Retractions on the Acts of the Apostles (chapters 13–28)

Retractions on the Acts of the Apostles

continued

Chapter 13

Acts 13:2

The Holy Spirit said: Set apart for me Barnabas and Paul for the work to which I have called them. This seems to have happened after the death of Herod, who died in the third year of the reign of Claudius, which, according to the chronicles, is the thirteenth year after the passion of the Lord. Since it is clear that Paul, along with Barnabas, was set apart for the apostleship after so much time had passed since the Lord's passion, it becomes evident that those who wrote or accepted the book we mentioned above about the death of Saint Mary are greatly mistaken. For it is written in that same fabrication, as we have often said, that in the second year after the Lord's ascension, when that most blessed Mother of God was about to die, the apostles, who had already been dispersed throughout the world to preach, suddenly came together in a cloud to visit her; among them was Paul, recently converted to the faith, and immediately made an apostle to the Gentiles with Barnabas. But it happened very differently: that is, he was not ordained an apostle in the second year after the Lord's passion, but in the thirteenth. Anyone who believes blessed Luke understands this; and thus the aforementioned book about the death of blessed Mary, being obviously mistaken in its timing, also proves to be of dubious faith in other respects.

Acts 13:6

They found a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet, whose name was Barjesus. In Greek it adds more: Which is interpreted as Elimas. [Acts 13:8] -- However, Elymas the magician (for so his name is interpreted) withstood them, seeking to turn away the proconsul from the faith. And this too is more in the Greek: Because he was gladly listening to them. [Acts 13:9] -- But Saul, who is also Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, and so on. Just as Barnabas' name was changed immediately after his renunciation, so that instead of Joseph he was called Barnabas, which is, instead of "increased," "son of consolation." For after he was increased and added to the number of the elect, he immediately deserved to be both called and to be "son of παράκλησις," that is, "of consolation" through the received grace of the Spirit; so Saul, after receiving the rank of apostleship, was named Paul. Because he had become humble from being proud, he was rightly called Paul instead of Saul: for Saul was named after the impious and persecutor king Saul, but Paul is named from humble and small spirit. For Paul means "small." Hence, interpreting his own name in a certain way, he himself would say: For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God (I Cor. XV).

Acts 13:11

And immediately a mist and darkness fell upon him. The name of darkness in Greek is placed in the singular number σκότος, which the Latin interpreter did not follow, because this name does not have a singular number in Latin as we have similarly taught above. [Acts 13:19-20] -- And destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, He allotted their land to them by lot, as after four hundred and fifty years, and after this He gave them judges. How this number can be understood, we said in the preceding book of our exposition. But it should be known that in the Greek it is written differently: And destroying the nations in the land of Canaan, seven, He allotted their land to them by lot. And after this, about four hundred and fifty years, He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. How this agrees with the statement which is contained in the book of Kings, that from the exodus of Israel from Egypt until the building of the temple, there were four hundred and ninety years, is not within our capacity to explain, unless perhaps he followed the popular saying in speaking, which is proven that blessed Stephen did in the discourse held with the Jews about the burial of the twelve patriarchs.

Acts 13:21

And God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And in this place concerning the kingdom of Saul, the apostle seems to have followed popular opinion, as we have already said in the previous book; but what I said there, because Eusebius, following Josephus, assigned forty years to the rule of Samuel and Saul, divided equally between them, subsequently, upon more diligent inspection of the histories of Josephus, I saw that he did not write those forty years of that age but assigned twelve only to Samuel and twenty years to Saul. But also, having more carefully reread the books of Chronicles, I noticed why Eusebius did not want to follow the authority of Josephus in this place, just as he did not in the years of Joshua, to whom Josephus attributes twenty-six years, while he thought it better to annotate twenty-seven. This, therefore, was the reason: because if he followed him, he could by no means have the prescribed number of four hundred and eighty years from the exodus of Israel from Egypt until the temple began to be built, but would find in his codices ten years less of the same age. This he endured because, following the Septuagint interpreters, he neglected to place Ahialon the judge, who ruled the people for ten years after Abessa, in his Chronicles.

