Act 10:10, 11:5, 22:17 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 10. And he became very hungry . From the connexion, where it is said that they were making ready, that is, preparing a meal, it would seem that this was the customary hour of dining. The Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans, however, had but two meals, and the first was usually taken about ten or eleven o'clock. This meal usually consisted of fruit, milk, cheese, etc. Their principal meal was about six or seven in the afternoon; at which time they observed their feasts. See Jahn's Bib. Archae 145. He fell into a trance . Greek, An ecstasy--εκστασις--fell upon him. In , Peter says that in a trance he saw a vision. The word trance , or ecstasy , denotes a state of mind when the attention is absorbed in a particular train of thought, so that the external senses are partially or entirely suspended. It is a high species of abstraction from external objects; when the mind becomes forgetful of surrounding things, and is fixed solely on its own thoughts, so that appeals to the external senses do not readily rouse it. The soul seems to have passed out of the body, and to be conversant only with spiritual essences. Thus Balaam is said to have seen the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, ; thus Paul, in praying in the temple, fell into a trance, and perhaps a similar state is described in . This effect seems to be caused by so intense and absorbing a train of thought, as to overcome the senses of the body, or wholly to withdraw the mind from their influence, and to fix it on the unseen object that engrosses it. It is often a high state of revery , or absence of mind, which Dr. Rush describes as "induced by the stimulus of ideas of absent subjects, being so powerful as to destroy the perception of present objects." (Diseases of the Mind, p. 310, Ed. Phila. 1812.) In the case of Peter, however, there was a supernatural influence that drew his attention away from present objects.

Acts 10:10

Verse 10. And he became very hungry. From the connexion, where it is said that they were making ready, that is, preparing a meal, it would seem that this was the customary hour of dining. The Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans, however, had but two meals, and the first was usually taken about ten or eleven o'clock. This meal usually consisted of fruit, milk, cheese, etc. Their principal meal was about six or seven in the afternoon; at which time they observed their feasts. See Jahn's Bib. Archae 145.

He fell into a trance. Greek, An ecstasy--εκστασις--fell upon him. In Acts 11:5, Peter says that in a trance he saw a vision. The word trance, or ecstasy, denotes a state of mind when the attention is absorbed in a particular train of thought, so that the external senses are partially or entirely suspended. It is a high species of abstraction from external objects; when the mind becomes forgetful of surrounding things, and is fixed solely on its own thoughts, so that appeals to the external senses do not readily rouse it. The soul seems to have passed out of the body, and to be conversant only with spiritual essences. Thus Balaam is said to have seen the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, Nu 24:4,16; thus Paul, in praying in the temple, fell into a trance, Acts 22:17 and perhaps a similar state is described in 2Cor 12:2. This effect seems to be caused by so intense and absorbing a train of thought, as to overcome the senses of the body, or wholly to withdraw the mind from their influence, and to fix it on the unseen object that engrosses it. It is often a high state of revery, or absence of mind, which Dr. Rush describes as "induced by the stimulus of ideas of absent subjects, being so powerful as to destroy the perception of present objects." (Diseases of the Mind, p. 310, Ed. Phila. 1812.) In the case of Peter, however, there was a supernatural influence that drew his attention away from present objects.

Acts 11:5

Verse 5.

(a) "Joppa" Acts 10:9 (*) "vessel" "something"

Acts 22:17

Verse 17. When I was come again to Jerusalem. That is, three years after his conversion. See Gal 1:17,18.

While I prayed in the temple. Paul, like the other converts to Christianity from among the Jews, would naturally continue to offer his devotions in the temple. We meet with repeated instances of their continuing to comply with the customs of the Jewish people.

I was in a trance. Greek, Ecstasy. Acts 10:10. Perhaps he here refers to what he elsewhere mentions, 2Cor 12:1-5, which he calls "visions and revelations of the Lord." In that place he mentions his being "caught up to the third heaven," 2Cor 12:2, and "into paradise," where he heard words which it was "not possible for a man to utter," 2Cor 12:4. It is not certain, however, that he refers in this place to that remarkable occurrence. The narrative would rather imply that the Lord Jesus appeared to him in the temple in a remarkable manner, in a vision, and gave him a direct command to go to the Gentiles. Paul had now stated the evidence of his conversion, which appears to have been satisfactory to them: at least they made no objection to his statement; he had shown by his being in the temple his respect for their institutions; and he now proceeds to show that in his other conduct he had been directed by the same high authority by which he had been called into the ministry, and that the command had been given to him in their own temple and in their own city.

(g) "in a trance" 2Cor 12:2