|

42. The soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners] What blood-thirsty cowardly villains must these have been! Though, through the providence of God, those poor men had escaped a watery grave, and had borne all the anxiety and distresses of this disastrous voyage, as well as the others; now, that there. This day is the fourteenth day that ye have-continued is a likelihood of all getting safe to land, that could swim; lest fasting] Ye have not had one regular meal for these four- these should swim to shore, and so escape, those men whose teen days past. Indeed we may take it for granted, that, du-trade was in human blood, desired to have them massacred! ring the whole of the storm, very little was eaten by any man: for what appetite could men have for food, who every moment had death before their eyes?

get safe to shore where still the waves were violent, verse 41. and they, without either skill or power to steer their unsafe flotillas to the land? It was (in this case most evidently,) God, who brought them to the haven where they would be."

1. Paul had appealed to Cesar: and he must go to Rome to have his cause heard. God admitted of this appeal, and told his servant that he should testify of him at Rome; and yet every thing seemed to conspire together to prevent this appeal, and the testimony which the apostle was to bear to the truth of the Christian religion. The Jews laid wait for his life; and when he had escaped out of their hands, and from their territories, then the winds and the sea seemned to combine to effect his destruction. And God suffered all this malice of men, and war of elements, to fight against his servant, and yet overruled and counterworked the whole, so as to promote his own glory, and bring honour to his apostle. Had it not been for this malice of the Jews, Festus, Feliz, Agrippa, Berenice, and many Roman nobles and officers, had probably never heard the Gos. | pel of Christ. And had it not been for Paul's tempestuous voyage, the 276 souls that sailed with him could not have had such displays of the power and wisdom of the Christians' God, as must have struck them with reverence, and probably was the cause of the conversion of many, Had the voyage been smooth and prosperous, there would have been no occasion for such striking interferences of God; and had it not been for the shipwreck, probably the inhabitants of Malta would not so soon have heard of the Christian religion. God serves

is called Melila.

his will by every occurrence, and presses every thing into the service of his own cause. This is a remark which we have often occasion to make, and which is ever in place. We may leave the government of the world and the government of the church most confidently to God: hitherto he has done all things well; and his wisdom, power, goodness, and truth, are still the same.

2. In considering the dangers of a sea-voyage we may well say, with pious Quesnel, To what perils do persons expose themselves either to raise a fortune, or to gain a livelihood 1 How few are there who would expose themselves to the saine for the sake of God? They commit themselves to the mercy of the waves; they trust their life to a plank and to a pilot; and yet it is often with great difficulty that they can trust themselves to the providence of God, whose knowledge, power, and goodness are infinite; and the visible effects of which they have so many times experienced.

3. What assurance soever we may have of the will of God; yet we must not forget human means. The life of all the persons in this ship was given to St. Paul; yet he does not, on that account, expect a visible miracle, but depends upon the blessing which God will give to the care and endeavours of men. 4. God fulfils his promises, and conceals his almighty power, under such means and endeavours as seen altogether human and natural. Had the crew of this vessel neglected any means in their own power, their death would have been the conse. quence of their inaction and infidelity.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

