that contain the words read them variously. Meyer suggests that they may have been taken from some baptismal liturgy, and were added here that it might not appear as if the eunuch was baptized without evidence of his faith. The interpolation is as old certainly as the time of Augustine, and perhaps older. - Tòv viòv Toû beoû is τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ the predicate after είναι. V. 38. Kaì ékéλevoe, k. t. λ., And he ordered (viz. the charioteer) that the carriage should stop, lit. stand; an instructive use of the word for 9, 7. The eunuch's equipage corresponded with his rank. καὶ κατέβησαν, κ. τ. λ., and both went down into the water; not here unto it (which is may also mean) for it stands opposed to ék, in the next verse; besides, they would have occasion to enter the stream, or pool, in order to be baptized into it; comp. éẞántion eis Tòv 'Iopdávny, was baptized into the Jordan; in Mark 1, 9. See Rob. Lex. p. 118. Kará in the verb may refer to the descent from the higher ground to the water, or to the entrance into the water; but not to the descent from the chariot, for this verb corresponds to ávéßnoav in v. 39, they went up, whereas the eunuch only returned to the carriage. V. 39. k, out of, some render here from, which confounds it with ȧnó.-vevμa, K. T. X., the Spirit of the Lord seized, carried ἀπό. away Philip. The expression asserts that he left the eunuch suddenly, in obedience to a divine monition, but not that the mode of his departure was miraculous. This last certainly is not a necessary conclusion. — ¿ñopeúeto, k. t. λ., for he went his way, returned to his country, rejoicing. xaipov belongs logically to a separate clause, but is put here for the sake of brevity.—Tradition says that the eunuch's name was Indich, and that it was he who first preached the gospel in Ethiopia. It is certain that Christianity existed there at an early period, but its introduction, says Neander, cannot be traced to any connection with his labors. V. 40. εὑρέθη, κ. τ. λ., not was = v (Kuin.), but was found at (lit. unto) Azotus, i. e. was next heard of there, after the transaction in the desert. eis arises from the idea of the journey thither. This place was the ancient Ashdod, now Esdûd, an unimportant village. See Rob. Bibl. Res. II. p. 368.—Tóλeis does not depend on the participle, but on the verb, as in v. 25. The towns referred to are Lydda, Joppa, and others, which lay between Azotus and Cæsarea. The latter place was Philip's home. Here we find him again, after the lapse of more than twenty years, when the Saul who was now 'breathing menace and murder against the disciples" was entertained by him as a christian guest; see 21, 8. Luke's narrative brings us frequently to Cæsarea. It was about sixty miles northwest from Jerusalem, on the Mediterranean, south of Carmel. It was the ancient Erpáτwvos πúpyos, which Herod the Great had rebuilt and named Cæsarea in honor of Augustus. It was now the residence of the Roman procurators. Its inhabitants were mostly heathen; the Jewish population was small. CHAPTER IX. V. 1-9. Christ appears to Saul on the Way to Damascus. .... V. 1. dé, but, turns the attention again to Saul. ἔτι connects this verse with 8, 3.- ἐμπνέων . . . . φόνου, breathing menace and murder; in 26, 11, éμμaivóμevos. The figure is founded apparently on the fact, that a person under the excitement of strong emotion breathes harder and quicker, pants, struggles to give vent to the passion of which he is full (Wetst., Kyp., Kuin., Olsh.). πveiv Tuvos, to breathe of something, to be redolent, is a different expression. The genitive in this construction denotes properly that from or out of which one breathes, as the cause, source; the accusative, that which one breathes, as the substance, element. See W. § 30. 