Part 3 — Footnotes. (continued 2)

457 ‒ “This tree, so to speak, vaunted itself to be in advance of all the other trees, challenged the passer by that he should come and refresh himself with its fruit. Yet when the Lord accepted its challenge, and drew near, it proved to be but as the others, without fruit as they; for indeed, as the Evangelist observes, the time of figs had not yet arrived,—its fault, if one may use the word, lying in its pretension, in its making a show to run before the rest, when it did not so indeed.” Trench On the Miracles, p. 440; Lange on Mtt. xxi. 18. Thomson, The Land and the Book, p. 349, states that in sheltered spots figs of an early kind may occasionally be found ripe as soon as the beginning of April.

458 ‒ See above, p. 158.

459 ‒ Trench On the Miracles, 211, 212.

460 ‒ Lange’s Life of Christ, IV. 69; Milman, I. 287.

461 ‒ For their distinctive tenets, see above, pp. 114–119.

462 ‒ Lange, IV. 69; Ellicott, 302.

463 ‒ See above, p. 148.

464 ‒ “The little silver coin (in value about 7½d.), bearing on its surface the head encircled with a wreath of laurel, and bound round with the sacred fillet—the well known features, the most beautiful and the most wicked, even in outward expression, of all the Roman Emperors—with the superscription running round, in the stately language of imperial Rome, Tiberius Cæsar, Divi Augusti filius Augustus, Imperator.” Stanley’s Canterbury Sermons, p. 108.

465 ‒ See above, p. 115.

466 ‒ The Sadducees appear to have held that the soul perishes with the body: as “the cloud faileth and passeth away,” they said, “so he that goeth down to the grave doth not return.” Lightfoot on Mtt. xxii. 23; Comp. Jos. Ant. XVIII. 1. 4; B. J. II. 8. 14.

467 ‒ See above, p. 115.

468 ‒ Which seems to confirm Lightfoot’s opinion that the enquiry turned on the importance of the ceremonial as compared with the moral law. Lightfoot on Mark xii. 28.

469 ‒ Some, however, would refer to this occasion the question respecting the woman taken in adultery (Jn. viii. 1–11). See Ellicott’s Lectures, 310, and notes.

470 ‒ It is not improbable that the solemn apostrophe to Jerusalem, uttered on the occasion of the triumphal entry, was now in part repeated. See Ellicott’s Lectures, 314, and note.

471 ‒ So called, not because “women only entered in there, but because women might not go further,” just as the court of the Gentiles was so called, “not, because heathens only might enter there, but because they might not go further.” Lightfoot in loc.

472 ‒ “Before the Passover, free-will offerings, in addition to the temple-tax, were generally presented.” Lange on Mk. xii. 41.

473 ‒ Λεπτὰ δύο, ὅ ἐστιν κοδράντης, Mk. xii. 42. The λεπτόν was the very smallest copper coin. Two made one Roman quadrans, which was ¼th of an as. The as in Cicero’s time = nearly a halfpenny, and the quadrans = one tenth of a penny. Lange on Mk. xii. 41.

474 ‒ The regular word for which is Ἑλληνισταί, but Ἕλληνες, Gentile Greeks. Lange, IV. 53. See above, p. 110. For the attendance of proselytes of the gate at the feasts at Jerusalem, comp. Acts viii. 27, Jos. B. J. VI. 9. 3, and Lightfoot on Ju. xii. 20.

475 ‒ Or they may have come from some of the Greek towns of Galilee—Galilee of the Gentiles. See Lightfoot on Jn. xii. 20, and above, p. 145, n.

476 ‒ Præludium regni Dei a Judæis ad gentes transituri. Bengel. “These men from the West represent at the end of Christ’s life that which the wise men from the East represented at its beginning; but those came to the cross of the King, even as these came to His manger, and receive presently more full intelligence,” Stier, VI. 78.

477 ‒ Concurrebat horror mortis, et ardor obedientiæ: Veni in hanc horam, ut venirem in hanc horam, eamque exemplarem. Bengel.

478 ‒ See above (i) p. 156 and (ii) p. 223.

479 ‒ Compare Acts ix. 4, 7, with Acts xxii. 9, and xxvi. 14. (i) “The more dull-hearted heard the sound, recognized from whence it came, but mistook it for thunder; (ii) the more susceptible hearers perceived it to be a voice, but were unable to distinguish what was uttered; (iii) the smaller circle, of which the Apostle who relates the occurrence was one, both heard the voice, knew whence it came, and were enabled to understand the words that were spoken,” Ellicott, 318, n.

480 ‒ Compare the intimation made to Nicodemus two Passovers before, above, p. 165.

481 ‒ Their remarks were possibly called forth by His own words, Mtt. xxiii. 38. On the nature of the buildings, see Jos. Ant. XI. 5; B. J. V. 5. 6; and above, pp. 95, 96.

482 ‒ “It is impossible to conceive a spectacle of greater natural or moral sublimity than the Saviour seated on the slope of the Mount of Olives, and thus looking down, almost for the last time, on the Temple and City of Jerusalem, crowded as it then was with near three millions of worshippers. It was evening, and the whole irregular outline of the city, rising from the deep glens, which encircled it on all sides, might be distinctly traced. The sun, the significant emblem of the great Fountain of moral light, to which Jesus and His faith had been perpetually compared, may be imagined sinking behind the western hills, whilst its last rays might linger on the broad and many fortifications on Mount Zion, on the stately palace of Herod, on the square tower, the Antonia, at the corner of the Temple, and on the roof of the Temple, fretted all over with golden spikes, which glittered like fire; while below, the colonnades and lofty gates would cast their broad shadows over the courts, and afford that striking contrast between vast masses of gloom and gleams of the richest light which only an evening scene, like the present, can display.... The effect may have been heightened by the rising of the slow volumes of smoke from the evening sacrifices, while even at the distance of the slope of Mount Olivet the silence may have been faintly broken by the hymns of the worshippers.” Milman’s History of Christianity, I. 294, 295.

483 ‒ Wieseler, Chronol. Synop. p. 363.

484 ‒ Lange’s Life of Christ, IV. 151.

485 ‒ See above, pp. 96, 108, n.

486 ‒ See above, p. 253.

487 ‒ Lange’s Life of Christ, IV. 151; Milman, I. 301.

488 ‒ Neander’s Life of Christ, 419 and note; Milman, I. 303.

489 ‒ Amongst the motives which led him to the betrayal of his Master we may perhaps give prominence to three. (i) Avarice; (ii) Disappointment of his carnal hopes; (iii) A gradual growth of hostility to his Master. (i) Avarice. This feature in his character has been already noticed above, p. 260, note. The germs of this vice probably unfolded themselves gradually (Stier, VII. 40–67), and in spite of many warnings which he must have heard from his Lord, as Mtt. vi. 19–34; xiii. 22, 23; Lk. xvi. 11; Mk. x. 25 (Article Judas in Smith’s Bibl. Dict.); but gathered strength and developed into unfaithfulness and embezzlement as he became entrusted with larger sums. Hence when he presented himself before the Sanhedrin, he probably expected more, but was not unwilling to take what they offered. (ii) Disappointment of his carnal hopes. What were the Messianic expectations of the Apostles we have seen again and again—a visible kingdom, an earthly throne, high places, and temporal blessings; these they looked forward to in common with their nation. To one like Judas, then, the issue of the Triumphal Entry must have been a deep disappointment. (iii) A gradual growth of hostility towards his Master. His practical and administrative talents which caused him to be made treasurer were closely allied with carnal selfishness (Neander’s Life of Christ, 424) which was early rebuked (Jn. vi. 70), see above, p. 213, but still more sharply during the supper at Bethany (see above, p. 260). As he became aware that his real character was known to the Lord, and found his earthly hopes more and more disappointed, his “attachment to his Master would turn more and more into aversion; when the manifestation of Christ ceased to be attractive it became repulsive, and more and more so every day.” (Neander, p. 424, and comp. Smith’s Bibl. Dict. I. 1066.)

490 ‒ “Thirty shekels = 120 denarii, and one denarius was at that time the ordinary wages for a day’s labour (Mtt. xx. 2); so that the whole sum amounted to about 4 months’ wages of a day-labourer. Thirty shekels, it is to be noticed, was the value set upon a single slave, according to Exod. xxi. 32.” Neander’s Life of Christ, 421, n.

491 ‒ Probably a believing follower: Discipulus, sed non ex duodecim. Bengel. See also Stier, VII. 77; Ellicott’s Lectures, 321, n.

492 ‒ At this point it may be well to try and realize the manner in which the Paschal Feast was at this time celebrated by the Jews. The company at the Table, which might not be less than 10 persons, usually included from 10 to 20, according to the family, or the number of strangers that might be present. They met in the evening and reclined on couches, this being the usual posture then, as standing had been originally. The rites of the Feast were regulated according to the succession of 4, sometimes 5, cups of red wine mixed with water, which were placed before the head of the house, or the most eminent guest, who was called the Celebrant, the President, or Proclaimer of the Feast. i. When they had reclined, he began by taking one of the four cups of wine in his right hand, and pronounced the benediction over the wine and the feast, saying, Blessed be Thou, O Lord our God, the King of the universe, who hast created the fruit of the Vine. He then drank the first cup, and the remainder of the household followed his example. ii. Water was then brought in, and he blessed for the washing of hands, and washed, followed by the rest. iii. The table was next set out with the unleavened bread, the sauce called Charoseth, the Paschal Lamb, and the flesh of the Chagigah or feast-offerings. iv. The Proclaimer of the Feast then blessed God for the fruits of the earth, and taking a portion of the bitter herbs dipped it in the sop, and ate it with all who reclined at the table. v. The Haggadah or showing forth now commenced, and the Celebrant declared the circumstances of the delivery from Egypt, as commanded in the law (Ex. xii. 27; xiii. 8). Then the second cup of wine was filled, and a child or proselyte enquired, What mean ye by this service? (Ex. xii. 26), to which reply was made according to a prescribed formula or liturgy, and the wondrous events of the Exodus were related, after which Psalms cxiii, cxiv. were repeated, followed by a solemn blessing and drinking of the second cup. vi. Then, after a second washing of hands, taking two of the unleavened cakes, the Celebrant broke one of them, pronouncing the consecration in these words; Blessed be Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who bringest forth fruit out of the earth, and distributed a piece to each person around him, saying, This is the Bread of Affliction which our fathers did eat in the land of Egypt. All present then dipped their portions with the bitter herbs into the Charoseth and ate them. vii. The flesh of the Lamb was now eaten, and the Celebrant, lifting up his hands, blessed the third cup of wine, specially known as the Cup of Blessing, and handed it round to each person. viii. After thanksgiving for the food of which they had partaken, for the delivery from Egypt, the covenant of circumcision, and the Law, a fourth cup was filled and drunk, known as the Cup of Joy, for the remainder of the Hallel, Ps. cxv‒cxviii. was now sung. ix. Occasionally a fifth cup was drunk, while Psalms cxx‒cxxviii. were chanted, but no more. See Buxtorf, de Cœnâ Domini; Lightfoot’s Temple Service; Pedahzur’s Book of Jewish Ceremonies, 51–56; Freeman’s Principles of Divine Service, II. 29–39.

493 ‒ The view here taken, then, is that (i) the Supper, to which our Lord sat down, was, as the first three Evangelists (Mtt. xxvi. 17; Mk. xiv. 12; Lk. xxii. 7) clearly intimate, a Paschal Supper; (ii) that He ate it on the eve with which Nisan 14 commenced; (iii) and thus twenty-four hours earlier than the time when it was eaten by the chief priests and rest of the nation. See Ellicott, 322, and notes.

