Acts 15
TFGActs 15:1
(29) Then the disciples, every one according as he was prospered, determined to send relief to the brethren who dwelt in Judea;
This is the first account we have of the gift of prophesy among the disciples, but Agabus and his companions appear to have been already known as prophets, doubtless from previous exercise of this gift. The brethren, therefore, did not hesitate to give full credit to the prediction, and knowing that such a famine must cause peculiar distress among the extremely poor in Judea, they were prompt to supply their wants even before the period of distress arrived. Their benevolence is not less remarkable than that of the Church in Jerusalem at the beginning. The poor for whom that Church provided were in their midst, and suffering from present want; but the disciples in Antioch anticipate a state of distress yet in the future, on the part of brethren to whom they are personally unknown, and provide for it in advance. No more striking evidence could be given, at once, of their benevolence, and their confidence in the predictions of their own prophets.
(OCA 151)
Acts 15:2
(30) which also they did, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
This benevolent supply was sent to the Elders, by whom, we are to understand, it was distributed to the final recipients. This is the first time that elders, as a distinct class, are mentioned in connection with the congregations of disciples. They are mentioned, however, as a class of officials then well known, and, consequently, we must infer that they had been appointed in the Churches at a still earlier period.
(OCA 151)
Acts 15:4
#Acts 12:1,2|
XII:1, 2. The historian does not follow Barnabas and Saul in their tour through the districts in Judea, but, leaving them for awhile, introduces a very interesting episode concerning events that were then transpiring in Jerusalem.
(1) Now, about that time, Herod the king stretched forth his hand to afflict certain persons of the Church,
The persecutions which we have hitherto noticed were conducted by religious partisans in Jerusalem, without any active assistance on the part of the civil authorities. We are now introduced to one in which the reigning prince is the leader, while the old enemies of the truth are working behind the curtain, if at all.
This Herod was a grandson of that Herod by whom the infants of Bethlehem were slaughtered [#Matthew 2:16|], and a nephew of “Herod the Tetrarch,” by whom John the Immerser was beheaded [#Matthew 14:10|]. He grew up in Rome, where he wasted what fortune he had inherited in princely extravagance; but while doing so he acquired an intimacy with Caius Caesar, afterward the famous Caligula of history. When the latter ascended the throne, at the death of Tiberius, he elevated his friend Agrippa, as this Herod was most usually called, to a kingdom, which was subsequently enlarged by Claudius until it embraced all the territory ruled by his grandfather Herod the Great. He was now in the zenith of his power, and living in the utmost magnificence. (y) Why he undertook this persecution it is difficult to tell, unless he was instigated to it by the old enemies of the Church. This appears most probable from Luke’s statement below, that he seized Peter because he saw that the death of James pleased the Jews (#Acts 12:3|).
(y) For a detailed and very interesting history of this prince, see Josephus’s The Antiquities of the Jews, Books 18 and 19.
(OCA 151-152)
Acts 15:5
(2) and killed James the brother of John with the sword.
A number of brethren suffered in this persecution, though James the brother of John is the only one who is said to have suffered death. He is designated as the “brother of John” to distinguish him from the other James, who is the author of the epistle bearing this name. He was the first of the apostles to suffer death, and his brother John was the last. In the death of both were fulfilled the words of Jesus, uttered on a memorable occasion, when they asked him for a seat, one at his right hand, and the other at his left. He asked them if they were able to undergo the immersion which he would undergo. They said, “We are able.” He replied, “You shall, indeed, drink of my cup, and be immersed in the immersion in which I am immersed; but to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but to them for whom it is prepared by my Father” [see #Matthew 20:20-23 Mr 10:35-40|]. As the sword of the executioner was made bare, and the neck of James laid upon the block, he could but remember these words. He understood, too, far better than when he first made the request, what it is to sit at the right hand of Jesus.
Why James was selected for this murderous example, in preference to any other of the apostles, we are not informed; but we have already seen that the brunt of persecution uniformly fell upon those most prominent in the scenes which were the immediate occasion of it. This consideration gives some ground for the conclusion that, though Peter and John had hitherto acted the most prominent part in Jerusalem, at this time James stood in the foreground in the conflict with the unbelieving Jews.
(OCA 152)
Acts 15:6
#Acts 12:3,4|
3, 4. When a man engages in a wicked enterprise, his conscience makes him timid while left to himself; but the applause of the multitude enables him to drown the voice of conscience, and rush on madly to the end. Agrippa may have hesitated when he found his hands stained with the blood of an apostle; but when the people applauded, he hesitated no longer.
