The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 2 — Section 3

"Tum, pie Iate gre.vem e.o meritia Ii forte from Am01 ix. 11, 12, ii quoted, not very yirum 'luem exactly, though with no change of senae, Crom ARpexere, silent, e.rreotisque e.uribl18 ad- the LXX., where it ends with the worde 1te.nt." "s?ith the Lord, who doeth all these things,': ('lEneid,' i.152.) •~ Ill theA.V. But the LXX.in ver.17 di1fere widely from the present Hebrew text. For Ver. 13.-Brethren for men and brethren, whereas the Hebrew has, " That they may A.V., as vor. 7. James answered. James's possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the place as presi<ling bishop is here distinctly heathen that are ce.lled by my Ne.me" the marked by his summing up the debate. LXX. (Cod. Alex.) have,"O?Tws&v /,c(71-rfi'O'wO'tv "'l'his (James) was bishop, as thAy say, and, ol Ka.'1'd.Ao,1ro• T~v4v6p~11'CdVT~r, K6p,ov, Kal 1rd.v-re1 thcrefo1·e, lie speaks last" (Chrysost.,' Hom.,' -ra (OVTI, ,c,-r,>..., where it is evident that they uxiii.). And again," No word speaks John read illi1~, seek after, for 11!1?, poeeess, and here, no word the other apostles, but held c-;i~, men, for ci,~, Edam. There is every their peace, for ,James was invested with the chief rule." "He says well with authority, appearance of the LXX., followed here by 'My sentenee is•" (ibid.). A rem1uka.ble St. James, having preeerved the true read- testimony against papal supremacy. ing. As regards the reading of the R.V. in Ver. 14.-Symeon for Simeon, A. V.; re- ver. 18, it is a manifest corruption. It is hearsed for declared, A.V.; first God for not the reading of either the Hebrew or the God at the first, A. V. Symeon. This is the Greek version of Amos, or of any other only place (unless Symeon is the right version ; e.nd it makes no sense. Whereas reading in 2 Pet. i. 1) in which Simon the T.R., whioh is the reading of Iren:ens Peter's name is given in this Hebrew form, (iii., xii.), as Meyer truly says, "presents a which is moat proper in the mouth of James thought completely clear, piow, noble, and speaking to Pale,tine Jews. Singularly inoffensive as rei:ards the connection " enough, Chrysostom was misled by it, and though he thinks that a reason for rejectin'" thought the prophecy of Simeon in Luke i. it. Nothing could be more germe.ne to St. 31 was meant. How first; corresponding James's argument than thus to show from the to the" gootl. while ago" of ver. 7. Did visit, words of A.mos that God's present pnrpose etc. The construction e1r<0"1d,j,a:ro >..a.{3iiv ia of taking the Gentiles to be his people was very unusual, aud indeed stands alone. The like e.11 his other works, formed from th~ verb al ways has an accusative case o.fter it begi1;1_~ing of th~ w~rld (comp. Eph. i 9, (eh. vi. 3; vii. 23; xv. 36), unless Luke i. 10; w. 5, 6; 2 Tim. L 9, etc.). As regards 68 is an exception, which, however, it hardly the interpretation of the prophecy of Amoa is. There are two ways of construing the intended, the idea. seems to be that that phrase. One is to consider it as elliptical, app~rent ~ of the house and family of and to supply, as the A.V. e.nd R.V. do, -ra David which culminated in the cruci..fu.ion i8v-fi. So Alford, who compares the construc- of the Lord Jesns would be followed by tion in Luke i. 25, where br' •µ• mUBt be those "sure mercies of David,'' which con- supplied. But tliis is a harsh construction. sisted in h~ resurrection from the dea.d The other and better we.y is to take l1r•- his exaltation to the right hand of Go,i 0"1d,j,a.-ro, not in the sense of " visiting," but nnd the gathering in of the Gentiles to his of" looking out," or "endeavouring to find kingdom. The phrase, " the tabernacle of something." 'fhe sense of the infinitive after David," is rather dilticult, because the word the verb is nearly equivalent to u look out for in the Hebrew is i,1 n:;ii;,, tabernacle or and took," literally, looked out how he mi9ht booth of Do.vid. n is the ~ord nsed for the take. .With a slight moili.fication of mean- booths at the Feast of Tabernacles, and ing, Ircnrous (in 'Speaker's Commentary') denotes a tempomry shed of branches or render, it" E:s:cogitavit o.ccipere,'' "planned" the like of a very humble character. It is or "contrived to t[l,ke." A people ior his ~ifficult to say why this word was used, unless Name; i.e. to becalled by his Name. /1.a.&s was 1t was to show that the house of David had the peculiar designation of "the people" of fallen to a low estate before it was pulled God, answering to the Hebrew cp (oomp. 1 down. Pet. ii. 10, Ol ·,TOTE OU >..a.os, vvv ~€ >..a.os El<eou). Ver. 19.-Judgment for ,enten.ce,A.V. ('-yC:.. Ver. lG. - 17,ese things for tl1~. A.. V. ; I ,cp[v,.,); tum for are turned, A.V. (lir,O'Tp<• 1,0ill for will, A.V.; jalle:n. for fa,ll~1l doum, ,pouO'w), .Tudgment. Sentence is the best A.V. word, as expressing the decisive judgmeut of Ver. 17,-Jlfoy for mi9ht, A.V St. James, which, being delivered with the Ver. 18.- JV/w malrnth these things knoW'II, r.uthority of his office e.t the close of the etc., for who doeth all these things (in ver. 17 debate, carried with it the suffl'a~e~ of 0 ~ A.V.); )mown for hiunvr, unto God are all the whole council. The things <lecreed by his~"°':''"• A.V. and 'l'.R. Il:11ow11 from the them were oalled Tei 3&-yµam, -ra. Ke,cp{µ•va. ~,rl, l.!oguullllq of tho world, Tho o.bovo passage -rwv Q;1TOITT6>..wv ,cc,l 'TWV 1TpE0"/3u-rlpw1'. Turn.  4 THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. [en, XT, 1--(1,