PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible — Acts
Gill, John, 1697-1771 · 334,323 words · 428 reading sections
Acts 9:5
Acts 9:5 Ver. 5. And he said, who art thou, Lord?.... For he knew not whether it was God, or an angel, or who it was that spake to him; he knew not Christ by his form or voice, as Stephen did, when he saw him standing at the right hand of God; he was in a state of ignorance, and knew neither the person, nor voice of C…
273 wordsSECTION 122Acts 9:6
Acts 9:6 Ver. 6. And he trembling and astonished,.... At the light and voice, and appearance of Christ, and especially at the words last spoken; he was now pricked to the heart, and filled with a sense of sin, and loaded with guilt, and had dreadful apprehensions of his state and condition, on account of his past wick…
469 wordsSECTION 123Acts 9:7
Acts 9:7 Ver. 7. And the men which journeyed with him,.... Out of respect to him, to keep him company; or rather to assist him in his designs: stood speechless: astonished and amazed, they had not power to speak one word, nor to rise from the ground, and move one step forward; they were as if they were thunderstruck,…
191 wordsSECTION 124Acts 9:8
Acts 9:8 Ver. 8. And Saul arose from the earth,.... As he was bid by Christ, Ac 9:6 and when his eyes were opened he saw no man; neither Christ, who appeared to him from heaven, whom he had before seen, nor even any of his companions, nor indeed any object: the Syriac version renders it, "he saw nothing"; not anythin…
157 wordsSECTION 125Acts 9:9
Acts 9:9 Ver. 9. And he was three days without sight,.... Without bodily sight; for otherwise all this while his spiritual sight was increasing, and Christ was giving him by his Spirit a full view of himself, his state and case, and where his salvation was; and a clear insight into the doctrines of the Gospel, which h…
126 wordsSECTION 126Acts 9:10
Acts 9:10 Ver. 10. And there was a certain disciple at Damascus,.... Who perhaps came hither upon the persecution at Jerusalem, or rather might have lived here some time; Ac 9:13 that he was more than a private or ordinary disciple of Christ seems manifest, from his being sent to Saul on such an, important affair; fro…
296 wordsSECTION 127Acts 9:11
Acts 9:11 Ver. 11. And the Lord said unto him, arise,.... Quickly, directly, immediately, from off thy bed; the case required haste and dispatch: and go into the street which is called Straight; a street in the city of Damascus so called; the streets of cities were called by different names, to distinguish them as ou…
546 wordsSECTION 128Acts 9:12
Acts 9:12 Ver. 12. And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias,.... Some read this verse in a parenthesis, and take them to be the words of Luke the historian; but it is rather a continuation of the words of Christ, telling Ananias, for his greater encouragement to go to Saul, that he had seen him in a vision, and h…
138 wordsSECTION 129Acts 9:13
Acts 9:13 Ver. 13. Then Ananias answered, Lord,.... Though Ananias knew that it was the Lord that spoke, and acknowledged his power and dominion, and expressed his readiness to obey his commands; yet there was a timidity in him, and which was the more inexcusable, that it should appear after the Lord had told him of t…
272 wordsSECTION 130Acts 9:14
Acts 9:14 Ver. 14. And here he hath authority from the chief priests,.... His fury and madness against the saints did not stop at Jerusalem, but he had received a commission from the sanhedrim to go to Damascus, where he now was: to bind all that call on thy name; to take up all such persons and put them in bonds, an…
107 wordsSECTION 131Acts 9:15
Acts 9:15 Ver. 15. But the Lord said unto him, go thy way,.... The Syriac version reads, "arise, go thy way"; make no delay, nor any excuse, there is no reason for it; nothing is to be feared from him: for he is a chosen vessel unto me; a choice and excellent one, full of the heavenly treasure of the Gospel, full of …
9,768 wordsSECTION 132Acts 10:1
Acts 10:1 Ver. 1. There was a certain man in Caesarea,.... This was the Caesarea formerly called Strato's tower, not Caesarea Philippi; for the former, and not the latter, lay near Joppa: called Cornelius; which was a Roman name, and he himself was a Roman or an Italian: a centurion of the band called the Italian ba…
