Acts 12
DODDActs 12:1-19
Herod having slain James, seizes Peter, and commits him to prison, who is delivered by an angel, in answer to the prayers of the church. Acts XII. 1—19.
Acts XII. 1. NOW about that time Herod the NOW about that time, when Saul and Barnabas were preparing to set out for Jerusalem, to carry thither what had been collected by the Christians at Antioch for the relief of the saints in Judea, Herod Agrippa the king,
Herod Agrippa.] So the Syriac expressly especially considering the similarity of renders it; and there is no reason to doubt, circumstances mentioned below that this
Herod kills James with the sword, and imprisons Peter.
abusing the authority with which he was invested by the Roman emperor, laid hands in a very injurious manner on some of the church to persecute and afflict them. And he carried this injustice so far, that he even slew James the son of Zebedee, the brother of John, one of those three apostles whom Jesus honoured with such peculiar intimacy; beheading him with the sword, as an enemy to the state, as well as an opposer of the law of Moses.
And as he found that no immediate vengeance overtook him on this account, and likewise saw that [this] was acceptable to the Jews, whose favour he laboured by all possible means to conciliate, he went on farther, and presumed to seize Peter also, renowned as he was for such a variety of miracles, which were wrought by him at Jerusalem in the name of Jesus: And it was in the days of unleavened bread, during the feast of the passover that Peter was apprehended. And having seized him at this pub-
Herod was the prince whom Josephus calls Agrippa, which probably was his Roman, as Herod was his Syrian name. He was not (as Grotius by a slip of memory says,) the son, but the grandson, of Herod the Great by his son Aristobulus, (Joseph. Antiq. lib. xviii. cap. 5, [al. 7,] § 4,) nephew to Herod Antipas who beheaded John the Baptist, brother to Herodias whom that incestuous and adulterous tetrarch married, and father to that better Agrippa, before whom Paul made his defence. (Acts xxv. 13, & seq.) Caius Caligula with whom he had an early friendship, when he became emperor, released this Agrippa from the confinement under which Tiberius had (on that very account) kept him, and crowned him king of the tetrarchy of his uncle Philip, to which he afterwards added the territories of Antipas, whom he banished to Lyons in Gaul. (Joseph. Antiq. lib. xviii. cap. 6, [al. 8,] § 10, 11, & cap. 7, [al. 9,] § 2.) In this authority Claudius confirmed him, and made him king of Judea, adding to his former dominions those of Lysanias. (Antiq. lib. xix. cap. 5, [al. 4,] § 1.) Mr. Fleming thinks, it was high treason against the Messiah for him to assume the title of king of Judea; and that this arrogance, joined with his cruelty, rendered him more worthy of that terrible death described below. Flem. Christol. Vol. III. p. 358.
b Slew James—with the sword.] Thus was our Lord’s prediction relating to him fulfilled. (Mat. xx 23.) I know not how far we are to depend upon the tradition, which we find cited by Eusebius, (Eccles. Hist. lib. ii. cap. 9,) from a book of Clemens Alexandrinus now lost, in which he reported, “that the person who had accused James observing the courage with which he bore his testimony to Christianity, was converted, and suffered martyrdom with him.” But I think it is very beautifully observed by Clarius, (who had a great deal of the true spirit of criticism,) that this early execution of one of the apostles, after our Lord’s death would illustrate the courage of the rest in going on with their ministry, as it would evidently shew, that even all their miraculous powers did not secure them from dying by the sword of their enemies.
c Saw that this was acceptable to the Jews.] Josephus tells us, “that this prince was great zealot for the Mosaic law, that he dwelt much at Jerusalem, and was fond of all opportunities of obliging the Jews, as his grandfather Herod had been on pleasing strangers;” a character well suiting what Luke here says of him. See Joseph. Antiq. lib. xix. cap vii. § 3.
h continue incessantly in prayer or Peter. 169 ic time, when so many Jews were come together from all parts, he put him in prison, delivering him to the custody of four quaternions of soldiers, that is, to sixteen, consisting of four in each party, who were to relieve each other by turns, watching him constantly by day and night: his Herod ordered for the greater security of to noted a person, intending immediately after he passover to bring him out to the people, to be made a spectacle to them in what he should suffer; as Jesus his master had been on the first day of unleavened bread. In the mean time therefore, till the day of execution came, Peter was thus kept in the prison. But as the importance of so useful a life was well known to his Christian friends, earnest and continued prayer was, with great intenseness and assiduity of mind, made to God on his account, by the whole church at Jerusalem. And the event quickly shewed that this their earnest supplication was not in vain; for when Herod was ready to have brought him out to execution, [even] that very night, before he had designed to do it, Peter was quietly sleeping between two soldiers, in full calmness and serenity of mind, though bound with two chains, which joined each of his hands to one of the soldiers that lay on either side of him, in such a manner that it was (humanly speaking) impossible he should have risen without immediately awaking them: And the other two guards then on duty stood centry before the door, and were keeping the prison, that there might be no attempt of any kind made to rescue him; because he was looked upon as a prisoner of great consequence. And behold, an astonishing deliverance was wrought out for him in all this extremity of danger; for an angel of the Lord presented himself on a sudden, and a glorious light shone in the whole house, dark and gloomy as it was: And this heavenly messenger was no sooner come, but giving Peter a gentle blow on the side,
⁴ Bound with two chains.] It is well known, that this way of securing prisoners of importance, by chaining each of their hands to a guard, was practised among the Romans; and the reader may find authorities to this purpose produced by Grotius, in his note on Acts xxviii. 16; and by Mr. Lardner, (now Dr. Lardner) Cred ib. Book I. chap. 10, § 9, Vol. I. p. 521 522.