(3) And seeing that it was pleasing to the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. But it was in the days of unleavened bread.
Acts 15:7
(4) And having apprehended him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four quaternions of soldiers to guard him, intending, after the Passover, to bring him out to the people.
A public execution during the feast of unleavened bread would have been exceedingly incongruous with the religious solemnities of the occasion: hence this delay.
The four quaternions of soldiers who guarded Peter consisted of sixteen men, each quaternion consisting of four. It was enough to keep four men on guard during each of the four watches of the night. They, together with the strength of the prison doors, were deemed sufficient for the utmost security.
(OCA 152-153)
Acts 15:8
- We have noticed that when Peter and John were dismissed from the Sanhedrim, with a threat of violence if they dared any more to speak or teach in the name of Jesus, they came to their own company, and all united in prayer to God for courage (#Acts 4:24|). Now that James has been murdered, and Peter is in prison awaiting the same fate, we find the brethren once more unitedly appealing to God.
(5) Peter, therefore, was kept in prison, but fervent prayer was made by the Church to God for him.
When we reflect that the circumstances affecting the disciples were calculated in the highest degree to exasperate them against the murderers of their brethren, and stimulate them to active measures for the defense of their own lives, it is exceedingly to their credit that they were engaged in fervent prayer. If they had been taught the modern doctrine that Christians may rightly resist, with violence, the assaults of tyrannical rulers, and, whatever the weakness on their own part, may confidently appeal to the God of battles in vindication of their rights, their feelings, and their conduct, under these circumstances, must have been far different from what they were. If ever there was an occasion on which the boasted first law of nature, the right of self-defense, would justify resistance to oppression, it existed here. But, instead of the passion and turmoil of armed preparation, we hear from the midnight assemblies of the disciples the voice of fervent prayer. Where prayer is, acceptable prayer, there is no passion, no thirst for revenge, or purpose of violence. These men were disciples of the Prince of Peace.
(OCA 153)
Acts 15:9
- Time wore away in painful suspense until the Passover was gone by.
(6) And when Herod was about to bring him forth, in that night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and the guards before the door were guarding the prison.
He was securely kept, according to the most ingenious method of the Roman army. Besides the prison-doors, and the guards without, his arms were pinioned by two chains, each to the arm of a soldier on the right and left, so that he could not move without disturbing one or both. If Herod was actuated, in adopting these precautions, by a desire to prevent a rescue, he ought to have known that Peter’s brethren never fought with carnal weapons, even to save the life of a brother. Or if he feared a miraculous escape of his prisoner, and intended that the guards should kill him upon the first movement of that kind, he ought to have remembered that all the twelve had once walked out of a prison in that city without hindrance either from the iron doors or the armed soldiers [#Acts 5:19|]. But wicked men are prone to forget the warnings of the past, and continue to repeat, in endless succession, the blunders of their predecessors.
(OCA 153)
Acts 15:10
7-11. Though Peter undoubtedly expected to die the next day, he seems to have slept as soundly as the soldiers to whom he was chained. All was dark and still within the prison until a late hour of the night, when the scene suddenly changed.
(7) And behold, an angel of the Lord, stood by, and a light shone in the prison; and striking Peter on the side, he raised him up, saying, Rise up quickly. His chains fell from his hands.
(OCA 153)
Acts 15:11
(8) And the angel said to him, Gird yourself, and bind on your sandals. He did so. And he said to him, Cast your mantle about you and follow me.
Acts 15:12
(9) And he followed him, going out, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.
Acts 15:13
(10) But having passed through the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate which leads into the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and going out, they went forward one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.
Acts 15:14
(11) Then Peter, coming to himself, said, Now I know in reality that the Lord has sent his angel, and delivered me from the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.
It is not at all strange that Peter thought, at first, that he was dreaming; for the deliverance was entirely unexpected, and was effected in the most wonderful manner, and amid the bewilderment usual upon being suddenly aroused from deep sleep. When he found himself alone in the street, and had collected his senses, he knew that it was a reality, and felt like one waking from a singular dream.
(OCA 154)
Acts 15:15
- When the angel departed, he stood in the street for a while, reflecting upon the incident, and considering what he should do. In the house of Mary the sister of Barnabas (compare #Acts 12:12| with #Colossians 4:10|), a number of disciples were at that very hour engaged in prayer in his behalf. He knew nothing of this, but, guided either by the proximity of the house, or the well-known character of its inmates, he turned in that direction.
