Acts 9:26

SAUL'S FIRST VISIT TO JERUSALEM AFTER HIS CONVERSION. (Act 9:26-31)

And when Saul was come to Jerusalem--"three years after" his conversion, and particularly "to see Peter" (Gal 1:18); no doubt because he was the leading apostle, and to communicate to him the prescribed sphere of his labors, specially to "the Gentiles."

he assayed to join himself to the disciples--simply as one of them, leaving his apostolic commission to manifest itself.

they were all afraid of him, &c.--knowing him only as a persecutor of the faith; the rumor of his conversion, if it ever was cordially believed, passing away during his long absence in Arabia, and the news of his subsequent labors in Damascus perhaps not having reached them.

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

Act_9:26-30

And when Saul was come to Jerusalem he essayed to Join himself to the disciples.

Sauls emotions on returning to Jerusalem

He was returning to it from a spiritual as Ezra had from a bodily captivity, and to his renewed mind all things appeared new. What an emotion smote his heart at the first distant view of the Temple, that house of sacrifice, that edifice of prophecy. Its sacrifices had been realised, the Lamb of God had been offered; its prophecies had been fulfilled, the Lord had come unto it. As he approached the gates, he might have trodden the very spot where he had so exultingly assisted in the death of Stephen, and he entered them perfectly content, were it Gods will, to be dragged out through them to the same fate. He would feel a peculiar tie of brotherhood to that martyr, for he could not now be ignorant that the same Jesus who in such glory had called him, had but a little time before appeared in the same glory to assure the expiring Stephen. The ecstatic look and words of the dying saint now came fresh upon his memory with their real meaning. When he entered into the city, what deep thoughts were suggested by the haunts of his youth, and by the sight of the spots where he had go eagerly sought that knowledge which he had so eagerly abandoned. What an intolerable burden had he cast off! He felt as a glorified spirit may be supposed to feel on revisiting the scenes of its fleshly concern. (J. S. Howson, D. D.)

Sauls first visit after his conversion to Jerusalem

I. His admission to Church membership.

1. Sought. He essayed, i.e., endeavoured to join himself to the disciples. Amongst them was Peter--an object of special attraction (Gal_1:18). He had heard, doubtless, of his wonderful sermon at Pentecost, and otherwise from the Christians at Damascus. James was there, too, the Lords brother. This endeavour to get into the new fellowship indicated--

(1) A wonderful change in his social character. Three years before, the disciples were the object of his indignation.

(2) The law of social life. There is a craving for intercourse with those of kindred thoughts, sympathies, and alms.

2. Obstructed. They were all afraid of him. It would seem that he had no letters of commendation from Damascus, owing to the hurried manner of his escape. So that we are not surprised at the panic here. This obstruction, however, must have been--

(1) Painful to him. He had been a Christian three years, had held fellowship with the disciples at Damascus, had preached boldly there, and had studied the Christian faith and cultivated the Christian life in the Solitudes of Arabia. So he must have felt it hard, though just, to have been now suspected.

(2) Natural. Purity and peace required caution, and the apostles case was a suspicious one, with the persecution fresh upon the memory.

3. Attained. This was through the kind offices of Barnabas, a man known and honoured by them, and possibly an acquaintance of Sauls. As Cyprus was only a few hours sail from Cilicia, Barnabas, in introducing Saul, pleads on his behalf the only sufficient qualification for Church membership (verse 27).

4. Enjoyed (verse 28). He would--

(1) Come in to them with some new thought, new impressions, new deeds wrought for Christ, which would stimulate and cheer the brethren.

(2) Go out with their prayers, counsel, love, bracing him for heroic work. Blessed the man who has a spiritual home. Such homes are where moral giants are trained.

II. His proclamation of the gospel (verse 29).

1. The subject of his ministry. In the name of the Lord Jesus--a subject he once hated, and which he preferred to many subjects which, as a man of genius and learning, he might have taken. He viewed everything through it, and judged the world by it.

2. Its sphere--Grecians--Hellenistic Jews. The same zeal which had combated Stephen now defended the cause for which he died.

3. Its style.

(1) Boldly. Nothing but an invincible courage could have enabled him to appear before such an audience on such a theme.

(2) He disputed. He did not, as a fanatic would, declaim, but submitted theses for discussion.

4. Its results.

(1) Persecution to himself.

(2) Increased sympathy of the Church (verse 30). (D. Thomas, D. D.)

Saul at Jerusalem

1. It was in blindness that he had first entered Damascus, and now he is forced to flee from it under the friendly cover of darkness. As he proceeded to Jerusalem, he could not pass the scene of his conversion without a holy shudder. Every turn of the road must have reminded him of his eastward journey. But he hurries westward a changed man. And he must have wondered how he should meet his instigators, and have surmised how they would curse him. And if he passed the place of Stephens martyrdom, his soul must have trembled in its gratitude to sovereign mercy.

2. His arrival created as much doubt among the Christians as it had done at Damascus. He did not attempt to take them by storm, and parade the glory of his conversion, but humbly sought admission, but his veracity was questioned, and they deemed him to be a wolf in lambs clothing--no small trial for one who had done and suffered so much under his new convictions. But Barnabas kindly interfered and vouched for his sincerity, and then was he admitted to fellowship.

3. The apostle of the circumcision and the apostle of the Gentiles dwelt for fifteen days under one roof. What conversations, discussions, and projected enterprises from two minds so unlike in structure and discipline, and yet so very like in zeal and courage! Peter loved Palestine, yet Paul loved it none the less that his heart embraced the world. The former felt at home in the sphere of the Old Testament, the other stretched beyond it while he did not forsake it. Peter did what he knew to be his duty in repairing to the house of Cornelius, but he did not feel at perfect liberty to repeat such deeds; while the untrammelled Paul exclaims, Inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles I magnify mine office. In a word, Peter was like the Jordan, the stream that belonged exclusively to his fatherland, though a foreigner, like Naaman, might once be healed in it; but Paul resembled the great sea, which washes the shores of the three continents. Saul stayed only a fortnight in Jerusalem, but he was not and could not be idle. Four features of his preaching come into view.

I. The class to whom he addressed himself were the hellenists. The Jews born in Judaea were victims of narrowness and prejudice: the genius of the place held them in bondage. But the Jews born and brought up in other countries had mingled with other races, and their minds were expanded with literary and commercial intercourse. As one of them, Saul specially appealed to them. For there are certain ties of blood, education, and language which are to be recognised even in the advocacy of the truth. Saul did not fling the gospel in the face of the high priest, nor go to the temple and harangue the fanatical crowds. He was no unreasoning fanatic, unable to hold his tongue or control his temper; no agitator, reckless as to circumstances. He was, indeed, a man of one idea, but it did not so overmaster him that he knew not when, how, and where to develop it.

II. His preaching took the form of disputation. He did not come forth simply with a set speech, but after he spoke he allowed the free criticism of all his statements. He met his opponents openly and fully, prepared to reply to their questions and to respond to their challenge. One opponent might question his interpretation of the law or the prophets; or another would affirm some base thing about our Lords life, or some stupid and malignant thing about his religion, while to the one and the other Saul would speak with loving soul, reasoning out the validity of his interpretation and teaching the truth as to the facts of the Masters career and death. And though another disputant, with a leer and a frown, should refer to his conversion, the allusion could neither shame nor intimidate one who had seen that Just One, and heard the voice of His mouth.

III. His preaching was bold, for his convictions were thorough. He believed, therefore he spake. Had there been any suspicions that possibly after all he might be in error--then his preaching might have been faltering. But Sauls mind could not admit the possibility of a doubt; and the glorified Jesus being his shield, he was not alarmed at what man shall do. He could not modify, and he would not recant. Pressed on every side by the Grecians, he was impervious alike to execration and ridicule--a mighty man of valour, clad in the whole armour of God.

IV. He was bold in the name of the Lord Jesus, i.e., he not only preached Christ, but he claimed His express authority for so preaching Him. Timidity would be treachery to his Master, cruelty to the world, and unfaithfulness to his own convictions. And all this brave outspokenness was not the arrogance of a novice, but the courage which one feels who has vowed fidelity both to God and to man, and who is supported by the grace which never fails. Conclusion: That Sauls appearance should impress some needs not be doubted, but the multitude refused to believe. Nay, they went about to slay him. In the meantime he had enjoyed a remarkable vision in the Temple, in which he saw Christ and heard Him say, Get thee quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy testimony concerning Me. As Saul had been only two weeks there, he wished to remain a little longer, and, probably with the advice of Peter, thought of selecting Jerusalem as a field of labour. Another scene like Pentecost might be anticipated, and Peter might be hoping much from the ardour, erudition, and eloquence of his junior colleague. Man proposes, but God disposes. But as Saul did nothing without a reason, he honestly tells the Lord why he had come to labour in Jerusalem (Act_22:19-20). The ground taken by Saul is very intelligible. The population of Jerusalem had known what he was, and he wished them to know what he had become. Therefore he thought that on the spot where such points were notorious, he had a special claim to be heard against himself and in favour of that system which he had adopted from the best of all reasons. Moses, when summoned to go to Egypt, pleaded want of eloquence; Gideon would not march till the fleece had been wetted, nay, till the omen had been reversed; Jeremiah urged his youth and inexperience when called to the prophetic office; Jonah set sail for Tarshish, instead of proceeding to Nineveh; Ananias, when bidden to seek out a stranger who had recently arrived at Damascus, demurred; and Saul, thinking himself possessed of special qualifications for a sphere of labour which he preferred, was backward toward that very work for which he had been born and called, and in which he so soon achieved signal success, and won imperishable renown. Who art thou, O man, that repliest against God? The right man in the right place, has become a popular expression for mutual adaptation. Saul did not verify the saying either in Damascus or Jerusalem, but it might be truly predicted of him through his whole subsequent career, when he spoke, travelled, toiled, and suffered, as one appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. (J. Eadie, D. D.)

Church membership

I. The character of the persons on whom the duty of Church membership devolves.

1. It is the duty of all who call themselves Christians to separate themselves from the world and to unite themselves with a particular Church; yet, before they can do this in a scriptural manner, they must exercise repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ; they must first give themselves to the Lord, and then to His people according to His will. Personal must precede social religion. A Christian is the highest style of man--he is a disciple of Christ; he believes His gospel; he loves Him; he imitates His example; he yields obedience to His commands; and he lives, not unto himself, but unto Him who died for him and rose again.

2. That none but such persons are qualified for Church membership is evident from the New Testament. In the case before us, when Saul essayed to join himself to the disciples, they did not receive him till they had ascertained from Barnabas that he was a disciple indeed. And when the apostle wrote to the Churches he had formed he addressed them to the saints--to the beloved of God--to the faithful in Christ Jesus, etc. And if persons of another character gained admission, they were to put away that wicked person, and to withdraw from every brother that walked disorderly.

3. Besides this direct evidence that personal piety is an essential prerequisite for Church communion, there are other considerations to show its necessity. Without personal piety--

(1) A man can have no spiritual communion with the Church--for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

(2) He is morally unable to promote the great objects for which the Church of Christ was established.

(3) His Church membership may only serve to confirm his self-righteousness and self-deception.

4. The Church would soon lose its distinctive character, and possess nothing of religion but the name.

II. The indispensable duty of all such persons to unite themselves in membership with a Church of Christ. This appears--

1. From the fact that the Christian Church is instituted by the authority of Christ. He is the head over all things to the Church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all. Upon this rock, says He, I will build My Church. The Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved. Besides, when Christians are addressed, it is not only in their personal, but also in their social capacity. They are described not as scattered stones, but as a spiritual temple--not as a house only, but as a city--not as distinct and separated individuals, but as fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God. And the will of Christ, in this respect, is quite in accordance with the social character of man, and with the natural tendency and influence of personal piety. Not to unite with His Church, therefore, is to disregard His authority, to impeach His wisdom, and to set an example of spiritual celibacy, which, if followed by all, would subvert his institutions, and render a Church of Christ entirely unknown.

