Acts 15:14

Simeon, or Simon, the name of Peter; but St. Luke, being himself a Hebrew, writes it according as they pronounced it, and not so contracted as the Greeks wrote it. A people; there were some at all times probably amongst the Gentiles who did fear God, as Job and his three friends; but they did not make a people, or such a number as is here spoken of. For his name: God takes out of the world a people for his name, that is, 1. For himself; as, Proverbs 18:10 , the name of the Lord is put for the Lord himself. 2. For to call upon his name, as also for to be called by his name. 3. For his glory and honour, and to magnify his name.

Acts 15:14 . Συμεὼν ) The Latin Vulg. has Simon [So Amiat. MS.: other MSS. Simeon ]. James, the apostle of the Hebrews, calls Peter by his Hebrew name.[86]— ἐξ ἐθνῶν λαὸν , a people from the Gentiles ) A remarkable paradox.[87] And because they retain their former name, ἐθνῶν , the Gentiles or nations , from this James infers, that they would be the people of GOD, even though they are not by circumcision joined (gathered in to) to the Jewish people.— ἐπὶ ) for . The same particle occurs, ch. Acts 2:38 , Acts 4:17-18 , “ In the name.”[88]—[ τῷ ὀνόματι , the name ) This is demonstrated in Acts 15:17 .—V. g.] [86] Could the reference be to Simeon , Luke 2:25 ; Luke 2:31-32 ?—E. and T. [87] λαὸς being the term always peculiar to the Jews, as opposed to τὰ ἔθνη .—E. and T. [88] The margin of the larger Ed. and Ed. 2, however, prefer the omission of ἐπί .—E. B. It is omitted by ACDE de Iren. Vulg. both Syr. Versions, Theb. It is retained by B (judging from the silence of the collators. But Lachm. in opposition to Tisch. makes B favour the omission) and Memph.—E. and T.

14-17. Simeon—a Hebrew variation of Simon, as in 2Pe 1:1; (Greek), the Jewish and family name of Peter. hath declared how God at the first—answering to Peter's own expression "a good while ago" (Ac 15:7). did visit the Gentiles to take out of them—in the exercise of His adorable sovereignty. a people for his name—the honor of his name, or for His glory.

Verse 14. - Symeon for Simeon , A.V.; re hearsed for declared , A.V.; first God for God at the first , A.V. Symeon . This is the only place (unless Symeon is the right reading in 2 Peter 1:1 ) in which Simon Peter's name is given in this Hebrew form, which is most proper in the month of James speaking to Palestine Jews. Singularly enough, Chrysostom was misled by it, and thought the prophecy of Simeon in Luke 1:31 was meant, How first ; corresponding to the" good while ago" of ver. 7. Did visit , etc. The construction ἐπεσκέψατο λαβεῖν is very unusual, and indeed stands alone. The verb always has an accusative case after it ( Acts 6:3 ; Acts 7:23 ; Acts 15:36 ), unless Luke 1:68 is an exception, which, however, it hardly is. There are two ways of construing the phrase. One is to consider it as elliptical, and to supply, as the A.V. and R.V. do, τὰ ἐθνή . So Alford, who compares the construction in Luke 1:25 , where ἐπ ἐμέ must be supplied. But this is a harsh construction. The other and better way is to take ἐπεσκεψατο , not in the sense of" visiting," but of" looking out," or "endeavoring to find something." The sense of the infinitive after the verb is nearly equivalent to" look out for and took," literally, looked out how he might take.

