성경 주석서

1. There was a certain man in Cesarea] The oldest MSS. omit the verb was here, and make the sentence read, “Now a certain man in Cæsarea … a devout man … which gave much alms … saw in a vision, &c.” Cæsarea is the same place which is mentioned Acts 8:40, and was usually the residence of the Roman Procurator (see Acts 23:23-26, Acts 25:1-4). The soldiers over whom Cornelius was centurion were the necessary troops to support the state and authority of the Roman representative, who at this time was Herod Agrippa, whom Claudius had made king over Judæa and Samaria.

called Cornelius] Lit. “Cornelius by name.” The name shews he was a Roman, and perhaps he may have been of the famous Cornelian Gens. But there were also many plebeians of this name, for Sulla (Appian B. C. i. 100) bestowed the Roman franchise on 10,000 slaves and called them after his own name, “Cornelii.”

a centurion] This was not a distinguished office. He was commander of the sixth part of a cohort, i.e. of half a maniple. The name must have been given to such officer when his command was over a hundred men. The Roman legion in these times was divided into ten cohorts, and each cohort into three maniples, so that the nominal strength of the legion would be 6000 men.

of the band] i.e. the cohort. Such a troop was stationed in Jerusalem at the time of the Crucifixion (Matthew 27:27).

called the Italian band] The name at first would be given to it from the country in which it was raised, but no doubt it would afterwards be recruited from other parts, and yet still retain its original title. Tacitus (Hist. i. 59 &c.) mentions an Italian legion. A centurion of a similar band, which was styled “Augustan,” is mentioned (Acts 27:1) below.

Acts 10:1-8. Cornelius is divinely warned to send for Peter

St Luke now brings to our notice the circumstances which attended the first preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles. The Apostles, though informed by Christ’s commission that they were to “teach all nations,” yet tarried the Lord’s leisure, and waited till the Spirit, who was their constant guide, shewed them a door opened for such extension of their labours. The first Gentile converts seem to have been living in some sort of communion with the Jews of Cæsarea, for Cornelius, the representative figure among them, was “of good report among all that nation,” but yet from the complaints of the brethren at Jerusalem, when they heard what Peter had done, we can see that Cornelius was one of the “sinners of the Gentiles.” “Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised and didst eat with them” expresses the shock, which the strict observers of the Law experienced in this new development of the Church, and even Peter himself, though chosen to inaugurate the preaching to the Gentiles, was not always proof against the scruples and remonstrances of his brethren of the circumcision (Galatians 2:12).

2. a devout man] i.e. he was a worshipper of the true God, but had not joined himself to the Jews in the observance of the Law. The language of St Peter in Acts 10:28 shews us that he was not a complete proselyte. Wherever in the N. T. we find mention made of Roman centurions they appear to have been good men, Matthew 8:5; Luke 7:2; Luke 23:47.

and one that feared God with all his house] The earnestness of his devotion to God is evidenced by the character of his household. If his family be here meant, he had instructed them in the worship of God, and had provided that those who attended on him should also be of the same character. The soldier, whom he sends to Peter, is called “devout” in Acts 10:7.

which gave much alms to the people] i.e. to the Jewish people among whom he was stationed. He was like the centurion (Luke 7:5) of whom the Jews said, “He loveth our nation and hath built us a synagogue.”

and prayed to God alway] thus shewing himself anxious for greater knowledge of God’s way, which from Acts 11:14 we learn must have been the purport of the prayer of Cornelius.

3. He saw in a vision evidently [openly] i.e. he was not in a trance, as we read afterwards concerning Peter, but was employed in prayer when the angel appeared. See below, Acts 10:30.

about the ninth hour of the day] This was the hour for evening prayer see Acts 3:1. So we can see that Cornelius had adopted the Jewish hours of prayer.

4. And when he looked on him] Literally, “having fastened his eyes on him.” The angel is called (Acts 10:30) “a man in bright clothing.” Such a sight would rivet the centurion’s gaze at the first, and then the heavenly nature of the visitor made itself evident, and he was afraid.

What is it, Lord?] His language expresses his readiness to perform what shall be commanded, and his question implies, “What wilt thou have me to do?”

Thy prayers and thine alms are come [have gone] up] The idea is that of the prayers, like incense, when offered ascending up to God. Cp. Revelation 8:3-4, also Acts 10:8, “vials full of odours which are the prayers of saints.” Cf. Psalm 141:2.

for a memorial before God] They have been such as to be remembered before God, and now He is about to answer them. The portion of the meal offering which the priest was commanded to burn upon the altar to be an offering of a sweet savour unto the Lord (Leviticus 2:2) was called a “memorial,” and the allusion is to the offerings of this kind. Cp. the words of the angel (Tob 12:12), “I did bring the remembrance of your prayers before the Holy One,” where the Greek word for “remembrance” is that which is here rendered “memorial.”

6. he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do] These words are not in the oldest MSS. In Peter’s own account of the visit to Cornelius (Acts 11:14) we have “who shall tell thee words whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved;” and this is one of the numerous instances found in some later texts of the Acts where an attempt has been made to form a complete narrative in the earlier chapters by gathering together and adapting statements which appear in their proper place in later chapters. The prayers of Cornelius had been for more knowledge and greater light, and the angel directs him to the instructor whom he desires. The inserted words probably first appeared as a note on the margin.

7. And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius [him] was departed] The proper name does not appear in the oldest MSS. When the additional note on the last verse had found its way into the text, the name of Cornelius was placed instead of the pronoun for greater clearness. The reality of the angelic presence is strongly marked by these words which speak of his going away from the sight of Cornelius as any human being would have departed.

a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually] Better, “of them that attended on him.” The soldier was attached to the personal service of Cornelius in the same way as that in which the soldiers were under that other centurion (Luke 7:8) who could say to one, “Go,” and he was obeyed.

8. And when he had declared all these things unto them] Omit “these” which is not in the Greek. The confidence which Cornelius placed in those who attended on him is shewn by this open communication with them at once on the subject of his vision. They had known all his former hopes and prayers, and so were fit persons to be made sharers in what seemed to be the answer.

9–16. Peter is prepared for their visit by a Vision

9. Peter went up upon the house] With the flat roofs of Eastern houses, to which access could be obtained from outside without passing through the rooms of the building, the housetop formed a convenient place for retirement. It was the place chosen by Samuel (1 Samuel 9:25-26) for his conference with Saul before he anointed him king. Cp. also 2 Samuel 11:2.

to pray] We find that the housetop was used for religious purposes (Jeremiah 19:13; Zephaniah 1:5). These instances are of worship paid to false gods, but if the one worship, we may believe that the other also was performed there.

about the sixth hour] i.e. midday, and the second of the Jewish stated hours of prayer. We see from Acts 10:23-24 that the journey from Joppa to Cæsarea occupied more than one day, so that the vision of Cornelius took place on the day before the trance of St Peter and the messengers had time almost to accomplish their journey before the Apostle, by his vision, was prepared to receive them. The distance between the two places was 30 Roman miles.