Acts 11:21

Act_11:21

The hand of the Lord.

The hand

The word hand occurs in Scripture no fewer than 1,295 times. Man is the only being on earth that is furnished with two hands. Some other creatures have claws, but not hands. They cannot do as you can, make the thumb meet all the four fingers, so as to seize and hold all the most minute objects; nor can they perform one thousandth part of the skilful acts that man can perform with his hand. What other creature, e.g., can make a watch, or a needle? And there is power in mans hand as well as skill; he can apply force in ways which none of them can approach.

I. In relations to God Himself, the word hand is used--

1. To denote His eternal purpose and almighty power (Act_4:28; Act_4:30).

2. To denote His mighty power to keep, defend, preserve (Joh_10:28-29; Isa_49:2).

3. To express His rich, providential provision for the wants of all His creatures (Psa_104:28; 1Ch_29:16).

4. To signify Gods right to be, as He is, the sovereign disposer of all circumstances, persons, and events (Psa_31:15; Job_2:10).

5. When His inflictions and corrections are referred to (Jdg_2:15; Psa_32:4; Heb_10:31).

6. To denote His power to help (Psa_74:11; Ezr_7:6; Ezr_7:9; Ezr_8:18; Ezr_8:22; Neh_2:8; Neh_2:18; Psa_80:17; Luk_1:66). As an expression for Gods Spirit, putting the spirit of power into us, as well as of love and of a sound mind (Eze_1:3; Eze_3:14; Eze_3:22; Eze_8:1; Eze_37:1). We can be strong for any high and arduous duty only in His strength; all power indeed, all energy of purpose, all special skill in any art, cometh of Him. And not only is this spoken of as Gods hand as the mover, but the term is applied to the agent--the doer of the particular thing. The men of the world are spoken of as Gods hand; and His hand is also to be upon all them for good who seek Him. The right hand, as specially denoting power, is an expression that often occurs in Scripture, and is almost always applied to God (Psa_16:11; Psa_17:7; Psa_20:6; Psa_21:8; Psa_44:3; Psa_45:4; Psa_45:9; Psa_48:10; Psa_60:5; Psa_63:8; Psa_74:1; Psa_48:13; Psa_62:8; Mar_16:19; Heb_1:3, etc., etc.).

II. In relation to man the word hand is used--

1. To denote power in all its various applications (Pro_3:27; Ecc_9:10). To give ones hand is an expression which signifies to pledge peace, promise security, swear friendship, make an alliance.

2. To denote help (Psa_16:8; Psa_73:23; Psa_142:4).

3. To indicate possession, as to rend it out of the hand of anyone denotes deprivation (1Ki_11:11-12).

4. For the giving of advice (2Sa_14:19; 2Sa_14:5).

5. For deliverance from the power and oppression of others (Exo_18:9-10).

6. To denote work of any kind (Luk_1:1; Luk_9:62; Act_20:34; Pro_10:4; Pro_12:24). (S. Jenner, M. A.)

A great number believed, and turned, to the Lord.--

Conversions desired

I. The end which we desire.

1. That men may believe the testimony of Christ to be true. There are some who have not reached as far as that: they reject the inspired Word, and to them the incarnation, etc., are so many old wives fables. There are also many who profess to believe these things, but their only reason is that they have been taught so, and it is the current religion of the nation. But we want more than this faith of indifference, which is little more than unbelief; we want men to believe for themselves because they have felt the saving power of Christ. We pray that nominal believers may treat the doctrines of revelation, not as dogmas, but as facts.

2. That men may savingly believe by putting their trust in Christ. A man commits his soul to Christ for safe keeping, and that saves him. He makes the Saviour trustee of his spiritual estates.

3. That men may so believe in Jesus that they may be turned unto the Lord. This means--

(1) To turn from idols to the living and true God. We desire that faith in Jesus may lead you to give up the objects of your idolatrous love, yourselves, your money, your pleasures, the world, the flesh, the devil.

(2) To turn from the love of sin. He who looks sinward has his back to God--he who looks Godward has his back to sin.

(3) That henceforth God shall he sought in prayer. The man who lives without prayer lives without God, but the man who has turned to God is familiar with the mercy seat.

(4) To yield yourself obediently to His sway. Faith is nothing unless it brings with it a willing mind.