An angel delivers him out of the prison. he awoke him, saying, Arise quickly. And at the same moment of time both his chains fell off from his hands: Yet the soldiers were by a miraculous power kept so fast asleep, that they were not at all alarmed by the noise of their fall. And the angel said to him, Gird thyself presently in the clothes thou hast on, tie thine inward garment about thee, and bind on thy sandals, that thou mayest walk out; and accordingly he did so. And he says to him farther, Throw thy mantle round thee, and follow me out. And Peter going out of the prison, as he was guided by the angel, met with no opposition in his way, and followed him as he was ordered: And he was so astonished, that he did not know that what was done by the angel was true and real, but only supposed that he had seen a vision, as in some other instances he had done. And passing through the first and second watch, where the guards were all asleep, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which though it was a heavy gate, and very strongly fastened, yet was no hindrance in their way, but opened to them as of its own accord. And thus going out into the city, they went together through one street; and immediately the angel, having done all that was requisite for his deliverance, and set him at full liberty, departed from him on a sudden, and left him alone to go where he pleased. And Peter being come to himself, and recovered from the first astonishment of such an extraordinary event, said, Now I know truly that the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose cause I was going to suffer, hath (as he formerly did, chap. v. 19,) sent his angel, one of the many heavenly spirits under his command, and hath delivered me from the hand of Herod, who intended my death, and from all the expectation of the Jewish people; who, after the many beneficial miracles I have wrought among them, were thirsting for my blood, and waited impatiently to see my execution. Such was the grateful sense that Peter had of his deliverance; and recollecting where he was, recollecting where he was.] This is so conjectural emendation in an interpretation of our day, that it is our day, making has seems no need of Dr. Hammond’s cha. xiv. 6.
ones to them while they were praying.
he presently concluded whither to go, and came to the house of Mary the mother of John, who was sirnamed Mark, where many Christians were gathered together, and were spending the night in praying earnestly for his deliverance: And God answered them, while they were yet speaking; for he had now discharged the prisoner for whom they were so much concerned, and brought him to the very house in which they were assembled. And as Peter stood, and knocked at the door of the outer gate, which entered into the house; that they might guard against the danger of admitting any person whom they did not know, a maiden, whose name was Rose, went to the door, to listen and inquire who was there. And he had no sooner answered, but knowing Peter’s voice, she was so transported with joy and surprise, that she did not open the gate; but running to the company that were assembled in the house, she told [them] that Peter was actually standing at the gate. And they said to her, Surely thou art distracted, to imagine so incredible and so impossible a thing. But she persisted in it, that she was sure she heard his voice; and confidently affirmed that it was undoubtedly so. Then, as they knew not how to account for it, they said, in their confusion of thought, It is then probably his angel, who has assumed his form to bring us some tidings of him; or perhaps he is executed in prison, (as John the Baptist was in the night,) and his separate spirit has appeared, as a token of its being employed as angels are, in ministering to the church on earth.
At the door of the outer gate.] Though De Dieu, chiefly on the authority of Kimchi, in his distinction between and interprets this of a kind of wicket in a pair of great gates, I apprehend, (according to the accurate and useful description which Dr. Shaw has given of the houses in the east,) that the word here properly signifies what we generally call the gateway of a large house, by which, if there be an area surrounded with buildings, you pass into it. And it is probable, that this was no small house, as many were assembled there.
To inquire who was there.] That this is the most exact signification of the original word strated by Raphelius, Annot. ex Xen.
159,) and Elsner, (Observ. Vol. I. p. 411.) I render this maiden’s name Rhoda by the English name Rose, as, whenever I meet with Greek names in use among us, I think it most natural to give the English termination; and shall only add, that Grotius has well observed, the Jews frequently gave to their female children the name of agreeable flowers or plants: Thus Susannah signifies a lily, Hedessa, a myrtle, Tamar, a palmtree, &c.
It is his angel, &c.] Though I have followed the more common rendering here, I pretend not certainly to say, that Sir Thomas Browne is mistaken, (in his Religi Medici, p. 19,) when he says, (as Clarius, Cameron, and Hammond also do,) that the word here signifies messenger,
They are greatly surprised to find him at
But Peter in the mean time continued knocking, upon which they went out several of them together; and when they had opened [the door,] they saw him, and rejoiced to find that he was there, but were exceedingly astonished at the sight of him. And as he found upon his coming in among them, that his presence threw them into a confused transport, which grew so loud that he could not easily be heard, he beckoned to them with [his] hand to be silent, and related to them how the Lord had conducted him out of prison, by the ministry of an angel: And having told them the particulars of what had passed, he said, Let care be taken to inform James,¹ and the other brethren, of these things, that they may magnify God for this great deliverance, and consider it as an engagement to serve him with greater resolution and zeal. And presently departing from thence, he went to another place,² and continued some time in retirement, that he might avoid the search which his persecutors would of course make for him, when they should find that he was gone.