494 ‒ Even if δείπνου γενομένου be the right reading in Jn. xiii. 2, the meaning must be when supper was begun. A preferable reading is γινομένου.

495 ‒ The portion of bread dipped into the sauce charoseth, and consisting according to some of vinegar and water, according to others of a “mixture of vinegar, figs, dates, almonds, and spice.” Smith’s Bibl. Dict. II. 716.

496 ‒ Τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ σῶμά μου (Mtt., Mk., Lk., 1 Cor. xi. 24), τὸ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν διδόμενον (Lk.), τὸ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν [κλώμενον], (1 Cor. xi. 24), τοῦτο ποιεῖτε εἰς τὴν ἐμὴν ἀνάμνησιν (1 Cor. xi. 24).

497 ‒ Πίετε ἐξ αὐτοῦ πάντες (Mtt.), τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ αἷμά μου τῆς διαθήκης (Mtt., Mk.), ἡ καινὴ διαθήκη ἐν τῷ αἵματί μου (Lk., 1 Cor. xi. 25), τὸ περὶ πολλῶν ἐκχυνόμενον (Mtt.), τὸ ἐκχυνόμενον ὑπὲρ πολλῶν (Mk.), τὸ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἐκχυνόμενον (Lk.), εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν (Mtt.), τοῦτο ποιεῖτε, ὁσάκις ἂν πίνητε εἰς τὴν ἐμὴν ἀνάμνησιν (1 Cor. xi. 25).

498 ‒ The site of the modern Gethsemane lies somewhat to the East of the valley of Kedron, at a point where two paths meet, each leading over the Mount of Olives. Descending from St Stephen’s gate and crossing a bridge it is easily reached. Within the enclosure are 8 venerable olive-trees, their trunks much decayed, but their branches flourishing. “The most venerable of their race on the face of the earth, their gnarled trunks and scanty foliage will always be regarded as the most affecting of the sacred memorials in or about Jerusalem.” Stanley, S. and P., p. 455.

499 ‒ See Ellicott, p. 327, and note.

500 ‒ Witnesses before (i) of the resurrection of the daughter of Jairus, see above, p. 201, and (ii) of the Transfiguration, see above, p. 222.

501 ‒ Though the Paschal moon was at the full. On the rocky valley of the Kedron “there fell great deep shadows from the declivity of the mountain and projecting rocks; there were there caverns and grottoes, into which a fugitive might retreat; finally, there was probably a garden-house and towers, into whose gloom it might be necessary for a searcher to throw light around,” Lange, IV. 292.

502 ‒ Stationed during the Feast at the Tower of Antonia.

503 ‒ Of the movements of Judas, after he left the Supper, none of the Evangelists give us an account. It seems, however, most probable that going immediately to Caiaphas, or some other leading members of the Sanhedrin, he informed them where Jesus was likely to be found (Jn. xviii. 2), and announced that he was ready to fulfil his agreement, and at once make the arrest. “It was not the intention to arrest Him during the Feast, lest there should be a popular tumult (Mtt. xxvi. 5), but now that an opportunity offered of seizing Him secretly at dead of night, and therefore without danger of interference or uproar, His enemies could not hesitate. Once in their hands, the rest was easy. A hasty trial, a pre-judged condemnation, an immediate execution, and the hated prophet of Galilee might be for ever removed out of their way.” Andrews, p. 414.

504 ‒ Lange, IV. 293.

505 ‒ “At this moment Judas was already back among the people. He must have hastened back quickly upon the sharp rebuke of Christ. Probably by this hasty retreat he threw the first element of sympathetic terror into the mass, which now fully developed itself at the saying of Christ.” Lange, IV. 294.

506 ‒ From St Luke’s account, xxii. 52, it is clear that not only the officers of the Temple, but some of the Sanhedrin had now joined the crowd.

507 ‒ Lange, IV. 301.

508 ‒ On the history of Annas, see above, p. 149, and notes. He obtained the high-priesthood not only for Caiaphas his son-in-law, but subsequently for four other sons. Jos. XX. 9. 1.

509 ‒ Milman, I. 309.

510 ‒ “An Oriental house is usually built around a quadrangular interior court, into which there is a passage (sometimes arched) through the front part of the house, closed next the street by a heavy folding-gate with a smaller wicket for single persons, kept by a porter. In the text, the interior court, often paved and flagged, and open to the sky, is the αὐλή (translated palace, hall, and court), where the attendants made a fire; and the passage beneath the front of the house, from the street to this court, is the προαύλιον or πύλων (both translated porch). The place where Jesus stood before the high-priest may have been an open room or place of audience on the ground-floor, in the rear or on one side of the court; such rooms open in front being customary.” Robinson’s Harmony, p. 225.

511 ‒ See above, p. 177, n.

512 ‒ Lange, IV. 316.

513 ‒ Ibid. IV. 305.

514 ‒ Lange, IV. 313; Ellicott’s Lectures, 334.

515 ‒ See above, p. 145, n.; Lange, IV. 317.

516 ‒ Such is the full force of ἐκλείπῃ in Lk. xxii. 32: “I have prayed for thee that thy faith may not utterly fail,” or be totally extinguished. Comp. Heb. i. 12.

517 ‒ The order of the denials of the Apostle here given mainly coincides with that suggested in Lange’s Life of Christ, IV. 314–319; Ellicott’s Lectures, 334, n.; Andrews, pp. 426, 427.

518 ‒ See above, p. 164.

519 ‒ Herein probably alluding to the prophecy of Daniel vii. 13, 14, universally admitted to refer to the reign of the Messiah.

520 ‒ Andrews, p. 428; Alford’s note on John xviii. 31.

521 ‒ See Lightfoot on Mtt. xxvi. 3.

522 ‒ Milman, I. 317.

523 ‒ Ewald’s Life of Christ; Lange, IV. 337, n.

524 ‒ Lange’s Life of Christ, IV. 338, n.; comp. Jos. B. J. II. 14. 8; II. 15. 5; Ellicott, 339, n.

525 ‒ Milman, I. 317.

526 ‒ “He might readily learn that Jesus had been condemned. But he also saw it, from the procession in which the Pharisees conducted Jesus to Pilate, which could have no other object than to procure His condemnation.” Lange on Mtt. xxvii. 3; Life of Christ, IV. 335.

527 ‒ Ῥίψας τὰ ἀργύρια ἐν τῷ ναῷ, the inner portion of the Temple, the sanctuary. See Lange on Mtt. xxvii. 5, and Ellicott, 339, n. If while a deputation of the Sanhedrin attended the Saviour to the prætorium of Pilate, the rest retired to their own council-chamber in the Temple, it is easy to understand how he could be near the sanctuary.

528 ‒ It is not improbable that Judas hanged himself over an abyss, perhaps the valley of Hinnom, and the rope giving way, or the branch to which he hung breaking, he fell down headlong (on his face, πρηνής, Acts i. 18), and was crushed and mangled on the rocky pavement below. See the quotation from Hackett’s Ill. Script., in Andrews, p. 440; Ebrard’s Gospel History, p. 427; Ellicott, 339; Lange’s Life of Christ, IV. 334.

529 ‒ St Matthew (xxvii. 7, 8) states that the chief priests bought with the money the potter’s field to bury strangers in, and that therefore that place was called the Field of Blood. St Peter (Acts i. 18) says that Judas purchased a field with the reward of iniquity. Perhaps the latter statement may be understood as meaning to say, that whereas Judas had with the rest of the Apostles obtained the glorious lot of the apostolate (Acts i. 17), yet actually he had purchased for himself a mere corner of a field in the valley of Genhinnom, as the reward of unrighteousness. The field was bought not by himself in person, but with his money, the wages of his iniquity, and received the name of the Field of Blood, (i) as the spot on which his mangled body fell, and (ii) as purchased by the chief priests with the blood-money. See Lange’s Life of Christ, IV. 333–336; Ebrard’s Gospel History, p. 427; Smith’s Bibl. Dict. Art. Judas.

530 ‒ “The Field of Blood is now shewn on the steep southern face of the valley or ravine of Hinnom, near its eastern end on a narrow plateau, more than halfway up the hill-side.” Smith’s Bibl. Dict.

531 ‒ Stier, VII. 339.

532 ‒ Stier, VII. 340; Lange, IV. 339.

533 ‒ Stier, VII. 343.

534 ‒ “Pilate being only a Procurator, though a Procurator cum potestate, had no quæstor to conduct the examination, and thus, as the Gospels most accurately record, performs that office himself.” Ellicott, 342, n.; Smith’s Classical Dictionary, Art. Provincia.

535 ‒ Milman, I. 322.

536 ‒ Σύ is emphatic in Jn. xviii. 37.

537 ‒ Neander’s Life of Christ, p. 460.

538 ‒ Milman, I. 323; Stier, VII. 370; Ellicott, 342, n.

539 ‒ Compare Horace, Epist. II. i. 106: Ad summum sapiens uno minor est Jove, dives, Liber, honoratus, pulcher, Rex denique regum. and Sat. I. iii. 125, and Epist. I. i. 59: At pueri ludentes, rex eris, inquit, Si recte facias... quoted in Milman, I. 332.

540 ‒ It was not an unusual practice to refer the case of a criminal from the forum apprehensionis to the forum originis. Comp. Acts xxvi. 3. Lange, IV. 347.

541 ‒ Stier, VII. 378; Milman, I. 324.

542 ‒ The cause is not known. Some think it was the recent slaughter of the Galilæans (Lk. xiii. 1).

543 ‒ Where Herod was now residing is not known: some think he occupied his father’s palace with Pilate; others, that while the Procurator resided in the fortress Antonia, Herod occupied his father’s palace; others would make his abode the old palace of the Maccabees. Jos. Ant. XX. 8. 11.

544 ‒ See above, p. 205.

545 ‒ See above, p. 88, n.; Milman, I. 325.

546 ‒ Lange, IV. 353.

547 ‒ Possibly it was of Jewish origin, adopted and continued by the Roman governors from motives of policy. According to Lk. xxiii. 18 the request respecting Barabbas came first from the people; according to Mtt. xxvii. 17, from Pilate; Mark, however (ch. xv. 8), seems “to represent the people as making the request in general terms, while Pilate availed himself of it in the present emergency of this particular case.” Ellicott, 345, n.

548 ‒ A patronymic denoting Son of Abba. Many of the later MSS. of Mtt. xxvii. 16 give his name as Ἰησοῦς Βαραββᾶς.

549 ‒ The βῆμα was a portable tribunal (see above, p. 147, n.) and stood, St John tells us (Jn. xix. 13), on a tesselated pavement, called in Greek Λιθόστρωτον, in Hebrew Gabbatha, which “perhaps formed the front of the Procurator’s residence,” Ellicott, 346, n. So necessary was the tesselated pavement and the tribunal deemed to the forms of justice, that Cæsar carried about with him, on his expeditions, pieces of marble ready fitted and a tribunal. Suet. Jul. c. 46.

550 ‒ In early times the Roman magistrates had not been permitted to take their wives with them into the provinces. This rule, however, had gradually been relaxed, and lately a proposition of Cæcina to enforce it had been rejected, Tac. Ann. III. 33, 34. According to tradition, the name of Pilate’s wife was Procula, or Claudia Procula, and she is said to have belonged to the class of proselytes of the gate. Lange’s Life of Christ, IV. 351.

551 ‒ Lange, IV. 351.

552 ‒ Lange, IV. 355. Hengstenberg on Jn. xix. 1.

