Acts 3:2

Acts 3:2 . And a certain man — Well known, it appears, by those who frequented the temple; lame from his mother’s womb, was carried — Thither by the help of others, being unable to walk, through a weakness in his ankles; whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, called Beautiful — This gate, which was between the court of the Gentiles and that of Israel, and is here called Beautiful, for the richness of the metal of which it was formed, and its curious workmanship, is termed by Josephus the Corinthian gate. About one hundred and eighty years before this, the city of Corinth had been taken and burned by the Romans; and in the burning of it multitudes of statues and images of brass, gold, and silver, being melted down and running together, made that mixture of metals, which, from that time, was called Corinthian brass, and was valued, by the ancients, above gold or silver. This gate, on the east side of the temple, was made of that brass, and exceeded the other gates, as in its dimensions, so especially in its workmanship and splendour, though most of them were covered over with silver or gold. It was thirty cubits high, and fifteen broad, and was added by Herod the Great.

Lame from his mother’s womb, and not by any casualty, that so the miracle might be the greater, and the power of the God of nature appear. They laid daily; by which it was manifest, that it could not be by any correspondence between the apostles and the lame man upon this occasion. At the gate of the temple; where there must needs be the greater notice taken of him; none going in or out but such as might see him. Called Beautiful, for the excellency of the workmanship: it was at the entering into the second court, or the court of the Jews from that of the Gentiles. This man, out of pride, being unwilling to beg of the Gentiles, though proselyted, (whom they did contemn), or out of policy, hoping to receive more of the Jews, whom he is nearer related to, asked alms of them that entered into the temple. Poverty is no sign of God’s disfavour (our blessed Redeemer is in an especial manner called Caput pauperum ); but lameness in this man, divers miseries and calamities in others, bring them to the knowledge of Christ, and salvation through him.

Acts 3:2 . Καί τις ἀνὴρ , and a certain man ) The man is fully described, in the case of whom Peter performed the first miracle.— ἐβαστάζετο ) Middle [ used to have himself carried ].— θύραν , the door or gate ) whereby many used to enter. It is called πύλη , a gate , in Acts 3:10 .— Ὡραίαν , Beautiful ) Heb., the Gate Susan in the same sense.— τοῦ αἰτεῖν , in order to ask ) Although the people ought not to have had beggars.

Verse 2. - That was lame for lame , A.V.; door for gate , A.V. Door . If any distinction is intended between the θύρα here and the πύλη of ver. 10 (which is not certain, as θύρα is often used for a gate ), we must understand θύρα of the double doors of the gate described by Josephus. Perhaps the lame man leant against one of the open doors. Which is called Beautiful . It is not certain what gate this was. In the 'Dictionary of the Bible' it is described as "the great eastern gate leading from the court of the women to the upper court," following apparently Josephus, 'De Bell. Jud.,' 5. 5:3. But it is impossible to reconcile Josephus's two accounts - that in the 'Bell. Jud.,' 5:05. and that in 'Ant. Jud.,' 15. 11. In the former he says distinctly that there were ten gates - four on the north, four on the south, and two on the east. In the latter he says there were three gates on the north, three on the south, and one on the east. In the former he says that fifteen steps led up from the women's enclosure to the great gate, exactly opposite the gate of the temple itself ( ἄντικρυ τῆς τοῦ ναοῦ πυλῆς ); in the latter he says very distinctly that women were allowed to enter through the great gate on the east. With such discrepancies in the description of the only eye-witness whose evidence has been preserved, it is impossible to speak with certainly.

But it seems probable that there were two gates on the east - one the beautiful and costly gate of Corinthian brass, elaborately described by Josephus, through which the women did pass; the other the greater gate, just opposite to and above the beautiful gate ( ἡ ὑπὲρ τὴν Κορινθίαν ), leading from the court of the women to the inner court; and that Josephus has confounded one with the other in his descriptions. Anyhow, the beautiful gate was probably on the east. Its correct name is said to be the gate of Nicanor. The temple . It must be remembered that the whole platform, including the porches, and the courts of the Gentiles and of the women, and the outer court and the court of the priests, was called τὸ ἱερόν ; the actual house was called ὁ ναός ; that part of the ἱερόν to which only Israelites were admitted, was called τὸ ἅγιον . Josephus also divides the precincts into the first, second, and third ἱερόν . The description of this lame man laid at the gate of the temple to ask alms is very similar to that in Luke 16:20 of Lazarus laid at the rich man's gate; only that the word for laid is in St. Luke ἐπέβλητο , and here is ἐτίθουν . Acts 3:2

