rome. all that came in unto bint] This has been

thought to imply that he was nqt allowed to

go out. 31.

Preaching]

This was in marked conduring the same period

trast with the silence

of restraint in Csesarea.

has been inferred

from Phil. i. 13 that the effects of this instruction penetrated even to the imperial household;

but Bp

Lightfoot considers this not well warranted. The adverb by no man forbidding birn] which this is expressed in the Original is embodied by Eusebius in his summary account, 11. The conclusion has been thought 22. abrupt. But, as Bp Lightfoot has pointed out, in the introduction to his Commentary on the Epistle to the Philippians, p. 3, "The success of St Paul's preaching in Rome is a fitter termination to the history than any other incident which could have been chosen. It is the most striking realisation of that promise of the universal spread of the Gospel, which is the starting-point of the narrative." have no warrant for assuming that a complete biography of St Paul was any part of the design of this Book. And the Apostle himself did not avail himself of the opportunity for providing any supplement, 2 Tim. iv. n. St Luke held his hand when the Gospel had been brought to the centre and c ipital of the "Victoria Verbi Dei, then known world.

Paulus

Romae, Apex

Finis."

BengeL

Evangelii,

Actorum

END OF VOLUME II.

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