Commentary on Acts (chapters 9–25)
Commentary on Acts
continued
Chapter 9
Acts 9:1
Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. Evidently present by afflicting with murders, and deterring the absent with threats. [Acts 9:4] -- Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? He did not say: Why do you persecute my members? but why do you persecute me? because he still suffers the unrighteous in his own body, which is the Church. He even declares that benefits bestowed upon his members are done unto him when he says: I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat (Matt. 25). And he added in explanation: As long as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me (Ibid.). [Acts 9:5] -- I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. He did not say: I am God, I am the Son of God, but he says: Accept the weakness of my humility and lay down the scales of your pride.
Acts 9:6
Rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you must do. He did not immediately show him what was to be done but advised that it would be heard later in the city, so that he would stand more firmly in good things as he had previously fallen completely from his former error. [Acts 9:8] -- And when his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. He could not see well again unless he was first properly blinded, and excluding his own confounding wisdom, would he commit himself to faith in all things. [Acts 9:9] -- And he was without sight for three days. Because he had not believed that the Lord had conquered death by rising on the third day, he is now instructed by his own example, who would change the darkness of three days with the returning light. [Acts 9:16] -- For I will show him how much he must suffer for my name. He should not (he says) be feared as a persecutor, but rather be embraced as a brother, who is ready to endure the adversities which he had inflicted upon the saints, together with the saints.
Acts 9:18
And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes. It is said that the entire body of the dragon is covered with scales. Because the Jews are called serpents and brood of vipers, those who followed their perfidy had covered the eyes of their heart as if with the skin of a serpent. But when the scales fell from his eyes under the hand of Ananias, it was shown in his face that he had already received true light in his mind. [Acts 9:25] -- But his disciples took him by night. That is, the disciples of Christ. For in Greek, there is no addition of "his", but only "disciples" so that they are understood generally as disciples of Christ or the Church. For Paul had not yet been read as having made disciples but only as having confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus. [Acts 9:25] -- They let him down through the wall, lowering him in a basket. This kind of escape is still preserved in the Church today when someone, surrounded by the snares of the ancient enemy or the traps of this world, is not saved by his hope and faith. For the wall of Damascus, which is interpreted as drinking blood, is the adversity of the world. King Aretas, who is interpreted as descent, is understood as the devil. The basket, which is usually made of rushes and palm leaves, signifies the conjunction of faith and hope. For the rush signifies the greenness of faith, and the palm signifies the hope of eternal life. Therefore, whoever sees himself surrounded by the wall of adversity, let him quickly ascend by the basket of virtues by which he may escape.
Acts 9:26
When he had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples. Let us not believe that he came to the apostles in Jerusalem immediately after being baptized, but as he himself wrote to the Galatians, first he went to Arabia and then returned again to Damascus. Then after three years, coming to Jerusalem, he saw Peter and stayed with him for fifteen days. But he did not see any other of the apostles, except James the brother of the Lord. And then, as Luke also follows, he came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. Whether he endured the plots in Damascus the first or second time is not easily evident. For it can also be understood the second time since it is said that after many days were fulfilled, the Jews made a plot to kill him. Therefore, it seems that Luke omits Arabia because he did not preach there, according to what he himself later said to King Agrippa: because I preached first in Damascus, and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and to the Gentiles.
Acts 9:27
But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. This is that Barnabas, a Cypriot by race, a Levite, who is said above to have brought the price of his field and laid it at the feet of the apostles. [Acts 9:29] -- He also spoke and disputed with the Greeks. It is noted that he taught Greeks in Jerusalem and Jews in Damascus, which is a city of the Gentiles, lest perhaps it signifies that Gentiles are to be helped into the city of God and Jews are to fall into the perfidy of the Gentiles. As Isaiah says: And Lebanon shall be turned into Carmel, and Carmel shall be counted as a forest (Isaiah 29). [Acts 9:33] -- He found there a certain man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years. This Aeneas signifies the human race, languishing previously in the pleasure of infirmities, but healed by the work and word of the apostles. For since the world itself is raised up by four directions, and the course of the age is varied by four yearly seasons, anyone who embraces present and fleeting joys is laid out powerless on a bed, counting, as it were, the twice four years in number. Indeed, the bed itself is sloth, where the sick and weak mind rests, that is, in the pleasure of the body and all worldly delight.
Acts 9:34
Aeneas, the Lord Jesus Christ heals you. Rise and make your own bed. He who had been cured of paralysis was immediately commanded to rise and make his bed, spiritually suggesting that whoever perceives the foundation of faith in their heart should not only shake off the torpor in which they previously lay fatigued, but also prepare good works in which they can rest. [Acts 9:36] -- In Joppa, there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is interpreted as Dorcas. That is, gazelle or doe. It signifies souls elevated by the pursuit of virtues but contemptible in the opinion of men. For indeed, blessed Luke would not enhance the interpretation of the name unless he recognized that there was a great mystery in it. For a gazelle or doe are animals similar in nature but differing in size, residing in high mountains, and though seen from afar, they can be discerned by all who come. Hence, they are called dorcades in Greek from the sharpness of their sight. Thus, undoubtedly, the saints dwelling high in the merits of their works, sharply focus their minds on heavenly contemplation, and always vigilantly guard themselves with cautious circumspection. For although these animals are clean according to the law, they are timid and unwarlike, as Martial, expressing their nature, says: The boar is feared for its tusk, the stag defends with its antlers; the harmless does, what are we but prey? Does it not clearly signify those who strive to live simply and walk with a discerning step in action, as if advancing with a cloven hoof and continuously meditating on the word of God? If perchance, through ignorance or weakness, they incur spiritual death, they merit to be revived for the integrity of their sound intention, as it is proved to have happened with Peter himself, to whom what is written about Dorcas can most rightly be applied.
Acts 9:37
And it happened that in those days she became sick and died. For when the saints, through the frailty of mortal nature, commit some wrong, they fall, as it were, into sudden infirmity in the days of their good works. But when they immediately take to tears, they ascend with hope of recovering their virtue, invoking the help of the saints, recalling their good deeds which they had interrupted, they indeed do what follows. [Acts 9:37] -- After they washed her, they laid her in an upper chamber. And other things, which are narrated about Peter’s summoning and the showing of Dorcas's alms. [Acts 9:39] -- And all the widows stood around him weeping. Widows are the pious thoughts of the penitent soul, which for a time had abandoned the strength of their previous senses, as a wife’s governance, and who must most humbly intercede for the sinning soul.
Acts 9:39
And showing him the tunics and garments, which Dorcas used to make for them. They did not entreat for the deceased with their voices, but by her own works, for almsgiving delivers not only from the second, but also from the first death. [Acts 9:40] -- He said: Tabitha, rise. She opened her eyes, and upon seeing Peter, she sat up. The most just order of the one arising is that she first opens the eyes of the mind, and then, upon hearing Peter's voice, she sits up, reclaiming the light of her circumspection which she had lost and lives according to the teaching of those who had helped her. [Acts 9:41] -- Giving her his hand, he raised her. Tabitha rises at the touch of Peter's hand because a soul languishing in sins recovers in no better way than by the examples of the saints.
Chapter 10
Acts 10:1
Now there was a certain man in Caesarea, named Cornelius, etc. One attains virtues not through virtues to faith, but through faith to virtues, as blessed Pope Gregory explains. For Cornelius (he says), whose alms were praised by an angel's witness before baptism, came not to faith through works, but to works through faith. For he had believed in the true God even before baptism, whom was he praying to? Or how had almighty God heard him, if he had not revealed himself to be perfected in goodness? Therefore, he knew the creator God of all, but he was ignorant that His almighty Son had been incarnated. He had the faith whose prayers and alms could be pleasing. By his good actions, he merited to know God perfectly, and to believe in the mystery of the Incarnation of His Only Begotten Son, so that he might come to the sacrament of baptism. Therefore, through faith, he came to works, but through works, he was solidified in faith.
Acts 10:3
He clearly saw in a vision at about the ninth hour of the day, etc. He rightly receives the oracle to seek baptism at the ninth hour because in the death of Him, who surrendered His spirit at the ninth hour, he was to be baptized. [Acts 10:5] -- And now send men to Joppa. When alms and prayers had been accepted, immediately the teacher of salvation is ordered to be summoned, clearly implying that through those alms and prayers, he sought from the Lord the full knowledge of his salvation. [Acts 10:7] -- He called two of his domestic servants and a soldier who feared the Lord. Cornelius sent three to Peter, because the Gentiles destined to believe overcame Europe, Asia, and Africa with apostolic faith, partly by military efforts, that is, the urgency of preaching, partly by attending to domestic affairs. Note that one soldier and two domestics were sent. The stronger they are, the fewer you will find among the members of the Church; there are more who know how to hear the word than those who know how to speak it.
