Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible · Acts Chapter 14

Acts 14:1. Of the Greeks— Several writers suppose that these were proselytes of the gate; but it seems more probable that they were Gentiles of the place, who, though they did not usually attend the synagogues, yet might be drawn thither by the fame of such extraordinary teachers as Paul and Barnabas.

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Acts 14:2. Brethren— That is, the Christians; of whom this was one appellation before they were so called at Antioch. See on ch. Acts 11:26.

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Acts 14:3. Long time therefore— Some think the 2nd verse should be included in a parenthesis, and that the particle therefore, refers to the success which Paul and Barnabas had met with at Iconium, mentioned Act 14:1 as what induced them to continue preaching there for a long time: while others, who would make no breach in the connection, choose rather that the words Μεν ουν should be rendered for indeed; and supposing the rage of the Jews to have been exasperated by their long stay and preaching there, they would render the beginning of the verse, for indeed they had tarried a long time, &c. But the connection may properly enough be preserved, though we retain the usual sense of the particle, as in our version; if we consider what is here expressed as an account of the great firmness and undaunted zeal with which these faithful ministers pursued their work—that since the Jews were so intent upon opposing them, and laboured to incense the Gentiles too against them, they therefore thought it needful to continue preaching with the greatest boldness, and to make the longer stay there, for the establishment and confirmation of the new converts, and for the vindication of their own character, and of the cause they were engaged in, from the injurious calumnies and aspersions of their neighbours, till they proceeded to such violent methods, that they no longer could remain with any safety there.

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Acts 14:6. They were ware of it,— Having received intelligence of it, they fled, &

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Acts 14:7. And there they preached the gospel,— Some manuscripts add, And the whole multitude were moved at their doctrine; but Paul and Barnabas continued at Lystra.

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Acts 14:8. Being a cripple from his mother's womb,— This circumstance serves greatly to illustrate the miracle; for weaknesses born with a person, and continuing inveterate to a more advanced age, hardly ever give way to art. See on ch. 3:

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Acts 14:10. Stand upright on thy feet,— Some manuscripts here read, I say unto thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, stand upright, &c.

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Acts 14:11. In the speech of Lycaonia,— This, as some say, was not a dialect of the Greek, but rather approached the Syriac, as the language of Cappadocia is said to have done. It appears from numberless passages in the heathen writers, that they supposed it a very common thing for their gods to come down in the likeness of men; and Elsner on the place has shewn, that this notion particularly prevailed with respect to Jupiter and Mercury.

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Acts 14:12. They called Barnabas, Jupiter, &c.— The heathens represented Jupiter as an old but vigorous man, of a noble and majestic aspect, and large robust make, which probably might be the form of Barnabas; whereas Mercury appeared young, lively, and active, as Paul might probably do; for he was yet but a young man. This is Chrysostome's observation: St. Luke, however, assigns another reason why the Lystrians gave the apostles these appellations. Mercury, was generally represented as the attendant on Jupiter, and was esteemed the god of eloquence. Mr. Harrington well observes, in his works, p. 330 that this persuasion might gain the more easily on the minds of Lycaonians on account of the well-known fable of Jupiter and Mercury, who are said to have descended from heaven in a human shape, and to have been entertained by Lycaon, from whom the Lycaonians received their names.

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Acts 14:13. Then the priest of Jupiter,— This might be rendered more exactly, then the priest of Jupiter, that is to say, of the image of Jupiter, before the city gate. It was customary to build temples to their idol deities in the suburbs, and to set up their images before the city, at the gates. The heathens considered their several images—of Jupiter, for instance, or any other of their gods,—as so many distinct Jupiters; that is, as having some spirit sent from the god, to whom their worship was ultimatelyreferred, to reside in them. It may, however, by a common ellipsis, be, the priest of the temple of Jupiter. Some are of opinion, that the garlands here mentioned were those which the heathens used to put on the horns of their victims, being generally made of such leaves of trees or flowers as were sacred to the gods to whom they were offered; but others have observed, that among the heathen petitioners to the idol gods, they used to supplicate them with green boughs in their hands, and crowns upon their heads, or garlands upon their necks. These boughs were commonly of laurel or olive, about which they wrapped wool; and there were what the Greeks called στεμματα, the very word made use of in the sacred text, and rendered garlands. The scholiast on Sophocles explains the word στεμμα to signify "wool wrapped about a green bough." With these boughs it was usual to touch the knees of the statue, (or sometimes of the man,) whom they addressed: if they had confidence of success, they were raised as high as its chin. This seems to have been the intention of the priest of Jupiter at this time; and the garlands mentioned were probably these boughs, not the chaplets or crowns about the horns of the unico

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Acts 14:15. Of like passions, &c.— Obnoxious to the same common infirmities, 'Ομοιοπαθεις : so it also signifies in James 5:17. "We are only frail andmortal men, likeyourselves;liabletothecommonevils,afflictions,andinfirmities of life." The word vanities is, as we have observed in the Old Testament, frequently used for idols. It appears a bold expression when considered and addressed to a whole crowd of bigoted idolaters with their priests at their head. It naturally leads us to reflect, how unlike the conduct of the apostles was to that of the heathen philosophers, who, instead of entering a generous protest against the absurdities of the established worship, though it often led to such scandalous immoralities, meanly conformed to it themselves, and taught their disciples to esteem such conformity an essential part of a good citizen's character, which seems to have been the design even of the dying words of Socrates himself.

