Acts 10:13

Act 10:13 . ἀναστάς , see above on Act 5:17 : he may have been, as St. Chrysostom says, on his knees. θῦσον : the beasts are represented as living not here in a sacrificial sense, cf. Luk 15:23 .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 13. Rise, Peter, kill and eat.] θυσον και φαγε, Sacrifice and eat. Though this verb is sometimes used to signify the slaying of animals for food, yet, as the proper notion is to slay for the purpose of sacrifice, it appears to me to be better to preserve that meaning here. Animals that were offered in sacrifice were considered as given to God; and, when he received the life, the flesh was given to those who offered the sacrifice, that they might feed upon it; and every sacrifice had in it the nature of a covenant; and covenants were usually made by eating together on the flesh of the sacrifice offered on the occasion, God being supposed to be invisibly present with them, and partaking of the feast. The Jews and Gentiles are certainly represented by the clean and unclean animals in this large vessel: these, by the ministry of the Gospel, were to be offered up a spiritual sacrifice to God. Peter was to be a prime instrument in this work; he was to offer them to God, and rejoice in the work of his hands. The spirit of the heavenly direction seems to be this: "The middle wall of partition is now to be pulled down; the Jews and Gentiles are called to become one flock, under one shepherd and bishop of souls. Thou, Peter, shalt open the door of faith to the Gentiles, and be also the minister of the circumcision. Rise up; already a blessed sacrifice is prepared: go and offer it to God; and let thy soul feed on the fruits of his mercy and goodness, in thus showing his gracious design of saving both Jews and Gentiles by Christ crucified."

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. A voice from heaven. The voice came from heaven as did the sheet, that Peter might know that both came from God; neither had the sight done him any good, unless God had with this voice made clean those things which were before unclean. Whereas some pick an allegory out of the word kill, as if God did signify that men are sacrificed to him by the spiritual sword of the gospel; I do not prosecute that, but plainness pleaseth me better, that God doth take away by this voice the law concerning the choice of beasts, that he may also teach that he rejecteth no people, (Romans 15:16.) For if by the former word be meant sacrificing, what shall eat signify?

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(13) Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.—In the symbolism of the vision the natural promptings of appetite were confirmed by the divine voice. That which resisted both was the scruple of a hesitating conscience, not yet emancipated from its bondage to a ceremonial and therefore transitory law. It is natural to infer that the spiritual yearnings of Peter’s soul were, in like manner, hungering and thirsting after a wider fellowship which should embrace “all manner” of the races that make up mankind, while, on the other hand, he was as yet waiting to be taught that the distinction between Jew and Gentile was done away in Christ.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. Rise, Peter; kill, and eat] As he was hungry before he fell into the trance, here is presented the means of satisfying his hunger, and by the command in which he is directed to kill without distinction among all that he sees, this divinely-communicated abrogation of the law of Moses concerning the choice among living creatures afterwards informs his waking mind that now all the nations are to be alike included among God’s people.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And there came a voice to him,.... Formed by an angel, or rather by Christ himself:

rise, Peter, kill and eat; he might be on his knees when he fell into this trance, being at prayer, and therefore is bid to rise; and he is called by name, the more to encourage him to do as he was ordered; and he is bid to kill and eat of all the creatures without distinction, which were represented to him in the sheet; and the design of this was to teach him, that both the distinction between clean and unclean creatures in the law was now abolished, and men might lawfully eat of whatsoever they pleased; and that he might and should without any difference converse with all sorts of men, Jews and Gentiles, circumcised and uncircumcised, and preach the Gospel to one as to another, and maintain a church communion and fellowship with all equally alike.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.

Ver. 13. Kill and eat] Peter was hereby taught not to kill and slay in battle, as many of his warlike pretended successors have done, but to kill that corruption that he found in the Gentiles, by the sword of the Spirit, &c. Julius II can turn him either way, to Peter’s keys or Paul’s sword. {a}

{a} Cum Petri nihil efficiant ad praelia claves auxilio Pauli forsitan ensis erit.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Of that thou seest, without any exception, whether they be clean, or (formerly) unclean creatures. The moral of which command is, that he might now converse with Jews and Gentiles indifferently, and preach unto these also the word of life.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. Kill—Literally sacrifice. For the clean Jew to kill the clean animal for his own eating was in a manner to sacrifice him. Rather, however, the word symbolizes that the unclean Gentile may, through the great sacrifice of the pure Lamb of God, present himself a living sacrifice to Jehovah.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See notes on verse 9

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

a voice spoke to him

The person speaking is not specified. The "voice" was probably God, although it could possibly have been an angel from God. (See: Synecdoche)

Not so

"I will not do that"

I have never eaten anything that was defiled and unclean

It is implied that some the animals in the container were unclean as defined by the law of Moses and were not to be eaten by believers who lived before Christ died. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

What God has cleansed

If God is the speaker, he is referring to himself in the third person. AT: "What I, God, have cleansed" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)

This happened three times

It is not likely that everything Peter saw happened three times. This probably means that the phrase, "What God has cleansed, do not call it defiled," was repeated three times. However, it may be best to simply say "This happened three times" instead of trying to explain in detail.

translationWords

Peter

defile

clean

clean

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

[13. Φάγε, eat) Such food was awaiting Peter as Christ Himself is satisfied with: Isa 53:11, “He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied.”—V. g.]

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. ἀναστὰς Πέτρε θῦσον καὶ φάγε, rise, Peter, kill and eat. He was hungry before he fell into the trance. In the vision there is presented the means of satisfying his hanger. But with this there comes an instruction to disregard the Mosaic distinction about clean and unclean meats. His waking mind is able to interpret this, and he sees that now all nations alike are to be included among God’s people.

On ἀναστάς Chrysostom remarks ἴσως ἐπὶ γόνατα κείμενος εἶδε τὴν ὀπτασίαν. And then he continues ὅτι δὲ καὶ θεῖον ἦν τὸ γινόμενον δῆλον ἔκ τε τοῦ ἄνωθεν ἰδεῖν καταβαῖνον, ἔκ τε τοῦ ἐν ἐκστάσει γενέσθαι. τὸ δὲ καὶ φωνὴν ἐκεῖθεν ἐνεχθῆναι, καὶ τὸ τρὶς τοῦτο γενέσθαι, καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνεῳχθῆναι, καὶ τὸ ἐκεῖθεν ἥκειν, καὶ τὸ ἐκεῖ ἀναρπασθῆναι πάλιν μέγα δεῖγμα τοῦ θεῖον εἶναι τὸ πρᾶγμα.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.