The gates (ruAd@vas). What gates are intended is uncer- tain. Some say, the cty gates; others, the temple gates ; and others, the doors of the house in which Paul and Barnabas were residing. See on ch. xii. 13.
14. Ran in (edcerndyoav). <A feeble translation, even if this reading is retained. The verb means Zo leap or spring. The best texts read é&emrndycav, sprang forth, probably from the gate of their house, or from the city gate, if the sacrifice was prepared in front of it.
Crying out (kpdfovres). Inarticulate shouts to attract atten- tion.
15. Of like passions (ouocomateis). Only here and Jas. v. 17, on which see note. .Better, of lke nature.
Turn (érvctpéepew). Compare 1 Thess. i. 9, where the same verb is used.
16. Times (yeveais). More correctly, generations, as Rev.
17. Rains. Jupiter was lord of the air. He dispensed the thunder and lightning, the rain and the hail, the rivers and tem- pests. ‘ All signs and portents whatever, that appear in the air, belong primarily to him, as does the genial sign of the rain- bow” (Gladstone, ‘ Homer and the Homeric Age”). The mention of rain is appropriate, as there was a scarcity of water in Lycaonia.
Food. Mercury, as the god of merchandise, was also the dis- penser of food.
‘No one can read the speech without once more perceiving its subtle and inimitable coincidence with his (Paul’s) thoughts
Cu. XIV.] THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 523
and expressions. The rhythmic conclusion is not unaccordant with the style of his most elevated moods; and besides the ap- propriate appeal to God’s natural gifts in a town not in itself unhappily situated, but surrounded by a waterless and treeless plain, we may naturally suppose that the ‘filling our hearts with food and gladness’ was suggested by the garlands and fes- tive pomp which accompanied the bulls on which the people would afterward have made their common banquet” (Far- rar, “ Life and Work of Paul”). For the coincidences between this discourse and other utterances of Paul, compare ver. 15, and 1 Thess. i.9; ver. 16, and Rom. iii. 25; Acts xvii. 30; ver. 17, and Rom. i. 19, 20.
19. Stoned. See on ver. 5. 20. To Derbe. A journey of only a few hours.
21. Taught (uadnredcartes). More correctly, made disciples of, as Rev. See on Matt. xiii. 52.
Many. See on Luke vii. 6. 22. Confirming. See on stablish,1 Pet. v. 10.
93. Ordained (yerpotovycavtes). Only here and 2 Cor. viii. 19. Rev., more correctly, appointed. The meaning ordain is later. See on ch. x. 41.
Elders (apecButépous). For the general superintendence of the church. The word is synonymous with ésrickotros, over- scers or bishops (see on visitation, 1 Pet. ii. 12). Those who are called elders, in speaking of Jewish communities, are called bishops, in speaking of Gentile communities. Hence the latter term prevails in Paul’s epistles.
Commended (rrapé9evro). See on set before, Luke ix. 16; and commit, 1 Pet. iv. 19.
524 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. [Cu. XV.
27. With them (yer adrav). In connection with them; assisting them.
And how («ai é7u). Better, that. The and has an incres- sive and particularizing force: “and in particular, above all.”