St. Paul, and the rest of the crew, getting sufely ashore, find that the island on which they were shipwrecked is called Melita, 1. They are received with great hospitality by the inhabitants, 2. A viper comes out of the bundle of sticks laid on the fire, and seizes on Paul's hand, 3. The people, seeing this, suppose him to be a murderer, and thus pursued by Di vine vengeance, 4. Having shook it off his hand, without receiving any damage, they change their minds, and suppose him to be a god, 5, 6. Publius, the governor of the island, receives them courteously, and Paul miraculously heals his fa ther, who was ill of a fever, &c. 7, . He heals several others also, who honour them much, and give them presents, 9, 10. After three months stay, they embark in a ship of Alexandria, land at Syracuse, stay there three days, sail thence, pass the straits of Rhegium, and land at Puteoli; find some Christians there, tarry seven days, and set forward for Rome, 11-14 They are met at Appii Forum by some Christians, and Paul is greatly encouraged, 15. They come to Rome, and Julius delivers his prisoners to the captain of the guard, who permits Paul to dwell by himself, only attended by the soldier that kept him, 16. Pan! calls the chief Jews together, and states his case to them, 17-20. They desire to hear him concerning the faith of Christ, 21, 22. and having appointed unto him a day, he expounds to them the kingdom of Christ, 23. Some believe, and some disbelieve; and Paul informs them, that because of their unbelief and disobedience, the salvation of God is sent to the Gentiles, 25-29. Pant dwells two years in his own hired house, preaching the kingdom of God, 30, 31. [A. M. cir. 4066. A. D. cir. 62. An. Olymp. cír. CCX. 2.J

A

ND when they were escaped, then they knew that the | for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of island was called b Melita. the present rain, and because of the cold. 3 And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid

2 And the barbarous peopic showed us no little kindness; a Ch.27.26-b Now, probably, Malta,

c Roin. 14. 1 Cor. 14.11. Col.3.11.

much of a supposition to be made. 4. In St. Paul's voyage to Italy from Melita, on board the Alexandrian ship that had wintered there, he and his companions landed at Syracuse, ver. 12, 13. and from thence went to Rhegium. But if it had been the Illyrian Melita, the proper course of the ship would have been, first, to Rhegium, before it reached Syracuse, and needed not to have gone to Syracuse at all: whereas, in a voyage from the present Malia to Italy, it was necessary to reach Syracuse in Sicily, before the ship could arrive at Rhegium in Italy. See the map accompanying this part: and see Bp. Pearce, from whom I have extracted the tiro last arguments.

NOTES.-Verse 1. They knew that the island was called Melita] There were two islands of this name, one in the Adriatic Gulf, or Gulf of Venice, on the coast of Illyrinn, and near to Epidaurus; the other in the Mediterranean sea, be tween Sicily and Africa, and now called Malta. It is about fifty miles from the coast of Sicily; twenty iniles long, and twelve miles in its greatest breadth; and about sixty miles in circumference. It is one immense rock of white soft free stone, with about one foot depth of earth on an average, and most of this has been brought from Sicily! It produces cotton, excellent fruits, and fine honey; from which it appears the island originally had its name: for Msλt, meli, and in the ge. nitive case Metros, Melitos, signifies honey. Others suppose, that it derived its name from the Phoenicians, who established a colony in it; and made it a place of refuge, when they ex-political vicissitudes through which the island has passed. tended their traffic to the ocean, because it was furnished with excellent harbours (on the E. and W. shores :) hence, in their tongue, it would be called Meliteh, escape or refuge, from malat, to escape.

That Malta was possessed by the Phonicians, before the Romans conquered it, Bochart has largely proved; and in-" deed the language to the present day, notwithstanding all the bears sufficient evidence of its Punic origin. In the year 1761, near a place called Ben Ghisa, in this island, a sephul chral cave was discovered, in which was a square stone, with an inscription in Punic or Phænician characters, on which Sir W. Drummond has written a learned essay, (London, Valpy, 1810, 4to.) which he supposes marks the burial place, at least of the ashes of the famous Carthaginian General Hanniba!. I shall give this inscription in Samaritan characters, as being the present form of the ancient Punic, with Sir Wm." Drummond's translation:

The Phaacians were probably the first inhabitants of this island: they were expelled by the Phoenicians; the Phoni cians by the Greeks; the Greeks by the Carthaginians; the Carthaginians by the Romans, who possessed it in the time of the apostle; the Romans by the Goths; the Goths by the Saracens; the Saracens by the Sicilians, under Roger, earl of Sicily, in 1190. Charles V. emperor of Germany, took possession of it by his conquest of Naples and Sicily: and he gave it in 1525 to the Knights of Rhodes, who are also called the knights of St. Johm of Jerusalem. In 1798, this island surrendered to the French under Buonaparte; and in 1800, after a blockade of two years, the island being reduced by famine, surrendered to the British, under whose dominion it stil! remains (1814.) Every thing considered, there can be little doubt that this is the Melita, at which St. Paul was wrecked, and not that other island in the Adriatic, or Venetian Gulf, as "The high up northward as Illyrium. The following reasons make this greatly evident: 1. Tradition has unvaryingly asserted this as the place of the apostle's shipwreck. 2. The island in the Venetian Gulf, in favour of whien Mr. Bryant so learnedly contends, is totally out of the track in which the euroclydon must have driven the vessel. 3. It is said in ver. 11. of this chapter, that another ship of Alexandria, bound as we must suppose for Italy, and very probably carrying wheat thither, as St. Paul's vessel did, (chap. xxvii. 38.) had been driven out of its course of sailing by stress of weather, up to the Illy rium Melita, and had been for that cause obliged to winter in the isle. Now, this is a supposition, which, as I think, is too

2V91 997 27 VA ATH

39 2 29 3 བསག ཏུཡཐ ཡ ཎ གནས ཡ 424-99 49 20

Chadar Beth ôlam kabar Chanibaal

Nakeh becaleth haveh, rach

m daeh Am beshuth Chanib

dal ben Bar melec.

inner chamber of the sanctuary of the sepulchre

Hannibal,

Ilustrious in the consummation of calamity."

He was beloved,

The people lament, when arrayed
In order of battle,

Hannibal the son of Bar-Melee."

As this is a curious piece, and one of the largest remains of the Punic language now in existence; and as it helps to ascertain the ancient inhabitants of this island, I thought it not" improper to insert it here. For the illustration of this, and several other points of Punic antiquity, 1 must refer the curi ous reader to the Essay Itself.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

ta about the end of October, as we have already seen, then it apvoro; and is supposed to have been founded by the Samians, pears that they left it about the end of January, or the begin ning of February; and though in the depth of winter, not the worst time for sailing, even in those seas, the wind being then generally more steady, and, on the whole, the passage more safe.

Whose sign was Castor and Pollux.] These were two fabulous semi-deities, reported to be the sons of Jupiter and Leda, who were afterward translated to the heavens, and made the constellation called Gemini, or the Twins. This constellation was deemed propitious to mariners; and as it was customary to have the images of their gods both on the head and stern of their ships, we may suppose that this Alex drian ship had these on either her prow or stern, and that these gave name to the ship. We, who profess to be a Christian people, follow the same heathen custon: we have our ships called the Castor, the Jupiter, the Minerva, the Leda, (the mother of Castor and Pollux,) with a inultitude of other demon gods and goddesses; so that were ancient Romans or Grecians to visit our navy, they would be led to suppose, that, after the lapse of more than 2000 years, their old religion had continued unaltered!

Virgil speaks of a vessel called the Tiger, Æn. x. ver. 166.
Massicus erata princeps secat æquora TIGRI
"Massicus, chief, cuts the waves in the brazen-beaked TIGER."
Of another called the Chimera. En. v. ver. 118, 223.
Ingentemque Gyas ingenti mole CHIMÆRAM.
"Gyas the vast Chimera's bulk commands."

And of another called the Centaur. Æn. v. ver. 122, 155, 157.
CENTAURO invehitur magna.

"Sergesthus, in the great Centaur, took the lading place." Besides these names, they had their tutelary gods in the ship, from whom they expected succour; and sometimes they had their images on the stern; and when they got safely to the end of their voyage, they were accustomed to crown these images with garlands: thus Virgil, Geor. i. ver. 304.

