SECTION VIII.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH, AND COMMUNITY OF GOODS.— ACTS IV. 23-37.

23 And, being released, they went to their own, and related what things the chief priests and elders said to them. 24 And they having heard it, lifted up their voice with one accord to God, and said, "Lord, Thou who hast made the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and all things in them; 25 Who by the mouth of Thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the peoples imagine vain things? 26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ. 27 For of a truth, in this city, against Thy holy servant Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, were gathered together, 28 To do what things Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done. 29 And now,

Lord, behold their threatenings: and give to Thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak Thy word, 30 Whilst Thou stretchest forth Thine hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Thy holy servant Jesus." 31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

32 And the multitude of believers were of one heart and of one soul: and not one said that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. 33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus; and great favour was upon them all. 34 Neither was there any among them that needed: for such as were possessors of fields or houses sold them, and brought the prices of what was sold, 35 And placed them at the feet of the apostles; and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. 36 And Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, which is, by interpretation, The son of exhortation, a Levite, a Cyprian by birth, 37 Having a field, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the feet of the apostles.

CRITICAL NOTES.

Ver. 24. 'O cós is wanting in A, B, N, several versions and Fathers, and contained in D, E; it is omitted by Lach

mann and Tischendorf, but retained by Meyer, De Wette, and Alford. Ver. 25. The readings in this verse are various ; among which ὁ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν διὰ πνεύματος ἁγίου στόματος Δαυείδ παιδός σου εἰπών is the best attested: it is contained in A, B, E, &; it is, however, rejected by Tischendorf and Meyer, who retain the reading of the textus receptus. Ver. 27. 'Ev Tŷ Tóλe TaÚTη is contained in A', B, D, E, &, and is inserted by all modern critics as undoubtedly genuine. Ver. 36. Instead of 'Iwons, A, B, D, E, read 'Iwond, the reading now generally adopted.

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EXEGETICAL REMARKS.

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Ver. 23. Πρὸς τοὺς ἰδίους—to their own. poses that by idiot is here meant the household church of the apostles, those with whom they were accustomed to unite in social prayer; but there is nothing in the context to limit the expression to so narrow a circle. Meyer and De Wette suppose that the fellow-apostles are meant, because it is said of all present that they spake the word of God (ver. 31), and because in ver. 32 the multitude of believers are distinguished from them; but speaking the word of God was not a matter confined to the apostles, and ver. 32 is the commencement of a new paragraph. By idiot, then, is most naturally meant the community of believers, the church in general. So Kuincel, Baumgarten, Lechler. Among believers the apostles felt themselves at home, as contrasted with being among the rulers in the Sanhedrim. To them they relate all that the chief priests and rulers—that is, the Sanhedrim had said to them. "Not for their own glory," says St. Chrysostom, "did they tell the tale; but what they displayed were the proofs therein exhibited of the grace of Christ. All that their adversaries had said, this they told: their own part, it is likely, they omitted."

This was a most important crisis for the infant church. The highest civil and religious authority in the nation had decided against it. But, weak and defenceless in itself, it does not despond: on the contrary, it betakes itself to God

in prayer; and filled with a holy boldness, it defies all the powers of the world combined to overthrow the cause of Christ. "The church," observes Baumgarten, "is no doubt shaken; but it is the shaking of a tree by the wind, which only causes it to strike a deeper and firmer root into the ground."1

Ver. 24. Oi dè ȧkovσavтes оμоlνμаdòv, etc.-But when they heard that, they lifted up their voice with one accord to God. To the threats of their enemies, the church opposes prayer to God. The origin of this prayer has been variously understood. Bengel supposes that Peter was the spokesman, and that the other disciples repeated the words after him; but, according to the context, it was Peter and John who gave the account, and those who heard that prayed. In a similar manner, Baumgarten supposes that the whole assembly sang together the second Psalm, and that Peter made an application of it to their present circumstances; but the words of the psalm are so interwoven with the application as to form one prayer. Meyer thinks that the words uttered were a form of prayer of the apostolic church of Jerusalem, composed under their fresh impressions of the sufferings of Christ, and under the impulse of the Holy Ghost, and which was now used on account of its suitableness to the occasion;2 but the impression conveyed in the narrative is, that the prayer was now for the first time composed, since it expressly refers to the threatenings of the Sanhedrim, of which they had just been informed. The most probable opinion is that adopted by De Wette, Olshausen, Stier, Lechler, and Alford, that one of the apostles or of the disciples uttered the prayer, and the rest either followed it by word of mouth, or inwardly assented to it.

