Cu. XIIL.J THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 513
occur in any of the medical writers extant. Theophrastus, however, uses it of a disease in plants. The word cxern€ is used by medical writers of intestinal worms. Compare the ac- count of the death of Antiochus Epiphanes, the great perse- cutor of the Jews. “So that the worms rose up out of the body of this wicked man, and whiles he lived in sorrow and pain, his flesh fell away, and the filthiness of his smell was noisome to all his army” (2 Mace. ix. 9). Sylla, the Roman dictator, is also said to have suffered from a similar disease.
Gave up the ghost. See on ch. vy. 5.
CHAPTER XII. 1. Prophets. See on Luke vii. 26.
Lucius of Cyrene. Attempts have been made to identify him with Luke the evangelist ; but the name Lucas is an ab- breviation of Zucanus, and not of Lucius. It is worth noting, however, that, according to Herodotus (iii., 131), the physicians of Cyrene had the reputation of being the second best in Greece, those of Crotona being the best; and that Galen the physician says that Lucius was before him a distinguished phy- sician in Tarsus of Cilicia. From this it has been conjectured that Luke was born and instructed in medicine in Cyrene, and left that place for Tarsus, where he made Paul’s acquaintance, and was, perhaps, converted by him (Dr. Howard Crosby, “The New Testament, Old and New Version”). But, apart from the form of the name (see above), the mention of the evangelist’s name here is not in accord with his usual practice, since he nowhere mentions his own name, either in the Gospel or in the Acts; and if the present passage were an exception, we should have expected to find his name last in the list of the worthies of Antioch. Of the five here named, four are known to be Jews; and therefore, probably, Lucius was also a Jew from Cyrene, where Jews are known to have abounded. Luke the evangelist, on the contrary, was a Gentile. Nothing cer-
33
514 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. [Cu. XIII.
tain can be inferred from Rom. xvi. 21, where Lucius is enu- merated by Paul among his kinsmen. If cuyyevels, kinsmen, means here, as is claimed by some, countrymen, it would prove Lucius to be a Jew; but the word is commonly used of relatives in the New Testament. In Rom. ix. 3, Paul applies the term to his fellow-countrymen, “my brethren, my Ainsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites.”
Which had been brought up with (civtpogos). Some ren- der foster-brother, as Rev. ; others, comrade. The word has both meanings.
2. Ministered (Aectovpyovvrwy). See on the kindred noun ministration, Luke i. 23. This noun has passed through the following meanings: 1. A civil service, especially in the tech- nical language of Athenian law. 2. A function or office of any kind, as of the bodily organs. 3. Sacerdotal ministration, both among the Jews and the heathen (see Heb. viii. 6; ix. 21). 4. The eucharistic services. 5. Set forms of divine wor- ship (Lightfoot, “On Philippians,” ii., 17). Here, of the per- formance of Christian worship. Our word turgy is derived from it.
Separate. The Greek adds 6%, now, which is not rendered by A. V. or Rev. It gives precision and emphasis to the com- mand, implying that itis for a special purpose, and to be obeyed at the time. Compare Luke ii. 15; Acts xv. 36; 1 Cor. vi. 20.
4. Sailed. On Luke’s use of words for sadling, see Introduc- tion.
5. Synagogues. The plural implies that the Jews were numerous in Salamis. Augustus, according to Josephus, made Herod the Great a present of half the revenue of the copper- mines of Cyprus, so that numerous Jewish families would be settled in the island. In the reign of Trajan, upon the break- ing out of a Jewish insurrection, the whole island fell into the hands of the Jews, and became a rallying-point for the revolt.