Acts 10:9
Peter went up to the housetop. This signifies that the Church, leaving behind earthly desires, will have its conversation in the heavens. [Acts 10:9] -- To pray about the sixth hour. At the sixth hour, Peter hungered amidst the prayers, certainly for the salvation of the world, which the Lord in the sixth age of the world came to seek and save. He also wished to indicate this when at the same hour of the day, he thirsted by the well of the Samaritan woman. [Acts 10:11] -- And a certain vessel descended as it were a great sheet. That vessel signifies the Church endowed with incorruptible faith. For a moth does not consume linen, which corrupts other garments. Therefore, whoever wishes to belong to the mystery of the Catholic Church, let him exclude from his heart the corruption of evil thoughts, and thus be incorruptibly firm in faith, so that he is not gnawed in mind by wicked thoughts as if by moths. Alternatively: The moth is a heretic, wishing to corrupt the garment of the Lord but not being able by the dispensation of the Lord. This was also prefigured in the tunic of the Lord which the soldiers did not dare to tear.
Acts 10:11
Submitted by heaven to earth at four corners. The four corners, by which the sheet was hanging, designate the four regions of the world to which the Church extends. For she is indeed the city of our God in His holy mountain, expanding the rejoicings of all the earth. For what is submitted from heaven indicates that it is preserved and increased by the grace of the Holy Spirit alone. Whence John says in the Apocalypse: I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God (Rev. 21). The four corners can also prefigure the evangelists, through whom the Church is imbued and exalted by heavenly grace. [Acts 10:12] -- In which were all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles of the earth, and birds of the air. Those animals are all the nations impure by errors, but cleansed by the thrice immersion, that is, by the mystery of the Holy Trinity in baptism, which, leaving the image of man, took on the forms of beasts and serpents. Thus it is said to Herod because of his deceitful wickedness: Go tell that fox (Luke 13). And to the Pharisees: Brood of vipers (Luke 3). And to the lustful: Horses maddened in pursuit of mares (Jer. 5). And of the shameless: Do not give what is holy to the dogs (Matt. 7). And of the voluptuous: Do not throw your pearls before swine (ibid.). And of the proud and deceitful: The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests (Matt. 8). And generally of all: And man being in honor, that is, made in the image of God, did not understand, was compared to senseless animals (Ps. 49). But Solomon shows the true man, that is, incorrupt: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man (Eccl. 12).
Acts 10:13
Rise, Peter, kill and eat. He says, rise to prepare for evangelization. Kill in the nations what they were, and make them what you are. For he who eats food outside takes it into his own body. Therefore, he commands that the nations placed outside through unbelief, with their past life killed, be incorporated into the society of the Church, which Peter signifies. According to what the Apostle Paul says about himself: For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God and Christ. And again: It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me (Gal. 2). But those who are surrounded by heretics are as if devoured alive by death. [Acts 10:14] -- Because I have never eaten anything common and unclean. The people of the Jews, boasting themselves as part of God, call common foods those which all men use. For example, pork, oysters, hares, and such animals which do not split the hoof, nor chew the cud, nor have scales among fish. But unclean foods are said to be the flesh of beasts or reptiles, which are not edible by any mortals.
Acts 10:16
Now this happened three times, because the mystery of the Holy Trinity was to be preached by the twelve apostles to the four parts of the world, therefore four lines were let down from heaven a third time. Or as blessed Ambrose interprets, the figure repeated three times expressed the operation of the Trinity. And therefore, in mysteries, a triple question is put forth and a triple confirmation is celebrated, nor can anyone be purified except by a triple confession. Hence, Peter himself in the Gospel is asked three times whether he loves the Lord, so that by a triple response he might loosen the chains that he bound by denying the Lord. These things were shown to Peter opportunely, when Cornelius the gentile sent to summon him, so that he would not hesitate to deliver the Christian faith to the uncircumcised. For he was like those animals shown in the vessel by the Gospel. Hence also by the Holy Spirit he is confirmed to do the same.
Acts 10:16
And immediately the vessel was received into heaven. After the third submission, the sheet is taken up to heaven, because after the conversation of this world, in which the Church sojourns purified by faith and baptism, the blessed and eternal heavenly habitation follows. [Acts 10:19] -- The Spirit said to him: Behold, three men seek you. He heard this in his mind from the Spirit, not in the ear of the flesh. [Acts 10:20] -- Rise therefore and go down, and go with them. He is commanded to go down from the roof and go to preach, that the Church may not only watch for the Lord by climbing high, but also may preach the same to the infirm and to those still placed outside, as it were, but knocking at the door of Simon, that is, obedience, by returning to the active life, as if rising from bed. According to what the Lord said: You will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man (John 1). Of which it is rightly remembered that his house was placed by the sea. For the sea designates the turbulent tumults and furies of the world, where wicked men, like very greedy fish, pursue and devour one another. But the conversation of the saints is in heaven (Philippians 3), who, even if the earthly house of this habitation is dissolved, have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens (2 Corinthians 5).
Acts 10:21
Behold, I am he whom you seek. What is the reason for which you have come? The Spirit told him that soldiers were present, and he was silent about why they had come, because to preserve the humility of the human mind, sometimes the Spirit of prophecy touches on part and does not touch on part. [Acts 10:25] -- And it happened that when Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and falling at his feet, worshiped him. By his bodily gesture, Cornelius showed what he had inwardly in his heart of devotion. For the listener met his teacher, who receives the word of faith with a pure heart, attentive ear, and eager desire. For he who is slowly drawn to believe is as if he were raised by his teacher from lying down. But he who, blushing at the stains of his life, falling on his face shows signs of humility and modesty, rightly merits to be raised by his teacher.
Acts 10:26
Peter, however, lifted him up, saying: Stand up; I too am a man. For the holiness of action has deserved the equality of communion. For in the fault of Ananias and Sapphira, the crime revealed the right of authority’s vengeance. [Acts 10:28] -- And God showed me that no man should be called common or unclean. He undoubtedly showed this when the angelic voice sounded: What God has purified, do not call common. [Acts 10:30] -- From the fourth day until this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour, and behold, a man stood before me, and so on. In Greek and in some Latin manuscripts it is written thus: From the fourth day until this hour I was fasting, and praying from the sixth hour to the ninth, and behold, a man, and so on. It was very appropriate that he who extended his prayer for three hours from the sixth to the ninth should be heard. At which time the Lord himself, whom he beseeched, prayed with outstretched hands on the cross for the salvation of the whole world.
Acts 10:36
He sent the word to the children of Israel, announcing peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. It appears (he says) that God is no respecter of persons, because He sent His only begotten Son, who is the Lord and Creator of all, to make peace with the human race, in whose name, as the Prophets attest, the remission of sins should be received not only by the Jews but by all who believe. [Acts 10:37] -- You know the word which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and so on. He briefly included everything that is recited in the Creed: that Jesus is the Christ, that he is Lord of all, that he was sent to reconcile the world to God, that he was heralded by the voice of John, that he was anointed with the Holy Spirit, that through miracles he was declared to have God dwelling in him, that he was crucified and resurrected from the dead, and appeared to his followers, that he will come as the judge of all at the end, and that through faith, he will also spread his Church throughout the whole world.
Acts 10:38
How God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and power. Another edition says: As God anointed Him. Hence John preached Jesus, as God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit, then indeed when he said: He Himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit (Matthew III). And again: Because I saw the Spirit descending like a dove upon Him (John I). Therefore, Jesus was anointed not with visible oil, but with the gift of grace, which is signified by the visible ointment with which the Church anoints the baptized. Yet He was not then anointed with the Holy Spirit when it descended upon Him as a dove after His baptism. For then He deigned to prefigure His body, that is, His Church, in which the baptized especially receive the Holy Spirit. But He is to be understood to have been anointed with that mystical and invisible anointing at the time when the Word of God was made flesh, that is, when human nature was united with the Word of God in the womb of the virgin without any precedents of meritorious good works so that it became one person with Him. For this reason, we confess Him born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary.
Acts 10:38
Because God was with Him. That is, the Father with the Son. For it is better to understand it thus than to indicate that the divinity of the Son cohabitated with the man whom He assumed, lest we seem to duplicate the person of Christ and fall into the dogma of Nestorius. [Acts 10:41] -- For us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. Here blessed Peter expounds what is not recited in the Gospel, namely, that after the resurrection, he drank with the Lord. Unless perhaps we believe it was indicated there where he says: Until I drink it new with you in the house of My Father. [Acts 10:44] -- While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. Then they asked him to stay with them for some days. Lest it be doubted that baptism should be given to the Gentiles, it was confirmed by the testimony of the Holy Spirit, which customarily sanctifies the waters of the font, in a new order of precedence, which it never happened with the Jews, as occurred once for the testimony of the Gentiles' faith.
