230
“Ἱερουσαλήμ.
3. ἐν δὲ τῷ πορεύεσθαι, ἐγένετο αὐτὸν ἐγγίζειν τῇ
= , a - a Δαμασκῷ, καὶ ἐξαίφνης } περιήστραψεν αὐτὸν φῶς ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ -
1 εξαιφνης- ἵπ NBICE 13 εξεφνης, so W.H., but see xxii. 6.; see Winer-
Schmiedel, p. 47.
a commercial point of view Damascus has been called the meeting-place and mart of the nations, and whilst the armies of the ancient world passed through her streets, she was also the great avenue of communication for the wealth of north and south, east and west (cf. the significant passage, Ezek. xxvii. 16, 18, and Amos iii. 12, R.V., from which it seems that the city was known at an early date for her own manufactures, although the passing trade of the caravans would be its chief source of income). For its political position at the period of Acts, see below on ver. 24, and for its history in the O.T., its after struggles, and its present position as still the chief city of Syria, see G. A. Smith, Hist. Geog., p. 641 ff.; Ham- burger, Real-Encyclopadie des Fudentums, i, 2, p. 220, B.D.2;" and Hastings’ B.D., Conybeare and Howson (smaller edition, p. 67 ff.) ; Schirer, Yewish People, div. ii., vol. i., p. 96, ΕΕ πρὸς τὰς συναγωγάς, cf. vi. 9, as at Jerusalem—the number of Jews dwelling in Damascus was so numerous that in a tumult under Nero ten thousand were put to death, Jos., B. Χ., vii., 8, 7; 2ο, 2; as at Jerusalem, the Christians of Damascus may not as yet have formally separated from their Jewish brethren ; cf. the description of Ananias in xxii. 12; but as communication between Damascus and the capital was very fre- quent, refugees from Jerusalem would no doubt have fled to Damascus, and it is difficult to believe that the views advo- cated by Stephen had in him their sole representative. There is no reason to question with Overbeck the existence in Damascus of a community of believers in the claims of Jesus at this early date; but whilst those Christians who de- voutly observed the law would not have aroused hostility hitherto, Saul came armed with a commission against all who called on the name of Christ, and so probably his object was not only to bring back the refugees to Jerusalem, but also to stir up the synagogue at Damascus against their own fellow- worshippers who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ.—édv τινας εὕρῃ: the phrase does not mean that the exist-
ence of Christians was doubtful, but whether Saul would succeed in finding them out (Weiss).—évres τῆς 6800: the genitive with εἶναι or γίγνεσθαι, very com- mon inN.T. (as in classical Greek) ; may be explained as the genitive of the class to. which a man belongs, or as the genitive of the property in which any one partici- pates, expessed by the genitive singular of an abstract noun, and also, as here, of a concrete noun, Winer-Moulton, xxx., 5, ο. (and Winer-Schmiedel, pp. 269, 270), viene. να Ἐν mallee “this way,’’ except Wycliff, who has “ of this life,” apparently reading vite instead of vig in the Vulgate; see Humphry on the R.V., in loco. (In xviii. 25 we have: τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ Κ. of the instruction given to Apollos, cf. the common metaphorical use of the word in LXX.) In the text (as in xix. 9, xxii. 4, xxiv. 14, 22) the noun is used absolutely, and this use is peculiar to St. Luke (cf. 6 λόγος, sc., τοῦ θ., x. 44, xiv. 25, etc., and τὸ ὄνομα, v. 41). The term may have originated amongst the Jews who saw in the Christians those who adopted a special way or mode of life, or a special form of their own national belief, but if so, the Christians would see in it nomen et omen—in Christ they had found the Way, the Truth, the Life, John xiv. 6 (so Holtzmann points out the parallel in St. John, and thus accounts for the article τῆς 6800—there is only one way of salvation, viz., Christ). Chrysostom (so Theophylact) thinks that the be- lievers were probably so called because: of their taking the direct way that leads to heaven (Hom., xix.): see also Dean Plumptre’s interesting note. The ex- pression seems to point to the early date of Acts. As it is used thus, absolutely, and with no explanation in the con- text, Hilgenfeld sees in chap. ix. the commencement of a third source C (see Introd., p. 20).---Ὑνναῖκας, see above on viii. 3. Although no doubt the women referred to were Jewesses, yet it is of interest to note the remark of Josephus, B. F., ii., 20, 2, viz., that the women of Damascus were addicted to the Jewish religion. Their mention also indicates the violence of Saw. ‘quod nullum sexus respectum habuit,