Acts 11:13

11:1-18 The imperfect state of human nature strongly appears, when godly persons are displeased even to hear that the word of God has been received, because their own system has not been attended to. And we are too apt to despair of doing good to those who yet, when tried, prove very teachable. It is the bane and damage of the church, to shut out those from it, and from the benefit of the means of grace, who are not in every thing as we are. Peter stated the whole affair. We should at all times bear with the infirmities of our brethren; and instead of taking offence, or answering with warmth, we should explain our motives, and show the nature of our proceedings. That preaching is certainly right, with which the Holy Ghost is given. While men are very zealous for their own regulations, they should take care that they do not withstand God; and those who love the Lord will glorify him, when made sure that he has given repentance to life to any fellow-sinners. Repentance is God's gift; not only his free grace accepts it, but his mighty grace works it in us, grace takes away the heart of stone, and gives us a heart of flesh. The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit.

And he showed us how he had seen an angel in his house,.... The clause, "in his house", is very appropriately put; for since an angel had entered into his house, it could not be criminal in Peter, and the six brethren, to follow him. In one place he is called a man, and in another place an angel; see Acts 10:3 , because, though he was an angel, yet he appeared in the form of a man, as it was usual for angels to do; but whether Cornelius knew that he was an angel, is not certain, since he calls him a man; and not he, but Luke the historian, and Peter, who repeats the account of the vision, call him an angel; however, he looked upon him as an extraordinary person, as sent to him from God, and therefore obeyed the heavenly vision. The Ethiopic version reads, "an angel of God; which stood and said unto him, send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter"; See Gill on Acts 10:5 .

13 . and he shewed us how he had seen an angel ] The Greek has “and he related to us how he had seen the angel.” Before St Peter made this defence, and long before St Luke put it down in the Acts, the story of Cornelius and his vision would be well known, and so the definite article would be used in speaking of it, i.e. “ the angel” of whom all men had heard. said unto him ] The oldest MSS. omit the last two words. Send men to Joppa ] “Men” is omitted in the best MSS. This is one of the numerous insertions by which a repetition of a narrative in this book has been brought into exact verbal accord with the previous form. There have been times when devout men thought much of this verbal accord. It is therefore worth notice that the writers of the N. T. disregarded it utterly. The words in such a solemn inscription as that above the Cross differ in all the four Gospels, and St Peter, when in the Second Epistle ( Acts 1:17 ) he speaks of the heavenly voice heard at the Transfiguration, varies verbally from each of the accounts of the Evangelists.

Matthew, and not at all in the other Evangelists), Acts 3:7 ; Acts 5:10 ; Acts 12:23 ; Acts 12:16 :(26), 33; ἧ , with participle, Acts 13:48 , Acts 14:7 ; Acts 14:12 ; Acts 14:26 ; δή Acts 13:2 ; ἄχρι , Acts 13:6 ; Acts 13:11 ; ἱκανός with χρόνος , Acts 14:3 , elsewhere in N.T. in Luke only, and eight times in Acts in all parts; ἀτενίζειν in Acts 13:9 and Acts 14:9 and the frequent recurrence of τέ in both chapters. It is also perhaps worthy of observation that out of some twenty-one words and phrases found only in the “We” sections, and in the rest of Acts (Hawkins, Horæ Synopticæ , p. 151), six occur in these two chapters, and two of them twice: ἀποπλέω , Acts 13:4 , Acts 14:26 ; διατρίβω with accusative of time, Acts 14:3 ; ἔξειμι , Acts 13:42 ; ἡμέραι πλείους , Acts 13:31 ; προσκέ κλημαι with accusative, Acts 13:2 ; Acts 13:7 ; ὑπονοέω , Acts 13:25 . On the position of these two chapters relatively to chap. 15 see below. Additional note on Acts 14:23 .—On the rapid spread of Christianity in Asia Minor see Ramsay, Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia , i., pp. 87, 94, 95, 135–137, and Church in the Roman Empire , pp. 161, 397. The old nature religion with its negation of moral distinctions and family ties was doomed, a religion which on the one hand made woman the head of the family, and on the other hand compelled her to a so-called sacred service which involved the surrender of all which in a civilised community womanhood held most dear.