Acts 10:48
And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. And the circumcised believers who had come with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. Since the rule of the Church is that believers are to be baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity, it is asked how Luke, throughout the entire text of this book, testifies that baptism is given only in the name of Jesus Christ. Blessed Ambrose resolved this by saying that the mystery is fulfilled through the unity of the name. For whether you say Christ, you have designated both God the Father, who anointed the Son, and the very Son who was anointed, and the Spirit by whom he was anointed; for it is written: Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit; whether you say Father, and his Son, and Spirit, you indicate equally in the mouth if you even comprehend it in your heart; or if you say Spirit, you name both God the Father, from whom the Spirit proceeds, and the Son, because the Spirit is also of the Son. Hence, that authority may also be joined to reason, Scripture indicates that we can rightly be baptized in the Spirit as well, with the Lord saying: But you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5). And the Apostle says: For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body (1 Cor. 12:13). Elsewhere: It is particularly fitting for us to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, since as the Apostle says: For as many of you as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death, etc. (Rom. 6:3).
Chapter 11
Acts 11:6
And I saw the four-footed animals of the earth, and beasts, and reptiles, and birds of the sky, etc. I am amazed how these things are interpreted concerning certain foods prohibited by the old law but now allowed to be eaten, when neither serpents nor reptiles can be eaten, nor did Peter understand it this way, but that all people are equally called to the Gospel of Christ, and no one is impure by nature. For he was not rebuked for eating beasts but for associating with Gentiles, he explained the mystery of this vision. [Acts 11:12] -- But these six brothers also came with me. Beautifully, the testimony of the seven-fold number of brothers is the outpouring of the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit. Elsewhere. Because the world was formed in six days, the works are shown to be complete by the six brothers. They well accompany the teacher when they demonstrate to their listeners examples of perfect operation during words of exhortation.
Acts 11:18
And they glorified God, saying: So then, God has given even the Gentiles repentance unto life. This is what we read in the book of blessed Job: From the north comes gold, and terrifying praise to God (Job 37:22). Because first the splendor of faith arises from the cold heart of the Gentiles, and for this unexpected faith, Judea glorifies God with fearful praise. [Acts 11:19] -- They traveled as far as Phoenicia, and Cyprus, and Antioch, etc. Here already, after the revelation of the Gospel sheet, in which the holy animals rested softly in hope from above, the affairs of the Church began to increase, with the Gospel being preached through foreign provinces, islands, and cities, not only to the Jews but also to the Gentiles. [Acts 11:25] -- But he set out for Tarsus to search for Saul. For it was said earlier that Saul would be secretly sent from Jerusalem to Tarsus.
Acts 11:28
And one of them named Agabus, rising up, signified by the Spirit that there would be a great famine. Agabus can be interpreted as a messenger of tribulation, who, according to his name, both predicts the general famine here and later the bonds to the apostle Paul. [Acts 11:29] -- They decided to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea. They knew that in Judea, and especially in Jerusalem, the famine would rage more fiercely. There, the poor saints, who, having sold their possessions, houses, and fields, brought the prices to the apostles, did not engage much further in acquiring wealth. But some were also deprived of their property by the incredulous Jews because of their confession of faith. To these, the Apostle says: "And you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property" (Hebrews 10). Among these charitable acts, the religious deed of Helena, queen of Adiabene, is remembered, who, having bought grain from Egypt, generously ministered to the needs of the Jerusalemites. Hence, she also earned an honorable burial before the gates of the same city.
Chapter 12
Acts 12:1
Moreover, at that time, the great king Herod sent. Not at the time of the famine, which historical accounts refer to as happening in the fourth year of Claudius, since Herod died in the third year of the same Claudius, but undoubtedly at the time when the offerings were being carried to Jerusalem. Nor should we think that Herod, who was a tetrarch and later became a king, is designated in this chapter. For Josephus reports that Caius, upon taking the throne, immediately handed the leadership of the Jews to this Herod, son of Aristobulus, whom he nevertheless calls Agrippa, along with the tetrarchies of Philip and Lysanias. And in the fourth, which is the last year of his rule, he similarly bestowed it upon the same Herod. But he condemned that Herod, who had either been the instigator of John's death or had been involved in the passion of the Lord, to perpetual exile after suffering many diseases. Furthermore, this Herod or Agrippa, in the third year of Claudius and the seventh year of his reign, having been struck by an angel, left the kingdom to Agrippa, his son. Aristobulus, however, whom he mentioned, is the one who, along with his brother Alexander, had been killed by the treacherous father, that is, the elder Herod, under whom the Lord was born.
Acts 12:2
He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. Clement of Alexandria reports a certain story about this James, which is worth remembering. And he (Clement says) who had brought him to the judge for martyrdom (namely James), was also moved and confessed himself to be a Christian. They were both led together to punishment. And as they were being led on the road, he asked James to grant him forgiveness. But James, after hesitating a little, said, "Peace be with you." And he kissed him. And thus they were both beheaded together. [Acts 12:4] -- Delivering him to four squads of soldiers. Just as a centurion has a hundred soldiers under him, so does a squad of soldiers have soldiers under him. [Acts 12:7] -- And striking the side of Peter, he raised him up. The striking of the side is a commemoration of the passion of Christ, from whose wound our salvation flowed. And to us, too, who are held by the chains of pressures, the apostle Peter himself gives such solace, saying: "Since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same intention" (1 Peter 4).
Acts 12:8
Gird yourself and put on your sandals. And we read that prophets and apostles used belts, which Peter had loosened for a moment due to the rigidity of the prison, so that, with his tunic lowered around his feet, he could somewhat temper the cold of the night, providing an example to the weak that, when we are tempted by either bodily discomfort or human injury, it is permissible to relax the rigor of our purpose a little. And because it was said, “Let your loins be girded and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace,” spiritually he is ordered to resume the emblems of virtues and of preaching the word. [Acts 12:10] -- They came to the iron gate that leads to the city. Narrow indeed and made of iron was the gate that leads to the heavenly Jerusalem, but it has now been made passable to us by the footsteps of the apostles, who conquered the iron door with their own blood. About this, Arator: “Why is it surprising if iron doors yield to Peter? Whom God appoints as the guardian of the heavenly hall and makes the head of his Church, he commands to overcome Hell.”
Acts 12:11
And Peter, coming to himself. That is, having returned from the height of contemplation to what he was previously in common understanding. [Acts 12:13] -- The girl came out to hear. And the Lord, having come forth from the constraints of the tomb, was first announced to the disciples by a woman, so that where sin abounded, grace might more abound. [Acts 12:15] -- But they were saying, “It is his angel.” That each of us has an angel is found both in the book of the Shepherd and in many places of the Holy Scriptures. For the Lord also speaks of the little ones: “Their angels always see the face of my Father” (Matt. XVIII). And Jacob speaks of himself: “The angel who redeemed me from all evil.” And here the disciples believed that the angel of the apostle Peter had come. [Acts 12:19] -- Descending from Judea into Caesarea. Although it seems according to the situation of the places to refer to Caesarea Philippi, which like Tyre and Sidon is a city of Phoenicia, Josephus nevertheless teaches that this was done in Caesarea of Palestine, which was once called Tower of Strato, and is situated on the shore of the Great Sea, at the border of Phoenicia and Palestine.
Acts 12:20
They were asking for peace because their regions were being fed by him. They needed the friendship of the neighboring king because their region was very narrow and was pressed by the boundaries of Galilee and Damascus. Whence, neither did their metropolis of Tyre have so much wealth from its own land that it might be the emporium of the whole world, as much as it had from the subjugation of ships. It is also very rich in purple dye and shellfish. [Acts 12:23] -- Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him. Consistently also according to Josephus: “While he did not shudder at the wickedness of illicit adulation, shortly after, looking, he sees an angel standing over his head; and immediately he felt him as the minister of his destruction, whom he had previously known as the provider of good things.” And shortly after: “Indeed, tortured by continuous pains in his bowels for five days, he violently broke off his life.”
Chapter 13
Acts 13:2
Separate for me Barnabas and Saul for the work, to which I have called them. It seems that Saul, according to the order of history, in the thirteenth year after the passion of the Lord, received the apostleship with Barnabas and the name of Paul. But in the fourteenth year, according to the agreement of James, Cephas, and John, he set out to teach the Gentiles. Nor does the ecclesiastical history contradict, saying that the apostles were commanded to preach in Judea for twelve years. [Acts 13:5] -- They preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. Due to ignorance of the places, I believed it should be noted once: Wherever you see a synagogue of the Jews, know that occurrences in the city are described. [Acts 13:6] -- Whose name was Bar-Jesus. It is incorrectly read as Barjesus, when it should be read as Bar-Jew, that is, sorcerer, or in evil. I believe that the name Jesus is written with the same letters but with a mark above. For it is not fitting for a wicked man and sorcerer to be called the son of Jesus, that is, the Savior, whom conversely Paul calls the son of the devil.
