As for Demetrius and the tradesmen that depend on him, if any man hath done them any injury, let them form their indictment or accusation; it is now a fit time for them to have justice done them; the court sits, let them bring in their charge. But if you have any other suit or controversy among you, it shall be referred to such a meeting or judicature as the law appoints for such matters. ### CHAP. XX. After this sad parting (ch. xx. 37.) from the bishops of Asia at Miletus (ch. xx. 17.) we took ship, and sailed prosperously, without any incommodation, unto Coos— And meeting there with some that had received the gospel, and were induced with gifts, particularly that of prophecy, (see ch. xx. 23, 24,) we stayed with But this moved not Paul, (see ch. xxiii. 24,) but we left that place, all of them, men, women and children, attending us out of the city; and there on the seashore we kneeled down and prayed at parting. Paul and the rest of us that accompanied him (whereof Luke, the writer of this book, was one) went from Ptolemais to Cæsarea, a haven town in Syria, (see note [c] ch. xviii.,) called Strato's tower, but rebuilt by Herod, and called Cæsarea, (see note [a] when we had finished our course] Of this word διανύσαντες it is generally supposed that it is compounded of the old word ἀνύω, and that that is to be rendered perficio, "to perfect or finish." But how this notion should be compatible to this place, where they are in the midst of their journey or navigation, it is not easy to determine. It were somewhat more reasonable to suspect that διανύσαντες might by a scribe be mistaken for διαναύσαντες, (as we find in Hesychius, Διαναῦσαι, δια- πλεῦσαι,) and then τὸν πλοῦν διαναύσαντες, will be no more than sailing, or having sailed, ἀπὸ Τύρου, from Tyre; and then it fitly follows, whither κατηντήσαμεν, which is again used in this sense, ch. xviii. 13, or, as the king's MS. reads, κατέθημεν, (perhaps that should be κατήχθημεν, ch. xxvii. 3, contrary to ἀναχθέντες, launching out, ver. 4,) we advanced, or went forward, to Ptolemais. But if the ordinary reading be retained, then it must be observed, that as ἀνύω is generally explicated by πληρώω, and τελείω and ἐκτελῶ in Hesychius, so each of these in these writers signifies many times no more than ποιεῖν, to do, and receives the particular notion from the word that is joined with it. So ἐπιτελεῖν λατρείας, to perform the services, Heb. ix. 6. So τελεῖν δρόμον is to run a race, and is not so properly finishing his course, as that signifies life, 2 Tim. iv. 7; for there it appears, vv. 17, 18, that his life and his apostolacy was not at an end, (see note on the title of that Epistle.) So in the old verse of Linus, Ῥᾴδια πάντα Θεῷ τελίσαι, καὶ ἀνήνυτον οὐδέν, "All things are easy for God to do, and nothing is impossible," it is evident that τελεῖν and ἀνύειν signifies to do, and no more. And then διανύσαντες τὸν πλοῦν ἀπὸ Τύρου (for there is no reason to set a comma before ἀπὸ) will be no more than ποιήσαντες, "having sailed or made our navigation, or having taken (but not finished) our course;" for it follows immediately, "we advanced to Ptolemais." These, said they, have heard it affirmed of thee, that not only according to the decrees of our council thou permittest the Gentile converts to remain uncircumcised, but also that those Jews that are dispersed in Asia and elsewhere, whom thou hast converted to the faith, thou persuadest them that they may leave off circumcision, and the other ceremonies of Moses' law. This, therefore, (say they,) will be the event, in all probability; all these Jewish Christians will hear of thy being come hither, and so will come in multitudes to see how thou behavest thyself in this matter. Therefore take our advice: There be four men here at this time which have had a Nazarite's vow upon them, which being accomplished, (see Acts xviii. 18,) they are now to perform the ceremonies prescribed, Numb. vi. 13; These do thou perform with them, and make provision of sacrifices for them such as the law prescribes, Num. vi. 14, that so they may shave their heads according to order, Num. vi. 18. (see note [b] ch. xviii.): and by this means they will be persuaded that they have had false reports of thee, and that thou dost still observe the Mosaical rites. As for the Gentiles that have received the gospel, ch. xv., we have made a decree, thou knowest, (and sent it to Antioch by thee and Barnabas,) by which they are not required to any such observances, or to any more than only to observe the precepts of the sons of Adam and Noah. And Paul took their advice, thus far to comply with the Judaizing Christians, that he might not experate them, and went into the temple, and did all that belonged to the purifying of the Nazarites; and when that was done, gave solemn notice of it; upon which they were, according to the law of Moses, to proceed to offer an offering for each person. And when the seven days, wherein those sacrifices were to be performed, were almost at an end, divers unbelieving Jews, that dwelt in Asia, and had opposed him there, and were now come to Jerusalem, as soon as they saw him in the temple, brought in the multitude tumultuously upon him, and apprehended him, Crying out upon him as the man that had taught all men, wheresoever he preached, that the Jews should be destroyed, the Mosaical law be abolished, and the temple, where now he was purifying himself, laid waste; and had brought heathen men into the temple, which was utterly unlawful to be done, and was the profaning of it. (This last thing they spake confidently, but not truly, only having seen Trophimus with him in the city of Jerusalem; and knowing him to be a Gentile of Ephesus, they believed that he had carried him into the temple, and from thence made this conclusion.) And all the people were exasperated upon this, and having apprehended, haled him out of the temple; and the doors of the temple were presently shut after them. And they fell a beating Paul, and had like to have killed him, had not the commander or colonel that was appointed to guard the temple, and to quell all tumults there (see note [y] Luke xxii.), been told that there was an uproar. ¹⁰ See note [b] Mark i. But he taking with him some bands of soldiers came hastily in upon them: and when they saw the colonel, and his troops of soldiers, they gave over their violence toward Paul. k guarded by two soldiers, and chained to each of them, (see note [c] ch. xxviii.,) and demanded who he was— l the tower called Antonia: see note [g] Luke xxii. I have, as by words, so by actions also, demonstrated to you, how that such as ye, that is, bishops and governors of the church, are to take care of the sick and poor, (see 1 Cor. xii.,) and rather endeavour by pains-taking to enable yourselves to relieve others, than to be chargeable or burdensome to others, according to that saying of Christ, (not recorded in the Gospels,) That it is a blessed and a heroical thing to give to others out of a man's own earnings, and this infinitely more blessed, and better becoming a Christian, than to be relieved by others. ### CHAP. XXI. And as they were going up the stairs, to the castle or tower, the violence of the multitude of Jews was so great, that the soldiers were fain to carry Paul in their arms, to secure him from them. Who came pursuing him, and crying out to have him put to death. And when he was at the castle door, he spake to the colonel in Greek, and