{"commentary":{"id":"jamieson-fausset-brown","name":"Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary","website":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamieson-Fausset-Brown_Bible_Commentary","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/","licenseNotes":null,"licenseNotice":null,"englishName":"Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary","language":"eng","textDirection":"rtl","sha256":"db3d4c8b3c1f32ef9d1430a57392e02bda3a17aac1f9bbe398461de021a3cb13","availableFormats":["json"],"listOfBooksApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/books.json","listOfProfilesApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/profiles.json","numberOfBooks":66,"totalNumberOfChapters":1187,"totalNumberOfVerses":17056,"totalNumberOfProfiles":0,"languageName":"English","languageEnglishName":"English"},"book":{"id":"ACT","commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","name":"Acts","commonName":"Acts","introduction":"THIS book is to the Gospels what the fruit is to the tree that bears it. In the Gospels we see the corn of wheat falling into the ground and dying: in the Acts we see it bringing forth much fruit (Joh 12:24). There we see Christ purchasing the Church with His own blood: here we see the Church, so purchased, rising into actual existence; first among the Jews of Palestine, and next among the surrounding Gentiles, until it gains a footing in the great capital of the ancient world--sweeping majestically from Jerusalem to Rome. Nor is this book of less value as an Introduction to the Epistles which follow it, than as a Sequel to the Gospels which precede it. For without this history the Epistles of the New Testament--presupposing, as they do, the historical circumstances of the parties addressed, and deriving from these so much of their freshness, point, and force--would in no respect be what they now are, and would in a number of places be scarcely intelligible.\n\nThe genuineness, authenticity, and canonical authority of this book were never called in question within the ancient Church. It stands immediately after the Gospels, in the catalogues of the Homologoumena, or universally acknowledged books of the New Testament (see Introduction to our larger Commentary, Vol. V, pp. iv, v). It was rejected, indeed, by certain heretical sects in the second and third centuries--by the Ebionites, the Severians (see EUSEBIUS, Ecclesiastical History, 4.29), the Marcionites, and the Manicheans: but the totally uncritical character of their objections (see Introduction above referred to, pp. xiii, xiv) not only deprives them of all weight, but indirectly shows on what solid grounds the Christian Church had all along proceeded in recognizing this book.\n\nIn our day, however, its authenticity has, like that of all the leading books of the New Testament, been made the subject of keen and protracted controversy. DE WETTE, while admitting Luke to be the author of the entire work, pronounces the earlier portion of it to have been drawn up from unreliable sources (New-Testament Introduction, 2a, 2C). But the Tubingen school, with BAUR at their head, have gone much farther. As their fantastic theory of the post-Joannean date of the Gospels could not pretend even to a hearing so long as the authenticity of the Acts of the Apostles remained unshaken, they contend that the earlier portion of this work can be shown to be unworthy of credit, while the latter portion is in flat contradiction to the Epistle to the Galatians--which this school regard as unassailable--and bears internal evidence of being a designed distortion of facts for the purpose of setting up the catholic form which Paul gave to Christianity in opposition to the narrow Judaic but original form of it which Peter preached, and which after the death of the apostles was held exclusively by the sect of the Ebionites. It is painful to think that anyone should have spent so many years, and, aided by learned and acute disciples in different parts of the argument, should have expended so much learning, research, and ingenuity in attempting to build up a hypothesis regarding the origination of the leading books of the New Testament which outrages all the principles of sober criticism and legitimate evidence. As a school, this party at length broke up: its head, after living to find himself the sole defender of the theory as a whole, left this earthly scene complaining of desertion. While some of his associates have abandoned such heartless studies altogether for the more congenial pursuits of philosophy, others have modified their attacks on the historical truth of the New Testament records, retreating into positions into which it is not worth while to follow them, while others still have been gradually approximating to sound principles. The one compensation for all this mischief is the rich additions to the apologetical and critical literature of the books of the New Testament, and the earliest history of the Christian Church, which it has drawn from the pens of THIERSCH, EBRARD, and many others. Any allusions which it may be necessary for us to make to the assertions of this school will be made in connection with the passages to which they relate--in Acts, First Corinthians, and Galatians.