But realizing that ten years of the prescribed calculation were missing in the sacred history according to the Edition he followed, he took care to add these from his own where it seemed convenient and less contrary to the sacred history. Thus, he adds one year to the times of Joshua, eight to the times of Samuel and Saul, and to complete the tenth number, he includes the fourth year of Solomon's reign, in which the temple began to be built: which whoever follows the Hebrew truth finds should not be done. And what I wrote in the preceding book, that the judges ruled the people from Moses to Samuel for three hundred and ninety-six years, I followed the authority of the Chronicles, not yet noticing that it does not agree with the Hebrew truth.

Acts 13:25

He said: "Whom you think me to be, I am not." In Greek it is more fully said: "I am not the Christ." [Acts 13:26] -- "Men, brothers, sons of the lineage of Abraham, and those among you who fear God." In Greek it adds: "Listen." [Acts 13:32-33] -- "And we declare to you the promise made to our fathers, that God has fulfilled this to our children." In Greek it reads more consistently: "That God has fulfilled this to their children." It follows:

Acts 13:33

"Raising up Jesus, as it is also written in the second psalm." The holy Father Hilary thus remembers this place: "But what is now in the psalm: 'You are my Son; today I have begotten you' (Psalm II), does not pertain to the birth from the Virgin, nor to the regeneration of the bath, but to the Firstborn from the dead, according to apostolic authority. For in the book of the Acts of the Apostles it is said thus: 'We announce to you the good news of the promise made to our fathers; God has fulfilled this to our children, raising our Lord Jesus Christ, as it is written in the psalm: You are my Son; today I have begotten you, when he raised him from the dead, no longer to return to decay' (Acts XII). Therefore, this voice of God the Father according to the Apostle is heard on the day of resurrection." And shortly after, recalling the opinion of the Apostle, where he says about him: "Who, being in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant" (Philippians II), and so on: "And in the glory of God the Father, today he is born begotten, that is, in the enduring form of God previously, the assumption of the form of a servant is honored by the reward of death, and a new but not unusual nativity happens under time, since to resume the glory of God the Father, who was found in the form of a servant from the form of God, the firstborn from the dead was born."

Acts 13:41

"Look, despisers, and be amazed, and perish." In Greek it is written thus: "Listen, despisers, and be amazed; look, and perish." [Acts 13:43-44] -- They were speaking, urging them to remain in the grace of God. Hence in the Greek follows a verse, which our Codices do not have: But the word was spread throughout the whole city, and then what we have is added: On the next Sabbath, almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of God.

Chapter 14

Acts 14:13

The priest of Jupiter, who was in front of the city, bringing bulls and garlands before the gates, etc. It was the custom of the gentiles, according to Pliny, that when sacrificing to the honor of their gods, they would place garlands on both the victims and themselves. [Acts 14:19] -- But some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium. In Greek, the narrative begins thus: While they were staying and teaching, some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium.

Chapter 15

Acts 15:10

Now, therefore, why do you test God by placing a yoke on the necks of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear. It is clear that it should be understood in many ways what is said: You shall not test the Lord your God (Matt. IV). Therefore, he tests God who attempts to serve and please him in a way other than he has commanded, who confides that he can keep his commandments without the help of his grace. But the blessed Peter wishes to remove the heavy yoke of law observance from the necks of the disciples, so that he may place upon them the light yoke of evangelical freedom. Of which Paul also says to the companions of the same grace: For you did not receive a spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father (Rom. VIII).

Acts 15:20

To abstain from the pollutions of idols, and fornication, and that which is strangled, and blood. He speaks of that which is strangled as carrion, about which Ezekiel writes: "The priests shall not eat anything that is dead of itself or torn by beasts, whether it be from birds or from cattle" (Ezek. XLIV). Jerome explains this: "And according to the literal sense, says he, this pertains to the whole chosen royal and priestly race, which properly refers to Christians, who are anointed with spiritual oil, about which it is written: 'God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions.' These precepts apply, that they do not eat dead flesh, whether from birds or from cattle, whose blood has by no means been shed, which in the Acts of the Apostles is called strangled; and the epistle of the Apostles from Jerusalem warns that these things should necessarily be observed; and what is taken by a beast, because this too is similarly strangled; and it condemns priests who, with gluttonous greed, keep these things from thrushes, fig-peckers, dormice, and the like."