asked him if he would be pleased to permit him to speak to him. And the colonel wondered that he spake Greek, Thinking that he had been that Egyptian false prophet that had raised a sedition in Judæa not long before, and had gotten to him four thousand men into the wilderness. [b] Egyptian] Under the time of Felix's procuratorship of Ju- dæa, there were, saith Josephus, many which deceived the people, par- ticularly one that came out of Egypt to Jerusalem, saying that he was a prophet, and persuading the people that they should follow him to mount Olivet, and there they should see the walls of the city fall at his command, so that they might enter the city. These, saith he, Ant. l. 20. c. 6. Felix set upon, killed four hundred, and took two hundred, and put the Egyptian to flight. Which story being compared with this in the Acts, gives Africanus occasion to say, that under Felix's government there was an Egyptian false prophet with many with him, νιθο μείζοσιν ἐπιχειρῶν πράγμασι τῇ Φήλικος κατελύθη στρατηγίᾳ, "setting on great designs, was discomfited by Felix's army." See Euseb. Chron. lib. 1. p. 67. But Eusebius, Hist. l. 2. c. 21, is more punctual, Μείζονι πληγῇ Ἰουδαίους ἐκάκωσεν ὁ Αἰγύπτιος ψευδοπροφήτης· παραγενόμενος γὰρ εἰς τὴν χώραν ἄνθρωπος γύης, καὶ προφήτου πίστιν ἐπιθεὶς ἑαυτῷ, περὶ b See Euseb. l. 3. c. xv. And these enemies of Paul's being averse to the Hellenists, (see note [a] ch. vi.), and so to him, as using the Greek language, when they heard him speak Hebrew, were a little pacified, and so gave him the hearing. Thus therefore he began his oration: I am verily a man— "a scholar of Gamaliel's, a doctor of the Pharisees, and accordingly was imbued with the strictest Judaical principles, and so became as zealous a propugner of the law of Moses and religion of the Jews as that is opposed to the reformation wrought by Christ, as any of you are at this time, being of that sort of men among the Jews that are called zelots, and are very punctual and strict in the observances of the law, and think themselves obliged to put all men to death that teach any thing against it. And so did I to the Christians, binding and delivering— [a] spake in the Hebrew tongue] What the reason was of Paul's speaking Hebrew at this time, and the Jews giving him audience thereupon, may here briefly be noted. Two sorts of Jews there were at this time, some called by St. Chrysostom οἱ βαθεῖς Ἑβραῖοι, "profound Hebrews," such as used no other language but the Hebrew, admitted not the Greek Bible into their assemblies, but only the Hebrew, and the Jerusalem Targum or Paraphrase. Others that spake Greek, and used the Greek translation of the Bible, and these were called Hellenists (see note [a] on ch. vi.) Now these several uses bred some unkindness betwixt these two sorts, as may in part be discerned, even after their receiving Christianity, ch. vi. 1. And of this latter sort Paul sure was one, and accordingly in his writings makes use constantly of the Greek translation of the Old Testament, and in that respect (among others) was much disliked by the other sort. Those of them that were converted had great prejudices to him, ch. xxi. 21, and that is said to be the reason why he concealed his name in the Epistle written to the Hebrews. But for those of them that were not converted they would not endure to hear him, or hear of him; which is the account St. Chrysostom gives of his discoursing and preaching to the Hellenists only, ch. ix. 28, because the other would not endure or admit him. Hereupon to avert this great displeasure conceived by them, he here speaks to them in the Hebrew language, and they were in some degree pacified thereby, so far as to give him audience. [b] feet of Gamaliel] It was the manner of disciples to sit at the feet of their masters, which in Pirke Avoth is called "to dust themselves in the dust of their feet;" for so saith Jose there, "Let thy house be the house of assembly for wise men," that is, be thou ever conversant in the schools of the doctors, והוי מתאבק בעפר רגליהם, "and do thou roll, or dust, or tumble thyself in the dust of their feet." As all the sanhedrim, especially the high priest, knows, from whom I had writs or commissions to apprehend the Christians, (see ch. ix. 2, and xxvi. 10, 12,) all that I found in Syria, and bring them bound to the sanhedrim, by them to be scourged, or perhaps put to death by the Roman powers. And when I had that commission from the sanhedrim, and went into Syria to execute it, and was come nigh unto Damascus— 'a thunder, and out of it these words articulately spoken (ch. ix. 4.) unto me, Saul, Saul— And they of my company heard the thunder and saw the lightning round about me, though they heard not (see note [b] ch. ix.) the speech that out of the thunder was delivered to me. 'I have provided and appointed one Ananias to come unto thee, and declare to thee what I have designed for thee to do and suffer for me. And being blind, and not able to see, by reason of this shining appearance, ver. 6, I was fain to be led by those that were with me; and so I was conducted to Damascus. 'a Christian Jew, that lived according to the Mosaical law, having a good— For of thee it is appointed that thou shalt preach and make known to all men the things which Christ hath made known unto thee. To what purpose therefore should any delay be made of baptizing thee, and admitting thee into the church by that seal of the covenant whereby thou art engaged to forsake, and God to pardon, all thy former sins, (upon condition of a sincere change on thy part,) upon which thou mayest join with the church in performance of all Christian duties of devotion to God? And at my first coming to Jerusalem after this, ch. ix. 26, as I was in the temple a praying, I fell into an ecstasy or trance: (see note [d] ch. x.) And in a vision methought I saw Christ, and he commanded me to go speedily out of this city, because my former zeal against the gospel would hinder my preaching of it now from being believed or heeded by those of Jerusalem. 19, 20. Against this, methought, I argued, that my former zeal against Christianity being so remarkable among all the Jews, as it must needs be by my imprisoning and scourging the professors of it in the consistories of many cities, ch. ix. 2, by my joining and assisting in the stoning of Stephen, and keeping the accusers' garments whilst they threw stones at him, ch. vii. 58. and viii. 1; this might be an argument to assure the Jews at Jerusalem that it is on right grounds that I now teach the contrary; and this may give them a greater willingness to inquire into the grounds of my change, and so may render me a more competent attester of the doctrine of Christ now, by how much the more I opposed it formerly. But this, methought, did not prevail with a voice from, φωνὴν ἕκ. and prayed, καὶ προσευχ. τὰς συνεργασίας: see note [d] Matt. vi. the consistories, κατὰ Thus far the Jews had patience to suffer him to speak; but then, when he mentioned the Gentiles, and his appointment to go to them, they cried out, he was a villain, and unworthy to live. And while they were thus violent, making as if they would presently stone him, (see ch. vii. 57, 58,) and giving other expressions of their fury, The colonel or chief commander of the guard bid the soldiers carry him into the tower, and commanded that he should be sorely scourged till he would confess what it was that he had done with which they were so