FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS.Paul’s residence in Ephesus is distinguished in his literary history, as the period in which he wrote that most eloquent and animated of his epistles,——“the first to the Corinthians.” It was written towards the close of his stay in Asia, about the time of the passover; according to established calculations, therefore, inthe spring of the year of Christ 57. The more immediate occasion of his writing to the Corinthian Christians, was a letter which he had received from them, by the hands of Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus. Paul had previously written to them an epistle, (now lost,) in which he gave them some directions about their deportment, which they did not fully understand, and of which they desired an explanation in their letter. Many of these questions, which this epistle of the Corinthians contained, are given by Paul, in connection with his own answers to them; and from this source it is learned that they concerned several points of expediency and propriety about matrimony. These are answered by Paul, very distinctly and fully; but much of his epistle is taken up with instructions and reproofs on many points not referred to in their inquiries. The Corinthian church was made up of two very opposite constituent parts, so unlike in their character, as to render exceedingly complicated the difficulties of bringing all under one system of faith and practice; and the apostolic founder was, at one time, obliged to combat heathen licentiousness, and at another, Jewish bigotry and formalism. The church also, having been too soon left without the presence of a fully competent head, had been very loosely filled up with a great variety of improper persons,——some hypocrites, and some profligates,——a difficulty not altogether peculiar to the Corinthian church, nor to those of the apostolic age. But there were certainly some very extraordinary irregularities in the conduct of their members, some of whom were in the habit of getting absolutely drunk at the sacramental table; and others were guilty of great sins in respect to general purity of life. Another peculiar difficulty, which had arisen in the church of Corinth, during Paul’s absence, was the formation of sects and parties, each claiming some one of the great Christian teachers as its head; some of them claiming Paul as their only apostolic authority; some again preferring the doctrines of Apollos, who had been laboring among them while Paul was in Ephesus; and others again, referred to Peter as the true apostolic chief, while they wholly denied to Paul any authority whatever, as an apostle. There had, indeed, arisen a separate party, strongly opposed to Paul, headed by a prominent person, who had done a great deal to pervert the truth, and to lessen the character of Paul in various ways, which are alluded to by Paul in many passages of his epistle, in a very indignant tone. Other difficulties are described by him, and various excessesare reproved, as a scandal to the Christian character; such as an incestuous marriage among their members,——lawsuits before heathen magistrates,——dissolute conformity to the licentious worship of the Corinthian goddess, whose temple was so infamous for its scandalous rites and thousand priestesses. Some of the Corinthian Christians had been in the habit of visiting this and other heathen temples, and of participating in the scenes of feasting, riot and debauchery, which were carried on there as a part of the regular forms of idolatrous worship.The public worship of the Corinthian church had been disturbed also by various irregularities which Paul reprehends;——the abuse of the gift of tongues, and the affectation of an unusual dress in preaching, both by men and women. In the conclusion of his epistle he expatiates too, at great length, on the doctrine of the resurrection of the body, vehemently arguing against some Corinthian heretics, who had denied any but a spiritual existence beyond the grave. This argument may justly be pronounced the best specimen of Paul’s very peculiar style, reasoning as he does, with a kind of passion, and interrupting the regular series of logical demonstrations, by fiery bursts of enthusiasm, personal appeals, poetical quotations, illustrative similes, violent denunciations of error, and striking references to his own circumstances. All these nevertheless, point very directly and connectedly at the great object of the argument, and the whole train of reasoning swells and mounts, towards the conclusion, in a manner most remarkably effective, constituting one of the most sublime argumentative passages ever written. He then closes the epistle with some directions about the mode of collecting the contributions for the brethren in Jerusalem. He promises to visit them, and make a long stay among them, when he goes on his journey through Macedonia,——a route which, he assures them, he had now determined to take, as mentioned by Luke, in his account of the preliminary mission of Timothy and Erastus, before the time of the mob at Ephesus; but should not leave Ephesus until after Pentecost, because a great and effectual door was there opened to him, and there were many opposers. He speaks of Timothy as being then on the mission before mentioned, and exhorts them not to despise this young brother, if he should visit them, as they might expect. After several other personal references, he signs his♦own name with a general salutation; and from the terms, in which he expresses this particular mark already alluded toin the second epistle to the Thessalonians, it is very reasonable to conclude, that he was not his own penman in any of these epistles, but used an amanuensis, authenticating the whole by his signature, with his own hand, only at the end; and this opinion of his method of carrying on his correspondence, is now commonly, perhaps universally, adopted by the learned.♦“ownn,ame” replaced with “own name”“Chapterxvi.10, 11. ‘Now, if Timotheus come, see that he may be with you without fear; for he worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do: let no man therefore despise him, but conduct him forth in peace, that he may come unto me, for I look for him with the brethren.’“From the passage considered in the preceding number, it appears that Timothy was sent to Corinth, either with the epistle, or before it: ‘for this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus.’ From the passage now quoted, we infer that Timothy was not sentwiththe epistle; for had he been the bearer of the letter, or accompanied it, wouldSt.Paul in that letter have said, ‘ifTimothy come?’ Nor is the sequel consistent with the supposition of his carrying the letter; for if Timothy was with the apostle when he wrote the letter, could he say, as he does, ‘I look for him with the brethren?’ I conclude, therefore, that Timothy had leftSt.Paul to proceed upon his journey before the letter was written. Further, the passage before us seems to imply, that Timothy was not expected bySt.Paul to arrive at Corinth, till after they had received the letter. He gives them directions in the letter how to treat him when he should arrive: ‘if he come,’ act towards him so and so. Lastly, the whole form of expression is more naturally applicable to the supposition of Timothy’s coming to Corinth, not directly fromSt.Paul, but from some other quarter; and that his instructions had been, when he should reach Corinth, to return. Now, how stands this matter in the history? Turn to the nineteenth chapter and twenty-first verse of the Acts, and you will find that Timothy did not, when sent from Ephesus, where he leftSt.Paul, and where the present epistle was written, proceed by a straight course to Corinth, but that he went round through Macedonia. This clears up everything; for, although Timothy was sent forth upon his journey before the letter was written, yet he might not reach Corinth till after the letter arrived there; and he would come to Corinth, when he did come, not directly fromSt.Paul, at Ephesus, but from some part of Macedonia. Here therefore is a circumstantial and critical agreement, and unquestionably without design; for neither of the two passages in the epistle mentions Timothy’s journey into Macedonia at all, though nothing but a circuit of that kind can explain and reconcile the expressions which the writer uses.” (Paley’s Horae Paulinae, 1 CorinthiansNo. IV.)“Chapterv.7, 8. ‘For even Christ, our passover, is sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.’“Dr.Benson tells us, that from this passage, compared with chapterxvi.8, it has been conjectured that this epistle was written about the time of the Jewish passover; and to me the conjecture appears to be very well founded. The passage to whichDr.Benson refers us, is this: ‘I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost.’ With this passage he ought to have joined another in the same context: ‘And it may be that I will abide, yea, and winter with you:’ for, from the two passages laid together, it follows that the epistle was written before Pentecost, yet after winter; which necessarily determines the date to the part of the year, within which the passover falls. It was written before Pentecost, because he says, ‘I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost.’ It was written after winter, because he tells them, ‘It may be that I may abide, yea, and winter with you.’ The winter which the apostle purposed to pass at Corinth, was undoubtedly the winter next ensuing to the date of the epistle; yet it was a winter subsequent to the ensuing Pentecost, because he did not intend to set forwards upon his journey till after the feast. The words, ‘let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth,’ look very much like words suggested by the season; at least they have, upon that supposition, a force and significancy which do not belong to them upon any other; and it is not a little remarkable, that the hints casually dropped in the epistle, concerning particular parts of the year, should coincide with this supposition.” (Paley’s Horae Paulinae. 1 Corinthians.No. XII.)SECOND VOYAGE TO EUROPE.After the disturbances connected with the mob raised by Demetrius had wholly ceased, and public attention was no longer directed to the motions of the preachers of the Christian doctrine, Paul determined to execute the plan, which he had for some time contemplated, of going over his European fields of labor again, according to his universal and established custom of revisiting and confirming his work, within a moderately brief period after first opening the ground for evangelization. Assembling the disciples about him, he bade them farewell, and turning northward, came to Troas, whence, six or seven years before, he had set out on his first voyage to Macedonia. The plan of his journey, as he first arranged it, had been to sail from the shores of Asia Minor directly for Corinth. He had resolved however, not to go to that city, until the very disagreeable difficulties which had there arisen in the church, had been entirely removed, according to the directions given in the epistle which he had written to them from Ephesus; because he did not desire, after an absence of years, to visit them in such circumstances, when his Corinthian converts were divided among themselves, and against him,——and when his first duties would necessarily be those of a rigid censor. He therefore waited at Troas, with great impatience, for a message from them, announcing the settlement of all difficulties. This he expected to receive through Titus, a person now first mentioned in the apostle’s history. Waiting with great impatience for this beloved brother, he found no rest in his spirit, and though a door was evidently opened by the Lord for the preaching of the gospel in Troas, he had no spirit for the good work there; and desiring to be as near the great object of his anxieties as possible, he accordingly took leave of the brethren at Troas, and crossed the Aegean into Macedonia, by his former route. Here he remained in great distress of mind, until his soul was at last comforted by the long expected arrival of Titus. Luke only says, that he went over those parts and gave them much exhortation. But though his route is not given, his apostolic labors are known to have extended to the borders of Illyricum. At this time also, he made another important contribution to the list of the apostolic writings.THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS.There is no part of the New Testament canon, about the date of which all authorities are so well agreed, as on the place and time, at which Paul wrote his second epistle to the Corinthians.All authorities, ancient and modern, decide that it was written during the second visit of Paul to Macedonia; although as to the exact year in which this took place, they are not entirely unanimous. The