The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 2 — Section 314

·which shipe from AJexandri11 usually came. soon see him fnce to face. They naturallJ 1-mith quot<>s a pasenge from Seneca. (Npist., determined to go e.ud meet him, tu honour 'i'i) describing the a.rri\'n.l of the Alexandrian him as an apostle, and show their love to whent-shipe at Puteoli. The whole popu- him ns e. brother. The younger and morn le.tion of l'uteoli went out to see them sriil acth-e would go e.e fe.r as Appii i~orum, ''e. into he.rbour with their topsails (rupparum), village on the ViA. Apple., forty-th.i·ee miles "·hioh they alone were allowed to oe.rry in from Rome" (Meyer). The reat only oe.me order to hasten their arrival (p. 157),' so as fo.r flS The Three Taverna, ten miles nearer important to Ita.ly we.s the oorn trade with to Rome. Alford quotes n pnssl\go from Alexandria. Cicero's letters to Attions (ii. 10), in wbioh Yn.14.-Intrea.tedfordmred,A.V.; came ho mentions both "Appii Fornm" o.ud the to for m"'t toward, A.V. :Brethren. It is "Tres Te.bernm;" and refers to Josephus very interesting to find the gospel eJrMdy (' Ant. Jud.,' xvii. xii. 1) for o. simila.r plnnt.ed in Italy. The circumsmnces of Pu- account of Jews at Romo, who, on bee.r- u-oli 118 the J,;"reat Pmporium of African ing of the arrival of the pretended Alex- wheat made it a likely plnoe for Chris- ander nt Puteoli, went out in a body to tianit"I' to rcurl·. whether from Rome or from meet him ( ,rjia, .-o 'lo116al"'v ,r>,.;j6os ~1ra.v-r1- Alex,;ndria (see eh. xviii. 24). Luke calls d.(ov'T£s tCi/•crciv). Ho nlso quotes from them a.6e>..<;>ol, not Xp,cr-r,a~o! (eh. xi. 26). Suctonius the p11.ss11.ge in which he tells PPrliaps 1he name of Christian was still us thnt, on Caligula's return from Germany, rnt111,r the nnme given by those without, and "populi Romani sex nm, mtatem, ordiuem that of" brethren." or "disciples," the nnme omnem, usque nd Vicesimum le.pidem effu- used by the Christians among themselves. disse se" (' C1tlig.,' o. 4). Appii Forum WllB What a joy it must have bec,i to Paul and not for from the coast, and was a great place bis companions to find themselves among for S>1.ilors and. innkeepers (Horace, • Snt.,' brethren I Seven days. Surely that they i 5, 3). The Via Appia was mnde by mig-ht take part in the service and worship Appius Claudius, B,O. 442. It led from the of the next Sunday (see eh. xx. 6, 7). It ill Porta Capene. in Rome through the Pontine implied that the philanthropy of Julius (eh. marshes to Capua.. xxvii. 3) did not now fail. Bo we oa.me to Rome. Ver. 16.-.Entered into for came to, A. V. 'l'he R.V. is undoubtedly right. We can and T.B.: the words which follow in the trnce in the anticipatory form of speech here T.R. and the A.V,, the centurion delivered used by £~ Luke, simple e.s the words nre, t.ke prisoners to th6 captain of th6 guard: his deep sense of the transcendent interest but, are omitted in tbe R.T. and R.V., of the arrival of the apostle of the Gentiles following it, A, B, nnd many versions, o.t the colosae.l cnpite.l of the hcathen world. Alford retains them, Meyer speaks doubt- Ycs ; after all the conspiracies of the J e\VS fully: abide for dwell, A. V. ; the soldier that who sought to take away his life, after tile guarded him for a soldier that lcept him, two years' deloy at Cmso.rea, after the perils A.V. Thecapte.inofthegue.rd(A.V.); .-,p of that terrible shipwreck, in spite of the cr-rpa-ro,r,6J.px'!I : in Latin prrefectus prretorio counsel of the soldiers to kill the prisoners, ("Jl-rpa-r&,rellov was the Greek name for the o.nd in spite of the" venomous beast,"-Po.ul castra prretoriana). There were usually two came to Rome. The wordofGod, "Thou must great officers so co.lied, and it wns their bear witness nlso at Rome " (eh. xxi.ii. 11 ), special duty to take charge of prisoners sent hnd triumphed over all "the power of the from the provinces to be tried at Rome. enemy" (Luke x. 19). And doubtless the • Vinctus mitti o.d prmfectos prmtorii mei hearts both of Paul and Luke beat quicker debet" (Pliny, • Epist.,' x. 65). It has been when they first caught sight of the city on argued, from the mention of "the captain the seveu hills. of the guard," that Paul's imprisonment Ver. 15.-The bretltren, when, etc., came must have occurred when Burrus wes sole for wh,n tl.e brethren, etc., they came, A.V.: prefect, as related by Tacitus (' Anne.I.,' xii. T/,e Market of Appius for A.1Pii forum, 42, 1), and that hence we get I\ precise de.te A. V. The brethre11, when they heard of us. for it (so Wieseler, • Chronologie de Aposto- During the seven days' stay at Puteoli, the lisch. Geshichte '). Dut this cnn hardly be news of the e.riival of the illustrious con- depended upon. Luke might spee.k of" the feBSO?II reached the Church at Rome. The prefect," meaning the one to whom the writer of that wonderful Epistle which they prisoners were e.ctually committed, just as had received some three years before, and we might speak of e. magistrate writing to in which L.e had exprel!lled his earnest desire " the secretary of state,'' or an ambassado1 to ruit them, and his hope that he should calling upon " the secretary of state," the come to them in the fulness of the blessing matter in hand determining which of the of the gospel of Christ (Rom. i 11, 12, 15; three secretaries we meant. With the xv. 22, 24, 28-32), was now almost at their soldier that guarded him. It appears from gates 11,1 •> prillouer of skte, o.nd tbey would V!lr, 20 that St. Po.ul WOii subjected to the  Oil. XX VIII, 1- - ;:ll,] 'fllE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.