Actschapter 10
48 verses · Luke · about AD 62 · Acts
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him.
Introduction
Luke, Acts, Acts Overview.
Luke wrote this chapter for Theophilus, a Gentile, and it tells how people like him first came into the church. It is the longest single story in Acts, and Luke tells it slowly. Two men in two towns each receive a vision, and neither knows what the other has seen. Listen for how often God acts before anyone else decides anything. Notice what Peter says as soon as he enters the house and what he says after hearing Cornelius. The chapter closes with an event that leaves no room for argument.
Context
- Who
- Theophilus and Gentile readers, for many of them, this is the chapter that explains how they got in.
- What
- The visions of Cornelius and Peter, Peter's sermon in the house of Cornelius, and the coming of the Spirit on the Gentiles who heard it.
- Where
- Caesarea, the Roman capital on the coast, and Joppa, the port thirty miles south.
- When
- Some years after Pentecost and before the council of Acts 15, perhaps about AD 37 to 40; the date is uncertain.
- Why
- To show that God Himself opened the church to the Gentiles and that He shows no favouritism among nations.
Historical context
Caesarea was Rome's administrative seat in Judea, built by Herod the Great with an artificial deep-water harbour, a theatre, and an aqueduct. The governor lived there, and a garrison with it. Cornelius commanded a century, nominally a hundred men, in a unit Luke calls the Italian Cohort.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
He is described as a God-fearer: a Gentile who worshiped Israel's God, prayed, and gave alms, but had not become a Jew by circumcision. Such people were common on the edges of synagogues all over the empire, and they became the most receptive audience the early mission had.
Peter is lodging with a tanner, a trade that worked with dead animals and stank so badly that tanneries were kept at the edge of town, downwind. It was legal but low-status work, and a strict Jew would find the household uncomfortable, a quiet hint that Peter was already loosening.
The vision strikes at food laws, but food laws were never only about food. Keeping kosher was the daily wall that made shared meals with Gentiles impossible, and a meal was the basic act of friendship. Peter's line "you know it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with a foreigner" is about that wall, not about diet.
Significance
To Gentile readers, this chapter was their charter. God moved first, the vision to Cornelius, the vision to Peter, the Spirit falling on the household before anyone could impose a condition. No one could claim the Gentiles were let in by human decision.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
For Jewish believers it was the harder word: God shows no partiality. The house of a Roman officer, the very kind of man who kept Judea under occupation, is where the Spirit lands.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Cornelius Sees an Angel at the Ninth Hour
Acts 10:1-2
a man named Cornelius: At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in the Italian Regiment, a cohort raised from Roman citizens, as Ramsay records. He and all his household were devout and God-fearing, the fullest portrait of a righteous Gentile in the book.
Acts 10:1
“There was a certain man in Caesarea,.... This was the Caesarea formerly called Strato's tower, not Caesarea Philippi; for the former, and not the latter, lay near Joppa: called Cornelius; which was a Roman name, and he himself was a Roman or an Italian: a centurion of the band called the Italian band; which consisted of soldiers collected out of Italy, from whence the band took its name, in which Cornelius was a centurion, having a hundred men under him, as the name of his office signifies.”
3 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Acts 10:1
“In Cesarea - See the notes on Act 8:40. Cornelius - This is a Latin name, and shows that the man was doubtless a Roman. It has been supposed by many interpreters that he was “a proselyte of the gate”; that is, one who had renounced idolatry, and who observed some of the Jewish rites, though not circumcised, and not called a Jew. But there is no sufficient evidence of this. The reception of the narrative of I Peter Act 11:1-3 shows that the other apostles regarded him as a Gentile.”
Acts 10:1
“And there was a certain man - The first fruits of the Gentiles, in Cesarea - Where Philip had been before, chap. viii, 40; so that the doctrine of salvation by faith in Jesus was not unknown there. Cesarea was the seat of the civil government, as Jerusalem was of the ecclesiastical. It is observable, that the Gospel made its way first through the metropolitan cities.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 10:1
“When a Gentile must be pitched upon to receive the gospel first, it is not a Gentile philosopher, much less a Gentile priest (who are bigoted to their notions and worship, and prejudiced against the gospel of Christ), but a Gentile soldier, who is a man of more free thought; and he that truly is so, when the Christian doctrine is fairly set before him, cannot but receive it and bid it welcome.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
devout and God-fearing: Chrysostom observes that the first Gentile convert is a man of proven piety, which gave the Jewish believers less ground for offense. Adam Clarke explains devout as worshipping the true God and no idols.
Acts 10:2
“A devout man - Ευσεβης, from ευ, well, and σεβομαι, I worship. A person who worships the true God, and is no idolater. One that feared God - Φοβουμενος τον Θεον, One who was acquainted with the true God, by means of his word and laws; who respected these laws, and would not dare to offend his Maker and his Judge. This is necessarily implied in the fear of God. With all his house - He took care to instruct his family in the knowledge which he himself had received; and to establish the worship of God in his house.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 10:2
“It was about the ninth hour of the day, at three of the clock in the afternoon, which is with us an hour of business and conversation; but then, because it was in the temple the time of offering the evening sacrifice, it was made by devout people an hour of prayer, to intimate that all our prayers are to be offered up in the virtue of the great sacrifice.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Acts 10:3-4
about the ninth hour: Cornelius hears from an angel that his prayers and gifts to the poor have ascended as a memorial offering before God. Yet in verse 43 he still receives forgiveness through Peter's message about Jesus.
as a memorial offering before God: Adam Clarke notes that memorial offering is language from Israel's sacrifices, picturing prayer rising like the smoke of a burnt offering. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown see prayer as the soul reaching toward God and alms as its reach toward people. John Wesley adds that Cornelius still lacked faith in Christ.