553 ‒ “Generally the scourging before crucifixion (Jos. B. J. II. 14. 9; V. 11. 1; VII. 6. 4; Livy, XXXIII. 56) was inflicted by lictors. But Pilate, as sub-governor, had no lictors at his disposal, and therefore had it inflicted by soldiers.” Lange, IV. 356, n. The Roman scourging was so painful and horrible, nails and pieces of bone being stuck into the scourges, that the sufferer not unfrequently died under it. Compare the horribile flagellum of Hor. Sat. I. iii. 119; Smith’s Dict. of Antiquities, Art. Flagellum.

554 ‒ Χλαμύδα κοκκίνην, Mtt. xxvii. 28; πορφύραν, Mk. xv. 17; ἱμάτιον πορφυροῦν, Jn. xix. 2. “A war-cloak, such as princes, generals, and soldiers wore, dyed with purple; probably therefore, a cast-off robe of state out of the prætorian wardrobe,” Lange, IV. 357; Ellicott, 348, n.

555 ‒ What exact species is unknown. “As mockery seems to have been the primary object, the choice of the plant was not suggested by the sharpness of its thorns: the soldiers took what first came to hand, utterly careless whether it was likely to inflict pain or no.” Ellicott, 348, n.

556 ‒ Comp. Isai. liii. 3; Ps. xxii. 7.

557 ‒ Comp. Lev. xxiv. 16.

558 ‒ The mysterious title υἱὸς θεοῦ suggested to Pilate that He might be one of his own heroes or demi-gods. Fearing he might be braving the wrath of some unknown deity, he enquired whether His descent was indeed such as the title seemed to imply, Lange’s Life of Christ, IV. 361; Hengstenberg on Jn. xix. 8.

559 ‒ Probably the reference is to Caiaphas, who “formally gave over our Lord to the Roman governor (Mtt. xxvii. 2; Mk. xv. 1),” Ellicott, 349, n.

560 ‒ See above, p. 150.

561 ‒ Addito majestatis (treason) crimine, quod tum omnium accusationum complementum erat, Tacitus, Ann. III. 38. Atrocissimè exercebat leges majestatis, Sueton. Vit. Tib. c. 58. The release of a criminal from punishment came under the head of majestas; see Merivale’s History of the Romans, V. 251.

562 ‒ All that he feared, however, came upon him. On the complaint of the Samaritans of Pilate’s cruelty, Vitellius, the prefect of Syria, in A.D. 36, sent his friend Marcellus to administer the affairs of Judæa, and ordered Pilate to repair to Rome, to answer the accusation before the emperor (Jos. Ant. XVIII. 4. 2). Tiberius, however, died before he reached the capital, and Pilate is said to have laid violent hands upon himself about A.D. 40. See Euseb. Hist. Eccl. II. 7. “From the confidence with which Tiberius was appealed to on a matter of such remote concern, it would seem that the vigilance of his control was not generally relaxed even in the last moments of his life,” Merivale’s History of the Romans, V. 420.

563 ‒ Pilate not having lictors, to whom this duty specially belonged, soldiers would be naturally employed on this occasion.

564 ‒ Not from being, as some think, strewn with the remains of condemned malefactors, for the Jews always buried them.

565 ‒ St Luke, according to his usual practice, omits the Hebrew word Golgotha, and gives (xxiii. 33) only the Greek equivalent κρανίον, the place called a Skull. From the Vulgate rendering of this verse et postquam venerunt in locum, qui vocatur Calvariæ (= a bare skull), the word Calvary has been introduced into the English Version, obscuring the Evangelist’s meaning. It was (a) apparently a well-known spot, (b) outside the gate (comp. Heb. xiii. 12), but (c) near the city (Jn. xix. 20), and (d) on a thoroughfare leading into the country (Lk. xxiii. 26), and (e) contained a garden or orchard, κῆπος (Jn. xix. 41). See Robinson’s Bib. Res. I. 376, n.

566 ‒ Patibulum ferat per urbem, deinde affigatur cruci, Plaut. Carbonar. Hence the term furcifer = cross-bearer. This was typified by Isaac bearing the wood of the burnt-offering, Gen. xxii. 6. Pearson On the Creed, Art. IV.

567 ‒ Exactor mortis; Tac. Ann. III. 14; XI. 37. Centurio supplicio præpositus, Seneca. Lange, Life of Christ, IV. 373.

568 ‒ The cause of execution was generally inscribed on a white tablet, called σανίς, λεύκωμα, titulus, αἰτία, (Titulus, qui causam pœnæ indicaret, Sueton. Calig. 32) and borne either suspended from the neck, or carried before the sufferer, precedente titulo, Sueton. The latter was probably the mode in our Lord’s case. Lange, IV. 373. Pearson On the Creed, Art. IV.

569 ‒ He was a Hellenistic Jew, the father of Alexander and Rufus (Mk. xv. 21), the latter of whom is probably the one mentioned in Rom. xvi. 13.

570 ‒ Ἐρχόμενον ἀπ᾽ ἀγροῦ, Lk. xxiii. 26; Mk. xv. 21.

571 ‒ Ἀγγαρεύουσι, Mk. xv. 21, Mtt. xxvii. 32. It only occurs again in Mtt. v. 41, and denotes military compulsion. Comp. Herod. VIII. 98.

572 ‒ For the fulfilment of these words, see Jos. B. J. VI. 8. 5; 9. 4.

573 ‒ This was a Jewish not a Roman custom, though probably permitted by the Romans. See Lightfoot on Mtt. xxvii. 34. “It was likely that only a bad sort of wine (ὀξίνης a medium between οἶνος and ὄξος) would be given to those who were led away to capital punishment, especially if the wine was to be changed by the addition of bitter spices into a compound draught.... And it was natural that the bitters infused as a soporific into this poor vinegar wine would be as strong as possible, whence such an ingredient might be called gall (Mtt. xxvii. 34).” Lange, IV. 383.

574 ‒ There were four kinds of crosses: (i) the crux simplex, a single stake driven through the chest or longitudinally through the body; (ii) the crux decussata (X); (iii) the crux immissa (†); and (iv) the crux commissa (T). See the Notes on Pearson On the Creed, Art. IV. Article Cross in Smith’s Bibl. Dict. From the mention of the Title placed over the Saviour’s head it is probable that His cross was of the third kind. The upright post was by no means so lofty as is often represented in pictures, but generally only so high as to raise the sufferer (who sat on a little projection, sedile, lest the arms should be torn from the nails), a foot or two above the earth. The feet were not always, nor generally, though certainly not seldom nailed, but whether with one or two nails is disputed. The nailing of the Lord’s feet is apparent from Lk. xxiv. 39, 40.

575 ‒ See above, p. 309, note.

576 ‒ “The difference between Jn. xix. 14 (ἕκτη) and this statement of St Mark seems clearly to point to a different mode of reckoning.” Westcott’s Introduction to the Gospels, p. 305, n.

577 ‒ Four soldiers were required, according to the Roman appointment of military service, ad excubias. See Petr. Sat. III. 6.

578 ‒ Lange, IV. 390.

579 ‒ Ὁ χιτών (Jn. xix. 23), was a closely-fitting garment, worn next the body (Hom. Od. XV. 60), usually made in two pieces, sewn together at the sides. “This, however, was the so-called toga ocellata, or byssina, and was fastened round the throat with a clasp. It was properly a priest’s garment (Jos. Ant. III. 7. 4), and was woven of linen, or perhaps of wool.” Alford in loc. Over the χιτών was worn a wide cloak called φᾶρος, χλαῖνα, or ἱμάτιον. The ἱμάτια the soldiers divided (Jn. xix. 23), with the rest of His habiliments; for the χιτών they cast lots.

580 ‒ From a comparison of Jn. xix. 25 with Mtt. xxvii. 56, and Mk. xv. 40, it appears that Mary the wife of Clopas was the same as Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses.

581 ‒ Probably for the present to his lodging during the feast. It seems likely that St John immediately led her away, and then returned and witnessed what he has recorded in Jn. xix. 31–37.

582 ‒ The wine or strong drink turned sour, drunk by the Jews, was acid even to a proverb (comp. Prov x. 26; Ps. lxix. 21). “The acetum of the Romans was a thin, sour wine consumed by soldiers, either in a pure state, or, more usually, mixed with water, when it was termed posca.” Smith’s Bibl. Dict.

583 ‒ Not proceeding from an eclipse of the sun, for such a phenomenon could not occur at the time of the full moon, but probably due to some special and peculiar derangement of the terrestrial atmosphere.

584 ‒ Lange, IV. 404; Milman, I. 335.

585 ‒ For the full symbolism of this, see Heb. ix. 3; x. 19. In reference to the record of the fact itself, we must remember, (i) the almost certain spread of the rumour, and (ii) that subsequently a great number of the priests became obedient unto the faith (Acts vi. 7). Alford in loc.

586 ‒ The resurrection of many bodies of the saints that slept (Mtt. xxvii. 2) was the result, not the immediate accompaniment, of the opening of the tombs (Alford in loc.). It was μετὰ τὴν ἔγερσιν αὐτοῦ that they appeared unto many in the Holy City.

587 ‒ Lange, IV. 422.

588 ‒ “Thus this believing heathen became the first representative of the heathen world, which in after times bowed the knee before the might of Christ’s Cross.” Lange, IV. 423.

589 ‒ Ellicott, p. 360.

590 ‒ Comp. Ex. xii. 16; Lev. xxiii. 7.

591 ‒ Comp. Deut. xxi. 22, 23; Jos. B. J. IV. 5. 2.

592 ‒ Death after crucifixion did not generally supervene even for three days, and “was at last the result of gradual benumbing and starvation.” Sometimes the crucified were despatched by a fire kindled below them, or by lions or bears sent to devour them. Lange, V. 2, n.

593 ‒ Comp. Cic. Tusc. Q. I. 43: Theodori nihil interest, humine, an sublime putrescat. Pearson On the Creed, Art. IV. note.

594 ‒ See Pearson On the Creed, Art. IV., who quotes Hor. Epist. XVI. 48: Non hominem occidi: non pasces in cruce corvos; Juvenal, Sat. XIV. 77: Vultur, jumento et canibus crucibusque relictis, Ad fœtus properat, partemque cadaveris affert. The very object of setting the guard was cruces servare, ne quis ad sepulturam corpora detraheret, Petron III.

595 ‒ “Sometimes fractures of the legs, crucifragium (Plaut. Pœn. IV. 2. 64) was especially adopted by the Jews to hasten death, and it was a mitigation of the punishment, as observed by Origen.” Smith’s Bibl. Dict. The coup de grace was, as a rule, combined with it. Lange, V. 2, n.; Neander’s Life of Christ, 473 n.

596 ‒ Λόγχῃ, Jn. xix. 34, the only place where it occurs in the New Testament. This was the ordinary Roman hasta, “a lighter weapon than the pilum, consisting of a long wooden shaft with an iron head, which was the width of a handbreadth and pointed at the end, and so was egg-shaped.” Lange, V. 3, n.

597 ‒ Probably the same as Ramah, the birthplace of the prophet Samuel (1 Sam. i. 19), called in the LXX. Armathaim (Ἀρμαθαίμ), and by Josephus (Ant. V. 10. 2), Armathia.

598 ‒ The Attic Litra of 12 ounces is here spoken of. Both the myrrh and aloes appear to have been pulverized and strewn in the folds of the linen in which the body was wrapped, Lange, V. 13; Pearson On the Creed, Art. IV. note.

599 ‒ The Jewish tombs had then probably, as these have now, steps and a descent in a perpendicular direction, or an entry in a sloping or horizontal position.