Acts 13:9
Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit. From Sergius Paulus the proconsul, because he subjugated him to the faith of Christ, he took the name of Paul. And the subsequent sections of this account deal with the miracles of Paul. For it was fitting that he should give the completion to apostolic acts, whom the Lord had long chosen despite him kicking against the goads. [Acts 13:11] -- Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind. The Apostle, mindful of his own example, knew that it was possible to rise from the darkness of the eyes of the mind to light. For he did not deserve to have the eyes of the flesh, who labored to take away the eyes of the mind from others. [Acts 13:14] -- They came to Antioch in Pisidia. There are two cities named Antioch: one in Coele-Syria, founded by King Seleucus, which was formerly called Reblata, which they say has the nearby spring of Daphne, and enjoys its abundant waters, in which the disciples were first named Christians; but the other Antioch, of which there is now mention, is in the province of Pisidia.
Acts 13:19
He distributed their land to them by lot, as it were after four hundred and fifty years. God had said to Abraham that his seed would be a stranger in a foreign land for four hundred years. And again he said: "In Isaac shall your seed be called." From the birth of the seed until the exodus of Israel from Egypt, there were (as Exodus writes) four hundred and five years. Add to these the forty years in the desert, and five in the land of Canaan, during which it seems that the land rested from battles, and the lot was cast, and you will find four hundred and fifty years. [Acts 13:21] -- And God gave them Saul for forty years. I believe, because the Book of Kings does not explicitly state how many years Saul reigned, that the Apostle, speaking popularly, wished to say what common rumor held. But searching more diligently there, as the books of Chronicles also testify, we found that Samuel and Saul governed Israel for forty years. For it says, "In the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel came out of Egypt, Solomon began to build the temple of the LORD, in the fourth year of his reign." When you add to the three hundred and ninety-six years, during which the judges ruled, as indicated in their book, the forty years of David and the four of Solomon, forty remain, of which, as Josephus testifies, Samuel spent twenty and Saul spent the other twenty in governance.
Acts 13:33
Because God fulfilled this promise to your children by raising Jesus, as it is written in the second psalm: “You are my Son, today I have begotten you.” It should not be thought that this example from the psalm pertains to the resurrection of Christ, which he has just mentioned, but to his very incarnation, about which he spoke earlier. For the following verse clearly testifies about the resurrection. Since he was speaking earlier about his incarnation, passion, and resurrection, he wanted to confirm both with testimonies from the psalm. Therefore, he says, "You who are eternal, Son before the ages, now appear born in time." Some codices have: "As it is written in the first psalm," which is thus explained, the first and second psalms being considered as one work, which begins in blessedness and ends in blessedness. [Acts 13:34] -- Because I will give you the holy and faithful promises of David, that is, whatever I promised David, I will surely and faithfully fulfill to you, namely, that Christ would be born from his lineage. For Isaiah, tasting the mysteries of the New Testament in this way, says: “And I will make with you an everlasting covenant, the holy and sure blessings of David” (Isaiah 55:3). This is read in the Hebrew truth: “And I will make with you an eternal covenant, the faithful mercies of David.”
Acts 13:43
Many Jews and devout converts followed them. It is better read: "And worshipers of God," as we have seen in the Greek. This means those who were Gentiles by nature but Jews by religion, whom the Greeks call proselytes. [Acts 13:47] -- For the Lord has commanded us: I have set you as a light to the Gentiles. What was specifically said to the Lord Christ, the apostles now consider said to themselves, remembering that they are his members, just as he himself, because of the unity of the same body, said: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4). [Acts 13:51] -- But shaking the dust off their feet against them, they went to Iconium. The dust is shaken off the feet according to the precept of the Gospel as a testimony of their labor, that they entered their city and that the apostolic preaching reached them; or the dust is shaken off so that they take nothing from them, not even what is necessary for sustenance, who have rejected the Gospel.
Acts 13:52
And the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. In the Greek it is: "But the disciples," so that we may understand, while the Jews were persecuting the faith, the disciples were enriched in contrast with spiritual joy.
Chapter 14
Acts 14:2
They stirred up the souls of the Gentiles against the brothers. What follows in Greek: "But God made peace," is missing in some Latin manuscripts. And there: "They were preaching," it follows in Greek: "And the whole multitude was moved by their teaching." [Acts 14:6] -- But Paul and Barnabas stayed in Lystra. And these little verses are not found in some of our manuscripts. [Acts 14:8] -- And a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, sat, etc. Just as that lame man whom Peter and John healed at the gate of the temple prefigures the salvation of the Jews, so also this sick man of Lycaonia, a people far removed from the religion of the law and temple, but gathered by the preaching of the apostle Paul. He says, "They gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should go unto the Gentiles, and they unto the circumcision." And the times agree with the exposition. For he was in the early days of faith, when the word had not yet been believed by the Gentiles; but here the Jews, having been expelled for their unbelief and sprinkled with the dust of condemnation, are healed amidst the new joys of the converted Gentiles.
Acts 14:9
And seeing that he had faith to be healed. And that one seeks money in the Jewish manner, but this one seeks salvation from the apostles through faith. [Acts 14:10] -- He said with a loud voice: Stand upright on your feet. In the Greek exemplar it is read: He said with a loud voice: I say to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, stand upright on your feet. We have added these from the translation, so that, bewildered by the variety of manuscripts, you might not be ignorant of what is true. [Acts 14:11] -- The gods, likened to men, have come down to us. The foolish error of the Gentiles, who think that whatever they see above themselves are gods. [Acts 14:12] -- And they called Barnabas Jupiter; indeed, because he seemed to be the chief among them. For they thought Jupiter was the father of gods and king of men.
Acts 14:12
But Paul, Mercury, because he was the chief speaker; because they believed Mercury to grant eloquence and speech to mortals. Hence, they called Mercury as if running in the middle, that is, between ears and tongues, and the Greeks called him Hermes, which means interpreter. [Acts 14:13] -- Bringing bulls and garlands before the gates. The bulls for sacrifice, and the garlands, either to decorate the face of the temple according to the custom of the Gentiles or to place them upon those they would sacrifice to as gods. [Acts 14:14] -- Having torn their clothes, they rushed out into the crowd, and so on. They, fearing, tear their garments because they were being honored with the worship of gods. For this is a custom of the Jews whenever they hear anything blasphemous and as if against God. But Herod, because he did not give honor to God but acquiesced to the excessive favor of the people, was immediately struck by an angel.
Chapter 15
Acts 15:2
They decided that Paul and Barnabas and some others from them should go up to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, etc. About this ascension of his, Paul himself writes to the Galatians: Then, after fourteen years, I went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also, and I communicated to them the Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles (Galatians II); where the very number that he mentioned must be reckoned in years. For we know that the apostles Peter and Paul suffered martyrdom in the thirty-eighth year after the passion of the Lord, that is, in the last year of Nero, and that the blessed Peter sat upon the episcopal throne in Rome for twenty-five years. Now, twenty-five and fourteen make not thirty-eight but thirty-nine. Therefore, it follows that we believe the blessed Peter came to Rome in the same fourteenth year after the passion of the Lord, in which Paul conversed with him at Jerusalem, in the fourth year of Claudius Caesar; and likewise, unless I am mistaken, from this position it is proven that the blessed Apostle Paul came to faith in the same year in which the Lord suffered and rose again.
Acts 15:5
Saying that it is necessary to circumcise them. The Galatians were deceived by this error, believing that circumcision and the ceremonies of the law should be mixed with the grace of baptism. [Acts 15:9] -- Purifying their hearts by faith. Therefore, it is not necessary to cleanse them with the circumcision of the flesh, whose hearts such great faith purifies, that they even deserve to receive the Holy Spirit before baptism. [Acts 15:11] -- But by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we believe to be saved, even as they are. If therefore they, that is, the fathers who could not bear the yoke of the old law, believed themselves to be saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is manifest that this grace was what made the ancient righteous live. Since the righteous shall live by faith, there could have been different sacraments for different times, yet all converging harmoniously to the unity of the same faith.
