Acts 11:19
Ver. 19. Now they which were scattered abroad,.... These were not the apostles, but the other ministers of the word; see Ac 8:1 who were dispersed
upon the persecution that arose about Stephen; his preaching and miracles, his oration in defence of himself, and his death: these
travelled as far as Phenice; a country near to Syria and Galilee; its chief towns and cities were Tripolis, Botrys, Biblus, Berytus, Tyre, Sidon, Ecdippa, Ptolemais, and Dora. It was famous, as Pliny says {x}, for the invention of letters, and of the constellations, and of naval and warlike arts. It was a maritime country, reaching from Orthosia (now called Tortosa) to Pelusium, or from Sidon to the borders of Egypt: it is the same with Old Canaan, and was so called, and had its name from Canaan; who, according to Sanchuniathon {y}, also had the name of Phoenix, from whom this country was called Phoenice, or Phoenicia. Some think the name is the same with qnep, "Pahanah", or qne twap, "Peoth Anak", the corners of the Anakites; it being the tract of land which the children of Anak, or the giants inhabited, when drove out of Hebron by Caleb, Jos 15:13. Others say, it had its name from the palm trees, with which it abounded; and here, it seems, dwelt some of God's elect, who being made righteous, flourished like the palm trees;
and Cyprus and Antioch; the former of these was an island, lying between the shores of Syria and Cilicia: it had Syria on the east, Pamphilia on the west, and Phoenice on the south, and Cilicia on the north; See Gill on "Ac 4:36" and the latter was a city of Syria, built by Seleucus, king of Egypt, and called Antiochia, after his father's name Antiochus. The account Josephus gives {z} of it is, that it is the metropolis of Syria, and that for its greatness, and other happy acquirements, it has, without doubt, the third place among the cities in the Roman empire; meaning, that it was the next to Rome and Alexandria: and elsewhere {a} he calls it the palace or royal seat of the Syrians; and the Jews, when they speak of a great city, and would describe one, instance in Antioch, a great city, say they {b}, as Antioch; with them, it is the same as Hemath the great, spoken of in Am 6:2 on which words Jerom has this note:
"Hemath the great is what is now called Antioch; and it is called the great, to distinguish it from the lesser Hemath, which is called Epiphania''
And so the Jerusalem Targum on Ge 10:18 renders the Hamathite, "Antioch": and the Targum of Jonathan on Nu 13:21 renders Hamath by "Antioch". Here many Jews dwelt, to whom the ministers of the word preached the Gospel only at first. Josephus {c} speaks of many in this place, and gives reasons for it:"the nation of the Jews, he says, was much spread throughout the whole world, and great part of Syria, because near, was mixed with them, especially there were many in Antioch; partly because of the greatness of the city, and chiefly because of the liberty of dwelling there, granted them by the successors of Antiochus; for Antiochus, called Epiphanes, having wasted Jerusalem, robbed the temple; but those that reigned after him, whatsoever among the things devoted to sacred use were of brass, they returned to the Jews in Antioch, to be laid up in their synagogue; and they granted to them equally to partake of the city with the Greeks; and many of the Grecians they brought over to their religion, and made them, in some sort, a part of themselves.''Here the Jews also had schools and taught: it is said {d} R. Samlai taught in Antioch; and here also was a sanhedrim. It is often said {e}, that Nebuchadnezzar came and sat down at Daphne of Antioch, and the great sanhedrim went out to meet him. Now Antioch was formerly called Epidaphne, because it was near a fountain of that name; and in the Targumists on Nu 34:11 Daphne answers to Riblah, which was in the land of Hamath, 2Ki 23:33 and Riblah, Jerom {f} says, is what is now called Antioch of Syria: and that you may know, says he, that Riblah signifies this city, which is now the most noble in Coele Syria, it follows, over against the fountain, (in Numbers it is, "on the east side of Ain",) which, it is clear, signifies Daphne, out of which fountain the above said city enjoys abundance of water. And so Josephus calls Antioch {g}, Antiochia which is by Daphne of Syria; and in:"Which when Onias knew of a surety, he reproved him, and withdrew himself into a sanctuary at Daphne, that lieth by Antiochia.'' (2 Maccabees 4:33)Daphne is said to be by Antioch. Some make it to be two hundred and eighty miles from Jerusalem. So far they went who were scattered abroad at Stephen's death, and carried the Gospel to this and other places, in which there was a manifest appearance of divine Providence, and of rich grace.Preaching the word to none but to the Jews only, which dwelt in those parts; so little was the commission of Christ, to preach the Gospel to all nations, understood, though it was so plain; or so it was ordered in providence, that as it was to be first preached to them, so it should be only for a while, till the elect of God of that generation were brought in, and until the rest put it away from them, and so were left without excuse.