2. The uniform conduct of the primitive Christians. In the pure and primitive ages of Christianity, the several Churches contained the whole number of the faithful. Then everyone who acknowledged himself a Christian felt it to be a duty to join himself to the disciples of Christ, though he thereby risked his property, his liberty, and his life.

3. The command of Christ, relative to the celebration of the Lords Supper, Do this in remembrance of Me, was a command given, not to an individual, but to a society. It was to be celebrated by those who came together in the Church. The same authority which commands, Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is, also commands this, and you act in defiance of that authority, whether you forsake the public worship of God, or neglect communion with the Church of Christ.

III. The advantages which a prompt performance of this duty will secure. Your communion with the Church of Christ--

1. Will warrant the exercise of confidence in prayer, and authorise you to expect the blessing of God. Whilst you live in the neglect of this duty, I do not see how you can consistently exercise the one, or expect the other. When we reverence the Redeemer as our Lawgiver, we may consistently expect Him to become our Intercessor, and when we ascend the hill where His blessing is promised, we may confidently expect that there it will be commanded.

2. Will furnish you with additional means and motives for perseverance in holiness. You will be brought under the immediate charge and care of the pastor, and become associated with brethren who will watch over you with charity, and sympathise with you in your sorrows and your joys, and pray for you. Besides which, you will be surrounded with obligations to circumspection, arising from the sacredness of your relationship. You will then be no longer an isolated individual, like a flower in a wilderness, wasting its sweetness in the desert air, dimmed in its beauties, and stunted in its growth; but, being planted in the house of the Lord, you will flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon, still bringing forth fruit even in old age.

3. Will be a source of much holy peace and joy. There is a sweet and sacred pleasure which springs from the conviction of having acted according to the Divine command.

IV. The objections and apologies by which those who neglect this duty attempt to justify or to excuse their conduct.

1. I am not yet qualified for Church membership. If by this you intimate that you are not Christians, then your fear is just; or if you refer to the righteousness which is of the law, you have not yet attained it, and you never will. But perhaps you mean a more mature and perfect character. If so, you have mistaken the design of the institution. The Church is formed expressly for the reception of all who repent and believe the gospel; and they are commanded to enter it, not when their Christian graces are matured, but in order that they may be matured. It is at once a nursery for the babe in Christ, a school for the education of the young man, and a sanctuary for the refuge and repose of such an one as Paul the aged.

2. I can go to heaven without being a member of a Church. Does not the ingratitude and presumption which this objection manifests, render it unworthy of a reply? Is there not a degree of haughtiness and flippancy in such a sentiment, which betrays a heart which is not right in the sight of God? Suppose you do go to heaven without it--will the recollection of your neglect and disobedience be any source of pleasure to you when you get there? Go to heaven without it! Shame on the man who professes to follow the Lamb, and yet tells us that he can travel to heaven by trampling on His institutions, and enter there, not by the door, like an honest man, but by some other way, like a thief and a robber.

3. I have a relative or friend who is not willing that I should become a member of the Church. Now, if you were to state this apology fully, you would add, and therefore I have determined to consult his will rather than the will of Christ. But further, if your relative or friend be not pious, is your present conduct likely to make him so? Will he not suspect your loyalty and love to the Redeemer, and learn by your example to be negligent and disobedient? If your relative or friend will not accompany you to the Cross and to the Church, you must go alone.

4. I fear that the Church will not receive me. No Church constituted according to the New Testament will refuse to receive you if you profess and manifest repentance and faith. If you are a Christian, however young and feeble, Christ has received you, and it would be at our peril to reject you, for the Church is not ours.

5. I fear that, at some future time, I may bring dishonour on the cause of Christ. But is there nothing dishonourable in your present conduct? Besides, are you more likely to be safe in the world than in the Church? And is Christ less likely to preserve you when you are keeping His commandments? (J. Alexander.)

Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles.--

Barnabas and Saul

The first association of two names, afterwards linked together for good or evil, is fraught with interest. How much more the earliest combination of Barnabas and Saul--to issue in widespread blessing for the Church and the world. It is significant, however, that Barnabas alone had the genius to detect the genuineness of Sauls conversion, and his latent possibilities. How many splendid lives have been gained for the Church, in the teeth of the Churchs opposition, by the kindness and sagacity of some one man.

I. What Barnabas did; as exhibiting the conduct of a true brother.

1. He took him.

(1) Sympathised with his painful position.

(2) Relieved him from his embarrassing isolation.

(3) Identified himself with him by taking his stand on the same platform. And thus--

(4) Effectually helped him in circumstances, where from his previous record he was powerless.

2. He brought him to the apostles. He was not satisfied with sending a letter of recommendation, or with telling Saul to mention his name--a cheap and easy method often adopted nowadays--but went with him to vouch for his character, and to accept all responsibility for him. How many good Christians today are outside the fold because of the unjust suspicions of their fellow Christians! And how much room there is for a Barnabas in those Churches where mere orthodoxy or respectability rule instead of the Spirit of Christ.

II. What barnabas said: as defining the character of a true convert.

1. How that he had seen the Lord. The vision of Christ as Saviour and Lord essential to true conversion. Paul himself confesses as much (Gal_1:15-16).

2. That he had spoken to Him. Behold he prayeth was the assurance Christ gave to Ananias of Pauls conversion.

3. That he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. Paul tells us that when a man believes, he will speak. With the heart man believeth unto righteousness. (J. W. Burn.)

Sympathy: its practical value

To the generosity and clear-sightedness of Joseph of Cyprus, on this and on a later occasion, the apostle owed a vast debt of gratitude. Next only to the man who achieves the greatest and most blessed deeds is he who, perhaps himself wholly incapable of such high work, is yet the first to help and encourage the genius of others. We often do more good by our sympathy than by our labours, and render to the world a more lasting service by absence of jealousy, and recognition of merit, than we could ever render by the straining efforts of personal ambition. (Archdeacon Farrar.)

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

Act 9:26-30. And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, &c. — It must be observed here, that the history of Paul’s preaching at Damascus, going into Arabia, and visiting Jerusalem, is somewhat intricate, and interpreters differ much about it. But the series of it seems most probably to be as Dr. Whitby has stated it; namely, 1st, That, “after his conversion, he constantly preached in the synagogues of Damascus, that Jesus was the Son of God. 2d, That, going thence into Arabia, between two and three years after, he returned to Damascus, (Gal 1:17,) of which journey, however, Luke, not being with him, gives no account. 3d, That, at his return, being increased in wisdom and strength, he continued many days in Damascus, proving that Jesus was the Christ. 4th, That, after three years, escaping from Damascus, he came to Jerusalem, and was by Barnabas brought to the apostles Peter and James, and continued there fifteen days, Gal 1:18-19. 5th, There Christ appeared to him in a vision; commanding him to depart out of Jerusalem; and he accordingly went thence to Cesarea Philippi in Cœlo-Syria, and to Tarsus in Cilicia, Act 9:30; Gal 1:21.”

He assayed to join himself to the disciples — The despised, persecuted followers of Jesus, who were now in his eyes the excellent of the earth, and with whom he desired to be united in Christian fellowship. But they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he — Who had signalized himself so much by his rage against the church; was indeed a disciple — But suspected that his professing to be such was a mere artifice whereby he endeavoured to insinuate himself into their confidence, in order that he might thus have it in his power to detect and ruin a great number of them. It may seem strange that so remarkable an event as Saul’s conversion should be concealed so long from the Christians at Jerusalem; but it is to be considered, that there were not then such conveniences of correspondence between one place and another as we now have, and the war then subsisting between Herod Antipas and Aretas, (Jos. Antiq., Act 18:5,) might have interrupted that between Damascus and Jerusalem. Now might Paul be tempted to think himself in an ill case, when the Jews had abandoned and persecuted him on the one hand, and the Christians, on the other, would not receive and entertain him. But Barnabas took him — Probably having been informed of his conversion by Ananias, or some of the brethren of Damascus; and brought him to the apostles — Namely, to Peter and James, the rest, it seems, being then absent from Jerusalem, for Paul himself tells us, (Gal 1:19,) that, on his going to Jerusalem at this time, he saw no other of the apostles but these two. And declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way — To Damascus, and that he had spoken to him in a manner that had conquered all his former prejudices against the gospel; and how — In consequence of the change which was then made in his views, and in his heart; he had preached boldly at Damascus — Even at the apparent hazard of his life. So that he gave sufficient proof that he was a new creature, changed in principle and practice. And he was with them — With the Christians, who, on receiving such information from Barnabas, gladly admitted him into communion with them, and even into their most intimate friendship, so that he was coming in and going out among them — That is, frequently conversing and associating with them, for fifteen days, Gal 1:18. And he spake boldly in the name of Jesus — Even in Jerusalem, and that not only to such Jews as were natives of Judea; but disputed against the Grecians —

Or Hellenists, namely, the foreign Jews, who used the Greek language, and came out of other parts to worship at Jerusalem. For Saul seems to have earnestly desired that they might carry along with them the knowledge of Christ into their own countries. But they went about to slay him — As they did Stephen, when they could not resist the Spirit by which he spake: so enraged were they at this unexpected opposition from one, on whose zeal for the Jewish religion, and against Christianity, they had had so great a dependance. Which when the brethren knew — Remembering how the putting Stephen to death, upon his disputing with the Hellenists, had been the beginning of a sore persecution, and being afraid of seeing such a tragedy acted over again, they hastened Paul out of the way; they brought him down to Cesarea — Namely, Cesarea Philippi, (for he went through the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and therefore went by land, Gal 1:21,) and from thence sent him forth — Doubtless with proper recommendations; to Tarsus — The capital of Cilicia, and his native place, where they hoped he might proceed in his work with more safety than at Jerusalem, and, perhaps, might meet with protection, and some support from his relations and friends. Yet it was also by direction from heaven, as he himself tells us, (Act 22:17-18,) that he left Jerusalem at this time, Christ ordering him to go out of it quickly, because he must be sent to the Gentiles. Observe, reader, those by whom God has work to do, shall be protected from all the designs of their enemies against them till it be done; for Christ’s witnesses cannot be slain till they have finished their testimony.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL REMARKS

Act_9:27. Barnabas (Act_4:36) appears here as the patron of Saul, whom he takes by the hand (not literally, but metaphorically), and introduces to the apostles.

Act_9:28-29, should read: And he was with them going in and going out—i.e., publicly and privately,—at Jerusalem preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. Saul stayed in Jerusalem not more than fifteen days (Gal_1:18).

Act_9:29. Grecians, or Greek-speaking Jews.—These were addressed by Saul probably because he himself was a foreign Jew, or because they may have been present in large numbers in the metropolis attending a feast, but chiefly (might it not be?) because they belonged to the synagogues or synagogue which murdered Stephen (Act_6:9). They went about to kill him—Compare Act_22:17-21, in which the motive for his withdrawing from Jerusalem is represented not as the murderous designs of the Jews, but a vision in the temple. But the two accounts are by no means inconsistent.

Act_9:30. Cæsarea.—See on Act_8:40. Tarsus.—Upon the monuments of Shalmanezer II., about the middle of the ninth century B.C., Tarzi (Schrader). The capital of Cilicia (Act_21:39). Founded, according to tradition, by Sennacherib (705–681 B.C.). After the fall of the Assyrian empire it became, under Persian supremacy, the seat of the Syennesian princes of Cilicia. In Alexander’s time it was the residence of a Persian satrap, and in that of the Diadochi, an important place of the Seleucidæ. Under the old Cæsars Cilicia was conjoined with Syria; but Hadrian restored it to the dignity of an independent province with Tarsus as its chief town. In the time of Saul Tarsus was the seat of one of the most celebrated schools of philosophy and philology. “Strabo, a contemporary of Saul’s, names a whole series of famous teachers out of Tarsus, who all belonged to the first half of the first Christian century, and says: ‘So great zeal for philosophy, and for the circle of all other sciences, have the inhabitants of this town that they have surpassed even Athens and Alexandria, and, indeed, every other place where schools of philosophy and learning exist’ ” (Langhans, Biblische Geschichte und Literatur, ii. 704).

HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.—Act_9:26-30

Saul’s First Visit to Jerusalem; or, his Discipleship confirmed

I. Saul’s object in visiting Jerusalem (Act_9:26).—

1. To associate himself with the disciples there, and thus obtain recognition of his standing as a member of the Church. The instinct which impels a disciple to seek after the communion of saints is healthy as well as right; that which leads a believer to dissociate himself from other believers, and to cultivate piety apart, is as unsound as it is wrong, and as hurtful to the individual himself as it is contrary to the mind of Christ (Luk_22:32) and the teaching of Christ’s apostles (Col_3:16; Heb_10:25; Jas_5:16; 1Jn_1:7).

2. To make the acquaintance of Peter (Gal_1:18). Though implying a recognition of Peter’s tacitly allowed supremacy in the Church at Jerusalem, this cannot be cited as an acknowledgment of his primacy, since on a second visit fourteen years later (Gal_2:1) Saul (then called Paul) recognises James (the Lord’s brother), Cephas, and John equally with Peter as pillars in the Church (Gal_2:9).

II. Saul’s reception by the disciples at Jerusalem.—

1. His sincerity was suspected. Not by one or two of the more timid of the community, but by all. Not by the ordinary membership, but by its leaders, or at least by Peter and James, since the rest of the apostles appear to have at this time been absent from Jerusalem (Gal_1:19). Nor was their suspicion of him unreasonable. His conversion, of which they had doubtless heard, must have seemed to them beforehand unlikely. Then its miraculous and sudden character must have struck them at least as a reason for caution in accepting it as genuine. And if the larger portion of the three years passed since that occurrence had been spent in retirement in Arabia, their lack of trustworthy information about his manner of life in the interval must be held as having justified their want of forwardness in taking him to their bosoms. “The sudden appearance of Voltaire in a circle of Christians, claiming to be one of them, would have been something like this return of Saul to Jerusalem as a professed disciple” (Hackett).

2. His conversion was attested.

(1) To whom? To the apostles, or rather to Peter and James, the latter of whom Luke includes among the apostles, using the term in a less strict way than that in which it is commonly employed. Either, as above suggested, the other apostles were absent from Jerusalem, or Saul attended no public meeting of the disciples.

(2) By Whom? Barnabas, the Levite of Cyprus, who may have been a former acquaintance of Saul’s—a not unlikely supposition, since Saul’s early occupation as a tent-maker may have brought him into trade relations with the Cyprus farmer, and who apparently had personal knowledge obtained in some way not stated, both of Saul’s conversion and of his evangelistic labours at Damascus.

(3) How? By declaring how Christ had appeared to him in the way to Damascus, and by certifying that he had preached boldly in Christ’s name at Damascus. No one in Jerusalem could have spoken a more powerful word for Saul than the Brother of Consolation, and none could have spoken a better word than that uttered by him.

III. Saul’s evangelistic activity in Jerusalem.—

1. The nature of it.

(1) Preaching boldly—not defiantly or vehemently, but confidently and courageously—in the name of the Lord Jesus; and all who preach in or about Christ’s name should, and might, exhibit the same mental and spiritual characteristics.

(2) Disputing against the Grecian Jews, the party with whom Stephen had argued, and at whose hands he met his death (Act_6:9-12), and who were probably most zealous in opposing him.

2. The continuance of it. Only fifteen days (Gal_1:18), the exercise of his ministry having been—not abandoned for want of success or forsaken through weariness, or love of novelty, but—cut short by the murderous designs of his hearers. Whether these listened to him longer than they did to Stephen cannot be told.

IV. Saul’s precipitate flight from Jerusalem.—

1. Dictated by prudence. “A prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself” (Pro_22:3). No man is required to make a martyr of himself even for religion, unless he cannot avoid doing so without sin.

2. Approved by Christ. This must be inferred from Christ’s own dictum (Mat_10:23). What applied to the Twelve held good of the thirteenth apostle.

3. Assisted by his friends. His brethren in the faith, realising how valuable a coadjutor had been sent them, “took steps” to have him conveyed to Cæsarea (see on Act_8:40 “Critical Remarks”), and sent forth to Tarsus, his native city (see “Critical Remarks”).

4. Rejoiced in by the whole Church of Christ since. What would the Church not have lost had Saul been cut off in the beginning of his glorious career? A heavier blow to Christianity would his fall then have been than his conversion was to Judaism!

Learn.—

1. That sudden and more especially violent conversions are always more or less open to suspicion.

2. That there are times when the services of a Christian brother are invaluable.

3. That the soundest evidence of sincerity in religion is patient and courageous perseverance in well doing.

4. That Christianity can hold the field against all opponents.

5. That Christ’s servants can hardly expect to be better treated than their Master.

HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS

Act_9:8-23. The Progress of Saul’s Conversion.

I. The first impression.—The deep feeling of spiritual inability (Act_9:8).

II. The first signs of life.—“Behold he prayeth” (Act_9:11).

III. The first testimony.—That Christ is the Son of God (Act_9:20).

IV. The first experience.—The cross for the sake of Christ (Act_9:23).—Jasper in Lange.

Act_9:27. What the Name of Jesus is to a Preacher.

I. His theme.

II. His authority.

III. His power.

IV. His aim.

V. His protection.

VI. His reward.

Act_9:29. “They went about to slay him.”—What the Church and the world would have lost had this plot succeeded.

I. The Church would have lost—

1. The brightest example of Christianity.

2. The greatest missionary.

3. The most eloquent preacher. And—

4. The most influential writer that has ever appeared within her borders.

II. The world would have lost—

1. Its foremost pioneer of civilisation.

2. Its noblest philanthropist.

3. Its most gifted teacher.

4. Its most influential personality.

Act_9:20-30. The Marks of True Conversion.

I. Joyful confession of Christ (Act_9:20).

II. Willing endurance of the world’s enmity (Act_9:23).

III. Humble intercourse with believers (Act_9:26).

IV. Godly conduct in the service of the Lord (Act_9:28)—Leonhard and Spiegel in Lange).

Act_9:26-30. The Qualifications, Work, and Reward of a True Minister, as exemplified in the case of Paul.

I. His qualifications.—Declared not by Paul himself, but by Barnabas.

1. A personal interview with Christ. Paul had seen the Lord in the way; and the man who has not had personal dealings in his own soul with Jesus Christ may be an eloquent and even thoughtful lecturer on religion as he understands it, but is not a true minister.

2. A direct message from Christ. Christ had spoken to Paul, and therefore Paul had somewhat to communicate to the world. The true business of the preacher is to communicate not his own but Christ’s thoughts to his fellow-men.

3. A proved fitness to speak for Christ. Paul had shown himself to possess this by his experiment at Damascus; and Christian Churches are specially cautioned against making those bishops, presbyters, or preachers who are not “apt to teach” (1Ti_3:2).

II. His work.—

1. Generally and chiefly to preach, to proclaim the main facts and doctrines of the Gospel of Christ.

2. Particularly and specially to confirm and defend the Gospel against all objectors and objections. In other words, he should be both an evangelist and an apologist.

III. His reward.—Not his ultimate and final, but his present and immediate recompense.

1. The opposition of the world. Here typified by the hostility of the Jews, who first attempted to silence and then to murder Paul.

2. The sympathy of his brethren. If at first regarded with suspicion, the true minister will eventually secure the kindly regards and hearty co-operation first of the Barnabases and then of the Peters, and lastly, of the Johns and Jameses, etc., among the brethren.

3. The protection of God. The Almighty arm will be his shield and buckler till his work is done. No weapon forged against him will prosper. The devices of his enemies will be outwitted and their counsels turned to folly.

Act_9:19-30. Saul Preaching Christ.

I. For this work he had long preparation.—Were the Book of Acts our only source of information, we should conclude that the beginning of Paul’s work as a preacher followed close upon the end of his career as a persecutor. The interval between his persecuting and his preaching would seem to have been only the three days of his blindness at Damascus. We should then be obliged to explain, as best we might, how he so suddenly gained his wonderful insight into Christian truth in its relations to Judaism. We should have to seek, and should seek in vain, a reasonable explanation of the great revolution in his moral sentiments. The work of the Spirit in regeneration may be instantaneous, but the readjustments of character and convictions are always slow and progressive. Happily, we have another resource. In the Epistle to the Galatians Paul wrote: “But when it pleased God to reveal His Son in me that I might preach Him among the heathen, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood … but I went into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.” His preaching was preceded, we may believe, by three years of study and reflection in the solitude of Arabia. St. Paul is not, therefore, to be cited as an instance of a man one day ignorant of Christian truth, and the next day, by means entirely supernatural, the wisest exponent of it. The world, in its love of the wonderful, is too ready to believe in such men. His knowledge of Christ and of Christian truth was in part a revelation, but in part also the result of patient thought and of piety prolonged through studious years. God never works needless miracles. Every view of Christian truth and duty which Paul attained had a long history behind it, stretching back through those years of meditation in Arabia.

II. His conviction that Jesus is the Son of God was reached in the face of the greatest obstacles.—As a Pharisee burning with zeal for the law and its traditions, he looked upon Christ as a dangerous innovator, and upon Christian doctrine as heretical and revolutionary. Salvation by the law-method he advocated with all his heart. That there was any other righteousness than obedience to a ceremonial law he did not for a moment imagine or allow. The sincerity of his intensely religious nature made it the more improbable that his convictions would ever be changed. The sect of the Nazarenes was unnoticed or despised. To him, as to them, the cross was a stumbling-block. No natural bias in favour of Christian truth, then, no motive of self-interest, no social influence, drew him into the number of Christ’s disciples. No greater or more improbable change in character and purpose is conceivable than that by which Saul the inquisitor, hurrying men and women to prison and persecuting to the death believers in the Christian way, became the apostle of the cross, “determined to know nothing save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” How, then, were these obstacles removed? His own explanation always was, “Christ was seen by me also.… It pleased God to reveal His Son in me.” In this glorious revelation lay the power which revolutionised his moral sentiments, levelled all obstacles, and brought him to an undying faith in the crucified and risen Son of God.

III. The value of Paul’s testimony that Jesus is the son of God is further enhanced by the motive which prompted him to give it.—Human testimony is to be measured by the motive to its utterance. And it might be said that he was an impostor, bearing witness to a lie, and setting up claims which he knew to be false. But, whenever men have reflected that imposture always reacts upon him who tries it, that false claims demoralise him who makes them, and have seen in St. Paul’s life, not a spiritual declension, but a steady progress in holiness, they have been both unable and unwilling to call him an impostor. Besides, the motive to imposture is wanting. Review the list of selfish motives which impel men to make false claims, and not one of them can be applied to him. It was not pride of intellect; for, with supreme self-denial, Paul resolved to count as nothing all other learning than the knowledge of Christ and of His cross. The love of Christ constrained Him. This was the motive. The grateful desire to make some return for Christ’s love to him impelled Paul to labour, to preach, to suffer, “in His name.”

IV. The spiritual power of St. Paul’s life greatly augments the value of his testimony.—Never was there a more powerful life. Or, if we were to admit that St. Paul’s power rested in his natural gifts; if we were to enumerate the elements of a strong character—sobriety, sagacity, impartial judgment, courage, hopefulness, and whatever things enter into a powerful personality—and were to find in these a sufficient cause for his pre-eminence as a religious leader—we might then attach no greater value to his testimony than to that of any other wise and truthful man. But the fact is otherwise. Exalt his natural gifts as we will; say that his own personal powers made him “a greater preacher than Chrysostom, a greater reformer than Luther, a greater theologian than Thomas Aquinas”—it yet remains entirely true that the imperishable power of St. Paul’s life was derived from Christ. He was consciously dependent. “I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me.”

V. His testimony is comprehensive.—“In the synagogues he proclaimed Jesus, that He is the Son of God.” A review of the ministry of St. Paul is fruitful of practical lessons.

1. He has set before us the superiority of the Christian religion to morality.

2. He has shown us that men may exalt the character of Christ.

3. His ministry rebukes all half-hearted service of the Master.—Monday Club Sermons.

Saul Preaching Christ.