92 wordsSECTION 133Acts 10:2
Acts 10:2 Ver. 2. A devout man,.... A truly religious person, who had forsaken the Roman idolatry and superstition, in which he was brought up: and one that feared God: the one only living and true God, the God of Israel; he had the fear of God wrought in his heart, which is a part of the covenant of grace, a blessin…
201 wordsSECTION 134Acts 10:3
Acts 10:3 Ver. 3. He saw in a vision evidently,.... He was not in a dream, or in a trance, but he was thoroughly awake, and his eyes open, and was himself; it was not in the night, but in clear day: about the ninth hour of the day; or three o'clock in the afternoon, which was the hour of prayer, Ac 3:1 in which exerc…
176 wordsSECTION 135Acts 10:4
Acts 10:4 Ver. 4. And when he looked on him, he was afraid,.... What with the brightness of his clothing, Ac 10:30 and the lustre of his countenance, and the majestic form in which he appeared, he perceived there was something uncommon and divine in this vision, and therefore was filled with awe and reverence, yea, wi…
423 wordsSECTION 136Acts 10:5
Acts 10:5 Ver. 5. And now send men to Joppa,.... Which lay near to Caesarea; and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: the angel was not sent to instruct Cornelius himself, but to direct him to an apostle of Christ, and minister of the Gospel, who should do it; for not angels, but men, are employed in the minis…
122 wordsSECTION 137Acts 10:6
Acts 10:6 Ver. 6. He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, &c] Simon the tanner was his host; this man very probably was a good man, and one that lodged strangers; of his trade, See Gill on "Ac 9:43" whose house is by the sea side; Joppa was a sea port, 2Ch 2:16 Jon 1:3 hence we read of wpyd amy, "the sea of Joppa" {x}; a…
379 wordsSECTION 138Acts 10:7
Acts 10:7 Ver. 7. And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed,.... For when be had delivered his message, he either disappeared, or withdrew, and immediately Cornelius showed himself ready to obey the heavenly vision: for he called two of his household servants; who were not of the band of soldiers und…
231 wordsSECTION 139Acts 10:8
Acts 10:8 Ver. 8. And when he had declared all these things unto them,.... Which he had heard and seen in the vision, and of which he gave them a particular account; partly to engage them the more cheerfully to go on the errand, and partly that they might be able to give a distinct relation of it to Peter, that so he …
158 wordsSECTION 140Acts 10:9
Acts 10:9 Ver. 9. On the morrow, as they went on their journey,.... From Caesarea to Joppa; Joppa is said to be six and thirty miles distant from Caesarea; so far Caesarea was from Lydda, but it seems to be further from Joppa; for according to Josephus {b}, from Joppa to Antipatris were a hundred and fifty furlongs, w…
364 wordsSECTION 141Acts 10:10
Acts 10:10 Ver. 10. And he became very hungry,.... It being in the middle of the day, when it was usual to eat; and perhaps he had ate nothing that day, for those were reckoned the most religious persons, who eat nothing before the Minchah: and would have eaten; though the Jews say {e}, a man ought not to eat near th…
187 wordsSECTION 142Acts 10:11
Acts 10:11 Ver. 11. And saw heaven opened,.... Not literally, as at the baptism of Christ, and the stoning of Stephen; but in a visionary way, and which was an emblem of the opening and revealing the mystery of the calling of the Gentiles, which in other ages was not made known, as it now and afterwards was: and a ce…
319 wordsSECTION 143Acts 10:12
Acts 10:12 Ver. 12. Wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth,.... Not as if they were painted upon it, and these were only pictures and representations of them made on the linen sheet; but as if they really add actually were upon it alive; since Peter is afterwards called upon to kill and eat: and th…
294 wordsSECTION 144Acts 10:13
Acts 10:13 Ver. 13. And there came a voice to him,.... Formed by an angel, or rather by Christ himself: rise, Peter, kill and eat; he might be on his knees when he fell into this trance, being at prayer, and therefore is bid to rise; and he is called by name, the more to encourage him to do as he was ordered; and he …
