Bible Commentaries

Acts 14:23 — elders, and that the others would be concerned mainly in governing and directing the general affairs of the church.In every church - It is implied here that there were elders in each church; that is, that in each church there was more than one. See Acts 15:21, where a similar phraseology occurs, and where it is evident that there was more than one reader of the Law of Moses in each city. Compare Titus 1:5, “I left thee in Crete, that thou shouldst ...ordain elders in every city”; Acts 20:17, “And from

Acts 16:37 — Paul and Silas, and they had a right to demand just treatment and protection.(4) Because such a public act on the part of the magistrates would strengthen the young converts, and show them that the apostles were not guilty of a violation of the laws.(5) Because it would tend to the honor and to the furtherance of religion. It would be a public acknowledgement of their innocence, and would go far toward lending to them the sanction of the laws as religious teachers. We may learn from this also:(1)

Acts 19:35 — translated “scribe,” and is applied to “public notaries in the synagogues; to clerks; to those who transcribed books, and hence, to men skilled in the law or in any kind of learning.” Compare 2 Samuel 8:17; 2 Kings 12:11; Ezra 7:6, Ezra 7:11-12; Matthew 5:20; Matthew 12:38; Matthew 13:52; Matthew 15:1; Matthew 23:34; 1 Corinthians 1:20. It is, however, nowhere else applied to a pagan magistrate. It probably denoted “a recorder; or a transcriber of the laws; or a chancellor” (Kuinoel, Doddridge). This

Acts 2:1 — And when the day of Pentecost - The word “Pentecost” is a Greek word signifying the 50th part of a thing, or the 50th in order. Among the Jews it was a applied to one of their three great feasts which began on the 50th day after the Passover. This feast was reckoned from the 16th day of the month Abib, or April, or the second day of

Acts 20:24 — with peace whenever God should require him to finish his course.Finish my course - Close my career as an apostle and a Christian. Life is thus represented as a course, or race that is to be run, 2 Timothy 4:7; Hebrews 12:1; 1 Corinthians 9:24; Acts 13:25.With joy - With the approbation of conscience and of God, with peace in the recollection of the past. Man should strive so to live that he will have nothing to regret when he lies on a bed of death. It is a glorious privilege to finish life with joy.

Acts 8:40 — cities which were not taken by Joshua, and which remained in the possession of the Philistines. It was to this place that the ark of God was sent when it was taken by the Philistines from the Israelites; and here Dagon was cast down before it, 1 Samuel 5:2-3. Uzziah, King of Judah, broke down its wall, and built cities or watch-towers around it, 2 Chronicles 26:6. It was a place of great strength and consequence. It was distant about thirty miles from Gaza. It was situated on the coast of the Mediterranean,

Acts 9:5 — So Pindar, Pyth., 2:173, “It is profitable to bear willingly the assumed yoke. To kick against the goad is pernicious conduct.” So Terence, Phome., 1, 2, 27, “It is foolishness for thee to kick against a goad.” Ovid has the same idea, Tristam, ii. 15. The word translated “pricks” here κέντρον kentron means properly “any sharp point which will pierce or perforate,” as the sting of a bee, etc. But it commonly means an ox-goad, a sharp piece of iron stuck into the end of a stick, with which the ox

1 Corinthians 1:19 — given of it by its enemies, show how much they have been embarrassed. The most elaborate part of Gibbon’s “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” is contained in his attempt to state the causes of the early propagation of Christianity, in 1 Corinthians 15:16; and the obvious failure of the account shows how much the mind of the philosophic sceptic was embarrassed by the fact of the spread of Christianity.(5) The reception of the gospel demands an humble mind; Mark 10:15. People of good sense, of humble

1 Corinthians 10:20 — Jews, was employed only to designate evil beings. It is not implied in their writings to good angels or to blessed spirits, but to evil angels, to idols, to false gods. Thus, in the Septuagint the word is used to translate אלילים Elilim, “idols” Psalms 95:5; Isaiah 65:10; and שׁד shēd, Shaid, as in Deuteronomy 32:17, in a passage which Paul has here almost literally used, “They sacrificed unto devils, not to God.” No where in the Septuagint is it used in a good sense. In the New Testament the word is

2 Corinthians 2:7 — preying upon him. The figure here is probably taken from deep waters, or from a whirlpool which seems to swallow up anything that comes within reach. Excessive grief or calamity, in the Scriptures, is often compared to such waters; see Psalms 124:2-5. “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side when men rose up against us, then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us; then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul; then the proud waters