Acts 10:4
“Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial - Being all performed in simplicity and godly sincerity, they were acceptable to the Most High. Come up for a memorial: This form of speech is evidently borrowed from the sacrificial system of the Jews. Pious and sincere prayers are high in God’s estimation; and therefore are said to ascend to him, as the smoke and flame of the burnt-offering appeared to ascend to heaven.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 10:4
“And yet it is certain, in the Christian sense Cornelius was then an unbeliever. He had not then faith in Christ. So certain it is, that every one who seeks faith in Christ, should seek it in prayer, and doing good to all men: though in strictness what is not exactly according to the Divine rule must stand in need of Divine favour and indulgence.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 10:4
“Thy prayers and thine alms--The way in which both are specified is emphatic. The one denotes the spiritual outgoing of his soul to God, the other its practical outgoing to men. are come up for a memorial before God--that is, as a sacrifice well-pleasing unto God, as an odor of a sweet smell (Re 8:4).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Acts 10:5-6
send men to Joppa: The angel tells Cornelius to send for Simon called Peter but leaves the message itself to a human witness. The gospel passes through witnesses throughout Acts, the way 1:8 set out.
Acts 10:5
“And now send men to Joppa,.... Which lay near to Caesarea; and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: the angel was not sent to instruct Cornelius himself, but to direct him to an apostle of Christ, and minister of the Gospel, who should do it; for not angels, but men, are employed in the ministry of the word, which is the ordinary means of spiritual knowledge, and of increasing it.”
Albert Barnes explains that tanneries stood beside water to carry away the waste from treating hides. Chrysostom notes that the name, the trade and the seaside house together made the directions impossible to mistake. The angel left nothing to chance.
Acts 10:6
“Simon a tanner - See the note on Act 9:43. What thou oughtest to do - From this it appears that matters of great moment had occupied the mind of Cornelius. He was not satisfied with the state of his own soul, nor with the degree he possessed of religious knowledge; and he set apart a particular time for extraordinary fasting and prayer, that God might farther reveal to him the knowledge of his will.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Acts 10:7-8
Cornelius called two of his servants: and a devout soldier from among his attendants. A devout soldier serving a devout centurion shows that his faith had already shaped those under him.
Acts 10:7
“A devout soldier - A pious man. This is an instance of the effect of piety in a military officer. Few people have more influence; and in this case the effect was seen not only in the piety of his family, but of this attending soldier. Such men have usually been supposed to be far from the influence of religion; but this instance shows that even the disadvantages of a camp are not necessarily hostile to the existence of piety. Compare Luk 3:14.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 10:7
“Who this "devout soldier" was, can only be matter of conjecture. DA COSTA [Four Witnesses] gives a number of ingenious reasons for thinking that, having attached himself henceforth to Peter--whose influence in the composition of the second Gospel is attested by the earliest tradition, and is stamped on that Gospel itself--he is no other than the Evangelist Mark.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
sent them to Joppa: Adam Clarke notes that Jonah set out from Joppa when God sent him to the Gentiles of Nineveh. From the same port Peter is sent to Caesarea. Theophylact sees humility in Cornelius, who told his men the whole story so that Peter would be persuaded to come.
Acts 10:8
“He sent them to Joppa - It has been properly remarked, that from Joppa, Jonah was sent to preach to the Gentiles of Nineveh; and from the same place Peter was sent to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles at Caesarea.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Peter's Rooftop Vision: Call Not Thou Common
Acts 10:9-10
went up on the roof: As the men from Caesarea near Joppa, Peter went up on the roof to pray at about the sixth hour and fell into a trance. Peter's vision and the messengers' arrival fall in the same hour.
Acts 10:9
“Peter went up ... - The small room in the second story, or on the roof of the house, was the usual place for retirement and prayer. See the notes on Mat 6:6; Mat 9:2. Even when there was no room constructed on the roof, the roof was a common resort for retirement and prayer. Around the edge a battlement or parapet was commonly made, within which a person could be quite retired from public view. “At Jaffa, the ancient Joppa,” says Prof.”
he fell into a trance: The Greek word for trance is ecstasy, which Theophylact and Oecumenius describe as the soul led beyond the senses toward spiritual things. John Wesley notes that visions suit the state of the body, so a hungry man sees food. Ambrose links the revelation to Peter's fasting.