I. There is a public confession of Christ, an unofficial preaching of Him, incumbent upon every one who is converted by His grace.—Saul is a noble example of this generous testimony for Christ. “Immediately” (R.V.) “he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues that He is the Son of God.” Notice in reference to this confession—First, it was prompt. “Immediately” he entered upon it. There was no unnecessary hesitation, no dalliance with duty, no waiting upon frames and feelings. Love, gratitude, joy, a desire to retrieve the wrongs of the past, a yearning to direct others to the fountain at which his thirst had been assuaged. Second, it was brave. He did not simply enter his name upon the roll of the disciples. He did not content himself with speaking privately to such of his former acquaintances or associates as he might chance to meet. In the face of friend and foe he made public confession of Jesus his Lord. Third, it was uncompromising. He did not undertake to strike a balance between his own convictions and the prejudices of his hearers, as so many faint-hearted confessors now do. He “proclaimed Jesus that He is the Son of God.”

II. A higher and official preaching of Christ is incumbent upon those, and those only, who are duly called, qualified, and commissioned to enter upon it.—This is the preaching which Saul did after his return from Arabia to Damascus. A study of his course in reference to it throws much light upon the prerequisites to the gospel ministry.

1. It must be preceded by a Divine call. None may enter upon it without such vocation. The call of Saul of Tarsus was in many respects extraordinary.

2. It must be preceded by thorough preparation.

3. It must be preceded by orderly commission. Saul was commissioned of God to preach.

III. The matter, the manner, and the effects of preaching Christ are the same in all ages.—They are strikingly illustrated in the passage which we study to-day.

1. The matter or substance of all gospel preaching is the same. Saul sounds here the key-note of his whole after-ministry.

2. The manner of all true gospel preaching is the same. Saul’s ministry at Damascus and in Jerusalem affords, in these respects, a faithful representation of his methods everywhere, and an instructive example of the manner in which the minister or teacher should hold forth Christ as the Son of God and the Saviour of the world. Saul’s preaching was scriptural. He confounded the Jews by proving from the Old-Testament Scriptures that Jesus was Christ. Saul’s preaching was fearless. He preached “boldly” both in Damascus and in Jerusalem. He did not shun to declare the whole counsel of God. Saul’s preaching was humble. He “preached in the name of the Lord Jesus.” He assumed no authority and asserted no superiority of his own.

3. The effects of all gospel preaching are the same. The Apostle found in Damascus and at Jerusalem what he did everywhere else: “To the one we are the savour of death unto death, and to the other the savour of life unto life.” Finally, the fruits of faithful teaching are gathered after the teacher is gone. Saul has been “brought down to Cæsarea, and sent away to Tarsus,” but the Church of God remains; and this Church, for which he has laboured and prayed, and which sorely misses him now that he has gone, nevertheless “has peace, being edified, and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, is multiplied.”—T. D. Witherspoon, D.D.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

E. He Visits Jerusalem, From Which City Also He Withdraws, In Consequence Of The Plots Of The Jews

Act_9:26-30

26And [But] when Saul [he]17 was come to18 Jerusalem, he assayed19 [attempted] to join [attach] himself to the disciples: but [and] they were all afraid of him, and believednot [as they did not believe] that he was a disciple. 27But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared [narrated] unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached [spoken]boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. 28And he was with them coming in and going out20 [And he went in and out with them for a season] at Jerusalem, [atJer. and spake boldly … Jesus, (Act_9:29)] 29And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus,21 [He spake also] and disputed against the Grecians [with the Hellenists]Acts 22 :but they went about to slay him. 30Which when the brethren knew [ascertained], they brought [conducted] him down to Cesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Act_9:26. And when Saul was come to Jerusalem. This event occurred, according to Gal_1:18, three years after his conversion. The narrative before us, does not, it is true, suggest that such a long period had intervened; the fear with which the Christians of Jerusalem regarded Saul, and the recommendation and intercession of Barnabas, which were, in consequence, rendered necessary, rather convey the impression that the change which had occurred in the former, was of a comparatively recent date, and not one that had taken place three years previously. Nevertheless, it should be carefully noticed that Luke does not say μὴ εἰδὸτες, but μὴ πιστεύοντες ὅτι ἐστὶ μαθητής. They did not believe that he was a disciple of Christ, a truly converted man; they lacked confidence in the purity of his sentiments—in the genuineness of his Christianity. They may have possibly suspected that his conversion to Christ was merely a feint, a bait intended to deceive the Christians, and thus more easily effect their destruction. It is, besides, very probable that such views were held with most tenacity precisely in the spot where his earlier inquisitorial efforts had been made, so that when he at first presented himself in Jerusalem, even after the lapse of years, the believers withdrew from his presence with dread, and it became difficult for him to attach himself (κολλᾶσθαι) to the congregation of Christians.

Act_9:27-28. a. But Barnabas took him.—It is probable that Saul and Barnabas had been previously acquainted; such may have been the more easily the case, as both were Hellenists, and many points of contact existed between Barnabas, a native of Cyprus (Act_4:36), and Saul, a native of Cilicia [ch. Act_21:39], which was not far distant. [“Cyprus is within a few hours’ sail from Cilicia.” (Conyb. and H. Life of Paul. I. 113.)—Tr.]. Barnabas took Saul (ἐπιλαβόμενος, not in the sense of took him to himself, but, graphically, took him by the hand). [Comp. Act_17:19, and especially Act_23:19, τῆς χειρὸς; αὐτὸν is governed by ἤγαγε, as in the analogous cases, Act_16:19; Act_18:17; Luk_14:4, as ἐπιλαμβάνεσθαι is always connected with the Gen. (Meyer).—Tr.]. He conducted Saul to the apostles, and related to these the circumstances that had occurred both at the time of the appearance of Jesus, by which Saul was converted, and also subsequently, during the Christian labors of the latter at Damascus (τῶς—ει̇͂δε, καὶ πῶς—ἐπαῤῥησιάσατο) [“not merely that, but how, i. e., in what manner, etc.” (Alex.)—Tr.]. Barnabas does not seem so much; to have imparted new information, as rather to have communicated with authority and precision, as a trustworthy voucher, certain facts to the apostles, of which they had previously derived their knowledge only from remote sources.

b. Brought him to the apostles.—Paul himself states, Gal_1:18-19, that his visit to Jerusalem referred to Peter, and that he had, on that occasion, seen no other apostle except James, the Lord’s brother. Now when Luke says: ἤγαγεπρὸς τοὺς ἀποτόλους, his language does not necessarily express the whole number of the Twelve, and it is unjust to assert (Zeller) that Act_9:27-28 contradict Gal_1:18-19. Still, we cannot conceal it from ourselves, that Luke does not here seem to possess a full knowledge of all the details. [But the fact which he states, fully agrees with Paul’s remark that he had seen two apostles (plur.); his language can as little suggest a doubt of the fulness of his knowledge, as the same general mode of expression, when adopted by Paul (who says, Act_13:40 that a certain passage occurs in the prophets, using the plural number), would imply a want of precise knowledge on his part. So, too, Luke’s omission here of all mention of the trance reported by him, Act_22:17, and noticed in the following note on Act_9:30, is no indication that he was unacquainted with it.—Tr.]

Act_9:29. And disputed against the Grecians [Hellenists.].—[For this word see above, Act_6:1, b. Exeg., and note 6, appended to the text of the present chapter, Act_9:29.—Tr.]. Saul very naturally directed his attention at first to those Jews who were, on account of their birth in heathen countries, more nearly allied to him, as it were, than others, since he himself, as a native of Tarsus [the capital of Cilicia, in Asia Minor], was also a Hellenist. He spoke with these men (ἐλάλει), but as they would not receive the witness which he bore concerning Jesus, their discourse at once became a debate or controversy (συζητεῖν, Act_6:9). The result was, that a feeling of hatred was engendered in the Jews, which speedily prompted them to devise plans for murdering him.

Act_9:30. They brought him down to Cesarea.—The Christians are termed brethren (άδελφοί), for they had now conceived a warm affection for Saul, whom they had at first met with reserve and fear. It appears from the narrative before us, that they ascertained that Saul’s life was threatened, and were hence induced to aid him in withdrawing from the city. Paul himself relates to the Jews, Act_22:17-21, that when he was in the temple, Jesus appeared to him in a trance, and commanded him to “get quickly out of Jerusalem,” as his testimony concerning Jesus would not be willingly received. Both accounts perfectly agree, for the fact that the Jews in Jerusalem were contriving plans for murdering Saul, furnished indubitable evidence that they would not receive his testimony. We may, besides, easily conceive that Saul would not have determined to leave the city in consequence of the information which the brethren imparted to him, but that he did not hesitate a moment to withdraw, after the command which the Lord gave him in a vision.—Paul says in Gal_1:21, that he went from Jerusalem to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. This statement precisely agrees with the passage before us, which names Tarsus, the capital of Cilicia, as the point which he intended to reach. He is more precise in his statements than Luke, only in adding that his route conducted him through Syria. [The Cesarea here mentioned is not Cesarea Philippi, Mat_16:13, etc., near the sources of the Jordan, but Cesarea Stratonis, a seaport on the Mediterranean, mentioned above, Act_8:40.—Tr.]. Hence Paul did not at once proceed by sea from Cesarea to Tarsus, as the present narrative would allow us to conjecture, but either travelled entirely by land, along the coast, after leaving Cesarea, passing through Phenicia and Syria (Meyer), or took ship at Cesarea, the capital, but landed at Tyre, Sidon, or some other city on the coast, for which the vessel chanced to be bound, and from that point traversed Syria by land. The latter supposition is the more probable, as the Christians accompanied him as far as Cesarea; this circumstance indicates that he continued his journey by water, after reaching that city, for if he had proceeded further by land, the nearest road would have conducted him through Samaria, Galilee, etc.—At this point we lose sight of Saul; he reappears in Act_11:25. The preceding facts lead us to assume that when he reached his home, he did not fail to proclaim the tidings concerning Jesus Christ. [Possibly, (according to Conyb. and H. Life of Paul, I. 114), the conversion of his “kinsmen” (Rom_16:7; Rom_16:11; Rom_16:21), and, specially, of his sister, the mother of the nephew mentioned in Act_23:16, may be assigned to this last visit which Paul appears to have made to the home of his youth.—Tr.]

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. Even at this comparatively late period, Saul does not yet announce himself in Jerusalem as an apostle, but only desires to be recognized as a disciple, and to be received by the brethren in that city as a genuine member of the church of Christ. And the testimony which he delivered in Jerusalem concerning Jesus, is, in its whole character, simply the declaration of an ordinary, but faithful Christian, whose joy proceeded from faith; it is not that of a man who had received a commission, or been invested with a special office.

2. The discussions of Saul and the Hellenists in Jerusalem vividly remind us of those which Stephen had previously held with the same class of people [Act_6:9 ff.]; the latter had likewise assumed a controversial character. It is, besides, remarkable, that the same man who had entertained such hostile sentiments with respect to Stephen, and had heartily rejoiced when he witnessed his execution (Act_8:1), should now walk in the footsteps of the latter, and assume the same functions which had previously been assigned to Stephen. Christ is a King who enlarges and governs his kingdom in a wonderful manner.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Act_9:20. And straightway he preached, etc.—He now appropriated the words to himself: “I believe, therefore have I spoken.” [Psa_116:10; 2Co_4:13]. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the life and soul of all evangelical preaching.

Act_9:21. But all that heard him were amazed.—The amazement created by the conversion of Saul: I. It exercised a salutary influence on the converted man himself, by humbling him, since it reminded him of his former evil course. So, too, the new convert must always expect to be regarded not only with hatred and scorn by his former associates in sin, but also with doubt and distrust by his new brethren in the faith. But it, H. Furnished, at the same time, most honorable testimony to the wonderful power of the Lord. He turns the hearts of men as the rivers of water [Pro_21:1], and the reality of his works of grace is not affected either by the doubts of a weak faith, or the mockery of unbelief, while the wolf is found dwelling in peace with the lamb, and the leopard with the kid, etc. [Isa_11:6].