And accordingly, as soon as it was day, there was no small tumult among the soldiers on his account, and no search was spared that they might know what was become of Peter.¹ For
to be sure it often does. (Compare Mat. xi. 10; Mark i. 2; Luke vii. 24, 27; ix. 52; and Jam. ii. 25.) They might perhaps think, he had sent somebody, who telling her, he came from Peter, she by mistake apprehended it to be him. But I think it much more probable, that, as she averred that she knew his voice, they then judged it to be something supernatural. It is by no means certain, they imagined this to be his guardian angel; for Philo speaks of it as a received notion among the Jews, that the souls of good men deceased officiated as ministry spirits. (See Phil. de Sacrif. Cain & Abeles, p. 131; & de Gigantibus, p. 286; and Dr. Waterland’s Serm. Vol. II. p. 90, 91.) But whatever their notion was, one way or other, no argument can be drawn from it, as to the truth of either of these suppositions.
¹ Inform James.] As James the brother of John was dead, (ver. 2,) the person here referred to must be James the Less, the brother or kinsman of our Lord, and author of the General Epistle which bears his name. He appears to have been a person
of considerable weight and importance: Peter therefore particularly directs the message to him for his encouragement, and to engage the concurrence of his thanksgivings to God, on account of this extraordinary deliverance.
² Went to another place.] It was convenient he should withdraw from Jerusalem; but it is utterly incredible, that he now went to Rome, and made that abode of twenty five years there, which the Popish writers pretend. The absurdity of which pretence has been abundantly demonstrated by many Protestant writers, and by none more pertinently, in a few words, than by Beza on this place.
¹ What was become of Peter.] Elsner, (Observ. Vol. I. p. 412,) and Raphelius, (ex Xen. p. 160,) have so abundantly proved, that the men may with great propriety be thus rendered, that I see no reason to imagine, as Erasmus her hints, that it may refer to some notion, that Peter had been transformed, perhaps by magic art, into some form or shape different from his own.
nding him, orders the guards to be executed.
the guards awaking out of their sound sleep, could none of them give any account of what had passed, and were ready to suspect and accuse each other of negligence or treachery, in giving the prisoner an opportunity to make his escape. And indeed very fatally for them had he escaped; for Herod searching for him, and not finding him, examined the keepers as strictly as possible; and as he could make nothing out by his inquiry, but that he was gone while they slept, and thought it by no means prudent to give any intimation that he suspected a miraculous interposition of Providence in favour of a man whom he had devoted to destruction, he ordered them to be immediately led away to execution for their negligence; and so the affair ended, and shortly after his life too, as we shall find in the following section.
IMPROVEMENT.
WE have now before us the death of another martyr, and that verse martyr an apostle, and that apostle no less a person than James 1, 2 the brother of John, who was also one of the chosen favourites and companions of our blessed Lord; and not the less dear because so early dismissed from mortal life and labour, and dismissed by a violent and bloody death. He was slain with the sword; but that blow, which was hardly if at all to be felt, in one short moment transported him to his long loved Lord, and introduced him to that endeared converse with Jesus in his heavenly presence, of which all the most intimate hours spent with him upon earth, not excepting that of the transfiguration itself, (to which he was an eyewitness,) were but an imperfect shadow.
But how strange was it, that this should please the Jews! To see the slaughter of one of the most excellent persons that ever adorned their nation, one of the greatest benefactors, his Lord only excepted, that ever had appeared in all the list of the prophetic and inspired race! Yet thus it was that they proceeded to fill up the measure of their fathers; (Mat. xxiii. 32;) and such was still the hardness of their hearts, that after having rejected the
m Ordered them to be led away to execution.] It is well known, that the word ἀναχόηται has this signification. See Beza and Heinsius in loc. He probably punished them with such severity, lest an apprehension of a miraculous deliverance should have prevailed, and so Christianity have gained, as it probably did, additional
strength. What had so notoriously happened to all the twelve apostles in a circumstance much resembling this, (chap. v. 19, & seq.) would no doubt add great weight to such a representation; and it seems that this seasonable interposition of Providence, joined with the death of Herod soon after, put a speedy end to this persecution.
VO.
Reflections on the death of James, and Peter’s deliverance.
message, they soon came to hate the messengers, and to thirst for their blood: The surest token of wrath coming upon them to the uttermost! as indeed it was but a few years more, and such an execution was done upon them, as seemed to be the accumulated vengeance due for all the righteous blood which had been shed from Abel to James.
Peter was also imprisoned, and was bound with chains; and no doubt the prayers and tears with which the church were contending for his delivery, would appear exceedingly despicable to his enemies, if known by them; but they found to their confusion, that his Redeemer was strong. (Jer. l. 34.) The Lord Jesus sent an angel to him, who found him, secure in his innocence, and happy in his hope, sleeping between those two guards, who perhaps in a few hours were to have been his executioners, and sleeping so sweetly sound, that the brightness of the angel’s presence did not immediately awake him. The angel smites him, and his chains fall off; the iron gates are opened, and the prisoner is set at full liberty. So does the angel of death smite as it were, but with a gentle blow, the servants of Christ, and the fetters of mortality fall off; the doors of the dungeon are opened, and they are led into the new Jerusalem, where they find another kind of society, another kind of rest, another kind of joy, than Peter knew even in the first transports of his deliverance.