Acts 15:24

They have troubled you, subverting your souls, to whom we gave no commandment. In the Greek, more is added: Subverting your souls, saying, you must be circumcised, and keep the law, whom we gave no commandment. [Acts 15:26] -- Who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Greek is added: In every temptation. [Acts 15:28] -- For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us. In the Greek it is written: For it has pleased the Holy Spirit, and us. [Acts 15:33] -- They were dismissed in peace by the brethren to those who had sent them. Where it is written To those who had sent them, in the Greek it is written To the Apostles.

Chapter 16

Acts 16:3

And taking him, he circumcised him because of the Jews. It is rightly asked why the Apostle, who circumcised Timothy, refused to circumcise Titus, as he himself writes to the Galatians. But it must be understood that he circumcised Timothy to avoid scandal among the Jews, to show through him that he does not condemn the sacraments of the Mosaic law, but does not impose them on the Gentiles as necessary for salvation. But after he circumcised Timothy, certain Jews, who wanted the Gentiles to be circumcised because they said that without those sacraments they could not be saved, began to boast and say: "Because Paul also holds this view, which we say, that without these sacraments there is no salvation. For if he does not believe this, why did he circumcise Timothy?" When Paul heard this, who did it out of freedom, not necessity, to avoid scandal among the Jews, not for Timothy's salvation, he saw that they had taken the occasion to preach something else and to cause a bad suspicion towards Paul, and he did not want to circumcise Titus. It is therefore apparent why he wanted to circumcise one and not the other: he wanted to circumcise the first to avoid scandal among the Jews, and did not want to circumcise the latter because of the opportunity for misbelief.

Acts 16:14

And a certain woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple, of the city of Thyatira, a worshipper of God, heard, etc. He says “a dealer in purple” meaning a seller of purple, as we also find in another translation, which in Greek is called πορφυρόπωλις. Properly, however, the woman who first believed with the Apostle preaching in Illyricum is said to be a dealer in purple. It signifies the Church, which is accustomed to sell, as it were, purple, because it does not hesitate to shed its blood for Christ, so that through this it can obtain eternal life. Indeed, purple rightly designates the shedding and color of blood, and by the property of its nature, which is made from the blood of shellfish. Lydia, however, forced the Apostle and his companions to enter her house and to stay there, because the Church received the preaching of the gospel with internal devotion of the heart, despite being rejected by the Jews.

Acts 16:16

As we were going to prayer, a girl having a spirit of Python met us. He who mercifully gathered the believing purple seller to the members of the holy Church, soon afterward strictly judged and removed the wicked art from the pythoness proclaiming the great deeds of God with an unclean mouth. For this is the power which the holy apostles received from the Lord, when He said: "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 18). However, what I wrote in the previous book, that python could mean "mouth of the abyss" in Hebrew, I wrote because I found it in the book of Hebrew names. But let the reader know that this name is Greek and forcibly interpreted according to the Hebrew language, which even the interpreter of Hebrew names, Jerome, did not remain silent about, as if it were said "Fythona": for the Hebrews do not have the letter p, but use f instead of it in foreign words. Indeed, it should be noted that in this reading, where it is written that the girl met us, for the Latin "obviare" it is written in Greek ὑπαντῆσαι, which I thought should be mentioned, so that the reader may notice that the Lord's feast, which is called the Presentation of the Lord, took its name from this in Greek, because, when the Lord was brought to the temple, Simeon, Anna, and the other faithful and chosen ones who were there came to meet Him with devout heart and homage.

Acts 16:35

And when it was day, the magistrates sent officers. Officers were called those who were in charge of punishing the guilty. Hence in Greek they are called ῥαβδοῦχοι, from the rod, because the Greeks call a rod ῥάβδον, of which Hilary mentions in the exposition of the Apostle's sentence, saying: "What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in a spirit of gentleness?" (1 Corinthians 4)? Was Paul inquiring whether he had praetorian power to threaten with the rod, and to be present at the Church of Christ with the office of an officer?