Act_9:22. But Saul increased the more in strength.—“Whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance.” [Mat_13:12].—Our growth in the new life is the best refutation of those who doubt the sincerity of our conversion.—And confounded the Jews.—He now contends, not with carnal, but with spiritual weapons.—The opponents of Christianity are not successfully repelled by ingenuity and learning alone; we need, besides, a knowledge, derived from experience, of the salvation wrought by Christ, so that we can say with Paul: “Christ liveth in me.” [Gal_2:20]. (From Ap. Past.)—Proving that this is very Christ.—The Holy Ghost directed Paul in the choice of the most appropriate themes—those that were most of all needed at that time, and at all times, namely, that Jesus is the Son of God, (Act_9:20), and that Jesus is the Christ, (Act_9:22), (Ap. Past.).

Act_9:23. And after that many days were fulfilled.—God has appointed certain times, years, places and circumstances, for each of his servants, in which he is to learn, to experience, and to perform certain things. Happy is he who rightly discerns his appointed task, and faithfully redeems the time. The ἡμέραι ἱκαναὶ at length come to an end. (Ap. Past.).—The Jews took counsel to kill him.—Already are the Lord’s words fulfilled, that Saul must suffer many things for His name’s sake [Act_9:16]. Hatred and persecution are among the signs of true conversion.

Act_9:24. But their laying wait was known of Saul.—He had previously united with the Jews in their evil counsel to slay the disciples of Jesus. Hence, when God caused him to be informed that the Jews were now seeking his own life, he must have been conscious alike of a feeling of shame, and of a feeling of blessedness. (Ap. Past.).—They watched the gates day and night.—The enemies watch day and night for the purpose of killing the servant of the Lord, but the faithful Keeper of Israel also neither slumbers nor sleeps [Psa_121:4-5], and He guards the life of his servant with even greater vigilance. King Aretas had placed his men at the disposal of the enemies of Christ, but the King of heaven and earth gave his angels charge over his elect, that not a hair of his head should be touched. (Prom Leonh. and Sp.).

Act_9:25.—Let him down … in a basket.—Saul, in whose case the Lord had already performed such great miracles, nevertheless does not reject the simple means of a basket which his brethren offered for the purpose of effecting his escape. We are not permitted to expect extraordinary aid from God, when ordinary means can be employed. (Ap. Past.).

Act_9:26. And when Saul was come to Jerusalem.—We learn from Gal_1:17-18, that he had previously withdrawn to Arabia, and allowed three years to pass, before he came to Jerusalem. This was, no doubt, an important and blessed triennium for him, during which he was prepared and qualified by God, in silence and retirement, for his future office. Studiosi theologiæ and candidati ministerii may here find an excellent example. We could wish that no one would assume the office of the Christian ministry, until he had passed such a blessed triennium præparatorium in the school of the Holy Ghost. (Ap. Past.).—They were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple.—The suspicions of the Christians were pardonable: it is not prudent at once to embrace every one who professes to be a brother in Christ. Paul met with a painful humiliation, but also with a salutary trial, when he was compelled to suffer for his former conduct, although three years had passed since his repentance and conversion.—It was a hard beginning, when he found that, after having scarcely escaped from his enemies, he was not received by the disciples. But when he thought on his former course, he did not wonder that he was regarded with horror, and when the brethren, influenced by a justifiable fear, repelled him, he patiently submitted. By this course he demonstrated the genuineness of his conversion; for he who had once been so furious and cruel, now calmly endures persecution and contempt. (Calvin).—It is well when any one is ultimately found to be better, than he had at first been supposed to be. (Rieger).

Act_9:27. But Barnabas took him, etc.—The kind and loving act of Barnabas must have indeed exhibited him to the sorrowing soul of the rejected Paul, as a “son of consolation.” [Act_4:36]. (Leon, and Sp.).—Thus the Lord always infuses his consolations into the bitterest cup of sorrow, especially by means of the faithful love of a like-minded friend. (Langbein).—And declared how he had seen the Lord in the way.—Biographies, accounts of the conversion of others and of the dealings of divine grace in their case, may often instruct, edify and humble us. Still, we should always remember that the ways of God are manifold, and that the souls of all are not conducted in the same path.

Act_9:28. And he was with them, etc.—He is, consequently, now recognized as a brother, and the old enmity is forgotten. It is in accordance with the usage of the world, but inconsistent with Christian love, when men obstinately hold up to view the sins of those whose words and conduct prove that they are truly converted, solely for the purpose of veiling a work of grace, and causing the name of Christ to be blasphemed. (Leonh. and Sp.).

Act_9:29. And disputed against the Grecians [with the Hellenists].—He adopted precisely the course of Stephen [Act_6:9], whose death had given him

pleasure, but who had now risen up in him with augmented power. Such are the wonderful ways of God in his kingdom, and his gracious acts in dealing with the souls of men.

Act_9:30. Which when the brethren knew, they brought him, etc.—The flight and deliverance of the apostle (as on the previous occasion in Damascus, [Act_9:25]), furnish a testimony, I. For Paul himself; he appears to have been induced to flee rather by the persuasions of the brethren, than by any anxiety on his own account; II. For the brethren, who could appreciate him, and whose faithful love led them to adopt measures for his deliverance; III. For the Lord, who watched over the life of his servant, and was his refuge in Jerusalem as in Damascus, in Tarsus as in Cesarea. [See above, Exeg. Act_9:30.]

ON THE WHOLE SECTION, Act_9:20-30.

The testimony concerning Christ: I. The source from which it must proceed—a heart apprehended of Christ [Php_3:12], and converted; II. Its substance: Christ, as the Son of God, and the Saviour of men; III. The effects produced by it: amazement, on the one hand—blessed fruits, on the other. (Langbein).

The evidences of a genuine conversion: I. Joyful confession of Christ, (Act_9:20); II. Willing endurance of the enmity of the world, (Act_9:23); III. Humble intercourse with believers, (Act_9:26); IV. A godly walk in the service of the Lord, (Act_9:28). (Leonh. and Sp.).

The dangers of newly converted persons: I. The hatred and persecution of the world (Act_9:23); II. Distrust on the part of believers (Act_9:26); III. The spiritual pride of their own hearts; IV. Contempt for the Church and the appointed means of grace, (ib).

The progress of the conversion of Paul (Act_9:7-23): I. The first impression—a deep feeling of his spiritual inability (Act_9:8); II. The first sign of life—“behold, he prayeth.” (Act_9:11); III. His first testimony—“that Christ is the Son of God.” (Act_9:20); IV. His first experience—the cross, for Christ’s sake (Act_9:23). (Jaspis).

The evidences of faith furnished by the newly converted Paul: I. Joyful confession of Christ before men (Act_9:20; Act_9:22; Act_9:28); II. Decided growth in the new life (Act_9:22); III. Undaunted courage amid the persecutions of the world (Act_9:23-25); IV. Humble and patient endurance of the distrust of the brethren (Act_9:26).

The first essay of arms of a soldier of Christ [2Ti_2:3]: it is his duty, I. To take an oath that he will be unchangeably faithful to his banner (Act_9:20; Act_9:23); H. To exercise himself diligently in the use of his weapons (Act_9:22); III. To take his position in the ranks with modesty (Act_9:26; Act_9:28); IV. To advance against the enemy with courage (Act_9:22; Act_9:29); V. To retire obediently at the signal (Act_9:25; Act_9:30).

The early years of probation in the office of the ministry: I. The first official tasks; II. The first official joys; III. The first official sorrows.

[The experience of Paul at his first visit to Jerusalem after his conversion (Act_9:26-30; Gal_1:17-19); I. His reception by the Christians; II. The conduct of Barnabas; III. His interviews with Peter and James; IV. His discussions with the Jews; V. Their enmity; VI. The manner of his escape from the city. —Tr.]

Footnotes:

[17]Act_9:26. a. The reading ὁ Σαὐλος in some MSS. [G. H.], or ὁ Παῦλος in one MS. [E.] is spurious. [Omitted in A. B. C.; Cod. Sin. Vulg.; “an insertion, as in Act_9:19;” Alford; omitted by him, Lach. and Tisch.—Tr.]

[18]Act_9:26. b. The reading εἰς Ἱερ. [in A. B. C. and also Cod. Sin.] is not as strongly supported as ἐν [found in B. E. G. H.]; the latter is, besides, the more difficult reading, as παραγίνεσθαι is usually followed by εἰς; hence ἐν is preferred by all the recent critics. [But Alf. reads εἰς, regarding ἐν as a corruption, since παραγενόμενος is “taken absolutely.” De Wette also prefers ει̇͂ς, as Luke uniformly employs it in conjunction with this verb; but precisely for this reason Meyer prefers ἐν, which could have been more easily changed into εἰς. than vice versâ.—Tr.]

[19]Act_9:26. c. Ἐπειρᾶτο [of text. rec.] is as well sustained by external evidence [E. G. H.] as the Act. ἐπείραζεν (Lachmann) [found in A. B. C.; Cod. Sin.], but is less usual than the latter, and is therefore to be considered as genuine. [ἐπειρᾶτο, Alf. and Tisch.—Tr.]

[20]Act_9:28. The words καὶ ἐκπορ. are wanting in two MSS. [G. H.] of the first, and in many of the second rank [minuscules]; they were probably omitted only on account of the preposition εἰς which follows, and to which ἐκπορ. did not seem to correspond: but the reading is supported by Cod. Sin. also, and should be retained [as in Lach., Tisch. and Alf.].—Εἰς is sustained by decisive evidence [A. B. C. E. G.; Cod. Sin.], and should (in opposition to Meyer’s view) be preferred to ἐν, which occurs only in one of the older MSS. [H.].—Παῤῥηαι., without καί before it, is sufficiently attested [καί found in E. G. H., but omitted in A. B. C.; Cod. Sin.]; καί may have been the more readily inserted [by copyists] as two of the MSS. [G. H.] of three [E. G. H.] which exhibit it, omit καὶ ἐκπορ.

[21]Act_9:29. a. [Luther, Lechler, etc. in their versions, Lach., Tisch., etc., in the original, attach παῤῥηαιαζόμενος etc. to Act_9:28, and begin Act_9:29 with Ἐλάλει.—The text. rec. has immediately before Ἐλάλει the following: τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ, with G. H.; τοῦ κυρ. is omitted in C., which exhibits only Ἰησοῦ, while A. B. E.; Cod. Sin.; Syr. Vulg. omit Ἰησοῦ. Alf. with Lach. and Tisch., accordingly exhibits only τοῦ κυρίου.—Tr.]

[22]Act_9:29. b. Instead of Ἑλληνιστὰς, [of text. rec.] A., which is followed by some ancient Latin versions, exhibits ̔́Ελληνας. There can be no doubt that the latter is spurious [a later correction from Act_11:20 (Meyer; Alf.)]. The authority of Cod. Sin. has also been recently found to sustain Ἑλληνιστάς [which appears in the editions of Lach., Tisch. and Alf.—Tr.

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9:26-28 When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, the Christian community understandably did not immediately trust him, given his recent history of violently persecuting Christians (8:3; 9:1, 13; 22:3, 4; 26:9-11). Fortunately, Barnabas, the “Son of Encouragement” (4:36), introduced the changed man to the apostles and explained his encounter with the Lord at Damascus, his sense of calling, and his subsequent boldness in preaching in the name of Jesus in Damascus. Barnabas was able to convince the apostles that Saul’s conversion was genuine, so Saul remained with the apostles in Jerusalem, where he preached boldly for his Lord. Paul recalls this visit in Gal 1:18-19.

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

Act 9:26. Παραγενόμενος, when Saul was come) three years after: Gal 1:18. This space of three years also Paul leaps over, ch. Act 22:17.—τοῖς μαθηταῖς, to the disciples) modestly: not immediately, to the apostles.—ὅτι ἐστὶ μαθητὴς, that he is a disciple) So far were they from believing that lie is an apostle.