12-16 The prayers of the night were added to those of the day. Pious men and women, the aged and the young, were assembled on this important occasion: And while they were praying, God answered; while they were yet speaking, he heard. (Isa. lxv. 24.) Behold, Peter is himself sent among them, to bring them the astonishing news of that real deliverance, which at first appeared to him but as a vision of the night: What delight must such a mercy give them! especially when considered as an answer of prayer! What an encouragement must it be to them all, to hold fast the profession of their faith without wavering, and in every future exigence by prayer and supplication to make their requests known unto God. (Phil. iv. 6.) Peter was solicitous it might be known to the surviving James, and the other apostles, that they might glorify God in him, and might take encouragement from it, to go on boldly in the prosecution of their work. With such views should we own the goodness of God in any deliverance he grants us, that others may learn to confide in him, and may join their praises with ours.
18, 19 Herod in his disappointment turns his rage on the soldiers, and makes those unhappy men the victims of his wrath. Unhappy indeed, if they had not learnt from Peter, whilst they had him in their power, that lesson which his charity would be so glad to teach them, in what he apprehended to be the last moments of his life, to believe in Jesus for life and salvation. But whatever they suffered, a much severer vengeance was reserved for Herod,
Herod goes away to Cæsarea.
ickly began to visit that innocent and pious spilt, and that too after which he had thirstight he must have appeared the murderer of of James.
Acts 12:19
nciliation to the people of Tyre and Sidon, makes , for which he is extravagantly applauded, but that applause is miraculously destroyed. Acts
Acts XII. 19.
WE have just given an account of the miraculous manner in which Peter was delivered from the cruel attempt of Herod, and of the transport of rage in which that tyrannical prince ordered the guards to be put to death, though in reality they had been no way necessary to his escape. And now after this disappointment, Herod departed from Jerusalem, and passing from Judea to the city of Cæsarea, he abode [there;] till in the midst of all his pride, and glory, the judgment of God overtook him, and Providence avenged the death of James, and the designed murder of Peter, in a most awful manner on this persecuting prince.
And very observable were the circumstances of his miserable end; as introductory to which it must be observed, that Herod was highly incensed against the Tyrians and Sidonians, on account of some supposed affront which he had received from them, which provoked him so far, that, having vowed a severe revenge, he was preparing with all speed to make war upon them: But as they were a trading people, and were apprehensive of the consequences of the king’s displeasure, they unanimously came to a resolution to send proper representatives to Cæsarea, to appear before him; and having
a Passing from Judea to Cæsarea.] This is the same Cæsarea, which was formerly called Straton’s Tower, and had been rebuilt by Herod the Great. (See note on Acts viii. 40, p. 120.) Josephus (who gives us an account of the death of Herod Agrippa, which really illustrates this of St. Luke,) says, that he went to Cæsarea in the third year of his reign over the whole country, to celebrate games there in honour of Claudius Cæsar, to whom he had been so much obliged. (Antiq. lib. xix. cap. 8, [al. 7,] § 2.) It seems, that the oration afterward mentioned was made in full theatre there.
He makes a public oration, and is eaten o u
found out means of gaining Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, to espouse their interest, and being introduced by him, they begged for an accommodation of the difference, and earnestly entreated he would grant them terms of peace, which they found it absolutely necessary to sue for, because their country was nourished and maintained by that of the king; they having little corn of their own growth, and not being able to subsist without a constant supply of provisions from Judea and Galilee. (Compare 1 Kings v. 11; and Ezek. xxvii. 17.)
And to make the transaction as solemn as possible, upon a set day which he thought proper for that purpose, when a grand assembly was held, Herod came forth with great magnificence and splendor, arrayed in a royal habit,ᵇ and being seated in a public theatre upon the throne, made an oration to them with a great deal of state and affectation of eloquence, expressing at large his clemency and condescension in admitting them to favour, when he could so easily have subdued them by force. And the people, who flocked in multitudes to this grand spectacle, were so charmed with his appearance and address, that they all cried out, as in a rapture, as soon as he had done speaking, Surely [it is] the voice of a god that we hear, and not that of a mortal man: And the unhappy prince, instead of expressing a just indignation at such base and impious flattery, hearkened to it with a secret complacency.
But immediately all his haughty parade was disgraced and exposed: for an angel of the Lord,¹ by an awful though invisible operation on his vitals, smote him with a sore and grievous dis-
ᵇ Arrayed in a royal habit.] Josephus expressly says, that his fine robe was richly wrought with silver, which, reflecting the rays of the rising sun with an unusual and almost insupportable splendor, gave his flatterers an occasion of complimenting him with the title of a deity. Mr. Fleming imagines, they therein referred to the glory with which the chekinah used to appear, and that Herod, being impious enough to assume the honour of it, provoked the divine Majesty beyond any farther sufferance,
so that he sent a disease upon him, which rendered him equally contemptible and miserable. (Flem. Christol. Vol. II. p. 300.) Elsner has given several instances of the madness of Heathen Princes, who arrogated divinity to themselves, and some of them came to infamous ends. (Observ. Vol. I. p. 413, 414.) But to be sure, Herod’s knowledge of the true God, and of his jealousy with respect to divine honours, rendered his guilt incomparably more aggravated than theirs.