160 wordsSECTION 145Acts 10:14
Acts 10:14 Ver. 14. But Peter said, not so, Lord,.... God forbid I should do this, so contrary to the law of God, and to my own practice, throughout the whole course of my life: for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean; in a ceremonial sense, which was in common use with Gentiles, but unclean by the …
176 wordsSECTION 146Acts 10:15
Acts 10:15 Ver. 15. And the voice spake unto him again the second time,.... The following words, what God hath cleansed; that is, hath pronounced clean and lawful to be used, as he now had all sorts of food, Mt 15:11. [that] call not thou common; or pronounce it to be unholy or unclean, and unlawful to be used: and …
284 wordsSECTION 147Acts 10:16
Acts 10:16 Ver. 16. This was done thrice,.... That is, either the voice spoke the same words three times, or the sheet was let down three times; and it may be both; it may be, that every time the voice was spoke, the sheet was let down: this was done, not with respect to any mystical meaning in the number three, but f…
176 wordsSECTION 148Acts 10:17
Acts 10:17 Ver. 17. Now while Peter doubted in himself,.... For notwithstanding what he had heard and seen, he had not at once a full knowledge of this matter. Beza's most ancient copy reads, "as he was in himself, he doubted"; that is, when he came to himself, for he was before, as it were, out of himself, and was in…
8,496 wordsSECTION 149Acts 11:1
Acts 11:1 Ver. 1. And the apostles and brethren that were in Judea,.... The rest of the twelve apostles, and the private members of the churches that were in Judea, for there were in it now more churches than that at Jerusalem, Ac 9:31 heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God; as well as Samaria, Ac …
106 wordsSECTION 150Acts 11:2
Acts 11:2 Ver. 2. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem,.... From Caesarea, after he had stayed some certain days in Cornelius's house; so a journey from Caesarea to Jerusalem is called an ascending from the one to the other, Ac 25:1 because Jerusalem stood on higher ground, as well as was the metropolis of the coun…
207 wordsSECTION 151Acts 11:3
Acts 11:3 Ver. 3. Saying, thou wentest into men uncircumcised,.... Into the houses of such, and lodged with them, and familiarly conversed with them: and didst eat with them; which, according to the traditions of the Jews, were unlawful; See Gill on "Ac 10:28" they say nothing about his preaching to them, and baptizi…
86 wordsSECTION 152Acts 11:4
Acts 11:4 Ver. 4. But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning,.... Of the vision at Joppa; and expounded it by order unto them; or related every particular, in a very methodical and orderly manner: he did not insist upon his authority as an apostle, and much less pretended to a primacy to the rest of the apostl…
76 wordsSECTION 153Acts 11:5
Acts 11:5 Ver. 5. I was in the city of Joppa,.... And so it is called by Josephus {w}, and in the Apocrypha: "And he pitched his tents against Joppa: but; they of Joppa shut him out of the city, because Apollonius had a garrison there.'' (1 Maccabees 10:75) "The men of Joppa also did such an ungodly deed: they praye…
316 wordsSECTION 154Acts 11:6
Acts 11:6 Ver. 6. Upon the which when I had fastened mine eyes,.... Not of his body, but of his mind; for this was only in vision presented to him, when he was as Paul was, not knowing whether in the body or out of it: I considered: being intent upon this object, he considered in his mind what it was, and what it sho…
159 wordsSECTION 155Acts 11:7
Acts 11:7 Ver. 7. And I heard a voice saying unto me,.... As he apprehended in his mind; and this voice he heard in the same sense and manner, as the Apostle Paul heard when in a trance, Ac 22:17. arise, Peter, slay and eat; that is, get up and slay some of these creatures upon the sheet, and dress them and eat them.…
66 wordsSECTION 156Acts 11:8
Acts 11:8 Ver. 8. But I said, not so, Lord,.... For he took the voice he heard to be the voice of the Lord, and yet he was not obedient to the heavenly vision, and even though he was an hungry; which shows what a strict observer he was of the ceremonies of the law, and how much he was prejudiced in favour of them: fo…
112 wordsSECTION 157Acts 11:9