enraged: (see ver. 30.) [c] be examined by scourging] The notion of ἀνετάζεσθαι among the sacred writers will be discerned by two places in the Book of Wisdom, ch. ii. 19. Βασάνῳ ἐτάξωμεν αὐτόν, Let us torment him with the rack, and ch. vi. 6, δυνατοὶ δυνατῶς ἐτασθήσονται, the mighty shall be mightily tormented: in both which it is clearly used for tormenting or cruciating. And St. Chrysostom, Hom. 26. in Matt. p. 180, citing the latter of these places, applies it to the words of Christ, that he that knows his Master's will, and doth it not, δαρήσεται πολλὰς, shall be beaten with many stripes, ὥστε ἡ πλείων γνῶσις πλείονος κολάσεώς ἐστιν ὑπόθεσις, "the greater knowledge is the cause of greater punishment," thus interpreting ἐτασθήσονται by beating and punishment. So Gen. xii. 17, ἤτασεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν Φαραὼ ἐτασμοῖς μεγάλους καὶ πονηροῖς, God scourged or cruciated Pharaoh with great and sore plagues. And as the captain which was appointed to scourge him brought him to the block, and fastened him to it, in order to the scourging of him, Paul spake to the captain that had the execution of that command committed to him, saying, Will the Roman laws permit you to deal thus with a free denizen of Rome before any sentence is legally passed upon him? [d] bound him with thongs] That ἱμάντες are here the same that μάστιγες, scourges, ver. 24, there is no doubt to be made, ἱμάντες, λῶροι, they signify "whips or scourges," saith Hesychius; and ἱμὰς, λῶρος, οἱ δὲ νέρθεν ὑποσείουσιν ἱμάντι, "they whip him with a scourge or cord," adding καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ κανονίου, (it should sure be σχοινίου) "it is also used for a rope." And so Ἰμᾶσιν ἐμάστιξεν, Ἰμάθλος, μάστιγας, ἀπὸ τοῦ ἱμᾶσ c Tom. 4. p. 731. 12. HAMMOND ANNOTT. F f [e] a Roman] That Paul was free of Rome by being born in a city that had the Roman privileges, is sufficiently known; so saith Philo of Agrippa. Φίλων ἰνίων πατρίδας ὅλας τῆς Ῥωμαϊκῆς ἠξίωσε πολιτείας, "he gave the privileges of the Roman citizenship to whole countries of some of his friends." So the Philippians call themselves Romans, Acts xvi. 21, "Philippians ἐκ πατρίδος, by country, Romans ἐκ ψηφισμάτων, by decrees," saith Photius, Ep. ρβ. p. 146, and Ep. σμζ'. And that Tarsus the metropolis of Cilicia was such, is intimated by Diodorus Siculus, l. 47, where, speaking of the emperors Julius and Augustus, he saith, οὕτω γὰρ προσφιλῶς τῷ Καίσαρι τῷ προτέρῳ καὶ δι' ἐκείνον καὶ τῷ δευτέρῳ οἱ Ταρσεῖς εἶχον, ὥστε καὶ Ἰουλιόπολιν σφᾶς ἀπ' αὐτοῦ μετονομάσαι, "Those of Tarsus were so kind to Julius, and after for his sake to Augustus Cæsar, that from his own name he called them Juliopolis." That it was unlawful for any such person to be bound or scourged, is apparent by Cicero Or. 5. in Verr. Facinus est vincire civem Romanum, scelus verberare, prope parricidium necare, quid dicam in crucem tollere? "It is a foul fault for any prætor, &c. to bind a citizen of Rome, a piacular offence to scourge him, a kind of parricide to kill him—what shall I call the crucifying of such an one?" And for that that follows of his being "scourged before condemnation," (as, being by way of examination, or ἀνετασμὸς, ver. 24, it is here supposed to be,) it is that which Cujacius hath observed out of Salvian to be distinctly against law; and This a captain of a troop told to the colonel, and withal admonished him what danger he might incur by doing thus to a free denizen of Rome. h a free denizen of Rome? He said, Yea. i I am not so by birth, but purchased the privilege at a great charge. But Paul said, The city where I was born, and my parents before me, though of a Jewish stock, had by living there this privilege. a I have all my life long, both when I was a pro-pugner of the Mosaical law against Christ's reformation, and since I have been a preacher of the gospel, acted sincerely and uprightly, according to my conscience, and consecrated my life to God's service. And Ananias, the chief person among the Jews, (see note [c] Luke iii.) commanded— b God will punish thee by way of retaliation, deal with thee as thou hast done with me, thou hypocrite. Dost thou sit like a magistrate or distributor of legal justice, and dost thou break the law thyself, and command me to be punished before thou hast heard the cause? (see ch. xxii. 25.) c Dost thou speak such contumelious words to him who is the high priest of God's appointment, a sacred person, and under God the chief magistrate among the Jews? d I did not know that to be true which thou tellest me, that Ananias was a high priest of God's appointment, (that he was not so, nor yet the high priest put And Paul discerning the sanhedrim to consist partly of Pharisees, who believe another life after this, partly of Sadducees, that do not, said aloud, I am (as my father was) of the sect of the Pharisees, and the main thing that I am questioned for is my believing that there is another life after this, which is a pure pharisaical doctrine, which all of that sect hold as well as I. • no life after this, no immortal spirit, nor soul of man subsisting without a body: but the— f doctors of the law, which were generally of the Pharisees' opinion, took his part, and professed to think he had done nothing amiss, and that it was possible that he had received some infusion or incitation from God's Spirit, or else some voice from heaven or vision by an angel; and if he had, it would not become them to resist his doctrine, lest, if that were truly revealed to him by God, they should fight against God himself. g to go to him at the bar, where he was as a prisoner answering for himself, and to take him— h Paul saw a vision again; and God appeared to stand by him and encourage him, telling him that he [a] a spirit or an angel] Of the four several ways of revelations which were among the Jews, these are confessedly two, רוה הקודש, the Holy Spirit, and בת קול, the daughter of voice, or a voice from heaven, brought by an angel, by which any thing was made known to them. The other two were אורים ותומים, Urim and Thummim, under the first temple, the twelve stones in the pectoral of the high priest, d Ad leg. 12. Tab. c. 19. e P. 785. y f 2 And he had soon a notable testimony of the virtue of God's protection over him, promised him in that vision; for early in the very next morning certain of the Jews— thus bound themselves by oath and execration on themselves. And they came to the sanhedrim, and told some of them what they had resolved on. And therefore desired that the whole sanhedrim would signify their desire to the colonel, that he would on the morrow bring Paul down to them, to examine him upon some interrogatories; and, said they, by the way, before he come near the council-house, we will lie in ambush, and be sure to kill him. captains of the guard, and desired him to conduct that young man to the colonel, to deliver a message to him. [b] spearmen] What δεξιολάβοι signifies may be best learned from Phavorinus, who interprets it παραφύλακες, "warders or guard," and so H. Stephanus, satellites, stipatores, to the same sense; thus called, saith Meursius, quod maleficis manum injicerent, eosque apprehenderent, et carceri mancipatos ad supplicium producendos custodirent, "because they apprehended or laid hands on malefactors," (which yet would rather be the importance of δεξιοβόλοι, from βάλλειν δεξιὰς, laying hands, and indeed so the king's MS. reads here, not δεξιολάβους, but