Acts 10:10
“He became very hungry - It seems that this happened about dinner-time; for it appears that they were making ready, παρασκευαζοντων, dressing the victuals for the family. The dinner among the ancients was a very slight meal; and they had no breakfast: their supper was their principal meal. And, in very ancient times, they ate only once in the day. Supper was the meal at which they saw their friends, the business of the day being then finished. He fell into a trance - Επεπεσεν επ’ αυτον εκϚασις, An ecstasy fell upon him.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 10:10
“And he became very hungry - At the usual meal time. The symbols in visions and trances, it is easy to observe, are generally suited to the state of the natural faculties.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 10:10
“And what is the intention of the Scripture which teaches us that Peter fasted, and that the revelation concerning the baptism of Gentiles was made to him when fasting and praying, except to show that the Saints themselves advance when they fast. Finally, Moses received the Law when he was fasting; and so Peter when fasting was taught the grace of the New Testament. Daniel too by virtue of his fast stopped the mouths of the lions and saw the events of future times.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Epistle 63patristic
Acts 10:11-13
He saw heaven open: Peter sees a large sheet let down holding all kinds of four-footed animals and reptiles, clean and unclean together, against Leviticus 11. The voice commands, Get up, Peter, kill and eat, an order to break food laws he had kept all his life.
Acts 10:11
“And saw heaven opened - Act 7:56. See the notes on Mat 3:16. This language is derived from a common mode of speaking in the Hebrew Scriptures, as if the sky above us was a solid, vast expanse, and as if it were opened to present an opportunity for anything to descend. It is language that is highly figurative. And a certain vessel - See the notes on Act 9:15. As it had been - It is important to mark this expression.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 10:11
“It is knit at the four corners, to receive those from all parts of the world that are willing to be added to it; and to retain and keep those safe that are taken into it, that they may not fall out; and in this we find some of all countries, nations, and languages, without any distinction of Greek or Jew, or any disadvantage put upon Barbarian or Scythian, Col. iii.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
all kinds of four-footed animals: Adam Clarke notes that the sheet held both clean and unclean creatures as Leviticus 11 defines them. Albert Barnes explains that Peter's hunger shaped the vision, though its lesson concerned the nations coming to the gospel. Theophylact and Bede read the animals as the nations.
Acts 10:12
“All manner of four-footed beasts, etc. - Every species of quadrupeds, whether wild or domestic; all reptiles, and all fowls. Consequently, both the clean and unclean were present in this visionary representation: those that the Jewish law allowed to be sacrificed to God, or proper for food; as well as those which that law had prohibited in both cases: such as the beasts that do not chew the cud; fish which have no scales; fowls of prey and such others as are specified in Lev 11:1, etc., where see the notes.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The Greek verb for kill properly means to slay in sacrifice, as Bede notes, and Adam Clarke would keep that sense here. Chrysostom infers from "Get up" that Peter was kneeling. Matthew Henry notes that Peter held to his principles though hungry.
Acts 10:13
“Rise, Peter, kill and eat - Θυσον και φαγε, Sacrifice and eat. Though this verb is sometimes used to signify the slaying of animals for food, yet, as the proper notion is to slay for the purpose of sacrifice, it appears to me to be better to preserve that meaning here.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Acts 10:14-16
Peter refuses, saying I have never eaten anything impure or unclean. The voice corrects the category itself: Do not call anything impure that God has made clean, the principle Peter applies to people in verse 28.
Acts 10:14
“Not so, Lord--See Marginal reference. I have never eaten anything that is common--that is, not sanctified by divine permission to eat of it, and so "unclean." "The distinction of meats was a sacrament of national distinction, separation, and consecration" [WEBSTER and WILKINSON].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 10:14
“When, then, on being cursed, I smite (with my tongue, ) how shall I be found to have followed the doctrine of the Lord, in which it has been delivered that "a man is defiled, not by the defilements of vessels, but of the things which are sent forth out of his mouth.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Of Patiencepatristic
Acts 10:14
“Common or unclean - By common, κοινον, whatever was in general use among the Gentiles is to be understood; by ακαθαρτον, unclean, every thing that was forbidden by the Mosaic law. However, the one word may be considered as explanatory of the other. The rabbins themselves, and many of the primitive fathers, believed that by the unclean animals forbidden by the law the Gentiles were meant.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Albert Barnes suggests Peter first took the vision to be about food, though the events that followed showed its larger purpose. Irenaeus teaches that the God who gave the law's distinctions also cleansed the Gentiles through His Son's blood. Peter recalls this word in Acts 15:9.
Acts 10:15
But when Peter saw the vision, in which the voice from heaven said to him, "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common," this happened [to teach him] that the God who had, through the law, distinguished between clean and unclean, was He who had purified the Gentiles through the blood of His Son-He whom also Cornelius worshipped; to whom Peter, coming in, said, "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation, he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to Him."
Irenaeus · written before 202 · Against Heresies Book IIIpatristic
3 more voices on this verse
Acts 10:15
“What God hath cleansed - What God has pronounced or declared pure. If God has commanded you to do a thing, it is not impure or wrong. Perhaps Peter would suppose that the design of this vision was to instruct him that the distinction between clean and unclean food, as recognized by the Jews, was about to be abolished, Act 10:17. But the result showed that it had a higher and more important design.”
Acts 10:15
“What God hath purified - Hath made and declared clean. Nothing but what is clean can come down from heaven. St. Peter well remembered this saying in the council at Jerusalem, chap. xv, 9.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 10:15
“What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common--The ceremonial distinctions are at an end, and Gentiles, ceremonially separated from the chosen people (Ac 10:28), and debarred from that access to God in the visible ordinances of His Church which they enjoyed, are now on a perfect equality with them.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
This happened three times: Albert Barnes compares Genesis 41:32, where Pharaoh's dream came twice. He reads the threefold vision as a mark of certainty.
