PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible — Acts
Gill, John, 1697-1771 · 334,323 words · 428 reading sections
Acts 5:5
Acts 5:5 Ver. 5. And Ananias hearing these words,.... Of Peter's; by which he found his sin was detected, and by which he was convicted of it: and which set forth the evil nature of it, with its aggravated circumstances; and such power went along with them, and they cut so deep, as that immediately he fell down and g…
212 wordsSECTION 62Acts 5:6
Acts 5:6 Ver. 6. And the young men arose,.... The younger brethren of the church, who were robust, and strong, and fit for the following service: these rose up from their seats at once, not willing that such an awful spectacle should lie long before them: and wound him up; in linen clothes, as was the manner of the J…
104 wordsSECTION 63Acts 5:7
Acts 5:7 Ver. 7. And it was about the space of three hours after,.... The death of Ananias. So much time was taken up in burying of him; and in less time it could not well be, since the burying places of the Jews were without the city, as before observed: and if they were as distant from other cities, as they were fro…
372 wordsSECTION 64Acts 5:8
Acts 5:8 Ver. 8. And Peter answered unto her,.... Who might be inquiring for her husband; though such a way of speaking was common with the Jews, when nothing goes before to which the answer is made; of which there are frequent instances in the sacred writings: tell me whether ye sold the land for so much; naming the…
112 wordsSECTION 65Acts 5:9
Acts 5:9 Ver. 9. Then Peter said unto her, how is it that ye have agreed together,.... For husband and wife to agree together in what is good, in things civil, honest, and lawful, and in religious matters, is very commendable; but to agree in a fraud, in a lie, is very dreadful: to tempt the Spirit of the Lord; to tr…
188 wordsSECTION 66Acts 5:10
Acts 5:10 Ver. 10. Then fell she down straightway at his feet,.... In like manner, and by the same hand of God as her husband before: and yielded up the ghost; died directly: and the young men came in and found her dead; the young men who had been to inter her husband came into the house at that instant, and found h…
129 wordsSECTION 67Acts 5:11
Acts 5:11 Ver. 11. And great fear came upon all the church,.... Which was still more increased by this instance of Sapphira's death: and upon as many as heard these things; who were not of the church; See Gill on "Ac 5:5".…
44 wordsSECTION 68Acts 5:12
Acts 5:12 Ver. 12. And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought,.... That is, by their means, or by them as instruments, or through the imposition of their hands on persons, many miraculous and wonderful cures, as well as other extraordinary actions, were performed: among the people; the commo…
162 wordsSECTION 69Acts 5:13
Acts 5:13 Ver. 13. And of the rest durst no man join himself to them,.... By the rest are meant, either those that were without the church, and those either the profane and persecuting sort, who durst not come nigh the apostles to touch them, or say one word to them, for fear of being struck dead; and so the Ethiopic …
282 wordsSECTION 70Acts 5:14
Acts 5:14 Ver. 14. And believers were the more added to the Lord,.... That is, to the church, as in Ac 2:47 over which Christ was Lord and head; for they were added to the Lord before, by believing in him, when they gave up themselves to him, to be saved by him; and now to the apostles, and the church by the will of G…
261 wordsSECTION 71Acts 5:15
Acts 5:15 Ver. 15. Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets,.... These words are to be read in connection with the former part of the twelfth verse. Such miraculous cures being wrought by the apostles, the people who had sick persons in their houses, hearing of it brought them out; either "into the s…
228 wordsSECTION 72Acts 5:16
Acts 5:16 Ver. 16. There came also a multitude out of the cities round about,.... The fame of the apostles' miracles spread in the cities round about Jerusalem; those that were at some distance as well as near, and large numbers of people came from thence, unto Jerusalem; where the apostles were: the Syriac version a…
177 wordsSECTION 73Acts 5:17