600 ‒ Comp. Jn. ii. 19 with Mtt. xii. 40.

601 ‒ The only κουστωδία at the actual disposal of the Sanhedrin would be, as Bp. Ellicott remarks, the temple-guards, but the watchers were Roman soldiers; it seems more natural therefore to take ἔχετε as an imperative in Mtt. xxvii. 65, though λάβετε might have been rather expected. See Alford in loc.

602 ‒ A string or cord was probably stretched across the stone and sealed at either end with sealing-clay. For the custom of using sealing-clay on tombs, see Smith’s Bibl. Dict. Art. Seal.

603 ‒ Or Mary of Magdala (now called el-Mejdel), a town near the lake of Tiberias. On the erroneousness of the idea of her character generally entertained, see Article in Smith’s Bibl. Dict.

604 ‒ They did not know of the sealing of the stone, and the setting of the watch, which took place on the eve of the Sabbath.

605 ‒ It seems not impossible that St Peter, who must by this time have won back the respect of the rest by his deep repentance (Lange, V. 46), was in the same abode, to which the Apostle John had conveyed the mother of the Redeemer.

606 ‒ Οὐκ οἴδαμεν, Jn. xx. 2, an incidental notice that she had not been the sole visitant of the tomb. Ellicott, 381.

607 ‒ Οὐδενὶ οὐδὲν εἷπον· ἐφοβοῦντο γάρ, and see Ellicott, 381, n.

608 ‒ Such appears to be the force of θεωρεῖ in Jn. xx. 6. “ Ipsius animi intentionem denotat quâ quis intuetur quidquam.” Tittman, Synon. N. T. cited by Ellicott, 283, n.

609 ‒ Such appears to be the force of the word ἐπίστευσεν in Jn. xx. 8. See Lange, V. 46; Ellicott, 384, n.

610 ‒ The ἀπῆλθον πάλιν πρὸς αὐτούς (Jn. xx. 10) appears, as Bp. Ellicott remarks, to denote that they returned to the places, or perhaps rather place, where they were abiding, to meditate on the amazing miracle (Lk. xxiv. 12).

611 ‒ Or rather, “Do not continue to cling to Me.” See Donaldson’s Gk. Gram. 414. Ἅπτεσθαι denotes the retaining of an object for some time, with perhaps here a reference to clasping the knees as a suppliant or worshipper. The Risen Saviour had not entered into those relations in which He might truly thus be “touched.”

612 ‒ Lange, V. 57.

613 ‒ Not of the Twelve, nor necessarily of the Seventy, but of the wider circle of the Redeemer’s followers now assembled at Jerusalem. Lange on Lk. xxiv. 13.

614 ‒ Cleopas = Κλεοπάτρος, altogether different from Κλωπᾶς, Jn. xix. 25. According to Eusebius he was a native of Emmaus. Nothing further is known of him, or who the other disciple was: some have conjectured Nathanael; others Simon; others Luke himself.

615 ‒ There were two places of the name of Emmaus; (i) a town, afterwards called Nicopolis, 22 Roman miles from Jerusalem, where Judas Maccabæus defeated Gorgias, see above, p. 33; (ii) another is mentioned by Josephus, B. J. IV. 1. 3, before the city Tiberias, and interpreted the “warm baths.” St Luke however states that this Emmaus was 60 stadia (A. V. threescore furlongs), = about 7½ miles from Jerusalem, and Josephus mentions a village at the same distance, B. J. VII. 6. 6. Robinson, because two uncial MSS. and a few cursives insert ἕκατον in Lk. xxiv. 13 and thus make the distance 160 stadia, identifies it with the Emmaus = Nicopolis. But the best critics do not accept this reading, and the site of Emmaus remains yet to be identified, though some would place it at Kubeibeh, about 3 miles west of the ancient Mizpeh, and 9 miles from Jerusalem.

616 ‒ Comp. Mtt. xxi. 11, 46.

617 ‒ Ἀλλά γε καί, Lk. xxiv. 21 = beside all this.

618 ‒ The Jewish rule was three eating together were bound to give thanks. The usual words were, Blessed be Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who bringest forth fruit out of the earth.

619 ‒ Is it not possible that on their way through the city they may have met and told some of the οἱ λοιποί, not Apostles, but general body of disciples, who refused to credit their intelligence, as related in Mk. xvi. 12?

620 ‒ Of this appearance here incidentally mentioned, and more prominently by St Paul in 1 Cor. xv. 5, we know nothing: all that is certain is that it was after the return from the sepulchre (Lk. xxiv. 12, Jn. xx. 10), but whether (i) before, or (ii) after the appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus cannot be determined. The effect, however, it produced was clearly very great on the disciples, who had given little credence to the accounts of the women. See Ellicott, 398, n. It is observable that on this occasion “he is called by his original name Simon, not Peter; the higher designation was not restored until he had been publicly reinstituted, so to speak, by his Master.” Smith’s Bibl. Dict., Art. Peter.

621 ‒ Even if Mk. xvi. 12 refers to this, there is no real contradiction. The ten believed (i) that the Lord was really risen, and (ii) that He had appeared to Peter (Lk. xxiv. 34), but that One, who had gently rebuked the adoring touch of Mary Magdalene, should have accompanied them as a humble wayfarer to Emmaus, and sat down with them to their evening meal, may have appeared at first incredible: see a note in Ellicott, 400, n. “They would naturally be ignorant of the properties of His Risen Body, and its powers of sudden transition from place to place.” Andrews, p. 516.

622 ‒ Lange, V. 83.

623 ‒ For indications of his character, see above, p. 249, n.

624 ‒ “In the famous statue of him by Thorwaldsen in the Church at Copenhagen, the Apostle stands, thoughtful, meditative, with the rule in his hand for the due measuring of evidence and argument.” Smith’s Bibl. Dict.

625 ‒ “The feast of the passover was completed on Thursday the 21st of Nisan. The disciples remained over the approaching Sabbath, on the 23rd of Nisan, and also the 24th, as the day which commemorated their Lord’s resurrection. After this, there was nothing to prevent their leaving Jerusalem, and therefore they obeyed their Lord’s command to go into Galilee.” Wieseler, Chronol. Synop. p. 395.

626 ‒ Trench On the Miracles, p. 453.

627 ‒ Probably from Bethsaida, the fishing-town of Capernaum. Evening was the usual time then for commencing fishing, as it is now. “The fishermen here (lake of Gennesaret), as elsewhere, toil all night.” Tristram’s Land of Israel, p. 428.

628 ‒ Stanley’s S. and P., p. 378. “It seems natural to think that the friendly voice, ‘calling, after the manner of the East, Children’ (Stanley, S. and P., 374), and inquiring if they had any προσφάγιον, was conceived by the disciples to be that of one who wished to buy of them—ὡς μέλλων τι ὠνεῖσθαι παρ᾽ αὐτῶν, Chrysost. in loc.” Ellicott, p. 405, n.

629 ‒ See above, p. 178. For the contrast between the first and second miraculous draughts of fishes, see Trench, Miracles, 456–459.

630 ‒ Τὸν ἐπενδύτην διεζώσατο, Jn. xxi. 7: “resuming the dress, which, like Eastern boatmen, he had thrown off whilst struggling with the net.” Stanley, S. and P., p. 378; compare however Tristram, p. 438, and see note in Trench, Miracles, p. 455. For the various nets and fish, see above, p. 195. “Each of the Apostles comes wonderfully out in his proper character: he of the eagle eye first detects the presence of the Beloved, and then Peter, the foremost ever in act, as John is profoundest in speculation, unable to wait till the ship should be brought to land, throws himself into the sea that he may find himself the nearer at his Saviour’s feet.” Trench, p. 455.

631 ‒ All round the lake (which is about 13 miles long, and in its broadest parts 6 miles wide) runs, “like a white line,” “a level beach; at the southern end roughly strewn with the black and white stones peculiar to this district, and also connected with its volcanic structure; but the central or northern part formed of smooth sand, or of a texture of shells and pebbles so minute as to resemble sand, like the substance of the beach on the banks of Akaba.” Stanley’s S. and P., 371.

632 ‒ Ἀνθρακία only occurs elsewhere in Jn. xviii. 18, when St Peter denied his Lord.

633 ‒ Ἐξετάσαι, Jn. xxi. 12, is more than ask. It denotes studiose quærere (Bretschneider), to question, to prove. The word only occurs in two other places in the New Testament, (i) Mtt. ii. 8, where Herod bids the Magi enquire accurately (ἀκριβῶς ἐξετάσατε) concerning the Child, and (ii) Mtt. x. 11, where accurate enquiry is also hinted at.

634 ‒ Ellicott, Lectures, p. 407.

635 ‒ (i) The Saviour enquires ἀγαπᾷς με; to which the Apostle replies, ...φιλῶ σε; (ii) He asks again ἀγαπᾷς με; and the Apostle answers, ...φιλῶ σε; (iii) He asks, φιλεῖς με; and the Apostle replies, σὺ γινώσκεις ὅτι φιλῶ σε. “Ἀγαπᾷν = diligere (= deligere) has more of judgment and deliberate choice; φιλεῖν = amare, has more of attachment and peculiar personal affection. Thus the ἀγαπᾷς on the lips of the Lord seems to Peter at this moment too cold a word; as though his Lord were keeping him at a distance; or at least not inviting him to draw as near as in the passionate yearning of his heart he desired now to do. Therefore he puts by the word and substitutes his own stronger φιλῶ in its room. A second time he does the same. And now he has conquered, for when the Lord demands a third time whether he loves Him, He does it with the word which alone will satisfy Peter, which alone claims from him that personal attachment and affection, with which indeed he knows that his heart is full.” Trench, Miracles, p. 464, n.; Synonyms, I. 48.

636 ‒ Comp. Mtt. xxvi. 33; Trench, Miracles, p. 463.

637 ‒ At Rome, and according to early writers, at or about the same time as St Paul, and in the Neronian persecution. According to Origen (see Euseb. III. 1) he was crucified with his head downwards. For the legend found in St Ambrose touching his death, see Article Peter in Smith’s Bibl. Dict. and the notes.

638 ‒ Ellicott, 408, n.

639 ‒ Possibly Tabor, or the Mount of the Beatitudes, or of the Transfiguration. Lange, V. 109; Ellicott, 409, n.

640 ‒ See Wieseler, Chronol. Synop. p. 396; Lange, V. 108.

641 ‒ During this period the risen Saviour had manifested Himself from time to time (ὀπτανόμενος, Acts i. 3) to certain chosen witnesses, and these appearances according to the order followed in the text were (1) to Mary Magdalene; (2) to the other ministering women; (3) to the two disciples journeying to Emmaus; (4) to St Peter; (5) to the ten Apostles; (6) to the eleven Apostles; (7) to seven Apostles by the lake of Tiberias; (8) to the eleven Apostles, and probably the 500 brethren (1 Cor. xv. 6), on the appointed mountain; (9) to James (1 Cor. xv. 7); (10) to the Apostles in or near Jerusalem just before the Ascension. See Wieseler, Chronol. Synopsis; Tischendorf’s Synopsis Evangelica; Ellicott’s Lectures, p. 414, n. “Thus,” in the words of Paley, “it was not one person but many who saw Him; they saw Him not only separately but together; not by night only but by day; not at a distance but near; not once but several times; they not only saw Him but touched Him, conversed with Him, ate with Him, examined His person to satisfy their doubts.” See also Pearson On the Creed, Article V.

642 ‒ Ellicott, p. 411. For the Festival, see Class-Book of Old Testament History, p. 152.