passages in the epistle itself, which refer to Macedonia as the region in which the apostle then was, are so numerous indeed, that there can be no evasion of their evidence. A great topic of interest with him, at the time of writing this epistle, was the collecting of the contributions proposed for the relief of the Christian brethren in Jerusalem; and upon this he enlarges much, informing the Corinthians of the great progress he was making in Macedonia in this benevolent undertaking, and what high hopes he had entertained and expressed to the Macedonians, of the zeal and ability of those in Achaia, about the contributions. This matter had been noticed and arranged by him, in his former epistle to them, as already noticed, and he now proposed to send forward Titus and another person, (who is commonly supposed to be Luke,) to take charge of these funds, thus collected. He speaks of coming also himself, after a little time, and makes some allusions to the difficulties which had constituted the subject of the great part of his former epistle. Of their amendment in the particulars then so severely censured, he had received a full account through Titus, when that beloved brother came on from Corinth, to join Paul in Macedonia. Paul assures the Corinthians of the very great joy caused in him, by the good news of their moral and spiritual improvement, and renews his ardent protestations of deep affection for them. The incestuous person, whom they had excommunicated, in conformity with the denunciatory directions given in the former epistle, he now forgives; and as the offender has since appeared to be truly penitent, he now urges his restoration to the consolations of Christian fellowship, lest he should be swallowed up with too much sorrow. He defends his apostolic character for prudence and decision, against those who considered his change of plans about coming directly from Ephesus to Corinth, as an exhibition of lightness and unsettled purpose. His real object in this delay and change of purpose, as he tells them, was, that they might have time to profit by the reproofs contained in his former epistle, so that by the removal of the evils of which he so bitterly complained, he might finally be enabled to come to them, not in sorrow, nor in heaviness for their sins, but in joy for their reformation. This fervent hope had been fulfilled by the coming of Titus to Macedonia, forwhom he had waited in vain, with so much anxiety at Troas, as the expected messenger of these tidings of their spiritual condition; and he was now therefore prepared to pass on to them from Macedonia, to which region he tells them he had gone from Troas, instead of to Corinth, because he had been disappointed about meeting Titus on the eastern side of the Aegean. With the exception of these things, the epistle is taken up with a very ample and eloquent exhibition of his true powers and office as an apostle; and in the course of this argument, so necessary for the re-establishment of his authority among those who had lately been disposed to contemn it, he makes many very interesting allusions to his own personal history. The date of the epistle is commonly supposed, and with good reason, to be A. D. 58, the fifth of Nero’s reign, and one year after the preceding epistle.MILETUS. Actsxx.15–17.“Chapterii.12, 13. ‘When I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I went from thence into Macedonia.’“To establish a conformity between this passage and the history, nothing more is necessary to be presumed, than thatSt.Paul proceeded from Ephesus to Macedonia, upon the same course by which he came back from Macedonia to Ephesus, or rather to Miletus in the neighborhood of Ephesus; in other words, that, in his journey to the peninsula of Greece, he went and returned the same way.St.Paul is now in Macedonia, where he had lately arrived from Ephesus. Our quotation imports that in his journey he had stopped at Troas. Of this, the history says nothing, leaving us only the short account, ‘that Paul departed from Ephesus, for to go into Macedonia.’ But the history says, that in hisreturnfrom Macedonia to Ephesus, ‘Paul sailed from Philippi toTroas; and that, when the disciples came together on the first day of the week, to break bread, Paul preached unto them all night; that from Troas he went by land to Assos; from Assos, taking ship and coasting along the front of Asia Minor, he came by Mitylene to Miletus.’ Which account proves, first, that Troas lay in the way by whichSt.Paul passed between Ephesus and Macedonia; secondly, that he had disciples there. In one journey between these two places, the epistle, and in another journey between the same places, the history makes him stop at this city. Of the first journey he is made to say, ‘that a door was in that city opened unto him of the Lord;’ in the second, we find disciples there collected around him, and the apostle exercising his ministry, with, what was even in him, more than ordinary zeal and labor. The epistle, therefore, is in this instance confirmed, if not by the terms, at least by the probability of the history; a species of confirmation by no means to be despised, because, as far as it reaches, it is evidently uncontrived.“Grotius, I know, refers the arrival at Troas, to which the epistle alludes, to a different period, but I think very improbably; for nothing appears to me more certain, than that the meeting with Titus, whichSt.Paul expected at Troas, was the same meeting which took place in Macedonia,viz.upon Titus’s coming out of Greece. In the quotation before us, he tells the Corinthians, ‘When I came to Troas, I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus, my brother; but, taking my leave of them, I went from thence into Macedonia.’ Then in the seventh chapter he writes, ‘When we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears; nevertheless, God, that comforteth them that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus.’ These two passages plainly relate to the same journey of Titus, in meeting with whomSt.Paul had been disappointed at Troas, and rejoiced in Macedonia. And amongst other reasons which fix the former passage to the coming of Titus out of Greece, is the consideration, that it was nothing to the Corinthians thatSt.Paul did not meet with Titus at Troas, were it not that he was to bring intelligence fromCorinth. The mention of the disappointment in this place, upon any other supposition, is irrelative.” (Paley’s Horae Paulinae. 