Chú giải Kinh Thánh

We have, with a great deal of pleasure, attended the apostle in his travels throughout the Gentile nations to preach the gospel, and have seen a great harvest of souls gathered in to Christ; there we have seen likewise what persecutions he endured; yet still out of them all the Lord presently delivered him, 2Ti 3:11. But now we are to attend him to Jerusalem, and there into lasting bonds; the days of his service now seem to be over, and nothing to remain but days of suffering, days of darkness, for they are many. It is a thousand pities that such a workman should be laid aside; yet so it is, and we must not only acquiesce, as his friends then did, saying, "The will of the Lord be done;" but we must believe, and shall find reason to do so, that Paul in the prison, and at the bar, is as truly glorifying God, and serving Christ's interest, as Paul in the pulpit was. In this chapter we have, I. A journal of Paul's voyage from Ephesus to Cæsarea, the next sea-port to Jerusalem, some places he touched at, and his landing there, Ac 21:1-7. II. The struggles he had with his friends at Cæsarea, who mightily opposed his going up to Jerusalem, but could not prevail, Ac 21:8-14. III. Paul's journey from Cæsarea to Jerusalem, and the kind entertainment which the Christians there gave him, Ac 21:15-17. IV. His compliance with the persuasions of the brethren there, who advised him so far to compliment the Jews as to go and purify that it might appear he was no such enemy to the Mosaic rites and ceremonies as he was reported to be, Ac 21:18-26. V. The turning of this very thing against him by the Jews, and the apprehending of him in the temple as a criminal thereupon, Ac 21:27-30. VI. The narrow escape he had of being pulled to pieces by the rabble, and the taking of him into fair and legal custody by the chief captain, who permitted him to speak for himself to the people, Ac 21:31-40. And so we have him made a prisoner, and shall never have him otherwise to the end of the history of this book.

Paul and his company sail from Miletus, and come to Coos, Rhodes, and Patara, Acts 21:1. Finding a Phoenician ship at Patara, they go on board, sail past Cyprus, and land at Tyre, Acts 21:2, Acts 21:3. Here they find disciples, and stay seven days, and are kindly entertained, Acts 21:4, Acts 21:5. Having bade the disciples farewell, they take ship and sail to Ptolemais, salute the brethren, stay with them one day, come to Caesarea, and lodge with Philip, one of the seven deacons, Acts 21:6-9. Here they tarry a considerable time, and Agabus the prophet foretells Paul's persecution at Jerusalem, Acts 21:10, Acts 21:11. The disciples endeavor to dissuade him from going; but he is resolute, and he and his company depart, Acts 21:12-16. They are kindly received by James and the elders, who advise Paul, because of the Jews, to show his respect for the law of Moses, by purifying himself, with certain others that were under a vow; with which advice he complies, Acts 21:17-26. Some of the Asiatic Jews, finding him in the temple, raise an insurrection against him, and would have killed him had he not been rescued by the chief captain, who orders him to be bound and carried into the castle, Acts 21:27-36. Paul requests liberty to address the people, and is permitted, Acts 21:37-40.

CHAPTER 21

Acts 21:3. κατήχθημεν] A B E א, 34, Vulg. al. have κατήλθομεν. So Lachm. A gloss.

Acts 21:4. Both ἀνευρ. δέ (Tisch.) and τούς before μαθ. (which Beng. Matth. Rinck condemn) have decided attestation.

αὐτοῦ] A E G, 68, 73 have αὐτοῖς; so Lachm. Alteration to suit οἵτινες. “Ubicunque in s. s. αὐτοῦ repertum est, scrupulum legentibus injecit,” Born.

ἀναβ.] Lachm. Tisch. read ἐπιβ., according to important testimony. Rightly; the more usual word was inserted.

Acts 21:5-6. προσηυξάμεθα. Καὶ ἀσπασάμενοι] Lachm. and Tisch. read προσευξάμενοι ἁπησπασάμεθα, and then καί before ἐπεβ. So A B C E א, min. Rightly. The Recepta has arisen partly through a simplifying resolution of the participle προσευξάμενοι, and partly through offence at the compound ἀπασπάζεσθαι not elsewhere occurring.