Acts 5:17 Ver. 17. Then the high priest rose up,.... Annas, or rather Caiaphas; See Gill on "Ac 4:6" he having heard what miracles were wrought by the apostles, and what additions were made to them, rose up from his seat and went out of the sanhedrim, in great haste, and in much wrath and passion: and all they that w…
8,176 wordsSECTION 74Acts 6:1
Acts 6:1 Ver. 1. And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied,.... From an hundred and twenty to three thousand more, from thence to five thousand more, and after that a multitude of men and women were added, and still they were increasing; see Ac 1:15 Ac 2:41. This increase of the disciples agre…
649 wordsSECTION 75Acts 6:2
Acts 6:2 Ver. 2. Then the twelve,.... The twelve apostles, as the Syriac version reads; for their number was now complete, Matthias being chosen in the room of Judas: these being informed of the murmur there was between the two sorts of believers, the Hebrew and thc Hellenistic Jews, called the multitude of the disci…
507 wordsSECTION 76Acts 6:3
Acts 6:3 Ver. 3. Wherefore brethren look ye out among you,.... Or "choose out among you", as the Syriac version adds, and as the Arabic and Ethiopic versions render it; which shows that this sort of officers, deacons, must be members of the church, and of the same church to which they are ordained deacons; and that th…
572 wordsSECTION 77Acts 6:4
Acts 6:4 Ver. 4. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer,.... Both in private for themselves, and the church; and in the houses and families of the saints, with the sick and distressed;. and in public, in the temple, or in whatsoever place they met for public worship: and to the ministry of the word; the pre…
219 wordsSECTION 78Acts 6:5
Acts 6:5 Ver. 5. And the saying pleased the whole multitude,.... The speech the apostles made took with them; all things they proposed were universally approved of; the whole body of the church came into it at once unanimously; they all judged it highly reasonable, that the apostles should be eased of the burden in ta…
613 wordsSECTION 79Acts 6:6
Acts 6:6 Ver. 6. Whom they set before the apostles,.... They did not barely nominate and propose them to them, but they brought them into their presence, and placed them before them, as the persons whom they had chosen, in order to be ordained by them. And when they had prayed; for these seven men set before them, th…
241 wordsSECTION 80Acts 6:7
Acts 6:7 Ver. 7. And the word of God increased,.... This stratagem of Satan did not succeed to divide the church, but issued in the better decorum and discipline of it, and in the spread and success of the Gospel; God thus making all things to work together for good; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jeru…
279 wordsSECTION 81Acts 6:8
Acts 6:8 Ver. 8. And Stephen, full of faith and power,.... The historian proceeds to give a narrative of Stephen particularly, the first of the seven deacons; of his faith and miracles, of his elocution and wisdom, of his courage and intrepidity, of his constancy, and of his suffering martyrdom. He is said to be full …
198 wordsSECTION 82Acts 6:9
Acts 6:9 Ver. 9. Then there arose certain of the synagogue,.... Being filled with indignation at the doctrine of Stephen, and with envy at his miracles, they rose up in great wrath, and warmly opposed him: and they be longed to that synagogue which is called the synagogue of the libertines; or free men: it is a Roman…
889 wordsSECTION 83Acts 6:10
Acts 6:10 Ver. 10. And they were not able to resist the wisdom,.... In Beza's most ancient copy, and in another manuscript it is added, "which was in him"; that divine wisdom, which the Spirit of wisdom gave him; they were not a match for him with respect to the knowledge of divine things; they could not answer the wi…
195 wordsSECTION 84Acts 6:11
Acts 6:11 Ver. 11. Then they suborned men,.... Hired false witnesses, which seems to have been commonly done by the Jews; so they did in the case of Christ: which said, we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God; that is, against the law of Moses, and so against God, who gave the law to …
98 wordsSECTION 85Acts 6:12