2 CorinthiansNo. VIII.)SECOND JOURNEY TO CORINTH.Among his companions in Macedonia, was Timothy, his ever zealous and affectionate assistant in the apostolic ministry, who had been sent thither before him to prepare the way, and had been laboring in that region ever since, as plainly appears from the fact, that he is joined with Paul in the opening address of the second epistle to the Corinthians,——a circumstance in itself sufficient to overthrow a very common supposition of the critics,——that Timothy returned to Asia; that Paul at that time “left him in Ephesus,” and at this time wrote his first epistle to Timothy from Macedonia. It is also most probable that Timothy was the personal companion of Paul, not only during the whole period of his second ministration in Macedonia, but also accompanied him from that province to Corinth; because Timothy is distinctly mentioned by Luke, among those who went with Paul from Macedonia to Asia, after his brief second residence in that city. No particulars whatever are given by Luke of the labors of Paul in Corinth. From his epistles, however, it is learned that he was at this time occupied in part, in receiving the contributions made throughout Achaia for the church of Jerusalem, to which city he was now preparing to go. The difficulties, of which so much mention had been made in his epistles, were now entirely removed, and his work there doubtless went on without any of that opposition which had arisen after his first departure. There is however, one very important fact in his literary history, which took place in Corinth, during his residence there.THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.From the very earliest period of apostolic labor, after the ascension, there appear to have been in Rome, some Jews who professed the faith of Jesus. Among the visitors in Jerusalem at the Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit first descended, were some from Rome, who sharing in the gifts of that remarkable effusion, and returning to their home in the imperial city, would there in themselves constitute the rudiment of a Christian church. It is perfectly certain that they had never been blessed in their own city with the personal presence of an apostle and all their associated action as a Christian church, must therefore have been entirely the result of a voluntary organization, suggested by the natural desire to keep up and to spread the doctrines which they had first receivedin Jerusalem, under such remarkable circumstances. Yet the members of the church would not be merely those who were converted at the Pentecost; for there was a constant influx of Jews from all parts of the world to Rome, and among these there would naturally be some who had participated in the light of the gospel, now so widely diffused throughout the eastern section of the world. There is moreover distinct information of certain persons of high qualifications, as Christian teachers, who had at Rome labored in the cause of the gospel, and had no doubt been among the most efficient means of that advancement of the Roman church, which seems to be implied in the communication now first made to them by Paul. Aquilas and Priscilla, who had been the intimate friends of Paul at Corinth, and who had been already so active and distinguished as laborers in the gospel cause, both in that city and in Ephesus, had returned to Rome on the death of Claudius, when that emperor’s foolish decree of banishment, against the Jews, expired along with its author, in the year of Christ, 54. These, on re-establishing their residence in Rome, made their own house a place of assembly for a part of the Christians in the capital,——probably for such as resided in their own immediate neighborhood, while others sought different places, according as suited their convenience in this particular. Many other persons are mentioned by Paul at the close of this epistle, as having been active in the work of the gospel at Rome;——among whom Andronicus and Junias are particularly noticed with respect, as having highly distinguished themselves in apostolic labors. From all these evangelizing efforts, the church of Rome attained great importance, and was now in great need of the counsels and presence of an apostle, to confirm it, and impart to its members spiritual gifts. It had long been an object of attention and interest to Paul, and he had already expressed a determination to visit the imperial city, in the remarks which he made to the brethren at Ephesus, when he was making arrangements to go into Macedonia and Achaia. The way was afterwards opened for this visit, by a very peculiar providence, which he does not seem to have then anticipated; but while residing in Corinth, his attention being very particularly called to their spiritual condition, he could not wait till he should have an opportunity to see them personally, to counsel them; but wrote to them this very copious and elaborate epistle, which seems to have been the subject of more comment among dogmatic theologians, than almost anyother portion of his writings, on account of its being supposed to furnish different polemic writers with the most important arguments for the peculiar dogmas of one or another, according to the fancy of each. It undoubtedly is the most doctrinal and didactic of all Paul’s epistles, alluding very little to local circumstances, which are the theme of so large a part of most of his writings, but attacking directly certain general errors entertained by the Jews, on the subject of justification, predestination, election, and many peculiar privileges which they attributed to themselves as the descendants of Abraham.This epistle, like most of the rest, was written by an amanuensis, who is herein particularly named, as Tertius,——a word of Roman origin; but beyond this nothing else is known of him. It was carried to Rome by Phebe, an active female member of the church at Cenchreae, the port of Corinth, who happened to be journeying to Rome for some other purposes, and is earnestly recommended by Paul to the friendly regard of the church there.RETURN TO ASIA.After passing three months in Corinth, he took his departure from that city, on his pre-determined voyage to the east, the direction of which was somewhat changed by the information that the Jews of the place where he then was, were plotting some mischief against him, which he thought best to avoid by taking a different