\n\nThe manifest connection between this book and the third Gospel--of which it professes to be simply the continuation by the same author--and the striking similarity which marks the style of both productions, leave no room to doubt that the early Church was right in ascribing it with one consent to Luke. The difficulty which some fastidious critics have made about the sources of the earlier portion of the history has no solid ground. That the historian himself was an eye-witness of the earliest scenes--as HUG concludes from the circumstantiality of the narrative--is altogether improbable: but there were hundreds of eye-witnesses of some of the scenes, and enough of all the rest, to give to the historian, partly by oral, partly by written testimony, all the details which he has embodied so graphically in his history; and it will appear, we trust, from the commentary, that De Wette's complaints of confusion, contradiction, and error in this portion are without foundation. The same critic, and one or two others, would ascribe to Timothy those later portions of the book in which the historian speaks in the first person plural--\"we\"; supposing him to have taken notes of all that passed under his own eye, which Luke embodied in his history just as they stood. It is impossible here to refute this gratuitous hypothesis in detail; but the reader will find it done by EBRARD (The Gospel History, sect. 110, Clark's translation; sect. 127 of the original work, Wissenschaftliche Kritik der Evangelische Geschichte, 1850), and by DAVIDSON (Introduction to New Testament, Vol. II, pp. 9-21).\n\nThe undesigned coincidences between this History and the Apostolic Epistles have been brought out and handled, as an argument for the truth of the facts thus attested, with unrivalled felicity by PALEY in his HorÃ&brvbr PaulinÃ&brvbr, to which Mr. BIRKS has made a number of ingenious additions in his HorÃ&brvbr ApostolicÃ&brvbr. Exception has been taken to some of these by JOWETT (St. Paul's Epistles, Vol. I, pp. 108 ff.), not without a measure of reason in certain cases--for our day, at least--though even he admits that in this line of evidence the work of PALEY, taken as a whole, is unassailable.\n\nMuch has been written about the object of this history. Certainly \"the Acts of the Apostles\" are but very partially recorded. But for this title the historian is not responsible. Between the two extremes--of supposing that the work has no plan at all, and that it is constructed on an elaborate and complex plan, we shall probably be as near the truth as is necessary if we take the design to be to record the diffusion of Christianity and the rise of the Christian Church, first among the Jews of Palestine, the seat of the ancient Faith, and next among the surrounding Gentiles, with Antioch for its headquarters, until, finally, it is seen waving over imperial Rome, foretokening its universal triumph. In this view of it, there is no difficulty in accounting for the almost exclusive place which it gives to the labors of Peter in the first instance, and the all but entire disappearance from the history both of him and of the rest of the Twelve after the great apostle of the Gentiles came upon the stage--like the lesser lights on the rise of the great luminary. \n\n\n\nNext: Acts Chapter 1\n\n","order":44,"numberOfChapters":28,"sha256":"c94aad3dd7e20061c0935f668f020beecd42d660333a1ba60e42c592e5a6a94e","firstChapterNumber":1,"firstChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/ACT/1.json","firstChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"ACT","chapter":1},"lastChapterNumber":28,"lastChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/ACT/28.json","lastChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"ACT","chapter":28},"totalNumberOfVerses":775},"chapter":{"number":24,"content":[{"type":"verse","number":2,"content":["Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, &c.--In this fulsome flattery there was a semblance of truth: nothing more. Felix acted with a degree of vigor and success in suppressing lawless violence [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 20.8.4; confirmed by TACITUS, Annals, 12.54]. \n\nby thy providence--a phrase applied to the administration of the emperors.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":5,"content":["a pestilent fellow--a plague, or pest. \n\nand a mover of sedition among all the Jews--by exciting disturbances among them. \n\nthroughout the world--(See on Luk 2:1). This was the first charge; and true only in the sense explained on Act 16:20. \n\na ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes--the second charge; and true enough.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":6,"content":["hath gone about--attempted. \n\nto profane the temple--the third charge; and entirely false. \n\nwe . . . would have judged according to our law.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":7,"content":["But . . . Lysias came upon us, and with great violence took him out of our hands--a wilful falsehood and calumnious charge against a public officer. He had commanded the Sanhedrim to meet for no other purpose than to \"judge him according to their law\"; and only when, instead of doing so, they fell to disputing among themselves, and the prisoner was in danger of being \"pulled in pieces of them\" (Act 23:10) --or as his own letter says \"killed of them\" (Act 23:27) --did he rescue him, as was his duty, \"by force\" out of their hands.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":8,"content":["Commanding his accusers to come unto thee--Here they insinuate that, instead of troubling Felix with the case, he ought to have left it to be dealt with by the Jewish tribunal; in which case his life would soon have been taken. \n\nby examining whom--Lysias, as would seem (Act 24:22). \n\nthyself mayest, &c.--referring all, as if with confidence, to Felix.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":9,"content":["the Jews assented, &c.--See on Act 23:15.