Acts 6:12 Ver. 12. And they stirred up the people,.... The common people, who were easily wrought upon, and soon incensed and provoked, when at any time it was suggested to them that the rituals and ceremonies of the law of Moses were treated with any neglect or contempt; see Ac 21:27. And the elders and the Scribes;…
119 wordsSECTION 86Acts 6:13
Acts 6:13 Ver. 13. And set up false witnesses,.... Having hired them, they brought them and set them before the sanhedrim, to bear witness against Stephen:which said, this man; meaning Stephen, who was now before the council, at whom they pointed, and whose name, through contempt, they would not mention:ceaseth not to…
614 wordsSECTION 87Acts 7:1
Acts 7:1 Ver. 1. Then said the high priest,.... The Ethiopic version adds, "to him"; that is, to Stephen; for to him he addressed himself: or he "asked him", as the Syriac version renders it; he put the following question to him: are these things so? is it true what they say, that thou hast spoken blasphemous words a…
107 wordsSECTION 88Acts 7:2
Acts 7:2 Ver. 2. And he said,.... Stephen replied, in answer to the high priest's question, and addressed himself to the whole sanhedrim, saying: men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; to the following oration and defence; he calls them men, brethren, by an usual Hebraism, that is, "brethren"; and that, because they we…
630 wordsSECTION 89Acts 7:3
Acts 7:3 Ver. 3. And said unto him,.... Not the words in Ge 12:1 for they were said in Haran, these in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt there, and besides, these are different from them; no mention is here made of getting out from his father's house, as there; because his father's house sent along with him, or rather he w…
198 wordsSECTION 90Acts 7:4
Acts 7:4 Ver. 4. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans,.... The same with Mesopotamia; so Pliny says {b}, that "because of Babylon the head of the Chaldean nation---the other part of Mesopotamia and Assyria is called Babylonia.'' And he places Babylon in Mesopotamia; it was out of Ur, in the land of the Chal…
353 wordsSECTION 91Acts 7:5
Acts 7:5 Ver. 5. And he gave him none inheritance in it,.... To be personally enjoyed by him; and which was a great trial to Abraham's faith, to be brought out of his country, and into another land, and which was promised to him and his; and yet, as not the whole, so not a single part of it was given him to possess: …
175 wordsSECTION 92Acts 7:6
Acts 7:6 Ver. 6. And God spake on this wise,.... The Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions read, "and God spake to him", and so does one of Beza's copies; and the Ethiopic version reads it both ways, God "said thus to Abraham", as in Ge 15:13. That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; or "be a stranger in a land no…
593 wordsSECTION 93Acts 7:7
Acts 7:7 Ver. 7. And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage,.... At the end of the four hundred years, and which was the Egyptian nation: I will judge, said God; that is, condemn and punish them, as he did, by inflicting the ten plagues upon them: and after that they shall come forth; out of the land of Egypt, …
134 wordsSECTION 94Acts 7:8
Acts 7:8 Ver. 8. And he gave him the covenant of circumcision,.... Or the covenant, of which circumcision was a sign or token, Ge 17:11. Stephen speaks here in the language of the Jews, who are wont to speak of circumcision after this manner; hence in the Jewish liturgy, there is a collect, hlym tyrbl, "for the covena…
135 wordsSECTION 95Acts 7:9
Acts 7:9 Ver. 9. And the patriarchs, moved with envy,.... See Ge 37:11 the sons of Jacob and brethren of Joseph were filled with envy, and enraged at him, because of the evil report of them he brought to his father; and because he had a greater share in his father's love than they had; and because of his dreams, which…
535 wordsSECTION 96Acts 7:10
Acts 7:10 Ver. 10. And delivered him out of all his afflictions,.... From the evil designs of his mistress, and from all the miseries of a prison: and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; so Justin in the place above cited says, that Joseph was very dear to the king; but not through his k…
18,215 wordsSECTION 97Acts 8:1