Δέσποτα, σὺ ὁ ποίησας τὸν οὐρανὸν—Lord, Thou who hast made the heaven. Some supply ei after où-Lord, Thou art He who hast made; but the addition is unnecessary. God is here spoken of as the Creator of all things, because the disciples had recourse to His Omnipotence as a defence 1 Baumgarten's Apostolic History, vol. i. p. 100, Clark's translation. 2 See also Wheatly on the Prayer Book.

against their enemies. All the power of their adversaries is but feebleness, compared with the power of Him who is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and all things in them.

Vers. 25, 26. This quotation is from Ps. ii. 1, 2. The words are taken verbatim from the Septuagint. The second Psalm is in this passage ascribed to David. There is no superscription either in the Hebrew or in the Septuagint; but the Jews ascribed all those psalms whose authors are not mentioned to David; and there are strong presumptive evidences that this second Psalm in particular was his composition.' 'Eppúağav properly refers to the rage of an unmanageable horse; hence to rage, to make a noise, to raise a tumult. Κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦagainst His Anointed. This reference is to the Jewish custom of anointing kings, prophets, and priests, when they were consecrated to their respective offices. "Christ" from the Greek, and "Messiah " from the Hebrew, both suggest the same idea--the Anointed.

With regard to the meaning of these words, they may have a historical foundation, and a primary application to David. He was God's anointed king. Against him the kings of the earth and the rulers were combined. He was exposed to the attacks of foreign enemies: the Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites, Idumeans, and Syrians were confederate against him. He was a prey to civil dissensions, and once he had to fly before his rebellious son. But David here strengthens himself in God; and strong in His protection, he derides all the efforts of his enemies. He was the anointed king of Zion, and therefore all the attacks of his enemies were directed against the Lord Himself.

But whatever may have been its primary meaning, the Psalm is evidently Messianic. It is frequently applied by the inspired writers to Christ, as is here done by the church in general. Thus Paul, in speaking of the resurrection of Christ, expressly quotes it: "As it is written in the second Psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten Thee”

1 Its applicability to the circumstances of the life of David is very evident. See below.

(Acts xiii. 33).1 Its Messianic character is also admitted by Rabbi David Kimchi, Saadias Gaon, and other Jewish writers. And those German critics, such as De Wette, who appear the most unwilling to admit the Messianic nature of the Psalms, yet allow that this psalm refers to the Messiah.2

Ver. 27. In this verse, the church in its prayer makes an application of the prophetic words of David to their present circumstances. 'EV Tŷ TÓλEL TAÚTη-in this city. These words, although not in the textus receptus, are regarded as genuine by all modern critics: they answer to "Upon my holy hill. of Zion" in the second Psalm (Ps. ii. 6). 'ET TOν aуLov Ἐπὶ τὸν ἅγιον παῖδα σου ̓Ιησοῦν—against Thy holy servant Jesus. Παῖδα, the same word which is applied to David in ver. 25: it signifies, not son, but servant. See note to ch. iii. 26. 4aois 'Iopanλ—the peoples of Israel, in the plural: used probably to correspond with Xaoîs in the prophecy, and without reference to the ten tribes, or to the Jews dispersed among the nations. There is a designed correspondence between the different enemies who rose against God's holy servant Jesus, and those mentioned in the Psalm as gathered together against the Lord and His Anointed. Thus the heathen correspond to the Gentiles, that is, the Romans; the peoples to the people of Israel; the kings of the earth to Herod; and their rulers to Pontius Pilate. And so also the Lord in the Psalm corresponds to God, the Maker of heaven and of earth; and the Lord's Anointed to "Thy holy servant Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed."

Ver. 28. Пoiñoai öoa ǹ xeíp σov, etc.—to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done. These words are not to be connected with expiras-that God had anointed Jesus to do whatsoever He had previously determined (Limborch),-a meaning which does violence to the text. But they belong to ovvxnoav-that Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatsoever God's hand and

1 For the application of this psalm to Christ, see Heb. i. 5, v. 15, Rev. ii. 26, 27, xii. 5, xix. 15.

2 De Wette, Apostelgeschichte, p. 53.