Acts 3:2 . Χωλὸς ἐκ κοιλ . μητρ .] born lame . Comp. Acts 14:8 ; John 9:1 . And he was above forty years old, Acts 4:22 . The imperfect ἐβαστάζετο , he was being brought , denotes the action in reference to the simultaneous ἀνέβαινον , Acts 3:1 ; and ἐτίθουν , its daily repetition . τὴν λεγομ . ὡραίαν ] which bears the by-name (see Schaefer, Melet. p. 14) “ Beautiful .” The proper name was, “ gate of Nicanor .” It lay on the. eastern side of the outermost court of the temple, leading towards the valley of Kidron, and is described by Josephus, Bell. v. 5. 3, as surpassingly splendid: τῶν δὲ πυλῶν αἱ μὲν ἐννέα χρυσῷ καὶ ἀργύρῳ κεκαλυμμέναι πανταχόθεν ἦσαν , ὁμοίως τε παραστάδες καὶ τὰ ὑπέρθυρα · μία δὲ ἡ ἔξωθεν τοῦ νεῶ Κορινθίου χαλκοῦ πολὺ τῇ τιμῇ τὰς καταργύρους καὶ περιχρύσους ὑπεράγουσα . Καὶ δύο μὲν ἑκάστου τοῦ πυλῶνος θύραι , τριάκοντα δὲ πηχῶν τὸ ὕψος ἑκάστης , καὶ τὸ πλάτος ἦν πεντεκαίδεκα . Others (Wagenseil, Lund, Bengel, Walch) understand it of the gate Susan , which was in the neighbourhood of Solomon’s porch, and at which the market for pigeons and other objects for sacrifice was held. But this is at variance with the signification of the word ὡραῖος ; for the name Susan is to be explained from the Persian capital ( שׁוּשַׁן , town of lilies), which, according to Middoth, 1 Kal. 3, was depicted on the gate.[143] Others (Kuinoel, et al. ) think that the gate Chulda, i.e. tempestiva , leading to the court of the Gentiles, is meant. See Lightf. Hor. ad Joh. p. 946 f.

But this derivation of the name (from חלד tempus ) cannot be historically proved, nor could Luke expect his reader to discover the singular appellation porta tempestiva in ὡραίαν , seeing that for this the very natural “porta speciosa” (Vulg.) could not but suggest itself. Among the Gentiles also beggars sat at the gates of their temples (Martial. 1:112)—a usage probably connected with the idea (also found in ancient Israel) of a special divine care for the poor (Hermann, Privatalterth. § 14. 2). τοῦ αἰτεῖν ] eo fine, ut peteret . [143] Perhaps, however, this picture of Susa on the gate of the temple is only an invention on account of the name, and the latter might be sufficiently explained from the lily-shaped decorations of the columns (מַעֲשֵׂה שׁוּשַׁן, 1 Kings 5:18 ).

2 . And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb ] There is the verb expressed in the original, and it should be translated a certain man who was , &c. was carried ] i.e. regularly every day, and the position in which he had been daily set for the greater part of his forty years’ life (see Acts 4:22 ) made it certain that he would be widely and well known. So Bartimæus sat by the wayside to beg ( Mark 10:46 ). whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful ] The gateways of the Temple gave admission to the inner court from the court of the Gentiles and the court of the women; there were three on the north and the same number on the south, but the Beautiful Gate meant in this verse was probably the gate on the east which led from the court of the women. The other gates, Josephus says ( B. J . v. 5. 3), were overlaid with gold and silver, but this one was “made of Corinthian bronze, and much surpassed in worth those enriched with silver and gold.”

(2) A certain man lame from his mother’s womb. —The careful record of the duration of his suffering is more or less characteristic of St. Luke ( Luke 9:33 ; Luke 14:8 ). The minuteness in this narrative suggests the thought that St. Luke’s informant may have been the cripple himself. Was carried.—Better, was being carried. The gate of the temple which is called Beautiful.—Literally, door, though “gate” is used in Acts 3:10. No gate of this name is mentioned by other writers, but it was probably identical either (1) with the gate of Nicanor (so called, according to one tradition, because the hand of the great enemy of Judah had been nailed to it as a trophy), which was the main eastern entrance of the inner court (Stanley’s Jewish Church, iii. p. 323); or (2) the Susa gate, also on the eastern side, and named in memory of the old historical connection between Judah and Persia, leading into the outer court of the women. The latter was of fine Corinthian brass, so massive that twenty men were required to open or shut it (Jos. Wars, v. 5, § 3). To ask alms of them that entered into the temple.—The approaches of the Temple, like those of modern mosques, were commonly thronged with the blind, lame, and other mendicants. (Comp. John 9:8.) The practice was common at Constantinople in the time of Chrysostom, and has prevailed largely throughout Christendom.