The word of God upon this grows more success
and ease, because he gave not God the glory, in of rejecting these blasphemous applauses. On which he was presently forced to quit the place in extreme torture, and being miserably eaten and tormented (as his grandfather Herod the Great had been,) with a vast number of small worms, which bred in his bowels, and rendered him a most nauseous and horrible spectacle to all about him, he expired in equal agony and infamy; sunk as much below the common state of human nature, as his flatterers had endeavoured to raise him above it.
And upon this the word of God grew more and more successful, and in every place where the seed of the gospel was sown, the number of believers was considerably multiplied, and their faith greatly established: And after all the opposition of its enemies, who had endeavoured to extirpate it, the progress of Christianity was apparently promoted by the concurrence of these extraordinary events, in the deliverance of Peter, and the death of Herod, that cruel persecutor, under such evident tokens of divine vengeance.
An angel of the Lord smote him.] Josephus tells us (in the place cited above,) “That, as he did not rebuke this impious flattery, he was immediately seized with exquisite and racking tortures in his bowels, so that he was compelled, before he left the place, to own his folly in admitting such acclamations, and upbraided those about him with the wretched condition in which they then saw their God; and, being carried out of the assembly to his palace, he expired in violent agonies the fifth day after he was taken, in the fifty fourth year of his age, and the seventh of his reign;” (reckoning from the time of his first advancement, by Caligula, to the tetrarchy of his uncle Philip;) being the fourth year of the emperor Claudius, A. D. 44. Some have supposed, when it is said an angel smote him, that this is only a Jewish phrase, to signify he was suddenly seized with this disorder; But I think, it expresses the real, though invisible agency of a celestial spirit on this occasion. Compare 2 Sam. xxiv. 16; 2 Kings xix. 35.
Being eaten with worms.] Beza and Elsner think, σκαλικ:εωθσ signifies in the general consumed with vermin, and may express the disease called morbus pedicularis, of which, as the latter of these critics has shewn, (Vol. I. p. 437, 438,) several persecuting and cruel princes have died. (Compare 2 Mac. ix. 9; and Euseb. Eccles Hist. lib. viii. cap. 16.) I think with Dr. Lardner, (Credib. Book I. chap 1, § 6, Vol I. p. 59, 60,) that Josephus out of a partial fondness for Herod Agrippa, whom he had so much extolled, has concealed this particular, which was the true cause of those excruciating pains in the bowels, of which this Herod, and his grandfather Herod the Great died. See Joseph. Antiq. lib. xvii. cap. 6, [al. 8,] § 5.
The word of God grew, and was multiplied.] The expressions here used, (κυζικ: κειεπληθυνίς,) relate properly to vegetables and may be intended to signify, that the growth of the gospel, that is, its prevalence in the minds and lives of some, was (as is were) the means of sowing that divine seed in the hearts of many more.
Reflections on the miserable death of Herod.
IMPROVEMENT.
THE wrath of a king is as the messengers of death; but a wise man (says Solomon) will pacify it: (Prov. xvi. 14.) The world generally teaches this wisdom to its votaries, and the ties of interest are felt, when those of affection have but little force. Tyre and Sidon were nourished by the king’s country, and therefore they sought peace with him: But how much more necessary is it, for all countries, and people, and princes, to seek peace with the God of heaven, by whom the earth and all its inhabitants are nourished, who giveth rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, and can by his sovereign word turn the heavens into brass, and the earth into iron. (Deut. xxviii. 23.)
21, 22 How vain and impious was the applause of this servile multitude, when they were so ready to compliment a mortal man in shining apparel, and on a royal throne, with the title of divinity! and how wretched the infatuation of his mind, when he could receive that ascription without horror, yea even with complacency! Thus do pomp and power, wealth and grandeur, take away the heart of their possessors; but never a mortal nearer to destruction than when he forgets he is a mortal.
With pleasure no doubt, did this angel of the Lord come down to execute upon this proud and persecuting prince the vengeance due to the honours of God which he had invaded, and the blood of the saints which he had spilt. Let us adore the triumph of the injured majesty of heaven: He was smitten with death, with a death equally tormenting and ignominious; vermin devoured this god; nor could all his robes, his guards, or his physicians, preserve his living body from being as easy a prey to them, as the carcass of the meanest slave.
Thus is the Almighty Sovereign of the universe known by the judgment which he executeth upon the haughty kings of the earth. (Psal. ix. 16.) Well might the gospel flourish on occasion of such an event; when this royal corpse was (as it were) given for manure to the roots of that vine which he, in contempt of the King of Kings by whom it was planted, had impiously endeavoured to root up.
Saul and Barnabas return from Jerusalem to Antioch.
Acts 12:25
as, being returned from Jerusalem to Antioch, om thence to preach the gospel to the Gentiles; Cyprus, smite Elymas with blindness, and conaulus the Roman governor there. Acts XII. ult.
Acts XII. 25.
