Acts 20:12

Act_20:12

And they brought the young man alive and were not a little comforted.

Young men and the Church

I. Young men need to be brought to life.

1. Ye must be born again applies to them as to all.

2. Yet, of all men, the young are most apt to overlook this necessity. For what is more suggestive of vigorous life than a young man? He is alive all over--thoughts, affections, physical energies.

3. All this, however, may be dead to God and righteousness, and be dead to his true interests, his high duties, and his immortal destiny.

4. There is but one method by which young or old can be brought to life--union with Christ through faith. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, etc.

II. Young men when brought to life should be all alive. Spiritual life should quicken and animate all their powers for God. This effect is not invariably seen. Many of our young people are not fully consecrated. We miss in the Church the go which is so palpable in the world. This may arise from the discouraging way in which they are received by the Church. It is strange but true that in too many communities the young are looked upon with suspicion, and their new enthusiasm thus receives an early chill. Hence--

III. The Church should bring its young men alive. They are Gods gift to the Church which should--

1. Take them under its protection.

2. Give them the benefit of its experience.

3. Encourage the full exercise of all their powers.

4. Give them a share in its work or government.

Young life is of the greatest value to the Church, and if repressed what will become of the Church a few years hence? Let the elders, then, train the young for those offices which must soon become vacant. A sure test of a Churchs strength or weakness is the way it treats its young men.

IV. Young men alive should minister to the comfort of the Church. Often suspicion arises from the restlessness and impulsiveness which irritate older men. Respect the aged; remember their services; do not rush reforms; bide your time, it is surely coming and you can afford to wait. And in the meantime go as far with the elders as you can, and endeavour to allay prejudices by thoughtful consideration for others, and by humility before God. (J. W. Burn.)

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

Act 20:12. Ἤγαγον) they brought, or led, not carried: he was not at all enfeebled by his fall.—ζῶντα, alive) Not even by the accident did they receive any damage from Paul: 2Co 7:9.

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

Act 20:12 . ἤγαγον : the subject must be supplied; probably those who had attended to the boy, and who, now that he was sufficiently recovered, brought him back to the room. Rendall thinks that the expression means that they took the lad home after the assembly was over. The comfort is derived from the recovery of the boy, as is indicated by ζῶντα , and it is forced to refer it to the consolation which they received from the boy’s presence, as a proof which the Apostle had left behind him of divine and miraculous help (so Wendt, Weiss); see also , critical note, and Ramsay, St. Paul , p. 291. ζῶντα : the word is pointless unless on the supposition that the accident had been fatal. It is in fact impossible to deny that a miracle is intended to be narrated; otherwise the introduction of the whole story is meaningless, as Overbeck insists against Baur and Renan. The word νεκρός , the action of Paul, the word ζῶντα all point to an actual death, whilst the vivid details in the narrative also indicate the presence of an eye-witness as an informant. Schneckenburger has shown exhaustively, as Zeller admits, that an actual raising of the dead is intended; but we are asked to see in the narrative only an attempt to set off the raising of Eutychus against the raising of Tabitha at Joppa, a parallel between Paul and Peter; so Baur, and recently Overbeck and Weizsäcker. But the conclusion of Overbeck is disappointing in face of the fact that he dwells (p. 333) most pointedly upon the difference between the narrative here and in Act 9:36 how in this latter case we have the expectation of the miracle emphasised, whilst here it is entirely wanting; how too the laudatory description of Tabitha may be contrasted with the simple mention of the name, Eutychus here. οὐ μετρίως : often in Plutarch, cf. 2Ma 15:38 . On Luke’s use of οὐ with an adjective, to express the opposite, see Lekebusch, Apostelgeschichte , p. 62; Klostermann, Vindiciæ Lucanæ , p. 52; and four times in “We” sections (twelve times in rest of Acts, rare in rest of N.T.), Act 20:12 , Act 27:14 ; Act 27:20 , Act 28:2 ; Hawkins, Horæ Synopticæ , p. 153.

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

12. And they brought the young man alive] Here is a different noun, and the Rev. Ver. rightly gives “the lad.” It would seem as though those who had had the care of him brought him, before the congregation broke up, perhaps even before the Apostle’s departure, back again into the upper room.

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 we went before to ship,.... That is, Luke, the writer of this history, and the rest of the apostle's company, went before him to a ship, which lay at Troas, and went aboard it:

and sailed unto Assos; a city of Aeolia, or Mysia; and is said by Pliny to be the same with Apollonia; and which he places on the sea shore, where it is evident this Assos was. His words are (m),

"on the shore Antandros, formerly called Edonis, then Cimmeris and Assos, the same with Apollonia.''