route from that before planned, which was a direct voyage to Syria. To escape the danger prepared for him by them, at his expected place of embarkation, he first turned northward by land, through Macedonia to Philippi, and thence sailed by the now familiar track over the Aegean to Troas. On this journey, he was accompanied by quite a retinue of apostolic assistants,——not only his faithful disciple and companion Timothy, but also Sosipater of Beroea, Aristarchus and Secundus of Thessalonica, Gaius, or Caius of Derbe, and Luke also, who now carries on the apostolic narrative in the first person, thus showing that he was himself a sharer in the adventures which he narrates. Besides these immediate companions, two brethren from Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus, took the direct route from Corinth to Troas, at which place they waited for the rest of the apostolic company, who took the circuitous route through Macedonia. The date of the departure of Paul is very exactly fixed by his companion Luke, who states that they left Philippi at the time of the passover, which was in the middle of March; and other circumstanceshave enabled modern critics to fix the occurrence in the year of Christ 59. After a five days’ voyage, arriving at Troas on Saturday, they made a stay of seven days in that place; and on the first day of the week, the Christians of that place having assembled for the communion usual on the Lord’s day, Paul preached to them: and as it was the last day of his stay, he grew very earnest in his discourse and protracted it very late, speaking two whole hours to the company, who were met in the great upper hall, where, in all Jewish houses, these festal entertainments and social meetings were always held. It was, of course, the evening, when the assembly met, for this was the usual time for a social party, and there were many lights in the room, which, with the number of people, must have made the air very warm, and had the not very surprising effect of causing drowsiness, in at least one of Paul’s hearers, a young man named♦Eutychus, whose interest in what was said, could not keep his attention alive against the pressure of drowsiness. He fell asleep; and the occurrence must appear so very natural, (more particularly to any one, who has ever been so unfortunate as to be sleepy at an evening meeting, and knows what a painful sensation it is, though the drowsiness is wholly beyond the control of the reason,) that it can hardly be thought worth while to take pains, as some venerable commentators do, to suppose that the devil was very specially concerned in producing the sleep of Eutychus, and that the consequences which ensued, were an exhibition of divine wrath against the sleepy youth, for slumbering under the preaching of Paul. If the supposition holds equally good in all similar cases, the devil must be very busy on warm Sunday afternoons; and many a comfortable nap would be disturbed by unpleasant dreams, if the dozer could be made to think that his drowsiness was the particular work of the great adversary of souls, or that he was liable to suffer any such accident as Eutychus did, who, falling into a deeper sleep, and losing all muscular control and consciousness, sunk down from his seat, and slipping over the side of the gallery, in the third loft, fell into the court below, where he was taken up lifeless. But Paul hearing of the accident, stopped his discourse, and going down to the young man, fell on him and embraced him, saying, “Trouble not yourselves, for the life is in him.” And his words were verified by the result; for they soon brought him up alive, and were not a little comforted. Paul, certain of his recovery, did not suffer the accident to marthe enjoyment of the social farewell meeting; but going up and breaking bread with them all, talked with them a long time, passing the whole night in this pleasant way, and did not leave them till day-break, when he started to go by land over to Assos, about twenty-four miles south-east of Troas, on the Adramyttian gulf, which sets up between the north side of the island of Lesbos and the mainland. His companions, coming around by water, through the mouth of the gulf, took Paul on board at Assos, according to his plan; and then instead of turning back, and sailing out into the open sea, around the outside of Lesbos, ran up the gulf to the eastern end of the north coast of the island, where there is an other outlet to the gulf between the eastern shore of Lesbos and the continent. Sailing southward through this passage, after a course of between thirty and forty miles, they came to Mitylene, on the southeastern side of the island. Thence passing out of the strait, they sailed southwestwards, coming between Chios and the main-land, and arrived the next day at Trogyllium, at the southwest corner of Samos. Then turning their course towards the continent, they came in one day to Miletus, near the mouth of the♠Meander, about forty miles south of Ephesus.♦“Entychus” replaced with “Eutychus”♠“Maeander” replaced with “Meander”Landing here, and desiring much to see some of his Ephesian brethren before his departure to Jerusalem, he sent to the elders of the church in that city, and on their arrival poured out his whole soul to them in a parting address, which for pathetic earnestness and touching beauty, is certainly, beyond any doubt, the most splendid passage that all the records of ancient eloquence can furnish. No force can be added to it by a new version, nor can any recapitulation of its substance do justice to its beauty. At the close, took place a most affecting farewell. In the simple and forcible description of Luke, (who was himself present at the moving scene, seeing and hearing all he narrates,)——“When Paul had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all.” The subjects of this prayer were the guardians of that little flock which he, amid perils and death, had gathered from the heathen waste of Ionic Asia, to the fold of Christ. When he left it last, the raging wolves of persecution and wrath,——the wild beasts of Ephesus,——were howling death and destruction to the devoted believers of Christ, and they were still environed with temptations and dangers, that threatened to overwhelm these feeble ones, left thus early without the fostering care of their apostolic shepherd. Passing on his way to the great scene of his coming trials, he couldnot venture among them to give them his