{x} L. 5. c. 12. {y} Apud Euseb. Prepar. Evangel. l. 2. p. 39. {z} De Bello Jud. l. 3. c. 2. sect. 4. {a} Antiqu. l. 17. c. 5. sect. 7. {b} T. Hieros. Erubin, fol. 22. 4. {c} De Bello Jud. l. 7. c. 3. sect. 3. {d} T. Hieros. Kiddushin, fol. 64. 4. {e} T. Hieros. Shekalim, fol. 50. 2. Vajikra Rabba, sect. 19. fol. 161. 1. Prefat. Eccha Rabbati. fol. 41. 1. {f} Comment. in Ezek. xlvii. fol. 261. C. {g} Antiqu. l. 17. c. 2. sect. 3. Acts 11:20Ver. 20. And some of them were men of Cyprus,.... That is, some of the preachers, that were scattered abroad, were Jews born at Cyprus: such was Barnabas particularly, Ac 4:36 though he was not among these, as appears from Ac 11:22 "and Cyrene"; such were Simon that carried the cross after Christ, and his sons Alexander and Rufus, Mr 15:21 and others that heard the apostles speak with tongues on the day of Pentecost, Ac 2:10which when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians; or Hellenist Jews, who were born and brought up in Greece, and spoke the Greek language; though the Alexandrian copy, and the Syriac version, read "Greeks", as if they were native Greeks, and properly Gentiles, to whom these ministers spoke the word of the Lord; but the former seems most likely.Preaching the Lord Jesus; the dignity of his person, as the Son of God; what he did and suffered to obtain salvation for lost sinners; his resurrection from the dead, ascension to heaven, and intercession; the virtue of his blood for peace and pardon of his sacrifice for atonement of sin, and of his righteousness for justification. Acts 11:21Ver. 21. And the hand of the Lord was with them,.... Not only his hand of providence, which brought them thither, and protected them; and his hand of love, grace and mercy, which was upon them, and supplied them with gifts and grace, and everything necessary for them; and his hand of wisdom, which guided and directed them; but his hand of power, the same with the arm of the Lord, which when revealed, and made bare, the report of the Gospel is believed: but if that is not put forth, or efficacious grace is not exerted, no work is done, none are brought to believe, or are converted; ministers labour in vain, and spend their strength for nought: but this was not the case here, it was otherwise with these preachers; though they had travelled many miles, and were come into strange places, they were not left of God, nor without success, the power of God attended their ministry; so that the Gospel preached by them came not in word only, but in power, and it was the power of God unto salvation: hence it follows,and a great number believed; not the Gospel only, but in Christ preached in it, Ac 11:20 which was not owing to the force of moral persuasion in the ministers, nor to the power of free will in the people, but to the hand or power of the Lord; for the work of faith is not a work of man's will, but of God's almighty power and grace; and when that is displayed, multitudes believe in Christ for righteousness and life: and turned to the Lord; and obeyed his commands; see Ps 119:59 as a fruit, effect, and consequence of believing in Christ; for not first conversion is here intended, which is not man's work, but God's, and in which God is the agent, and man is passive; but obedience to the ordinances of Christ, as the fruit of faith, is meant. Acts 11:22Ver. 22. Then tidings of these things,.... Of the spread of the Gospel in several parts, and the success of it in the conversion of sinners, especially at Antioch:came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem; these tidings were brought to the apostles and brethren there, by messengers which the ministers of the word sent unto them to let them know what success they met with; notwithstanding the persecution raised against the church of Jerusalem at the death of Stephen, and the havoc that was made of the members of it, and the dispersion of others, yet it still continued a church, and so it did for ages after: there are reckoned fifteen bishops of it unto the times of Trajan, and the destruction of the city by him, when the Jews were no longer suffered to live in it; and they are these, James the brother of our Lord, Simeon, Justus, Zacchaeus, Tobias, Benjamin, John, Matthias, Philip, Seneca, Justus, Levi, Ephres, Joseph, and Judas; and these are said {h} to be all originally Hebrews: but after the destruction of the city by Trajan, and the Jews were forbid inhabiting it, the church consisted of Gentiles only; and of them bishops were constituted over it, and were as follow: Marcus, Cassianus, Publius, Maximus, Julianus, Gaianus, Symmachus, Caius, another Julianus, Capito, another Maximus, Antoninus, Valens, Dolychianus, Narcissus, Aelius, Germanio, Gordius, and another Narcissus; all these governed this church in the "second" century: and in the "third" century, the bishops of