Acts 10:16
“This was done thrice - For the greater certainty, and to make the deeper impression on the apostle’s mind. And the vessel was received up again into heaven - Both Jews and Gentiles came equally from God; and to him, both, by the preaching of the Gospel, shall again return.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 10:16
“Christ has opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers, and there we shall find, besides those that are sealed out of all the tribes of Israel, an innumerable company out of every nation ( Rev. vii. 9 ); but they are such as God has cleansed.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Acts 10:16
“For the things made clean are made clean not by a single invocation nor by a second, but unless a third invocation is pronounced, no one is cleansed. For unless you were cleansed in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, you could not be clean.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Homilies on Leviticus 7.4.5patristic
Acts 10:17-20
puzzling over the meaning: While Peter was puzzling over the meaning, the men sent by Cornelius approached the gate, so the meaning arrives at the door first. The Spirit tells him to go without hesitation, because I have sent them, joining vision and visitors as the work of one sender.
Acts 10:17
“Doubted in himself - Doubted in his own mind. He was perplexed, and did not know how to understand it. Behold, the men ... - We see here an admirable arrangement of the events of Providence to fit each other. Every part of this transaction is made to harmonize with every other part; and it was so arranged that just in the moment when the mind of Peter was filled with perplexity, the very event should occur which would relieve him of his embarrassment. Such a coincidence is not uncommon.”
Simon called Peter: John Gill notes that the men asked for Simon called Peter to tell him apart from another Simon. That was Simon the tanner, the owner of the house.
Acts 10:18
“And called, and asked,.... That is, they called to the people of the house, Simon's family; and in a civil and courteous manner asked them, whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter; which they said to distinguish him from Simon the master of the house, and as Cornelius was directed, and they were instructed by him: concerning him they inquired, whether he were lodged there; the Ethiopic version adds, without any foundation for it, "and the place where they called at was Peter's lodging room".”
three men are looking for you: Bede holds that Peter heard the Spirit in his mind, while John Gill allows either a spoken voice or an inward impulse. John Wesley sees God leading Peter step by step. Light comes for the present hour.
Acts 10:19
“Which greatly amused him, affected his mind, and employed his thoughts what should be the meaning and design of it: the Spirit said unto him; the holy Spirit of God, either by an articulate voice, or by making an impulse on his mind; behold, three men seek thee; the Arabic version leaves out the word "three": the Spirit of God is omniscient, and knows all things; if the deep things of God, then much more man, and the things of man.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 10:19
“The Spirit - See the notes on Act 8:29. Compare Isa 65:24, “And it shall come to pass, that before they call I will answer,” etc.”
Chrysostom and Theophylact contrast the angel, who spoke of prayers rising before God, with the Spirit. The Spirit says He has sent the men, doing what God does.
Acts 10:20
“Arise, therefore, and get thee down,.... From the top of the house where he was: and go with them; the three men, to Caesarea doubting nothing; whether it is right or wrong, lawful or unlawful, to go with them, because not Jews, but uncircumcised Gentiles, laying aside all such Jewish scruples: for I have sent them: the Spirit of God is said to do what Cornelius did at his instigation and direction, signified by an angel he sent to him, Act 10:5.”
Acts 10:21-23
Peter went down to the men: and asks why they have come, obeying before he understands. He then invited them in as his guests, already crossing the line the vision addressed.
Acts 10:21
“So far was he from going out of the way, or refusing to be spoken with, as one that was shy of them, or making them tarry, as one that took state upon him, that he went to them himself, told them he was the person they were enquiring for.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
a righteous and God-fearing man: Chrysostom explains that the messengers praise Cornelius to persuade Peter the angel was real. They add his standing among the Jews in case Peter refused a Gentile.
Acts 10:22
“When Peter repeats this, he tells us more fully, they are words whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved, ch. xi. "Come to him, for an angel bade him send for thee: come to him, for he is ready to hear and receive the saving words thou hast to bring to him." 2.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
invited them in as his guests: Jamieson, Fausset & Brown see in this hospitality an early step toward fellowship with Gentiles. The brothers from Joppa numbered six, as Acts 11:12 records, and Chrysostom notes they later served as witnesses when Peter had to defend himself. Albert Barnes counts four days from vision to meeting.
Acts 10:23
“This was one way in which the primitive Christians very much showed their respect to their ministers: they accompanied them in their journeys, to keep them in countenance, to be their guard, and, as there was occasion, to minister to them; with a further prospect not only of doing them service, but of being edified by their converse.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Peter Steps Into a Gentile House
he arrived in Caesarea: When Peter arrived in Caesarea, Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. He turns a private meeting into a gathering of everyone he could bring, trusting what the angel told him. The household is ready to hear before Peter says a word.
Acts 10:24
“His kinsmen and near friends - Συγγενεις, His, relatives, and αναγκαιους φιλους , his necessary friends; but the Syriac makes αναγκαιους an epithet as well as συγγενεις, and thus the passage may be read, his kinsmen, his domestics, and his friends. It appears that he had collected the whole circle of his intimate acquaintance, that they also might profit by a revelation which he expected to come immediately from heaven; and these amounted to many persons; see Act 10:27.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Acts 10:25-27
fell at his feet: Cornelius fell at Peter's feet to worship him, but Peter refuses the honor and says he is only a man. Paul and Barnabas refuse worship at Lystra in 14:14 to 15, and the angel in Revelation 19:10 refuses John.