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

Act_9:26-27. Three years after his conversion (Gal_1:18), Paul went for the first time back to Jerusalem.[246] Thus long, therefore, had his first labours at Damascus lasted, though interrupted by the Arabian journey. For the connection admits of no interruption between Act_9:25-26 (the flight, Act_9:25, and the παραγενόμ. σὲ εἰς Ἱερουσ., Act_9:26, stand in close relation to each other). Driven from Damascus, the apostle very naturally and wisely directed his steps to the mother-church in Jerusalem, in order to enter into connection with the older apostles, particularly with Peter (Gal_1:18).

ΤΟῖς ΜΑΘΗΤ.] to the Christians.

ΚΑῚ ΠΆΝΤΕς ἘΦΟΒ.] ΚΑΊ is the simple and, which annexes the (unfavourable) result of the ἐπειρ. κολλ. τοῖς μαθ. Observe, moreover, on this statement(1) that it presupposes the conversion to have occurred not long ago; (2) that accordingly the ἡμέραι ἱκαναί, Act_9:23, cannot have been conceived by Luke as a period of three years; (3) but thatsince according to Gal_1:18 Paul nevertheless did not appear till three years after at Jerusalemthe distrust of all, here reported, and the introduction by Barnabas resting on that distrust as its motive, cannot be historical, as after three years working the fact that Paul was actually a Christian could not but be undoubted in the church at Jerusalem.[247]

ὅτι ἐστὶν μαθ.] to be accented with Rinck and Bornemann, ἜΣΤΙΝ.

ΒΑΡΝΆΒΑς] see on Act_4:36. Perhaps he was at an earlier period acquainted with the apostle.

ἘΠΙΛΑΒΌΜ.] graphically: he grasped him (by the hand), and led him; αὐτόν, however, is governed by ἬΓΑΓΕ, for ἘΠΙΛΑΜΒΆΝΕΣΘΑΙ is always conjoined with the genitive. So in Act_16:19, Act_18:17. Comp. Luk_14:4; Buttm. neut. Gr. p. 140 [E. T. 160].

πρὸς τοὺς ἀποστ.] an approximate and very indefinite statement, expressed by the plural of the category; for, according to Gal_1:18, only Peter and James the Lords brother were present; but not at variance with this (Schneckenburger, Baur, Zeller, Laurent, comp. Neander, p. 165; Lekebusch, p. 283), especially as Luke betrays no acquaintance with the special design of the journey (ἹΣΤΟΡῆΣΑΙ ΠΈΤΡΟΝ, Gal. l.c.),a design with which, we may add, the working related in Act_9:28-30, although it can only have lasted for fifteen days, does not conflict. A purposely designed fiction, with a view to bring the apostle from the outset into closest union with the Twelve, would have had to make the very most of ἱστορῆσαι Πέτρον.

καὶ διηγήσατο] not Paul (so Beza and others), as already Abdias, Hist. Rev_2:2, appears to have taken it, but Barnabas, which the construction requires, and which alone is in keeping with the business of the latter, to be the patron of Paul.

ὅτι] not Ὅ, ΤΙ.

ἘΝ Τῷ ὈΝΌΜ. Τ. ʼΙΗΣΟῦ] the namethe confession and the proclamation of the nameof Jesus (as the Messiah), was the element, in which the bold speaking (ἘΠΑῤῬΗΣΙΆΣΑΤΟ) had free course.[248] Comp. Eph_6:20.

[246] According to Laurent, neutest. Stud. p. 70 ff., the journey to Jerusalem in our passage is different from the journey, in Gal_1:18. The latter is to be placed before Act_9:26. But in that case the important journey, Act_9:26, would be left entirely unmentioned in the Epistle to the Galatians (for it is not to be found at Gal_1:22-23),which is absolutely irreconcilable with the very object of narrating the journeys in that Epistle.

[247] To explain the distrust from the enigmatically long disappearance and re-emergence of the apostle (Lange, Apost. Zeitalt. I. p. 98) is quite against the context of the Book of Acts, in which the Arabian journey has no place. The distrust may in some measure be explained from a long retirement in Arabia (comp. Ewald, p. 403), especially if, with Neander and Ewald, we suppose also a prolonged interruption of communication between Damascus and Jerusalem occasioned by the war of Aretas, which, however, does not admit of being verified.

[248] From this is dated the ἀπὸ Ἱερουσαλὴμ κ. κύκλῳ μέχρι ʼΙλλυρικοῦ Rom_15:19.

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 9:26 . παραγενόμενος : on its frequency in St. Luke’s Gospel and Acts see Act 5:21 ; apparently presupposes that Saul betook himself immediately to Jerusalem, so that the stay in Arabia cannot be inserted here (Weiss. in loco ), a stay which Weiss holds was unknown to the author of Acts, see his note on Act 9:19 . παραγ . is found four times in Acts with εἰς , c. acc [231] loci , elsewhere only in Mat 2:1 ( cf. Joh 8:2 ). ἐπειρᾶτο : the verb πειράομαι only found once in N.T., viz. , Act 26:21 , and the true reading here is ἐπείραζε , which is used in a similar sense in Act 16:7 , Act 24:6 , only in the active in this sense = Attic πειρῶμαι , according to Blass, in loco , and Gram. , 56, 221; “he assayed,” R.V. = to essay, attempt, try, Deu 4:34 , 2Ma 2:23 . κολλᾶσθαι , cf. Act 5:13 , Act 10:28 , and also Mat 19:5 , Luk 15:5 , 1Co 6:16 evidently means that he sought to join himself to them intimately. καὶ πάντες ἐφοβ . αὐτόν καὶ “and,” R.V., not “but,” A.V.; it is not adversative, but simply introduces the unfavourable result of Saul’s endeavour. This does not necessarily require that the conversion should have been recent, as Weiss maintains. If three years had elapsed, Gal 1:16 , during a portion of which at all events Saul had been in retirement, the Christians in Jerusalem might very naturally still feel apprehensive when their former persecutor was thus for the first time since his conversion actually present amongst them, and the memory of his former fierce hatred could not have been effaced. If it seems unlikely that this should have been their attitude had they known of Saul’s profession of faith at Damascus, there are critics who would have expressed great surprise if the Apostle had been received with open arms, and without any credentials: “credo si contrarium exstaret, hoc rursus mirarentur” (Blass).

[231] accusative case.

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

In ancient times no man was rashly or lightly received into the number of and amongst the sheep of Christ, much less to be a pastor.

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

Verse 26. He assayed to join himself to the disciples] επειρατο κολλασθαι, He endeavoured to get closely united to them, to be in religious fellowship with them.

Believed not that he was a disciple.] They did not suppose it possible that such a person could be converted to the faith of Christ. The full power of Divine grace, in the conversion of the soul, was not yet completely known.

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

26. When Saul was. These were yet hard entrances for Paul, who was as yet but a freshwater soldier, in that, when he had hardly escaped the hands of the enemies, the disciples would not receive him. For he might have seemed to have been so tossed to and fro, as it were, in mockery, that he could have no resting place. All his own nation was set against him for Christ’s cause. The Christians refuse him. Might he not have been quite discouraged and out of hope as one expelled out of men’s company? First, what remaineth but that he fall away from the Church, seeing he is not received? But when he remembereth the life which he had led aforetime he marvelleth not that they are afraid of him. Therefore, he doth patiently suffer the brethren to refuse his company, seeing they had just cause of fear. This was true conversion, that whereas he raged horribly before, he doth now valiantly suffer the storms of persecutions; and, in the mean season, when as he cannot be admitted into the company of the godly, he waiteth with a quiet mind until God reconcile them unto him. We must diligently note what he desireth, to wit, that he may be numbered amongst the disciples of Christ. This can he not obtain. Here is no ambition, but he was to be instructed by this means to make more account even of the lowest place amongst the disciples of Christ than of all masterships in corrupt and revolted synagogues, And from this submission was he exalted unto the highest degree of honor, that he might be the principal doctor of the Church, even unto the end of the world. But no man is fit to be a teacher in the Church save only he who willingly submitteth himself, that he may be a fellow disciple with other men.

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.

(26) And when Saul was come to Jerusalem.—His journey probably took him, as before, through Samaria (see Note on Act_9:3), and so laid the foundation of the interest in the Samaritan Church, which shows itself later on in the history in Act_15:3, when he and Barnabas journeyed “through Phœnice and Samaria.”

He assayed to join himself to the disciples.—The reader may note the use of the word “assay,” which has since been confined to a purely technical meaning, in the wider sense of trying or attempting. The verb for “join” is that which is always used of close and intimate fellowship, such as that of husband and wife, of brothers, and of friends. (Comp. Act_10:28; Mat_19:5; Luk_15:15; 1Co_6:16.) He was seeking, in the language of a later time, full communion with the disciples. It was not strange that his motives should be at first suspected. Might he not be coming to “spy out” their weak places, and in time appear again as a persecutor? The difficulty which at first presents itself in understanding how the Church at Jerusalem could have remained ignorant of what Saul had done at Damascus as a preacher of the faith, is adequately explained by the political incidents to which attention has been already drawn. The occupation of the city by Aretas, and his enmity against the Herodian house, may well have stopped the usual intercourse between it and Jerusalem, then under the rule of Agrippa, and so the reports that reached the Apostles would come in uncertain and fluctuating forms, which were not sufficient to lead the disciples to trust in the conversion of the persecutor.

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

26–31. Saul visits Jerusalem. He is sent away to Tarsus. The Churches have rest

26. And when Saul [he] was come to Jerusalem] The oldest MSS. omit the proper name. Saul had never visited Jerusalem since the day when he set out on his inquisitorial journey to Damascus, and he could only be known at that time to the Christians as their determined enemy.

he assayed to join himself to the disciples] If as a Jew he had gone to Alexandria or any other city where Jews were numerous, his first thought would have been to search out his co-religionists; so he acts now. He seeks to join the Christian community. But his own language (Gal_1:16) shews us that he had made no attempt to spread the news of his changed feelings among the Christian congregations. “I conferred not with flesh and blood,” he says, “but I went into Arabia, and returned to Damascus.” An absence of three years, mainly in a region whence little news could come of his conversion and labours, and the memory of what evil he had done in days gone by, were enough to justify some hesitation about receiving him, on the part of the disciples.

but [and] they were all afraid of him] The conjunction is the ordinary copulative, and connects the two clauses, Saul’s desire and the behaviour of the disciples. In Gal_1:18 St Paul says his wish was to see Peter, and this we can very well understand, for though Saul had received his commission directly from Jesus, there were many things in the history of the life of Christ which could be best learned from the lips of him who had been with Jesus from the commencement of His ministry. But at first Saul came to the Christians at Jerusalem as an ordinary believer.

and believed not that he was a disciple] Here we see how little was known in Jerusalem of the history of Saul since his conversion, and we can understand those words of his own (Gal_1:22), “I was unknown by face unto the Churches of Judæa which were in Christ.” God had been training him for his work among the Gentiles, and although he was brought to Jerusalem that all might know that the Gospel was one, and that Saul was sent forth even as the twelve, yet no attempt is made by St Luke at this point, where it might have been most expected, to set forth the unanimity of Paul and Peter. It is left for St Paul himself to tell us of his desire to see Peter, and the historian only says they all were afraid of him.

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.