parting counsels, and could now only intrust to their constituted guardians, this dear charge, with renewed exhortations to them to be faithful, as in the presence of their God, to those objects of his labors, his cares, his prayers, and his daily tears. Amid the sorrows of that long farewell, arose on the prophetic vision of the apostle some gloomy foreshadowings of future woes to fall on that Ephesian charge, and this deepened the melancholy feeling of his heart almost to agony. This no doubt was the burden of his last prayer, when with their elders, and for them, he kneeled down on the shore and sent up in earnest petition to God, that voice which they were doomed to hear no more forever.Such passages as this in the life and words of Paul, constitute a noble addition to the reader’s idea of his character. They show how nobly were intermingled in the varied frame of his spirit, the affectionate, the soft, and the winning traits, with the high, the stern, and the bitter feelings that so often were called out by the unparalleled trials of his situation. They show♦that he truly felt and acted out, to the life, that divine principle of Christian love which inspired the most eloquent effort of his pen;——and that he trusted not to the wonder-working powers that moved his lips, as with the eloquence of men and angels,——not to the martyr-spirit, that, sacrificing all earthly substance, devoted itself to the raging flames of persecution, in the cause of God,——not to the genius whose discursive glance searched all the mysteries of human and divine knowledge,——but to that pure, exalted and exalting spirit of ardent love for those for whom he lived like his Savior, and for whom he was ready to die like him, also. This was the inspiration of his words, his writings, and his actions,——the motive and spirit of his devotion,——the energy of his being. Wherever he went and whatever he did,——in spite of the frequent passionate outbreaks of his rougher nature, this honest, fervent, animated spirit of charity,——glowing not to inflame, but to melt,——softened the austerities of his character, and kindled in all who truly knew him, a deep and lasting affection for him, like that which was so strikingly manifested on this occasion. Who can wonder that to a man thus constituted, the lingering Ephesians still clung with such enthusiastic attachment? In the fervid action of that oriental clime, they fell on his neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he said,——that they should see his face no more. Still loth to take their last look atone so loved, they accompanied him to the ship, which bore him away from them, to perils, sufferings and chains.♦duplicate word “that” removed“Assoswas a sea-port town, situated on the south-west part of the province of Troas, and over against the island Lesbos. By land it is much nearer Troas than by sea, because of a promontory that runs a great way into the sea, and must be doubled to come to Assos, which was perhaps the reason that the apostle chose rather to walk it.” (Wells’s Geography and Calmet’s Commentary.)MYTELENE. Actsxx.14.“Mitylene, (chapterxx.verse 14,) was one of the principal cities in the island of Lesbos, situated on a peninsula with a commodious haven on each side; the whole island was also called by that name, as well as Pentapolis, from the five cities in it,viz.Issa or Antissa, Pyrrhe, Eressos, Arisba, and Mitylene. It is at present called Metelin. The island is one of the largest in the Archipelago, and was renowned for the many eminent persons it produced; such as Sappho, the inventress of Sapphic verses,——Alcaeus, a famous lyric poet,——Pittacus, one of the seven wise men of Greece,——Theophrastus, the noble physician and philosopher,——and Arion, the celebrated musician. It is now in the possession of the Turks. As mentioned bySt.Luke, it may be understood either the island or the city itself.” (Wells’s Geography and Whitby’s Table.)“Chios, (verse 15,) was an island in the Archipelago, next to Lesbos, both as to situation and size. It lies over against Smyrna, and is not above four leagues distant from the Asiatic continent. Horace and Martial celebrate it for the wine and figs that it produced. It is now renowned for producing the best mastic in the world.“Sir Paul Ricaut, in his ‘Present State of the Greek Church,’ tells us, that there is no place in the Turkish dominions where Christians enjoy more freedom in their religion and estates than in this island, to which they are entitled by an ancient capitulation made with Sultan MahometII.” (Wells’s Geography.)“Samos, (verse 15,) was another island of the Archipelago, lying south-east of Chios, and about five miles from the Asiatic continent. It was famous among heathen writers for the worship of Juno; for one of the Sibyls called Sibylla Samiana; for Pherecydes, who foretold an earthquake that happened there, by drinking of the waters; and more especially for the birth of Pythagoras. It was formerly a free commonwealth; at present, the Turks have reduced it to a mean and depopulated condition; so that ever since the year 1676, no Turk has ventured to live on it on account of its being frequented by pirates, who carry all whom they take into captivity.” (Wells’s Geography and Whitby’s Table.)“Trogyllium, (verse 15,) is a promontory at the foot of Mount Mycale, opposite to, and five miles from Samos: there was also a town there of the same name, mentioned by Pliny,Lib. v,c. 29.p.295.” (Whitby’s Table.)“Miletus, (verse 15,) a sea-port town on the continent of Asia Minor, and in the province of Caria, memorable for being the birth-place of Thales, one of the seven wise men of Greece, and father of the Ionic philosophy; of Anaximander, his scholar; Timotheus, the musician; and Anaximenes, the philosopher. It is called now, by the Turks, Melas; and not far distant from it is the true Meander.” (Whitby’s Table and Wells’s Geography.) [Williams on Pearson.pp.66, 67.]Tearing himself thus from the embraces of his Ephesian brethren, Paul sailed off to the southward, hurrying on to Jerusalem, in order to reach there if possible, before the Pentecost. After leaving Miletus, the apostolic company made a straight course to Coos, and then rounding the great northwestern angle of Asia Minor, turned eastwardly to Rhodes, and passing probably through the strait, between that island and the continent, landed at Patara, a town on the coast of Lycia, which was the destination of their first