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VI. 1. ΕΝ δὲ ταῖς ἡμέραις ταύταις πληθυνόντων τῶν μαθητῶν,. ἐγένετο γογγυσμὸς τῶν Ἑλληνιστῶν πρὸς τοὺς Ἑβραίους, ὅτι παρε-
message to their fellow - countrymen. This is allowed and insisted upon by Schwegler, Renan, and others, but in the statement what an intimate knowledge ‘of the life of Jesus is presupposed, and how great must have been the impression made by Him upon His daily com- panions!
CHAPTER VI.—Ver. 1. δὲ; cf. i. 15, and see above in v. 41. There seems no occasion to regard δὲ as marking a con- trast between v. 41 and the opening of this chapter, or as contrasting the outward victory of the Church with its inward dis- sensions (as Meyer, Holtzmann, Zechler, see Nosgen’s criticism in loco); simply introduces a new recital as in iii. 1. It may refer back to the notice in v. 14 of the increaseofthe disciples, andthis would be in harmony with the context. On the expression ἐν ταῖς ἡμέρ. ταύτ., as charac- teristic of Luke, see above, and Friedrich, Das Lucasevangelium, Ρ. 9: in both his Gospel and the Acts expressions with ἡμέρα abound. Harnack admits that in passing to this sixth chapter ‘‘ we at once enter on historical ground,” Expositor, v., p. 324 (3rd series). For views of the partition critics see Wendt’s summary in new edition (1899), p. 140, Hilgenfeld, Zeitschrift fir wissenschaft. Theol., p. 390 ff. (1895), and also in commentary below. Wendt sees in vi. 1-7 the hand of the redactor, the author of Acts ii. 5; others suppose that we have in vi. the commencement of a new Hellenistic source; so Feine, J. Weiss, Hilgenfeld. Ciemen refers vi. 7, 8 to his Historia Petri, whilst ver. 9 commences his Historia Hellenistarum (vv. 1-6 belong to a special source); others again see in chap. vi. the continuance of an earlier source or 8ΟµΓ085.-- πληθυνόντων, when the number of the disciples was multi- plying (present part.); verb frequent in LXX, sometimes intrans. as here, Exod. i. 20, etc., and see Psalms of Solomon, Χ., 1, and note in Ryle and James’ edition; cf. also its classical use in its more correct form, πληθύω, in the Acts: vi. 7, Vil. ἐπ, ἱκ. 31, xii. 24.) Οπ St. Luke’s fondness for this and similar words (Friedrich) see p. 73. Weiss calls it here a very modest word, introduced by one who knew nothing of the conver- sions in many of the preceding chapters. But the word, and especially its use in the present participle, rather denotes that the numbers went on increasing, and so
rapidly that the Apostles found the work of relief too great for them.—pa@ynrev, the word occurs here for the first time in the Acts (surely an insufficient ground for maintaining with Hilgenfeld that we are dealing with a new source). The same word is found frequently in each of the Gospels, twenty-eight times in Acts (μαθήτρια Once, ix. 36), but never in the Epistles. It evidently passed into the ancient language of the early Church from the earthly days of the ministry of Jesus, and may fairly be regarded as the earliest designation of the Christians ; but as the associations connected with it (the thought that Jesus was the διδάσκαλος. and His followers His µαθηταί) passed into the background it quickly dropped out of use, although in the Acts the name is still the rule for the more ancient times and for the Jewish-Christian Churches ; cf. xxi. 16. In the Acts we have the transition marked from µαθηταί to the brethren and saints of the Epistles. The reason for the change is obvious. During the lifetime of Jesus the disciples were called after their relationship to Him; after His departure the names given indicated their relation to each other and to the society (Dr. Sanday, Inspiration, p. 289). And as an evidential test of the date of the various N.T. writings this is just what we might expect: the Gospels have their own characteristic vocabulary, the Epistles have theirs, whilst Acts forms a kind of link between the two groups, Gospels and Epistles. It is, of course, to be remembered that both terms ἀδελφοί and ἅγιοι are also found in Acts, not to the exclusion of, but alongside with, µαθηταί (cf, e.g., ix. 26, 30, xxi. 4, 7, 16, 17): the former in all parts of the book, and indeed more frequently than µαθηταί, as applied to Christians; the latter four times, ix. 13, 32, 41. xxvi. 1ο. But if our Lord gave the charge to His disciples recorded in St. Matt. xxviii. το, bidding them make disciples of all the nations, μαθητεύσατε (cf. also Acts xiv. 21 for the same word), then we can understand that the term would still be retained, as it was so closely associated with the last charge of the Master, whilst a mutual discipleship in- volved a mutual brotherhood (Matt. xxiii. 8). St. Paul in his Epistles would be addressing those who enjoyed through Christ a common share with himself in a holy fellowship and calling, and whom.