δεξιοβολους,) "and putting them in custody, kept them and brought them out to execution;" adding that these are the same in the camp, that the lictors or sergeants are in the city; from all which it appears to be most fitly rendered a guard, to which in the militia the prisoners are committed. [f] freedom] Most of the Jews, saith Philo in e Leg. ad Caium, were ‘Ρωμαίοι ἀπελευθερωθέντες, “Romans made free,” αἰχμάλωτοι γὰρ ἀχθέντες εἰς Ἰταλίαν ὑπὸ τῶν κτησαμένων ἠλευθερώθησαν, “for being brought captive into Italy, they were set at liberty by their masters that possessed them,” but payed a price for that favour. So 2 Macc. iv. 9, Jason promiseth a great sum of money to Antiochus, among other things to have power to make some of Jerusalem citizens of Antioch, meaning to make his money soon up again by selling it to those that desired that privilege, (see note [l] on Phil. iii.) So saith Photius, Epist. ρβ. p. 145. Τιμῆς γὰρ ἀπήλανον κατ’ ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ οὐχ ὅσοι μόνον ἰθαγενεῖς τῆς Ῥώμης ἐτύγχανον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅσοις αὐτῆς ἡ κλῆσις νόμῳ χαρίτων ἢ χρημάτων ἐπολιτεύετο, “About that time that privilege was enjoyed not only by those which were natives of Rome, but by as many as either by favour or money were made partakers of that appellation.” So also Epist. σμς. p. 378, and σμς. p. 379, ἴθονυς καὶ πατρίδος ὄντες ἀλλόφυλοι, εἰς τὴν Ῥωμαϊκὴν ἐτέλεσαν πολιτογραφίαν, “being aliens of another nation and country, they were received into the Roman album, made citizens of Rome.” Such an one it seems was the chief commander here, who had himself personally bought this freedom or privilege of a citizen of Rome. But Paul was born to this liberty, by being born in a city that had obtained of the emperors that privilege for all the inhabitants thereof, (see note [c]). Thus in Eusebius Eccl. Hist., l. 5. c. 1, in the examining of Christians by the persecutors, ὅσοι ἰδάκουν πολιτείαν Ῥωμαίων ἰσχηκέναι, “they that proved to be municipes, free denizens of Rome,” τούτων ἀπίτεμνε τὰς κεφαλὰς, “their heads were cut off:” a privilege which belongs to such, instead of more ignominious punishments. So Josephus the historian, born at Jerusalem, of the sacerdotal family, ἐξ ἱερίων τε καὶ ἱερεύς, “of priests, and himself a priest,” saith Photius, Ep. σμς., had the privilege of a Roman, and was called by a Roman name, Flavius, the prænomē of the emperor Vespasian. Then they ceased from their design of scourging him (ver. 24.), to make him confess his crime; and the consideration that he was a free man of Rome made the colonel fear he had already done more than he could well answer, in binding or putting chains upon him, ch. xxi. 33. And therefore he soon loosed him from his bands; but yet, being desirous to know the bottom of the business, he converted the Jews' sanhedrim, and brought out Paul, to see what they would object against him. This Paul we Jews know to be a dangerous person, and every where where he comes, he disquiets the people's minds, and prepares them to commotions and seditions against the present government, that of the Romans, (see ver. 18. and ch. xxv. 8,) and he is a great promoter of the religion of those that are ordinarily called Nazarenes, from Jesus that dwelt in Nazareth, (that is, of Christians). And he hath done such things in the temple of the Jews among us at Jerusalem as are absolutely contrary to the laws of our God, (see ch. xxi. 21,) and we apprehended him, and would have had him punished so as our law appoints those to be punished that bring strangers beyond that court of the temple that was assigned them, and separated from the other. (See Ephes. ii. 14.) 7, 8. But as we were proceeding against him, Lysias, the captain of the temple, or commander of the guard of soldiers that guards the temple, would not permit us to proceed against him in our court, but carried him away with a guard of soldiers, ch. xxiii. 10, and cited some of the sanhedrim to come hither to thee and accuse him; whom therefore thou mayest please to examine, and hear what they can say. And the Jews of the sanhedrim that came down, ver. 1, confirmed the truth of all that Tertullus had pleaded. b given him leave, permitted him to speak,— a ruler, or procurator of Judæa, I do— And first, thou mayest please to understand, that about twelve days since I came up to Jerusalem to keep the feast of Pentecost, a solemn feast of the Jews there, when by law it is appointed to be kept. 12, 13. And there I behaved myself very quietly, made no disturbance, raised no sedition; and they that say I am a seditious person, and raise disturbances wher- But as for the other part of the accusation, ver. 5, that I am a great promoter of the sect of the Nazarenes, I acknowledge this, that that way of worshipping the God of Abraham which Christ hath taught, and the Christians practise, which I suppose they mean by the word sect, or peculiar way of profession or religion, (see Acts xxvi. 5,) is the way that I do use; and in doing so, do agreeably to all that is written in the Mosaical law and the writings of authority among the Jews, by which they think themselves obliged: And the main part of this is, that there shall be a life after this, and that all that ever lived here shall then be judged and rewarded, whether they be good or evil. And this is no more than these men themselves, all but the Sadducees, profess to believe and depend on. In this religion and practice I am as careful as I can to live blamelessly, and to do my duty in all things towards God and man. As for that which they mention of my profaning the temple, thus it was: Many years after my conversion to this way that they speak of, I was sent by the pious Jews, &c., of other parts to Jerusalem and Judæa, with their charity and free-will oblations, brought in for the service of God, ch. xi. 30; And whilst I was doing thus, some Jews of Asia saw me in the temple, where I was far from profaning of it, as was suggested, ver. 6. and ch. xxi. 23, but was there in such a manner as the law of the Jews required of me; and they senselessly mistaking, affirmed that I carried Trophimus, a Gentile of Ephesus, into the temple, and so affirmed me to have profaned the temple. But this was a downright falsity, for which there was no other ground of affirming but only this, that he was seen with me in the city, (see ch. xxi. 29). And as I was in the temple without any such company there which might be said to profane it, so it is certain that I was not attended with any number of men that might bring me under suspicion of raising any sedition, ver. 5. Or if any man living would affirm I had, he ought to come now in open court and testify against me here. Nay for all these things I shall make mine appeal to these that are here present of their own sanhedrim, ver. 1, and desire they will testify, whether, when I was brought before their sanhedrim at Jerusalem, ch. xxiii., I was not dismissed with a good testimony from themselves, ver. 9, viz. that there was nothing of moment charged and proved against me; and let them speak, if it were not so. There is, I am sure, but one thing that can by any be testified against me from the proceedings there, and that none but Sadducees will lay to my charge, who are engaged in the maintenance of their own tenets, and that chargeable upon all the Pharisees as well as me, viz. my acknowledging another life after this, ch. xxiii. 