But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles,.... To Peter and James, the brother of our Lord, for no other apostles did he see at this time, Gal 1:18. It is probable that Barnabas had been at Damascus, and had there related to him, the whole account of Saul's conversion and entrance on the ministry, which he gives a particular relation of, as follows:

and declared unto them, how he had seen the Lord in the way; he told the apostles, Peter and James, how that Christ had appeared to him in person, as he was on his way to Damascus:

and that he had spoken to him; and expostulated with him about his persecution of him in his members, and bid him go into the city, where it should be told him what he should do:

and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus; that he had used great freedom of speech, and had shown courage and greatness of mind in preaching Christ at Damascus, both as soon as he was converted, and now upon his return thither. Hence it is manifest, that previous to admission into a church of Christ, and in order to satisfy the members of it, and gain their assent to such an admission, there ought to be a declaration made of the work of grace upon the souls of such, who propose to be joined to it; as how the Lord has met with them, and shown them the evil of their ways, and given them repentance unto life; and how they have had a sight of him by faith, and have looked to Christ and believed in him for the salvation of their souls; and how they have embraced the doctrines of the Gospel, and have found much sweetness and comfort in them; and that from a principle of love to him, and faith in him, and with a view to his glory, they are willing to submit to his ordinances, and to walk in holy fellowship with his people; and such an account of Saul being given by Barnabas, who had had it from him; and this being, no doubt, declared and attested by Saul himself, he was received into fellowship with the disciples: hence it follows,

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

26 And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple.

Ver. 26. They were all afraid of him] Openheartedness is an argument of folly, Fide, diffide. Our Saviour would not lightly commit himself to any, Joh 2:24. Try whom you mean to trust. Paul was somewhile a probationer ere he could be admitted.

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.

Was come to Jerusalem - He did not go to Jerusalem immediately after he escaped from Damascus. He first went into Arabia, where he spent a considerable part, or the whole of three years. For the reasons why he went there, and why this fact is omitted by Luke in the Acts , see the notes on Gal 1:18.

He assayed - He attempted; he endeavored.

To join himself - To become connected with them as a fellow-Christian.

But they were all afraid of him - Their fear, or suspicion, was excited probably on these grounds:

(1) They remembered his former violence against Christians. They had an instinctive shrinking from him, and suspicion of the man that had been so violent a persecutor.

(2) He had been absent three years. If they had not heard of him during that time, they would naturally retain much of their old feelings toward him. If they had, they might suspect the man who had not returned to Jerusalem; who had not before sought the society of other Christians; and who had spent that time in a distant country, and among strangers. It would seem remarkable that he had not at once returned to Jerusalem and connected himself with the apostles. But the sacred writer does not justify the fears of the apostles. He simply records the fact of their apprehension. It is not unnatural, however, to have doubts respecting an open and virulent enemy of the gospel who suddenly professes a change in favor of it. The human mind does not easily cast off suspicion of some unworthy motive, and open itself at once to entire confidence. When great and notorious sinners profess to be converted - people who have been violent, artful, or malignant - it is natural to ask whether they have not some unworthy motive still in their professed change. Confidence is a plant of slow growth, and starts up, not by a sudden profession, but is the result of a course of life which is worthy of affection and of trust.

A disciple - A sincere Christian.

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

To join himself to, to be admitted to intimate fellowship and communion with,

the disciples. They were all afraid of him; Paul was sufficiently known by name and face at Jerusalem, and many had felt his rage.

And believed not that he was a disciple; but how could the disciples be ignorant of his conversion so long, if it was three years after, as it seems by Gal 1:18? To answer which may be considered:

1. The great distance between Jerusalem and Damascus, six days’ journey.

2. The little correspondence between the kings of those places, Herod and Aretas.

3. The persecution which was at Jerusalem might hinder the converts of Damascus them going thither.

4. Paul might have spent a great part of the three years in his journey amongst the Arabians, of which before.

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

26. Come to Jerusalem—Three years, by Jewish reckoning, have passed, and for the first time Saul returns, an altered man, to the Jerusalem from which he had so gallantly gone forth “breathing menace and murder.”

All afraid of him—The Church had been scattered abroad by his cruelty many months ago. One by one, as they learned that danger had died away, numbers had returned. Some, probably, had heard rumours that their chief persecutor had been converted; but as Saul had retired from public view into Arabia, the rumour died away. When at last that same face, so terrible in its associations, unannounced, reappeared among them, no wonder that a panic arose!

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

He for Saul, A.V. and T.R.; and they were for but, etc., A.V.; not believing for and believed not, A.V. The narrative thus far exactly agrees with Gal_1:17, Gal_1:18, which, however, supplies the motive of the journey to Jerusalem, which is not here mentioned, viz. to see Peter. It seems strange to some commentators that the news of Saul having become a zealous Christian should not have reached Jerusalem after an interval of three years. But first, we do not know. how much of those three years was spent in Arabia, nor how much the unsettled state of Damascus may have interrupted the usual communication between Jerusalem and Damascus, nor how suspicious of evil the poor persecuted disciples at Jerusalem may have been. They knew of the fierceness of Saul"s zeal as a persecutor by their own experience; they knew of him as a disciple only by report. It may have been only an instance of the truth of Horace"s maxim, "Segnius irritant animos demissa per aures quam quae sunt occults subjecta fidelibus.

Vers. 26-30. Saul"s visit to Jerusalem.

I SUSPICION AND COLDNESS ENCOUNTERED. Saul finds no welcome at Jerusalem, no confidence, but distrust. It is hard to live down the records of past life. And never was the proud quondam Pharisee permitted to forget his lesson of humility. Well might this be the meaning of the thorn in the flesh." Our impression of the man is that of a fierce and impetuous temper, the force of which, having been used for the devil, was now to be used in the service of Christ. The genuineness of his conversion, Calvin remarks, is shown by the fact that, having been himself a persecutor, he can now endure persecution with calmness.

II COMFORT IN A FRIEND. Yet Saul had a most sensitive and loving heart, yearning for sympathy, grateful for kindness and love. How full of meaning on another occasion his words, "God, who comforteth those that are east down, comforted us by the coming of Titus"! Then the affectionate Barnabas takes him by the hand, and performs the offices of friendship on his behalf. The scene carries its teaching on the nature and offices of friendship.

1. The friend takes us by the hand in the hour of need. His loyalty and courage compensate us for the coldness of the world. Who so self-reliant as not to need a sponsor on occasions? One draught of true human love will refresh us in the desert of others" coldness. And doubtless, if we have been true to love, love will be found for us at the hour of need.

2. He will say for us what we cannot say for ourselves. Barnabas tells Saul"s story when Saul himself is not believed. The ideas of the Paraclete, or Advocate, of the Friend that sticketh closer than a brother, of the Witness on our behalf, are found again in the highest Christian relations. Christ fulfils to the soul the highest ideal of friendship. Let the recollection of our dependence on ministry ever incline the heart to humility and correct the excess of self-reliance. Through Barnabas, Saul is received as a brother, and the old enmity and distrust is forgotten. To be obstinately set against old sinners, to refuse a kindly oblivion to the past, is to ignore the grace which delights to heal and to forgive.

III FRESH DANGERS. Following in the steps of Stephen, Saul disputed with the Hellenists. There was a resurrection of the martyr"s spirit in the martyr"s murderer. Enmity is again aroused; again Saul"s life is in danger; and again, through friendly providence, the way of escape is opened. Thus through early combats, the Christian soldier"s courage is tried and experience is gained for future struggles. J.

Vers. 26-30. The Church"s seal upon the new acquisition.

Jerusalem. Its influence on all the Church. Natural doubt of the change. Difference between the character of Saul and that of the leading apostles. Barnabas fitted to be a mediator, both by his loving disposition and large-mindedness as a Cypriot.

I A simple, candid DECLARATION OF PACTS the true foundation of confidence. Spiritual men cannot resist the evidence of the Spirit.

II BROTHERLY SYMPATHY may accomplish much in times of perplexity, both in helping us to overcome natural feeling and in facilitating personal intercourse.

III THE TRUE CHRISTIAN LABOURER will prove his own work. Let the facts speak for themselves. Preach boldly, and all must acknowledge the Lord"s presence.

IV AFFLICTIONS HELP FELLOWSHIP AND MUTUAL CONFIDENCE. R.

Vers. 26-30. An ill odor and its remedy.

The odor of character and "ill report" are two very different things. The character of most fragrance may be in worst "report." Was it not true of Jesus? The noblest personages that have graced the world have often been temporarily of ill report, but not, correctly speaking, of ill odor. Of all ill odor none is a hundredth part so bad as the ill odor of character. Notice

I ITS CHIEF POINTS OF STRONG CONDEMNATION.

1. It is an intrinsic shame to the person of whom it is true. It is the result of what he is and what he says and what he does, and not of the mistakes others may possibly make respecting him in any of these particulars.

2. It is a virulent disintegrant of human society and love. It turns the place and opportunity of attraction into those of repulsion, and substitutes for the union of trust the disunion of suspicion.

3. It is cruelty to all those who are of the same kind by nature. Some kind of sin, beside all the black front it shows as such to God, adds the aggravation of widespread and keenly felt domestic misery.

4. It is a very fountain of fear to an indefinite number of others. The character that is correctly answerable to the description of one of ill odor is an offence to those who hare to come in contact with it, and to those who fear lest they should come in contact with it.

5. It is constantly diffusing its noxious and malarious influences, and not least when perhaps for a brief while least observed.

II THE REMEDY. There is one remedy, one only, that goes to the root of the matter. That character must be changed. Come what may, let what may seem risked, through whatsoever experience of suffering and anguish of a new birth, nothing short of a real and penetrating change will avail. Nothing partial, no outside improvement, no mere mitigation of his style of word or deed, could have reconciled "disciples at Jerusalem" or anywhere else to Saul, had there not been proof patent of radical change. The source of the old ill must be cut off, and in such wise that it comes to be the natural thing to men to feel convinced that it is really and undoubtedly cut off.

III THE ROOM THAT THERE IS FOR THE EXERCISE OF BROTHERLY CHARITY WITHAL. Men who go by the name of Christian do often suspect when they should not, and distrust too long. The example of Jesus is clear against such conduct and such a disposition. To the worst sinner he was prompt to give the hand of hope and the hand of help, and to shield them from the glance and the pointed finger of tauntings drawn from the past. We may admit that the eye of Jesus recognized genuineness, and his lip could pronounce upon it with a certainty shut out from ourselves. None the less must we recognize his principle, and honor it by using it. Barnabas now took Saul by the hand, and showed him the brotherly kindness the spirit of which the great Master first gave to the Church. And it is agreeable to observe how "apostles" and "brethren" thereupon believed in Saul, and acted as though they believed in him. Grateful is it at one and the same time to see how the trust reposed in Barnabas quite sufficed to counteract the distrust that had been so naturally felt towards Saul. Broad as is the line, therefore, that separates the repentant man from the sinner; uncompromising as our conduct must be in having no fellowship with darkness; and trenchant as our fidelity to doctrine as it were; yet for all this amount of reason, the more promptly, gladly, and trustfully must we give heart and hand to the repentant, whatsoever they have been heretofore. From the moment Jesus pardons, receives, and sets to work one who has long and deeply insulted him, we must pardon, "receive as a brother beloved," and welcome as a fellow-laborer that man. Nor ever forget that to suspect and distrust a moment too long, or to wonder past believing, is to put ourselves into the last position that we would wish or mean to occupy. For our immovable and gladdest creed is that Christ can do all things in human heart and human life. B.

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

And coming to Jerusalem - Three years after, Gal. i, 18. These three years St. Paul passes over, chap. xxii, 17, likewise.

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

gone to Jerusalem

The Acts records four visits of Paul to Jerusalem after conversion:

(1) Act 9:23-30. This seems identical with the visit of Gal 1:18; Gal 1:19. The "apostles" of verse Act 9:27 were Peter, and James, the Lord’s brother.

(2) Act 11:30. Paul may have been in Jerusalem during the events of Act 12:1-24; Act 12:25.

(3) Act 15:1-30; Gal 2:2-10.

(4) Act 21:17 to Act 23:35.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Saul at Jerusalem:

v. 26. And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple.

v. 27. But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.

v. 28. And he was with them, coming in and going out at Jerusalem.

v. 29. And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians. But they went about to slay him,

v. 30. which when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus.

v. 31. Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified, and, walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.