Chapter 17

Acts 17:6

And when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brothers to the rulers of the city. It is written in Greek: And some other brothers; whence it is understood that Jason was also a brother, that is, faithful to Christ. [Acts 17:12] -- Many indeed believed from among them and from the honorable Greek women, and not a few men. Some manuscripts have better and more consistently according to the Greek example: And not a few men. [Acts 17:18] -- And some were saying: What does this word-seedling want to say? Concerning this name, Saint Augustine said: "We read," he said, "that the apostle Paul was called a seed-sower of words. It was indeed said by those mocking, but it should not be rejected by those who believe. For he was truly a seed-sower of words, but a reaper of conduct. And although we are so small, and by no means comparable to his excellence, in the field of God, which is your heart, we sow the word of God and expect an abundant harvest of your conduct."

Acts 17:26

And he made from one every kind of human being. What he says from one is clear, because he means from one human being. But it is fuller in Greek: He made from one blood, which no one doubts means the same. For by the name of blood, he indicates the propagation of the flesh; and by the flesh, according to the usual manner of Scripture, he wants a human being to be understood according to that of the Psalmist: All flesh will come to you (Psalm 64).

Chapter 18

Acts 18:7

And departing from there, he entered the house of a certain man named Titus Justus. The name Justus is also written in Greek, because either this name was proper to the man, or he was surnamed this way by the Romans who knew him due to his merit of justice. However, it should not be thought that this is Titus, the disciple of the Apostle Paul, to whom he himself wrote an Epistle and appointed him bishop of the Cretans. For that Titus was with him much earlier, when he came from Antioch to Jerusalem concerning the question of circumcision, with Barnabas still accompanying him. For the same Paul says to the Galatians: Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me, and I communicated with them concerning the Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles. For he communicated with them about the Gospel he was preaching, diligently inquiring in the council of the apostles whether he was correct in preaching that the Gentiles could attain salvation through the baptism of faith without circumcision; not that he himself had any doubt about this matter, but that the minds of those who were doubting might be confirmed by the authority of the apostolic council.

Acts 18:8

But Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his house, etc. This Crispus is believed to be the one whom Paul mentions as baptized by him when writing to the Corinthians: I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius. [Acts 18:17] -- And all of them seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the tribunal. In Greek it is better written: And all the Greeks seized Sosthenes. For after the Jews were disgracefully expelled from the tribunal, the Gentiles also afflicted their leader with greater humiliation by beating him. [Acts 18:18] -- Bidding farewell to the brothers, he traveled to Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila, who had his head shaved in Cenchrea, etc. It seems unclear whether Paul or Aquila had their head shaved in Cenchrea; but Jerome the presbyter clearly, as we explained more fully in the previous book, understands this as said of Paul. For after he gave this statement in his letter to Augustine, he immediately added and said: "Even if there he was compelled to circumcise Timothy out of fear of the Jews, why did he grow his hair out as a vow, and later cut it in Cenchrea according to the law?" If we wish to follow his meaning in this place, we never read anywhere that Aquila was shaved. If we say that Aquila was shaved in this place, there remains at the end of this booklet a place where we also read that Paul was shaved, or shaved off. However, those who say that Aquila and his wife Priscilla were shaved are mistaken due to a textual error. For in the Greek, it is clearly written κειράμενος, that is, shaved, in the singular number, and he had a vow, not they had, whether this is understood of Paul or Aquila.

Acts 18:28

For he strongly refuted the Jews, publicly showing through the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. In Greek, it is written: Publicly and from house to house showing; which is of an excellent teacher, thus to teach many generally, so as not to cease to exhort individuals vigorously.