8. When Felix had had this cognizance of the matter, and discerned how things stood, he deferred passing any sentence, saying, Concerning Christian religion, whether it were derogatory to the law of the Jews, I will determine when I have advised with learned men that know your pretensions, and that concerning the tumult said to be raised by Paul, when Lysias comes, whose testimony will decide it. And he commanded the captain of the guard to keep Paul safe, but not as a close prisoner, and that any that would bring him any relief, or discourse with him, might freely do it. And Felix' wife being a Jew, when she came, he thought fit to have her present, and sent for Paul, and bid him say what he had to say concerning the doctrine or gospel of Christ. And Paul, in a discourse of that subject, insisted particularly on the great obligation that by the law of Christ lay on all men to observe justice between man and man, and to live chastely, either in conjugal or single life, (two virtues contrary to two special vices that Felix was particularly guilty of,) and withal of the severe judgment that all men one NOW when Festus was come into the province, after three days he ascended from Cæsarea to Jerusalem. [b] after two years] That this two years is to be referred to Felix's procuratorship is the opinion of Baronius, meaning those two years which he spent in Nero's reign. But the truth is, Claudius had, five years before, placed him in the praefecture, and there is no reason to think that St. Luke should define the time of his procuratorship from Nero's reign, who removed him, rather than from Claudius's, who put him in: and therefore the διετία, two years, must refer to Paul's imprisonment rather. And he cleared himself against all the accusations, which were reducible to three heads: offences against the Mosaical law, profaning the temple, raising sedition against the government of the Romans, (see ch. xxiv. 5, 6.) I am a Roman; and I ought to be judged, not by the Jewish sanhedrim or laws, but by the Roman; (and though I were liable to them, yet thou already discernest that they are not able to prove that I have any way trespassed against the Jews or their law;) And if I have done any thing which by the Roman laws is punishable capitally, I will be content most willingly to suffer death; I desire no mercy: (this he did, knowing there was then no edict of the emperors against Christianity, see note [a] ch. xxvi.) But if all their accusations are invalid, if I am, as thou knowest I am, ver. 10, free from that charge of having wronged them, and being a Roman ought to be judged by the Roman laws, and none of them hath interdicted Christianity, there is then no reason I should be delivered up to my enemies to be my judges. It were absolutely unjust to do so; and from that intention of thine I make mine appeal to the Roman emperor, and desire that he may judge between us. And Festus, conferring with those of the Jewish sanhedrim that were there, answered— [a] have the accusers face to face] Of this law and custom of the Jews Philo Judæus is express, speaking of the Roman præfects, that κοινοὺς παρέχοντες ἑαυτοὺς δικαστὰς, ἐξ ἴσου καὶ τῶν κατηγόρων καὶ τῶν ἀπολογουμένων ἀκροώμενοι, μηδενὺς ἀκρίτου προκαταγινώσκειν ἀξιούντες ἐβράβευον, &c. "They yielded themselves to be common judges, and heard equally the accusers and the defendants, and condemned no man unheard, prejudged none, but judged without favour or enmity according to the nature of the cause." And therefore that they must of necessity go to Caesarea and accuse him. And when they came I used all expedition, and the very next day I went to the bench to hear this cause of Paul. And upon hearing, I found him absolutely free from all capital crimes, all seditious practices, whereof they accused him, and wherein I suspected him to be most guilty. And all that stuck was some disputable matters, about his particular way of serving or worshipping [b] pomp] What φαντασία here signifies will be judged by the use of the word in other authors. Laertius, speaking of Dio, saith, he was πολυτελῆς, "sumptuous," and accordingly "went from city to city," and sometimes φαντασίαν ἐπιτεχνώμενος τοὺς ναύτας ἔπεισε σχολαστικὰς ἐσθῆτας ἀναλαβεῖν καὶ ἀκολουθῆσαι αὐτῷ, "using arts to have a great train, he persuaded mariners to put on scholars' attire and follow him." So Athenæus, Deipnos. l. 5, speaking of Athenion returning in great pomp to Athens, οὐδενὸς οὐδὲ Ῥωμαίων ἐν τοσαύτῃ φαντασίᾳ κατακλιδῶντος τῆς Ἀττικῆς, "no Roman ever outbraving Attica with so great a train." So in Planudes Vit. Æsop. Τοὺς παῖδας λαβὼν—ἀπῆρεν εἰς Αἴγυπτον, πολλῇ φαντασίᾳ καὶ δόξῃ πρὸς ἐκπληξιν τῶν ἐκεῖ κεχρημένος, "taking [a] Felix trembled] The grounds of Felix's trembling at this discourse of Paul's of justice and chastity, or continence, will be best fetched from a view of the character of this man both in Tacitus and Josephus. Tacitus, Hist. l. 5, mentions him an eques Romanus, to whom Claudius the emperor had intrusted that province, where, saith he, per omnem sævitiam et libidinem jus regium servili ingenio exercuit, "he practised all cruelty and injustice in his government," Drusilla Antonii et Cleopatrae nepte in matrimonium accepta, "and that he took to wife Drusilla the niece of Antony and Cleopatra." Of this marriage of his Josephus enlargeth, and saith that Agrippa his brother had given her first to Azis the king of the Emisseni, and whilst she was his wife, Felix falls in love with her, and by the help of one Simon a magician, (not he of Samaria, but another of Cyprus,) obtained her from her husband's bed. From these two parts of his character, an unjust governor, (of which his expecting bribes here, ver. 26, is an evidence also,) and one that lived with another man's wife, ariseth the fitness and properness of St. Paul's discourse before him, of justice and continence; and the guilt of his conscience, hearing that there was a judgment to come for such sins as these, might very well set him a trembling. And being a taker of bribes, (note [a]) he hoped that money— And when Paul had remained in custody under the time of Felix' procuratorship for the space of two years, Felix was by Nero removed out of his place, and Porcius Festus succeeded him; and though Felix had nothing to condemn in Paul, yet, merely to gratify the Jews at parting, he left Paul in prison. And accordingly now I am accused for asserting the resurrection of the dead, which as it is a doctrine acknowledged by the Pharisees, so is it the fundamental promise made of old, And generally depended on by the Jews, and in intuition thereof it is that they spend their time in piety and obedience to God: and yet for the believing and expecting this I am accused by these Jews. This being by me asserted to be founded in the resurrection of Christ, that is the thing that is most disbelieved, God's having raised Christ from the dead. And why should that be judged so incredible? I confess I was once of opinion that I was obliged to persecute this profession and doctrine of Christ. c was a principal actor, ch. vii. 56, and approver of the sentence, ch. viii. 1. And in other cities beside Jerusalem I brought them into their courts, and used all rigid means to make them deny Christ; and was so fierce against them, that I forced them to fly to heathen cities, and then pursued them thither. d sanhedrim, ch. ix. 2. Ch. ix. 3, 4. * for thou art chosen by me to be a preacher of the gospel, which