II. The power by which this can be attained. The hand of the Lord was with them. Be encouraged; the hand of God--

1. Is upon men before we speak. I am studying a certain subject, and praying for a blessing on it, and in a chamber, which I have never seen, one of my hearers is smitten with a sense of sin, or troubled with uneasy thoughts, or rendered hopeful of better things, and thus he is being made ready to accept the Christ whom I shall preach to him. Sickness and pain, shame and poverty, often produce a condition of mind most hopeful for the reception of the gospel. Sow, brother, for God has ploughed. Go up and build, for God has prepared the stones and made ready the foundation.

2. Upon the teachers and preachers themselves. There are strange impulses which come over us at times, which make us think and say what otherwise had never crossed our minds, and these work with power upon mens minds.

3. Upon the hearts of men when the gospel is preached. Not only is the Spirit in the Word, but over and above that He makes men--

(1) Recollect their sins. Men who have been giddy and careless and forgetful have on a sudden found themselves reviewing the past.

(2) See the beauty of holiness. When the preacher proclaims the way of salvation the Spirit leads men to admire it and to long for a share in it. Yes, it is not the preacher, and it is not altogether what the preacher says, but there is a power abroad as potent as that by which the worlds were made.

III. The desirableness of our object. Because conversions--

1. Promote the extension of truth, godliness, and virtue.

2. Make men happy. If religion be indeed a source of joy to yourself, you are inhuman if you do not wish others to drink of it.

3. Save men from hell.

4. Increase the Church. Self-preservation is a law of nature, and the Church can never preserve herself except by increasing from the world by conversion.

5. Promote the glory of Christ and give Him to see the travail of His soul.

6. Augment personal blessedness.

IV. How we may promote its attainment.

1. We must distinctly aim at it. As a rule, a man does what he tries to do, and not that which is mere by-play. There is the target, and if you continue to shoot into the air long enough an arrow may perhaps strike it; but if you want to win the prize of archery you had better fix your eye upon the white and take your aim distinctly and with skill.

2. We must press upon men the truths which God usually blesses (Act_11:20). If we do not preach Christ we shall not see souls saved. Who ever heard of a Unitarian Whitfield, or a Socinian Moody gathering twenty thousand people to listen to a Christless gospel? We must equally avoid the modern intellectual system in all its phases. How many conversions are wrought by displays of genius, fine rhetoric, etc.? Certain views as to mans future are equally to be kept clear of, if you would be the means of conversion. Diminish your ideas of the wrath of God and the terrors of hell, and in that proportion you will diminish the results of your work. Other crotchets and novelties of doctrine are also to be let alone, for they are not likely to promote your object, and will most probably divert mens attention from the vital point. If you want a harvest, look well to your seed. If I had to sow my fields with wheat I would not take any but the very best.

3. We must feel a solemn alarm about souls. Believe their danger, their helplessness, that only Christ can save them, and talk to them as if you meant it. The Holy Spirit will move them by first moving you.

4. There must be much prayer. In your closets, at your family altars, and in your prayer meetings be importunate, and the hand of the Lord must and will be with you.

5. There must be direct personal effort on the part of all of you. Great numbers may be saved by my preaching if the Holy Spirit blesses it, but I shall expect larger numbers if you all turn witnesses for Christ. We must expect converts. According to your faith so be it unto you. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11:21-24 Once again, as had happened in the household of Cornelius, Gentiles turned to the Lord in considerable numbers. The explosion of Christian faith into the Gentile world had to remain in harmony with the church at Jerusalem, so the Jerusalem church sent Barnabas to Antioch to oversee developments there. He could see that God’s blessing was on what was happening, so he endorsed it with joy.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Act 11:21. Χεὶρ Κυρίου, the hand of the Lord) His spiritual power, putting itself forth by the Gospel. So the arm of the Lord, Joh 12:38.

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

Act_11:21-26. Χεὶρ κυρίου] See on Luk_1:66; Act_4:30. Bengel well remarks: potentia spirituals per evangelium se exserens.

αὐτῶν] these preachers to the Gentiles.

Act_11:22. εἰς τὰ ὦτα] Comp. on Luk_4:21.

ὁ λόγος] the word, i.e. the narrative of it; see on Mar_1:45.

Act_11:23. χάριν τ. Θεοῦ] as it was manifested in the converted Gentiles.