Acts 11:9 Ver. 9. But the voice answered me again from heaven,.... From whence the former voice came, and was the voice of the Lord, or of an angel of the Lord, and which answered him again, or a second time; not that it said to him a second time kill and eat, but what follows; what God hath cleansed, that call not …
139 wordsSECTION 158Acts 11:10
Acts 11:10 Ver. 10. And this was done three times,.... That is, the voice from heaven answered three times, and encouraged Peter to kill and eat; and so the Ethiopic version renders it, "and he likewise said unto me the third time"; the words as before: and all were drawn up again into heaven; the sheet with all the …
109 wordsSECTION 159Acts 11:11
Acts 11:11 Ver. 11. And behold, immediately,.... The moment the vision was over; there were three men already come unto the house where I was; they stood before the gate, as in Ac 10:17 and as the Syriac and Ethiopic here have it, and were inquiring for Peter, whether he lodged there; and these men were sent from Ca…
120 wordsSECTION 160Acts 11:12
Acts 11:12 Ver. 12. And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting,.... See Gill on "Ac 10:20", moreover, these six brethren accompanied me; it seems by this, that the six brethren that went along with Peter from Joppa to Caesarea, came also with him from thence to Jerusalem, and were now present, whom he poin…
153 wordsSECTION 161Acts 11:13
Acts 11:13 Ver. 13. And he showed us how he had seen an angel in his house,.... The clause, "in his house", is very appropriately put; for since an angel had entered into his house, it could not be criminal in Peter, and the six brethren, to follow him. In one place he is called a man, and in another place an angel; s…
182 wordsSECTION 162Acts 11:14
Acts 11:14 Ver. 14. Who shall tell thee words,.... Preach doctrines, such as relate to the person and office of Christ, to peace and pardon, and righteousness and salvation by him; such as Peter did preach, as appears by his discourse in the preceding chapter: whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved; that is, w…
237 wordsSECTION 163Acts 11:15
Acts 11:15 Ver. 15. And as I began to speak,...., That is, whilst he was speaking; the word "begin" with Luke, both, in his Gospel and in this history, is used not to denote the time or order of any action, but the thing itself; as in Lu 4:21 for otherwise it was towards the close, and not at the beginning of his disc…
132 wordsSECTION 164Acts 11:16
Acts 11:16 Ver. 16. Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said,.... Just before his ascension, Ac 1:5. John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost; as they were on the day of Pentecost, and as now Cornelius and his family were; and since they had the greater baptism, th…
76 wordsSECTION 165Acts 11:17
Acts 11:17 Ver. 17. Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift,.... Of the Spirit, of speaking with divers tongues: as he did unto us; the apostles: who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ: which clause stands either connected with "us" the apostles, and so is descriptive of them who first believed in Christ, and be…
403 wordsSECTION 166Acts 11:18
Acts 11:18 Ver. 18. When they heard these things,.... Peter's vision at Joppa, and Cornelius's at Caesarea, and the wonderful pouring forth of the Spirit upon these Gentiles under Peter's sermon: they held their peace; and ceased contending and disputing with Peter, or blaming him for his conduct; for otherwise they …
505 wordsSECTION 167Acts 11:19
Acts 11:19 Ver. 19. Now they which were scattered abroad,.... These were not the apostles, but the other ministers of the word; see Ac 8:1 who were dispersed upon the persecution that arose about Stephen; his preaching and miracles, his oration in defence of himself, and his death: these travelled as far as Phenice;…
4,556 wordsSECTION 168Acts 12:1
Acts 12:1 Ver. 1. Now about that time,.... That the famine was in Judea, and Saul and Barnabas were sent thither with what the church at Antioch had collected. Herod the king; not Herod the great that slew the infants at Bethlehem, nor Herod Antipas that beheaded John, but Herod Agrippa; and so the Syriac version add…
180 wordsSECTION 169Acts 12:2