thou hast persecuted, and to proclaim unto others what thou hast now and shalt hereafter see; Making a special choice of thee out of all the Jews and Gentiles, and now giving thee commission to go and preach the gospel to them: see ch. ix. 15. To shew them their duty; to turn them from all their idolatrous sinful, to all gracious godly courses; from being the slaves of the devil, to be the servants of God; thereby to have their sins forgiven, and by believing in me to have an inheritance, a future eternal blissful portion, among the saints of God. Upon this vision so glorious, and these words of Christ from heaven, I could not but yield: But preached at Damascus first, then at Jerusalem, then through all Judæa, and even among the Gentiles, the doctrine of repentance and amendment, and necessity of bringing forth all fruits of new life in an eminent manner, which indeed is the sum of the gospel of Christ. And for this it was that I had like to have been killed by the Jews as I was in the temple. But God rescued me, and accordingly I go on to do this, preaching nothing in effect but what is perfectly agreeable to the writings of Moses and the prophets: That Christ should be put to death, and that by his rising again from death, both the Jews and Gentiles should be brought to believe on him. thou talkest distractedly; sure thy learning and high opinion of it hath put thee out of thy wits. what I say is perfectly true, and hath nothing of excess or transportation in it. Agrippa, I am confident, knows it to be so, and therefore I fear not his censure; (see note [a] John vii.) for these things, the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, were things of very public cognizance, and cannot be unknown to him that was a Jew born. [a] nothing worthy of death or—] The truth of this speech of king Agrippa and his company, that Paul had done nothing worthy of death or bonds, depends on the consideration of the time wherein it was spoken. For the Roman magistrates judging by the Roman laws, that which was not against any law of the emperors was not cognoscible or punishable (especially by death or imprisonment, deprivation of life or liberty) by them. Thus when Paul is accused by the Jews, and brought before the proconsul of Achaia, Gallio, c. 18, he tells them plainly, that "he will not be a judge of such matters," which the Roman law, then in Claudius's reign, had said nothing of. For though, c. 18. 2, an edict had been by Claudius toward the end of his reign set out against the Jews, to banish them out of Italy, &c., and by that the Christian Jews, as Jews, not as Christians, fell under that interdict, and so did Priscilla and Aquila there, (and John the apostle, banished into Patmos, in Claudius's reign, saith Epiphanius, Hier. ἀλόγ.) yet as to the difference betwixt Jews and Christians, there referred to by Gallio, (in proportion to the accusation brought against him by the Jews, περὶ λόγου, of a word, as whether Jesus were the Messias or no, περὶ ὀνομάτων, of names, as whether the name Christian or disciple, &c. were unlawful, as those discriminated them from incredulous Jews, περὶ νόμου τοῦ καθ' ὑμᾶς, concerning the law in force among the Jews, about conversing with the uncircumcised, &c.) there was then no law set out by the emperors at Rome, and therefore no rule for the proconsul to go [a] Melita Two islands there are of that name Melita. The one in the Libyan, saith Strabo, l. 6, the other in the Adriatic sea. Of the former Ortelius speaks in Thesaur. Geograph.: Melita una ex Pelagiis apud Ptolemæum. Hæc insula B. Pauli naufragio celebris est, et hodie Rhodiensibus militibus habitatur, “It was by Ptolemy said to be one of the Pelagiæ. It is famous for St. Paul’s shipwreck, and is now inhabited by the knights of Rhodes.” And that this was it here spoken HAMMOND ANNOTT. o g [b] vengeance] That there is a δίκη or vengeance, which will not let murderers go unpunished in this world, hath been the observation of all sorts of men. In the Gemara Tract. Sanhedr. there is the like story of Simeon son of Schutach, who found a manslayer, but had no witness to testify it legally, and therefore prayed thus, "He that knoweth the thoughts of men, punish thee as a murderer. And presently," saith he, "a serpent bit him and slew him." In like manner as Orestes, that had killed his mother, died with the bite of a viper, in a place of Arcadia called Orestion, saith Stephanus Byzant. περὶ Ἰάλε. in the word Ὀρεστώ. In that place of the Gemara there is also mention of a tradition of Hezekias, that after the destruction of the sanctuary and the sanhedrim, there yet still continued among the Jews four kinds of capital punishment, instead of the four established by the law of Moses. For he that deserved to be stoned, either fell from an house, or was torn with wild beasts. He that deserved to be burnt, either fell into the fire, or was struck with a serpent, which was therefore called fiery by Moses, because they that were bitten with it felt such a flame in their veins.) They that were to be killed with the sword, fell either into the hand of the king or of thieves. They that deserved suffocation or hanging, either were drowned or died of a melancholy or suffocation, (such as is affirmed of Judas; see note [a] on Matt. xxvii.) Two of these are here mentioned by the barbarians, drowning, and the bite of the serpent or viper, as a revenge due to a murderer in their conceit; and when they saw he escaped, they looked on it as a stupendous thing. And as soon as we were passed by Salmone, ch. vii., we came unto a place— 9, 10. And being thus long upon the sea, and the sea beginning to grow tempestuous, as it is wont at that time of year, to wit, after the day of expiation, the great yearly fast, about which time the Michaelmas-flaws are wont to be on the seas, Paul would ¹ Or, that was about to sail, &c. (for the King's MS. reads μέλλοντι, which agrees with ἀλκίψ,) we set out, ἀνήχθημεν. ² came to, κατήχθημεν εἰς: see note [a] ch. xxi. [a] the fast was now already past] There is no question but the fast, which is here said to be newly past, was the great anniversary fast, the day of expiation; the description of which we have, Isa. lviii, under the name of a sabbath, ver. 13, which may seem to have occasioned that error in the heathen writers, which thought that the Jews had fasted on the seventh day or sabbath. So s Suetonius, Ne Judaus tam libenter sabbatis jejunium servat, &c., "a Jew doth not fast on his sabbath so willingly;" and Justin, l. 36. Septimum diem, more gentis sabbatum appellatum, in omne ævum jejunium sacravit, "the seventh day, being by their custom called their sabbath, was appointed a fast for ever." Which error arose by not observing the difference betwixt the weekly and the anniversary sabbath. Now the precise time of this sabbatic fast is, Levit. xvi. 29, on the tenth day of the seventh month called Tizri, which falls on the same time almost with our September, the first day of Tizri on the seventh of that, and so the tenth of Tizri on the sixteenth of September, that is, thirteen days before our Michaelmas, or, as b Scaliger sets it, on the twentieth of that month. This being thus observed, the reason of the apostle's observation, that sailing was now become dangerous, because the fast was past, will be easily cleared, it being all one as if he had said, because it was past the twentieth of September; it being observed by all sailors, that