Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

“You are out of your mind,” they told her. But when she kept insisting it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”

“Though this had been the burden of their fervent prayers during all the days of unleavened bread, they dispute themselves out of it as a thing incredible.”

Peter motioned with his hand for silence, and he described how the Lord had brought him out of the prison.

“Go show these things unto James and to the brethren--Whether James the son of Alpheus, one of the Twelve, usually known as "James the Less," and "James the Lord's brother" (Ga 1:19), were the same person; and if not, whether the James here referred to…”

Now Herod was in a furious dispute with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they convened before him.

“Herod was . . . displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon--for some reason unknown; but the effect on their commercial relations made the latter glad to sue for peace. their country was nourished by the king's country--See 1Ki 5:11;”

On the appointed day, Herod donned his royal robes, sat on his throne, and addressed the people.

“22, 23. the people gave a shout, &c.--JOSEPHUS' account of his death is remarkably similar to this [Antiquities, 19.8.2]. Several cases of such deaths occur in history.”

But the word of God continued to spread and multiply.

“But the word grew, &c.--that is, Not only was the royal representative ignominiously swept from the stage, while his intended victim was spared to the Church, but the cause which he and his Jewish instigators sought to crush was only furthered and glorified.”

When Barnabas and Saul had fulfilled their mission to Jerusalem, they returned, bringing with them John, also called Mark.

“Mark--(See on Ac 12:12), not to be confounded with the second Evangelist, as is often done. As his uncle was Barnabas, so his spiritual father was Peter (1Pe 5:13).”

Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch), and Saul.

“He is mentioned, in Ro 16:21, as one of Paul's kinsmen. Manaen--or Menahem, the name of one of the kings of Israel (2Ki 15:14). which had been brought up with--or, the foster brother of.”

When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. And John was with them as their helper.

“At this busy mercantile port immense numbers of Jews were settled, which accounts for what is here said, that they had more than one synagogue, in which Barnabas and Saul preached, while other cities had one only. they had . . . John--Mark.”

an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, a man of intelligence, summoned Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God.

“Which was with the deputy--properly, "the proconsul." This name was reserved for the governors of settled provinces, which were placed under the Roman Senate, and is never given in the New Testament to Pilate, Felix, or Festus, who were but procurators, or subordinate administrators of…”

But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.

“But Elymas--or "the wise." for so is his name by interpretation--the word is from the Arabic. withstood them--perceiving, probably, how eagerly the proconsul was drinking in the word, and fearing a dismissal.”

When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.

“What fruit, if any, followed this remarkable conversion, or how long after it the missionaries remained at Paphos, we know not. AT PERGA JOHN MARK FORSAKES THEM--AT ANTIOCH IN PISIDIA, PAUL PREACHES WITH GLORIOUS EFFECT--THE JEWS, ENRAGED, EXPEL THEM OUT OF THEM COASTS.”

And from Perga, they traveled inland to Pisidian Antioch, where they entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and sat down.

“The whole region was, and to this day is, infested by robbers, as ancient history and modern travels abundantly attest; and there can be but little doubt that to this very journey Paul many years after alludes, when he speaks amidst his "journeyings often," of…”

All this took about 450 years. After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.

“Taking the words as they stand in the Greek, thus, "after that, by the space of four hundred fifty years, He gave judges," the meaning may be, that about four hundred fifty years elapsed from the time of the covenant with Abraham until the period…”

Then the people asked for a king, and God gave them forty years under Saul son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin.

“God gave . . . them Saul . . . of the tribe of Benjamin--That the speaker was himself of the same name and of the same tribe, has often been noticed as in all likelihood present to the apostle's mind while speaking.”

The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning Him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.

“For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, &c.--The apostle here speaks as if the more immediate guilt of Christ's death lay with the rulers and people of the metropolis, to which he fondly hoped that those residing at…”

He has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.’

“(Such declarative meaning of the verb "to be" is familiar to every reader of the Bible). See Joh 15:8, "So shall ye be," that is, be seen to be "My disciples."”

they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding region,

“AT LYSTRA PAUL HEALING A CRIPPLE, THE PEOPLE ARE SCARCE RESTRAINED FROM SACRIFICING TO THEM AS GODS, BUT AFTERWARDS, THEIR MINDS BEING POISONED, THEY STONE PAUL, LEAVING HIM FOR DEAD--WITHDRAWING TO DERBE, THEY PREACH AND TEACH THERE.”

But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul found out about this, they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, shouting, “Men, why are you doing this?

“Barnabas and Paul heard--Barnabas is put first here, apparently as having been styled the "Jupiter" of the company. they rent their clothes and ran in--rather (according to the true reading), "ran forth." among the people, crying out . . .”

“Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you.

“We . . . are men of like passions, &c.--How unlike either imposture or enthusiasm is this, and how high above all self-seeking do these men of Christ show themselves to be!”

In past generations, He let all nations go their own way.

“Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways--that is, without extending to them the revelation vouchsafed to the seed of Abraham, and the grace attending it; compare Ac 17:30; Yet not without guilt on their part was this privation (Ro…”

Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”

“In Lycaonia, where, as ancient writers attest, rain is peculiarly scarce, this allusion would have all the greater effect. filling our hearts with food and gladness--a natural colloquialism, the heart being gladdened by the food supplied to the body.”

Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, presuming he was dead.

“The words seem to imply that it was the Jews who did this; and no doubt they took the lead (Ac 14:19), but it was the act of the instigated and fickle multitudes along with them.”

But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. And the next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

“But certainly the impression naturally left on the mind by the words is that the restoration was miraculous; and so the best interpreters understand the words. This is confirmed by what follows. came into the city--Noble intrepidity!”

Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, praying and fasting as they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed.

“For if "ordination" was by prayer and fasting (see Ac 13:3), why should it be said they first "ordained elders," and after that "prayed with fasting?" Whereas if the first clause refer to the choice and the second to the ordination, all is natural.”

And after engaging these men in sharp debate, Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about…

“He is not mentioned in the Acts, but only in Second Corinthians, Galatians, Second Timothy, and the Epistle addressed to him [ALFORD]. should go up to Jerusalem . . .”