Acts 21:6. ἐπέβημεν] Lachm. reads ἐνέβ., and Tisch. ἀνέβ. The witnesses are much divided. As, however, a form with N is at all events decidedly attested, A C א* having αΝεβ., and B E א** εΝεβ.; ἀνέβημεν is to be preferred, instead of which ἐυέβ., the more usual word for embarking, slipped in, and ἐπεβ. was inserted from Acts 21:2, comp. Acts 28:2.

Acts 21:8. After ἐξελθ. Elz. has οἱ περὶ τ. Παῦλον (comp. Acts 13:13), against decisive testimony. With ἐξελθ. there begins a church-lesson.

Acts 21:10. ἡμῶν] is condemned by A B C H, min., as an addition.

Acts 21:11. τε αὑτοῦ] A B C D E א, min. have ἑαυτοῦ. Approved by Griesb. Rinck, and adopted by Lachm. Tisch. Born., and rightly on account of the decisive testimony. Orig. also testifies for it (ἑαυτὸν χειρῶν κ.τ.λ.).

τὰς χεῖρας κ. τ. πόδας] Lachm. Tisch. Born. read τ. πόδ. κ. τ. χ., preferred also by Rinck, following important witnesses (not A), but evidently a transposition, in accordance with the natural course of the action.

ἐν Ἱερουσ.] Born, reads εἰς Ἱερουσ., but only according to D, min. Chrys. Epiph. It arose from a gloss (Orig.: ἀπελθόντα εἰς Ἱερουσ.).

Acts 21:14. On decisive evidence read with Lachm. and Tisch. τοῦ Κυρίου τὸ θέλημα γινέσθω.

Acts 21:15. ἐπισκ.] Elz. Scholz read ἀποσκ., only according to min.; so that it must be regarded as a mere error of transcription. The decidedly attested ἐπισκ. is rightly approved or adopted by Mill, Beng. Griesb. Matthaei, Knapp, Rinck, Lachm. Tisch. The readings παρασκ. (C, 7, 69, 73) and ἀποταξάμ. (D, Born.) are interpretations.

Acts 21:20. θεόν] Approved by Griesb., and adopted by Lachm. Tisch., according to A B C E G א, min. Chrys. Theophyl. and most vss. Elz. Scholz, Born. read κύριον, against these decisive witnesses.

Ἰουδαίων] Lachm. Tisch. read ἐν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις, which is to be adopted, according to A B C E, min. Vulg. Aeth. Copt. The ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ in D, Syr. Sahid. Jer. Aug. speaks also for this (so Born.). The Recepta was occasioned by the following τῶν πεπιστευκότων, after which accordingly in some Fathers Ἰονδαίων has found its place. א, Oec. and some min. have merely τῶν πεπιστ., which makes all these additions suspicious, yet the testimony is not sufficiently strong for their deletion.

Acts 21:21. πάντας] deleted by Lachm., according to A D* E, 13, Vulg. Copt. Jer. Aug. The omission appears to be a historical emendation.

Acts 21:24. γνώσονται] Elz. reads γνῶσι, in opposition to A B C D E א, min. Aug. Jer. and some vss. A continuation of the construction of ἵνα.

Acts 21:25. ἐπεστείλαμεν] Lachm. Born, read ἀπεστείλαμεν, according to B D, 40, and some vss. Rightly; the Recepta is from Acts 15:20.

μηδέν to μή is wanting in A B א, 13, 40, 81, and several vss. Condemned by Mill and Bengel, and deleted by Lachm. But if it had been added, the expressions of Acts 15:28 would have been used. On the other hand, the omission was natural, as the direct instruction μηδὲν τοιοῦρον τηρεῖν is not contained in the apostolic decree.

Acts 21:28. The form πανταχῆ is, with Lachm. and Tisch., to be adopted according to decisive evidence; it is not elsewhere found in the N.T.