Acts 10:25
“Fell down at his feet - This was an act of profound regard for him as an ambassador of God. In Oriential countries it was usual for persons to prostrate themselves at length on the ground before men of rank and honor. “Worshipped him” This does not mean religious homage, but civil respect - the homage, or profound regard which was due to one in honor. See the notes on Mat 2:2.”
Albert Barnes, following Doddridge, doubts that Cornelius meant religious worship and reads Peter as declining honor too great for any man. Matthew Henry notes that Christ's faithful servants could bear insult better than being treated as divine. Ammonius sees Peter making himself a Gentile's equal.
Acts 10:26
I myself also am a man - “I am not an angel; I am come to you simply, on the part of God, to deliver to you the doctrine of eternal life.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
found many people gathered together: Adam Clarke and Albert Barnes place the meeting a short distance from the house, with the two men talking as they walked in. Barnes calls going out to meet a guest a sign of joy. Chrysostom notes that Peter speaks first of God's mercy toward them.
Acts 10:27
"And as he talked with him, he went in, and found many that were come together. And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean." Observe, he straightway speaks of the mercy of God, and points out to them that it is a great grace that God has shown them.
John Chrysostom · written before 407 · Homily on Acts 23patristic
3 more voices on this verse
Acts 10:27
“And as he talked with him,.... About the excessive respect he showed him, and his own infirmity and frailty, and unworthiness, as a creature: he went in; to Cornelius's house, at the door, and through the porch, to some interior room and apartment in it: and found many that were come together; besides his family, many of his relations and intimate friends, whom he had got together on this occasion, that they might receive some advantage, as well as himself.”
Acts 10:27
“And as he talked with him - Cornelius had met Peter at some short distance from his house, and they conversed together till they went in.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Acts 10:27
“And as he talked with him - He probably met him at the door, or at a small distance from the house. It was an expression of joy thus to go out to meet him.”
Acts 10:28-29
Peter names the barrier first, the rule against a Jew associating with a foreigner, a custom with no written commandment behind it. God has shown him not to call any man impure or unclean, the voice's words about the animals now applied to people.
Acts 10:28
“For even Peter, although he had been sent to instruct them, and had been constrained by a vision to that effect, spake nevertheless with not a little hesitation, saying to them: "Ye know how it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company with, or to come unto, one of another nation; but God hath shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Therefore came I without gainsaying; " indicating by these words, that he would not have come to them unless he had been commanded.”
Irenaeus · written before 202 · Against Heresies Book IIIpatristic
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 10:28
“Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing, etc. - He addressed the whole company, among whom, it appears, there were persons well acquainted with Jewish customs; probably some of them were Jewish proselytes. But God hath showed me, etc. - He now began to understand the import of the vision which he saw at Joppa. A Gentile is not to be avoided because he is a Gentile; God is now taking down the partition wall which separated them from the Jews.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Acts 10:28
“Ye know it is . . . unlawful . . . for . . . a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation, &c.--There was no express prohibition to this effect, and to a certain extent intercourse was certainly kept up. (See the Gospel history, towards the end).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
I came without objection: Peter already knew the reason from the messengers, yet he asks why they sent for him. Chrysostom thinks he asks so they will confess it themselves.
Acts 10:29
“I ask therefore, &c.--The whole speech is full of dignity, the apostle seeing in the company before him a new brotherhood, into whose devout and inquiring minds he was divinely directed to pour the light of new truth.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Acts 10:30-33
Cornelius retells the vision almost word for word, down to the ninth hour of prayer named in verse 3. He ends ready to hear everything the Lord has instructed Peter to tell them.
Acts 10:30
“Four days ago I was fasting until this hour - It was then about three o’clock in the afternoon; and it appears that Cornelius had continued his fasts from three o’clock the preceding day to three o’clock the day following; not that he had fasted four days together, as some supposes for even if he did fast four days consecutively, he ate one meal on each day.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 10:30
“Four days ago I was fasting - The first of these days he had the vision; the second his messengers came to Joppa; on the third, St. Peter set out; and on the fourth, came to Cesarea.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
your prayer has been heard: John Wesley suggests Cornelius had been praying for instruction in how to worship God rightly. Adam Clarke describes his prayer, fasting and alms as the means by which he sought the knowledge of the truth. He used the light he had, and God gave more.
Acts 10:31
“Thy prayer is heard - See the note on Act 10:4. Cornelius prayed, fasted, and gave alms. It was in this way he looked for salvation; not to purchase it: a thought of this kind does not appear to have entered into his mind; but these were the means he used to get his soul brought to the knowledge of the truth. The reader must recollect that in the case of Cornelius there was no open vision; he used the light and power which God had already given; and behold how mightily God increased his gifts!”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
the home of Simon the tanner: Cornelius repeats the angel's directions from verses 5 and 6 closely, down to the tanner's house by the sea. John Gill and Bede note that some copies add a promise that Peter would speak to him when he came. The BSB leaves that line out.