643 ‒ “A more secluded spot could scarcely have been found so near the stir of a mighty city: the long ridge of Olivet screens the hills, and the hills themselves screen the village beneath from all sound or sight of the city behind.” Stanley, S. and P., p. 454. “Not altogether into Bethany, but so far as the point where Bethany came into sight,” Stier.

644 ‒ The last occasion on which she is mentioned in the New Testament. From the commencement of the Saviour’s ministry she is withdrawn almost altogether from sight. Four times only is the veil removed, (i) at the marriage at Cana (Jn. ii.); (ii) the attempt which she and His brethren made to speak with Him (Mtt. xii. 46; Mk. iii. 31; Lk. viii. 19); (iii) the Crucifixion; (iv) the present occasion.

645 ‒ See note above, pp. 228, n., 229.

646 ‒ See above, p. 297, and note.

647 ‒ According to Eusebius, H. E. I. 12, he, as also Joseph Bar-Sabas, was one of the Seventy, and is said to have preached and suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia.

648 ‒ The use of lots occurs frequently in the Old Testament; compare, among others, that at (i) the division of the land of Canaan (Num. xxxiv. 13); (ii) at the detection of Achan (Josh. vii. 14, 18); (iii) the Election of Saul (1 Sam. x. 20, 21); (iv) over the two goats at the feast of the Atonement (Lev. xvi. 8); (v) the distribution of the priestly offices of the temple-service (1 Ch. xxiv. 3, 5, 19, and comp. Lk. i. 9, above, p. 128). “Tablets, on which the names of Joseph and Matthias were written, were probably placed in a vessel, and that lot which, on the shaking of the vessel, first fell out, gave the decision.” Lechler.

649 ‒ See above, p. 195, and note.

650 ‒ Milman, History of Christianity, I. 352.

651 ‒ Ἐν τῷ συμπληροῦσθαι τὴν ἡμέραν = “was now fully come, or rather, perhaps, was on the point, or in the act, of being fulfilled; just dawning, we may suppose, for the day to run its course;” Vaughan on the Acts, I. p. 42.

652 ‒ See Class-Book of O. T. History, p. 152. This festival lasted one day, and was distinguished by the offering of two leavened loaves, made from the new corn of the now completed harvest. That it was likewise a memorial of the giving of the Law from Sinai, is a supposition which rests only on later Jewish traditions. Neander’s Planting, I. 5, E. V.

653 ‒ The Catalogue (Acts ii. 9–11) proceeds from the North East to the West and South.

654 ‒ On the colonies of Jews in Babylonia, see above pp. 7, 107.

655 ‒ In pure Greek the inhabitants were called Ἐλυμαῖοι, from Elam or Elymais, a Semitic people, see Gen. x. 22. “Elam is mentioned in connection with Babylon (Gen. xiv. 1); with Media (Isai. xxi. 2; Jer. xxv. 25); with Assyria (Ezek. xxxii. 24), as a province of Persia (Ez. iv. 9).” Josephus (Ant. I. 6. 4) makes the Elymæans the progenitors of the Persians.

656 ‒ A name apparently not older than the Macedonian conquests for the Hebrew Aram-Naharaim, or Syria of the two rivers, Tigris and Euphrates, of which we first hear in Gen. xxiv. 10.

657 ‒ The former kingdom of Mithridates, situated along the southern coast of the Euxine, now divided into petty principalities, subject to Roman protection, but under Nero made a Roman province. It is mentioned again in Acts xviii. 2; 1 Pet. i. 1.

658 ‒ Τὴν Ἀσίαν, Acts ii. 9. This expression, which frequently occurs in the New Testament, denotes the Roman province of Asia, which embraced the western part of the peninsula of Asia Minor, and had Ephesus for its capital. It included the territory anciently subdivided into Æolis, Ionia, and Doris, and afterwards into Lydia, Mysia, and Caria. Originally bequeathed to the Romans by Attalus, king of Pergamus, (Hor. Od. I. 1. 12; II. 18. 5), or king of Asia, (see 1 Macc. xi. 13), B.C. 133, it was, after some rectifications of the frontier, constituted a province, and placed by Augustus amongst those subject to the senate, and therefore governed by a procurator. Comp. Acts xix. 38, and see above, p. 147, n. Within its boundaries were the seven Churches of the Apocalypse; see Con. and Howson, Life and Ep. of St Paul, chap. xiv.; Spruner’s Atlas Antiquus, Ed. 3.

659 ‒ On the Islands of the Mediterranean in connection with the dispersion of the Jews, see above, p. 108.

660 ‒ For notices of Jews in Egypt and Cyrene see above, pp. 8, 107.

661 ‒ On the proselytes, see above, p. 118, n.

662 ‒ They were not πυρός but ὡσεὶ πυρός, not burning but luminous, in appearance like fire: see Lechler in loc.

663 ‒ Διαμεριζόμεναι, in our version rendered cloven, but rather = distributed or parting themselves among them.

664 ‒ See Neander’s Planting, I. 12–15.

665 ‒ Τῆς φωνῆς ταύτης, Acts ii. 6, not this rumour, but the noise of the rushing mighty wind: Vaughan and Alford in loc. Neander’s Planting, I. 17.

666 ‒ The first hour of prayer = 9 A.M., before which, especially on a feast-day, no Israelite ventured to taste anything. Lightfoot in loc.

667 ‒ Ἀποδεδειγμένον, demonstratum, attested and demonstrated, shewn to be that which He claimed to be. See Alford in loc.

668 ‒ Four names for what we commonly call “a miracle” occur in the New Testament, (1) Τέρας, a wonder (never used alone, but always with one of the other names), the effect of astonishment which the work produces upon the beholder being transferred to the work itself; (2) Σημεῖον, or sign (an especial favourite with St John), a token and indication of the near presence and working of God, the seals and credentials of a higher power; comp. Exod. vii. 9, 10; (3) Δύναμις, a power, or mighty work, that is, of God; as in the term wonder, the effect is transferred and gives a name to the cause, so here the cause gives its name to the effect; (4) Ἔργα, works, a significant term often used by St John, the works of Him whose name is Wonderful (Isai. ix. 6), and who therefore does works of wonder (comp. Jn. v. 36; vii. 21; x. 25, 32, 38, &c.). Trench on the Miracles, pp. 2–8; Synonyms of the N. T., Pt. II. 177–181.

669 ‒ Εἰς ᾄδου in Hades = the abode of departed spirits, translated in our Version “hell,” which from hælen to cover, denotes, like the Hebrew Sheol, literally “the covered place,” the place of departed spirits. On the word Gehenna, the place of torment, ἡ ἄβυσσος, the bottomless pit, see above, p. 198.

670 ‒ Μετανοήσατε, not μετανοεῖτε, as in Mtt. iii. 2, iv. 17. The aorist denotes a definite, sudden act: the present, a habit, more gradual; “The word imports change of mind, here a change from thinking Jesus an impostor, and scorning Him as one crucified, to being baptized in His Name, and looking to Him for the remission of sins, and the gift of the Spirit.” Alford in loc.

671 ‒ Πᾶσι τοῖς εἰς μακράν = the Gentiles (comp. Eph. ii. 13), whose conversion the Apostles expected, like all other pious Jews, but not as Gentiles, which was not yet revealed to them.

672 ‒ Thus the Apostle, the former fisherman of the lake, now the fisher of men, launched forth, and cast his net into the deep, amongst the multitudes of Jerusalem, and enclosed many of every kind; see above, p. 178.

673 ‒ Ἦσαν προσκαρτεροῦντες τῇ διδαχῇ τῶν ἀποστόλων, Acts ii. 42. Made disciples when they had been baptized into Christ; detailed instruction, and gradual increase in knowledge and holiness must now follow.

674 ‒ Τῇ κοινωνίᾳ, ver. 42, explained by the εἷχον ἅπαντα κοινά of ver. 44.

675 ‒ Τῇ κλάσει του ἄρτου, Acts ii. 42, where the force of the article is observable. “The Eucharist was at first, and for some time, till abuses put an end to the practice, inseparably connected with the ἀγάπαι or Love-Feasts of the Christians, and unknown as a separate ordinance;” Alford in loc. “We can scarcely doubt that this implies that the chief actual meal of each day was one at which they met as brothers, and which was either preceded or followed by the more solemn commemorative acts of the breaking of the Bread and the drinking of the Cup.” Smith’s Bibl. Dict. Art. Lord’s Supper: see also Neander’s Planting, I. 23.

676 ‒ Ταῖς προσευχαῖς, the prayers, not of course excluding private prayer among themselves. See Vaughan’s Church of the First Days, p. 88.

677 ‒ Or 3 in the afternoon. See above, p. 112. Note the imperfect ἀνέβαινον = were going up, in Acts iii. 1.

678 ‒ See above, p. 96.

679 ‒ He fixed his attention on them, ἐπεῖχεν (τὸν νοῦν) ἀυτοῖς, Acts iii. 5.

680 ‒ Βάσεις = the soles of his feet; σφυρὰ = the ankles.

681 ‒ See above, p. 244, n.

682 ‒ Κρατοῦντος = holding fast, Acts iii. 11.

683 ‒ Τὸν παῖδα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν. Not Son, for which υἱός is always used, but Servant of God, as the word is used in Isa. xlii. 1; xlix. 3; Zech. iii. 8.

684 ‒ Ὅπως ἄν cannot mean when, as in our Version, it can only denote in order that.

685 ‒ In accordance with the Saviour’s command (Mtt. xxviii.). On the nature of the subsequent call of the Gentiles expected by the Apostle, see above, p. 348 and note.

686 ‒ Either from (1) awe, or (2) miscalculating contempt, or, (3) it is possible, internal dissension, Milman, I. 357.

687 ‒ Ὁ στρατηγὸς τοῦ ἱεροῦ (Acts iv. 1; comp. Lk. xxii. 4) was not a Roman but a Jewish officer, and corresponded to the προστάτης τοῦ ἱεροῦ spoken of in 2 Macc. iii. 4; comp. 2 K. xii. 9. He was the captain of the Levitical guard, spoken of by Josephus, B. J. VI. 5. 3; Ant. XX. 6. 2, under the name of στρατηγός, whose duty it was to visit the sentries in the Temple during the night, and see that they did their duties. See Lightfoot in loc.

688 ‒ “It does not appear that the Pharisees, though they had taken the lead in the condemnation of Christ, were eager, after that event, to persecute His followers. They looked on the illiterate Galilæans as worthy of no further attention, especially since they observed the ceremonial law, and at first abstained from controverting the peculiar tenets of their party; they allowed them to remain undisturbed, like some other sects by whom their own interests were not affected.... But the Sadducees were exasperated with the Apostles for so zealously advocating the doctrine of the resurrection.” Neander’s Planting, I. 41, 45; Milman (I. 359) thinks the Sadducees “had gained a temporary ascendancy in the great council.”

689 ‒ Neander’s Planting, I. 43.

690 ‒ See above, pp. 150, 253, and note.

691 ‒ Identified by Lightfoot with Rabbi Johanan ben Zacchai, who lived 40 years before the destruction of the Temple, and was president of the great synagogue after its removal to Jamnia.

692 ‒ Apparently holding some high office, and identified by some with Alexander the Alabarch at Alexandria, the brother of Philo-Judæus, whom Josephus mentions as a friend of the Emperor Claudius. Jos. Ant. XVIII. 8. 1; XIX. 5. 1; See Smith’s Bibl. Dict.

693 ‒ That is, who had not been educated in the Jewish schools.

694 ‒ Ἐπεγίνωσκον, Acts iv. 13.