(12) When he understood the matter, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying.
(OCA 154)
Acts 15:16
13-16. Although the condition of Peter was the burden of the prayers of these disciples, they were by no means expecting his deliverance, and were most likely praying that he might be enabled to endure with fortitude a death which they regarded as inevitable.
(13) And when he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant girl named Rhoda came to hear who it was.
(OCA 154)
Acts 15:17
(14) And recognizing the voice of Peter, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in and told that Peter was standing before the gate.
Acts 15:18
(15) But they said to her, You are mad. But she positively affirmed that it was really so. Then they said, It is his angel.
When Rhoda insisted that it was Peter at the gate, and the disciples said, It is his angel, they undoubtedly had allusion to the popular superstition of their day, that a man’s guardian angel sometimes assumed his form. Before this, the twelve had twice imagined that they saw a disembodied spirit; once when they saw Jesus walking on the water (#Matthew 14:26|), and once when he miraculously entered a closed room where they were sitting (#Lu 24:37|). These facts show how strong a hold the popular superstitions had upon their minds. But while the conception that angels sometimes assumed the forms of those whom they guarded, and that disembodied spirits were sometimes visible, was superstitious, we must not forget that beneath this superstition there was a solemn reality. Jesus says, “Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven” (#Matthew 18:10|). Paul asks, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those who shall inherit salvation?” (#Hebrews 1:14|). And David, under the old economy, says, in his own poetic style, “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them who fear him” (#Psalms 34:7|). In view of these statements, we can not doubt that the ministration of angels in behalf of the saints is still a reality.
(OCA 154-155)
Acts 15:19
(16) But Peter continued knocking, and when they had opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.
When we remember that these disciples were so familiar with miracles, it is rather surprising that the deliverance of Peter should have caused so much astonishment. It shows that they were still disposed, like ourselves, to estimate the probabilities of even what God may do, by the difficulties of the execution. This is really judging of God by the standard of human ability. While we are compelled to approach the unknown through the known, we will, perhaps, never rise above this weakness. Still, it should not, even in the most difficult cases, check the fervency of our prayers. They undervalued the power or the willingness of God to grant their desires, in the day of miracles, as we undervalue his power to work without miracles; yet their prayers were none the less fervent or persistent.
(OCA 154)
Acts 15:20
- Apprehensive of a pursuit, Peter did not remain long with the brethren in the house of Mary.
(17) But, beckoning to them with his hand to be silent, he related to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison, and said, Tell these things to James and the brethren. And going out, he went to another place.
Whether this other place was a place of concealment in the city, or an entirely new field of labor, is not known.
The prominence given to the name of the surviving James, in this speech of Peter, shows that he already occupied a prominent position among the brethren. We will, hereafter, see that he continued to occupy this position.
(OCA 155)
Acts 15:21
#Acts 12:18,19|
18, 19. The escape of Peter had been altogether unobserved by the soldiers who guarded him. The two who were chained to him in the prison slept on till day, and those guarding the outside changed their watches at the regular hours without suspecting any thing wrong within.
(18) Now when it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become of Peter.
(OCA 155)
Acts 15:22
(19) And when Herod had sought for him and found him not, he examined the guards and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judea to Caesarea, and abode there.
The military law of the Romans required that guards who allowed the escape of a prisoner, and rendered no satisfactory account of it, should be put to death. But it is impossible to believe that on this occasion Herod was governed by an honest sense of military duty. He must have known that the escape of Peter was miraculous, and the execution of the guards was an act of insane fury. A conscience stained by the blood of an apostle and of sixteen faithful soldiers could not find rest in the place where the deeds were done; and doubtless this had much to do with the removal of his residence to Caesarea.
(OCA 155)
Acts 15:23
20-23. The historian pursues the history of this murderous prince a little further.
(20) Now Herod was enraged against the Tyrians and Sidonians. But they came to him with one accord, and having made Blastus the king’s chamberlain their friend, desired peace, because their country was nourished by that of the king.
(OCA 155)
Acts 15:24
(21) And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration to them.
Acts 15:25
(22) And the people cried out, The voice of a God, and not of a man.
Acts 15:26
(23) And immediately an angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory, and being eaten by worms, he expired.