Chapter 19

Acts 19:9–10

He separated the disciples, daily disputing in the school of a certain Tyrannus. This happened for three years, etc. At this time, while Paul was staying in Ephesus, it is said that he wrote the first letter to the Corinthians, in which he also mentions Priscilla and Aquila, saying: "Aquila and Priscilla greet you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house" (1 Cor. XVI). By this word it is also shown that not only did they serve Christ faithfully, but also had a congregation of faithful in their house. Furthermore, the second epistle is said to have been written when he was in Troas: Moreover, the Epistle to the Romans was written later as the record shows. For he himself testifies that he wrote it on his journey to Jerusalem. [Acts 19:12] -- So that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried to the sick. Many of us do not know what aprons signify; however, Gregory, who is now the bishop of the Apostolic See, while he was still an archdeacon, answered a friend from Britain who inquired about this among other things, that it is a kind of handkerchief which the Hebrews use on their heads.

Chapter 20

Acts 20:4

And with him was Sosipater, son of Pyrrhus, from Beroea. This one from Beroea, not that Beroean. Moreover, it is more in the Greek: And he went with him as far as Asia. [Acts 20:9] -- Awoken from sleep, he fell from the third loft. For the third loft, in Greek it is written "τριστέγου," which I wanted to mention so that the reader may know what is in Genesis, where Noah is ordered to build the ark: "Make in it lower, second, and third decks" (Gen. VI); for in Greek, "στέγη" means roof, and "τρίστεγα" means threefold roofs. [Acts 20:14] -- With him we came to Mytilene. We have written in the first book, following Pliny the Younger, that Mytilene is an island off Asia; but Pliny elsewhere writes that Mytilene is a city on the island of Cyprus. Both are believed to be true; however, it is said that now Paul and his companions did not come to the city of Cyprus, but to the island near Asia. For after a long journey and traveling through many regions, Cyprus appeared, but it is said they did not enter it.

Acts 20:16

For he was hastening, if it were possible for him, to observe the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem. In Greek, it is written as the Day of Pentecost, that is, the fiftieth day. Therefore note that the time of Passover and Pentecost were also celebrated at the time of the apostles. But whether they were celebrated among the Jews who adhered to the law on the day the lamb was sacrificed in Egypt and the day the law was given on Mount Sinai, or on the day of the Lord's resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit, let those who know say. Nonetheless, it is known that the apostle Peter celebrated Passover in Rome on the Lord's Day of the resurrection of Christ; it is known that the evangelist Mark, sent by him, taught this in Egypt.

Chapter 21

Acts 21:8

And entering the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we stayed with him, etc. For the initial duty of preaching, he deserved to be called an evangelist, although all performed this task. This house and his daughters remained in the same city for a long time afterward. Indeed, Jerome also mentions him in the History of Saint Paula, when he described her coming to Caesarea: "In which (he says) she saw the house of Cornelius as the church of Christ, and the small houses of Philip and the room of the four virgin prophetesses."

Acts 21:25

About those who believed from among the Gentiles, we wrote judging that they abstain from idols, sacrifices, etc. In Greek, it is more clearly stated: About those who believed among men, we wrote judging that they observe no such thing, except they keep themselves from things sacrificed to idols, etc. Therefore, at that time, Jewish believers in Christ were not prohibited from entering according to the custom of the law, since the temple and their religion still stood, although they would find salvation in the sacraments of the New Testament alone; but those who believed from the Gentiles and were instructed in the sacraments of the Gospel were prohibited from turning to accept the sacraments of the law. However, they were urged to diligently observe those commandments of the law which pertain to the training of morals and the purification of the heart, such as: You shall not covet (Rom. VII). This fourth apostolic synod was held in Jerusalem. The first was concerning the election of the twelfth apostle in place of Judas, the second about the election of the seven deacons, the third about circumcision so that it would not be imposed on Gentile believers, and this fourth one concerning Jewish believers at that time so that they would not be prohibited, where necessity required, from being initiated into the legal ceremonies, to avoid the offense of those who thought they had condemned the decrees of Moses as idolatrous doctrines, which they had also been accustomed to do previously, as proven most notably by the circumcision of Timothy.