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Acts 14:16. Who in times past suffered all nations, &c.— That is, all the Gentiles. God left all nations, except the Jews, to the light of the heathen dispensation. It does not appear that any prophet except Jonah, was sent to the Gentile world, from the days of Noah or Abraham. See 1 Peter 3:20; 1Pe 5:2-3 and my Annotations on the epistle to the Romans.

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Acts 14:17. He left not himself without witness,— Though left to the heathen dispensation,theGentileswereculpablefortheir idolatry, and other abuses of the light afforded them, inasmuch as the works of creation always manifest the being of the true God; and it is a plain evidence of his goodness, power, and providence, in that he, the one true God, is the author of all good, and sendeth rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons to the just and unjust; not only providing necessaries for mankind, but filling their hearts with joy and gladness, and thereby inviting sinners to repent and hope for mercy. The author of "Nature Displayed"observes very pleasingly, that, as a friend, in sending us frequent presents, expresses his remembrance of us, and affection to us, though he neither speak nor write; so all the gifts of the divine bounty, which are scattered abroad on every side, are so many witnesses sent to attest the divine care and goodness, and speak it in a very sensiblelanguage to the heart, though not to the ear. Aratus, a pagan poet, asserts particularly, that "rain is given from God:" and as St. Paul was conversant in these writings, has quoted this very poet in another speech, and was addressing himself to persons who might be no strangers to this author, his speech, among other things, may in a distant manner allude to that passage. Dr. Hammond mentions a Jewish proverb upon this place, "That thekeys of life, rain, and the resurrection, were always kept in God's own hand," by which they seem to have looked upon rain as much an incommunicable attribute of God, as either the giving or restoring of life. Hence it is frequently stiled, "the power of rain," because it descends not but by power, and it is one of the things in which the power of God shews itself. See Mat 5:45 and Jeremiah 14:22.

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Acts 14:19. Having stoned Paul, drew him out, &c.— The remarkable humility wherewith the apostles behaved, in so uncommon an instance of popular applause as that above related, plainlyshewed by what Spirit they were actuated. This, however, could not prevent them from the attacks of envy and malice. The Jews, their most constant enemies, followed them from Antioch and Iconium; and, incensing the populace against them as impostors and ill-designing men, they prevailed with them to stone St. Paul, upon the same account as he himself had formerly consented to the stoning of St. Stephen;and when they had, not in a legal, but in a tumultuous manner, stoned him, they dragged him out of the city, thinking that he was quite dead. The apostle very probably alludes to this, 2 Corinthians 11:23-25. So short-lived are human passions, not moderated by principle, that from imagining him to be a god, the thoughtless multitude were easily persuaded to stone St. Paul, as one of the vilest of men. Thus Israel fell into idolatry within forty days from God's giving them the law from mount Sinai; nor could St. Paul expect any better treatment, when he considered that his Lord and Master was applauded as king of the Jews, and followed with the acclamations of the same multitude who, about six days after, petitioned Pilate that he might be crucified. But though St. Paul's enemies left him for dead, yet the Christians would not leave him: most probably there was something extraordinary in the appearance of his body in this circumstance, which led them to conclude he was dead, while he was yet alive; for one can hardly imagine, that such bitter persecutors would have been content with any very slight and transient inquiry whether he were dead or not. It is observable, we read of no such injury offered to Barnabas, who seems to have had no share in the effects of this popular fury: and it is probable that Paul's distinguished zeal marked him out as the object of their distinguished cr

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Acts 14:20. He rose up, &c.— That, just after he had been stoned, dragged about the streets, and left for dead, he should rise, and walk back into the city, must certainly have been the effect of a miraculous cure, approaching as near as one can well conceive to a resurrection from the dead. This is the more illustrated by his going the next day to Derbe; whereas, in the course of nature, he would then have felt his bruises much more than at first; and probably, after the best care that could have been taken of him, would scarcely have been able to move. Possibly by coming into the city, and shewing himself to the new converts at least, if not to others, he hoped, as he reasonably might, to confirm their faith, and their holy courageous attachment to the gospel. St. Paul evidently alludes to his treatment at these places, and to the time of his being there, 2 Timothy 3:10-11. As Timothy was a Lydian, he had very probably been an eye-witness of the sufferings of St. Paul at that place, and even one of those who stood by when the apostle revived, after he was stoned, and left for dead.

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Acts 14:23. When they had ordained them elders— Though the word χειροτονειν, rendered ordain, was originally used by the Greeks in a peculiar sense, to stretch out, or lift up the hand, as the people did when they gave their votes in popular elections; yet it came, in time, to be used in a laxer sense, and to signify nothing more than barely to appoint or constitute; for it is used by several Greek authors concerning one person's appointing another to an office, as Dr. Hammond on this place has abundantly shewn; and here it is predicted of the two apostles, and not of the people. See ch. Acts 10:41.

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Acts 14:25. Attalia:— This was a maritime town on the coast of the Mediterranean sea. Some manuscripts and versions read here,—and preaching the gospel there.

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Acts 14:26. And—sailed to Antioch,— Not thinking it proper at that time to travel through Cilicia, though they were then on the borders of it, and some Christian churches had already been planted there, (see ch. Acts 9:30 Acts 15:41.) they took shipping, and sailed thence to the coast of Syria, and went up the river Orontes to Antioch in that province.

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