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":10,"content":["thou hast been many years a judge to this nation--He had been in this province for six or seven years, and in Galilee for a longer period. Paul uses no flattery, but simply expresses his satisfaction at having to plead before one whose long official experience of Jewish matters would enable him the better to understand and appreciate what he had to say.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":11,"content":["thou mayest understand--canst easily learn. \n\nthat there are yet but twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem--namely, 1. The day of his arrival in Jerusalem (Act 21:15-17); 2. The interview with James (Act 21:18-26); 3. The assumption of the vow (Act 21:26); 4, 5, 6. Continuance of the vow, interrupted by the arrest (Act 21:27, &c.); 7. Arrest of Paul (Act 21:27); 8. Paul before the Sanhedrim (Act 22:30; Act 23:1-10); 9. Conspiracy of the Jews and defeat of it (Act 23:12-24), and despatch of Paul from Jerusalem on the evening of the same day (Act 23:23, Act 23:31); 10, 11, 12, 13. The remaining period referred to (Act 24:1) [MEYER]. This short period is mentioned to show how unlikely it was that he should have had time to do what was charged against him. \n\nfor to worship--a very different purpose from that imputed to him.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":12,"content":["they neither found me . . . Neither can they prove the things, &c.--After specifying several particulars, he challenges proof of any one of the charges brought against him. So much for the charge of sedition.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":14,"content":["But this I confess to thee--in which Felix would see no crime. \n\nthat after the way they call heresy--literally, and better, \"a sect.\" \n\nso worship I the God of my fathers--the ancestral God. Two arguments are contained here: (1) Our nation is divided into what they call sects--the sect of the Pharisees, and that of the Sadducees--all the difference between them and me is, that I belong to neither of these, but to another sect, or religious section of the nation, which from its Head they call Nazarenes: for this reason, and this alone, am I hated. (2) The Roman law allows every nation to worship its own deities; I claim protection under that law, worshipping the God of my ancestors, even as they, only of a different sect of the common religion. \n\nbelieving all, &c.--Here, disowning all opinions at variance with the Old Testament Scriptures, he challenges for the Gospel which he preached the authority of the God of their fathers. So much for the charge of heresy.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":15,"content":["And have hope . . . as they themselves . . . allow, that there shall be a resurrection, &c.--This appeal to the faith of his accusers shows that they were chiefly of the Pharisees, and that the favor of that party, to which he owed in some measure his safety at the recent council (Act 23:6-9), had been quite momentary.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":16,"content":["And herein--On this account, accordingly; that is, looking forward to that awful day (compare Co2 5:10). \n\nI exercise myself--The \"I\" here is emphatic; \"Whatever they do, this is my study.\" \n\nto have always a conscience void of offence, &c.--See Act 23:1; Co2 1:12; Co2 2:17, &c.; that is, \"These are the great principles of my life and conduct--how different from turbulence and sectarianism!\"\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":17,"content":["Now after many--several \n\nyears absence from Jerusalem--I came to bring alms to my of Macedonia and Greece, which he had taken such pains to gather. This only allusion in the Acts to what is dwelt upon so frequently in his own Epistles (Rom 15:25-26; Co1 16:1-4; Co2 8:1-4), throws a beautiful light on the truth of this History. (See PALEY'S HorÃ&brvbr PaulinÃ&brvbr). \n\nand offerings--connected with his Jewish vow: see Act 24:18.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":18,"content":["found me purified in the temple--not polluting it, therefore, by my own presence, and neither gathering a crowd nor raising a stir: If then these Asiatic Jews have any charge to bring against me in justification of their arrest of me, why are they not here to substantiate it?\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":20,"content":["Or else let these . . . here say--\"Or, passing from all that preceded my trial, let those of the Sanhedrim here present say if I was guilty of aught there.\" No doubt his hasty speech to the high priest might occur to them, but the provocation to it on his own part was more than they would be willing to recall.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":21,"content":["Except . . . this one voice . . . Touching the resurrection, &c.--This would recall to the Pharisees present their own inconsistency, in befriending him then and now accusing him.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":22,"content":["having more perfect knowledge of that--\"the\" \n\nway--(See on Act 19:23; and Act 24:14). \n\nWhen Lysias . . . shall come . . . I will how, &c.--Felix might have dismissed the case as a tissue of unsupported charges. But if from his interest in the matter he really wished to have the presence of Lysias and others involved, a brief delay was not unworthy of him as a judge. Certainly, so far as recorded, neither Lysias nor any other parties appeared again in the case. Act 24:23, however, seems to show that at that time his prepossessions in favor of Paul were strong.