Acts 20:37

Act_20:37-38

And they all wept sore … sorrowing most of all … that they should see his face no more.

Pauls farewell

I. The tears of the noble servants of God.

1. A painful tax of human weakness, which even the best have to pay in--

(1) External trials.

(2) Internal temptations.

2. A precious ornament of holy souls from which shines forth the faithfulness which follows the Lord in suffering, and the love which weeps over the misery of the world.

3. A fruitful seed for the beautiful harvest of joy, which shall ripen to those who weep--

(1) Not only in heaven, when those who have sown in tears will reap in joy; but also--

(2) Here, on the field of the heart, since their labour is not in vain in the Lord.

II. The saying of separating love (cf. Joh_16:16)

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1. With its bitterness--sorrow of orphanage--reproaches of conscience, if we have neglected the hour of our merciful visitation.

2. With its sweet comfort.

(1) Continued uniting in the Lord.

(2) Reunion with the Lord. (K. Gerok.)

The sorrow of parting

Surely there is nothing so sad in life as the sadness of partings. I listened the other day to two little children talk--two little simple children--without any experience of the sorrows of life. They were about to part for a short time, and I overheard their words. I am so sorry to leave you, dear, said one, almost an infant. And so am I, so sorry to part with you. What was the meaning of such words from young lips? Dear innocent hearts! They knew little or nothing of the sorrows of life. For them all that was to come; if black the future, the present was in sunlight. It was the expression of one of those deep truths which lie buried in the very essence of our mortal nature. It was the expression of the pang of parting. Partings are the saddest things in life. Partings create sorrows whilst we are living; partings robe the beds of death in the deepest gloom; partings fill the eyes of the dying with looks of anguish; partings make our hearts ache as we gaze at those who lie before us loved and dead. (Knox-Little.)

Robert Moffats farewell

Robert Moffat laboured for more than fifty years in South Africa and chiefly at Kuruman. On Sunday, March 20, 1870, he preached for the last time in Kuruman church. In all that great congregation there were few of his own contemporaries. With a pathetic grace he pleaded with those who still remained unbelieving. It was an impressive close to an impressive career. On the Friday following the aged missionary and his wife took their departure. As they came out of their house and walked to their waggon they were beset with crowds of the Bechuanas, each longing for a handshake and another word of farewell, and as the waggon drove away it was followed by all who could walk, and a long and pitiful wail arose, enough to melt the hardest heart.

A sad parting

A Zulu missionary, the Rev. Daniel Lindley, D.D., died at Morristown, U.S. He sailed from Boston to South Africa in 1834. During eleven years he and his wife were not privileged to see a single soul brought to Christ. But when they left Zululand, in 1873, after labouring there for thirty-eight years, they left, as the fruit of the blessing of God on their work, a flourishing Christian Church at Inanda, with a native pastor. At their departure a farewell sermon was preached, at the close of which the native minister, Thomas Hawes, said that the Zulu Christians were left orphans; they had gathered to bury their father and mother. The missionary, he said, knew all, from the governor to the poorest man, and he is called by all Unicwawes, Father. His authority might have been greater than the chiefs, but he governed not. He was as meek as a little child. He added: His wife has taught our wives and daughters, and has by precept upon precept, and an unwavering example of goodness and faithfulness, done her work for Christ.

Parting, with the hope of reunion

It is the measure of hope which gives joy or sorrow to a parting. To part with a loved one in the morning, in the confident expectation of meeting again at the days close, hardly causes a twinge of sorrow to the most sensitive heart. A parting which looks forward to a reunion at the close of a summers vacation, or of a European tour, or on the return of an anniversary gathering, has more of brightness than of shadow in its firmament. But when the parting is with a soldier son or brother, who is starting out for active service at the front; or with a missionary worker who leaves his country with no thought of a return to it; or, when for any reason the hope of another meeting in this life is faint or is lacking--then its sadness is intensified. So it is when the parting is at the graves border. Even the brightest-hearted Christian has a right to have sorrow in parting with a loved friend, with no hope of seeing him again on earth. It is not that the friend is a loser by passing out from earths prison house; but it is that he who remains here shall see that friends face no more. But even in such a parting, believers in Christ can have hope of a meeting beyond the grave; and this hope it is which should encourage the believer to sorrow not as those who have no hope. (H. C. Trumbull, D. D.)

The sorrow that arises at the departure of a Christian minister

Let us consider--

I. Its source.

1. The loss of a true friend. Next to the assurance that we have the best friend in heaven is the conviction that we have a true friend on earth. A Christian minister should be this, and felt to be this, by his people. The apostle evidently stood in this relation to these Ephesians.