vessel. They therefore at this place engaged a passage in a vessel bound to Tyre, and holding on southeastward, came next in sight of Cyprus, which they passed, leaving it on the left,and then steering straight for the Syrian coast, landed at Tyre, where their vessel was to unlade; so that they were detained here for a whole week, which they passed in the company of some Christian brethren who constituted a church there. These Tyrian disciples hearing of Paul’s plan to visit Jerusalem, and knowing the dangers to which he would there be exposed by the deadly hate of the Jews, were very urgent with him against his journey; but he still resolutely held on his course, as soon as a passage could be procured, and bade them farewell, with prayer on the shore, to which the brethren accompanied him with their women and children. Standing off from the shore, they then sailed on south, to Ptolemais, where they spent a day with the Christians in that place, and then re-embarking, and passing round the promontory of Carmel, reached Caesarea, where their sea-voyage terminated. Here they passed several days in the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the seven deacons, who had four daughters that were prophetesses. While they were resting themselves in this truly religious family, from the fatigues of their long voyage, they were visited by Agabus, a prophet from Jerusalem,——the same who had formerly visited Antioch when Paul was there, and who had then foretold the coming famine, which threatened all the world. This remarkable man predicted to Paul the misfortunes which awaited him in Jerusalem. In the solemnly impressive dramatic action of the ancient prophets, he took Paul’s girdle, and binding his own hands with it, said——“Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem, bind the man that owns this girdle, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles.’” On hearing this melancholy announcement, all the companions of Paul and the Christians of Caesarea, united in beseeching Paul to give up his purpose of visiting Jerusalem. But he, resolute against all entreaty, declared himself ready not only to be bound, but to die in Jerusalem for the Lord Jesus. And when they found that he would not be persuaded, they all ceased to harass him with their supplications, and resigned him to Providence, saying,——“The will of the Lord be done.” They then all took carriages, and rode up to Jerusalem, accompanied by some brethren from Caesarea, and by Mnason, an old believer, formerly of Cyprus, but now of Jerusalem, who had engaged them as his guests in that city.“Coos, (chapterxxi.verse 1,) an island in the Aegean or Icarian sea, near Mnydos and Cnidus, which had a city of the same name, from which Hippocrates, the celebrated physician, and Apelles, the famous painter, were called Coi. Here was a largetemple of Aesculapius, and another of Juno. It abounded in rich wines, and is very often mentioned by the classic poets.” (Whitby’s Alphabetic Table.)Witsius very absurdly defines the situation of this island by saying that it is “near Crete.”——“Coos, quae maris Mediterranei insula estprope Cretam.” It is in the Aegean sea properly, andnotin the Mediterranean; and can not be less than one hundred and twenty miles from Crete, much farther off from it than is Rhodes,——the next island in Paul’s route, and there are many islands between Coos and Crete, so that the statement gives no just idea of the situation of the island. It would be as proper to say that Barbadoes isnear Cuba, or the isle of Mannear France.“Rhodes, (verse 1,) an island, supposed to have taken its nameαπο των Ροδωνfrom the many roses which were known to grow there. It lies south of the province of Caria, and it is accounted next to Cyprus and Lesbos, for its dignity among the Asiatic islands. It was remarkable among the ancients for the expertness of its inhabitants in navigation; for a college, in which the students were eminent for eloquence and mathematics; and for the clearness of its air, insomuch that there was not a day in which the sun did not shine upon it; and more especially celebrated for its prodigious statue of brass, consecrated especially to the sun, and called his Colossus. This statue was seventy cubits high, and every finger as large as an ordinary sized man, and as it stood astride over the mouth of the harbor, ships passed under its legs.” (Whitby’s Table and Wells’s Geography.) [Williams on Pearson,pp.67, 68.]LAST VISIT TO JERUSALEM.Paul was now received in Jerusalem by the brethren with great joy, and going, on the day after his arrival, to see James, now the principal apostle resident in the Holy city, communicated to him and all the elders a full account of all his various labors. Having heard his very interesting communications, they were moved with gratitude to God for this triumph of his grace; but knowing as they did, with what rumors against Paul these events had been connected by common fame, they desired to arrange his introduction to the temple in such a manner, as would most effectually silence these prejudicial stories. The plan proposed by them was, that he should, in the company of four Jews of the Christian faith, who had a vow on them, go through with all the usual forms of purification prescribed under such circumstances for a Jew, on returning from the daily impurities to which he was exposed by a residence among the Gentiles, to a participation in the holy services of solemn worship in the temple. The apostles and elders, however, in recommending this course, declared to him, that they believed that the Gentiles ought not to be bound to the performance of the Jewish rituals, but should be exempt from all restrictions, except such as had formerly been decided on, by the council of Jerusalem. Paul, always devout and exact in the observance of the institutions of his national religion, followed their advice accordingly, and went on quietly and unpretendingly in the regular performance of the prescribed ceremonies, waiting for the termination of the seven days of purification, when the offering should be made for himself, and one for each of his companions, after which, they were all to be admittedof course, to the full honors of Mosaic purity, and the religious privileges of conforming Jews. But these ritual observances were not destined to save him from the calamities to which the hatred of his enemies had devoted him. Near the close of the seven days allotted by