Acts 21:31. συγκέχυται] Lachm. and Born. read συγχύνεται, according to A B D א (in C, Acts 21:31 to Acts 22:30 is wanting). With this preponderating testimony (comp. Vulg.: confunditur), and as, after Acts 21:30, the perfect easily presented itself as more suitable, the present is to be preferred.

Acts 21:32. παραλαβ.] Lachm. reads λαβών, only according to B.

Acts 21:34. ἐβόων] Lachm. Tisch. Born read ἐπεφώνουν, according to A B D E א, min., which witnesses must prevail.

μὴ δυνάμενος δέ] Lachm. Tisch. Born, (yet the latter has deleted δέ) read μὴ δυναμένου δὲ αὐτοῦ, according to decisive testimony. The Recepta is a stylistic emendation.

So κρᾶζον, Acts 21:36, is to be judged, instead of which κράζοντες is, with Lachm. and Tisch., to be preferred.

Ac 21:1-16.

SAILING FROM EPHESUS, THEY LAND AT TYRE, AND THENCE SAILING TO PTOLEMAIS, THEY PROCEED BY LAND TO CÆSAREA AND JERUSALEM.

1. we were gotten--"torn."

from them--expressing the difficulty and pain of the parting.

with a straight course--running before the wind, as

Ac 16:11.

unto Coos--Cos, an island due south from Miletus, which they would reach in about six hours, and coming close to the mainland.

the day following unto Rhodes--another island, some fifty miles to the southeast, of brilliant classic memory and beauty.

thence unto Patara--a town on the magnificent mainland of Lycia, almost due east from Rhodes. It was the seat of a celebrated oracle of Apollo.

After we were gotten from them - After we had left the elders at Miletus, Acts 20:38. They were on their way to Jerusalem.

Unto Coos - This was a small island in the Grecian Archipelago, a short distance from the southwestern point of Asia Minor. It is now called "Stan-co." It was celebrated for its fertility, and for the wine and silk-worms which it produced. It was about 40 miles south of Miletus.

Unto Rhodes - This was also an island in the Grecian Archipelago. On the island was a city of the same name, which was principally distinguished for its brass Colossus, which was built by Chares of Lyndus. It stood across the mouth of the harbor, and was so high that vessels could pass between its legs. It stood for 56 years, and was then thrown down by an earthquake. It was reckoned as one of the seven wonders of the world. When the Saracens took possession of this island they sold this prostrate image to a Jew, who loaded 900 camels with the brass from it. This was 600 a.d., about 900 years after it had been thrown down. The ancient name of the island was Asteria. Its name, Rhodes, was given from the great quantity of roses which it produced.

Unto Patara - This was a maritime city of Lycia, in Asia Minor, over against Rhodes.

Came with a straight course - Having had, as is necessarily implied, wind and tide in their favor.

Coos - An island in the Archipelago, or Aegean Sea, one of those called the Sporades. It was famous for the worship of Aesculapius and Juno; and for being the birthplace of Hippocrates, the most eminent of physicians, and Apelles, the most celebrated of painters.

Rhodes - Another island in the same sea, celebrated for its Colossus, which was one of the seven wonders of the world. This was a brazen statue of Apollo, so high that ships in full sail could pass between its legs. It was the work of Chares, a pupil of Lysippus, who spent twelve years in making it. It was 106 feet high, and so great that few people could fathom its thumb. It was thrown down by an earthquake about 224 years before Christ, after having stood sixty-six years. When the Saracens took possession of this island, they sold this prostrate image to a Jew, who loaded 900 camels with the brass of it; this was about a.d. 660, nearly 900 years after it had been thrown down.

Patara - One of the chief seaport towns of Syria.

