Page 269 - Demo

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES -
she fell sick and died, so after washing her, they laid [her] out in a room upstairs. 38Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, “Please come to us without delay.” 39So Peter got up and went with them. When he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs where all the widows came to him weeping and showing him the tunics and cloaks that Dorcas had made while she was with them. 40Peter sent them all out and knelt down and prayed. Then he turned to her body and said, “Tabitha, rise up.” She opened her eyes, saw Peter, and sat up.q 41He gave her his hand and raised her up, and when he had called the holy ones and the widows, he presented her alive. 42This became known all over Joppa, and many came to believe in the Lord. 43* r And he stayed a long time in Joppa with Simon, a tanner.
IV. THE INAUGURATION OF THE GENTILE MISSION
The Vision of Cornelius.a
1* Now in Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion
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with his whole household, who used to give alms generously* to the Jewish people and pray to God constantly. 3One afternoon about three o’clock,* he saw plainly in a vision an angel of God come in to him and say to him, “Cornelius.” 4He looked intently at him and, seized with fear, said, “What is it, sir?” He said to him, “Your prayers and almsgiving have ascended as a memorial o ering before God.
5Now send some men to Joppa and summon
one Simon who is called Peter. 6He is staying with
another Simon, a tanner, who has a house by the
sea.”b 7When the angel who spoke to him had left,
he called two of his servants and a devout soldier*
from his sta , 8explained everything to them, and
sent them to Joppa.
The Vision of Peter. 9* The next day, while they
were on their way and nearing the city, Peter
went up to the roof terrace to pray at about
*2
of the Cohort called the Italica, devout and God-fearing along
9:20
No sooner is Saul baptized than he begins to preach in Jesus’ name and to follow the path of Jesus: his opponents seek his life, and he escapes during the night by being lowered in a basket from the city walls. It is the rst of countless hair’s- breadth escapes for Paul, which he will describe in 2 Corinthians: “Five times at the hands of the Jews I received forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times
I was shipwrecked, I passed a night and a day on the deep” (11:24-25).
9:26
Saul’s reputation as a persecutor of the church is so well known that the disciples do not believe in his conversion. Barnabas intercedes for him, telling the apostles of all that Saul has already done in the name of Jesus. Saul (who will later be known as Paul, a more Greek name) is received into the community.
* [9:36] Tabitha (Dorcas), respectively the Aramaic and Greek words for “gazelle,” exempli es the right attitude toward material possessions expressed by Jesus in the Lucan Gospel (Lk 6:30; 11:41; 12:33; 18:22; 19:8).
* [9:43] The fact that Peter lodged with a tanner would have been signi cant to both the Gentile and Jewish Christians, for Judaism considered the tanning occupation unclean.
* [10:1–48] The narrative centers on the conversion of Cornelius, a Gentile and a “God-fearer” (see note on Acts 8:26–40). Luke considers the event of great importance, as is evident from his long treatment of it. The incident is again related in Acts 11:1–18 where Peter is forced to justify his actions before the Jerusalem community and alluded to in Acts 15:7–11 where at the Jerusalem “Council” Peter supports Paul’s missionary activity among the Gentiles. The narrative divides itself into a series of distinct episodes, concluding with Peter’s presentation of the Christian kerygma (Acts 10:4–43) and a pentecostal experience undergone by Cornelius’ household preceding their reception of baptism (Acts 10:44–48).
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q. [9:40] Mk 5:40–41.
r. [9:43] 10:6.
* [10:1] The Cohort called the Italica: this battalion was an auxiliary unit of archers formed originally in Italy but transferred to Syria shortly before A.D. 69.
* [10:2] Used to give alms generously: like Tabitha (Acts 9:36), Cornelius exempli es the proper attitude toward wealth (see note on Acts 9:36).
* [10:3] About three o’clock: literally, “about the ninth hour.” See note on Acts 3:1.
* [10:7] A devout soldier: by using this adjective, Luke probably intends to classify him as a “God-fearer” (see note on Acts 8:26–40).
* [10:9–16] The vision is intended to prepare Peter to share the food of Cornelius’ household without qualms of conscience (Acts 10:48). The necessity of such instructions to Peter reveals that at rst not even the apostles fully grasped the implications of Jesus’ teaching on the law. In Acts, the initial insight belongs to Stephen.
* [10:9] At about noontime: literally, “about the sixth hour.” CHAPTER 10
a. [10:1–8] 10:30–33. b. [10:6] 9:43.
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