τῇ προθέσει τῆς καρδ. προσμέν. τῷ κυρίῳ] with the purpose of their heart to abide by the Lord, i.e. not again to abandon Christ, to whom their hearts had resolved to belong, but to be faithful to Him with this resolution. Comp. 2Ti_3:10.

Act_11:24. ὅτι ἦν … πίστεως] contains the reason, not why Barnabas had been sent to Antioch (Kuinoel), but of the immediately preceding ἐχάρη … κυρίῳ.

ἀνὴρ ἀγαθός] quite generally: an excellent man, a man of worth, whose noble character, and, moreover, whose fulness of the Spirit and of faith completely qualified him to gain and to follow the right point of view, in accordance with the divine counsel, as to the conversion of the Gentiles here beheld. Most arbitrarily Heinrichs holds that it denotes gentleness and mildness, which Baumgarten has also assumed, although such a meaning must have arisen, as in Mat_20:5, from the context (comp. on Rom_5:7), into which Baumgarten imports the idea, that Barnabas had not allowed himself to be stirred to censure by the strangeness of the new phenomenon.

Act_11:25. εἰς Ταρσόν] See Act_9:30.

Act_11:26. According to the corrected reading ἐγένετο δὲ αὐτοῖς καὶ ἐνιαυτὸν κ.τ.λ. (see the critical remarks), it is to be explained: it happened to them (comp. Act_20:16; Gal_6:14), to be associated even yet (καί) a whole year in the church, and to instruct a considerable multitude of people, and that the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. With χρηματίσαι the construction passes into the accusative with the infinitive, because the subject becomes different (τοὺς μαθητ.). But it is logically correct that χρηματίσαι κ.τ.λ. should still be dependent on ἐγένετο αὐτοῖς, just because the reported appellation, which was first given to the disciples at Antioch, was causally connected with the lengthened and successful labours of the two men in that city. It was their merit, that here the name of Christians first arose.

On the climactic καί, etiam, in the sense of yet, or yet further, comp. Hartung, Partikell. I. p. 133 f.

συναχθῆναι] to be brought together, i.e. to join themselves for common work. They had been since Act_9:26 ff. separated from each other.

χρηματίσαι to bear the name; see on Rom_7:3.

Χριστιανούς] This name decidedly originated not in, but outside of, the church, seeing that the Christians in the N. T. never use it of themselves, but designate themselves by μαθηταί, ἀδελφοί, believers, etc.; and seeing that, in the two other passages where Χριστιανοί occurs, this appellation distinctly appears as extrinsic to the church, Act_26:28; 1Pe_4:16. But it certainly did not proceed from the Jews, because Χριστός was known to them as the interpretation of מָשִׁיחַ, and they would not therefore have transferred so sacred a name to the hated apostates. Hence the origin of the name must be derived from the Gentiles in Antioch.[267] By these the name of the Head of the new religious society, Christ, was not regarded as an official name, which it already was among the Christians themselves ever more and more becoming; and hence they formed according to the wonted mode the party-name: Christiani (Tac. Ann. xv. 44: auctor nominis ejus Christus Tiberio imperitante per procuratorem Pontium Pilatum supplicio affectus erat). At Antioch, the seat of the mother-church of Gentile Christianity, this took place at that time (for this follows from the reading ἐγέν. δὲ αὐτοῖς), because in that year the joint labours of Paul and Barnabas occasioned so considerable an enlargement of the church, and therewith naturally its increase in social and public consideration. And it was at Antioch that this name was borne first, earlier than anywhere else (πρῶτον, or, according to B א, πρώτως, Lobeck, ad Phryn. p. 311 f.), because here the Christians, in consequence of the predominant Gentile-Christian element, asserted themselves for the first time not as a sect of Judaism, but as an independent community. There is nothing to support the view that the name was at first a title of ridicule (de Wette, Baumgarten, after Wetstein and older interpreters). The conjecture of Baur, that the origin of the name was referred to Antioch, because that was the first Gentile city in which there were Christians (Zeller also mistrusts the account before us), cannot be justified by the Latin form of the word (see Wetstein, ad Mat_22:17).

[267] Ewald, p. 441 f., conjectures that it proceeded from the Roman authorities.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 11:21 . χεὶρ Κ ., cf. Act 4:28 ; Act 4:30 , Act 13:11 , Luk 1:66 ; frequent in O.T. τε closely connects the two clauses, showing that the result of “the hand of the Lord” was that a great number, etc. (Weiss).