PUPPIBUS et læti nautæ imposuere CORONAS. "The joyous sailors placed garlands on their sterns." Several ancient fables appear to have arisen out of the names of ships. Jupiter is fabled to have carried off Europa, across the sea, in the shape of a bull; and to have carried away Ganymede in the shape of an eagle. That is, these persons were carried away, one in a ship called Taurus, or Bull; and the other in one denominated Aquila, the Eagle. Why not Tau rus, as well as Tigris and why not Aquila, as well as Chimera? which names did belong to ships, as we find from the above quotations.

12. Landing at Syracuse] In order to go to Rome from Malta, their readiest course was to keep pretty close to the eastern coast of Sicily, in order to pass through the straits of Rhegium, and get into the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Syracuse is one of the most famous cities of antiquity: it is the capital of the island of Sicily, and was built about 730 years before the Christian era. It lies 72 miles S. by E. of Messina, and about 112 of Palermo. Long. 15° 30′ W. Lat. 37° 17′ N. In its ancient state it was about 22 English miles in circumference, and was highly celebrated for the martial spirit of its inhabitants. This was the birth-place of the illustrious Archimedes; who, when this city was besieged by the Romans, under Marcellus, about 212 years before Christ, defended the place with his powerful engines against all the valour and power of the assailants. He beat their gallies to pieces by huge stones projected from his machines; and by hooks, chains, and levers, from the walls weighed the ships out of the water, and whirling them round, dashed them in pieces against each other, or sunk them to the bottom: several, also, he is said to have destroyed by his burning glasses. When the city was taken by treachery, Archimedes was found intensely engaged in the demonstration of a problem. A Roman soldier coming up, and presenting his dagger to his throat, he cried, "Stop, soldier! or thou wilt spoil my diagram!" The brute was unmoved, and murdered Kim on the spot.

This city was almost totally destroyed by an earthquake in the year 1693; its present population amounts to but about 18,000. Christianity, in some form or other, has existed here ever since St. Paul spent the three days in it mentioned in the

text.

13. We fetched a compass] Olev nepieλborris; whence we coasted about. This will appear evident, when the const of Sicily is viewed on any correct map, of a tolerably large scale.

Rhegium] A city and promontory in Calabria, in Italy, opposite to Sicily. It is now called Reggio. It had its name Phytov, Rhegium, from the Greek Pnyvvuat, to break off; because it appears to have been broken off from Sicily.

The south wind blew] This was the fairest wind they could
have from Syracuse, to reach the straits of Rhegium.
The next day to Puteoli] This place, now commonly called
Pozzuoli, is an ancient town of Naples, in the Terra di La-

about 470 years before Christ. Within this city are several warm baths, very highly celebrated; and from these, and its springs in general, it seems to have had its ancient name Puteoli, from PUTRI, wells or pits; though some derive it from putor, a stench or bad smell, because of the sulphureous exhalations from its warm waters. Varro gives both of these etymologies, lib. iv. de Ling. Lat. cap. 5. It is famous for its temple of Jupiter Serapis, which is built, not according to the Grecian or Roman manner, but according to the Asiatic. Near this place are the remains of Cicero's villa, which are of great extent. The town contains, at present, about 10,000 inhabitants. Long. 14° 40′ E. Lat. 41° 50′ N.

14. Where we found brethren] That is, Christians; for there had been many in Italy converted to the faith of Christ, some considerable time before this, as appears from St. Paul's Epistie to the Romans, written some years before this voyage.

We went towards Rome.] One of the most celebrated ci ties in the universe, the capital of Italy, and once of the whale world; situated on the river Tiber, 410 miles S. 8. E. of Vi enna; 600 S. E. of Paris; 730 E. by N. of Madrid; 760 W. of Constantinople; and 780 S. E. of London. Long. 12° 55′ E. Lat. 41° 54' N. This famous city was founded by Romulus, at the end of the seventh Olympiad, A. M. 3251; of the food, 1595; and 753 years before the Christian era. The history of this city must be sought for in works written expressly on the subject, of which there are many. Modern Rome is greatly inferior to ancient Rome in every respect. Its population, taken in 1709, amounted to 138,569 souls only: among whom were 40 bishops, 2686 priests, 3359 monks, 1814 runs, 893 courtezans, between 8 and 9,000 Jews, and 14 Moors. This city, which once tyrannized over the world by its arms, and over the whole Christian world by its popes, is now reduced to a very low state among the governments of Europe.