Acts 21:34

He ordered him to be taken into the camp. And in this place, and in this whole narration, wherever the name of the camp is positioned, it must be taught that it is placed in the singular in Greek: for this reason the Latin interpreter preferred to place it in the plural, lest, if he placed it in the singular, the sense of the reader would be carried far elsewhere, and instead of the assembly of the army and soldiers, a fortified place would be understood. So also in the Psalm where it is said: And they fell in the midst of their camps; in Greek παραβολὴ is written in the singular number. [Acts 21:35] -- When he reached the steps, it happened that he was carried, and the rest. The steps signify not the descent from the temple, but the ascent into the camp. This is clear from the Greek, where ἀναβαθμὸς, not καταβαθμός: that is, it has ascent, not descent.

Acts 21:39

I am indeed a man, a Jew from Tarsus of Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city. For 'citizen' some Codices have 'municipate,' which is translated from one Greek word πολίτης, derived from the name of the city, which in Greek is called πόλις. Whence that which the Apostle says: But our conversation is in heaven (Philippians III), some have interpreted: But our citizenship is in heaven. And Jerome, writing to Heliodorus, put it thus: "For he wanted no other citizenship to be understood, than a civil conversation, which in Greek is called πολίτευμα."

Chapter 22

Acts 22:3

Educated according to the truth, being a zealot of the paternal law. In Greek it is added more: Being a zealot of God, according to that in Romans: For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. [Acts 22:7] -- Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? In Greek, in this place as well it is added: It is hard for you to kick against the goads. [Acts 22:9] -- And those who were with me indeed saw the light. And in Greek it is added more: And they were afraid. [Acts 22:17-18] -- But it happened that when I was returning to Jerusalem and praying in the temple, I fell into a trance, and saw him. For the trance of the mind, some Codices have a mental ecstasy, others a fear, others an alienation. For what is called ecstasis in Greek is variously interpreted in Latin. This word was also used in the vision of Peter above, where he was being called forth to teach Cornelius. For an ecstasy fell upon him, and he saw the heavens opened. But the mind of the praying apostles was alienated, not from the lowly but to the heavenly, not to deviate, but to see.

Acts 22:28

I acquired this city with a great sum of money. In Greek, for city it has πολιτείαν: which signifies rather civil society, that is, social interaction among citizens, or the administration of the republic, than city. For the tribune had not bought the Roman citizenship he possessed, but the partnership of the Roman commonwealth of which he was a participant. But Paul was even more a Roman citizen, because he had this not by purchase, but by birth. [Acts 22:29] -- The tribune also feared, after he discovered that he was a Roman citizen. For citizen, the same word in Greek is placed, which above was for inhabitant, that is, πολίτης.

Chapter 23

Acts 23:12

And they vowed themselves saying they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. Vowed signifies cursed. Indeed for this word in Greek it is written ἀνεθεμάτισαν: but in the following, where they said: We have vowed with a vow that we will taste nothing, in Greek it is written, ἀναθέματι ἁνεθεματίσαμεν. The severity of this word knows those who are anathematized by the priestly anathema from the society of Christ and the Church.

Chapter 24

Acts 24:17

However, after many years, I came to my nation to give alms and make offerings and vows. Alms pertain to those things which he had brought for the use of the saints, of which he makes frequent mention in his Epistles; offerings and vows, however, to those things which, at the urging of James and the elders, he offered to God in the temple. Although in Greek, vows are not added. Even though Luke in the order of the history did not say that Paul came to Jerusalem from Greece with the alms for the poor of Christ, from the words, however, which he reports Paul said, he shows that he had done this.

Chapter 25

Acts 25:4

But Festus replied that Paul was being kept in Caesarea, and that he himself was about to depart soon. "Soon," he says, naturally means "quickly," although sometimes it is said to be "sooner" when something is done more slowly and with mature counsel. For in Greek it is written ἐν τάχει, that is, "in haste." [Acts 25:23] -- When Agrippa and Bernice had come with great pomp, etc. For "pomp," in Greek it is written φαντασία, by which term is designated a great display and royal pomp, with which he, being surrounded on all sides, was encircled.

Chapter 26

Acts 26:5

For according to the most accurate sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee. For "sect," in Greek it has "heresy." Whence it is proved that at that time even a good sect was called by this term among the Greeks, which now among us is accustomed to have only a bad sense.