695 ‒ Ἐν τῷ τὴν χεῖρά σου ἐκτείνειν σε = in the stretching forth of Thy hand (while Thou stretchest forth Thy hand) for healing, Acts iv. 30.

696 ‒ Though originally excluded from the possession of land (see Class-Book of Old Testament History, p. 220), this tribe had begun to possess land, as in Jerem. xxxii. 7, and this must have been generally the case after the captivity. See Lechler in loc.

697 ‒ Υἱὸς παρακλήσεως = son of prophecy or exhortation. If a native of Cyprus, he would be a Hellenist, and “the schools of Tarsus, the birth-place of St Paul, may naturally have attracted him, for Cyprus was within a few hours’ sail from Cilicia, and there the friendship of the two may have begun.” See Con. and Howson, I. 101.

698 ‒ See Lechler and Alford in loc.

699 ‒ By some supposed to have been a class in the congregation accustomed to perform such services, but more probably the younger members of the church acting perhaps in accordance with Jewish custom, perhaps on some hint from the apostle. See Alford in loc.

700 ‒ Or their own mantles, taken off in preparing to carry him out. Alford in loc.

701 ‒ On the shortness of the time after death allowed in the east before burial, see above, p. 249, n. The practice was to bury before sunset of the same day.

702 ‒ Now was fulfilled his Master’s promise, Mtt. xvi. 18.

703 ‒ The ἀρχιερεῖς mentioned in Acts v. 24 as members of the Council were the titular High-priests; partly those who had served the office, partly the presidents of the 24 courses, partly the kindred of the High-priest. Alford in loc.

704 ‒ Milman, I. 361: see above, p. 235.

705 ‒ This eminent teacher was the son of Rabbi Simeon, and grandson of the celebrated Hillel, of the sect of the Pharisees, but untrammelled by their narrow bigotry, and distinguished for candour and wisdom. “His learning was so eminent, and his character so revered, that he is one of the seven who alone among Jewish doctors have been honoured with the title of ‘Rabban’ (= the Rabboni of Jn. xx. 16). As Aquinas, among the schoolmen, was called Doctor Angelicus, and Bonaventura Doctor Seraphicus, so Gamaliel was called the Beauty of the Law, and it is a saying of the Talmud, that since Rabban Gamaliel died, the glory of the Law has ceased.” He was president of the Sanhedrin under Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius, and died 18 years before the destruction of Jerusalem, or about the time of St Paul’s shipwreck at Malta. Conybeare and Howson, I. 56, and notes.

706 ‒ Because a Theudas is mentioned by Josephus (Ant. XX. 5. 1) as having been an insurgent in the time of Claudius, or about A.D. 44, and St Luke places this Theudas before the time of Judas of Galilee, he has been accused with the utmost inconsistency of historical inaccuracy. But there are two solutions of the apparent difficulty, either of which meets all the requirements of the case: (i) St Luke represents this Theudas as having appeared before the time of Judas the Galilæan, and therefore he cannot have appeared later than the close of the reign of Herod the Great. Now the year of that monarch’s death (as mentioned above, pp. 104, 144) was one of great turbulence, and Palestine was overrun by insurrectionary chiefs and fanatics, of whom Josephus mentions but three by name, Judas the son of the bandit Hezekias, Simon a slave of Herod, and Athronges, and passes over the rest with a mere allusion (comp. Ant. XVII. 9. 3; XVII. 10. 4–8). Now of these Theudas might easily have been one, for the name was not uncommon. (ii) Others would identify him with Judas, the son of Hezekias mentioned above, or more probably with the second insurgent, Simon, one of Herod’s slaves (Ant. XVII. 10. 6), a man of great personal strength and comeliness, who assumed the diadem and the title of king, “deeming himself more worthy of that dignity than any one else” (Ant. loc. cit.; comp. Acts iv. 36, λέγων εἷναί τινα ἑαυτόν), gained a certain number of followers, chiefly from Peræa, burned and plundered the palace of Jericho, and many other places, and was devastating in all directions till he was attacked by Gratus the procurator (see above, p. 149), who utterly defeated his followers and beheaded Simon himself. Being originally a slave he might easily have assumed the name of Theudas with the diadem, and have been mentioned by Gamaliel under one, by Josephus under the other appellation. See Neander’s Planting, I. 47, n.; Lightfoot, Hor. Hebr. IV. 54; Biscoe’s History of the Acts, p. 428; Rawlinson’s Bampton Lectures, 261, and notes.

707 ‒ This rising of Judas is described above, p. 148.

708 ‒ On the probable tone of Gamaliel’s feeling towards Christianity see Neander’s Planting, I. 47.

709 ‒ See Lightfoot’s Commentary on the Galatians, pp. 278, 9; Stanley’s Apostolical Age, p. 92; and above, p. 349.

710 ‒ Neander’s Planting, I. 48.

711 ‒ See above, pp. 109, 110.

712 ‒ Conybeare and Howson, I. 85. Alexandria was the metropolis of Hellenistic theology, Philo their great representative. “The Greek learning was not more repugnant to the Roman Cato, than it was to the strict Hebrews. They had a saying, Cursed is he who teacheth his son the learning of the Greeks.” For other illustrations, see Con. and Howson, I. 85, n.; Biscoe On the Acts, p. 60; Lightfoot, Hor. Hebr. et Talm. IV. 60; and compare above, p. 116. The ill-feeling lasted at least down to the time of Justinian.

713 ‒ “The Jews of Palestine were relatively poor, compared with those of ‘the dispersion.’ We see this exemplified on later occasions, in the contributions which St Paul more than once anxiously promoted; see Acts xi. 29, 30; Rom. xv. 25, 26; Acts xxiv. 17; 1 Cor. xvi. 1–4; 2 Cor. viii. 1–4.” C. and H., I. 64.

714 ‒ “His Hebrew (or rather Syriac) name is traditionally said to have been Chelil, or Cheliel (a crown);” Smith’s Bibl. Dict.

715 ‒ By some supposed, by others denied, to have been the founder of the sect of the Nicolaitans mentioned in Rev. ii. 6, 15. See Smith’s Bibl. Dict. sub voc.; Lightfoot On the Galatians, 281 n.

716 ‒ An ancient and familiar practice in (i) pronouncing a blessing (Gen. xlviii. 14–20), (ii) appointing to an office (Num. xxvii. 18–21), transferring guilt (Lev. iii. 2).

717 ‒ It will be noticed that the term “deacons” is nowhere applied to them. They are called “the Seven” (Acts xxi. 8), and two of them perform the work of preachers and evangelists. See Article in Smith’s Bibl. Dict.; Stanley’s Apostolical Age, p. 62.

718 ‒ Among the conspicuous opponents of the great Hellenist in the synagogue of Cilicia was doubtless a young man (Acts vii. 58) a citizen of Tarsus, distinguished already by his zeal and talents among the younger champions of the Pharisaic party; see Gal. i. 13, 14; Acts xxii. 3; xxiii. 7; xxvi. 5; Phil. iii. 5, 6.

719 ‒ Of the various explanations of the Λιβερτίνων in Acts vi. 9, the most probable are (i) that they were the inhabitants of Libertum, a town in the proconsular province of Africa, a bishop of which place is mentioned in the Council of Carthage, A.D. 411; (ii) that they were Jews, who having been taken prisoners by Pompeius and other Roman generals during the Syrian wars (see above, p. 109), were reduced to slavery, and being afterwards emancipated returned, either permanently or for a time, to Palestine, and had a synagogue at Jerusalem. Tacitus states (Ann. II. 85) that 4000 of the libertini generis (said by Josephus to have been Jews, Ant. XVIII. 3. 5) were banished by Tiberius, A.D. 19, to Sardinia, under an edict for the suppression of Egyptian and Jewish mysteries, and they are thought to have found their way to Jerusalem. See Humphry On the Acts; Smith’s Bibl. Dict.; Orellius in Tac. Annal. II. 85; Biscoe On the Acts, p. 69.

720 ‒ Although the accusations made against Stephen “are represented as the depositions of false witnesses, it does not follow that all they said was a fabrication, but only that they had, on many points, distorted his assertions, with an evil intention. Yet he must, by what he said, have given them some ground for their misrepresentations, for before this time nothing similar had been brought against the publishers of the Gospel; hence we may make use of their allegations to find out what Stephen really said.” Neander’s Planting, I. 51; compare Milman, I. 364. “Stephen is the acknowledged forerunner of the Apostle of the Gentiles. He was the first to look steadfastly to the end of that which is abolished, to sound the death-knell of the Mosaic ordinances and the temple-worship, and to claim for the Gospel unfettered liberty and universal rights.” Lightfoot On the Galatians, p. 281.

721 ‒ See above, p. 169.

722 ‒ Comp. above, p. 268.

723 ‒ See above, p. 293.

724 ‒ It is remarkable how completely St Stephen is the forerunner of St Paul, both in the form and the matter of his defence. (i) His securing the attention of the Jews by adopting the historical method, is exactly what the Apostle did in the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia (Acts xiii. 16–22); (ii) His assertion of his attachment to the true principles of the Mosaic religion is exactly what St Paul said to Agrippa (Acts xxvi. 22); (iii) The words used by Stephen of the Temple call to mind those which the Apostle used at Athens (Acts xvii. 24); (iv) When he speaks of the Law as received by the disposition of angels he anticipates the language of Gal. iii. 19; (v) When he declares that the Jews had received the Law and had not kept it, he foreshadows the language of the great Apostle himself, Rom. ii. 17–29: Con. and Howson, I. pp. 69, 70: Mr Humphry also in his Commentary on the Acts compares (a) Acts vii. 44 with Heb. viii. 5; (b) Acts vii. 5–8 with Rom. iv. 10–19; (c) Acts vii. 60 with 2 Tim. iv. 16.

725 ‒ Con. and Howson, I. 69.

726 ‒ On this period of the life of Moses, see Class-Book of O. T. History, pp. 81, 82, and note.

727 ‒ On this period of Israel’s history, see Class-Book of O. T. History, pp. 178, 179.

728 ‒ Remphan (Acts vii. 43) and Chiun (Amos v. 26) appear to be the names of two idols worshipped by the Israelites in the wilderness, akin probably to Ken and Rempu, two Egyptian divinities; see Article Remphan, in Smith’s Bibl. Dict.

729 ‒ Comp. Isai. lxvi. 1, 2; Jer. xxiii. 24.

730 ‒ Con. and Howson, I. 69.

731 ‒ Neander’s Planting, I. 54.

732 ‒ Διεπρίοντο ταῖς καρδίαις αὐτῶν (Acts vii. 54).

733 ‒ One of the only three passages in the N. T. where the title Son of Man is applied to the Redeemer by any save Himself; the two others being Rev. i. 13; xiv. 14.

734 ‒ “In other places (Eph. i. 20; Col. iii. 1; Heb. i. 3, viii. 1, x. 12, xii. 2) He is represented as sitting at the right hand of the Father—here alone he is said to be standing. It is as if (according to Chrysostom’s beautiful thought) He had risen from His throne, to succour His persecuted servant, and to receive Him unto Himself.” Con. and Howson, I. 71.

735 ‒ “It was sentence and execution all at once; an act of violence without regular judicial examination,” Neander’s Planting, I. 55. “It was a savage and disorderly condemnation,” Con. and Howson, I. 71.

736 ‒ Smith’s Bibl. Dict.

737 ‒ Probably the class of Hellenists and proselytes to which he belonged, οἷ εὐσεβεῖς. Smith’s Bibl. Dict.