9. c; Mt. 376. Meyer translates éprvéwv, inhaling; but ev in this compound was generally lost; see Tromm's Concord. s. v. To ȧpxiepei. If Saul was converted in A. D. 36, the high-priest was Jonathan, the successor of Caiaphas and a son of Ananus, or Annas; but if he was converted in 37 or 38, the high-priest was Theophilus, another son of Annas. V. 2. morodás, letters, which were not merely commendatory, but armed him with full power to execute his object; see v. 14; 26, 12. The Jews in every country recognized the Sanhedrim as their highest ecclesiastical tribunal. In v. 14 below, and in 26, 10, Paul says that he received his authority from the apxupeîs, and in 22, 5, from the рeσßuтéрiov, which are merely different modes of designating the Sanhedrim; see on 4, 5. He says here that he had his commission from the high-priest; which harmonizes entirely with the other passages, since the high-priest represented the Sanhedrim in this act. On receiving Saul's application, he may have convened that body, and have been formally instructed to issue the letters. The proposal was sufficiently important to engage the attention of the entire council. εἰς Δαμασκόν states the local desti nation of the letters. This ancient capital of Syria was still an important city, and had a large Jewish population. It lay northeast of Jerusalem, distant about one hundred and forty miles, which made for those times a journey of six or eight days. —πpòs ràs ovvaywyás, unto the synagogues, i. e. the officers of them, who were the ȧpxσυναγωγός (Luke 8, 49), and the πρεσβύτεροι associated with him (Luke 7, 3). The former term was sometimes applied to them both ; see 13, 15; Mark 5, 22. These rulers formed a college, whose province it was, among other duties, to punish those who deserted the Jewish faith. De Wet. Heb. Archæol. § 244. Hence it belonged to them to discipline those who joined the christian party; or, as it was proposed in this instance, to carry them to Jerusalem, to aid Saul in their discovery and apprehension. — ris ódoû, i. e. Kar' çoxýv, of the (well-known christian) way in regard to faith, manner of life, etc.; comp. 19, 9. 23; 22, 4; 24, 14. 22. See the idea expressed more fully in 16, 17; 18, 25. W. § 20. 3. ódoû depends on vras under the rule of appurtenance, property. K. § 273. 2; C. § 387. Δαμασκῷ V. 3. ἐν δὲ τῷ πορεύεσθαι, κ. τ. λ., Now while he journeyed, it came to pass (Hebraistic) that he, etc. — Aapaoke depends on the verb (K. § 284. 3. 2); not the dative of the place whither. περιήστραψεν αὐτὸν φῶς, a light gleamed around him. The prepo αὐτόν. sition in the verb governs aúróv. In 22, 6, it is repeated, according to the rule stated on 3, 2. In 22, 6, Paul says that the light which he saw was a powerful light, and in 26, 13, that it exceeded the splendor of the sun at noonday. The necessary merely that an V. 4. ἤκουσε, κ. τ. λ. See also 22, 7 ; 26, 14. inference is, that Saul heard audible words, and not impression was made upon him as if he heard them. It was a part of the miracle that those who accompanied him heard the voice of the speaker, but failed to distinguish the words uttered. The communication was intended for Saul, and was understood, therefore, by him only. V. 5. Tís el, Kúpie; Who art thou, Lord? He did not know yet that it was Christ who addressed him. Hence Kúpte has the significance which belongs to it as recognizing the fact, that an angel, or perhaps God himself, was now speaking to him from heaven. To suppose it used by anticipation, i. e. as denoting him who proved to be Christ, makes it Luke's word, and is unnatural. The remainder of the verse, as it stands in the common text, viz. σκληρὸν . . . . λακτίζειν, has been transferred to this place from 26, 14. .... V. 6. Most of the manuscripts begin this verse with ảλá. The sentence τρέμων .... Toñσa (which the English translation has copied) is wanting in the best authorities. It rests chiefly upon some of the early versions. The words καὶ ὁ κύριος πρὸς αὐτόν have been derived from 22, 10. - αλλά occurs often before a command abruptly given; comp. 10, 20; 26, 16. W. § 57. 