Josephus says of the “royal apparel” in which he was arrayed, that it was woven wholly of silver threads, the glittering of which, in the morning sun, suggested the idolatrous exclamation of the multitude [#Acts 12:22|] (z). He also relates that Herod was seized with pains in the bowels, so violent that he had to be carried into the palace, and lingered five days in excruciating torments from the worms (a) also mentioned by Luke. This historian mentions some circumstances of a superstitious character in connection with this terrible event, but his account agrees substantially with that of Luke. Thus was the righteous judgment of God, which is chiefly reserved for the future state, displayed even in the world, for the terror of wicked men and the encouragement of the righteous.
(z) The Antiquities of the Jews, 19.8.2. (a) The Antiquities of the Jews, 19.8.2.
(OCA 156)
Acts 15:27
- It was impossible that this providential and sudden death of Herod, occurring so soon after the murders which he had committed in Jerusalem, should not seriously affect the public mind. We are not surprised, therefore, that Luke adds:
(24) But the word of the Lord grew and multiplied.
Once more the efforts of men to crush the cause of Christ resulted in the extension of its triumphs.
(OCA 156)
Acts 15:28
- This narrative concerning the death of James, the imprisonment of Peter, and the miserable death of Herod, is thrown in between the arrival of Paul and Barnabas on their mission to the poor saints, and their return to Antioch. It is most probable that they were in Jerusalem at the feast during which Peter lay in prison.
(25) Now Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John who was surnamed Mark.
This is the first appearance in public life of the evangelist Mark, whose education in the house of Mary his mother, and whose subsequent familiarity, first with Barnabas and Saul, and afterward with Peter, very happily fitted him for the gospel narrative which we have from his pen. We will have more to say of him hereafter (see #Acts 13:13|; and #Acts 15:37-39|).
(OCA 156)
Acts 15:30
XIII:1. We have already seen that Barnabas and Saul had labored one whole year together in the city of Antioch, and we now learn that at the close of this period there were other inspired teachers associated with them.
(1) Now there were in the Church in Antioch certain prophets and teachers, Barnabas and Simeon called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenian, and Manaen, foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
It will be observed that, in this catalogue of names, that of Barnabas stands first, and that of Saul last. As it was customary at that period to arrange names in the order of their notability at the time contemplated, we may infer that Barnabas still occupied a position of pre-eminence, while Saul was as yet comparatively undistinguished among the inspired teachers. Nothing more is known of Simeon, Lucius, and Manaen than is here stated; but this is enough to show that the future instruction of the congregation might be safely committed to their hands.
(OCA 156)
Acts 15:31
#Acts 13:2,3|
2, 3. (2) As they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Separate for me Barnabas and Saul to the work to which I have called them.
This command of the Holy Spirit is not the call of Barnabas and Saul to their peculiar work, but refers to a call which had been previously given. It shows that Barnabas as well as Saul had received a special call to labor among the Gentiles. They had, hitherto, most probably, been associated together mainly through geniality of spirit. This geniality may also have furnished the main reason why they were directed by the Holy Spirit to continued their labors together.
(OCA 157)
Acts 15:32
(3) And when they had fasted and prayed and laid hands on them, they sent them away.
The design of the ceremony of fasting, prayer, and imposition of hands observed on this occasion is variously understood. There are only two interpretations of it which are worthy of notice. First, it is assumed that the design was to confer on Barnabas and Saul the power of working miracles. The only proof offered in support of this assumption is the fact that neither of them is said to have wrought miracles previous to this time, while they both exhibited miraculous powers shortly after. But this is to argue from the silence of the Scriptures, and is, necessarily, inconclusive. They may have worked miracles before this time, notwithstanding this silence. In the case of Saul, indeed, there is almost positive proof that he did so. The Lord had given him a special commission as an apostle when he first appeared to him on the way to Damascus (#Acts 26:16-18|), and Ananias was sent to him that he “might receive his sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit” (#Acts 9:17|). Immediately after his immersion he began to discharge his apostolic office, and had been thus engaged three years previous to his first return to Jerusalem (#Galatians 1:15-18|). Another whole year had been spent in the same work in Antioch (#Acts 11:26|), besides the interval of his residence in Tarsus (#Acts 9:3 11:25|). But an essential mark of the apostolic office was the power to work miracles. This Paul himself assumes, in his Second Epistle to the Corinthians, among whom his apostleship has been denied. As conclusive proof of his apostleship, he says, “Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you, in all patience, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds” (#2 Corinthians 12:12|). If these signs are the proof of apostleship, then he must have been able to exhibit them from the time that he began to be an apostle; and this was more than four years previous to the imposition of hands by the prophets and teachers in Antioch. This fact, coupled with the statement of Ananias, that he was sent to him that he might be filled with the Holy Spirit, indicates clearly that his miraculous endowments dated from his immersion. The first supposition, then, in reference to the design of the ceremony we are considering, proves to be not only unfounded, but inconsistent with the facts of the case.