Acts 12:2 Ver. 2. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. This was James, the son of Zebedee, whom our Lord told, that he should be baptized with the baptism he was baptized with, Mt 20:22 meaning the baptism of martyrdom; and he was the first martyr among the apostles: the death he was put to was one …
111 wordsSECTION 170Acts 12:3
Acts 12:3 Ver. 3. And because he saw it pleased the Jews,.... That is, as Beza's ancient copy adds, "his stretching out his hands upon the faithful"; this pleased the Jews, a bloodthirsty generation of men, who had killed the prophets, and the Lord Jesus, and who were now greedy after the death of the apostles: it may…
157 wordsSECTION 171Acts 12:4
Acts 12:4 Ver. 4. When he had apprehended him,.... When his officers he sent to take him had brought him: he put him in prison; in the common prison, very likely where he had been once before, Ac 5:18 and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; each quaternion consisted of four soldiers, so that t…
202 wordsSECTION 172Acts 12:5
Acts 12:5 Ver. 5. Peter therefore was kept in prison,.... Till the feast of the passover was at an end: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him; this was not done by them as a body together, but either by them in several bands at different places, or by some of the principal of the church a…
135 wordsSECTION 173Acts 12:6
Acts 12:6 Ver. 6. And when Herod would have brought him forth,.... The next morning; so he had determined not to dismiss him, but to expose him to the people, and to put him to such a death they should choose: the same night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers; fearless of death, being in a good cause, and havin…
178 wordsSECTION 174Acts 12:7
Acts 12:7 Ver. 7. And behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him,.... Suddenly and at once, and stood by him; this was one of the ministering spirits sent forth by Christ, to minister to a servant of his: and a light shined in the prison; the Syriac version renders it, "in the whole house"; and the word that is used…
219 wordsSECTION 175Acts 12:8
Acts 12:8 Ver. 8. And the angel said unto him, gird thyself,.... He slept in his inner garment loose about him; wherefore the angel bids him gird it up with his girdle, and prepare to walk out after him: and bind on thy sandals; which were a sort of shoes that covered only the soles of the feet, and were fastened to …
138 wordsSECTION 176Acts 12:9
Acts 12:9 Ver. 9. And he went out and followed him,.... He came out from between the two soldiers, and out of that apartment in the prison, in which he was, and followed the angel where he led him: and wist not that it was true that was done by the angel; not that he thought the angel was a mere apparition, and all t…
140 wordsSECTION 177Acts 12:10
Acts 12:10 Ver. 10. When they were past the first and the second ward,.... Or watch, which were set within the prison, and might be some of the quaternions of soldiers to whom Peter was delivered; two of them were with him, and others might be placed at these two wards for further security; and these circumstances mak…
290 wordsSECTION 178Acts 12:11
Acts 12:11 Ver. 11. And when Peter was come to himself.... For upon his being awaked out of sleep, what with the uncommon light, which shone around him, and with the appearance of the angel, and the chains dropping from his hands, and his surprising escape through the several wards, together with the iron gate opening…
301 wordsSECTION 179Acts 12:12
Acts 12:12 Ver. 12. And when he had considered the thing,.... The whole of the salvation wrought for him; or rather, where he should go, to what house he should betake himself; ere he was aware, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark. This good woman seems to be a widow, no mention be…
196 wordsSECTION 180Acts 12:13
Acts 12:13 Ver. 13. And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, &c. The lesser door in the great gate, or the door of the porch through which they entered into the house. So the Jews distinguish between xtp, "the door", and rev, "the gate"; see Jud 18:16 where the Septuagint use the same words as here. Kimchi {h} sa…
247 wordsSource & rights
Public domain; John Gill (1697–1771). Source item is marked Public Domain on Internet Archive.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.