Act 11:28, 17:6, 31, 19:27, 24:5, Rom 10:18 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 28. Named Agabus . This man is mentioned but in one other place in the New Testament. In , he is mentioned as having foretold that Paul would be delivered into the hands of the Gentiles. It is not expressly said that he was a Christian, but the connexion seems to imply that he was. And signified . See . The word usually denotes, to indicate by signs , or with a degree of obscurity and uncertainty, not to declare in explicit language. But here it seems to denote simply to foretell, to predict. By the Spirit . Under the influence of the Spirit. He was inspired. A great dearth . A great famine. Throughout all the world . The word here used, οικουμενην, usually denotes the inhabitable world, the parts of the earth which are cultivated and occupied. It is sometimes limited, however, to denote an entire land or country , in contradistinction from the parts of it; thus, to denote the whole of the land of Palestine in distinction from its parts, or to denote that an event would have reference to all the land, and not be confined to one or more parts, as Galilee, Samaria, etc. . The meaning of this prophecy evidently is, that the famine would be extensive; that it would not be confined to a single province or region, but that it would extend so far as that it might be called general . In fact, though the famine was particularly severe in Judea, yet it extended much farther. This prediction was uttered not long after the conversion of Saul, and probably, therefore, about the year A.D. 38, or A.D. 40. Dr. Lardner has attempted to show that the prophecy had reference only to the land of Judea, though in fact there were famines in other places.-- ( Lardner's Works , vol. i. pp. 253, 254. Ed. Lond., 1829.) Which came to pass , etc. This is one of the few instances in which the sacred writers in the New Testament affirm the fulfillment of a prophecy. The history having been written after the event, it was natural to give a passing notice of the fulfillment. In the days of Claudius Caesar . The Roman emperor. He began his reign A.D. 41, and reigned thirteen years. He was at last poisoned by one of his wives, Agrippina, who wished to raise her son Nero to the throne. During his reign no less than four different famines are mentioned by ancient writers, one of which was particularly severe in Judea, and was the one doubtless to which the sacred writer here refers. (1.) The first happened at Rome, and occurred in the first or second year of the reign of Claudius. It arose from the difficulties of importing provisions from abroad. It is mentioned by Dio, whose words are these: "There being a great famine, he (Claudius) not only took care for a present supply, but provided also for the time to come." He then proceeds to state the great expense which Claudius was at in making a good port at the mouth of the Tiber, and a convenient passage from thence up to the city.--Dio, lib. Ix. pp. 671, 672. See also Suetonius, Claud. cap. 20. (2.) A second famine is mentioned as having been particularly severe in Greece. Of this famine Eusebius speaks in his Chronicon, p. 204: "There was a great famine in Greece, in which a modius of wheat (about half a bushel) was sold for six drachms." This famine is said by Eusebius to have occurred in the ninth year of the reign of Claudius. (3.) In the latter part of his reign, A. D. 151, there was another famine at Rome, mentioned by Suetonius, (Claud. cap. 18,) and by Tacitus, (Ann. xii. 43.) Of this Tacitus says, that "it was so severe, that it was deemed to be a Divine judgment." (4.) A fourth famine is mentioned as having occurred particularly in Judea. This is described by Josephus, (Ant. b. xx. chap. 2, 5.) "A famine," says he, "did oppress them at the time, (in the time of Claudius ;) and many people died for the want of what was necessary to procure food withal. Queen Helena sent some of her servants to Alexandria with money to buy a great quantity of corn, and others of them to Cyprus to bring a cargo of dried figs." This famine is described as having continued under the two procurators of Judea--Tiberius Alexander, and Cassius Fadus. Fadus was sent into Judea on the death of Agrippa, about the fourth year of the reign of Claudius; and the famine, therefore, continued probably during the fifth, sixth, and seventh years of the reign of Claudius. See Note in Whiston's Josephus, Ant. b. xx. chap. 2, 5; also Lardner as quoted above. Of this famine, or the want consequent on the famine, repeated mention is made in the New Testament. (c) "Agabus" (*) "dearth" "A great famine"

Acts 11:28

Verse 28. Named Agabus. This man is mentioned but in one other place in the New Testament. In Acts 21:10,11, he is mentioned as having foretold that Paul would be delivered into the hands of the Gentiles. It is not expressly said that he was a Christian, but the connexion seems to imply that he was.

