The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 2 — Section 29

bE>n11tif11! epooimen of true hospitnlity; comp. the nnckfln spirits who orfo,t out to Jesus, 1 P<'1.. iv. 9; Heb. xiii. 2; 1 Tim. v. 10; "Thou art the Son of God" (Mllrk i. 23-20; 8 John 5-8; Riso 2 Kin~ iv. 8-10, where, iii. 11; Luke i\/, 84, 35;; o.nd St. Paul's however, the Gre,•k word for "oon~tmined" dealing with the spirit of divination was ie lrcpdrr,,nv, not as here_ ,rape/3,acraTo, whioh similar to that of om Lord's with the evil nnly oeoure elscwbero tn the New Test!l• spirits in the cases referred to. Whllt was mcnt in Luke xxiv. 29. In the LXX. it the motive of the damHel, or the spirit by is used in I f<am. xx,iii. 23; Gen. xix. 3 which she was possessed, for eo crying out, (Coo. Alex.) 9 (in a <liffercntsonse); 2 Kini;s or St. P11ul's for so silencing her, wo aro not ii. 17; v. 16. Her lar~e hospitality docs told. Perhaps she interrupted him, o.nd not bear out Chr'\"snstom's remark &S to her diverted the minds of those to whom he Wl\8 humble station of lifo. preaohin~. And he <lid not like the mixture Ver. 16.-Were going to the p7ace of of lies with truth. The ruotivo or sec1·ecy prayer for went to prayer, A.V. and T.R.; which was one rouse of our Lord's rebuke that a cerf.ain maid for a certain damsel, to the spirits would not apply in the cnse of A.V.; haming for pn.~•e.ssed with, A.V. The St. Pa.ul. pla.oe of prayer. The ;1 ,rpocrevxl, of the Ver. IS.-She did for did she, A.V.; for R.T. undoubtedly means "the place of many for many, A.V.; sore troubled for prayer," the proseuche. They went there, grieved, A.V.; charge for command, A.V.: doubtless, everv s11.bbat.h. What follows it for he, A.V.; that ,iery for the same, A.V. happened on ..;ne occasion after Lydia's Command ( ,rapayy,>.,}l.o,, ns in eh. i. 4 ; v. 28; baptism. A spirit of di'rination ( ,r:,,vµa and ver. 23 of this chapter, etc.). The only nuec.,vos, A.Y.; nuewva, R.T.). "n~ewv other instances of exorcism by St. Paul are denntat qne!'.;iibct ox quo ,r{,B,crea, datnr," those recorded in oh. xix. 12 o.nd 15. 'l'he "any one of whom inquiry may be ma.de" question of possession by spirits is too lnrge (Bengel). It wa9 a name of Apollo in his a one to be discussed here. It must suffice charnct,•r of a gi'\"er of oracles. Delphi to notice tha.t St. Paul in his action (as OUl" itseli, where his chief oracle was, was some- Lord before him ho.ddone), and St. Luke in times ea.lied l'ytho (Sclileusner, &.'ll.), and his nnrraiivc, distinctly treo.t possession, and Pythim was a common epithet of Apollo. ezp'Ulsion by the power of Christ, as rcn.l, Tile nnmc Python (Plut., 'De Defect. Ora.c.,' Ver. 19.-But for and, A.V.; gain for cap. 9) came thence to be applied to a gains, A. v. (ip-yaO"la, as ver. 16) ; laid hold ventriloquist (Hd,rew :iii-:), or to the spirit on for caught, A. V.; dragged for drew, A.V.; that was conceirnrl to dwell iu ventriloquists before for unto,.A. V. The rulers (oi lfpxovTEs); and to speak by them, just as in Hebrew the the arch-0ns. Meyer thinks these were the ventriloquist wo.s sometimes called :::i\N Sv:::i city judges, or magistrates (who always had thdr court in the a-yopcl, or forum), by whom (or ;-,'?P if a woman), the owner of a spirit Paul and Silas were sent to the prretors of d.i1·1ualion, or Eimply ::ii~, a diviner (see (crTpanryo[) for judgment. So in Luke xii. l Sam. x::xviii 7 (twice) for the first llBe, aud 58, the litigants go to the i,.pxtI,11 first, and Lev. x.x.. 27; Deut. xviii. 11; l Sam. xxviii. he sends them on to the «p,,.-f,s, or judge, 3 ; for the second). In some passages, as who orde1·s them for punishment. 'l'his l Kin~s =viii. 6 and Isa. xxiL 4, it is doubt- seems a more probable explanation than ful whether :ii:-: means theventriloquistor the that commonly adopted (Howson, Alford, Re- spirit. The feminine plural ni:::iiN (Lev. xix. nan, Lewin, etc.), that the lfpxovns and the 31; XL 6; I Sam. xxviii. 3, 9; Isa. viii. 19) cr.,-paTvrol mean the same officers. No 1·eRson seems always to denote t!Je women, who, like can be conceived for Luke's calling them the damsd in the text, practised the art of t',,pxovTes if he meant O'Tpa-rvrol, or for naming ventriloquistic necromancy, whether really the officers twice over when once was suffi- possessed by a spirit or feigning to be so. cient. Nor is it lilcely tho.t officers of such 'l'he word 1d,B"'11 is only found here in the high ra.nk as the duumviri, or prietors, as New Testament. The LXX. usually render they ha.cl come to be ealkd, should be alwo.ys n\::iiN by iyya11'Tp[µvBos. Gain (<'p-yacr,a), in the fOI"nm, to try every petty c11se literalJy, tJJork, craft, or trade; then, by (see articles "Colonia," "Duumviri," aud metonymy, t}l,(J gain proceeding from such "Prretor," in ' Diet. of Greek and Roman trade (eh. xix. 21, 25). By soothsaying Antiquities'). It seems, therefore, that (µav.,-,voJL•1111 ). So one na.me of theae ventri- lleyer's explanation is right. At Athens loquislE wu ~yya.q.,-p(µav-ru. the general term t',,pxonu was applied to Ver. 17.-Following after ... cried out for inferior magistrates, as well as to the nine followed ••• and cried, A.V.: ,ervanta archons (' Diet. of Greek and Roman Anti- for tl~ 1tJNJanu., A.V.; proclaim unto you quities:' "Archon "). for al1.0UJ unto tu, A.Y. and T.R. This Ver. 20.- When they had brought for testimony of the spirit of divination to the br/)11,ght, A. V.; unto for to, A.V.; they said doctrine of St. Paul is analogous to tha.t of for aaying, A. V. The magistrates i 11Tpw- cm. xvi. 1--10.J '1'11Th AUTS OF THE APOSTLES. 31