Acts 8:1 Ver. 1. And Saul was consenting unto his death,.... This clause, in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic and Ethiopic versions, stands at the close of the preceding chapter, and which seems to be its proper place; and so it does in the Alexandrian copy: that Saul consented to the death of Stephen, and approved o…
676 wordsSECTION 98Acts 8:2
Acts 8:2 Ver. 2. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial,.... These men were not Jewish proselytes, but members of the Christian church; who were eminent for their religion and piety, and who had courage enough, amidst this persecution, to show a respect to the dead body of this holy martyr; which they took from …
600 wordsSECTION 99Acts 8:3
Acts 8:3 Ver. 3. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church,.... Did evil to the saints, destroyed them that called upon the name of Christ, Ac 9:13 and persecuted and wasted the church of God, as he himself says, Gal 1:13 and now did Benjamin, of which tribe Saul was, ravine as a wolf, Ge 49:27 Entering into every hou…
118 wordsSECTION 100Acts 8:4
Acts 8:4 Ver. 4. Therefore they that were scattered abroad,.... By reason of the persecution in Jerusalem: the seventy disciples, and other ministers of the word; or the hundred and twenty, excepting the apostles, went every where; or went through the countries of Judea and Samaria, as far as Phenice, Cyrus, and Anti…
118 wordsSECTION 101Acts 8:5
Acts 8:5 Ver. 5. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria,.... The city which was formerly called Samaria, but now Sebaste; it had been destroyed by Hyrcanus, and was rebuilt by Herod; and called by him, in honour of Augustus, by the name of Sebaste {d}; and so R. Benjamin says {e}, that "from Luz he came in a da…
347 wordsSECTION 102Acts 8:6
Acts 8:6 Ver. 6. And the people with one accord,.... The inhabitants of the city of Samaria, as one man, came to hear the word: and gave heed to those things which Philip spake; they listened to them, took notice of them, gave their ascent to them, believed and embraced them; being induced thereunto, not only upon th…
99 wordsSECTION 103Acts 8:7
Acts 8:7 Ver. 7. For unclean spirits,.... Devils, so called because they were unclean themselves, defiled others, add delighted in impure persons and places; See Gill on "Mt 10:1" crying with loud voice; showing their unwillingness to remove, and the irresistibleness of divine power they could not withstand: came ou…
107 wordsSECTION 104Acts 8:8
Acts 8:8 Ver. 8. And there was great joy in that city. Both on a spiritual account, for the good of their souls, through the preaching of Christ and his Gospel to them; and on a temporal account; for the good of their bodies, or their friends, being dispossessed of devils, and healed of their diseases.…
57 wordsSECTION 105Acts 8:9
Acts 8:9 Ver. 9. But there was a certain man called Simon,.... Who, as Justin Martyr {f} says, was a Samaritan, and of a village called Gitton; and so a Jewish writer {g} calls him Simeon, ynwrmvh, "the Samaritan", a wizard: here is a but upon this new church, the success of the Gospel in this place, and the joy that…
277 wordsSECTION 106Acts 8:10
Acts 8:10 Ver. 10. To whom they all gave heed,.... Were not only attentive to the strange things he did, and to the wonderful things he gave out concerning himself; but they believed what he said and did as real things, and were obedient to him: and that from the least to the greatest; which does not so much respect …
252 wordsSECTION 107Acts 8:11
Acts 8:11 Ver. 11. To him they had regard,.... Which is repeated from the foregoing verse, for the sake of what follows: because that of a long time he had bewitched them with sorceries; or because he had, it may be for many years, astonished them with his magic arts, and the pranks he played in the use of them.…
61 wordsSECTION 108Acts 8:12
Acts 8:12 Ver. 12. But when they believed Philip,.... Though they had been carried away so long with this deceiver, and had been so much attached unto him, and held in admiration of him; yet when Philip came and preached Christ unto them, such was the power that attended his ministry, and such the efficacy of divine g…
266 wordsSECTION 109Acts 8:13