And signified. See Jn 12:33. The word usually denotes, to indicate by signs, or with a degree of obscurity and uncertainty, not to declare in explicit language. But here it seems to denote simply to foretell, to predict.

By the Spirit. Under the influence of the Spirit. He was inspired.

A great dearth. A great famine.

Throughout all the world. The word here used, οικουμενην, usually denotes the inhabitable world, the parts of the earth which are cultivated and occupied. It is sometimes limited, however, to denote an entire land or country, in contradistinction from the parts of it; thus, to denote the whole of the land of Palestine in distinction from its parts, or to denote that an event would have reference to all the land, and not be confined to one or more parts, as Galilee, Samaria, etc. Lk 2:1. The meaning of this prophecy evidently is, that the famine would be extensive; that it would not be confined to a single province or region, but that it would extend so far as that it might be called general. In fact, though the famine was particularly severe in Judea, yet it extended much farther. This prediction was uttered not long after the conversion of Saul, and probably, therefore, about the year A.D. 38, or A.D. 40. Dr. Lardner has attempted to show that the prophecy had reference only to the land of Judea, though in fact there were famines in other places.-- (Lardner's Works, vol. i. pp. 253, 254. Ed. Lond., 1829.)

Which came to pass, etc. This is one of the few instances in which the sacred writers in the New Testament affirm the fulfillment of a prophecy. The history having been written after the event, it was natural to give a passing notice of the fulfillment.

In the days of Claudius Caesar. The Roman emperor. He began his reign A.D. 41, and reigned thirteen years. He was at last poisoned by one of his wives, Agrippina, who wished to raise her son Nero to the throne. During his reign no less than four different famines are mentioned by ancient writers, one of which was particularly severe in Judea, and was the one doubtless to which the sacred writer here refers.

(1.) The first happened at Rome, and occurred in the first or second year of the reign of Claudius. It arose from the difficulties of importing provisions from abroad. It is mentioned by Dio, whose words are these: "There being a great famine, he (Claudius) not only took care for a present supply, but provided also for the time to come." He then proceeds to state the great expense which Claudius was at in making a good port at the mouth of the Tiber, and a convenient passage from thence up to the city.--Dio, lib. Ix. pp. 671, 672. See also Suetonius, Claud. cap. 20.

(2.) A second famine is mentioned as having been particularly severe in Greece. Of this famine Eusebius speaks in his Chronicon, p. 204: "There was a great famine in Greece, in which a modius of wheat (about half a bushel) was sold for six drachms." This famine is said by Eusebius to have occurred in the ninth year of the reign of Claudius.

(3.) In the latter part of his reign, A. D. 151, there was another famine at Rome, mentioned by Suetonius, (Claud. cap. 18,) and by Tacitus, (Ann. xii. 43.) Of this Tacitus says, that "it was so severe, that it was deemed to be a Divine judgment."

(4.) A fourth famine is mentioned as having occurred particularly in Judea. This is described by Josephus, (Ant. b. xx. chap. 2, 5.) "A famine," says he, "did oppress them at the time, (in the time of Claudius ;) and many people died for the want of what was necessary to procure food withal. Queen Helena sent some of her servants to Alexandria with money to buy a great quantity of corn, and others of them to Cyprus to bring a cargo of dried figs." This famine is described as having continued under the two procurators of Judea--Tiberius Alexander, and Cassius Fadus. Fadus was sent into Judea on the death of Agrippa, about the fourth year of the reign of Claudius; and the famine, therefore, continued probably during the fifth, sixth, and seventh years of the reign of Claudius. See Note in Whiston's Josephus, Ant. b. xx. chap. 2, 5; also Lardner as quoted above. Of this famine, or the want consequent on the famine, repeated mention is made in the New Testament.

