Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

“The words imply that there was considerable ground to doubt if he would attain this object--for more than three of the seven weeks from Passover to Pentecost had already expired--and they are inserted evidently to explain why he did not once more visit Ephesus…”

“But if unfavorable winds and stormy weather had overtaken them, his object could not have been attained, and perhaps he was unwilling to run the risk of detention at Ephesus by the state of the church and other causes. Those here called "elders" or "presbyters…”

“Ye know . . . after what manner I have been with you at all seasons--For the Christian integrity and fidelity of his whole official intercourse with them he appeals to themselves.”

“Serving the Lord--Jesus. with all humility . . . and many tears and temptations--Self-exaltation was unknown to him, and ease of mind: He "sowed in tears," from anxieties both on account of the converts from whom he "travailed in birth," and of the Jews, whos…”

“Greeks--laboring under a common malady, and recoverable only by a common treatment. repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ--(See on Ac 5:31). REPENTANCE, as distinguished from faith, is that state of the "honest and good heart" which a…”

“Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, &c.--by prophetic utterances from city to city, as in Ac 11:4; Analogous premonitions of coming events are not unknown to the general method of God's providence.”

“(2) the burden of that Gospel which he preached--GRACE; it was "the Gospel of the Grace of God."”

“I know that ye all . . . shall see my face no more--not an inspired prediction of what was certainly to be, but what the apostle, in his peculiar circumstances, fully expected. Whether, therefore, he ever did see them again, is a question to be decided purely …”

“For I have not shunned to declare . . . all the counsel of God--God's way of salvation, and His kingdom of souls saved by His Son Jesus Christ.”

“And as the sacrificial atoning character of Christ's death is here plainly expressed, so His supreme dignity is implied as clearly by the second reading as it is expressed by the first.”

“Eph 3:20; particularly Jude 24; and compare 2Ti 1:12, where the same thing is ascribed to Christ. among all them which are sanctified--Sanctification is here viewed as the final character and condition of the heirs of glory, regarded as one saved company…”

“Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart--Beautiful union of manly resoluteness and womanly tenderness, alike removed from mawkishness and stoicism! I am ready not to be bound only--"If that is all, let it come." but to die, &c.--It wa…”

“Hence we find him asking the Roman Christians to wrestle with him in prayer, "for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that he might be delivered from them that believed not in Judea," as well as "that his service which he had for Jeru…”

“Art not thou that Egyptian, &c.--The form of the question implies that the answer is to be in the negative, and is matter of some surprise: "Thou art not then?" &c.”

“Ananias, a devout man, according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there--One would not know from this description of Ananias that he was a Christian at all, the apostles object being to hold him up as unexceptionable, even to the mo…”

“Paul said to the centurion that stood by--to superintend the torture and receive the confession expected to be wrung from him. Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, &c.--See on Ac 16:37.”

“With a great sum obtained I this freedom--Roman citizenship was bought and sold in the reign of Claudius, we know, at a high price: at a subsequent date, for next to nothing. But to put in a false claim to this privilege was a capital crime. I was free born--b…”

“I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day--The word has an indirect reference to the "polity" or "commonwealth of Israel," of which he would signify that he had been, and was to that hour, an honest and God-fearing member.”

“But for a judge thus to treat a prisoner on his "trial," for merely prefacing his defense by a protestation of his integrity, was infamous. God shall smite thee--as indeed He did; for he was killed by an assassin during the Jewish war [JOSEPHUS, Wars of the Je…”

“I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee--The true reading seems to be, "the son of Pharisees," that is, belonging to a family who from father to son had long been such. of the hope and resurrection of the dead--that is, not the vague hope of immortality, but t…”

“(The following words, "Let us not fight against God," seem not to belong to the original text, and perhaps are from Ac 5:39. In this case, either the meaning is, "If he has had some divine communication, what of that?" or, the conclusion of the sentence may h…”

“IN THE FORTRESS PAUL IS CHEERED BY A NIGHT VISION--AN INFAMOUS CONSPIRACY TO ASSASSINATE HIM IS PROVIDENTIALLY DEFEATED, AND HE IS DESPATCHED BY NIGHT WITH A LETTER FROM THE COMMANDANT TO FELIX AT CÆSAREA, BY WHOM ARRANGEMENTS ARE MADE FOR A HEARING OF HIS CA…”

“The narrative bears unmistakable internal marks of truth. or ever he come near--Their plan was to assassinate him on his way down from the barracks to the council. The case was critical, but He who had pledged His word to him that he should testify for Him at…”

“Paul's sister's son--(See on Ac 9:30). If he was at this time residing at Jerusalem for his education, like Paul himself, he may have got at the schools those hints of the conspiracy on which he so promptly acted.”

“Claudius--the Roman name he would take on purchasing his citizenship. Lysias--his Greek family name. the most excellent governor--an honorary title of office.”