Vv. 36-43. Tabitha raised from the dead.—Ver. 36. ᾿Ἱόππῃ, on the spelling, Winer-Schmiedel, p. 56; and below on νετ. 43.—paytpia: only here in N.T.: the word occurs in the Apocryphal Gospel of Peter: Mary Magdaleneis described as µ. τοῦ Κυρίου : it is also used by Diod., li., 52; Diog. Laert., iv., 2; vill., 2. The form µαθητρίς is found in Philo.—TaB.6a,
NINA, Aramaic, = aaa Hebrew : (1) splendour, beauty ;
see critical notes.
(2) Greek Δορκάς, specially prized by
34:--39.
247
ὧν ἐποίει" 37. ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις ἀσθενήσασαν
9 , αὐτὴν ἀποθανεῖν " λούσαντες δὲ αὐτὴν ἔθηκαν ἐν ὑπερῴω.
38. ἐγγὺς
δὲ οὔσης Λύδδης 1 τῇ ἸΙόππῃ, of μαθηταὶ ἀκούσαντες ὅτι Πέτρος ἐστὶν
ἐν αὐτῆ, ἀπέστειλαν δύο ἄνδρας πρὸς αὐτόν, παρακαλοῦντες μὴ
ὀκνῆσαι - διελθεῖν ἕως αὐτῶν.
39. ἀναστὰς δὲ Πέτρος συνῆλθεν
αὐτοῖς: ὃν παραγενόµενον ἀνήγαγον εἰς τὸ ὑπερῷον, καὶ παρέστησαν αὐτῷ πᾶσαι αἱ χῆραι κλαίουσαι καὶ ἐπιδεικνύμεναι χιτῶνας καὶ t
1 Λυδδης; but Tisch., Blass, W.H. -as, see on ver. 35, and W.H., App.,
p. 163.
2 §vo ανδρας ΝΑΒΟΕ ; om. HLP, Chrys.
οκνησαι ; but οκνησῃς NABCIE 40,
61, 81, Vulg., Sah., Boh., so Tisch., W.H., R.V., Blass, Weiss, Wendt, Hilg.
the Orientals for its elegance, Cant. ii. 9,—so called from the large bright eyes of the animal (Sépxopat). The name was found as a feminine name amongst both Greek and Jews, see in- stances in Wetstein (¢.g., Jos., B. F., iv., 8, 5), Plumptre, Wendt, seventh edition, sub v., and more recently Deissmann, Neue Bibelstudien, p. 17. This Greek equivalent (found several times in LXX) may not have been actually borne by Tabitha as a name, for St. Luke may only mean to interpret the Aramaic word for his Gentile readers ; but she may have been known by both names. Like 7Eneas, she may have been an Hellenist. There is nothing to indicate that she should be called a deaconess, nor can we tell from the narrative what was the state of this true Sister of Charity, whether she was a widow, whether mar- ried or unmarried (Weiss) ; see further, ‘Dorcas,’ Hastings’ B.D., and Eder- sheim, Fewish Social Life, p. 78. On the phrase here see Winer-Schmiedel, p. 232.--ἐλεημοσυνῶν in singular, iii. 2; in plural x. 2, as here; ‘‘ species post genus ut, 41,’ Blass, but by the former term also ἆγαθ. ἔργων works of charity may be more especially intended; see Weber, Fidische Theol., p. 284 (1897); cf. Ec- clus. xx. 16, τὰ ἀγαθά µου (and xviii. 15; Tobit xii. 13) ; ‘* Dorcas” and ‘‘ Alms- giving,” Hastings’ B.D.—dév, see on να.
Ver. 37. ἐγέν. δὲ: on the frequency of the formula in Luke see above p. 124, and Plummer, St. Luke, p. 45, on the use of éyévero. — ἀσθενήσασαν: aorist, marking the time when she fell sick (Weiss).—Aovoavres: after the manner of the Jews as well as of the Greeks, cf. instances in Wetstein and Hamburger, Real-Encyclopddie des Fudentums, i., 2, 162, ‘ Beerdigung”.
Outside Jerusalem three days might elapse between the death and burial, but in Jerusalem no corpse lay over night, see Hamburger, wu. s., p. 161; in the case
of Ananias and Sapphira we may note
the accuracy of this distinction.—20yxav : burial did not take place until the danger of an apparent death was considered past ; in uncertain cases a delay as above might be allowed, or for other special reasons, and children were forbidden to hasten the burial of their parents, Hamburger, w. s., p. 161; and further for burial and mourning customs, Edersheim, Fewish Social Life, p. 168, and History of the fewish Nation, p. 311.—év ὑπερῴῳ: the body was usually laid in an upper chamber when burial was delayed; see Hackett’s note and also on ver. 39, and Alford on the article.
Ver. 38. Λύδδης, on the form see above on ver. 35; nine miles from Joppa. --παρακαλοῦντες; the only passage in which the oratio recta follows if we read μὴ ὀκνήσῃς, see critical notes; this also best represents the urgency of the mes- sage (cf. John xi. 3), as in R.V.—py ὀκν.: “fides non tollit civilitatem verborum,” Bengel. Verb only here in N.T., cf. LXX, Num. xxii. 16, of Balak to Balaam, a phrase almost identically similar.—8veh- θεῖν, cf. Luke ii. 15, and ver. 32 above, and below xi. 19. Like other com- pounds of ἔρχομαι very frequent in Luke, as compared with other writers (Fried- rich, p. 7).—€ws αὐτῶν: use of ἕως locally, common in St. Luke (Friedrich, Ρ. 20); ἕως with genitive of the person as here, cf. Luke iv. 42, 1 Mace. iii.