WE have formerly taken notice of the message on which the disciples at Antioch sent Barnabas and Saul to Jerusalem; to carry their alms to the brethren there, who were threatened with an approaching famine, which Agabus had foretold; (chap. xi. 29, 30, p. 165.) And we shall now observe, that Barnabas and Saul having fulfilled [their] ministry, and faithfully performed the charge committed to them, returned back to Antioch from Jerusalem, bringing along with them John, whose sirname was Mark.
Having fulfilled their ministry, returned from Jerusalem.] Mr. Fleming thinks, with several other good critics, that they returned after the death of James, and in the interval between the commitment and deliverance of Peter; and that it was to avoid breaking the thread of the story, that their return was not mentioned sooner. (See Flem. Christol. Vol. II. p. 230) But Dr. Lardner argues, from its being inserted here, that the commission was not executed till after the death of Herod, and dates the beginning of the famine accordingly. (Credib. Book I. chap. xi. § 2. Vol. I. p. 541.) Lord Barrington thinks, it was during Paul’s abode at Jerusalem on this occasion, that he had the visions in the temple mentioned Acts xxii. 17-21; and that then the Lord Jesus gave him that commission to the Gentiles expressed Acts xxvi. 17, 18; which words he supposes to have been spoken at this time, and that this extraordinary fact is referred to Acts xiii. 2, when the Spirit speaks as having already called him and Barnabas to the work, to which they were then to be separated; which must suppose, that Barnabas had also some correspondent vision, or was mentioned in that of Paul. (See Miscell. Sacr. Essay ii. p. 26, 27. But I
shall give my reasons, when I come to the texts in question, why I understand them in a different sense and connection. John, whose sirname was Mark.] It appears from what Grotius has urged, (Prolog. ad Marc. Evang.) that this was a different person from Mark the Evangelist, who was for several years the intimate companion of the apostle Peter, and seems to have been converted by him, as he calls him his son, (1 Pet. v. 13,) a title, which the apostles used to give to those who were the fruit of their ministry. (Compare 1 Cor. iv. 15; Gal. iv. 19; and Philem. ver. 10.) We learn from Scripture, that this person was the son of Mary, at whose house the disciples met, to pray for Peter, when he was imprisoned; (Acts xii. 12,) and he is spoken of as sister’s son to Barnabas, Col. iv. 10,) who appears to have had a great affection for him, not only by his taking him with them to Antioch, and from thence to Pamphylia, (Acts xii. 5, & seq.) where it should seem he was discouraged by the difficulties o the work from going any farther, and returned to Jerusalem, (ver. 13,) but by his insisting afterwards, when they were setting out upon another progress, that Mark should go with them to visit the
At Antioch there were several prophets
Now there were in the church that was at Antioch, certain prophets and teachers of great note, particularly Barnabas, the generous Levite whom we just now mentioned, who had given up the whole of his estate to charitable uses; and Simon, who was also called Niger, or the Black, from his swarthy complexion; and Lucius, the Cyrenian, a native of Africa; and Manaen, a person of considerable rank, who was educated with Herod the tetrarch in his father’s court, yet thought it no disgrace to appear as a Christian minister; and, to mention no more, Saul, that remarkable convert, whose labours in the church were, as we shall farther learn, so eminently useful. And as they were ministering to the Lord in public, and joined fasting to prayer, the Holy Spirit by immediate revelation said, Separate to me Barnabas and Saul, for the extraordinary work of preaching the Gospel among the Gentiles, to which I have now expressly called them.
hurches, which Paul was so averse to, that they parted; and Paul chose Silas to attend him, while Barnabas took Mark, and sailed for Cyprus. (Acts xv. 37—40.) We have no farther account of him in the Acts; but he appears so far to have received his character, that he is recommended afterwards by the apostle Paul to the Colossians; (Col. iv. 10.) and, when he was at Rome, the apostle mentions him among his fellow labourers, (Philem. ver. 24.) and at last speaks of his desire to see him, as one that was useful to him in the ministry. (2 Tim. iv. 11.)
Certain prophets and teachers.] Who of these might be the stated pastors of the lace, and who only occasional residents there, we cannot I think with any certainty determine, only that Paul and Barnabas were of the latter. Mr. Fleming, on the supposition mentioned in note, concludes that this assembly might be held with some peculiar regard to Peter’s danger, and that in it the Spirit directed, that both Paul and Barnabas should be received into the now diminished number of the apostles. See Flem. Christod. Vol. II. p. 230.
Manaen, who was educated with Herod the tetrarch.] He seems by this to have been a person of considerable rank, and, having been a courtier, might probably have learnt some peculiar arts of addres; yet he had no share in this extraordinary commission granted to Paul and Barnabas. (Compare 1 Cor. i. 26, 27. Josephus
(Antiq. lib. xv. cap. 10, [al. 13,] § 5.) mentions one Manaen an Essene, who ha foretold Herod the Great, while he was ye a boy, that he should be a king, and was afterwards in high favour with him; and some have thought, this was his son. (See Mr. Biscoe at Boyle’s Lect chap. iii. § 11. p. 79—81.) That Manaen, Simeon, and Lucius, were all apostles, is a strange opinion of Dr. Scot, (Christian Life, Vol. III. p. 1099,) which so judicious a man could never have entertained, had it not seemed necessary to solve a difficulty, which I hope we shall presently see is only imaginary.