Acts 10:32
“Send therefore to Joppa,.... See Gill on Act 10:5, Act 10:6. who when he cometh shall speak unto thee, is left out in the Alexandrian copy, and in the Vulgate Latin, and Ethiopic versions, but agrees with Act 10:6.”
here in the presence of God: Chrysostom observes that Cornelius says they stand before God, and so treats Peter's words as God's own message. Adam Clarke notes that some ancient copies read before you instead. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown call this a picture of complete readiness to hear.
Acts 10:33
"Now we are all present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee from God." He did not say "before man," but "before God." Therefore, one must listen attentively to the servants of God.
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Commentary on Actspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 10:33
“Note, Faithful ministers do well to come to people that are willing and desirous to receive instruction from them; to come when they are sent for; it is as good a deed as they can do. Well, Peter is come to do his part; but will they do theirs? "Thou art here prepared to speak, and we are here prepared to hear," 1 Sam. iii.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
God Is No Respecter of Persons
Acts 10:34-35
Then Peter began to speak: Peter opens with what he has only now grasped: I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism. This is the truth the vision, the voice and the two households were sent to teach him.
Acts 10:34
“God is no respecter of persons - He does God esteem a Jew, because he is a Jew; nor does he detest a Gentile because he is a Gentile. It was a long and deeply rooted opinion among the Jews, that God never would extend his favor to the Gentiles; and that the descendants of Jacob only should enjoy his peculiar favor and benediction. Of this opinion was St. Peter, previously to the heavenly vision mentioned in this chapter.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 10:34
“I perceive of a truth - More clearly than ever, from such a concurrence of circumstances. That God is not a respecter of persons - Is not partial in his love. The words mean, in a particular sense, that he does not confine his love to one nation; in a general, that he is loving to every man, and willeth all men should be saved.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
welcomes those from every nation: Albert Barnes reads this as Peter's discovery that God's favor reaches beyond the Jews to every people. John Wesley holds that such a person is accepted through Christ even before knowing Him. Irenaeus stresses that Cornelius still lacked the knowledge of the Son.
Acts 10:35
“And since to such "He giveth more grace," according to the law of His Kingdom (Jas 4:6; Mt 25:29), He sends Peter, not to be the instrument of his conversion, as this is very frequently called, but simply to "show him the way of God more perfectly," as before to the devout Ethiopian eunuch.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Acts 10:36-38
He has sent this message: Peter tells Gentiles that God sent this message to the people of Israel, the gospel of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. He traces it from Galilee and the baptism John proclaimed, the outline of Luke's Gospel.
Acts 10:36
Now Jeremiah says, "Who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord, and hath perceived His Word?" But the Word of God alone is visible, while the word of man is audible. When he speaks of seeing the Word, I must believe that this visible (Word) has been sent. And there was none other (sent) but the Word. And that He was sent Peter testifies, when he says to the centurion Cornelius: "God sent His Word unto the children of Israel by the preaching of Jesus Christ. This is the God who is Lord of all."
Hippolytus of Rome · written before 235 · Fragments - Dogmatical and Historicalpatristic
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 10:36
“This is the word which God sent - When he sent his Son into the world, preaching - Proclaiming by him-peace between God and man, whether Jew or Gentile, by the God-man. He is Lord of both; yea, Lord of and over all.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 10:36
“The word which God sent, etc. - Few verses in the New Testament have perplexed critics and divines more than this. The ancient copyists seem also to have been puzzled with it; as the great variety in the different MSS. sufficiently proves.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
beginning in Galilee: Jamieson, Fausset & Brown think the events of Jesus' ministry were too well known to escape Gentiles who lived among Jews. Adam Clarke notes that Peter begins with what his hearers knew.
Acts 10:37
“That word - Greek: ῥῆμα rēma - a different word from that in the previous verse. It may be translated “thing” as well as “word.” Which was published - Greek: which was done. “You know, though it may be imperfectly, what was done or accomplished in Judea,” etc. Throughout all Judea - The miracles of Christ were not confined to any place, but were performed in every part of the land. For an account of the divisions of Palestine, see the notes on Mat 2:22. And began ... - Greek: having been begun in Galilee.”
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth: Messiah and Christ both mean the anointed one, so Adam Clarke hears Peter naming Jesus as Messiah without using the title. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown place the anointing at His baptism, as in Luke 4:18-21. Theophylact and Oecumenius explain it of His human nature.
Acts 10:38
“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth--rather, "Jesus of Nazareth (as the burden of that 'published word'), how God anointed Him." with the Holy Ghost and with power--that is, at His baptism, thus visibly proclaiming Him MESSIAH, "the Lord's Christ." See Lu 4:18-21.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 10:38
“Barnabas was full of the Holy Ghost and faith, chap. xi, 24. The disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost, chap. xiii, 52. And here, where his mighty works are mentioned, Christ himself is said to be anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 10:38
“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth - Here the apostle refers to Christ as the promised Messiah; for, as Messiah signifies the anointed one, and Christ has the same signification in Greek, and the Messiah, according to the prophets, and the expectation of the Jews, was to work miracles, Peter proclaims Jesus as the Messiah, and refers to the miracles which he wrought as the proof of it. This delicate, but forcible allusion is lost by most readers.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Acts 10:39-41
We are witnesses: Peter speaks as one of the witnesses of all that Jesus did, the mark of an apostle set in 1:21 to 22. God raised Him up on the third day and showed Him to chosen witnesses, who ate and drank with Him after He rose.