Acts 8:13 Ver. 13. Then Simon himself believed also,.... With an historical and temporary faith, as that Jesus was the Messiah, &c. or at least he pretended, to believe this, and professed that he did believe, what others did, and Philip preached: and when he was baptized; upon profession of his faith, which he so ar…
180 wordsSECTION 110Acts 8:14
Acts 8:14 Ver. 14. Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem,.... Not that there were some at Jerusalem, and some elsewhere; for they all tarried at Jerusalem, when the rest of the ministers of the word were scattered abroad; though it is possible, that by this time, some of them might have departed from hence; bu…
205 wordsSECTION 111Acts 8:15
Acts 8:15 Ver. 15. Who when they were come down,.... To the city of Samaria, where Philip was, and these converts dwelt: prayed for them; for some of them, unto God: that they might receive the Holy Ghost; the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost, as to be able to speak with tongues, to prophesy and work miracles: …
188 wordsSECTION 112Acts 8:16
Acts 8:16 Ver. 16. (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them,.... They had received him as a spirit of illumination and sanctification, and as, a spirit of conversion and faith; they had been regenerated, enlightened, and sanctified by him; and were converted by him, and brought to believe in Christ, and live, by fa…
212 wordsSECTION 113Acts 8:17
Acts 8:17 Ver. 17. Then laid they their hands on them,.... The Ethiopic version adds, "who had been baptized"; but not upon all of them, men and women, only on some they were directed unto by the Spirit of God; whom he had designed, and now would qualify for the work of the ministry, that so this new church, might be …
239 wordsSECTION 114Acts 8:18
Acts 8:18 Ver. 18. And when Simon saw,.... Whence it appears, that the Holy Ghost, or his gifts, which were received by imposition of hands, were something visible and discernible; and so something external, and not internal; otherwise they would have been out of Simon's reach, and would not have fallen under his noti…
174 wordsSECTION 115Acts 8:19
Acts 8:19 Ver. 19. Saying, give me also this power,.... He does not ask them to lay their hands on him, that he might receive the Holy Ghost, and have these gifts to exercise himself, but that he might have the power of conferring them on others: that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost; in which…
183 wordsSECTION 116Acts 8:20
Acts 8:20 Ver. 20. But Peter said to him,.... With great abhorrence and indignation, resenting and detesting his proposal:thy money perish with thee; or "go into destruction with thee"; signifying, that he would not touch his money, or have anything to do with that or him either, in any such way: the words do not so m…
10,101 wordsSECTION 117Acts 9:1
Acts 9:1 Ver. 1. And Saul yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter,.... The historian having given an account of the dispersion of all the preachers of the Gospel at Jerusalem, excepting the apostles, and of their success in other parts, especially of Philip's, returns to the history of Saul; who, not satisfied wi…
317 wordsSECTION 118Acts 9:2
Acts 9:2 Ver. 2. And desired of him letters to Damascus,.... Damascus was the head or metropolis of Syria, Isa 7:8 And so Pliny {z} calls it Damascus of Syria: it was a very ancient city; it was in the times of Abraham; his servant Eliezer is said to be of it, Ge 15:2 and some say it was built by him the said Eliezer;…
715 wordsSECTION 119Acts 9:3
Acts 9:3 Ver. 3. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus,.... Some say it was a mile from Damascus: though, no mention is made of his obtaining letters from the high priest, only of his desiring them; yet there is no doubt but they were granted him; the design of the historian, under a divine direction, being to gi…
220 wordsSECTION 120Acts 9:4
Acts 9:4 Ver. 4. And he fell to the earth,.... Not being able to bear the light, and still less the divine glory and majesty which he perceived was present; and therefore, in great confusion, amazement, and fear, he fell with his face to the ground, and lay there prostrate and so did also those that were with him, Ac …
256 wordsSource & rights
Public domain; John Gill (1697–1771). Source item is marked Public Domain on Internet Archive.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.