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20. And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, a region of Africa; which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, or, "Greeks*," as the best copies read, preaching the Lord Jesus, i. e. the gospel of the Lord Jesus.

The inhabitants of Antioch and of these parts of Asia were called Greeks, because they spoke the Greek language. To them, although Gentiles, these disciples ventured to preach the gospel, after having heard, probably, what Peter had done in Judæa.

21. And the hand of the Lord was with them, i. e. they were enabled to work miracles: and a great number believed and turned to the Lord, i. e. professed themselves the disciples of Jesus.

22. Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem, and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as. Antioch.

23. Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, "the kindness of God" in inclining Gentiles to believe in Jesus, was glad, and exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord, that they would adhere to Christ.

* See Griesbach.

The reason for his earnestness is assigned in the

next verse.

24. For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith; and much people was added unto the Lord.

25.

Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul.

He had been sent to Tarsus, which was his native place, by the brethren at Jerusalem, to avoid an attempt made against his life by some zealous Jewish proselytes with whom he disputed, as we were informed in the ninth chapter. Barnabas, who had been before acquainted with Saul, went to seek him, as a useful fellow-labourer in the work in which he was engaged.

26. And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

As Antioch was a populous city, and the inhabitants discovered a readiness to receive the gospel, Paul and Barnabas found encouragement to take up their residence, and to preach there, for a long time.

Some have supposed that Christians were so called by divine appointment, and that this is implied in the Greek word used on this occasion; but it was so natural and so common to give to disciples the name of their teacher or master, that there is no occasion to have recourse to a miracle. Before this time they had

undoubtedly a name; but they had been hitherto called Nazarenes, Disciples or Believers. Their new name seems to have been of Latin origin; for it has a Latin and not a Greek termination, and was probably given them by the Romans, to whom Antioch was at this time subject. Had Christians given it to themselves, it is probable that the writer of this history would have used it; but it is remarkable that he carefully avoids this appellation, calling them brethren, believers and saints. The same observation has been made respecting the apostle Paul, who never calls the disciples of Christ Christians, but speaks of them under some other denomination. They are once called so by Peter, (1 Ep. iv. 16.) The reason of this caution in Paul and Luke was probably an apprehension that by giving them that name they might make Christ appear like an ordinary leader of a sect among the heathen philosophers*.

27. And in these days came prophets, rather, "teachers," from Jerusalem unto Antioch.

Their office was that of instructors, and they came hither for the purpose of preaching the gospel: one of them, indeed, delivers a prediction, but as this power of. foretelling future events was only occasional, it would not entitle him to the appellation of a prophet, in the same sense in which we apply the term to the prophets of the Old Testament; or, if he deserved the name, there appears no reason for giving it to all his companions.

28. And there there stood up one of them, named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there would be great dearth, "a great famine," throughout all the world, which came to pass in the days of Claudius Cæsar.

*Lardner, Vol. vi. p. 265, &c.

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The words which we translate all the world, frequently signify no more than all the land, and are to be taken in a more enlarged or limited sense, according to the subject of which the writer is speaking: as, in the present instance, Jerusalem is the place last mentioned, the whole land will signify the whole country of Judæa, and the meaning of the writer is that the famine was not confined to Jerusalem, but extended over al! the neighbouring territory. Luke tells us that this prediction was fulfilled under Claudius Cæsar; and we learn from Josephus that such a famine actually took place in Judæa, in the reign of this prince, and about this time.

29. Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judæa:

This itself is a proof that the famine was not expected to extend to this country; for otherwise they would not have determined upon this act of liberality, when they themselves were likely to want; or, if they had done so, such an act of generosity could not have failed to be noticed by the historian.

30. Which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

REFLECTIONS.

1. The conduct of those Jews who so readily acquiesced in the admission of the Gentiles to the same privileges as themselves, is highly worthy of commendation. They had been taught to conceive of them

selves as a peculiar people; standing high in the favour of God, and alone worthy of divine revelation ; the Gentiles they were taught to regard with contempt and abhorrence, as a people abandoned by God, as a nation of sinners, unclean and unholy. This opinion had been inculcated upon them from their earliest years, and was one of the strongest of their prejudices; they hear, therefore, with surprise and indignation of Peter's visit to them, and of his receiving Gentiles by baptism into the Christian church; they blame him for his conduct, and resolve to discountenance what he had done, by refusing to associate with this people. But no sooner are they satisfied that what he did was agreeable to the will and by the express direction of God, than they resign their prejudices at once, and submit to the decisions of infinite. wisdom. Nay, in this measure of admitting the Gentiles to embrace the gospel, they discover a new proof of the goodness of the universal parent, and fresh motives for thanksgiving and praise. They glorify God for granting repentance unto the Gentiles.

If, after having fallen into error, we have discovered our mistake, let us not be backward to acknowledge the truth, but imitate the conduct of these devout Jews: if we find that it is the plan of Providence that mankind be saved by one of the human race, and not by a pre-existent being or by a God; that man should possess a natural capacity of doing the divine. will, independently of supernatural aid, and that we should be restored to God's favour upon repentance and reformation alone, without the intervention of a third person; whatever our pre-conceived opinions may have been, and however long established, let us learn to submit our judgments to superior authority, and to admire the wisdom which can produce such great effects by such simple means.

2. The exhortation of Barnabas to the Christians at Antioch, that with purpose of heart they would cleave to the Lord, is equally proper for the professors Vol. 3.].

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