this church were Alexander, Mazabanes, Labdas, and Hermon, who was the last before the Dioclesian persecution: in the "fourth" century, Macarins, Maximus, and Cyril, presided over it; and these were succeeded in the "fifth" century by Joannes Nepos, Prayllius, Juvenalis, Anastasius, and Martyrius; in this age also Lucian and Hesychius were presbyters of this church. In the "sixth" century, the names of the bishops of this church were Salustius, Helias, Johannes, Petrus, Macarius, Eustochius, Johannes, Neamus, and Isicius: in the "seventh" century were Thomas, Johannes, Neannus, Isaac, Zacharias, and Sophronius, who was the last bishop of Jerusalem before the utter and last devastation of it by the Saracens {i}; since which time the city has underwent various fates, being sometimes in the hands of the Christians, and at other times possessed by the Turks, in whose power it now is.And they sent forth Barnabas; who was himself an Hellenist, and of the country of Cyprus, and so very fit to be sent to the Grecians or Hellenists at Antioch, who had received the Gospel to confirm them in it: for his orders were,that he should go as far as Antioch which is said to be about fifteen or sixteen days journey from Jerusalem: the phrase, "that he should go", is not in the Alexandrian copy, nor in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions.{h} Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 4. c. 5. {i} Magdeburg. Hist. Eccles. cent. 2. c. 2. p. 2. & c. 9. p. 126. cent. 3. c. 10. p. 146. 148. cent. 4. c. 10. p. 503. c. 5. cent. 10. p. 540. cent. 6. c. 10. p. 335. cent. 7. c. 10. p. 251. Acts 11:23Ver. 23. Who when he came, and had seen the grace of God,.... The many instances of the powerful and efficacious grace of God in regeneration and conversion; the great goodness, love, and favour of God in enlightening, quickening, and converting so many souls; and the wonderful gifts of the Spirit bestowed upon many of them, fitting them for public use and service:was glad; rejoiced at heart, and gave glory to God, as every good man will, at the success of the gospel in the conversion of sinners, let it be by what instrument or means it will, and at the gifts and grace bestowed on them:and exhorted them all; in whom he saw the grace of God implanted, who had received the doctrine of the grace of God, and had gifts of grace qualifying them for usefulness, in some nation or another:that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord; that is, with a fixed resolution in the grace and strength of Christ, they would hold to his person, exercising grace upon him, abide by his truths and ordinances, keep close to his people, adhere to his cause and interest, and hold on and out unto the end. The Arabic version takes "the purpose of heart" to be meant of Barnabas, and reads the words thus, "and he exhorted them according to the usual firmness of his heart, that they would continue in the faith of the Lord"; in the doctrine and grace of faith in Christ. Acts 11:24Ver. 24. For he was a good man,.... He had the grace of God wrought in his soul, and did good works; he was very kind, and generous, and charitable; he sold what land he had, and gave the money to the apostles, for the use of the community, Ac 4:37and full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith; he was full of the several graces of the Spirit, and particularly of faith; and he was full of the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, and of the faith of miracles; he was full of the doctrine of faith, and of spiritual gifts for the preaching of it: the same character is given of Stephen, Ac 6:5and much people was added unto the Lord; by the means of Barnabas, through his ministry, and the exercise of those gifts he was full of; so the Arabic version, "and he drew a large multitude to the Lord". Acts 11:25Ver. 25. Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus,.... "In Cilicia" to seek Saul; who had been sent thither by the brethren that he might escape the rage of the Grecians, who sought to slay him, Ac 9:29. Acts 11:26Ver. 26. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch,.... That he might be useful in directing, and assisting in settling this new and numerous church; in the establishing the members of it, and in putting them into Gospel order, and in a method to secure and maintain peace, especially as they might consist both of Jews and Gentiles; and none so proper to be concerned in such a work as the apostle of the Gentiles.And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church; preaching the Gospel, and administering the ordinances to them, during that time, at proper seasons. For here being a number of converts, they were embodied together in a church state, very probably by the direction and assistance of Barnabas, who was sent to them from the church at Jerusalem, and in which he might be assisted by Saul: the first bishop, or pastor of this church, was Evodius, as Ignatius observes unto them {k}; Remember Evodius, your worthy and blessed