738 ‒ “This persecution must have been more severe and extensive than the former; for by the manner in which Stephen entered into conflict with Pharisaism, he had roused to hostilities against the teachers of the new doctrine the sect of the Pharisees, who had the most credit with the common people (see above, p. 117), and were powerful and active, and ready to leave no means untried to attain their object whatever it might be,” Neander’s Planting, I. 56.

739 ‒ C. and H., I. 75.

740 ‒ Ibid.

741 ‒ Ἀναιρουμένων τε ἀυτῶν κατήνεγκα ψῆφον (Acts xxvi. 10), vote, not voice, as in our Version.

742 ‒ Lightfoot On the Galatians, p. 282. For the Jewish feeling respecting the Samaritans, see above, pp. 121, 122.

743 ‒ Κατελθὼν εἰς πόλιν τῆς Σαμαρείας (Acts viii. 5) = to a city of Samaria, perhaps Sychar, comp. Jn. iv. 5, and if so, the readiness of the people to receive Philip is easily accounted for.

744 ‒ See above, p. 169.

745 ‒ A native of Gittim (Justin Martyr’s Apol. I. 26), a village of Samaria. Educated probably at Alexandria, he had there become acquainted with the tenets of the Gnostic school (Clement, Hom. II. 22), and had acquired a great reputation as a magician. He was one of those who at this period, according both to Greek and Roman testimonies, travelled about in numbers, and partly as soothsayers, astrologers, and interpreters of dreams, partly as jugglers, excited attention and received general regard. See Dollinger’s Gentile and Jew, II. 198, 199; C. and H., I. 140.

746 ‒ Our version omits the word καλουμένη, and so renders the verse imperfectly. “The Samaritans describe the angels as δυναμεῖς, i.e. uncreated influences proceeding from God. But to distinguish Simon from such an order of beings they added the words which is called great, meaning thereby the source of all power, in other words, the Supreme Deity—according to Simon’s own expression, quoted by Jerome on Mtt. xxiv. 5, Ego sum Sermo Dei, Ego sum Speciosus, Ego Paracletus, Ego omnia Dei.” Smith’s Bibl. Dict.

747 ‒ The last time this Apostle is mentioned in the Acts; he is only once more mentioned (except in Revelation) as having been present in Jerusalem at St Paul’s visit, Gal. ii. 9.

748 ‒ Neander’s Planting, I. 62.

749 ‒ Neander’s Planting, I. 63.

750 ‒ The subsequent history of Simon Magus is involved in much perplexity. Early ecclesiastical historians represent him as the pertinacious foe of the Apostle Peter, encountering him at Cæsarea on the sea, and subsequently at Rome, which latter place he visited either (i) in the reign of Claudius (Justin Martyr, Apol. I. 26. 56), or (ii) in the reign of Nero. His success in the imperial city is said to have been so great that he was deified, and a statue was erected in his honour, with the inscription Simoni Deo Sancto. For various accounts of his death, see Burton’s Bampton Lectures, and Smith’s Bibl. Dict. Some identify him with a Simon, a native of Cyprus, whom Josephus (Ant. XX. 7. 2) mentions as a friend of Felix, the Roman Procurator of Palestine, and as having persuaded Drusilla, sister of Herod Agrippa, to marry him: see Neander’s Planting, I. 63, and note; Alford on Acts viii.

751 ‒ Contrast this with Lk. ix. 52; see above, p. 229.

752 ‒ See Class-Book of O. T. History, pp. 259, 262.

753 ‒ See Robinson’s Bibl. Res. II. 514.

754 ‒ Some apply this word to the city of Gaza, in the sense that it was destroyed and uninhabited, or that it was unfortified. But this is extremely improbable. Though often destroyed in the wars, the city had been restored.

755 ‒ That is from the high land to the south of Egypt, and now comprehending Nubia, Cordofan, and Abyssinia, whose religious and commercial capital was the island of Meröe. Candace was not a personal name, but, like Pharaoh of the older and Ptolemy of the later Egyptian kings, the regular title of the queens of Ethiopia (Meröe). Lechler in loc. The eunuch was probably a proselyte of the Gate.

756 ‒ The Easterns usually go on reading aloud, with a kind of singing voice, moving their heads and bodies in tune, and making a monotonous cadence at regular intervals. Kitto’s Bibl. Illust. VIII. 95.

757 ‒ See above, p. 11.

758 ‒ Verse 37 in the received Version is wanting in the Codd. A. B. C. G. H., the Sinaitic MS., more than 60 cursive MSS., and several versions. It is omitted by Lachmann, Tischendorf, Alford, and others.

759 ‒ Robinson would place the scene of the baptism at Wady-el-Hasy, between Eleutheropolis and Gaza, not far from the old sites of Lachish and Eglon. Bibl. Res. II. 514.

760 ‒ See Class-Book of O. T. History, 254, 263, 272. Taken by Judas Maccabæus (1 Macc. v. 68) and destroyed by Jonathan (1 Macc. x. 84), it had been rebuilt by Gabinius (Jos. Ant. XIV. 5. 3; B. J. I. 7. 7), and bequeathed by Herod to his sister Salome: see above, p. 146.

761 ‒ Ekron, Jamnia, Joppa, Apollonia, perhaps Lydda.

762 ‒ For the foundation of which, see above, pp. 91, 92. On the undesigned coincidence between the mention of Philip here and afterwards in Acts xxi. 8, 9, see Birks’ Horæ Apostolicæ, pp. 322, 323.

763 ‒ See Xen. Anab. I. 2. 23.

764 ‒ Cæsar, Bell. Alex. Cap. LXVI.

765 ‒ The privileges of an urbs libera consisted in (a) being governed by its own magistrates, (b) being exempted from the occupation of a Roman garrison, and from taxes. Its citizens did not necessarily possess the freedom of Rome.

766 ‒ C. and H., I. 44. He was a young man at the time of the martyrdom of Stephen.

767 ‒ Either (i) after the name of his father, or (ii) as being a name of traditional celebrity in the tribe of Benjamin, or (iii) “as intended to denote (in conformity with the Hebrew derivation of the word) that he was a son who had long been desired, the firstborn of his parents, the child of prayer.” C. and H., I. 41.

768 ‒ Paulus, a diminutive of Pauxillus, is a Roman name, so are Junia and Lucius; those he calls his kinsmen, Rom. xvi. 7, 11, 21; the others are Greek.

769 ‒ “Great numbers of Jews were made slaves during the Civil Wars, and then manumitted. A slave manumitted with due formalities became a Roman citizen. Thus it is natural to suppose that the Apostle, with other Cilician Jews, may have been like Horace (Sat. I. vi. 45) libertino patre natus.” C. and H., I. 45, n.; Lewin’s Life of St Paul, I. 4.

770 ‒ For allusions to it, see Acts xviii. 3; xx. 34; 1 Cor. iv. 12; 1 Thess. ii. 9; 2 Thess. iii. 8.

771 ‒ C. and H., I. 38. “It is observed that when St Paul quotes from the Old Testament, his quotations are from the LXX; and that, not only when he cites its very words, but when (as is often the case) he quotes it from memory.”

772 ‒ Probably during the supremacy of one of the four governors who preceded Pontius Pilate, i.e. between A.D. 6 and A.D. 25. See above, pp. 149, 150.

773 ‒ For notices of Gamaliel, see above, p. 360, and note.

774 ‒ “St Paul seems to have belonged to the extreme party of the Pharisees (Acts xii. 3, xxiii. 7, xxvi. 5; Phil. iii. 5, 6) whose pride it was to call themselves ‘zealots of the law, zealots of God.’ To this party also had belonged Simon, one of the Twelve, thence surnamed the zealot, ζηλωτής, or Καναναῖος.” Lightfoot On the Galatians, 1. 14. See above, p. 187.

775 ‒ Such as that of Hagar and Sarah in Gal. iv. 21, where see Lightfoot’s notes.

776 ‒ Hence in his address to the Athenians (Acts xvii. 28) he could quote from the Cilician poet Aratus, Τοῦ γὰρ καὶ γένος ἐσμέν; to the refined Corinthians (1 Cor. xv. 33) from the Thais of Menander, Φθείρουσιν ἤθη χρήσθ᾽ ὁμιλίαι κακαί; he could rebuke the Cretans (Titus i. 12) from the poet Epimenides, Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψεῦσται, κακὰ θηρία, γαστέρες ἀργαί.

777 ‒ On the authority of the Sanhedrin over Jews in foreign cities, see above, p. 108, note. Damascus since its capture by Pompeius (see above, p. 67) had been under Roman rule, and belonged to the province of Syria. Many Jews had settled in it since the times of the Seleucidæ (comp. Jos. B. J. I. 2. 25; II. 20. 2), hence there was more than one synagogue there (comp. πρὸς τὰς συναγωγάς, Acts ix. 2). If A.D. 36 was the date of the conversion of St Paul, Caiaphas was the high-priest, and the year would coincide with the deposition of Pilate by Vitellius prefect of Syria (see above, p. 307, note); if, as some think, it took place in A.D. 37, the high-priest was either Jonathan, one of the sons of Annas, and brother-in-law of Caiaphas, whom Vitellius, on the occasion of his visit to Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover in this year, appointed to the office in place of Caiaphas (Jos. Ant. XVIII. 4. 3), or Theophilus his brother, whom he exalted to the pontificate during his second visit at Pentecost (Jos. Ant. XVIII. 5. 3). In the same year, A.D. 37, Tiberius died, March 16 (Tac. Ann. VI. 50), and was succeeded by Caligula.

778 ‒ Probably near Scythopolis: see C. and H., I. 82: this route would follow the later Roman itinerary.

779 ‒ The distance was about 136 miles, and Saul and his company may have performed the journey, like the modern caravans, in about 6 days, C. and H., I. 81; comp. Lewin, I. 54.

780 ‒ Stanley’s S. and P., p. 410.

781 ‒ Compare (i) Jn. xii. 28, and note above, p. 273; (ii) Acts ii. 12, 13; (iii) Dan. x. 7, and see Baumgarten’s Apostolic History, I. 210. Audiebant vocem solam, non vocem cum verbis, Bengel.

782 ‒ As the language uttered was the same, the sacred language of Palestine, which the Son of Man had used on earth, so also was the figurative allusion to which it gave expression like the parables He had so often delivered. As the ox rebels in vain against the long sharp-pointed goad (see Class-Book of O. T. History, p. 237, note) of its master, and as all its struggles do nought but increase its distress, so did the Apostle vainly struggle against the power of His grace. C. and H., I. 88.

783 ‒ “The present participle marks the continuity of the effort, while the genitive expresses the mechanical side of hearing, the impression of sound, and not the apprehension of the meaning as a whole. On the other hand, St Paul says (Acts xxii. 9), The men who were with me saw the light; but heard not the voice of Him that spake to me (τὴν δὲ φωνὴν οὐκ ἤκουσαν τοῦ λαλοῦντός μοι): to them the voice was no articulate utterance of that Saviour who was speaking to, or rather talking with, St Paul.” Westcott. On the difference between ἀκούω with the gen. and acc., see Viner’s Gr. Gram. XXX. 7, Vol. I. 210, E. T.

784 ‒ Generally identified with the “Street of Bazaars,” a long, wide thoroughfare, penetrating from the southern gate into the heart of the city which, as in all the Syro-Greek and Syro-Roman towns, it intersects in a straight line. Stanley’s S. and P., p. 412.