Three years before, Saul had left Jerusalem. an enemy and persecutor of the disciples of Christ. And now he returned to the city, himself persecuted and hunted by his former friends and companions. Just what feelings surged through his heart as he passed the place where the Lord had appeared to him, or the spot where the stoning of Stephen had taken place, may well be conjectured. But the crowning humiliation came to him in Jerusalem, in the treatment of the disciples. He tried to join himself to the members of the congregation, with the intimacy which was the rule among the disciples in those days. But his efforts were met with suspicion, since his former career was too well known. Very likely they feared that Saul was merely simulating interest and conviction for the sake of being admitted into the secrets of the congregation and of obtaining names of the prominent people connected with it, in order to pursue his old methods once more. In their distrust they felt that they needed the strongest kind of evidence for the sincerity, both of his conversion and of the honesty of his motives in desiring to join them. It may often happen that a sin of earlier days, though performed in partial or total ignorance, may harm a person’s standing in later years, in spite of the most sincere repentance. Fortunately, this distressing experience of Saul did not last too long; for Barnabas, the former Levite, Act 4:36, who may have been acquainted with Paul even from early days in Tarsus, now undertook to vouch for him. He took him to the apostles and narrated to them at length how the conversion of the former persecutor of the Church had taken place when the Lord Himself appeared to him and spoke to him on the way, and also that Saul had spoken the great truths of the Gospel boldly at Damascus. In the name of Jesus he had spoken so freely, and had thus received the same commission as had the apostles themselves. This introduction took place to Peter and James, Gal 1:19, the other apostles being absent from Jerusalem on matters pertaining to the Church. Barnabas having vouched for Saul, the latter was now recognized as a brother, and he went in and out among the congregation in Jerusalem; he had confidential intercourse with the apostles and with all the brethren daily. And very naturally Saul, also in Jerusalem, began to preach freely in the name of the Lord. The message of salvation whose glory and comfort he had experienced he felt constrained to bring to others, Act 4:20. But when he also spoke and disputed with the Hellenists, to whom he himself had belonged, perhaps in the same synagogue that had attempted to argue against the wisdom of Stephen, Act 6:9, he found that they were deeply embittered against him as a deserter from their ranks. With this feeling prompting them, they undertook to kill him; they did not actually apply their hands to it, but they began to make arrangements to that effect. It was true, therefore, that the Hellenistic Jews would not accept Saul’s testimony concerning Jesus, Act 22:17. The brethren found out about the intention of removing the brother whom they now highly esteemed, and foiled the evil purpose. They took Saul down to Caesarea on the Mediterranean, whence he had an opportunity to cross over to Asia Minor, to Tarsus in Cilicia, his home town. It seems to have been the opinion of the brethren that it would be best for Saul to wait in his own city until such a time as the Lord would assign some definite work to him. Here we leave Saul for a while. Luke, in closing this section, appends the remark that all the congregations, the entire Church, since their fiercest, most zealous enemy had been vanquished, had rest, peace, and prosperity, had a fine opportunity of being established, internally and externally, throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria. The Church was edified, built up as a solid structure; its right to exist was fully vindicated; its members walked, conducted their entire lives, by or through the fear of the Lord, as a result of the faith which lived in their hearts; and they were filled with the comfort of the Holy Ghost, the promised help and sustenance of Jesus became a fact, and the result was seen also in the growing number of the disciples. It is the Lord that builds His Church, as well in the days of strife and oppression as in the days of peace and prosperity, and it is the comfort of His Spirit which makes true church-work possible, causing also the appearance of true, piety in the life of the congregations.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Here we have an account of the second place which Paul exercised his ministry in; namely, Jerusalem.

Having escaped with his life at Damascus, he comes to Jerusalem and attempts to join himself to the disciples there, who were all afraid of him, knowing how bloody a persecutor he had been. The conversion of a persecutor is so rare and seldom heard of, that it puts the largest charity hard to it, to believe the verity and reality of such a person’s conversion unto God.

The disciples, who had formerly felt the effects of Saul’s persecuting rage and fury, might justly be afraid of taking him into intimate fellowship and communion with the Spirit of God to present Saul to the church, and free their minds of all fears and jealousies which they had entertained concerning him; and this he doth by a threefold argument:

1. Because he had seen Jesus Christ in the way, as he went to persecute the saints at Damascus.

2. Because the Lord had spoken to him with a strong hand, and wrought a mighty change in him, and upon him; the persecutor being now become a great professor.

3. Because he was not only become a professor, but a preacher of that gospel he had persecuted, and this boldly and publicly, both at Damascus and in Arabia; proving undeniably that Jesus was the Christ and the true Messiah.

This testimony of Barnabas was full and satisfactory, both to the church at Jerusalem, and also to Peter, James, and John, who gave Paul the right hand of fellowship, and he went with him to the work.

Observe, lastly, how the enemies of the gospel conspire against Paul’s life here at Jerusalem, as they did before a Damascus; for preaching Christ, and disputing with the Grecians in defence of the gospel of Christ, they lay siege for his life.

Learn thence, That always opposition, and often persecution, is the evil ghost that haunts the preachers and preaching of the gospel wherever it goes. To preach the word convincingly, brings the ill-will of an evil world infallibly upon the head of the preacher.

But why did these men rather seek to kill Paul than Peter, James, or Barnabas?

Answer, Because he was formerly one of their own company, of their own college; a persecutor like themselves, and a persecutor with themsleves. This enraged them; they looked not upon him as an apostle, but as an apostate; one that had revolted from them,. a renegado, and as such they meditate his destruction night and day; insomuch, that it is probable, that never were so many sufferings heaped upon the head of any minster of the gospel throughout the world, as upon St. Paul, (see them reckoned up, 2Co 11:23 &c.) partly through the hatred of the Jews, and partly through the fury of the blind Gentiles; yet the Lord delivered him out of all. Till his work was done, and his race run, and he had finished the course of his ministry, neither the malice of men, nor the rage of devils, could take him off.

Blessed be God, our times are in his hands, not in our enemies, nor yet in our own.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

PAUL’S APOSTOLICAL RECOGNITION

26-30. They had no mails nor telegraphs. News was slow and uncertain. His name had been the terror of Jerusalem. They fear a strategem, and all stand aloof until Barnabas, his old neighbor (a native of Cyprus, out in the Mediterranean near the Cilician shore), interposes in behalf of his neighbor, schoolmate and brother, Saul of Tarsus. Doubtless Barnabas had attended the Greek schools of Tarsus, in which Saul excelled; hence Barnabas, a preacher and prophet, eminent among the apostles and saints for his personal piety and preaching ability, introduces and vouches for his old friend, Saul; hence they receive and recognize him a bona fide apostle.

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

26, 27. The mortification of Saul as being compelled to thus escape from Damascus was remembered for many years, to be mentioned when he would "glory in the things which concerned his infirmities." He had not yet seen any of those who were apostles before him since he left them in Jerusalem to go on his murderous mission to Damascus. He turns his steps in that direction, resolved to go up and see Peter. We will not attempt to depict the probable emotions of the now devout apostle, as the walls of Jerusalem and the towering height of the temple came once more into view. As he approached the gate of the city, he passed by the spot where Stephen was stoned, and where he himself had stood, "consenting to his death." He was about to meet again, on the streets, and in the synagogues, his old allies whom he had deserted, and the disciples whom he had persecuted. The tumult of emotions which the scenes about him must have excited, we leave to the imagination of the reader, and pages of more voluminous writers. We know the reception which awaited him both from friends and foes. (26) " And when he arrived in Jerusalem, he attempted to join himself to the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. (27) But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles, and related to them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had spoken boldly in Damascus in the name of Jesus. " This ignorance of the brethren in reference to the events of the past three years in Damascus is somewhat surprising; but it only proves that they had no rapid means of communication with the brethren in that city. It is not probable that Barnabas had any means of information not enjoyed by the other brethren. Doubtless he obtained this information from Saul's own lips, either because he was prompted to do so by the generous impulses of his own heart, or because Saul, having some knowledge of his generosity, sought him out as the one most likely to give him a candid hearing. In either case, it would not be difficult for him to credit the unvarnished story, told, as it must have been, with an earnestness and pathos which no impostor could assume. When Barnabas was once convinced, it was easy for him to convince the apostles; and the warm sympathy which he manifested for Saul was the beginning of a friendship between them which was fruitful in blessing to the Church and to the world.

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.

26. And when Saul was come to Jerusalem. Three years had passed since he left the city, a proud, talented young Pharisee, with brilliant worldly prospects, the honored agent of the Sanhedrim, commissioned to stamp out Christianity at Damascus. He now returns a disciple of him whom he sought to destroy, his bright worldly prospects all forfeited, an outcast from his own nation, persecuted and hated. Why this change? No explanation is possible, save that given in this history and by himself. They were afraid of him. Little was known in the church of the change. A great part of the three years were spent in Arabia, probably in study and preparation of his great work. They had known so much of his fury in the past that they feared him still. His appearance in the church would be much like that of Robert G. Ingersoll in a Christian convention.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

General Information:

Here the words "he" and "him" refer to Saul all but one time. "And 'he' told them how" in verse 27 refers to Barnabas.

but they were all afraid of him

Here "they were all" is a generalization, but it is possible that it refers to every person. AT: "but they were afraid of him" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)

had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus

This is a way of saying he preached or taught the gospel message of Jesus Christ without fear. AT: "had openly preached the message about Jesus" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

Jerusalem

disciple

Barnabas

apostle

Paul

lord

Damascus

preach

Jesus

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

26–31. SAUL VISITS JERUSALEM. HE IS SENT AWAY TO TARSUS. THE CHURCHES HAVE REST

26. ὁ Σαῦλος omitted with אABC. Not in Vulg.

26. παραγενόμενος δὲ εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ, and when he was come to Jerusalem. Saul had never visited Jerusalem since the day when he set out on his inquisitorial journey to Damascus, and as he had been a long time in Arabia since then, his name may very well have fallen out of the memory of many in the Holy City, or knowing little of what had happened to him in the meantime they might esteem him still only as their determined enemy.

ἐπείραζεν κολλᾶσθαι τ. μ., he assayed to join himself to the disciples. If as a Jew he had gone to Alexandria or any other city where Jews were numerous, his first thought would have been to search out his co-religionists; so he acts now. He seeks to join the Christian community. But his own language (Gal 1:16) shews us that he had made no attempt to spread the news of his changed feelings among the Christian congregations. ‘I conferred not with flesh and blood,’ he says, ‘but I went into Arabia, and returned to Damascus.’ An absence of three years, mainly in a region whence little news could come of his conversion and labours, and the memory of what evil he had done in days gone by, was enough to justify some hesitation about receiving him, on the part of the disciples.

καὶ πάντες ἐφοβοῦντο αὐτόν, and they were all afraid of him. The rendering of καὶ by but (A.V.) is unjustifiable. There is not any adversative sense. Saul tried to become a member of the Church, and they were not willing to receive him.

In Gal 1:18 St Paul says his wish was to see Peter, and this we can very well understand, for though Saul had received his commission directly from Jesus, there were many things in the history of the life of Christ which could be best learned from the lips of him who had been with Jesus from the commencement of His ministry. But at first Saul came to the Christians at Jerusalem as an ordinary believer.

μὴ πιστεύοντες κ.τ.λ., not believing that he was a disciple. From this we can see how little was known in Jerusalem of the history of Saul since his conversion, and we can understand those words of his own (Gal 1:22), ‘I was unknown by face unto the churches of Judæa which were in Christ.’ God had been training him for his work among the Gentiles, and although he was brought to Jerusalem that all might know that the Gospel was one, and that Saul was sent forth even as the Twelve, yet no attempt is made by St Luke at this point, where, according to some theories, it might have been most expected, to set forth the unanimity of Paul and Peter. It is left for St Paul himself to tell us of his desire to see Peter, and the historian only says they all were afraid of him.

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.

26. παραγ.] Immediately: the purpose of this journey was to become acquainted with Peter, Gal 1:18: a resolution probably taken during the conspiracy of the Jews against him at Damascus, and in furtherance of his announced mission to the Gentiles: that, by conference with the Apostles, his sphere of work might be agreed on. And this purpose his escape enabled him to effect.

καί] Not but: the δέ follows.

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

Join himself. See on ch. Act 5:13; Luk 14:15; Luk 10:11.

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