Acts 15:16
After this I will return, and build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen, and the rest. The tabernacle of David signifies the shadow of the law, which was corrupted and torn apart by the traditions of the Pharisees, but when the Lord returns, that is, appears in the flesh, it is raised up by the spiritual grace of God, so that not only Jews but also all nations of the Gentiles may seek his name. [Acts 15:20] -- And from things strangled, and blood, that is, from shedding blood or eating with blood. These indeed were allowed for those coming from a Gentile life, as the rudiments of the faith and the ingrained habit of Gentilism, but lest they should think that the same sufficed even for the more perfect, he diligently added and said: [Acts 15:21] -- For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him in the synagogues; that is, and if they are not burdened by the severity of the precepts now, yet with passage of time, as they more frequently gather for reading of the law and the prophets, they will gradually adopt ways of life and the interrelated laws of mutual love to be preserved. For the primitive Church, still Judaizing, it is understood to have celebrated these on Sabbaths.
Acts 15:28
It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us; that is, it pleased the Holy Spirit, who, being the arbiter of his own power, breathes where he wills and speaks what he wills. [Acts 15:28] -- It has also seemed good to us; not by our will alone, but by the urging of the same Spirit. [Acts 15:35] -- Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch. In those days, what the apostle Paul said was fulfilled: When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face (Galatians 2). [Acts 15:38] -- But Paul insisted that he should not be received. Because, standing on the very forefront of the line, he had stood too tepidly, and rightly, Paul rejected him, lest others be corrupted by his influence as though it were contagion. [Acts 15:39] -- There was, however, discord. Do not think this a sin. For it is not wrong to be troubled, but to be troubled irrationally, without any just cause.
Acts 15:39
And Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus. For the brother he loved and who was related to him (for they are said to have been cousins), Barnabas, separated from Paul, returned to his native island, and nonetheless carried out the evangelical work commanded to him.
Chapter 16
Acts 16:3
He circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places. Not that he believed the figures of the law would bring any utility with the truth of the Gospel shining forth, but so that the Jews would not fall away from the faith because of the Gentiles. Though these old shadows were to be gradually taken away, as was the moral depravity of the Gentiles, as said above. For those legal shadows, sometimes established by the Lord, were sometimes used by the Apostles in those times to avoid the infidelity of the Jews. But the Gentile institution, truly found by Satan, was never touched by the saints. [Acts 16:6-9] -- They were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia, etc., up to Passing into Macedonia, help us. Truly the Lord is terrible in counsel above the sons of men. One promises to follow the Master in everything and is not allowed; another, commanded to follow, does not get the requested leave for burial of his father. Saul is drawn in, invincible and resisting. To Cornelius, persistent in prayers and alms, the way of salvation is shown as a reward, and God, who knows the hearts, removes the Teacher from Asia through the grace of a benefit, lest the error of a wicked heart be judged more severely for despised preaching if what is holy is given to dogs. Again, while another apostle cares elsewhere, a legate from Macedonia, whom we believe to be an angel of that nation, asks to be offered crumbs of the Lord's bread.
Acts 16:12
Which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. A colony is one that, due to the lack of natives, is filled with new settlers. Hence it is also called a colony from the cultivation of fields. [Acts 16:16] -- A certain girl having a spirit of divination. What pythonic divination entails in terms of knowledge, we find in the book of Kings, where, at Saul's request, a witch summoned either the soul of Samuel or rather an unclean spirit in his stead from the underworld. This kind of magical fantasy, discovered by Apollo Pythius and named after him, is thus called. But the Hebrew name also fits, who call the Python the mouth of the abyss. [Acts 16:17] -- These men are servants of the Most High God. This is not a confession from the will, followed by a reward for confessing, but compelled by the fear of the Holy Spirit, the lying spirit speaks truth, not daring to hide its darkness any longer in the present light. But God says to the sinner: Why do you recount my statutes? Let us not be corrupted by the bitter honey of deceit, if he who serves falsehood sings truth, as Arator says.
Acts 16:18
I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. Bar-Jesus, who was an adversary of the faith, was struck blind both in physical weakness and loss of his sight. But he managed to deprive this woman, who though perverted in mind, yet spoke the truth, only of her wicked art. For it was unfitting that the word of the Gospel should be proclaimed by an unclean spirit; he commanded this one to depart and be silent, for devils must confess the Lord with trembling, not praise with joy. [Acts 16:21] -- And they proclaim a custom which it is not lawful for us to receive or to observe, since we are Romans. They speak of the faith of Jesus Christ, in whose name the spirit of Python had departed. For the Romans had already decreed that no god should be accepted unless approved by the Senate.
Acts 16:25
And at midnight Paul and Silas were worshiping God, saying a hymn, and so forth. The devotion of the apostolic heart and the power of prayer are expressed together, as both they sang hymns in the depth of the prison, and their praise shook the ground of the prison, and struck its foundations, and opened the gates, and finally released the chains of the prisoners themselves. Alternatively: Whoever among the faithful considers it all joy when he falls into various temptations (James 1), and willingly glories in his infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in him (2 Cor. 12), with Paul and Silas, hymns amidst the prison's darkness, and with the Psalmist sings to the Lord: You are my refuge from the oppression that surrounds me, my exultation (Psalm 31). [Acts 16:33] -- He washed their wounds, and he was baptized himself. A beautiful variety of events. Those whose wounds of injuries he washed, by them he lost his own wounds.
Chapter 17
Acts 17:3
Explaining and demonstrating that Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead, and that this Jesus is the Christ. Among the Scriptures, the Father indicated both that Christ must suffer and rise, and that this very suffering and resurrection pertains to no one other than Jesus of Nazareth. For there were some of the Jews, as there are today, so perfidious, that although they cannot deny the suffering and resurrection of Christ inserted in the Scriptures, yet they totally deny that these refer to Jesus, preferring rather to expect the Antichrist than to believe Jesus Christ. And therefore Paul not only preached the mysteries of Christ but also taught that these were fulfilled in Christ Jesus. [Acts 17:4] -- And a great multitude of worshipers and Gentiles; that is, both those who had exchanged their gentile rites for Judaism and those who had remained entirely Gentiles, many joined to Christ.
Acts 17:11
These people were nobler than those who are in Thessalonica. He speaks of the nobility of soul which they had displayed in hearing and scrutinizing the word. [Acts 17:18] -- Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. The Epicureans, following the slowness of their teacher, placed human happiness solely in bodily pleasure, while the Stoics placed it solely in the virtue of the soul. Although they disagreed among themselves, they unanimously attacked the Apostle because he taught that man consisted of both soul and body and therefore should be happy in both; but this would be achieved neither in the present time nor by human virtue, but by the grace of God through Jesus Christ in the glory of the resurrection. [Acts 17:18] -- What does this idle babbler want to say? Rightly is he called an idle babbler, that is, σπερμόλογος, because the word of God is a seed. And Paul the Apostle himself says: "If we have sown spiritual things among you," etc. (1 Cor. 9).
Acts 17:23
I found an altar with the inscription: To the Unknown God. God is known in Judea but not received. God is unknown in Achaia, although earnestly sought through many means. Therefore, those who do not know will be ignored; those who transgress will be condemned. Neither is free from fault, but those who have not offered faith to Christ, whom they did not know, are more excusable than those who have laid hands on Christ, whom they knew.
Acts 17:24
God, who made the world and everything in it, being the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, and so on. The order of the apostolic discourse is to be carefully observed, in which he formed a way of dealing with the Gentiles: first teaching that there is one God, the author of the world and of all things, in whom we live and move and have our being, of whom we are the offspring. This shows that he ought to be loved not only for the gifts of light and life but also because of a certain kinship of race. Then he refuted that opinion about idols by clear reasoning, that the creator and lord of the whole world cannot be confined in stone temples, that the giver of all benefits does not need the blood of sacrifices, and that the creator and governor of all men cannot be created by the hand of man. Finally, that God, in whose image man was made, should not be thought to resemble metals, teaching that the remedy of error is the endeavor to repent. For if he had first sought to destroy the ceremonies of idols, the ears of the Gentiles would have rejected him. Therefore, when he persuaded them that there is one God, he then affirmed by His judgment that salvation had been given to us through Christ. He called Him more man than God, starting from the things He did in the body and describing them as divine, so that He seemed more than a man. He had conquered death by His power, and, rising from the dead, He (for faith grows gradually), as He was seen to be more than a man, was believed to be God. For what does it matter in what order one believes? Perfection is not sought in beginnings, but one progresses from beginnings to what is perfect.