for some weeks before and after Michaelmas, there are on the sea sudden and frequent storms, which we now call Michaelmas flaws, which must needs make sailing dangerous: and so the experiment proved it, ver. 14, whereas the south wind blew softly, presently comes a boisterous wind called Euroclydon, (or, as perhaps that word may be otherwise read with a light change, Εὐρακύλων, the north-east wind, for which the king's and other ancient MSS. read Εὐρακύδων,) which so hurried the s In Octav. b Proleg. in Euseb. Chron. But the governor of the ship being also the owner of it, and so concerned to consider the danger, was of another mind, and the captain of the guard preferred his judgment before Paul's. [c] whose sign] Παράσημον is the προτομή, some image or picture of some creature in the fore part of the ship, from whence the ship was named. So saith Agatharchides, when it is said that a bull carried away Europa, the meaning is, that a ship called the Bull, as having that παράσημον upon it, carried her: and so the eagle that carried Ganymede was a ship with an eagle upon it, and so called the Eagle, saith Epiphanius. So Bellerophon's riding on Pegasus was his sailing in a ship that had a flying horse for its sign and name. So Virgil, Æn. 10. —ærata princeps secat æguora Tigri. Where the sign of the ship, being set upon the rostrum of it, (which was made of brass,) was a tiger, and so the ship was called. So Diodorus Siculus, l. 4, of Phryxus, that is said to swim upon a ram through the Euxine sea, saith, διαπλεῦσαι αὐτόν φασιν ἐπὶ νεῶς προτομὴν ἐπὶ τῆς πρώρας ἐχούσης κριοῦ, "that he sailed in a ship which had the picture of a ram on the fore part of it." So Palæphatus of Pelops, that was said to have winged horses, it was to be understood, saith he, in the same manner as of Pegasus, that he had a ship, ἐγέγραπτο δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ πλοίου ἵπποι ὑπόπτεροι, "and there were painted on it winged horses." And of Pegasus he had before said, Ὡνομα ἦν τῷ πλοίῳ Πήγασος, ὡς καὶ νῦν ἕκαστον τῶν πλοίων ὄνομα ἔχει, "it was the name of a ship, as now every ship hath a name." So that the mention of the παράσημον or sign here is also the intimation of the name of the ship, Castor and Pollux or Dioscuri. Especially considering that the haven, ver. 8, was no good winter harbour, in which respect most of the passengers advised to put out from thence, and endeavour to gain Phenice, an haven of Crete, situate toward &c., and there they might winter conveniently. And by a calm southerly gale which came they thought this would be easily compassed; and therefore, considering the inconstancy of the wind, and that it might not hold long thus favourable, they made use of the first opportunity, and put out presently, and so got beyond the shore of Crete. ᵈ the north-east wind: see note [a]. ᵉ we were fain to yield the ship to the force of the wind, and sail with it whithersoever it would drive us. ᶠ the skiff that attended the ship was stuck or entangled, so that we could hardly get it to us. ³ presently. ⁴ beat, Ἰβαλε. ⁵ the ship being carried by force along with it, and being not able to resist or hold up against the wind, συναρπασθέντος τοῦ πλοίου, καὶ μὴ δυνα- μένον ἀντορθαλαμῖν τῇ ἀνίμῳ. ⁶ letting her loose, we were carried, ἐπιδόντες ἐφερόμεθα. ⁷ little island, νησίον. ⁸ skiff, σκάφην. HAMMOND, VOL. I. a q [b] thence] Ἄσσον, πλησίον, saith Hesychius, it signifies nigh. But first, it is among the poets only that it is thus used: and 2dly, being here joined with παρελέγοντο, which is the passing just under, there seems to be very little use of the word, or propriety that here it should be put. Perhaps there may here be place for a conjecture, reading θᾶσσον, presently, instead of ἄσσον, and then joining that, not with παρελέγοντο, but ἔραντες, precedent, presently loosing thence. Thus in Synesius, we find Ep. 4, ἔραντες εὐθὺς, "loosing immediately," which is all one with θᾶσσον, τάχιον, ταχύτερον, saith Hesychius. And this I now see to have been the conjecture of the very learned and judicious critic Mr. John Bois of Ely. But at last they got it, and then they made use of some artifices to secure them from splitting; and fearing they might fall upon some quicksand, to prevent that, strake sail— disposed some of the goods out of the ship. And the next day we were forced to cast into the sea the furniture of the ship. And then there came such a season of tempestuous foul weather, that we utterly despaired of escaping. you should have taken the counsel which I gave you, ver. 10, and avoided, or not have run this hazard. [c] gained] What κερδῆσαι signifies here, being joined with ζημίαν, harm and loss, may appear by Himerius in his Declamation against Epicurus, οὐ διὰ τοὺς λόγους κερδανεῖς τὴν δίκην, ἀλλὰ κολασθῆσῃ πλέον, οἷς ἐπὶ τὸ ἀδικεῖν τοῖς λόγοις κέχρησαι, "thou shalt not by thy orations gain, that is, avoid or escape punishment, but shalt be punished the more."—So in Philemon, Πᾶς γὰρ πένης ὃν μεγάλα κερδαίνει κακὰ, ¹Ἔργ. καὶ ἡμερ. β'. 291. ²De Vit. Apoll. L 4. c. 4. ³P. 779. b. For this night I received a vision, and in it a message from that God who is pleased to own and protect me, and whose servant I am, saying— Nero, the Roman emperor: and God hath for thy sake granted life and safety to all them that are with thee in the ship. But one passage more I received in the vision, viz., that after shipwreck we must be cast— What sayest thou, Agrippa? are not the Jewish prophecies fulfilled in Christ? Thou canst not but discern and acknowledge it. h Thou dost in some degree persuade me that the Christian faith is the true. i I heartily wish and pray, for thine own sake, that not only in a low, but in an eminent degree, both thou and all that are here present were as far Christians as I am; only I would not wish them imprisoned as I am. k king Agrippa and Festus and Bernice rose up from the place of judicature, ch. xxv. 29, and they— l The accusations brought against this man are not such as by the Roman law are punishable capitally or by imprisonment, (the emperors having not yet, in the beginning of Nero, made any edict against Christianity.) ### CHAP. XXVII. a Adramyttium, a sea town of Mysia, (see note [a] And by letting down their plummet, and sounding, they found it was first twenty fathoms, then fifteen; which was an argument to assure them they were near a shore. And therefore, it being night, and apprehending the danger of falling upon some shelves for want of light to guide them, they durst go no further, but cast four anchors— ¹ Though I told you that no one person in the ship should perish, yet this was upon condition you would believe and trust God for your preservation, and the mariners stay and do their parts with all diligence, and not use this trick, some to escape, and leave the rest in the danger; if this be done, assure yourselves you will be drowned. Hereupon the soldiers, to prevent the mariners' design, ran and cut the ropes of the skiff, and let it fall off into the sea. And in the space between that and daybreak, Paul exhorted them to refresh themselves with eating, telling them that they had so solicitously attended the fate of this fourteenth day as the special ¹³ skiff, σκάφην. ¹⁴ until it began to be day, ἄχρι οὗ ἔμελλεν ἡμέρα γίνεσθαι. ¹⁵ advised, exhorted, ναρικάλαι. Q Q 2 [d] fasting “Ασιτος is he that eateth nothing all day long, (as μονόσιτος, he that eateth but one meal a day,) and so it is