And in another place (n) he calls it Assos of Troas; and says of it, that about Assos of Troas a stone grows, by which all bodies are consumed, and is called "sarcophagus", (a flesh devourer,) of which he also makes mention elsewhere (o), and observes, that in Assos of Troas the stone sarcophagus is cut in the pits, in which the bodies of the dead being put, are consumed within forty days, excepting their teeth: and with him Jerom (p) agrees, as to the name and situation of this place, who says that Assos is a maritime city of Asia, the same that is called Apollonia. It is represented by Strabo (q) as a place very much fortified by art, and very difficult of ascent on that part which lies to the sea; unless another Assos in Lycia is designed by him: if this was the situation of the Assos in the text, it seems to furnish us with a reason, from the nature of the place, why the apostle chose to go on foot thither. Pausanias (r) speaks of it as in Troas, and near Mount Ida. Sodamos of Assos in Troas, which lies near Ida, was the first of the Aeolians, who conquered in the Olympic race of the boys. In this place was born the famous philosopher Cleanthes, a disciple and successor of Zeno; hence he is called Cleanthes the Assian (s). No mention is made of the Gospel being preached here, or of any church until the eighth century, when John, bishop of Assos, is said to be in the Nicene council (t). Some exemplars read Thassos, as the Syriac and Arabic versions seem to have done:

there intending to take in Paul; who stayed behind, willing to have a little more Christian conversation with the saints at Troas.

For so had he appointed; that these should go before hand to Assos, and meet him there, and take him in:

minding himself to go afoot; from Troas to Assos, which were not very far off from one another; hence Assos is, by Pliny, called Assos of Troas; and by Pausanias, Assos, which is in Troas; that is, in the country of Troas, as before observed: what was his reason for going by foot thither, is not very evident; whether that he might have the opportunity of conversing with the disciples of Troas, who might accompany him thither; or whether that he might be alone, and have leisure for private meditation, and free converse with God.

(m) Nat. Hist, l. 5. c. 30. (n) Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 96. (o) Ib. l. 36. c. 17. (p) De locis Hebraicis, fol. 95. K. (q) Geograph. l. 13. (r) Eliac. 2. sive l. 6. p. 351. (s) Laert. Vit. Philosoph. l. 7. p. 541. (t) Magdeburg. Hist. Eccl. cent. 8. c. 2. p. 5.

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

12 And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.

Ver. 12. And were not a little comforted] Not so much for the young man’s recovery, as for the love of God sealed up unto them therein: this was the kernel, the other but the shell.

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.

Not a little comforted - By the fact that he was alive; perhaps also strengthened by the evidence that a miracle had been performed.

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

Alive. This accident, which gave occasion to a great miracle, was ordained by the particular providence of God, in order to confirm the preaching of St. Paul, and to fix more deeply in the hearts of his disciples the words of their dear Master, who was just going to leave them. Admire likewise the apostle’s solicitude for his neighbour’s salvation, in prolonging his instructions through the whole night, which preceded his departure. (Denis the Carthusian)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

They rejoiced not only that the young man was restored to life, but that by this means the gospel was attested to, and many confirmed in the belief of it.

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

12. They brought—They presented the young man truly living before Paul and his companions, comforted alike by the restored life and by the miracle.

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

Lad for young man, A.V.

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

And they brought the young man alive - But alas! How many of those who have allowed themselves to sleep under sermons, or as it were to dream awake, have slept the sleep of eternal death, and fallen to rise no more!

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

12. Recurring again to the incident concerning Eutychus, in order to state more particularly the gratification which the brethren felt at his recovery, Luke here remarks: (12) " And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted. " The close connection of this remark with the departure of Paul and his company, and its disconnection from the statement concerning the resumption of the meeting, indicate that it refers to their bringing him away from the meeting.

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.

12. ἤγαγον δέ τὸν παῖδα ζῶντα, and they brought the lad alive. It would seem as though those who had had the care of him brought him, before the congregation broke up, perhaps even before the Apostle’s departure, back again into the upper room.

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.

12.] As in the raising of Jairus’s daughter, our Lord commanded that something should be given her to eat, that nature might be recruited, so doubtless here rest and treatment were necessary, in order that the restored life might be confirmed, and the shock recovered. The time indicated by αὐγή must have been before or about 5 a.m.: which would allow about four hours since the miracle. We have here a minute but interesting touch of truth in the narrative. Paul, we learn afterwards, ver. 13, intended to go afoot. And accordingly here we have it simply related that he started away from Troas before his companions, not remaining for the reintroduction of the now recovered Eutychus in ver. 12.

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