Acts 10:39
“And we are witnesses - We who are apostles. See the notes on Luk 24:48. In the land of the Jews - In the country of Judea. Whom they slew ... - Our translation would seem to imply that there were two separate acts - first executing him, and then suspending him. But this is neither according to truth nor to the Greek text. The original is simply, “whom they put to death, suspending him on a tree.” On a tree - On a cross. See the notes on Act 5:30.”
raised Him up on the third day: Adam Clarke reasons that three days in the tomb were long enough to prove death and too short for any deception. John Gill links the third day to Hosea 6:2.
Acts 10:40
“Him God raised up the third day,.... According to the Scriptures, particularly Hos 6:2. The resurrection, of Christ, though it is sometimes ascribed to himself, as God, whereby he was declared to be the Son of God, yet generally to God the Father, as here: and showed him openly; in a glorious body, and yet numerically the same he before lived and suffered in, so as to be heard, seen, and handled; by which full proof was given of the truth of his resurrection, in which he appeared to be the conqueror over death and the grave.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 10:40
“Him God raised up the third day - He lay long enough under the power of death to prove that he was dead; and not too long, lest it should be supposed that his disciples had time sufficient to have practiced some deceit or imposture; and, to prevent this, the Jews took care to have the tomb well guarded during the whole time which he lay there.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
who ate and drank with Him: Albert Barnes notes that a showing to the whole nation was unnecessary, though Jesus still appeared to many. Oecumenius and Theodoret explain that eating belongs to living bodies, so the meals proved a real, bodily resurrection. John 21:12-13 records one such meal.
Acts 10:41
“Not to all the people - Not to the nation at large, for this was not necessary in order to establish the truth of his resurrection. He, however, showed himself to many persons. See the Harmony of the Accounts of the Resurrection of Jesus. Chosen of God - Appointed by God, or set apart by his authority through Jesus Christ. Who did eat and drink ... - And by doing this he furnished the clearest possible proof that he was truly risen; that they were not deceived by an illusion of the imagination or by a phantom. Compare Joh 21:12-13.”
Acts 10:42-43
He commanded us to preach: Peter names Jesus as the One appointed by God to judge the living and the dead, the healer and the crucified now seated as judge. The sermon ends on its widest word, that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.
Acts 10:42
“It is he who is ordained by God the Judge of the living and the dead - Of all men, whether they are alive at his coming, or had died before it. This was declaring to them, in the strongest terms, how entirely their happiness depended on a timely and humble subjection to him who was to be their final Judge.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 10:42
You will notice throughout this short address by Peter how very careful he is to speak not at all upon his own authority, but wholly upon the authority of the Most High. He commences his conversation by saying that God had shown him that it would be right for him, as a Jew, to commune with Gentiles. God had shown it to him—he had not, therefore, broken through Jewish law as the result of his own judgment, but under Divine direction. He goes on to commence his sermon by saying, "The Word which God sent unto the children of Israel."
All the prophets testify about Him: Speaking to Gentiles, Peter quotes no single prophet, and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown see him giving the whole burden of their witness. John Gill points to Psalm 32:1 and Daniel 9:9. Chrysostom notes that the judgment in verse 42 comes from Peter, while the pardon comes from the prophets.
Acts 10:43
“To him give all the prophets witness,.... As David, Psa 32:1 Dan 9:9 that through his name, whosoever believeth in him, shall receive the remission of sins; the meaning is, that whoever believes in Christ with a right and true faith, with the heart, he shall receive, not as what his faith procures or deserves, but as a gift of God's grace, the free and full forgiveness of his sins, through Christ; through the effusion of his blood, and the virtue of his sacrifice.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 10:43
“To him give all the prophets witness - Speaking to heathens he does not quote any in particular; that every one who believeth in him - Whether he be Jew or Gentile; receiveth remission of sins - Though he had not before either feared God, or worked righteousness.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
The Spirit Falls on the Gentiles While Peter Speaks
Acts 10:44-46
While Peter was still speaking: , the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard his message, before baptism and before any step toward becoming Jewish proselytes. The circumcised believers with Peter heard them speaking in tongues and exalting God, the sign of Pentecost in 2:4.
Acts 10:44
“While Peter yet spake - It in not very likely that the words recorded by St. Luke are all that the apostle spoke on this occasion; but, while he continued to discourse with them on this subject, the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word; and his descent was known by their being enabled to speak with different kinds of tongues.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 10:44
“This passage is crucial for several reasons. Firstly, it demonstrates that the experience of speaking in tongues is not limited to the Jewish believers of Pentecost but extends to Gentiles as well.”
Acts 10:44
“It is not unlikely that some Gentiles might before now have stepped into a synagogue of the Jews, and heard the gospel preached; but the gospel was never yet designedly preached to the Gentiles, nor any of them baptized--Cornelius was the first; and here we have, I. An account given us of this Cornelius, who and what he was, who was the first-born of the Gentiles to Christ.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
the circumcised believers: Adam Clarke explains the amazement of the circumcised believers from a Jewish belief. The belief held that the Spirit could not be given to anyone outside the promised land, least of all to a Gentile.