pastor, who was first ordained over you by the apostles; and Ignatius himself was the next, of whom Origen speaking, says {l}, that he was the second bishop of Antioch after Peter, who in persecution fought with beasts at Rome; next to him was Heron, after him Cornelius, then, Eros; to whom succeeded Theophilus, who wrote three books to Autolycus, in vindication of the Christian religion, which are now extant, in the times of the emperor Aurelius Verus, about the year of Christ 171. He was succeeded by Maximinus {m} about the year 179, under Marcus Antoninus; and after him was Serapion, about the tenth year of the emperor Commodus, and of Christ 192; and about the year 214, Asclepiades succeeded in his room; next to him was Philetus, in the year 220, and then Zebennus in the year 231; next succeeded Babylas, the famous martyr, who suffered under Decius, and then followed Demetrianus, or Demetrius, about the year 255; and after him was the famous heretic Samosatenus, who was excommunicated from this church for his blasphemy against the Son of God; and Domnus, the son of Demetriauus, was put into his room, about the year 270; after him was Timaeus, in the year 274; and then Cyrillus, about the year 283: and these were the bishops or pastors of this church in the three first centuries {n}.And taught much people; besides the church, and with success, as to enlighten, convince, convert, comfort, and establish:and the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch; before they were called among themselves, the disciples, brethren, believers, the church, &c. and by others the Nazarenes, and Galilaeans: whether this name of Christians, which comes from Christ, and signifies anointed ones, was given by their enemies, or their friends, by others, or themselves, is not certain, though it is most likely the latter; and it may be they hit upon this general appellation, upon the union of the Jews and Gentiles in one Gospel church state, and so happily buried the distinction of Jews and Gentiles, or those of the circumcision that believed, and those of the uncircumcision. Luke is particular in relating the affairs of this church, he being himself a native of this place. John of Antioch {o} gives an account of this matter in these words;"at the beginning of the reign of Claudius Caesar, ten years after Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, was ascended up into heaven, Evodus, the first after the Apostle Peter, being chosen bishop of Antioch, the great city of Syria, became a patriarch, and under him they were called Christians: for this same bishop, Evodus, conferring with them, put this name upon them, whereas before the Christians were called Nazarenes and Galilaeans.''Epiphanius says {p}, the disciples were called Jessaeans before they took the name of Christians first at Antioch: they were called Jessaeans, says he, I think, because of Jesse, seeing David was of Jesse, and Mary of David: and so the Scripture was fulfilled, in which the Lord says to David, of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne, &c.--Or else, they were called Jessaeans from the name of Jesus our Lord; and refers the reader to a book of Philo's, written by him, concerning the Jessaeans, whom Epiphanitius takes to be Christians; but those that Philo {q} treats of were not Jessaeans, but Essaeans, and seem to be the same with the Essenes, who were not Christians, but a sect of the Jews. Nor do we ever find that the Christians were called by this name.{k} Epist ad Antiochenos, p. 86. {l} Homil. 6. in Luc. fol. 96. 1. {m} Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 4. c. 20, 24. {n} Ib. l. 5. c 22. & 1. 6. c. 39, 44, 46. & l. 7. c. 14, 27, 32. {o} Apud Gregory's Notes, &c. p. 155. {p} Contra Haeres. l. 1. Haeres. 29. {q} Quod omnis probus liber, p. 876. De vita contemplativa, p. 889. Acts 11:27Ver. 27. And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem to Antioch., That is, some time in that year that Saul and Barnabas were at Antioch, there came from Jerusalem thither some Christian prophets; for such there were in the Christian church, who had not only a gift of expounding the more mysterious prophecies of the Old Testament, but also of foretelling things to come; seeAc 13:1. Acts 11:28Ver. 28. And there stood up one of them named Agabus,....] The same name with Hagaba in Ne 7:48 and with Hagabah, or Hagab in Ezr 2:45 and which the Septuagint there call Agaba and Agab. The name signifies a "grasshopper", Le 11:22 or "a locust", 2Ch 7:13. In a book that goes under the name of Jerom {r}, it is interpreted, "a messenger of tribulation"; respecting, it may be, not the true signification of the word, as the things which Agabus predicted, as the general dearth here, and the binding of the Apostle Paul, Ac 21:10. And the same writer observes, that this interpretation is a violent, or a forced one. Some take it to be the same with bge, "Agab", which signifies "to love"; and so may be the same with the Greek name "Agapetus", which may be interpreted "beloved". This Agabus is said to be one of the seventy disciples that Christ sent forth: he seems to have been an itinerant prophet, who went from place to place delivering out his prophecies; we hear of him again at Caesarea, in Ac 21:10. Some say he was a native of Antioch; but this does not follow from his being here, any more than that he was a native of Caesarea from his being there also; it seems most likely that he was a native of Judea, and perhaps of Jerusalem, since in both places he is said to come from thence: it is reported that he died at Antioch; and he is placed in the Roman martyrology on the third of February.And signified by the Spirit; not by the position of the stars, or by any natural causes, or by mere conjecture, but by the Spirit of God:that there should be great dearth throughout all the world; not only throughout all the land of Judea, but at least throughout the whole Roman empire; see Lu 2:1 since other writers speak of it in other parts: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar; in the second year of his reign, as Dion Cassius {s}, the Roman historian, says: and {t} Eusebius seems to speak of it, as in the beginning of his reign; for he says, Caius, who scarce reigned four years, Claudius the emperor succeeded, in whose time a famine afflicted the whole world; for this some writers, different from our religion, have made mention of in their histories: though he elsewhere affirms {u}, that it was in the fourth year of his reign; both may be true, it might last so long: and indeed, according to what this writer {w} cites from Josephus, it must be after this time that the famine raged in Judea; for having observed the defeat of Theudas by Cuspius Fadus, the Roman governor, he observes, that at the same time a very great famine happened in Judea: now Fadus was sent into Judea, after the death of king Agrippa, towards the end of the fourth year of Claudius; so that it must be in the fifth or sixth year of Claudius that this famine was {x}. The Magdeburgensian Centuriators say {y}, it was about the ninth and tenth years of Claudius that this famine raged in Greece, Rome, and other parts of the world. Suetonius {z} makes mention of it, and ascribes it to a constant sterility or barrenness: and that it particularly affected Judea appears from hence, that Helena, queen of the Adiabeni, was at this time at Jerusalem, who sent for, and brought corn out of Egypt, and distributed it to the poor {a}; of which Josephus {b} gives this account:"her coming was very seasonable to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for a famine at that time much afflicted their city, and many perished through want of food. Helena, the queen, sent of her own people some to Alexandria, who bought a great quantity of corn, and some to Cyprus, who brought loads of dry figs; who, as soon they came back, distributed the food to the needy.--And her son Izates, hearing of the famine, sent much money to the chief men of Jerusalem.''The Misnic doctors {c} speak of various gifts which Helena, and her son Monbaz, as they call him, gave to the Jews for the use of the temple, but make no mention of this bounty; though they represent the son as very liberal to the poor, and giving all his goods unto them {d}.{r} De nominibus Hebraicis, fol. 101. H. {s} L. 60. {t} Eccl. Hist. 1. 2. c. 8. {u} In Chronicon. {w} Eccl. Hist. l. 2. c. 11, 12. {x} Vales. not. in Eccl. Hist. l. 2. c. 11, 12. {y} Cent. 1. l. 2. c. 13. p. 501. {z} In Vit. Claud. c. 18. & Victor. Aurel. de Caesaribus in Claud. {a} Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 2. c. 12. {b} Antiqu. l. 20. c. 2. sect. 6. {c} Misn. Yoma, c. 3. sect. 10. {d} T. Hieros. Peah, fol. 15. 2. Acts 11:29Ver. 29. Then the disciples,.... That were at Antioch, every man according to his ability; whether rich or poor, master or servant, everyone according to the substance he was possessed of; whether more or less, which was a good rule to go by:determined to send relief to the brethren which dwelt in Judea; either because that Agabus might have suggested, that the famine would be the severest in those parts; or because that the Christians there had parted with their substance already, in the support of one another, and for the spread of the Gospel in other parts; and therefore the Christians at Antioch, in gratitude to them for having received the Gospel, and Gospel ministers from them, resolved to help them with their temporal things, when in distress. Acts 11:30Ver. 30. Which they also did,.... They not only determined, but they put their resolutions into execution, and acted according to a rule which the apostle recommends, 2Co 8:11and sent it to the elders; to the apostles; for though there were deacons there, yet they chose to send it to them, that they might put it into proper hands to distribute to the necessitous: and this collection they sentby the hands of Saul and Barnabas; of this journey to Jerusalem, Paul makes no mention in Ga 1:17.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.