15. When the brethren heard of us] By whom the Gospel was planted at Rome is not known: it does not appear that any apostle was employed in this work. It was probably carried thither by some of those who were converted to God at the day of Pentecost; for there were then at Jerusalem, not only devout men, proselytes to the Jewish religion, from every nation under heaven, Acts ii. 5. but there were strangers of Rome also, ver. 10. And it is most reasonable to believe, as we know of no other origin, that it was by these Christianity was planted at Roine.

As far as Appii Forum] About 52 miles from Rome! a long way to come on purpose to meet the apostle! The Appii Forum, or market of Appius, was a town on the Appian way, a road paved from Rome to Campania, by the consul Appius Claudius. It was near the sea, and was a famous resort for sailors, pedlers, &c. Horace, lib. i. Satyrar. 5. ver. 3. men tions this place on his journey from Rome to Brundusium Inde FORUM APPI

Differtum nautis, cauponibus atque malignis.
"To Forum Appii thence we steer, a place
Stuff'd with rank boatmen, and with vintners base."
This town is now called Cæsarilla de S. Maria.

And The Three Taverns] This was another place on the same road, and bont 33 miles from Rome. Some of the Roman Christians had come as far as Appi Forum; others, to The Three Taverns. Bp. Pearce remarks, there are some ruins in that place which are now called Tre Taverne, and this place Cicero mentions in his Epistles to Atticus, lib. ii. l. Ab Appi Foro horâ quartâ: dederam aliam paulo ante in Tribus Tabernis. "Dated at ten in the morning, from Appi Forum. I sent off another (epistle) a little before, from The Three Taverns."

Zozimus, lib. 2. mentions &pia karnλeia, The Three Taverns or victualling houses, where the emperor Severus was strapgled by the treason of Maximinus Herculeus, and his son Maxentius. See Lightfoot.

The word taberna, from trabs, a beam, signifies any building formed of timber; such as those we call booths, sheds, &c. which are formed of beams, planks, boards, and the like; and therefore we may consider it as implying, either a tempo rary residence, or some mean building, such as a cottage, &c. And in this sense Horace evidently uses it, Carm. lib. i. Od. iy. ver. 13.

Pallida mors æquo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas
Regumque turres.

"With equal pace, impartial fate

Knocks at the palace, as the cottage gate."-FRANCIS. This place, at first, was probably a place for booths or sheds, three of which were remarkable; other houses became associated with them in process of time; and the whole place de nominated Tres Taberna, from the three first remarkable booths set up there. It appears to have been a large town in the fourth century, as Optatus mentions Feliz a Tribus Ta bernis, Felix of the Three Taverns, as one of the Christian bishops.

Paul states his case

CHAPTER XXVII.

17 And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called, the chief of the Jews together: and when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.

IS Who, when they had examined me, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me.

19 But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Cesar: not that I had ought to accuse my na

tion of.

20 For this canse, therefore, have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because that " for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.

21 And they said unto him, We neither received letters out of Judea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came showed or spake any harm of thee.

22 But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for, as concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against.

23 And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning

p Ch.25.8, 10. Pra, 112.5.-q Ch.24. 12. 13. & 25.8.- Ch 21.33.-- Ch. 22. 24. & 24.10. 15.5&$31.- Ch.25.11-u Ch.26 6, 7- Chap 21.29 Eph. 3.1. & 41.& 6.20. The 1. 1 & 2 9. Philein. 10. 13,-w Luke 2.34. Ch.24.5, 14. | Pet.2.12.& 4.14.—

■ Lake 24.27. Ch. 17.3. & 19.8.

to the chief of the Jews Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening,

24 And some believed the things which were spoken, and
some believed pot.

25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they de
parted, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the
Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,
26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall
hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and
not perceive:

27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are
dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed, lest they should
see with their eyes, and hear with their ears,and understand with
their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them
28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God
is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.
29 And when he had said these words, the Jews departed,
and had great reasoning among themselves.