And it came to pass, that after we had gotten from them,.... Which was with great difficulty, with many tears, and much wringing of hands: the word signifies that they were "plucked from" them; they clung about them, as husband and wife, and parents and children do; so strong were their affections; and their parting was like the parting of such near relations, or like the plucking of the flesh from the bones, or the drawing and separating one member from another; such is the cement of true Christian love:

and had launched; the vessel into the sea, from the port at Miletus:

we came with a straight course unto Coos; an island in the Aegean sea. Pomponius Mela (m) calls it Cos in Carlo; and so Pausanias (n) reckons it a city of the Carians and Lycians, mentioning it along with Rhodes. It was famous for being the birth place of Apelles the painter, and Hippocrates the physician. Pliny (o) places it in Caria, and calls it most noble, and says that it was fifteen miles distant from Halicarnassus, was a hundred miles in circumference, as many think, and was called Merope: and who elsewhere observes (p), that it is reported that the silk worms are bred in this island, and that a sort of raiment called "bombycine" was first made here by Pamphila, the daughter of Latoius. And so Solinus (q) from Varro, testifies, that this island first gave a fine sort of clothing for the ornament of women: hence because silks or bombycines, from the silk worms, were first wove here by women, some think the island had its name, for which signifies something spun, in 1 Kings 10:28 it is by us translated "linen yarn"; but the Vulgate Latin version renders it, "from Coa". This island was taken by Hercules, and Eurypylus, the king of it, was slain by him (r). It is now in the hands of the Turks, by whom it is called Stancora; but by others Lango. When, and by whom the Gospel was first preached here, is not certain; it does not appear that the Apostle Paul stayed to preach it now: however, in the beginning of the "fourth" century there was a church here, and a bishop of it was present at the council of Nice; and in the "fifth" century, a bishop of the church here assisted in the council of Chalcedon; and in the "sixth" century, a bishop of the same place was in the fifth synod at Constantinople (s). Hither Paul and his company came with a good wind, a prosperous gale, and nothing to hinder them; which perhaps is rather meant than a straight or direct line, in which they ran from Miletus to this place:

and the day following unto Rhodes, this is an island in Lycia, according to Mela (t), and had in it these three cities, Lindos, Camitos, and Jalysos: it is said of it (u), that the heavens are never so cloudy, but the sun is seen here in one part of the day, or another. R. Benjamin (w) makes this to be three days' sail from Samos; and says, he found four hundred Jews in it, and almost three hundred at Samos. It is asserted by several writers (x), that this island was once covered with the sea, and in process of time appeared out of it, and became dry land. The account which Pliny (y) gives of it is, that

"it is most beautiful and free, and was in circumference a hundred and thirty miles; or, if Isidorus is rather to be credited, a hundred and three: the cities in it were Lindus, Camirus, Jalysus, now Rhodes: it is distant from Alexandria in Egypt five hundred seventy eight miles, as Isidorus reports; but according to Eratosthenes, four hundred sixty nine; and according to Mutianus, five hundred; and from Cyprus it was a hundred and sixty six;''

a place after mentioned, which the apostle left on the left hand, having sailed from Petara to Phoenicia. The same writer proceeds and adds,

"it was before called Ophiusa, Astria, Aethrea, Trinacria, Cotymbia, Paeessa, Atabyria, from the king of it, afterwards Macria and Oloessa.''

Jerom (z) says of it, that

"it is the most noble of the islands Cyclades, and the first from the east, formerly called Ophiussa; in which was a city of the same name, famous for the brazen colossus, which was seventy cubits high: it was distant from the port of Asia twenty miles.''