4; K. § 322. R. 12. — καὶ λαληθήσεται, κ. τ. λ. It would appear from 26, 16 – 18, that Christ may have made to Saul, at this time, a fuller communication than Luke has reported. The verb here does not exclude that supposition; for it may import that, on his arrival in the city, he should be confirmed in what he had heard, or instructed further, in regard to his future labors. Some prefer to consider Paul's narrative before Agrippa as the abridged account. The message which Ananias delivered to Saul was a message from Christ; and as the apostle makes no mention of Ananias in 26, 16 sq., it is very possible that he has there, for the sake of brevity, passed over the intermediate agency, and referred the words directly to Christ, which Christ communicated to him through Ananias. This would be merely applying the common maxim, Quod quis per alium facit, id ipse fecisse putatur. V. 7. EiσTýкelav évveoí, stood, stopped, speechless, overcome by amazement and terror; comp. ëμpoßoɩ éyévovтo, in 22, 9. The adjective is more correctly written éveoí. W. § 5. 1. This verb often means to stand, not as opposed to other attitudes, but to be fixed, stationary, as opposed to the idea of motion; comp. 8, 38; Luke 5, 2. See the Class. Lexx. s. v. In this sense the passage is entirely consistent with 26, 14, where it is said that when they heard the voice they all fell to the ground. Plainly it was not Luke's object to say that they stood erect in distinction from kneeling, lying prostrate, and the like; but that, overpowered by what they saw and heard, they were fixed to the spot; they were unable for a time to speak or move. The conciliation which some adopt (Bng., Kuin.) is that they at first fell to the ground, but afterwards rose up and stood. —ȧkovovτes pèv Tŷs pwvñs, hearing indeed the voice. The · ἀκούοντες τῆς Some genitive after this verb points out the source or cause of the hearing; the accusative (see v. 4), that which one hears. See the Note on v. 1. In 22, 9, Paul says, in reference to the same occurrence, τὴν δὲ φωνὴν οὐκ ἤκουσαν τοῦ λαλοῦντός μοι, which we may render, but they understood not the voice of him speaking to me. ȧkovw, like the corresponding word in other languages, means not only to hear, but to hear so as to understand. Of the latter usage, the New Testament furnishes other clear examples. 1 Cor. 14, 2: “For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue, speaketh not unto men, but unto God; for no man understands him," · οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἀκούει ; comp. v. 16, where ȧkove passes into olde. Mark 4, 33: "And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to understand it," · καθὼς ἠδύναντο ἀκούειν. reckon here John 6, 60; Gal. 4, 21, and other passages. For instances of this sense in the classics, see Rob. Lex. s. v. The same usage exists in the Hebrew. One of the definitions of U (see Gesen. Lex. s. v.) is to understand. In Gen. 42, 23, it is said that Joseph's brethren "knew not that he heard them" (i. e. understood, in the Eng. vers.); " for he spoke unto them by an interpreter." See also Gen. 11, 7. The English language has the same idiom. We say that a person is not heard, or that we do not hear him, when, though we hear his voice, he speaks so low or indistinctly that we do not understand him. The intelligence of the writer forbids the idea of a palpable contradiction in the two passages. Since in 22, 9 we have porn, and here in v. 7 porns, some would attribute to the genitive a partitive sense, i. e. something of the voice, or indistinctly. But the difference does not hold; for in 22, 7, Paul says of himself kovoa pwvns, where he cannot mean that he had only a confused perception of what was said to him. Some prefer to vary the sense of pwvý, viz. noise or sound in this place, but voice in 22, 9. But allowing the word to admit of that distinction (see on 2, 6), it is much less common than the proposed variation in ȧkoúw, and much less probable here, since the use of the verb would be varied in passages so remote from each other, whereas pov would have different senses in almost successive verses. · μηδένα δὲ θεωροῦντες, but seeing no one who could have uttered the voice. This appears to be denied of Saul's companions, in opposition to what was true of him, viz. that simultaneously with the light he had seen a personal manifestation of Christ; comp. v. 17; 22, 18. To this fact it is generally supposed |