30 And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him,

31 Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence,d no man forbidding him.

y See on Ch.26.6, 22. —z Ch.14.4.& 17.4 & 19.9-a Isa. 6.9 Jer.5 21. Ezek. 122 Mart. 13.14, 15 Mark 4 L Luke 10. John 1.40. Rom 11.-b Matt.21.41, 43 Ch.13 14,47 & 18.6 & 22 21. & 25.17,13, Rona.11.11-cCh.4.31. Eph.6.19.-4 Ch. 16. 18. 2 Tim.2.8.9.

Thanked God, and took courage.] He had longed to see 21. We neither received letters, &c.] This is very strange, Rome, (see Rom. i. 9-15.) and finding himself vrought through and shows us that the Jews knew their canse to be hopeless so many calamities, and now so near the place, that he was and therefore did not send it forward to Rome. They wished met by a part of that church, to which, some years before, he for an opportunity to kill Paul; and when they were frustrahad written an epistle, he gave thanks to God who had pre-ted by his appeal to the emperor, they permitted the business served him; and took fresh courage, in the prospect of bear to drop. Calmet supposes they had not time to send; but this ing there a testimony for his Lord and Master. supposition does not appear to be sufficiently solid; they might have sent long before Paul sailed; and they might have writ ten officially by the vessel in which the centurion and the pri soners were embarked. But their case was hopeless; and they could not augur any good to theruselves from making a formal complaint against the apostle at the emperor's throne. 22. For as concerning this sect] See the note on chap, xxiv. 14. A saying of Justin Martyr casts some light on this say. ing of the Jews; he asserts that the Jews not only cursed them in their synagogues, but they sent out chosen men from Jerusalem, to acquaint the world, and particularly the Jews every where, that the Christians were an atheistical and wicked sect, which should be detested and abhorred by all mankind. Justin Martyr, Dial. p. 234.

16. The captain of the guard] Σrparoredapxn. This word properly means the commander of a camp; but it signifies the præfect, or commander of the prætoriun cohorts, or emperor's guards. Tacitus, (Annal. lib. iv. cap. 2.) informs us, that in the reign of Tiberius, Sejanus, who was then præfect of these troops, did, in order to accomplish his ambitious designs, cause them to be assembled from their quarters in the city, and stationed in a fortified camp near it; so that their commander is with peculiar propriety styled by St. Luke, sparonεdapxns, the commander of the camp. For the arrival of St. Paul at Rome was in the seventh year of Nero; and it is certain, from Suetonius, (in Tiber. cap. 37.) that the custom of keeping the prætorian soldiers in a camp near the city was retained by the em perors succeeding Tiberius; for the historian observes, that both Claudius, at his accession to the empire, was received into the camp, in castra delatus est, namely, of the prætorian cohorts and so Tacitus says of Nero, An. lib. xii. cap. 69. that on the same occasion, illatus castris, he was brought into the camp. Dr. Doddridge observes, that it was customary for prisoners who were brought to Rome, to be delivered to this officer, who had the charge of the state prisoners, as ap-law of Moses, any person may be satisfied by consulting the pears from the instance of Agrippa, who was taken into custody by Macro, the prætorian præfect, who succeeded Sejanus, (Joseph. Ant. lib. xviii. cap. 7. sect. 6;) and from Trajan's order to Pliny, when two were in commission, Plin. lib. x. ep. 65. Vinetus mitti ad præfectos prætorii mei debet : he should be sent bound to the præfects of my guards. The person who now had that office was the noted Afranius Burrhus; but both before and after him, it was held by two: Tacit. An. lib. xii. sect. 42. lib. xiv. sect. 51. See Parkhurst.