Acts 17:28
For in Him we live and move and have our being. This verse, because it is difficult to understand, should be explained by the words of blessed Augustine. "The Apostle shows," he says, "that God works unceasingly in the things He has created. For indeed we do not exist in Him as in His substance, as it is said that He has life in Himself; but certainly, since we are something other than Him, we exist in Him only because He works this. And this is His work by which He contains all things, and which His wisdom extends from end to end mightily and orders all things sweetly. Through this arrangement, we live, move, and exist in Him. From this it is inferred that if He withdrew this work from things, we would neither live, nor move, nor exist." And a little later: "For neither heaven nor earth, and all things in them, namely the whole of spiritual and bodily creation, remain in themselves, but surely in Him of whom it is said: For in Him we live and move and have our being. For although each part can exist in the whole, which it is a part of, the whole itself does not exist except in Him by whom it was made." The same blessed Augustine elsewhere says: "This, if the Apostle were speaking according to the body, could also be understood of this corporeal world. For in it according to the body we live, move, and exist." Hence, according to the mind which is made in His image, this should be taken in a certain more excellent and not visible but intelligible mode. For what is not in Him, of whom it is divinely written: For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things (Rom. XI)?
Acts 17:28
As some of your poets have said. This is what he says elsewhere: I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. For to those who did not accept the faith of the prophets, not Moses, not Isaiah, or any of the prophets, but he speaks by the testimonies of their own authors, citing the verse of Aratus, confirming his truth from their falsities, which they could not contradict. Indeed, it is of great knowledge to give food to fellow servants at the right time, and to consider the persons of the hearers. [Acts 17:28] -- For we are indeed his offspring. We are most rightly called the offspring of God, not born of His nature, but voluntarily created through His spirit, and recreated by adoption. [Acts 17:34] -- Among whom also is Dionysius the Areopagite. This is Dionysius, who later gloriously ruled the Church as bishop of the Corinthians, and left many volumes of his genius beneficial to the Church, which remain to this day, taking his cognomen from the place he presided over. For the Areopagus is the court of Athens, deriving its name from Mars. For indeed in Greek, Mars is called ἄρης, and ‘pagos’ means hill.
Chapter 18
Acts 18:2
Because Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome. Josephus narrates that this happened in the ninth year of Claudius. Suetonius the historian reports it in this way: Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome, as they were continually making disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus. Whether he meant to restrain and suppress the Jews making disturbances against Christ, or also wished to expel the Christians as related religious members, it is not at all clear. [Acts 18:3] -- They were of the tent-making trade. As exiles in the land and strangers, they build tents for themselves to use on the way; σκῆναι in Greek are called tabernacles, deriving the etymology from shading, among which shade is called σκία; σκῆναι or σκηνώματα mean something like little shades, which the ancients formed from woolen, wooden, or Cilician cloths, or from the leaves or branches of trees. Mystically, just as Peter by fishing draws us from the waves of the world through the nets of faith, so Paul by setting up the tents of protection defends us from the rain of sins, the heat of temptations, and the winds of treacheries, both by word and by deed. At this point, there are two verses in Greek that are not found in some of our manuscripts. He discussed in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded Jews and Greeks. Then follows what both manuscripts have, added:
Acts 18:18
When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, and so forth. Who had his hair cut in Cenchreae for he had a vow. Cenchreae is a port of Corinth, where he cut his hair due to a vow because, according to the law of Moses, those who vowed themselves to God were commanded to let their hair grow as long as they wished to be Nazirites, and afterward to cut it and offer it to the fire. Therefore, Paul did this, not indeed forgetting what he had decided with the other apostles in Jerusalem about the abolition of the law, but lest those who had believed from among the Jews be scandalized, he pretended to be a Jew in order to win the Jews. Some manuscripts have in the plural number "They shaved their head, and had a vow," meaning Priscilla and Aquila. But the distinguished doctors of the Church Jerome and Augustine, each in their letters, put it in the singular number and interpret it concerning Paul. Jerome writes thus: "Bidding farewell to the brothers, he sailed to Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila, and he had his head shaved in Cenchreae for he had a vow."
Acts 18:21–22
He departed from Ephesus, and descending, he went up to Caesarea and greeted the church. He says Caesarea, the metropolis of Cappadocia. For he had not yet come to Syria of Phoenicia. Formerly called Mosacha from Mosoc, the son of Japheth, later it received the name Caesarea from Caesar Augustus. [Acts 18:27] -- When he came, he conferred much with those who believed. For he vigorously confuted the Jews. Another translation has: He greatly benefited the believers by grace. This is what the Apostle writes to the Achaians: "I planted, Apollos watered" (I Cor. III).
Chapter 19
Acts 19:2
And he said to them: Did you receive the Holy Spirit upon believing? This means, Did you receive the laying on of hands, by which the Holy Spirit is usually given, after baptism? [Acts 19:4] -- John baptized with the baptism of repentance. This baptism, he says, could not grant the remission of sins but could teach only repentance. For just as the sign of circumcision was a seal of the faith which they carried in the patriarchs, so this washing was accepted by the repentant people as a singular sign of their devotion: Yet this same thing was figuratively showing also the baptism of Christ, by which remission would be granted. [Acts 19:5] -- Having heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. A question is frequently discussed, whether those who, perhaps due to ignorance, were baptized by some who were not themselves baptized, yet were of the right faith, ought to be baptized again; which matter, I think, is explained in this chapter. For what difference does it make whether someone is baptized before the beginning of Christ's baptism or now without its succession, since even John himself, whom he baptized in faith and in the name of Christ, though it was to come, had baptized, said they should be baptized again, saying: "I baptize you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit" (Matt. III)? For if now, such people could be remedied sufficiently by participation in the body and blood of Christ alone, as some assert, it might have sufficed then too; nor would it have been necessary for those whom John baptized with water to be baptized by Christ's disciples, but merely to be confirmed by sharing in the blood.
Acts 19:7
All the men were about twelve, etc. But the judgments of God are a great abyss. Behold, recently deemed unworthy of the visitation of the apostles, Asia is now consecrated by the Apostolic number and elevated by the prophetic gift. And it should be noted that the Holy Spirit also here showed the signs of his coming upon the twelve disciples, and above upon the one hundred and twenty, which is the number twelve multiplied by ten, that sign in Jerusalem, this in Ephesus, which is a city of the Greeks. I believe to show that whether a person believes from among the Jews or the Gentiles, they only who communicate with the unity of the Catholic and Apostolic Church are fulfilled. [Acts 19:13] -- However, certain itinerant Jewish exorcists attempted to invoke over those who, etc. Josephus reports that King Solomon devised and taught his people modes of exorcism, that is, adjurations, by which unclean spirits, once expelled from a person, might not dare to return. This sometimes happens even through reprobates, either for the condemnation of those who do such things or for the benefit of those who see and hear, so that although men may despise those who perform the signs, they nevertheless honor God, at whose invocation such great miracles are performed.
Acts 19:14
However, there were some seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva, who were doing this. It is better read according to the Greek: However, there was of a certain Sceva. Since even Satan himself transforms into an angel of light (II Cor. XI), he does not fear to color his ministers with the same pretense. Hence, since the grace of the Holy Spirit is usually designated by the number seven, in which figure the Lord, after the resurrection, feasts with seven disciples, and seven brothers come to Cornelius to baptize him with the Holy Spirit, the sons of Sceva are reckoned as if they are to expel evil spirits in the number seven. Since they invoke the name of Christ and the apostles, not believing, but testing, they are deservedly condemned not only by God but also by the very demons for their deceitful falseness. They are well called the sons of Sceva, which translates to "little fox crying out." This animal, very crafty and deceitful, shows Jews, Gentiles, and heretics always lurking against the Church of God and chattering with a garrulous voice. Concerning whom it is commanded by the guardians of the same Church: Catch for us the little foxes that ruin the vineyards.
Acts 19:15
Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize. About this verse, Arator says, Know your madness, enemy race, the demon admits to reigning, Whom you deny has come, and you are convicted by this very fact, By the one who drives you to ruin. [Acts 19:19] -- And many of those who had followed curious arts brought their books, etc. He calls curious arts the industry of magical arts, whose followers justly burn their books, valued at a great price, when they see the very demons they served honoring Jesus Christ the Lord and his apostles. [Acts 19:19] -- They found the sum to be fifty thousand silver coins. And in the Gospel's debtors under the number of fifty denarii, debts are forgiven. I believe that subsisting in this life with the five senses of the body, we transgress the precepts of the Decalogue. Here, however, due to the enormity of the magic crime, the number of a thousand is also added. Otherwise, the number fifty often refers to penance and the remission of sins, whence the Fiftieth Psalm of Penance, and the fiftieth year is one of remission.
Acts 19:22
Sending two of his ministers to Macedonia, etc. He sent disciples ahead to prepare alms, which he was to bring to Jerusalem, so that collections would not be made when he came himself. [Acts 19:24] -- A certain Demetrius, a silversmith, etc. This Demetrius, who tries to disturb the way of the Lord, fulfills his name by his actions. For it means "excessive persecutor." Hence, accordingly, the temples he makes for Diana are built of nothing else but silver metal since silver in the Scriptures is usually indicated by eloquence, just as gold signifies understanding. And the cunning gentiles try to defend their religion not with any reason of understanding but with the mere elegance of words. [Acts 19:27] -- Not only, however, will this part of our work be in danger of coming into disrepute, but also the temple of the great Diana will be considered as nothing, and be destroyed, etc.; that is, not only will our works be found vain and unworthy of reward, but our religion will also be dishonored, if Paul's teaching prevails, that idols are not gods. And the foolishness of the Gentiles is astonishing, who are not ashamed to worship those whom they know can be built or destroyed by humans.