Acts 17:6

Verse 6. These that have turned the world upside down. That have excited commotion and disturbance in other places. The charge has been often brought against the gospel, that it has been the occasion of confusion and disorder.

(*) "Drew" "Dragged" (d) "These that turned the world" Lk 23:5, Acts 16:20

Acts 17:31

Verse 31. Because he hath appointed a day. This is given as a reason why God commands men to repent. They must be judged; and if they are not penitent and pardoned, they must be condemned. Rom 2:16.

Whom he hath ordained. Or whom he has constituted or appointed as judge. Acts 10:42. Jn 5:25.

Hath given assurance Has afforded evidence of this. That evidence consists,

(1.) in the fact that Jesus declared that he would judge the nations, Jn 5:25,26 Mt 25, and

(2.) God confirmed the truth of his declaration by raising him from the dead, or gave his sanction to what the Lord Jesus had said, for God would not work a miracle in favour of an imposter.

(g) "a day" Rom 2:16 (*) "ordained" "Appointed" (1) "given assurance" "offered faith"

Acts 19:27

Verse 27. So that not only, etc. The grounds of the charge which Demetrius made against Paul were two:--first, that the business of the craftsmen would be destroyed--usually the first thing that strikes the mind of a sinner who is influenced by self-interest alone; and second, that the worship of Diana would cease if Paul and his fellow-labourers were suffered to continue their efforts.

This our craft. This business in which we are engaged, and on which we are dependent. Greek, This part τομερος which pertains to us,

To be set at nought. To be brought into contempt. It will become so much an object of ridicule and contempt that we shall have no further employment. Greek, "Is in danger of coming into refutation" ειςαπελεγμον. As that which is refuted by argument is deemed useless, so the word comes also to signify that which is useless, or which is an object of contempt or ridicule. We may here remark,

(1.) that the extensive prevalence of the Christian religion would destroy many kinds of business in which men now engage. It would put an end to all that now ministers to the pride, vanity, luxury, vice, and ambition of men. Let religion prevail, and wars would cease, and all the preparations for war which now employ so many hearts and hands would be useless. Let religion prevail, and temperance would prevail also; and consequently all the capital and labour now employed in distilling and vending ardent spirits would be withdrawn, and the business be broken up. Let religion prevail, and luxury ceases, and the arts which minister to licentiousness would be useless. Let Christianity prevail, and all that goes now to minister to idolatry, and the corrupt passions of men, would be destroyed. No small part of the talent, also, that is now worse than wasted in corrupting others by ballads and songs, by fiction and licentious tales, would be withdrawn. A vast amount of capital and talent would thus be at once set at liberty, to be employed in nobler and better purposes.

(2.) The effect of religion is often to bring the employments of men into shame and contempt. A revival of religion often makes the business of distilling an object of abhorrence. It pours shame on those who are engaged in ministering to the vices and luxuries of the world. Religion reveals the evil of such a course of life, and those vices are banished by the mere prevalence of better principles. Yet,

(3.)the talent and capital thus disengaged is not rendered useless. It may be directed to other channels and other employments. Religion does not make men idle. It devotes talents to useful employments, and opens fields in which all may toil usefully to themselves and to their fellow-men. If all the capital, and genius, and learning which are now wasted, and worse than wasted, were to be at once withdrawn from their present pursuits, they might be profitably employed. There is not now a useless man who might not be useful; there is not a farthing wasted which might not be employed to advantage in the great work of making the world better and happier.