785 ‒ In reference to the three accounts of the Conversion we notice (i) the general agreement with regard to the outward details of the narrative: the occasion, the commission, the place, the time, the light, the company, are the same in all; but (ii) each account contains some peculiar details, and these varieties prove that the descriptions are free and independent, that they are not studied and servile; “they do not echo each other’s words, they tell each its own story; there is none of that elaborate guarding and fencing of expressions, none of that careful reconciliation of statement with statement, which every court of justice regards with strong suspicion as a sure indication of design and falsehood.” Vaughan, Church of Jerusalem, II. 7; Westcott’s Characteristics of the Gospel Miracles, p. 120; Birks’ Horæ Apostoliæ, pp. 324–328.

786 ‒ “A veil of thick darkness hangs over St Paul’s visit to Arabia. Of the scenes among which he moved, of the thoughts and occupations which engaged him while there, of all the circumstances of a crisis which must have shaped the whole tenour of his after life, absolutely nothing is known. Immediately, says St Paul, I went away into Arabia. The historian passes over the incident without a mention. It is a mysterious pause. A moment of suspense in the Apostle’s history, a breathless calm which ushers in the tumultuous storm of his active missionary life.” Lightfoot on Gal. i. 17.

787 ‒ See the words of Justin, Dial. c. Tryph. p. 305 A, quoted by Lightfoot, and C. and H., I. pp. 117, 118. This, however, appears improbable, for (i) it gives to the term Arabia an extension which does not seem to have been common; (ii) it distinguishes the Arabia of the first chapters of Galatians from the Arabia of the fourth; (iii) it deprives this visit of a significance which, on a more probable hypothesis, it possesses in relation to this crisis of St Paul’s life. But if it was the Sinaitic peninsula then his visit becomes full of meaning; here, “where Moses had received the tables of the Law amid fire and tempest and thick darkness, where Elijah, the typical prophet, listened to the voice of God, and sped forth refreshed on his mission of righteousness, in the fulness of time St Paul, the greatest preacher of Him of whom both the law and the prophets spoke, was strengthened and sanctified for his great work, was taught the breadth as well as the depth of the riches of God’s wisdom, and transformed from the champion of a bigoted and narrow tradition into the large-hearted Apostle of the Gentiles.” Lightfoot, in loc.

788 ‒ Ellicott on Gal. i. 18.

789 ‒ For the origin of the ill-feeling between Aretas and Herod Antipas, see above, p. 168. In the battle between them the army of Antipas was utterly routed (Jos. Ant. XVIII. 5. 3), and Antipas appealed to Tiberius for assistance. On this Vitellius, the prefect of Syria, was commissioned to march against Aretas, and take him dead or alive. But on his march Vitellius heard of the death of Tiberius, March 16, A.D. 37, and abandoned the expedition. The position of affairs was now reversed. Antipas was banished to Lyons; Herod Agrippa received his kingdom from Claudius; and in A.D. 38 it appears probable that Caligula granted Damascus to Aretas. See C. and H., I. 97, 98; Art. in Smith’s Bibl. Dict.; Milman, I. 372.

790 ‒ This word is used to denote (i) the governor of a dependent district (1 Macc. xiv. 47; Jos. Ant. XVII. 11. 4); (ii) a magistrate or consul allowed to Jewish residents living under their own laws in Alexandria and other cities (Jos. Ant. XIV. 7. 3).

791 ‒ C. and H., I. 98.

792 ‒ To visit Cephas: ἱστορῆσαι is somewhat emphatic. A word used, says Chrysostom, by those who go to see great and famous cities. It is generally said of things and places, less commonly, as here, of persons: Lightfoot, in loc. and Ellicott on Gal. i. 18.

793 ‒ See Lightfoot’s note in loc., and Excursus on St Paul’s first visit to Jerusalem. In Acts ix. 23 the time is said to have been many days, but compare 1 Kings ii. 38, 39, where many days is used to denote a space of three years: Paley’s Horæ Paulinæ.

794 ‒ See above, p. 356, n.

795 ‒ “The Apostle James is named three times in the Epistle to the Galatians, but only here with this distinctive title. The history supplies a full key. This visit is evidently the same as in Acts ix. 26–30, while the one in the next chapter was much later, at or near the time of the Council, Acts xv. Hence the first was before the death of James the son of Zebedee, and the other long after it. A distinctive addition to the name was thus as natural in the one case, as it would be superfluous and even suspicious in the other.” The same distinction is observed in the book of Acts. In the earlier part the two Apostles of this name are distinguished, the brother of John, or the son of Alphæus. But after the elder James was martyred, the other is three times called James simply, without any addition. This minute propriety is too delicate and refined to be easily accounted for, except by the fact that Luke and Paul were contemporary with the events they record.” Birks’ Horæ Apostolicæ, pp. 197, 198.

796 ‒ On the brevity of this visit, see Paley’s Horæ Paulinæ.

797 ‒ Some have thought this was Cæsarea Philippi (see above, p. 218), “but the words κατήγαγον, ἐξαπέστειλαν, imply a sea-port and an embarcation, and Cæsarea, without any addition to distinguish it, is always the principal city of the name.” Lightfoot, in loc.: see also Birks’ Horæ Apost. 199.

798 ‒ Probably he now founded those churches greeted in the Apostolic decree, Acts xv. 23, 41. Perhaps “in his own family some of those Christian kinsmen (Rom. xvi.) whose names are handed down to us, possibly his sister and his sister’s son (Acts xxiii. 16, 23) were by his exertions gathered into the fold of Christ.” C. and H., I. 104.

799 ‒ St Paul’s words here, Syria and Cilicia, are probably not intended to describe the order in which he visited the two countries. Cilicia had geographically a greater affinity with Syria than with Asia Minor. The less important country is here named after the more important. Lightfoot on Gal. i. 21; C. and H., I. 103.

800 ‒ As distinguished from that of Jerusalem, whence “he was hurried off to Cæsarea, and there embarking left the shores of Palestine. The other churches of Judæa therefore had no opportunity of knowing him. Judæa is here distinguished from Jerusalem, as Italy is frequently distinguished from Rome, e.g. probably Hebr. xiii. 24.” Lightfoot, in loc.

801 ‒ Note the force of ἀκούοντες ἦσαν in Gal. i. 23 = they kept hearing, just as ἤμην ἀγνοούμενος = I continued personally unknown.

802 ‒ Milman’s History of Christianity, I. 373.

803 ‒ See above, p. 307, note.

804 ‒ Jos. Ant. XVIII. 6. 10.

805 ‒ See above, p. 383, note.

806 ‒ See above, p. 383, note.

807 ‒ Jos. Ant. XVIII. 6. 10. Herod Agrippa, the son of Aristobulus and Berenice, and grandson of Herod the Great, was born A.U.C. 743, and was brought up at Rome with Claudius and Drusus, and on the death of the latter was banished by Tiberius, A.D. 31, as recalling his memory by his presence. Retiring to Malatha in Idumæa (Jos. Ant. XVIII. 6. 2), he was appointed ædile of Tiberias, and five years afterwards was readmitted to the court of the Emperor at Capreæ, and became the intimate friend of Caius (Caligula), but for an imprudent speech was thrown into prison. Merivale’s Romans under the Empire, VI. 11.

808 ‒ Jos. Ant. XVIII. 6. 10. His arrival in Palestine with royal pomp excited the bitterest jealousy of Herodias the wife of Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee. She would not rest till her husband also had obtained a royal title, and in an unlucky hour he repaired with her to Rome to solicit it from Caligula (Jos. Ant. XVIII. 7. 2). But Agrippa was beforehand with them, outbid his rival in bribery, and accused him of intrigues with Sejanus, and Caligula banished both the tetrarch and his wife to Lyons in Gaul, A.D. 39.

809 ‒ Merivale, VI. 45. For an account of the indignities endured by the Jews of Alexandria, see Jos. Ant. XVIII. 8. 1, 2; Milman, History of the Jews, II. 133–139.

810 ‒ “Josephus, Ant XVIII. 8. 9, states that Caligula at one moment yielded to Agrippa, and rescinded his orders to Petronius; but on hearing of the resistance the Jews were prepared to make, repeated them more vehemently than ever. The last missive, however, did not reach Petronius till after the news had arrived of the tyrant’s death.” Merivale, VI. 50, n.

811 ‒ Jos. Ant. XIX. 1. 11.

812 ‒ The modern Lidd or Ludd stands in the great maritime plain of Sharon (see Class-Book of O. T. History, p. 30), and when covered with its crops of corn, reminds the traveller of the rich wheat-fields of our own Lincolnshire: Robinson, Bibl. Res., III. 145. Thomson, The Land and the Book. It received its name Diospolis in the reign of Hadrian, in A.D. 136.

813 ‒ Tabitha is the Aramaic, Dorcas the Greek form, both meaning a gazelle: Δορκάς is used in the LXX. as the rendering of ‏עְבִי‎ in Deut. xii. 15, 22; 2 Sam. ii. 18; Prov. vi. 5. We find the name also in Jos. B. J. IV. 3. 5.

814 ‒ See above, p. 201.

815 ‒ Like Elisha, 2 Kings iv. 33.

816 ‒ See above, p. 147, n.

817 ‒ As distinct from the legionary soldiers, and hence called the Italian cohort. “As in the army of modern Austria, the soldiers were drawn from different countries and spoke different languages.” C. and H., I. 113.

818 ‒ “There is scarcely any room to doubt that he belonged to the class of Proselytes of the Gate (see above, p. 118, n.). Nor can we infer the contrary from the circumstances that Peter and the stricter Jewish Christians looked on Cornelius as an unclean person, and in many respects the same as an heathen. The Proselytes of the Gate were certainly permitted to attend the synagogue worship ... yet the Jews who adopted the stricter maxims of the Pharisees, placed all the uncircumcised in the class of the unclean, and avoided living and eating with such persons as defiling.” Neander’s Planting, I. 68.

819 ‒ Neander’s Planting, I. 69.

820 ‒ Comp. the flat roof of the house of Rahab at Jericho, Class-Book of O. T. History, p. 202; of the house of Samuel at Ramah, ibid. p. 280.

821 ‒ “Overlooking the waves of the Western Sea, the Sea of Greece and Rome—the sea of the isles of the Gentiles.” See Keble’s Christian Year, Monday in Easter Week. Stanley’s Apost. Age, p. 93.

822 ‒ It appears doubtful whether δεδεμένον καὶ are genuine in Acts x. 11: they are omitted by Lachmann and Tischendorf, retained but doubtfully by Alford: they are wanting in the Vulgate, which translates quatuor initiis submitti de cælo. “At all events these four corners are not unimportant. As they corresponded with the four quarters of the heavens, they conveyed an intimation that men from the north and south, the east and west (comp. Mtt. viii. 11; Lk. xiii. 29), would appear as clean before God, or be called to a participation of His kingdom.” Neander’s Planting, I. 72, n.

823 ‒ See Class-Book of O. T. History, p. 156.

824 ‒ Vaughan, II. 66.

825 ‒ Smith’s Bibl. Dict. Art. Peter.

826 ‒ “The more rigid Jews looked with jealousy even on the circumcised proselytes; the terms of admission were made as difficult and repulsive as possible; on the imperfect they looked with still greater suspicion, and were rather jealous of communicating their exclusive privileges than eager to extend the influence of their opinions.” Milman, Hist. Christ. I. 382, n. “An opprobrious proverb coupled proselytes with the vilest profligates, as hindering the coming of the Messiah (Lightfoot, Hor. Heb. in Mtt. xxiii. 15). It became a recognised maxim that no wise man would trust a proselyte even to the twenty-fourth generation.” Smith’s Bibl. Dict. The belief in the necessity of circumcision for the full admission of proselytes is illustrated by the compulsory circumcision of the Idumæans by John Hyrcanus and of the Ituræans by Aristobulus (see above, pp. 59, 61, 146 n.).