2. The close of lengthened religious privileges.

3. The recollection of numerous changes which this death suggests.

II. Its comfort.

1. To him it is immeasurable gain. Our departed Christian friends have but entered on a farther voyage than that to which these Ephesians accompanied the apostle; but surely a more favouring one; for death is that ship into which the disciples received their Master, in the gloom of night, that He might scatter their fears, and still the waves for them, and bring them immediately to the land whither they went. They have not died; they have emigrated to the better country.

2. Results may still remain. No man can live and labour for Christ without bequeathing to the world such a legacy, which our eye may not be able to separate from the great whole, but which is still there, increasing the amount and hastening on the grand and glorious close. A man may scatter precious seed, and be called away; but if he has done his work faithfully and well, the green blade shall spring, and the yellow harvest shall wave, though the head of the sower be in the dust beneath.

3. Changes are preparing the way for a world that is immutable. We look for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Every good and perfect gift comes from above; but more, it departs thither also.

III. Its improvement. Christian sorrow for the departed should lead us--

1. To seek reunion with the object of our affection. This is the instinct of grief, wherever it is genuine--to be where the lost one is. The gospel does not destroy human grief with its natural longings; it comes to consecrate it to the noblest ends, and make a ladder of it that shall reach to heaven.

2. To cultivate what they had most at heart while with us. (J. Ker, D. D.)

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

Act 20:37. Ἱκανὸς, great) The tenderest and sweetest affections reign here. No book in the world equals Scripture, even as regards τὰ ἤθη καὶ πάθη, the manners and affections.—πάντων, of all) Even tears are a proof of how much the successive ages of men degenerate. Formerly both men and good men, and heroes themselves (even among the Gentiles), were readily moved to tears, even in a body collectively. Jdg 2:4-5; 1Sa 30:4. Now when all things are more effeminate than they were then, yet the giving way to tears is permitted only in women and boys. John Hornbeck, l. 6, Theol. pract. c. 8, beautifully discusses the subject of pious tears.

Ὀδυνώμενοι, grieving) How great hereafter will be the grief (of the lost), to be deprived of the sight of GOD, of the angels, and of the elect![124]

[124] Bengel, J. A. (1860). Vol. 2: Gnomon of the New Testament (M. E. Bengel & J. C. F. Steudel, Ed.) (A. R. Fausset, Trans.) (621–692). Edinburgh: T&T Clark.

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

Act 20:37 . ἱκανὸς , cf. Act 8:13 . ἐπιπεσόντες : an exact parallel only in Luk 15:22 ( cf. also κατεφίλησεν in same verse), cf. above on ἐπιπίπτειν and in LXX, Gen 33:4 ; Gen 45:14 ; Gen 46:29 , Tob 11:8 , 3Ma 5:49 . κατεφίλουν , imperfect, i.e. , repeatedly and tenderly. The verb occurs three times in St. Luke’s Gospel, Act 7:38 ; Act 7:45 , Act 15:20 , and once in Matthew and Mark of the kiss of Judas, cf. Xen., Mem. , ii., 6, 33.

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

The Gospel doth not take away natural affections, but ruleth and bridleth them in good order.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 37. Fell on Paul's neck] Leaned their heads against his shoulders, and kissed his neck. This was not an unusual custom in the east.

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

37. Great weeping. No marvel if all the godly did entirely love this holy man. for it had been a point of too gross unthankfulness to despise him whom the Lord had so beautified with so many excellent gifts. And the chief cause of their weeping was, as Luke noteth, because they should see him no more. For they did bewail their own condition, and the condition of all the whole church of Asia, not in vain, which they saw to be deprived of an inestimable treasure. And when the Spirit commendeth their tears by the mouth of Luke, as witnesses of sincere godliness, he condemneth the rashness of those who require at the hands of the faithful hard and cruel constancy. For that is false whereof they dream that those affections proceed only of corruption, which we have naturally from God. Wherefore, the perfection of the faithful consisteth not in this, that they put off all affections; but that they be moved therewith only for just causes, and that they may moderate the same.

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.

(37) Fell on Paul’s neck, and kissed him.—We note, as before in Act_20:19, the absence of any suppression of emotion. As David and Jonathan parted of old (1Sa_20:41), so did St. Paul and his fellow-workers part now. In 2Ti_1:4 we have a passing reference to another parting scene of perhaps even tenderer emotion. To think that they should see his face no more, that this was their last farewell, made the elders of Ephesus and the other disciples eager, up to the very hour of embarkation, for the last embrace.