But also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised. This temple, so celebrated, was regarded as one of the seven wonders of the world. It was two hundred and twenty years in building, before it was brought to perfection. It was built at the expense of all Asia Minor. The original object of worship among the Ephesians was a small statue of Diana, of elm or ebony, made by one Canitias, though commonly believed in those days to have been sent down from heaven by Jupiter. It was merely an Egyptian hieroglyphic with many breasts, representing the goddess of Nature--under which idea Diana was probably worshipped at Ephesus, As the original figure became decayed by age, it was propped up by two rods of iron like spits, which were carefully copied in the image which was afterwards made in imitation of the first. A temple, most magnificent in structure, was built to contain the image of Diana, which appears to have been several times built and rebuilt. The first is said to have been completed in the reign of Servius Tullius, at least 570 years before Christ. Another temple is mentioned as having been designed by Ctesiphon, 540 years before the Christian era, and which was completed by Daphnis of Miletus, and a citizen of Ephesus. This temple was partially destroyed by fire on the very day on which Socrates was poisoned, 400 years B.C., and again 356 years B.C., by the philosopher Herostratus, on the day on which Alexander the Great was born. He confessed, on being put to the torture, that the only motive which he had was to immortalize his name. The four walls and a few columns only escaped the flames. The temple was repaired, and restored to more than its former magnificence, in which, says Pliny, (Lib. xxxvi, c. 14,) 220 ]rears were required to bring it to completion. It was 425 feet in length, 220 in breadth, and was supported by 127 pillars of Parian marble, each of which was sixty feet high. These pillars were furnished by as many princes, and thirty-six of them were curiously carved, and the rest were finely polished. Each pillar, it is supposed, with its base, contained 150 tons of marble. The doors and panelling were made of cypress wood, the roof of cedar, and the interior was rendered splendid by decorations of gold, and by the finest productions of ancient artists. This celebrated edifice, after suffering various partial demolitions, was finally burnt by the Goths, in their third naval invasion, A.D. 260. Travellers are now left to conjecture where its site was. Amidst the confused ruins of ancient Ephesus, it is now impossible to tell where was this celebrated temple, once one of the wonders of the world. "So passes away the glory of this world." See Edinburgh Ency., article Ephesus; also Anacharsis' Travels, vol. vi. p. 188; Ancient Universal History, vol. vii. p. 416; and Pococke's Travels. And her magnificence. Her majesty and glory; i.e., the splendour of her temple and her worship.

Whom all Asia. All Asia Minor.

And the world. Other parts of the world. The temple had been built by contributions from a great number of princes; and doubtless multitudes from all parts of the earth came to Ephesus to pay their homage to Diana.

(e) "should be despised" Zeph 2:11 (a) "world worshippeth" 1Jn 5:19, Rev 13:8

Acts 24:5

Verse 5. We have found this man a pestilent fellow. λοιμον. This word is commonly applied to a plague, or pestilence; and then to a man who corrupts the morals of others, or who is turbulent, and an exciter of sedition. Our translation somewhat weakens the force of the original expression. Tertullus did not say that he was a pestilent fellow, but that he was the very pestilence itself. In this he referred to their belief, that he had been the cause of extensive disturbances everywhere among the Jews.

And a mover of sedition. An exciter of tumult. This they pretended he did by preaching doctrines contrary to the laws and customs of Moses, and exciting the Jews to tumult and disorder.

Throughout the world. Throughout the Roman empire, and thus leading the Jews to violate the laws, and to produce tumults, riots, and disorder.

And a ringleader. πρωτοστατην. This word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It is properly a military word, and denotes one who stands first in an army, a standard-bearer, a leader, or commander. The meaning is, that Paul had been so active, and so prominent in preaching the gospel, that he had been a leader, or the principal person, in extending the sect of the Nazarenes.

Of the sect. The original word here αιρεσεως is the word from which we have derived the term heresy. It is, however, properly translated sect, or party, and should have been so translated in Acts 24:14. Acts 5:17.

Of the Nazarenes. This was the name usually given to Christians by way of contempt. They were so called because Jesus was of Nazareth.