Chapter 27

Acts 27:1

When it was decided that he should sail to Italy, Paul, along with the rest of the prisoners, was handed over to a centurion. More accurately read in Greek: "When it was decided that we should sail to Italy, they handed over Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion." [Acts 27:5] -- And sailing through the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Lystrus, which is of Lycia. For Lystrus, in Greek, it is written Smyrna, for which Jerome in the book of Hebrew names puts Myra: which I think is found thus in some Codices, because in Greek μύῤῥα is called Smyrna. Furthermore, in the psalm where we sing: Myrrh, and aloes, and cassia (Psalm XLIV), in Greek it is written thus: Smyrna, and stacte, and cassia. [Acts 27:8] -- We came to a certain place, which is called Fair Havens. THESE Fair Havens, not THIS Fair Havens.

Acts 27:11

And he trusted the pilot more. The pilot in Greek is called the master of the ship. [Acts 27:12] -- If by any means they might reach Phoenix to spend the winter, a port of Crete looking toward the southwest and northwest. The southwest wind, which in Greek is called λίψ, blows between the south and west, inclining; Corus, however, toward the north and west, but more deflected toward the west. It is clear, therefore, that the region of Phoenix had Crete to the west, and so its port of Crete looked in some places to the southwest; and in some places to the northwest, for that reason, whether the southwest wind or the northwest wind blew, they could sail from Crete to Phoenix. But even if the south wind itself, that is, the meridian wind, blew, they could nonetheless navigate to Phoenix with a wavering direction of rudders and with the trimming of sails, if divine judgments did not hinder them. Wherefore it is subsequently added:

Acts 27:13–16

And the south wind blowing softly, they thought they had obtained their purpose, etc., we could scarcely retain the boat. We wrote in the first book, following Isidore, that the boat was a light vessel, woven from wicker and covered with rawhide; but subsequently, upon perusing the writings of others, we found that boats are also called small vessels hollowed out of a single tree, which the Greeks call monoxylas.

Chapter 28

Acts 28:2

For lighting a fire, they revived us all. In Greek it is written: They received us all. Which we also think was first so translated into Latin, but changed through the negligence of scribes. [Acts 28:8] -- It happened that the father of Publius, having been struck by fever and dysentery, was lying ill. Dysentery is an affliction of the intestines, caused with ulceration, because it expels bloody discharge, or bile, or some other alteration of humour; but it is considered harmful by the ancients if it produces black discharge from the beginning. For Hippocrates in his Aphorisms stated this: “Dysentery beginning from black bile is deadly.” Following this, patients experience continual distress in the lower abdomen, sometimes green, sometimes mucilaginous: they also emit scrapings with drops of blood, with a biting pain in the intestines and navel, they suffer from sleeplessness, nausea, frequently also slight fever, which is narrated that the father of Publius suffers here; sometimes even the exclusion of excrement occurs, especially in infants: it occasionally results from chilling or from the corruption of sharper humours. Gregory also recalls this disease in the fifth book of his Histories, saying thus: “In the times of Emperor Tiberius, the dysenteric disease nearly seized all of Gaul. For in those who were suffering, there was a severe fever with vomiting and excessive pain in the kidneys, heaviness of the head, or neck; moreover, what was expelled from the mouth was either saffron-colored or certainly green. However, many asserted that it was hidden poison; but herbs that cure poisons, taken as a drink, provided relief for many.”

Acts 28:30–31

He remained in his lodging for a full two years and welcomed all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God. Jerome makes mention of this place in a letter to Lucinius: “Paul enters Rome in chains, to free those chained by errors of superstition; he remains in his rented lodging for two years, to render to us the eternal gift of both instruments.” By this exposition, he taught that all other things that are written in this volume, either about Paul the apostle himself or about others, do not only present the fruits of ecclesiastical doctrine on the surface of the letter: but truly also if anyone has perfectly understood, they possess the essence of spiritual sense, pregnant with virtue. THE END OF THE BOOK OF RETRACTIONS.