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

37. kissed him] The word is not the simple verb but expresses earnest, sorrowing salutations.

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.

37 And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul’s neck, and kissed him,

Ver. 37. And they all wept sore] Expletur lachrymis egeriturque dolor. It was noted and noticed by the very heathens that there were no people under heaven so loving one to another as the primitive Christians: animo animaque inter se miscebantur, saith Tertullian of them: it should seem so indeed by this mutual melting heartedness. Well might the heathen beholders say, Vide ut invicem se ament Christiani, See how these Christians love one another; like as the Jews when they saw Jesus weep over Lazarus, said, "Behold how he loved him," Joh 11:35-36.

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.

Wept sore - Wept much. Greek: “There was a great weeping of all.”

And fell on Paul’s neck - Embraced him, as a token of tender affection. The same thing Joseph did when he met his aged father Jacob, Gen 46:29.

And kissed him - This was the common token of affection. See the Mat 26:48 note; Luk 15:20 note; Rom 16:16 note; 1Co 16:20 note.

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

They kissed him. These marks of tenderness are dictated by nature, and have always been used between friends, who were separating from each other, or who meet after a long absence. The Scripture furnishes us with numberless examples of it. (Calmet) --- He likewise prayed, as he usually did, when he bade his last farewell. See his last adieus with the Tyrians, (chap. xxi. 5. 6.) were they all kneeled down to pray on the shore. This is also reasonable, and becoming a Christian. It is a sign of communion and mutual charity, and implores a prosperous voyage for those who were departing, whilst those who remained, cherish in their mind the remembrance of the virtues of their absent friend. (Menochius) --- The mind of man cannot conceive a finer subject for the painter than this melting separation. After the discourse, we see St. Paul falling on his knees, and praying with them all for the last time; an general burst of tears takes place, when they are told that they are to see their father’s face no more; they fall upon his neck and kiss him; and with hearts full of grief and gratitude, they accompany him on his way to the very ship which is to transport their father, friend, and benefactor, to other souls, who wanted the charitable assistance of the man of God.

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).

As they used to do their friends when they took their leave of them: see Gen 45:14,15.

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

37. Fell on Paul’s neck—Affectionately embracing his chest, and laying the head upon his neck and shoulder, after the Oriental fashion.

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

Vers. 37, 38. Sure springs of affection.

The great regard of the Ephesian elders to Paul was genuinely spoken in their great regret as now manifested. Farewells have a pathos all their own, and share it with nothing else. They legitimately exhibit what has been long years, perhaps, as legitimately concealed. They are often acts of pardon, and ought always to be such. They bring out better qualities than have been seen before or even suspected of existing. And sometimes they are the inauguration of a far higher love than all that had been, when love of the personal presence is superseded by the love of souls. The farewells of an average human life, could their added effect be calculated, would in many instances be found to have constituted some of its most potent and its highest influences. Notice some of the leading causes of the deep affection recorded in this place.

I THE ACQUAINTANCE OF THE EPHESIANS WITH PAUL HAD BEEN ONE IN WHICH THEY HAD RECEIVED THE NEW AND PRICELESS BLESSING OF HOLY TEACHING.

II THE ACQUAINTANCE HAD BEEN ONE IN THE SURE BACKGROUND OF WHICH HAD BEEN ALWAYS A HOLY LIVING EXAMPLE.

III THE ACQUAINTANCE HAD BEEN ONE FAR REMOVED FROM ALL NARROWNESS OR LIMITEDNESS OF AIM: IT HAD BEEN STAMPED WITH USEFULNESS. The behavior of the sabbath and even of the Lord"s day is far more easily taught than the behavior of all life"s common days," and to teach this it is abundantly plain Paul did not disdain.

IV THE ACQUAINTANCE WAS ONE ALL THE MEMORIES OF WHICH WERE MEMORIES OF UNAFFECTED KINDLINESS AND CONDESCENSION. B. (1Th_2:7, 1Th_2:8)

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

They all wept - Of old, men, yea, the best and bravest of men, were easily melted into tears; a thousand instances of which might be produced from profane as well as sacred writers. But now, notwithstanding the effeminacy which almost universally prevails, we leave those tears to women and children.

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

37. “Great was the lamentation of all, and falling on the neck of Paul they continued to kiss him,

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

See notes on verse 36

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.

37. κατεφίλουν αὐτόν, they kissed him. The verb expresses earnest and sorrowful salutations.

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.

Kissed [κατεφιλουν] . See on Mt 26:49.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.