With a slight modification of meaning, Irenaeus (in 'Speaker's Commentary') renders it" Excogitavit accipere," "planned" or "contrived to take." A people for his Name ; 1. e. to be called by his Name. Λαός was the peculiar designation of "the people" of God, answering to the Hebrew עַם (comp. 1 Peter 2:10 , Οἱ ποτὲ οὐ λαὸς νῦν δὲ λαὸς Θεοῦ ). Acts 15:14

14 . Simeon ( Symeon )] This more Jewish form of the name of the Apostle Peter is found also at the commencement of St Peter’s second Epistle. The Jews after they came to have much intercourse with Gentiles had frequently two forms of name, one of which was employed on religious and solemn occasions, the other in intercourse with non-Jews and in the ordinary transactions of life. Thus in the Apocrypha ( 1Ma 5:17 , &c.) the name of the Maccabean prince is written Simon , though on his coins it stands Symeon (see Gesenius, s.v. ). how God at the first ] Better, how God did first visit , &c. It was not at the first , but some time after the mission of the Holy Ghost on the Apostles that Cornelius was converted. What St Peter had narrated was the first acceptance of a Gentile into the church. visit the Gentiles ] In the old sense of “look upon,” and generally with the accompanying notion of kindness. (Cp. Luke 1:68 ; Luke 1:78 ; Luke 7:16 ; Hebrews 2:6 .) a people for his name ] Thus “the chosen people” were no longer to be Jews only, and so those ceremonial ordinances which had hitherto marked out Jews from Gentiles might be seen to be unnecessary.

Acts 15:14-17 . Συμεών ] formed after the Hebrew שִׁמְעוֹן ( 2 Peter 1:1 ; LXX. Genesis 29:33 ; Luke 2:25 ; Luke 3:30 ; Acts 13:1 ; Revelation 7:7 ), while the more usual Σίμων ( 1 Chronicles 4:20 ) corresponds to the Rabbinical סימון . In the Talmud also both forms of the name are used side by side. Moreover, the original name of Peter was still the current one in the church of Jerusalem. Comp. on Luke 24:34 . We are not to think of any intentional use of it in this passage (that Peter was not here to be regarded according to his apostolic dignity, Baumgarten). ἐπεσκέψ . λαβ . ἐξ ἐθν . λαὸν τῷ ὀν . αὑτοῦ ] he looked to (took care for) the receiving from the Gentiles a people for His name, i.e. a people of God, a people that bore the name of God as their ruler and proprietor. “Egregium paradoxon,” Bengel. Comp. Acts 18:10 ; Romans 9:24-26 . Acts 15:15 . τούτῳ ] neuter: and with this, namely, with this fact expressed by λαβεῖν ἐξ ἐθνῶν κ . τ . λ ., agree, etc. καθὼς γέγραπται ] He singles out from the λογοί τῶν προφ . a passage (comp. Acts 20:35 ), in conformity with which that agreement takes place, namely, Amos 9:11-12 , quoted freely by Luke after the LXX. Amos predicts the blessed Messianic era, in which not only the Davidic theocracy, fallen into decay (by the division of the kingdom), will be again raised up ( Acts 15:16 ), but also foreign nations will join themselves to it and be converted to the worship of Jehovah.

According to the theocratic character of this prophecy, it has found its Messianic historical fulfilment in the reception of the Gentiles into Christianity, after that thereby the Davidic dominion, in the higher and antitypical sense of the Son of David ( Luke 1:32 ), was re-established. μετὰ ταῦτα ] Hebrew and LXX.: ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ . The meaning is the same: after the pre-Messianic penal judgments, in the day of the Messianic restoration. ἀναστρέψω καὶ ἀνοικοδομήσω ] Jehovah had withdrawn from His people; but now He promises by the prophet: I will return and build again the fallen (by desolation) tabernacle of David. Many assume the well-known Hebraism: iterum ( אשׁוב ) aedificabo. This would only be correct were אשׁוב in the original; but there stands only אָקִים , and in the LXX. only ἀναστήσω ; and the idea of iterum is very earnestly and emphatically presented by the repetition of ἀνοικοδ . and by ἀνορθ . τὴν σκηνὴν Δαυΐδ ] The residence of David (the image of the theocracy) is represented as a (torn down and decayed) tabernacle, “quia ad magnam tenuitatem res ejus redactae erant,” Bengel. ὅπως ] not the result, but the design, with which what is promised in Acts 15:16 is to take place. οἱ κατάλοιποι τῶν ἀνθρ .] i.e. the Gentiles.