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":24,"content":["Felix . . . with his wife Drusilla . . . a Jewess--This beautiful but infamous woman was the third daughter of Herod Agrippa I, who was eaten of worms (see on Act 12:1), and a sister of Agrippa II, before whom Paul pleaded, Act 26:1, &c. She was \"given in marriage to Azizus, king of the Emesenes, who had consented to be circumcised for the sake of the alliance. But this marriage was soon dissolved, after this manner: When Festus was procurator of Judea, he saw her, and being captivated with her beauty, persuaded her to desert her husband, transgress the laws of her country, and marry himself\" [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 20.7.1,2]. Such was this \"wife\" of Felix. \n\nhe sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ--Perceiving from what he had heard on the trial that the new sect which was creating such a stir was represented by its own advocates as but a particular development of the Jewish faith, he probably wished to gratify the curiosity of his Jewish wife, as well as his own, by a more particular account of it from this distinguished champion. And no doubt Paul would so far humor this desire as to present to them the great leading features of the Gospel. But from Act 24:25 it is evident that his discourse took an entirely practical turn, suited to the life which his two auditors were notoriously leading.\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":25,"content":["And as he reasoned of righteousness--with reference to the public character of Felix. \n\ntemperance--with reference to his immoral life. \n\nand judgment to come--when he would be called to an awful account for both. \n\nFelix trembled--and no wonder. For, on the testimony of TACITUS, the Roman Annalist [Annals, 9; 12.54], he ruled with a mixture of cruelty, lust, and servility, and relying on the influence of his brother Pallas at court, he thought himself at liberty to commit every sort of crime with impunity. How noble the fidelity and courage which dared to treat of such topics in such a presence, and what withering power must have been in those appeals which made even a Felix to tremble! \n\nGo thy way for this time; and when I have a convenient season I will call for thee--Alas for Felix! This was his golden opportunity, but--like multitudes still--he missed it. Convenient seasons in abundance he found to call for Paul, but never again to \"hear him concerning the faith in Christ,\" and writhe under the terrors of the wrath to come. Even in those moments of terror he had no thought of submission to the Cross or a change of life. The Word discerned the thoughts and intents of his heart, but that heart even then clung to its idols; even as Herod, who \"did many things and heard John gladly,\" but in his best moments was enslaved to his lusts. How many Felixes have appeared from age to age!\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":26,"content":["He hoped . . . that money should have been given him . . . wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him--Bribery in a judge was punishable by the Roman law, but the spirit of a slave (to use the words of TACITUS) was in all his acts, and his communing with Paul\"--as if he cared for either him or his message--simply added hypocrisy to meanness. The position in life of Paul's Christian visitors might beget the hope of extracting something from them for the release of their champion; but the apostle would rather lie in prison than stoop to this!\n\n"]},{"type":"verse","number":27,"content":["after two years--What a trial to this burning missionary of Christ, to suffer such a tedious period of inaction! How mysterious it would seem! But this repose would be medicine to his spirit; he would not, and could not, be entirely inactive, so long as he was able by pen and message to communicate with the churches; and he would doubtless learn the salutary truth that even he was not essential to his Master's cause. That Luke wrote his Gospel during this period, under the apostle's superintendence, is the not unlikely conjecture of able critics. \n\nPorcius Festus--Little is known of him. He died a few years after this [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 20.8.9-9.1]. \n\ncame into Felix' room--He was recalled, on accusations against him by the Jews of CÃ&brvbrsarea, and only acquitted through the intercession of his brother at court [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 20.8,10]. \n\nFelix, willing to show the Jews a pleasure--\"to earn the thanks of the Jews,\" which he did not. \n\nleft Paul bound-- (Act 26:29) --which does not seem to have been till then.\n\n\n\n\nNext: Acts Chapter 25\n\n"]}],"introduction":"PAUL, ACCUSED BY A PROFESSIONAL PLEADER BEFORE FELIX, MAKES HIS DEFENSE, AND IS REMANDED FOR A FURTHER HEARING. AT A PRIVATE INTERVIEW FELIX TREMBLES UNDER PAUL'S PREACHING, BUT KEEPS HIM PRISONER FOR TWO YEARS, WHEN HE WAS SUCCEEDED BY FESTUS. (Acts 24:1-27)\n\nafter five days--or, on the fifth day from their departure from Jerusalem. \n\nAnanias . . . with the elders--a deputation of the Sanhedrim. \n\na certain orator--one of those Roman advocates who trained themselves for the higher practice of the metropolis by practicing in the provinces, where the Latin language, employed in the courts, was but imperfectly understood and Roman forms were not familiar. \n\ninformed . . . against Paul--\"laid information,\" that is, put in the charges.\n\n"},"thisChapterLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/ACT/24.json","thisChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"ACT","chapter":24},"nextChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/ACT/25.json","nextChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"ACT","chapter":25},"previousChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/ACT/23.json","previousChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"ACT","chapter":23},"numberOfVerses":21}