The second, and doubtless the true interpretation, is this: That the imposition of hands, accompanied by fasting and prayer, was, in this case, as in that of the seven deacons [#Acts 6:6|], merely their formal separation to the special work to which they had been called. This, indeed, is sufficiently evident from the context. What they did was doubtless what they had been told to do by the Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit simply said to them, “Separate me Barnabas and Saul to the work to which I have called them.” The fasting, prayer, and imposition of hands was, then, merely their separation to this work. It was a ceremony deemed by infinite wisdom suitable to such a purpose; and, therefore, whenever a congregation has a similar purpose to accomplish, they have, in this case, the judgments and will of God, which should be their guide.
The solemn simplicity of this apostolic ceremony stands in striking contrast with the pompous mummery which often characterizes “ordination” services in modern Churches. No less striking is the contrast between the humility of Saul and the ambitious spirit of many modern clergyman who are extremely exacting in reference to the punctilios of ecclesiastical rank. Though an apostle by special commission, he was “ordained” by his humble fellow-laborers in Antioch. This fact shows that the idea of superior rank and authority had not then begun the work of ruin which it has since accomplished, in filling the minds of preachers with the same lust of office and power which characterizes the intrigues of political partisans.
(OCA 157-158)
Acts 15:33
#Acts 13:4,5|
4, 5. We now follow Barnabas and Saul to their new field of labor. Their departure from Antioch is thus announced by Luke:
(4) So they, being sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, and thence sailed into Cyprus.
Seleucia was the seaport nearest to Antioch, distant some fifteen or eighteen miles, and near the mouth of the river Orontes, on the bank of which Antioch is situated. Embarking upon some trading vessel, they sailed to the port of Salamis, which is at the eastern end of the island of Cyprus.
In choosing this island as the first point in the wide world to which they directed their steps, they were, doubtless, guided not by the natural partiality which Barnabas may have felt for it as his native land (#Acts 4:36|), but by that fixed principle in the apostolic labors which taught them to cultivate first those fields which promised the most abundant harvest (see TFG “Acts 1:8”). The fact that this was the native island of Barnabas gave him hope of a more ready access to many old associates. Besides, the gospel had already been proclaimed here with some success among the Jews (#Acts 11:19,20|), and in the city of Salamis, as we learn from the text just quoted, there was more than one Jewish synagogue.
(OCA 158)
Acts 15:34
(5) And when they were in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues. And they had John as an assistant.
What duties were performed by John, in his capacity as “an assistant,” can not be specifically determined with certainty. The term assistant would indicate that he performed, under their direction, a part of the same labor in which they were themselves engaged. The fact, however, that Saul was not in the habit of immersing his own converts, but imposed this duty on his assistants (compare #Acts 18:8| with #1 Corinthians 1:14-17|), renders it highly probable that this was at least one of the duties performed by John.
(OCA 158)
Acts 15:35
#Acts 13:6,7|
6, 7. Luke is entirely silent in reference to the effect of the apostolic preaching in Salamis, leaving us to suppose that it was not great. After stating that they preached in the synagogues of the Jews, he follows them in their further progress through the island.
(6) And having passed through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a certain magician, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus,
(OCA 158-159)
Acts 15:36
(7) who was with Sergius Paulus the proconsul, a prudent man, who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.
Every reader of ancient history has observed that statesmen and generals were in the habit of consulting oracles and auguries, and that they generally kept about them some one supposed to have the power of interpreting the signs of approaching good or evil. In this particular period, the educated Romans had become skeptical in reference to their heathen oracles, but Jewish pretenders still had access to their confidence on the credit of the ancient Jewish prophets. With a knowledge of the true God superior to that of even the greatest philosophers among the Greeks, because derived from the Jewish Scriptures, this Bar-Jesus very naturally gained the confidence of even the prudent Sergius Paulus. When, however, two other Jews appeared in Paphos, claiming to bring additional revelations from the God of Israel, the same prudence which had prompted the proconsul to reject the heathen oracles in favor of the Jewish pretender, now prompted him to send for Barnabas and Saul, that he might hear the word of God from them. Such a mind as his could not fail to hear with profit.