2 Corinthians 5:20 — place of Christ; or doing what he did when on earth, and what he would do were he where we are.Be ye reconciled to God - This is the sum and burden of the message which the ministers of the gospel bear to their fellow-men; see the note on 2 Corinthians 5:19. It implies that man has something to do in this work. He is to be reconciled to God. He is to give up his opposition. He is to submit to the terms of mercy. All the change in the case is to be in him, for God cannot change. God has removed all the

2 Corinthians 6:6 — Paul felt that if a minister would do good he must be kind, and gentle to all.By the Holy Ghost - By the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit. By those graces and virtues which it is his office especially to produce in the heart; compare Galatians 5:22-23. Paul here evidently refers not to the miraculous agency of the Holy Spirit, but he is referring to the Spirit which he and his fellow-ministers manifested, and means here, doubtless, that they evinced such feelings as the Holy Spirit produced

Galatians 2:1 — there, as recorded in the previous chapter; Galatians 2:18. This time was spent in Asia Minor chiefly in preaching the gospel.I went up again to Jerusalem - It is commonly supposed that Paul here refers to the visit which he made as recorded in Acts 15:0. The circumstances mentioned are substantially the same; and the object which he had at that time in going up was one whose mention was entirely pertinent to the argument here. He went up with Barnabas to submit a question to the assembled apostles

Ephesians 1:6 — have occasion for eternal thanks, and all heaven might join in his praises. How much more is praise due to him, when the number chosen is not one, or a few, but when millions which no man can number, shall be found to be chosen to life; Revelation 7:9.(5) The doctrine of predestination to life has added no pang of sorrow to anyone of the human race. It has made millions happy who would not otherwise have been, but not one miserable. It is not a choice to sorrow, it is a choice to joy and peace.(6) No

Ephesians 4:4 — There is one body - One church - for so the word “body” means here - denoting the body of Christ; see the notes on Romans 12:5; compare notes on Ephesians 1:23. The meaning here is, that as there is really but one church on earth, there ought to be unity. The church is, at present, divided into many denominations. It has different forms of worship, and different rites and ceremonies.

Philippians 2:17 — gods, before he tasted of it himself, poured out apart of it on the altar. Passow. It is used also to denote the fact that, when an animal was about to be slain in sacrifice, wine was poured on it as a solemn act of devoting it to God; compare Numbers 15:5; Numbers 28:7, Numbers 28:14. In like manner, Paul may have regarded himself as a victim prepared for the sacrifice. In the New Testament it is found only in this place, and in 2 Timothy 4:6, where it is rendered, “I am ready to be offered;” compare

1 Thessalonians 4:11 — man should regard himself as disgraced who is concerned in a mob.And to do your own business - To attend to their own concerns, without interfering with the affairs of others; see the notes on Philippians 2:4; compare 2 Thessalonians 3:11; 1 Timothy 5:13; 1 Peter 4:13. The injunction here is one of the beautiful precepts of Christianity so well adapted to promote the good order and the happiness of society. It would prevent the impertinent and unauthorized prying into the affairs of others, to which

1 Thessalonians 5:28 — subscription at the close of the Epistle, purporting that it was written from Athens, see the introduction, section 3. These subscriptions are of no authority, and the one here, like several others, is probably wrong.From the solemn charge in 1 Thessalonians 5:27 that “this epistle should be read to all the holy brethren,” that is, to the church at large, we may infer that it is in accordance with the will of God that all Christians should have free access to the Holy Scriptures. What was the particular reason

2 Thessalonians 1:12 — never can be saved by mere justice. No one will go to heaven because he deserves or merits it. All dependence on human merit, therefore, is taken away in the matter of salvation, and if the sinner is ever saved, it will be by grace, and not by justice.(5) If it is a “righteous thing” that the sinner should perish, he will perish. God will do right to all.(6) It is amazing that the mass of men have so little concern about their future condition. God has plainly revealed that he will destroy the wicked

1 Timothy 5:19 — Against an elder - The word “elder” here seems to be used in the sense in which it is in the previous verse as relating to “office,” and not in the sense of an aged man, as in 1 Timothy 5:1. The connection demands this interpretation.Receive not an accusation - He was not to regard such a charge as well founded unless sustained by two or three witnesses. It is clear from this, that Paul supposed that Timothy would be called on to hear