pntrie. mo~t of the wny being downhill from Ver. 85.-Thy oa'IU6 for thee, A. V. : al,o 01'6 ihe hill cNmtry of Ephraim to the plain of for are al,o, A..V.; palaoe for jurl!fment hall, i--haron. After a halt of two or three houre, A.V. I will he&r thy oause; 3,a1e0Jo-01'4( """• n, me.rob of ~,x hours would bring them to found only here in the New Tostnment; but \Aeearen, ,vhrnh they may have reached in need in tho sanie sense o.e here for " hearing the afternoon. a oause," in Deut. i. 16, /l.141<0JCTAT< ... Ver. 32.-But on for on, A.V. On the ,c4I rcplv,.,.,, "Hear the caueee between your morrow. after their departure from Jeruealem, brethren, and judge righteously," A.V. See not, e.s Allord suggests, after their departure also Joh ix. 88, ll.141<0,l,.,., ivaµl<Tov A.µ.<f>oTlpo,vl from Antipatris. It was a forced march, " That might lay hie hand upon ue both,' nnd therefore would not oooupy two days A.V., i.e. judge between us. Palaoe (Iv Tip Rnd a night. ..-p41Tta1pl'1'), The prrotorium-foritis a Latin Ver. 3'.1.-And they for tDho, A. V.: letta word-was originally the prrotor's tent in a for epistle, A.V. Presented Paul; ,r4pt- Roman camp. Thence it came to signify ,,..,'ll"«"· This is a word particularly med the abode of the chief magistrate in a pro- o~ setting any one before a judge (see Rom. vince, or a king's palace. Herod:• palace xiv. 10, and the subscription of 2 Timothy, seems to have been a palaoe originally built •ou /,c li~ipov 'fl'4PE<T'TTJ Ilaii~os .,.. K.,/<T4p, by King Herod, and now used, either as the Nip..,11,). residence of the proourator or, as the mode Ver. 34.-He for the go-oeNWr, A.V. and of speaking rather indicates, for some public T.B. ; it for the 'letter, A.V. Province; office. (For the use of the word ,rp11,.,.~p1ov,eee .Z..-4Pxla., onlv here and in eh. :u:v. 1. A Matt. xxvii. 27; John xvili. 28, 8S; m. 9; geneml word for a government, most pro- Phil. i lS.) perly applied to an imperial province.
HOMILETICS. Vera. 1-11.-Policy. The characteristic quality of an Israelite indeed, as our Lord has taught us, is to be ~ithout guile. All kinds of trickery, deceit, false pretences, disguises, dissimulation, as well as downright falsehood, &re entirely alien from the true Christian spirit. The man of God walks habitually in an atmosphere of transparent truth. He has nothing to conceal, nothing to simulate. He has to do with the God of truth, who searches all hearts, and from whom no secrets are hid. His one great object is to please God, and to live in all good conscience toward him. And it is a small thing with him to be judged of man's judgment. And then, as regards one fruitful source of falsehood,/ear--fear of evil, of danger,· of blame, the man of God is comparatively free from its influence, because he trusts in God, and commits the keeping of his soul to him as to a faithful Creator. God's faithfulness and truth are hie shield and buckler. Hid under the shadow of his protecting wings, he is safe. Even in the valley of the shadow of death he fears no evil, because God is with him. His only fear is lest he forfeit that omnipotent protection by conduct displeasing to God and unworthy of a Christian man. But is the man of God therefore to take no steps to secure his own safety? is he to use no sagacity, no wisdom, no prudence, to follow no line of good policy, by which danger may be avoided, and the enemies who seek to hurt him may be baffled and eluded? Surely this cannot be affirmed except on principles of fatalism, which equally preclude the taking of any steps towards the accomplishment. of any end. To act wisely and discreetly, to take advantage of circumstances and opportunities as they arise, to bring about good results, and to avert evil ones, is as much the duty of a Christian as to sow in order that he may reap, or to take medicine in order that he may be healed. In the case before us, St. Paul was in imminent danger of being condemned by unrighteous judges. He saw that their passions and their pre- judices were inflamed against him, and that his own integrity was no security against an unjust sentence. But he saw also that, though for the moment his judges were incited by their common hatn,d towards himself, there were strong elements of discord among them. He saw that on one of the leading truths of that gospel which he preached-the resurrection of the dead, and the life everlasting beyond the grave-the division between his enemies was at its height, and a large portion of his judges were ou his side. It wu therefore an act, not of guile or deceit, but of sagacity and policy, to take advantage of this circumstance, and to divide hie opponents, and, under cover of their division, to ave himself. And he did so with signal success, In doing so he OB. lllll. 1-35.] THE ACTS OF TlIE APOSTLES. 217