Burrhus was a principal instrument in raising Nero to the throne, and had considerable influence in repressing many of the vicious inclinations of that bad prince. With many others he was put to death by the inhuman Nero; and is praised by the historians for moderation and love cf justice. His treat ment of St. Paul is no mean proof of this. Calmet.

With a soldier that kept him.] That is, the soldier to whom he was chained, as has been related before, chap. xii. 6. 17. Paul called the chief of the Jews together] We have al ready seen, in chap. xviii. 2. that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome; see the note there: but it seems they were permitted to return very soon; and from this verse it appears that there were then chiefs, probably of syna. gogues, dwelling at Rome.

I have committed nothing] Lest they should have heard and received malicious reports against him, he thought it best to

state his own case.

20. For the hope of Israel I am bound, &c.] As if he had said this, and this alone, is the cause of my being delivered into the hands of the Romans; I have proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah; have maintained that though he was crucified by the Jews, yet he rose again from the dead; and through lum I have preached the general resurrection of mankind; this all Israel professes to hope for; and yet it is on this account that the Jews persecute me. Both the Messiah and the resurrection might be said to be the hope of Israel; and it is bard to tell which of them is here meant; see chap. xxiii. 6. xxiv. 15, 21. and xxvi. 6. It is certain that, although the Jews believed in the general resurrection, yet they did not credit it in the manner in which Paul preached it; for he laid the foundation of the general resurrection, on the resurrection of Christ.

23. To whom he expounded-the kingdom of God] To whom he showed that the reign of the Messiah was to be a spiritual reign; and that Jesus, whom the Jewish rulers had lately crucified, was the true Messiah, who should rule in this spiritual kingdom. These two points were probably those on which he expatiated from inorning to evening, proving both out of the law, and out of the prophets. How easily Jesus, as the Messiah, and his spiritual kingdom, might be proved from the notes written on those books. As to the prophets, their predictions are so clear, and their prophecies so obviously fulfilled in the person, preaching, miracles, passion, and death of Jesus Christ, that it is utterly impossible, with any show of reason, to apply them to any other.

24. Some believed, &c.] His message was there treated as his Gospel is to the present day; some believe, and are converted; others continue in obstinate unbelief, and perish.Could the Jews then have credited the spiritual nature of the Messiah's kingdom, they would have found little difficulty to receive Jesus Christ as the MESSIAH.

Multitudes of those now called Christians, can more easily credit Jesus as the Messiah, than believe the spiritual nature of his kingdom. The cross is the great stumbling-block; millions expect Jesus and his kingdom, who cannot be persuaded that the cross is the way to the crown.

25. Agreed not among themselves] It seems that a contro versy arose between the Jews themselves, in consequence of some beliering, and others disbelieving; and the two parties contested together: and, in respect to the unbelieving party, the apostle quoted the following passage from Isa. vi. 9.

26. Hearing, ye shall hear, &c.] See the notes on Matt. xiii. 14. and John xii. 39, 40.

28. The salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles] St. Paul had spoken to this effect twice before, chap. xiii. 46. and chap. xviii. 6. where, see the notes; but here he uses a firmer tone, being out of the Jewish territories, and under the protection of the emperor. By the salvation of God, all the blessings of the kingdom of Christ are intended. This salvation God could have sent unto the Gentiles, independently of the Jewish disobedience; but He waited till they had rejected it and then reprobated them, and elected the Gentiles. Thus the elect became reprobate, and the reprobate elect.

They will hear it.] That is, they will obey it: for, akover▸ signifies not only to hear, but also to obey,

29. And had great reasoning among themselves.] The believers contending with the unbelievers; and thus we inay suppose that the cause of truth gained ground. For, contentions about the truth and authenticity of the religion of Christ, infallibly end in the triumph and extension of that religion. 30. Paul dwell two whole years in his own hired house]