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

a great number believed--Thus the accession of Cornelius and his party was not the first admission of uncircumcised Gentiles into the Church. (See on Act 10:1.) Nay, we read of no influence which the accession of Cornelius and his house had on the further progress of the Gospel among the Gentiles; whereas there here open upon us operations upon the Gentiles from quite a different quarter, and attended with ever growing success. The only great object served by the case of Cornelius was the formal recognition of the principles which that case afterwards secured. (See on Act 15:19-29.)

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 21. The hand of the Lord was with them] By the hand, arm, and, finger of God, in the Scripture, different displays or exertions of his power are intended. Here it means that the energy of God accompanied them, and applied their preaching to the souls of all attentive hearers. Without this accompanying influence, even an apostle could do no good; and can inferior men hope to be able to convince and convert sinners without this? Ministers of the word of God, so called, who dispute the necessity and deny the being of this influence, show thereby that they are intruders into God's heritage; that they are not sent by him, and shall not profit the people at all.

A great number believed] That Jesus was the Christ; and that he had died for their offenses, and risen again for their justification. Because the apostles preached the truth, and the hand of God was with them, therefore, a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord, becoming his disciples, and taking him for their portion.

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

21. The hand of the Lord was. Luke proveth by the success that the gospel was offered unto the Gentiles also by the brethren of Cyprus and Cyrene not rashly nor unadvisedly, because their labor was fruitful and profitable. But such increase should never have followed, unless God had commanded and favored. Therefore, it followeth that it pleased God that the Gentiles should be called. The hand, as it is well known, doth signify power and strength. Therefore, this is Luke’s meaning, that God did testify by his present aid that the Gentiles were called together with the Jews, through his direction, to be made partakers of the grace of Christ. And this blessing of God served not a little to confirm the minds of all men. This place did also teach us, that what pains soever the ministers of God take in teaching, it shall be all vain and void, unless God bless their labors from heaven. For we may plant and water, as Paul teacheth, but the increase cometh from God alone, (1 Corinthians 3,) in whose hand the hearts of men are, that he may bend and frame the same at his pleasure. Therefore, as often as we are to intreat of faith, let us always remember this speech, that God wrought by his ministers, and that he made their doctrine effectual by his hand, that is, by the secret inspiration of the Spirit. Therefore, let the minister attempt nothing trusting to his own wit and industry, but let him commit his labor to the Lord, upon whose grace the whole success dependeth; and where doctrine shall work effectually, let those which shall believe thank God for their faith. Furthermore, we must note that which Luke saith, that many were turned unto God by faith, because he doth very well express the force and nature of faith; that it is not idle and cold, but such as restoreth men (who were before turned away from God) unto his government, and bindeth them unto his righteousness.

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.

21. And the hand of the Lord was with them] The expression is a common one in the O. T. to express the direct interposition of God in the affairs of the world. Cp. Exo_14:31, “And Israel saw that great work [Heb. hand] which the Lord did upon the Egyptians.” So the Egyptian magicians (Exo_8:19), “This is the finger of God.”

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.

Then tidings of these things,.... Of the spread of the Gospel in several parts, and the success of it in the conversion of sinners, especially at Antioch:

came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem; these tidings were brought to the apostles and brethren there, by messengers which the ministers of the word sent unto them to let them know what success they met with; notwithstanding the persecution raised against the church of Jerusalem at the death of Stephen, and the havoc that was made of the members of it, and the dispersion of others, yet it still continued a church, and so it did for ages after: there are reckoned fifteen bishops of it unto the times of Trajan, and the destruction of the city by him, when the Jews were no longer suffered to live in it; and they are these, James the brother of our Lord, Simeon, Justus, Zacchaeus, Tobias, Benjamin, John, Matthias, Philip, Seneca, Justus, Levi, Ephres, Joseph, and Judas; and these are said (h) to be all originally Hebrews: but after the destruction of the city by Trajan, and the Jews were forbid inhabiting it, the church consisted of Gentiles only; and of them bishops were constituted over it, and were as follow: Marcus, Cassianus, Publius, Maximus, Julianus, Gaianus, Symmachus, Caius, another Julianus, Capito, another Maximus, Antoninus, Valens, Dolychianus, Narcissus, Aelius, Germanio, Gordius, and another Narcissus; all these governed this church in the "second" century: and in the "third" century, the bishops of this church were Alexander, Mazabanes, Labdas, and Hermon, who was the last before the Dioclesian persecution: in the "fourth" century, Macarins, Maximus, and Cyril, presided over it; and these were succeeded in the "fifth" century by Joannes Nepos, Prayllius, Juvenalis, Anastasius, and Martyrius; in this age also Lucian and Hesychius were presbyters of this church. In the "sixth" century, the names of the bishops of this church were Salustius, Helias, Johannes, Petrus, Macarius, Eustochius, Johannes, Neamus, and Isicius: in the "seventh" century were Thomas, Johannes, Neannus, Isaac, Zacharias, and Sophronius, who was the last bishop of Jerusalem before the utter and last devastation of it by the Saracens (i); since which time the city has underwent various fates, being sometimes in the hands of the Christians, and at other times possessed by the Turks, in whose power it now is.

And they sent forth Barnabas; who was himself an Hellenist, and of the country of Cyprus, and so very fit to be sent to the Grecians or Hellenists at Antioch, who had received the Gospel to confirm them in it: for his orders were,

that he should go as far as Antioch which is said to be about fifteen or sixteen days journey from Jerusalem: the phrase, "that he should go", is not in the Alexandrian copy, nor in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions.

(h) Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 4. c. 5. (i) Magdeburg. Hist. Eccles. cent. 2. c. 2. p. 2. & c. 9. p. 126. cent. 3. c. 10. p. 146. 148. cent. 4. c. 10. p. 503. c. 5. cent. 10. p. 540. cent. 6. c. 10. p. 335. cent. 7. c. 10. p. 251.

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

21 And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.

Ver. 21. And a great number believed] God sealing his approval of what they did, by an extraordinary success. He hath a mighty hand, and can fetch in multitudes at his pleasure. We hope he is doing some such great work in New England. He can make a law to bring forth in one day, a "nation to be born at once," Isa 66:8.

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.

And the hand of the Lord - See the notes on Luk 1:66. Compare Psa 80:17. The meaning is, that God showed them favor, and evinced his power in the conversion of their hearers.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The hand of the Lord; the power, assistance, and working of God, expressed by the hand, which is the organ or instrument men use in working. This hand or work of God was manifest, first, In the miracles which they wrought. Secondly, In the conversion of any by these miracles. For these alone cannot soften a heart; as appeared in Pharaoh, whose heart was hardened by them.

A great number believed, and turned unto the Lord; faith and conversion are wrought by the hand of the Lord, and are his work. But in vain is faith pretended unto, when there is no change in heart and life. What God hath put together, none may put asunder.

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

That believed turned for believed and turned, A.V. and T.R. The hand of the Lord; i.e. his power working with them and through them. Compare the frequent phrase in the Old Testament, "with a mighty hand and a stretched out arm". (see too Act_4:30; Luk_1:66)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the hand of the Lord - That is, the power of his Spirit.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

21. “The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number, believing, turned to the Lord.” These were Gentiles in the Syrian Empire, some time before Peter, by his apostolical ipse dixit, had unfurled the Gentile banner at Caesarea.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See notes one verse 20

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.

21. καὶ ἦν χεὶρ κυρίου μετ’ αὐτῶν, and the hand of the Lord was with them. The expression is a common one in the O.T. to express the direct interposition of God in the affairs of the world. Cf. 1Sa 5:3, καὶ ἐβαρύνθη χεὶρ κυρίου ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἀζωτίους. So too 1Sa 7:13: and of His interposition for good, see Isa 41:20. Cf. also Exo 8:19; Exo 14:31.

πολύς τε ἀριθμὸς ὁ πιστεύσας ἐπέστρεψεν κ.τ.λ., and a great multitude that believed turned unto the Lord. These probably, like Cornelius had been prepared, by their knowledge of Jehovah through Judaism, to accept the teaching of the Christian missionaries.

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.

21. ἦν χεὶρ κυρ. μ. α.] By visible manifestations not to be doubted, the Lord shewed it to be His pleasure that they should go on with such preaching; αὐτῶν being, the preachers to the Gentiles, whose work the narrative now follows.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.