For the work to which I have called them.] If there be any reference to a past fact in these words, it is probably to some revelation personally made to Paul and Barnabas, to signify that they should take a journey into several countries of Asia Minor to preach the gospel there. But that they were now invested with the apostolic office by these inferior ministers, (though expressly asserted by Clarius and many others,) is a thing neither credible in itself, nor consistent with what Paul himself says, Gal. i. 1. And that they now received a power, before unknown in the church, of preaching to the idolatrous Gentiles, is inconsistent with Acts xi. 20, 21, and upon many other considerations, to be proposed elsewhere, appears to me absolutely incredible.
Barnabas are sent to preach to the Gentiles.
And having on this notice appointed a solemn day for this purpose, in which they fasted and rayed, and laid their hands upon them, in token of their designation to that extraordinary office,; they dismissed them from Antioch with all the most affectionate tokens of Christian friendship.
They therefore being thus sent out by the immediate direction of the Holy Spirit, and animated to a noble elevation of soul in the thought of such an important mission, departed to Seleucia, a considerable port in the Mediterranean sea; and from thence they sailed to the island of Cyprus; so celebrated, or rather so infamous, for the worship of Venus, who was supposed to hold her peculiar residence here, and therefore was commonly called “the Cyprian Goddess.” And being arrived at Salamis, the eastern port of the island, and consequently that which lay nearest to the place from whence they came, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews there; for there were great numbers of that people in Cyprus: And they had also John for their attendant, who waited upon them with great respect, not pretending to a character by any means equal to theirs.
And having traversed the whole island, as far as Paphos, which lay on its western coast, they found there a certain Jew, who was a magician [and] false prophet, whose name was Bar Jesus or the son of one Jesus or Joshua: This was a person who was much regarded, and was at that time with the Roman proconsul there, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man, of a steady conduct and thoughtful temper, ready to inquire
‘By the Holy Spirit.] This seems to be added to remind us, that, though they were solemnly recommended to God by the prayers of their brethren, their authority was not derived from them, but from the Holy Spirit himself.
A magician and false prophet.] There were many instances of real or pretended sorcery among the Jews in these days, which seems to have been designed by the devil and wicked men, to slur the miracles of Christ and his apostles. But, by confounding them in several instances, the Christian cause was magnified yet more, than it would otherwise have been.
Nevertheless it is to be feared, they wrought on many who were not wise and candid enough to examine, so as to introduce a general contempt of all pretences to supernatural powers as false or inconclusive: a sad instance of which we have seen in Marcus Antoninus, who, though he professes some revelations to have been made to himself in dreams, (De Rebus suis, lib. i § 17,) yet reckons it among the great advantages he received by conversing with Diogenetus, that he learnt from him to despise all stories of miracles and dispossessions, ibid § 6.
Coming to Cyprus they are opposed by ymas
fter truth, and capable to judge of its evidence; who having received some general intelligence of their character and messages, sent some of those that were about him, and calling or Barnabas and Saul, desired to hear the word of God, that he might know what was the purport of their preaching, and what regard was due to the doctrine they taught. But Elymas, or the magician, (for that was the meaning of his name Elymas, when translated into the Greek language, h) as he was sensible that he should be no more regarded if their doctrine was received, set himself all he could to hinder the effect of it, and withstood them in their preaching, endeavouring in a crafty way, by a variety of false insinuations which he used, to turn away the proconsul from embracing the faith. i
Then Saul, (who is also [called] Paul, k and will generally be spoken of hereafter by that name, by which the Romans and Greeks would most naturally mention him,) being filled with the powerful effusion and impulse of the Holy Spirit, turning to Elymas the sorcerer, and looking stedfastly upon him, said, with just indignation, O thou wretch [who art] full of all
h That was his name when translated, &c.] The most probable etymology I have found of it is that, which derives it from the Arabic word Alaim, which signifies one acquainted with hidden secrets, from the Hebrew חָמִית, alam, to hide, and is used in the Arabic Version of the Old Testament for the Hebrew חָמִית, a magician. See Beza in loc.
i The proconsul.] So the word שִׁירוּשִׁים properly signifies; and, though Beza and Dr. Hammond, as well as Grotius and Mr. L’Enfant, (who has taken almost all his notes from him,) say, that the title was improperly applied to the governor of Cyprus, as they suppose by way of compliment, while he was only שִׁירוּשִׁים, a sort of lieutenant; Dr. Lardner has with great learning vindicated the accuracy, with which St. Luke speaks, (Credib. Book I. chap. i. § 11, Vol. II. p. 51-54,) and shewn, (from Dio, lib. liii. p. 504, A. 27 lib. liv. p. 523, B.) that they who presided over the Roman provinces by the appointment of the senate, (and Cyprus was now of that number, though it had once been pretorian,) were called proconsuls, though the had never filled the consular chair;
which (as appears by the Fasti Consulares,) was the case with the excellent and happy governor of whom we speak. See Mr. Biscoe at Boyle’s Lect. chap. iii. § 1, p. 55, 56.