Acts 10:45
“And they of the circumcision - Who had been Jews. Were astonished - Were amazed that Gentiles should be admitted to the same favor as themselves.”
speaking in tongues and exalting God: John Gill and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown compare Pentecost in Acts 2:11. There the believers declared the wonders of God in languages they had never learned.
Acts 10:46
“For they heard them speak with tongues,.... With divers tongues, which they had never learned, and before did not understand: and magnify God; they spoke of the wonderful works of God in these languages, as the apostles did at Pentecost, Act 2:11 they spoke greatly in the praise of God, and gave thanks for his rich grace and mercy bestowed on them: then answered Peter; as follows.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 10:46
“And magnify God - They had got new hearts as well as new tongues; and, having believed with the heart unto righteousness, their tongues made confession unto salvation; and God was magnified for the mercy which he had imparted.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Acts 10:47-48
Peter asks whether anyone can withhold the water to baptize these people, since they have received the Spirit as the apostles did. So he ordered them baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, water following the gift, where at Pentecost in 2:38 baptism came before it.
Acts 10:47
“Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Ghost? - He does not say they have the baptism of the Spirit; therefore they do not need baptism with water. But just the contrary: if they have received the Spirit, then baptize them with water. How easily is this question decided, if we will take the word of God for our rule!”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 10:47
“Can any man forbid water ... - They have shown that they are favored in the same way as the Jewish converts. God has manifested himself to them as he did to the Jews on the day of Pentecost. Is it not clear, therefore, that they are entitled to the privilege of Christian baptism? The expression used here is one that would naturally refer to water as being brought; that is, to a small quantity; and would seem to imply that they were baptized, not by immersion, but by pouring or sprinkling.”
he ordered that they be baptized: Jamieson, Fausset & Brown note that Peter had others baptize them, as Paul usually did in 1 Corinthians 1:14-17. Albert Barnes suggests that using the Jewish brothers as baptizers would prevent later complaint. Adam Clarke says the new believers wanted further teaching.
Acts 10:48
“To be baptized in the name of the Lord - That is, in the name of Jesus Christ; which implied their taking upon them the public profession of Christianity, and believing on Christ Jesus as their Savior and Sovereign; for, as they were baptized in his name, they professed thereby to be his disciples and followers. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days - They felt the necessity of farther instruction, and prayed him to continue his ministry a little longer among them; and to this he no doubt consented.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
How this psalm is built
The form: Two visions that bring two men together, a sermon in a Gentile house, and the Holy Spirit given before baptism, as 10 classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| Two visions timed to meet | Cornelius has his vision at about the ninth hour in verse 3. The next day Peter goes up on the roof to pray at about the sixth hour, just as the men sent by Cornelius are approaching the city. While Peter is puzzling over the meaning of the vision, the men reach the gate, and the Spirit tells him that three men are looking for him. John Chrysostom notices how the Spirit connects the times, so that the vision comes at the one right moment.John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 22. | Acts 10:3, Acts 10:9, Acts 10:17, Acts 10:19 |
| The story told again | The vision of Cornelius is told three times in this chapter. The narrator gives it in verses 3 to 6, the messengers repeat it to Peter in verse 22, and Cornelius tells it himself in verses 30 to 32. Peter's own vision also comes in threes, since the text says This happened three times. Augustine of Hippo reads the sheet let down by its four corners and lowered three times as the whole earth from its four corners called to faith by the grace of the Trinity.Counted from the Berean Standard Bible text of Acts 10, The chapter's own text, verses 3 to 32. | Acts 10:3, Acts 10:16, Acts 10:22, Acts 10:30, Acts 10:31, Acts 10:32 |
| The Spirit falls during the sermon | Verse 44 says the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the message while Peter was still speaking these words. Adam Clarke thinks the words Luke records are only part of what Peter said, and that the Spirit came while he continued to speak. In verse 47 the gift of the Spirit decides the question of baptism, when Peter asks, Can anyone withhold the water to baptize these people? The chapter ends with them baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible. | Acts 10:44, Acts 10:45, Acts 10:46, Acts 10:47, Acts 10:48 |
How this chapter is built
1 more paragraph on the patterns
Acts 10 moves between two houses before it brings them together. Verses 1 to 8 are in Caesarea with Cornelius, and verses 9 to 23 are in Joppa with Peter on the roof and then at the gate. Verses 24 to 33 bring Peter into the house of Cornelius, where each man tells what God had shown him. Peter's sermon follows in verses 34 to 43, and verses 44 to 48 tell how the Holy Spirit fell on the hearers and they were baptized. The chapter ends with Peter asked to stay for a few days in a Gentile home.
Keep studying
Studies15
People and groups1
Words12
Subjects2
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Counted from the Berean Standard Bible text of Acts 10, The chapter's own text, verses 1 to 48.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Ambrose of Milan, Epistle 63; Ammonius of Alexandria, CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 10.26-27; Arator, ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 1; Bede; Irenaeus, Against Heresies Book III; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles; John Chrysostom; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts; Severus of Antioch, CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 10.44; Theodoret of Cyrus, DIALOGUE 2; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts and William Ramsay, The Church in the Roman Empire.