Acts 19:28
And they cried out, saying: Great is Diana of the Ephesians. When Demetrius said Diana would perish, they, on the contrary, marvel at her greatness. [Acts 19:29] -- And they rushed with one accord into the theater. The theater is a place having the shape of a semicircle, where people standing inside watched scenic plays. Hence, it received its name in Greek, from the spectacle. Therefore, as Arator says: The merit and cause of Diana deserved no other than to be treated lasciviously in the market forum, the base area of the ugliness of the assembly's work.
Chapter 20
Acts 20:1–2
And he set out to go to Macedonia. After he had toured those parts and had exhorted them with many words, he came to Greece. Greece is a province of Achaia, which the Greeks call ἑλλάδα. Hence, where Latin Codices have Greeks or, to distinguish them from Jews, Gentiles, the Greek text writes ἕλληνας and ἑλληνιστὰς. So after Macedonia, Paul came to this place, because he intended, as said above, to pass from Macedonia and Achaia and to go to Jerusalem. [Acts 20:7] -- On the first day of the week, when we had gathered together to break bread, etc.; that is, on the Lord's Day which is the first from the Sabbath, when we had gathered to celebrate the mysteries. [Acts 20:7-8] -- And he prolonged his speech until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room. Here we can allegorically say that the upper room signifies the height of spiritual gifts, night the obscurity of the Scriptures, the abundance of lamps the exposition of the hidden sayings, the Lord's Day the remembrance either of the Lord's or our resurrection; and to admonish the spiritual teacher that if at any time, by the sweetness of the resurrection and the joys of eternal life, he will invite his listeners to the heights of virtues, and by prolonged disputation touch upon any secrets of the Scriptures, he should immediately illuminate the same with the lamp of plain exposition for the sake of weak listeners. Just as the Apostle, when he said Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman, immediately explained: These are the two covenants, etc.
Acts 20:9
A certain young man named Eutychus was sitting at the window, etc. Eutychus in Hebrew means insane, in Greek lucky. One of these fits him who has fallen from the height of virtues due to youthful pleasure, the other to him who, by the preacher's condescension, will return to the height of virtues. [Acts 20:9] -- Awakened from sleep, he fell down from the third loft, etc. During the words of preaching, an opportunity for healing arose, so that the word might be strengthened by the sweetness of the miracle and the doctrine, and the labor of vigils might be warded off, and the memory of the teacher soon to depart might be more deeply impressed upon minds. Indeed, the three lofts in which Paul was disputing represent faith, hope, and charity. But the greatest of these is charity (1 Cor. 13). If anyone out of laziness deserts it, and does not fear to slumber among the voice of the Apostle, he will already be counted among the dead. For whoever offends in one point becomes guilty of all (James 2).
Acts 20:10
Upon whom when Paul had descended, he laid upon him. That he descended, laid upon him, embraced him, this is what he himself says: My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you. Indeed, more laborious is the resurrection of those who sin through negligence than those who sin through infirmity. And this is expressed through Eutychus, and that through Tabitha whom Peter raised. And therefore she, sick for days, dies; he falls down and dies in the middle of the night. She, washed after death, is placed in an upper chamber; he, fallen from the third loft, is mourned dead below. He in the presence and teaching, she with the teacher absent. To him Paul descended, to her Peter ascended to raise her. She, immediately seeing Peter, sat up; he, having died in the middle of the night, finally rises in the morning, and with the breath of the sun of righteousness, is brought back to life.
Acts 20:16
For he was hastening if it were possible to be present at the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem. Indeed, it was commanded by the law that all Jews should gather in Jerusalem three times a year, that is, at the time of Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles, but the Apostle, breaking the ties of the world, hastens to observe the fiftieth day, that is, the day of remission and the Holy Spirit. [Acts 20:17] -- He called the elders of the Church. For elders, the Greek uses πρεσβυτέρους. [Acts 20:23] -- Except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city. When he says through the cities, he clearly shows that what was to come for him, he knew not through himself but revealed by others about himself. Among these was the prophet Agabus, and also those disciples who, persisting in Tyre, warned him through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem.
Acts 20:23
Saying, that bonds and tribulations await me in Jerusalem. So that where he once persecuted the Church, he now fights for the peace of the Church. [Acts 20:24] -- Nor do I count my life dearer than myself. He means the very life in the temporal body, which he considers as the least, who awaits eternal joy in another life. [Acts 20:26] -- Because I am clean from the blood of all of you. He believed himself to be clean from the blood of his neighbors by the fact that he did not spare their sins from being struck. [Acts 20:28] -- In which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. For above he had called the elders called from Ephesus to Miletus, whom he now names bishops, that is, overseers. For indeed one city could not have many bishops, but he signifies those same elders, as true priests under the name of bishops. For the rank is joined, and in many respects nearly similar.
Acts 20:28
To rule the Church of God, which He purchased with His own blood. He does not doubt to call it the blood of God, on account of the union of the person in the two natures of the same Jesus Christ. Because of which it is also said: The Son of Man who is in heaven (John III). Therefore, let Nestorius cease to separate the Son of Man from the Son of God and make for himself two Christs. [Acts 20:30] -- And from among yourselves will arise men speaking perverse things. Concerning these, John also says: They went out from us, but they were not of us (1 John II). [Acts 20:31] -- For three years, night and day, I did not cease to admonish each one of you with tears. This is beautifully and succinctly explained by Arator: He who sings of the Church’s three doctrines, often produces a Historical, moral-sounding, and typological volume; Hence Judea, lying empty, is called the barren tree, Which, after three years, did not produce the expected fruit.
Acts 20:35
I showed you all things. That is, not only must one persist in teaching amid pressures and tears, but one must also work with one’s hands to support the weak so that no one is burdened. This is what was meant by: And whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I return (Luke X), namely, to preach the Gospel and not to seek support from the Gospel. [Acts 20:35] -- It is more blessed to give than to receive. He does not prefer the rich almsgivers to those who, having left all, followed the Lord; but he glorifies those most greatly who, having renounced all they possess at once, still work with their hands to produce what is good so they have something to give to those in need.
Chapter 21
Acts 21:5
We set out, being escorted by wives and children, etc. The prophecy which sings of the Church is fulfilled: The daughters of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts, the rich among the people (Psalm XLIV), and the rest, up to the end of the Psalm. For no city received, held, or dismissed the Apostle with greater sweetness. Indeed, today the place in the sands where they prayed together is shown. [Acts 21:10] -- A certain prophet came down from Judea. He says from Judea because Caesarea, where they were staying, belongs to the region of Samaria, situated at the border of Phoenicia and Palestine. [Acts 21:11] -- Thus says the Holy Spirit: The man whose belt this is, will be bound by the Jews in Jerusalem in this way. He imitates the old prophets, who used to say: Thus says the Lord God. Because the Holy Spirit is equally Lord and God, as the Father and the Son, and their activity cannot be separated, whose nature and will is one. Whence we also read above: The Holy Spirit said: Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them (Acts XIII), that is, the apostleship. And Paul himself writes: Paul, an apostle not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father (Galatians I). We have said this, lest anyone, after the manner of Macedonius, thinks the Holy Spirit to be a creature or of lesser authority than the Father or the Son.
Acts 21:18
The following day Paul went in with us to James. This James was the brother of the Lord, that is, of Mary, the sister of the Lord's mother, whom John the Evangelist mentions, and he was her son. Immediately after the passion of the Lord, he was appointed bishop by the apostles and ruled the Church in Jerusalem for thirty years, that is, until the seventh year of Nero. When the Jews, who were keen to kill Paul, could not do so, as soon as Festus died and Albinus had not yet arrived in the province, they turned their hands against James, who was buried next to the temple where he had been cast down.