k Saul, who is also called Paul.] Some have thought the apostle had originally two names, and many others that he changed the former for the latter with design, either out of deference to Sergius Paulus, or to the Gentiles, among whom he now preached, so much as to be called by way of eminence, (though not in strict appropriation,) their apostle. (See Dr. Hammond in loc.) But I think Beza’s account of the matter most easy and probable; that having conversed hitherto chiefly with Jews and Syrians, to whom the name of Saul was familiar, and now coming among Romans and Greeks, they would naturally pronounce his name Paul; as one, whose Hebrew name was Jochanan, would be called by the Greeks and Latins Johannes, by the French Jean, by the Dutch Hans, and by the English John (See also Grot in loc.) Beza thinks, the family of this proconsul might be the first, who addressed or spoke of him by the name Paul.
truck blind, and Sergius Paul us converted.
ecceit and of all wickedness! Thou notorious son of the devil, that great deceiver, the adversary of the god and man! Thou enemy of all righteousness! wilt thou not cease to pervert the righteousness of the Lord, and by thy perverse misrepresentations to lay a stumbling block before those that would embrace the gospel? Thou shalt be confounded in this cursed undertaking, and made a signal monument of the divine displeasure. And behold, even now the almighty hand of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose gospel thou opposest, is upon thee, and thou shalt be struck blind by it, and shalt not be able to see even the sun itself at noon day for a certain time, that thou mayest be convinced of thy sin and folly, and mayest, if possible, be brought to repentance for it. And immediately, while Paul was yet speaking, a thick mist and darkness fell upon him; and going about in the utmost confusion, he sought some to lead him by the hand, not being able so much as to find the door without a guide, and afraid that he might run upon any one who stood in his way.
Then the proconsul, seeing what was done, yielded to so convincing an evidence, and believed the gospel;¹ being also struck with admiration of the internal evidence which he soon discovered in the doctrine of the Lord; and which broke in with increasing lustre on his mind, in proportion to the degree of attention with which he inquired into it.
IMPROVEMENT.
WE who were once sinners of the Gentiles, and now by the verse divine goodness are brought to the knowledge of the gospel,² have abundant reason to be thankful that inspired messengers
¹ The proconsul believed.] I can see no reason at all to imagine, with Lord Barrington, (Abstract, p. 21,) and Dr. Benson, (Vol. II. p. 27,) that Sergius Paulus was the first convert to Christianity among the idolatrous Gentiles, which, if their own interpretation of Acts xi. 19, 20, (unsatisfactory as it seems,) were to be allowed, would appear incredible from this very context; for who can imagine, that Paul and Barnabas should, as we are assured they did, traverse the whole island of Cyprus, from Salamis to Pahos, without converting one person from idolatry, though it is here uncontroverted, that they bore an unlimited commission, and fully understood its extent? Limborch justly argues in favour of Christian magistracy from hence, as it is neither credible, that, if Sergius Paulus abdicated his office, so important a circumstance should be omitted, or that Paul should have acquiesced in his continuing in it, if he knew it contrary to the will of Christ, which he would not fail fully to declare to him. See Limb: Theolog. lib. v. cap. 73, § 5.
Reflections on Elymas’s being struck with blindness.
were sent to teach it, being separated to that purpose by the di- rct appointment of the Holy Spirit. May they that go out to this verse sacred work in all nations, and in all times, maintain a becoming 4 regard to his influences; and may he make their way prosperous! That he may be engaged to do so, it is certainly convenient, up on the justest principles of reason and piety, to send them forth 3 with solemn prayer; in which ministers and private Christians should from time to time concur, with an intenseness and seriousness answerable to the occasion. 6,8 Wherever the messengers of the gospel go, they must not be surprised if Satan raise up his instruments and children to oppose them; especially where they would endeavour to introduce religion into the hearts of princes, or other great men. Well does the prince of the power of the air know, how dangerous every such blow is to this kingdom. Nevertheless, the King of Kings knows how to make way to the hearts of the greatest among the 7 children of men, nor can any of them shew a more solid and important prudence, than to inquire impartially into the evidences of the gospel, and to give themselves up to be governed by it; an happy resolution, which they will probably be disposed to form, in proportion to the degree in which they observe its Nahum 12 ture and tendency: For surely every intelligent person that does so, must, like Sergius Paulus, be struck with the doctrine of the Lord, as well as with the miracles which were wrought to confirm it. 9,10 Justly might Paul pronounce that man, who endeavoured to obstruct the progress of divine truth in the world, a child of satan, and an enemy of all righteousness: Justly might God, who knew all his secret wickedness and perverseness of soul, smite him 11 with a blindness, which, while it rendered him incapable of seeing the light of the meridian sun, seemed but a doleful emblem of that more fatal darkness which, through the corruption of his heart, had spread itself over his mind, and prevented the light of the gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, from shining in upon it. (1 Cor. iv. 4.) Have we not reason to fear, that God may in his righteous judgment punish that iniquity of Spirit, with which many now rise up against the right ways of the Lord, (not ceasing to pervert and disguise them, that they may more plausibly and effectually oppose them,) with an internal blindness, in which they may wander on to their destruction? And if others stupidly permit themselves to be guided by them, what can be expected but that the blind leading the blind, both leaders and followers should fall into the pit? (Mat. xv. 14.)
Paul and Barnabas come to Antioch in Pisidia.