(OCA 159)
Acts 15:37
8-12. While listening to the gospel, there were some indications that he was inclined to believe it.
(8) But the magician Elymas, for so is his name translated, withstood them, seeking to turn aside the proconsul from the faith.
(OCA 159)
Acts 15:38
(9) Then Saul, who is also Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his eyes on him,
Acts 15:39
(10) and said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
Acts 15:40
(11) And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell upon him a mist, and darkness, and he went about seeking persons to lead him by the hand.
This is the only miracle wrought by an apostle to the injury of any one’s person. It is to be accounted for, not by supposed resentment on the part of Saul, nor by a desire to make a special example of Bar-jesus. But the case was such that some display of power over the person of the false prophet was the readiest way to convince the proconsul. When Moses went into Egypt he found it necessary to impose many personal inflictions upon the priests, in order to destroy Pharaoh’s confidence in them. The present case was similar to that.
(OCA 159)
Acts 15:41
(12) Then the proconsul, seeing what was done, being astonished by the Lord’s teaching.
The conflict in the mind of Sergius Paulus was between the claim of Bar-jesus to prophetic powers, and that of the apostles. The best way to settle this question was to denounce him in his true character as a son of the devil and an enemy of all righteousness, and then prove the justice of the denunciation, by exerting miraculous control over his person. As he groped about, calling upon one and another of the frightened bystanders to lead him by the hand, the falsity and iniquity if his pretensions stood confessed, and the divine mission of the apostles was demonstrated. The proconsul was fully convinced, and astonished at teaching which was attended by such power.
This triumph over Bar-jesus, and the consequent conversion of Sergius Paulus, forms an epoch in the life of the Apostle Paul. Hitherto he has occupied a subordinate position, and his name has come last in the list of himself and his fellow-laborers. But hereafter he is to occupy the foreground of almost every scene in which he acts. Heretofore, Luke has written “Barnabas and Saul”; hereafter he writes, “Paul and Barnabas.” He had been, up to this time, known by no other name than Saul, being so called not only by Luke, but by Jesus and Ananias (#Acts 9:4-17|). Luke, though writing long after this name had gone into disuse, remembering the custom which thus far prevailed, thus far retains it in his narrative. But, from this time forward he uses the name Paul exclusively; and that this was the universal custom, we infer from the fact that he is so called by all others who mention his name; by the Lord Jesus (#Acts 23:11|); by the mob in Jerusalem (#Acts 23:14|); by the centurion under Lysias (#Acts 23:18|); by his own nephew (#Acts 23:20|); by Lysias the chiliarch (#Acts 23:24|); by Festus (#Acts 26:24|); and by Peter (#2 Peter 3:15|).
There are only two suppositions worthy of notice, by which to account for this change of name. First, that he had both the Hebrew name Saul, and the Latin name Paul, before this time, and perhaps from his infancy; but the conversion of the proconsul Paulus led to the exclusive use of his Latin name thereafter. This supposition, however, can not account for the entire absence of the name Paul previous to this event. Moreover, while it is true that many Jews of that day had both a Hebrew and a Latin or Greek name, there is no evidence that such had been the case with Saul.
The other supposition is, that he received this new name by common consent, in commemoration of the conversion of Paulus. This conversion was a signal triumph; it was accomplished by his intrumentality alone, and was the beginning of the pre-eminence which he afterward maintained over Barnabas and all subsequent follow-laborers. So bold and startling an incident, though it might have been regarded as common-place in his subsequent career, attracted attention now, because it was the first of the kind in his history, and because it secured a conversion of which even Barnabas, under the circumstances, might have despaired. Surprised by the event, and observing the extreme similarity between his name and that of his distinguished convert, which differed only in a single letter, and sounded very much alike, his friends very naturally conceived the idea of changing his name, as they did. It was in perfect harmony with a prevalent custom of the time. Its universal reception soon followed as a matter of course.
It argues no vanity in Paul that he adopted this name; for he could scarcely avoid the adoption into his own use of a name by which he had become universally known. There is nothing in the event, therefore, to encourage men in pompously sounding abroad their own achievements, but much to encourage us in honoring a brother whose boldness and success are worthy of praise.
(OCA 159-160)