Acts 21:21
But they have heard about you, that you teach the Jews among the Gentiles to depart from Moses, etc.; that is, they claim that you say that what was administered to the fathers by Moses should be condemned as sacrilegious and not commanded by God due to the doctrine of Christ. This had been alleged of Paul, not by those who understood with what mind these things should have been kept then by the faithful Jews to commend the divine authority and the prophetic sanctity of those sacraments, not to attain salvation, which was already being administered in Christ through the sacrament of baptism; but by those who had spread this about Paul, who wished these things to be observed as if salvation in the Gospel could not be obtained without them. For they considered him a most vehement preacher of grace, teaching contrary to their intent, that one is not justified by those things, but by the grace of Christ, for whom these shadows in the law were ordained to foretell. Therefore, seeking to stir up envy and persecution against him, they accused him as an enemy of the law and divine commandments. He could not more fittingly avoid the envy of this false accusation than by himself observing those things which he was thought to condemn as sacrilegious, thus showing that neither the Jews at that time should be prohibited from them as impious, nor the Gentiles compelled to them as necessary. For if he indeed rejected them as had been heard, and yet undertook to celebrate them to conceal his opinion with a simulated action, James would not have said:
Acts 21:24
And all will know that what they have heard about you is false; but would have said, All will think: especially since the apostles had already decreed in Jerusalem that no one should compel the Gentiles to Judaize. However, they had not decreed that no Jew should be prohibited from Judaizing then, although even the Jews were already not compelled by Christian doctrine. [Acts 21:27] -- And when the seven days were nearly completed. These days were not yet completed, but their course was ongoing, the completion was awaited. Hence it is more clearly said in Greek: When the seven days were beginning to be completed. Otherwise, the statement he made after five days of being in Caesarea to the governor cannot stand: For it is not more than twelve days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem. For if you add these seven days and those five days of the council in which he dissociated the Pharisees and Sadducees, and that in which the Jews vowed to kill him, undoubtedly more than twelve days will be found there.
Acts 21:28
Here is the man who speaks against the people, the law, and this place, teaching everyone everywhere. Because they saw that the followers of the new grace attended the ceremonies of the law and the solemnities of the temple less, they feared, as it is read in the Gospel, that the Romans would come and take away both their place and nation. [Acts 21:37] -- He said: Do you know Greek? Are you not the Egyptian, etc.? For an Egyptian had come to Judea, who by magical art claimed prophecy for himself, gathered about thirty thousand Jews; and leading them through the desert, he came to the Mount of Olives, ready to rush from there into Jerusalem and subjugate the city for himself. But Felix anticipated his attempt, quickly meeting him with armed men. The Egyptian, having fled with a few, and others being killed, easily restrained the rash attempt.
Acts 21:38
Four thousand men of the Sicarii. There is no controversy to be held between the tribune who spoke these things and Josephus who wrote about the Egyptian. For it could happen that he first came with a few, the same secretly leading a tyranny, but later joined many to himself by public deceit. It is read, however, that in the time of Felix, this kind of robber arose, who, not seeking hidden places or times, but carrying daggers, that is, short swords in hand, mixed among the people in the very light of day, attached themselves by blind wounds, to the point that death prevented a complaint, and the striker lay hidden. And if anyone were moved by the fact that such things were done in the middle of the city, he too perished. Thus, by fear of danger or dissimulation of the crime, the assassin was not apprehended.
Acts 21:39
A townsman from Tarsus in Cilicia, a not unknown city. The Apostle was indeed born in the town of Giscala in Galilee. When it was captured by the Romans, he moved with his parents to Tarsus in Cilicia. From there, sent to Jerusalem for the study of the law, he was instructed by Gamaliel, a very learned man, as he himself recounts later. However, he calls himself not a citizen but a townsman, from the township, that is, the territory, of the same city in which he was raised. It is called a municipality, because it only pays duties or taxes. For noble and very famous causes, and those which derive from the emperor, belong to the dignity of the cities. And no wonder that he calls himself a Tarsian and not a Giscalite, since the Lord Himself, although born in Bethlehem, is not called a Bethlehemite but a Nazarene.
Chapter 22
Acts 22:9
They did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me. Above, the story narrates about this vision that his companions stood stupefied, hearing indeed the voice, but seeing no one. Hence it is inferred that they heard the sound of a confused voice, but not the distinction of words. [Acts 22:23] -- As they were shouting, throwing off their cloaks, and throwing dust into the air. In the Lord’s passion, the priest alone leaping from the throne tears his garments, because then the old priesthood was to be changed to the new. But now, because after the death of the apostles, the whole nation was to be stripped of the glory of the kingdom, all throw off their garments, and lift their clamor mixed with dust to heaven. According to what the Psalmist says: “The pride of those who hate you rises always” (Psalm 73).
Acts 22:28
I have obtained this citizenship for a great sum of money. Another edition indicates more clearly what he had said. The tribune said: Do you say so easily that you are a Roman citizen? For I know at what price I obtained this citizenship. [Acts 22:28] -- And Paul said: But I was born so. That is, in this I am more of a Roman than you because I did not buy the Roman name elsewhere, but I was born in their city.
Chapter 23
Acts 23:3
God will strike you, whitewashed wall. He did not say this disturbed in mind, but indeed he spoke prophetically, because that figurative priesthood, which was composed in the likeness of a whitewashed wall, was to be struck and destroyed when the true priesthood of Christ had come, with the apostles preaching the Gospel. And that is why he said: God will strike you. He did not say, may He strike you: indeed indicating this in the indicative mode that it would happen, not cursing in the optative. For that he spoke these things with a calm mind, he shows by the following response, saying: [Acts 23:5] -- I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest. For although he truly knew that this was not the high priest in the new testament, nonetheless teaching others, and thus urging those who are in power to behave more modestly, he also wanted to temper himself here.
Acts 23:6
Brothers, I am a Pharisee, etc. Just as the unity of the good is always useful, so the unity of the wicked is always harmful to the good. Therefore, now the Apostle strives to dissociate his persecutors so that they, united, would surround him, but divided, would release him. Thus the Red Sea, which as solid had confined the children of Israel, when divided, freed them from Egypt. But that he attests to being a son of Pharisees, or, according to the Greek, a son of a Pharisee, is what above he glories in, having learned the law and the prophets at the feet of Gamaliel, who is read to be a Pharisee. [Acts 23:12] -- And they bound themselves by an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. While the Lord says: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matt. 5), these contrariwise hunger for iniquity, and thirst so greatly for blood that they even renounce food for their body until satisfied by his death. But there is no wisdom nor prudence nor counsel against the Lord. For even though Paul had offered sacrifices above, shaved his head, performed ritual foot washing, made himself a Jew to the Jews, he did not escape the bonds predicted. And here, although they devise plans, bind themselves with vows, set traps, nevertheless the Apostle is preserved, so that he may bear witness to Christ in Rome as it was told him.
Chapter 24
Acts 24:5
And the author of the sedition of the sect of the Nazarenes. At that time Christians were called Nazarenes as a reproach; later indeed among the Jews a heresy arose called that of the Nazarenes, who believe in Christ, the Son of God, born of the virgin Mary, and say he who suffered under Pontius Pilate and rose again, in whom we also believe. But since they wish to be both Jews and Christians, they are neither Jews nor Christians. [Acts 24:6-8] -- Whom we also apprehended. From whom you will be able, by judging all these things, to know. In this place, some of our Codices have several verses which read in Greek as follows: Whom we also apprehended, and according to our law wished to judge. But Lysias the tribune, coming with many, took him by force from our hands, ordering his accusers to come before you, hence you may be able yourself, by judging all these things, to know, etc.
Acts 24:14
But I confess this to you, that according to the sect which they call a heresy, so I serve my Father God. It is better read in Greek: That according to the way which they call a heresy, so I serve the Father God. For what consistency is there for him who spoke Greek, to say: According to the sect which they call a heresy, since the same in Latin, sect, means heresy in Greek? But he said: So I serve the Father God, according namely to that way which the unbelievers call a heresy, that is, a sect, as if it has more persistence in its following than in the diligence of rightly discerning. [Acts 24:19] -- But some Jews from Asia. Join this to the preceding, that is, these are the ones who found me in the temple. [Acts 24:27] -- After two years were completed, Felix receives his successor Porcius Festus. He refers to the two years of Paul's stay in Caesarea, not Felix's procuratorship. For it is said above that he was a judge for that nation for many years. Especially since the histories recount that in the second year of Nero, the Apostle was sent to Rome, and that Claudius Caesar, at the time when he made Agrippa, the son of Herod, whom the angel struck down in Caesarea, king of the Jews, he also sent Felix as procurator of the whole province of Samaria and Galilee, and the region called across the Jordan.
Chapter 25
Acts 25:11
No one can grant me to them. I appeal to Caesar. The reason he appeals to Caesar and hastens to go to Rome is so that he may persist longer in preaching, and when many believe from this, and with everyone he will be crowned as he goes to Christ. [Acts 25:13] -- King Agrippa and Bernice came down to Caesarea. This Agrippa who came to Caesarea with his sister is (as I said) the son of Herod Agrippa, whom we read above was killed by the angel, who held the kingdom of Judea until the destruction of Jerusalem, always friendly to the Romans, and safest from all that Jewish sedition.