here explained by μηδὲν προσλαβόμενοι, having taken nothing at all. The meaning therefore of this place (without any miracle of subsisting without any nourishment fourteen days together) is to be gathered from the former part of the period, τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτην σήμερον ἡμέραν προσδοκῶντες, “expecting this day the fourteenth day,” that is, waiting to see the success of this day, which, it seems, in the opinion of the mariners, was the critical day to them, their danger was then at the highest, and they were not likely to outlive it, and so there was no use of eating, and if they escaped this day, they might then possibly hope; and upon these considerations, they eat nothing all that day, they had no leisure to consider hunger, when their greater danger and more instant fear was of drowning, and that is a clear meaning of the place. But if it should be applied to all the precedent fourteen days, then it must be taken in that latitude wherein Tzetzes on Hesiod expounds the phrase, ... οὐδὲ τι σίτον ἦσθιον, ... “they eat not meat,” διὰ τὸ μηδὲ ἐν τοῖς καιροῖς τῶν τραπεζῶν αὐτοὺς ἠρεμείν, ἀλλ’ ἐνόπλους καὶ πεφυρμένους ἐσθίειν ἐν αἵμασιν, εἶπεν αὐτοὺς μηδὲ σίτον ἐσθίειν, “because they were not at leisure, or quiet even at meal-times, but eat in their arms, and with their hands fouled with blood, therefore he said, neither did they eat meat;” τραπέζης γὰρ καὶ σίτων καιρὸς ὁ εἰρηναῖος καὶ τερψίθυμος, “for the mealtime is a time of leisure and rejoicing.” Therefore, saith he, I advise you all now to eat, for you shall escape the danger, and refreshing yourselves will the better enable you to bear the difficulties that you are to expect. And he began, and gave them example, blessed God, and did eat. And they did so also, ¹⁶ Expecting the fourteenth day, which is to day, ye continue without eating, Τεσσαρεσκαι- δεκάτην σήμερον ἡμέραν προσδοκῶντες, ἄσιτοι διατελεῖτε. ¹⁷ safety, σωτηρίας. ¹⁸ dis- cerned not, οὐκ ἐπεγίνωσκοι. ¹⁹ having an haven, ἔχοντα αἰγιαλόν. [e] boards The word σανὶς signifies any plain thing, a door, or table, or board, or plank, and is rendered by Hesychius first θύρα, “a door,” then λεύκωμα, “a white table,” ἐν ᾧ αἱ γραφαὶ Ἀθήνησιν ἐγράψαντο πρὸς τοὺς κακούργους, “on which among the Athenians accusations were written against malefactors,” τίθεται δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ σταυροῦ, (not, as it is corruptly read, ταύρου,) “and this was wont to be set upon the cross,” (as the inscription of Christ.) The former of these, or any thing like that, any plain tabulatum, is here meant by it, as that which would be most useful to escape by in this shipwreck. ## CHAP. XXVIII. And they presented us, and gave us great rewards, (see note [c] 1 Pet. iii.) and at our departure furnished us with all necessaries for our journey. which was called the Dioscuri. some Christian professors, who would needs stay us with them a week, after which we parted from them, and advanced toward Rome: (see John vi. 17.) And when we were come toward Rome as far as Appii forum and Tres tabernæ, the Christians in Rome hearing of our approach came out to meet us: whom when Paul saw— common gaoler to secure them, but let Paul stay in a private house only with a soldier to guard him. [d] Appii forum] Mention of these two places we have in Cicero ad Atticum, l. 2. Epist. 10 and 13. Ab Appii foro hora quarta, dederam aliam paulo ante a tribus tabernis, "This Epistle was dated from Appii forum, at four of the clock; I had written another a little before from The three taverns." The latter of which was three and thirty miles from Rome, the former fifty-one, saith Antoninus in his Itinerary. [e] The three taverns] Tres tabernæ is a proper name of a town or city, and so not to be rendered with Isidore πανδοχεῖα and καπηλεῖα, "inns and victualling houses," (as he will also have Appii forum to be a place which had εἰκόνα τινὰ Ἀππίου, "an image of Appius,") but (as all other proper names) is in reason to continue the same, without translation, or considerable alteration of sound, in all languages. Thus the example of Arcopagus, Acts xvii. 19, and Appii forum in this very verse demonstrates; and so here St. Luke's Greek Τρεις Ταβέρναι, which is the retaining, not translating, nor interpreting the Latin. And this the rather, if we consider what the ancient signification of tabernæ was. This "Scaliger tells us on occasion of those verses of Ausonius, Prætereo arentem sitientibus undique terris Damnissum, riguasque perenni fonte Tabernas. Tabernæ, saith he, was the name of the frontier towns which were built against the inroads and insolencies of the barbarians. That there were such every where erected by Dioclesian in the borders of the Romans, we are assured by Zosimus, Hist. l. 2. p. 65. Τῆς γὰρ Ῥωμαίων ἐπικρατίας ἀπανταχοῦ τῶν ἐσχατιῶν—πόλεσι καὶ φρουρίοις καὶ πυργοῖς διελημμένης, καὶ παντὰς τοῦ στρατιωτικοῦ κατὰ ταῦτα τὴν οἴκησιν ἔχοντος, ἄπορος τοῖς βαρβάρους ἦν ἡ διάβασις. "The Roman empire being on every side of the borders divided and fortified with cities and garrisons and castles, and all the military forces dwelling thereabout, there was no access for the barbarians." And so no doubt it was in these former times. And in all reason, as this was the notion of the Tabernæ Montanæ prope Weissenbrugum, and Tabernæ Rhenenses, which Scaliger mentions, so also of the Tres Tabernæ here, which, saith he, Ausonius himself seems to signify, when he saith that the Sauromatæ had their habitations assigned them there, agreeable to what we cited out of Zosimus. That this place was an episcopal see, and so an eminent city, in Constantine's time, appears by Optatus, l. 1, where, amongst the nineteen bishops delegated by Constantine to decide the controversy betwixt Donatus and Cæcilianus, is reckoned Felix a Tribus Tabernis "Felix bishop of that city called Tres Tabernæ." [f] soldier that kept him] The manner of the soldiers guarding the prisoner among the Romans is thus described by Lipsius on Tacitus Ann. l. 3. p. 60, that the prisoner should have a chain on his right hand, and the other end of it on the soldier's left hand, so that they might conveniently go together, the chain being of some length. Of this, many examples he there gives out of authors: one especially from P Athenæus of Quintus Oppius, (for which Aldus's edition hath ὁ Ἴππος corruptly,) παραδοθεὶς δέσμιος, "a prisoner delivered to custody," and of Bastarnes, whom Manlius Aquilius, one that had been consul, and came † 1. Ep. 337. So Zosimus l. 2. Hist. φ τρία καπηλεῖα προσηγορία. "Aus. Læct. l. 1. c. 1. " Ed. Causa. p. 28. " l. 5. p. 67. lin. 13. And after he had been there three days he desired to speak with the rulers of the consistory which And when by this difference of minds there began to be some falling out (or, arguing on both sides, ver. 29.) between them, they departed, Paul telling them at their departure, that this unbelief of theirs was a thing which the prophet Isaias had punctually foretold, Saying, This people of the Jews will not receive the gospel, For they have contracted a perfect habit of obduration and wilful deafness and blindness; to which it is consequent, that they will not hearken to any ways of reformation that should make them capable of mercy. It is therefore now to be expected by you, that we should give over contending with this obduration of yours, and preach the gospel to the heathens, and they will most gladly lay hold on it.