(a) "fellow" Lk 23:2, Acts 6:13, 16:20, 17:6, 21:28, 1Pet 2:18,19 (*) "sedition" "insurrection"

Romans 10:18

Verse 18. But I say. But to this Objection I, the apostle, reply, The objection had been carried through the previous verses. The apostle comes now to reply to it. In doing this, he does not deny the principle contained in it, that the gospel should be preached in order that men might be justly condemned for not believing it; not that the messengers must be sent by God; not that faith comes by hearing. All this he fully admits. But he proceeds to show, by an ample quotation from the Old Testament, that this had been actually furnished to the Jews and to the Gentiles, and that they were actually in possession of the message, and could not plead that they had never heard it. This is the substance of his answer.

Have they not heard? A question is often, as it is here, an emphatic way of affirming a thing. The apostle means to affirm strongly that they had heard. The word "they," in this place, I take to refer to the Gentiles. What was the fact in regard to Israel, or the Jew, he shows in the next verses. One main design was to show that the same scheme of salvation extended to both Jews and Gentiles. The objection was, that it had not been made known to either, and that therefore it could not be maintained to be just to condemn those who rejected it. To this the apostle replies that then it was extensively known to both; and if so, then the objection in Rom 10:14,15, was not well founded, for in fact the thing existed which the objector maintained to be necessary; to wit, that they had heard, and that preachers had been sent to them.

Yes, verily. In the original, a single word, (μενουνγε), compounded of (μεν) and (ουν) and (γε). An intense expression, denoting strong affirmation.

Their sound went, etc. These words are taken in substance from Ps 19:4. The psalmist employs them to show that the works of God, the heavens and the earth, proclaim is existence everywhere. By using them here, the apostle does not affirm that David had reference to the gospel in them, but he uses them to express his own meaning; he makes an affirmation about the gospel in language used by David on another occasion, but without intimating or implying that David had such a reference. In this way we often quote the language of others as expressing in a happy way our own thoughts, but without supposing that the author had any such reference. The meaning here is, that that may be affirmed in fact of the gospel which David affirmed of the works of God, that their sound had gone into all the earth.

Their sound. Literally, the sound or tone which is made by a stringed instrument, (φθογγος). Also a voice, a report. It means here they have spoken, or declared truth. As applied to the heavens, it would mean that they speak, or proclaim, the wisdom or power of God. As used by Paul, it means that the message of the gospel had been spoken, or proclaimed, far and wide. The Hebrew is, "their line," etc. The Septuagint translation is the same as that of the apostle--their voice, (οφθογγοςαυτων). The Hebrew word may denote the string of an instrument, of a harp, etc., and then the tone or sound produced by it; and thus was understood by the Septuagint. The apostle, however, does not affirm that this was the meaning of the Hebrew; but he conveyed his doctrine in language which aptly expressed it.

Into all the earth. In the psalm, this is to be taken in its utmost signification. The works of God literally proclaim his wisdom to all lands and to all people. As applied to the gospel, it means that it was spread far and wide, that it had been extensively preached in all lands.

Their words. In the psalm, the heavens are represented as speaking, and teaching men the knowledge of the true God. But the meaning of the apostle is, that the message of the gospel had sounded forth; and he referred doubtless to the labours of the apostles in proclaiming it to the heathen nations. This epistle was written about the year 57. During the time which had elapsed after the ascension of Christ, the gospel had been preached extensively in all the known nations; so that it might be said that it was proclaimed in those regions designated in the Scripture as the uttermost parts of the earth. Thus it had been proclaimed in Jerusalem, Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, Rome, Arabia, and in the islands of the Mediterranean. Paul, reasoning before Agrippa, says, that he could not be ignorant of those things, for they had not been done in a corner, Acts 26:26. In Col 1:23, Paul says that the gospel had been preached to every creature which is under heaven. See Col 1:6. Thus the great facts and doctrines of the gospel had in fact been made known, and the objection of the Jew was met. It would be sufficiently met by the declaration of the psalmist, that the true God was made known by his works, and that therefore they were without excuse, (comp. Rom 1:20) but in fact the gospel had been preached, and its great doctrine and duties had been proclaimed to all nations far and near.