Bible Commentaries

Cyrene; chapter Acts 11:20.

Herod; not the Herod spoken of in the preceding chapter, but his uncle, Herod Antipas, who is mentioned in Luke 3:1; Luke 3:19.

Ministered to the Lord; were engaged in divine worship.

Separate; set apart.

The work; the work of missionaries to the places afterwards mentioned. True ministers of Christ are prepared for, and called to their work by the Holy Ghost. This, however, does not supersede the necessity, or lessen the propriety, in order to their greatest usefulness, of their being set apart with prayer and the laying on of hands.

Laid their hands on them; the mode of setting them apart to their work.

Seleucia; a seaport at the mouth of the river Orontes, about fifteen miles from Antioch.

Salamis; a city in the south-east part of Cyprus.

John to their minister; John whose surname was Mark, as their assistant.

Paphos; a city on the west side of Cyprus.

Sorcerer; a magician, or fortune-teller; one who pretended to foretell future events.

Bar-jesus; meaning, son of a man named Jesus, or Joshua.

Deputy; that is, the proconsul; the title borne by those governors of provinces that were appointed by the Roman senate.

Prudent; intelligent, wise, candid.

Elymas; apparently an Arabic word meaning wise of learned, that is, in the arts of sorcery.

Turn away the deputy; prevent his embracing the gospel. Teachers of falsehood and pretenders to superior power are always afraid of the faithful preaching of the gospel. So far as it is embraced and followed, their influence will be gone; they therefore misrepresent and oppose it, slander those who preach it, and in various ways seek to prevent men from receiving it.

Paul; his Hebrew name was Saul. This is the first time he is called Paul; but after this, he is always called by this name.

Child of the devil; like him in temper and conduct.

Pervert; misrepresent, and turn men away from the truth.

The hand of the Lord; he will visit thee in judgment.

Doctrine of the Lord; not merely the doctrine, but the divine power accompanying it. Compare Mark 1:27.

Loosed; set sail, departed.

Perga in Pamphylia; Pamphylia was a province in the south part of Asia Minor, and Perga was its capital.

John departing from them; an act which Paul strongly disapproved. Chap Acts 15:38.

Antioch in Pisidia; so called, to distinguish it from Anitoch in Syria. Pisidia was a province north of Pamphylia, on the borders of which was Antioch.

Law and the prophets; portions of both which were read in the synagogue on the Sabbath.

Give audience; hearken. A correct and extensive knowledge of history, especially the history of the church, is of great importance to ministers of the gospel. To show what God has done in his providence, as well as what he has said in his word, is a means of communicating to men a knowledge of his character and will, and presenting the motives to love and obey him.

With a high arm; with great power, and in a wonderful manner.

Suffered he their manners; bore with their provocations and sustained their lives; or according to another reading, bore or fed them as a nurse a child, as it is in the margin.

Seven nations; Joshua 3:10; Joshua 11:8.

Cis; in Greek, is the same as Kish in Hebrew. 1 Samuel 9:1; 1 Samuel 10:1.

Gave testimony; 1 Samuel 13:14; 1 Samuel 16:1-12; Psalms 89:20.

His course; course of service, his ministry.

Not he; not the Messiah. John 1:20; Matthew 3:11.

The word of this salvation; the offer of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

Because they knew him not; did not know him to be the Messiah.

The voices of the prophets; they did not understand the true meaning of the prophecies.

They have fulfilled them; by crucifying Christ, they did what the prophets had foretold. Men who do not understand the meaning of the Bible, and who malignantly persecute those who obey it, may nevertheless, in their opposition, be fulfilling its predictions, and thus adding to the evidences of its divine origin, and of the truth of its declarations.

No cause of death; no crime.

Them which came up; his apostles and others.

The promise which was made unto the fathers; of the Messiah and his salvation.

This day have I begotten thee; the resurrection of Christ from the dead was the great public manifestation of him as the Son of God; the act by which he was "declared to be the Son of God with power." Romans 1:4.

The sure mercies of David; the sure mercies promised to David, Isaiah 55:3; namely, that God would never remove his mercy from him, but that his throne should be established for ever. 2 Samuel 7:12-17. This promise is fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus Christ the Son of David, and his exaltation to universal dominion.

Another psalm; Psalms 16:10.

Could not be justified; Romans 3:20; Hebrews 9:8-28. By believing in Christ, men may be accepted and treated as righteous; but they are so wicked, that none will believe, unless God by his Spirit lead them to do it.

Which is spoken of in the prophets; Habakkuk 1:5. The apostle follows the Greek version of the Seventy, which agrees for substance with the Hebrew.

A work; a work of desolating judgment; namely, the overthrow of the land by foreign enemies.

Religious proselytes; Gentiles who had embraced the Jewish religion.

In the grace of God; in the profession and practice of the gospel.

Necessary; in order to obey the command and fulfill the appointment of God. Luke 24:47.

Judge yourselves unworthy; show yourselves unfit longer to receive even the offer of salvation.

We turn to the Gentiles; we devote ourselves to the work of preaching the gospel to the heathen.

Saying; Isaiah 49:6.

Be for salvation; be a Saviour.

Unto the ends of the earth; to all people.

Ordained to eternal life; Romans 8:28-30; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2. When any believe in Christ, it shows that they were from the beginning "chosen to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth"; the glory therefore of every thing good in them, and of all the good done or enjoyed by them, belongs to God.

Devout; devout in the observance of the Jewish law.

Shook off the dust; in token of abhorrence of their wickedness. Mark 6:11.

Iconium; a city of Lycaonia, a province north-east of Pisidia.