This statue, called the colossus of the sun, was one of the seven wonders of the world, according to Pliny (a), and was made by Chares, a disciple of Lysippus, at the expense of King Demetrius: it was twelve years in making, and cost three hundred talents: it was seventy cubits high (as Jerom before says): it fell by an earthquake, after it had stood fifty or sixty years (some say 1360); and as it lay along it was a miracle, few men with their arms stretched out could embrace the thumb, and the fingers were bigger than most statues: and from this statue the Rhodians have been sometimes called Colossians; and some have fancied, that these are the persons the Apostle Paul wrote his epistle to under that name. This island, and the city in it, were called Rhodes, as some think, from roses, with which it might abound, or because of the beautifulness of the place; and others, that it had its name from "Jarod", which, in the Chaldee and Syriac languages, signifies a serpent; and so it was called Ophiusa from the multitude of serpents in it (b); though others say it took its name from Rhodia, a fair and beautiful maid beloved by Apollo. This island, in the "seventh" century, about the year 653, was taken by Mauvia, king of the Saracens, who sold the colossus, which lay on the ground ever since the earthquake, to a merchant, who is said to load nine hundred camels with the brass of it: it afterwards came into the hands of the Christians, and in the year 1522 was taken by Solyman the Turk, after a siege of six months, being betrayed by Andreas Meralius, a Portuguese knight (c). When the Gospel was first preached here, and a church state formed, cannot be said; but in the beginning of the "fourth" century there was a bishop of this place in the council of Nice; and in the "fifth" century there was a church here, and it was a metropolitan; and in the "sixth" century a bishop of this place was in the fifth Roman synod under Symmachus; and in the "seventh" century a bishop of Rhodes assisted in the sixth council at Constantinople; and in the same century it was taken by the Saracenes, as before observed, when the church here was the metropolitan of the Cyclades: and yet in the "eighth" century, Leo, bishop of this place, was in the Nicene synod; and even though in the ninth century it was grievously harassed by the Saracens, yet its church state was not quite destroyed (d).

And from thence to Patara; Beza's ancient copy adds, "and Myra": see Acts 27:5 a city of Lycia: hence it is called by Herodotus (e), and Pliny (f), Patara of Lycia, and mentioned with Rhodes: it was famous for the temple of Apollo, which was in it, in which answers were given six months in the year, and were on equal credit with the oracle at Delphos (g); the Arabic version here calls it Sparta. According to Pliny (h) it was first called Sataros. Some say it had its name Patara from Paturus, the son of Apollo; Ptolomy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, having enlarged it, called it after his sister's name, Arsinoe. How long the apostle stayed in this place is not known, nor whether he preached here, nor if he did, what success he had: in the "second" century, the statues of Jupiter and Apollo were in this, place: in the "fourth" century, there was a church here, and a bishop of it: and in the "sixth" century, a bishop of the church at Patara was in the fifth synod at Rome and Constantinople: and in the "eighth" century, Anastasius, bishop of this place, was in the Nicene synod (k).

(m) Xenophon. Cyropaedia, l. 2. c. 14. (n) Arcadica, sive l. 8. p. 526. (o) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 31. (p) Ib. l. 11. c. 22, 23. (q) Polyhistor. c. 12. (r) Apollodorus de Orig. Deorum, l. 2. p. 112. (s) Magdeburg. Hist. Eccles. cent. 4. c. 2. p. 5, cent. 5. c. 2. p. 6. cent. 6. c. 2. p. 6. (t) De Situ Orbis, l. 2. c. 14. (u) Plin. l. 2. c. 62. Solin. c. 21. (w) Itinerar. p. 30. (x) Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 87. Heraclides de Politiis, p. 456. Philo, quod mundus sit incorr. p. 959, 960. (y) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 31. (z) De locis Hebraicis, fol. 96. G. (a) Nat. Hist. l. 34. c. 7. (b) Heraclides de Politiis, p. 456. ad Calcem Aelian. Vat. Hist. Vid. Hilleri Onomasticum Sacrum, p. 918. (c) Petav. Rationar. Temp. par. 1. l. 4. c. 5. p. 153. & l. 9. c. 11. p. 500. (d) Magdeburg. Hist. Eccles. cent. 4. c. 2. p. 5. cent. 5. c. 2. p. 6. c. 7. p. 418. cent. 6. c. 2. p. 6. cent. 7. c. 2. p. 4. c. 3. p. 20. c. 7. p. 112. c. 16. p. 369. cent. 8. c. 2. p. 6. cent. 9. c. 2. p. 4. c. 3. p. 13. (e) Clio, l. 1. c. 182. (f) L. 2. c. 108. & l. 6. c. 34. (g) Pansan. l. 9. p. 607. Mela, l. 1. c. 15. Alex. ab Alex. l. 6. c. 2.((h) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 27. (k) Madgeburg. Hist. Eccles. cent. 2. c. 15. p. 192. cent. 4. c. 2. p. 3. cent. 6. c. 2. p. 4. cent. 8. c. 2. p. 4.