The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 2 — Section 115

Ver. 12.-In,omud, for ,o, A.V.; wnto the The p0ssesAed then fell to the ground, e.nd nck ,oere carried am,y from hu body for the exorcist commnnded the evil spirit in the from liill body ,oere brought unto the 8 icl,, nenie of Solomon never to return, nnd then A.V.: ,oent out for ,~ent out of them, A.V. recited one of Solomon's incantntions, 'fo and T.R. From his body (xp.,.,.&s); literallv give full assure.nee to the bystnuckrs thnt the ~lcin, but used here by St. Luke for th; the evil spirit he.d renlly left th,i man, the body, in &ccordsnce with the usage ofmedicnl exorcist placed a vessel full ofwnter nt some writ~rs " from Hippocra.tes to Gslen" distnnoe oft; nnd then commnnded the ejeoted (Hobart). Haudkerobiefa; <Tov5J.p,ov the spirit to overturn it, which be did. Thus Latin word sudarium, properly a cloih for far Josephus. Lightfoot, on eh. xiii. (vol. "Wiping off the sweat. It is one of those iii. 215), quotes the book Juchasin as speak- words, like 1COV1TT0>6!11, 1t£vTvpCow, CT71µ.11clv8,ov, ing of certain Jews as "skilled in miraoles," ,roSrrfv.,,-.,s, etc., which exa,ctly represvnt t.he e.nd the Jerusalem Talmud as speaking of political condition of things at the time of their enchantments e.nd magical tricks and the writers, who were living in a country charms" in the name of Jesus" (see, further, where Greek was the lan.~u1tge of common Alford on Matt. xii. 27). intercourse, but where the dominion was V or. 14.-.A chief priest for and chief of Roman. It is found in Luke xix. 20; John the priests, A.V.; this for so, A.V. A obief xi. 44; xx. 7, and here. Aprons; ,r,µ.,.,c{v8,a, priest (apx,.puls); not, of course, in the sense more properly "Ti tten ,,..,µ.,,civ8,a. It is the of hiah priest, but in that wider sense of the Le.tin word semici11ctium, e. half-girdle; the word which comprised the ohiefs of the Greek word is 17µ.,{,fmov. According to twenty-four courses and the membere of eome, it wa.s e. narrow girdle, but according the Sanhedrim and all who !,ad ever been t.o others, and with more probability, e.n high priests or who were of the lcindred of apron covering only half, t'..e. the front of the high priest (see Matt. ii. 4; xvi. 21: xxi. the body. It only occurs here in the New 15; xx.iii. 45, etc.; Lukll ix. 22; xix. 47, Testament or elsewhere. The Clll'eful etc.; eh. iv. 23; v. 24; ix. 14, 21, etc.). H mention of these cures of the sick may also is probe.hie that the Eleazar mentioned in be connected with St. Luke's medico.I pro- the preceding note was e. priest, both from fession. A;,, regards these UDllSll&l modes his name and because Josephus calls him of miraculous cure, comp. eh. v. 15. It one of his 6µ.o'/>{,},.,,,, which may mea.n "fel- might well be the Divine purpo6e, in the low-tribesmen." The name Sceva occurs csse of both Peter and Paul, to invest with nowhere else, nor is its mee.niug or ety• such extraordinary power the very persons mology nt all certain. Some identify it of the apostles who were to stand forth e.s with the Latin Scmva (Horace, 'Ep.,' i. his messengers and preach in his Name. In xvii. I)," left-handed," i.q. Scaivola; or tha St. Paul this parity of miraculous energy Greek Sceuas, e. proper name in Appie.u, stamped his apostleship with an authority Simonis gives it an Aramean etymology. equal to that of St. Peter. Ver_ 15.-Said unto them for ,aid, A.V. Ver. 13.-But certain also for then certain, and T,R. A.V. ; strolling for tJagabond, A. V. ; name for Ver. 16.-Maatered both of them for Oflef'• call, A. V. ; tlte ern1 for et>il. A.V. ; 1 for we, came them, A.V. e.nd T.R. A. V. and T.R. Strolling (1reptopxoµ.,11ttJv); Ver.17.-Becarne for was, A.V.: bothJetD, going their rounds from place to place, like and GreeTcs for the JetDs and Greek, also, strolling players or like pedlars. The A. V. ; that dwelt for dwelling, A. V.: upon words should be construed together, for on, A.V. Fear fell upon them. Comp. "strolling Jewish exorcists." That certain eh. v. 11-14, where the same effects e.re Jews in our Saviour's time exorcised evil ascribed to the death of Ananias and spirits appears from Matt. :xii. 27; Luke iL Sapphire. e.nd the signs and wonders which 49. We learn e.lso from Josephus, 'Ant. were wrought by the apostles e.t that time. J ud.,' viii 2, 5, that forms of exorcism, This fear produced by the putting forth of said to have been invented by King Solomon, God's power pe.ralyzed for a time the enemies so efficacious that the devils ca.st out by of the gospel, and enabled believers, as it them could never come back, were used with were, to take possession of their new herit- great effect in his days. He adds that he him- age, just e.s the miracles at the Red Sea. and self knew of an instance in which one of his the destruction of Sihon and Og paralyzed own countrymen, Elea.zar by name, had cast the courage of the Cane.e.nites and enabled out devils in the presence of Vespe.sian and the Israelites to take possession of their his SOD.I and officers e.t1d a number of hie land (Josh. ii. 9-11), With respect to the 10ldien. The method used wu thie: The incident which caused this fear, it might at exorcist applied to the nose of the possessed first seem inconsi.Btent with our Lord's saying the beziI of e. ring, under which we.s a certain to the apostles (Luke ix. 49, 50). But the root prescribed by Solomon, and so drew out ca.se1 were very different. He who cast out the !lvil spirit ttµ,ough the me..n'11 ~ostr.ija. d,evils ~u the I!&Jlle Qf J csus1 in the qosp~l. DII, XIX, 1-41.) Tirn AC'l'S OF THE APOSTLES. 117