Proverbs 3:4
4. favour—grace, amiability (Pr 22:11; Ps 45:2); united with this,
a good understanding—(Compare Margin), a discrimination, which secures success. in the sight . . . man—such as God and man approve.Luke 2:52
52. See on Lu 2:40.
stature—or better, perhaps, as in the Margin, "age," which implies the other. This is all the record we have of the next eighteen years of that wondrous life. What seasons of tranquil meditation over the lively oracles, and holy fellowship with His Father; what inlettings, on the one hand, of light, and love, and power from on high, and outgoings of filial supplication, freedom, love, and joy on the other, would these eighteen years contain! And would they not seem "but a few days" if they were so passed, however ardently He might long to be more directly "about His Father's business?"Acts 2:47
47. Praising God—"Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart, for God now accepteth thy works" (Ec 9:7, also see on Ac 8:39).
having favour with all the people—commending themselves by their lovely demeanor to the admiration of all who observed them. And the Lord—that is, JESUS, as the glorified Head and Ruler of the Church. added—kept adding; that is, to the visible community of believers, though the words "to the Church" are wanting in the most ancient manuscripts. such as should be saved—rather, "the saved," or "those who were being saved." "The young Church had but few peculiarities in its outward form, or even in its doctrine: the single discriminating principle of its few members was that they all recognized the crucified Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah. This confession would have been a thing of no importance, if it had only presented itself as a naked declaration, and would never in such a case have been able to form a community that would spread itself over the whole Roman empire. It acquired its value only through the power of the Holy Ghost, passing from the apostles as they preached to the hearers; for He brought the confession from the very hearts of men (1Co 12:3), and like a burning flame made their souls glow with love. By the power of this Spirit, therefore, we behold the first Christians not only in a state of active fellowship, but also internally changed: the narrow views of the natural man are broken through; they have their possessions in common, and they regard themselves as one family" [OLSHAUSEN].Acts 19:20
18-20. many that believed came and confessed . . . their deeds—the dupes of magicians, &c., acknowledging how shamefully they had been deluded, and how deeply they had allowed themselves to be implicated in such practices.
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