Julian Pe 29 For I know this, that after my departing, shall Miletus. riod, 4771. grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the Vulgar Æra, 58. flock. 30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. 31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. 32 And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. 33 I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. 34 Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. 35 I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak; and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. 36 And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all. 37 And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him; 38 Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more, And they accompanied him unto the ship. SECTION XIX. From Miletus, to Coos and Rhodes and Patara; whence ACTS xxi. 1-3. 1 And it came to pass, that after we were gotten from Coos and them, and had launched, we came with a straight course Rhodes, Patara, unto Coos, and the day following unto Rhodes, and from Tyre. thence unto Patara : 2 And finding a ship sailing over unto Phenicia, we χριστοῦ, κυρίου Θεοῦ, Θεοῦ καὶ κυρίου, κυρίου καὶ Θεοῦ—all of which Julian Pe 3 Now when we had discovered Cyprus, we left it on Coos and riod, 4771. the left hand, and sailed into Syria, and landed at Tyre: Rhodes, Vulgar Æra, 58. for there the ship was to unlade her burden. SECTION XX. St. Paul and St. Luke continue at Tyre seven Days. ACTS XXI. 4-6. Patara, Tyre. 4 And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: Tyre. who said to Paul through the Spirit, That he should not go up to Jerusalem 32. 5 And when we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way: and they all brought us on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city; and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed. 6 And when we had taken our leave one of another, we took ship; and they returned home again. SECTION XXI. They proceed from Tyre to Ptolemais. ACTS XXI. 7. 7 And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we Ptolemais. came to Ptolemais, and saluted the brethren, and abode with them one day. SECTION XXII. From Ptolemais to Cesarea, to the House of Philip the ACTS xxi. 8-14. company 8 And the next day, we that were of Paul's 9 And the same man had four daughters, virgins, 10 And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judea a certain prophet, named Agabus. 11 And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. 32 By the Spirit they apprised St. Paul of his danger, if he went up to Jerusalem. Cesarea. Julian Pe 12 And when we heard these things, both we, and they Cesarea. riod, 4771. of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. Vulgar Æra, 58. 13 Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. 14 And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done. SECTION XXIII. St. Paul and St. Luke arrive at Jerusalem, and present ACTS xxi. 15-26. 15 And after those days we took up our carriages, and Jerusalem. went up to Jerusalem. 16 There went with us also certain of the disciples of Cesarea, and brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, with whom we should lodge. 17 And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. 18 And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present. 19 And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. 20 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord; and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law: 21 And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. 22 What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together; for they will hear that thou art come. 23 Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; 24 Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know, that those things whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing, but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law. 25 As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written, and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication. Julian Pe 26 Then Paul took the men; and the next day, puri- Jerusalem. riod, 4771. fying himself with them, entered into the temple, to sigVulgar Era, nify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them 3. 58. 33 Witsius, in his life of St. Paul, chap. x. has endeavoured to shew the prudence, innocence, and wisdom of the apostle's conduct on this occasion. St. Paul was accused of having exhorted the Jews to forsake the law of Moses, and forbidden them to circumcise their sons. In this charge there was a mixture of truth and falsehood-St. Paul did not exhort the Jews to forsake the substance of the Mosaic law, nor did he expressly enjoin them to relinquish even the ceremonial part. But it must, however, be confessed, that in his arguments addressed to the Gentile converts, in which he describes the rites and ceremonies of the law as mere shadows of better things to come, the inference might fairly be drawn, that he did not consider these rites and ceremonies as any longer binding to the Jews themselves. Why, then, did the apostles at Jerusalem, who knew all this as well as St. Paul, intreat him to purify himself, shave his head, and bind himself by a vow? Why did St. Paul himself comply with their request? A modern scholar, of considerable literary attainments, but whose name Witsius does not mention, so strongly felt the difficulty attending this question, that he was induced to doubt, in toto, the divine authority of the Christian religion. Witsius, however, is of opinion, that the conduct of the elders on this occasion, as well as that of St. Paul himself, was fully justified by existing circumstances. The great mass of the Jews were at that time so bigoted in favour of the ceremonial law, that the full light of the Gospel was too strong for their eyes to bear at once. The temple was standing, and they were daily spectators of the sacrifices there offered up. St. Paul, whose maxim it was to "become all things to gain all men," adopted a prudent but innocent artifice-this was a fit occasion for employing the wisdom of the serpent. Gilpin, Paley, &c. have blamed James and the presbytery of Jerusalem, for giving this advice, and St. Paul for following it; as sacrificing the truth of the Gospel to the prejudices of the Jewish zealots: for why, say they, should St. Paul offer propitiatory sacrifices (as in this case, Num. vi. 14.) inasmuch as by respecting the type he shewed disrespect to the antitype, Christ? This surely was not an indifferent matter, and his submitting thereto savoured of unjustifiable compliance, and a temporizing spirit. But this censure seems to be unfounded, for-1. The apostles had no scruple of conscience in conforming to the Jewish rites. St. Paul celebrated the feast of Pentecost now, and the passover at his fourth visit to Jerusalem (Acts xviii. 21). And yet this highest Jewish rite was virtually superseded, when "Christ our passover" was sacrificed on the cross, according to St. Paul's own doctrine (1 Cor. v. 7, 8). And the apostolic decree did not prohibit the Jewish ritual to the zealots; it only exempted the Gentile Christians from it, as unnecessary to salvation. 2. The doctrine of St. Paul was perfectly conformable to the apostolic decree, and to the Gospel; he maintained the insufficiency of all rites, whether of the "circumcision" or the "uncircumcision ;" whether of Jews or Christians, without a new creation," or regeneration of the inward man; without an operative "faith" in Christ, "productive of love" to man (Gal. v. Julian Pe riod, 4771. 58. ST. PAUL IS APPREHENDED.-CHAP. XIII. SECTION XXIV. Valgar Era, St. Paul is apprehended by the chief Captain of the Temple, in consequence of a Mcb, occasioned by some of the Asiatic Jews, who met St. Paul in the Temple. ACTS XXI. 27-36. 27 And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him, 28 Crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further, brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place. 29 (For they had seen before with him, in the city, Trophimus, an Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.) 30 And all the city was moved, and the people ran together and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple and forthwith the doors were shut. 31 And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar: 32 Who immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them: and when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul. 33 Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he was, and what he had done. 34 And some cried one thing, some another, among the multitude: and when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the castle. 35 And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was borne of the soldiers, for the violence of the people. 36 For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him! 6. vi. 15.) without "circumcision" of the heart in spirit, not in 3. Were not the apostles and St. Paul, on that occasion, under See Witsius de vita Pauli, cap. x.-Melet. Leiden. p. 109, &c. and Hales's Anal, of Chronol. vol. ii. p. 1242. |