the Mosaic ritual for the purification of a regenerated Israelite, some of the Asian Jews, who had known Paul in his missionary journeys through their own country, and who had come to Jerusalem, to attend the festival, seeing their old enemy in the midst of the temple, against whose worship they had understood him to have been preaching to the Gentiles,——instantly raised a great outcry, and fell upon him, dragging him along, and shouting to the multitude around, “Men of Israel! help! This is the man, that every where teaches all men against the people, and the law, and this place; and he has furthermore, brought Greeks into the temple, and has polluted this holy place.” It seems they had seen Trophimus, one of his Gentile companions from Ephesus, with him in the city, and imagined also that Paul had brought him into the temple, within the sanctuary, whose entrance was expressly forbidden to all Gentiles, who were never allowed to pass beyond the outermost court. The sanctuary or court of the Jews could not be crossed by an uncircumcised Gentile, and the transgression of the holy limit was punished with death. Within this holy court, the scene now described took place; and as the whole sanctuary was then crowded with Jews, who had come from all parts of the world to attend the festival in Jerusalem, the outcry raised against Paul immediately drew thronging thousands around him. Hearing the complaint that he was a renegade Jew, who, in other countries, had used his utmost endeavors to throw contempt on his own nation, and to bring their holy worship into disrepute, and yet had now the impudence to show himself in the sanctuary, which he had thus blasphemed,——and had, moreover, even profaned it by introducing into the sacred precincts one of those Gentiles for whose company he had forsaken the fellowship of Israel,——they all joined in the rush upon him, and dragged him out of the temple, the gates of which were immediately shut by the Levites on duty, lest in the riot that was expected to ensue, the consecrated pavement should be polluted with the blood of the renegade. Not only those in the temple, but also all those in the city, were called out by the disturbance, and came running together to join in the mobagainst the profaner of the sanctuary, and Paul now seemed in a fair way to win the bloody crown of martyrdom.The great noise made by the swarming multitudes who were gathering around Paul, soon reached the ears of the Roman garrison in castle Antonia, and the soldiers instantly hastened to tell the commanding officer, that “the whole city was in an uproar.” The tribune, Claudius Lysias, probably thinking of a rebellion against the Romans, instantly ordered a detachment of several companies under arms, and hurried down with them, in a few moments, to the scene of the riot. The mob meanwhile were♦diligently occupied in beating Paul; but as soon as the military force made their way among the crowd, the rioters left off beating him, and fell back. The tribune coming near, and seeing Paul alone in the midst, who seemed to be the object and occasion of all the disturbance, without hesitation seized him, and putting him in chains, took him out of the throng. He then demanded what all this riot meant. To his inquiry, the whole mob replied with various accounts; some cried one thing and some another; and the tribune finding it utterly impossible to learn from the rioters who he was or what he had done, ordered him to be taken up to the castle. Castle Antonia stood at the northwestern angle of the temple, close by one of the great entrances to it, near which the riot seems to have taken place. To this, Paul was now taken, and was borne by the surrounding soldiers, to keep off the multitude, who were raging for his blood, like hungry wolves after the prey snatched from their jaws,——and they all pressed after him, shouting, “kill him!” In this way Paul was carried up the stairs which led to the high entrance of the castle, which of course the soldiers would not allow the multitude to mount; and when he had reached the top of the stairs, he was therefore perfectly protected from their violence, though perfectly well situated for speaking to them so as to be distinctly seen and heard. As they were taking him up the stairs, he begged the attention of the tribune, saying, “May I speak to thee?” The tribune hearing this, in some surprise asked, “Canst thou speak Greek? Art thou not that Egyptian that raised a sedition some time ago, and led away into the wilderness a band of four thousand cut-throats?” This alarming revolt had been but lately put down with great trouble, and was therefore fresh in the mind of Lysias, who had been concerned in quelling it, along with the whole Roman force in Palestine,——and from some of the outcries of the mob, he now took up thenotion that Paul was the very ringleader of that revolt, and had now just returned from his place of refuge to make new trouble, and had been detected by the multitude in the temple. Paul answered the foolish accusation of the tribune, by saying, “I am a Jewish citizen of Tarsus, in Cilicia, which is no mean city; and I beg of thee, to let me speak to the people.” The tribune, quite glad to have his unpleasant suspicions removed, as an atonement for the unjust accusation immediately granted the permission as requested, and Paul therefore turned to the raging multitude, waving his hand in the usual gesture for requesting silence. The people, curious to hear his account of himself, listened accordingly, and he therefore uplifted his voice in a respectful request for their attention to his plea in his own behalf. “Men! Brethren! and Fathers! Hear ye my defence which I make to you!”♦“dilgently” replaced with “diligently”Those words were spoken in the vernacular language of Palestine, the true Hebraistic dialect of Jerusalem, and the multitude were thereby immediately undeceived about his character, for they had been as much mistaken about him, as the tribune was, though their mistake was of a very opposite character; for they supposed him to be entirely Greek in his habits and language, if not in his origin; and the vast concourse was therefore hushed in profound silence, to hear his address made in the true Jewish language. Before this strange audience, Paul then stood up boldly, to declare his character, his views, and his apostolic commission. On the top of the lofty rampart of Castle Antonia,——with the dark iron forms of the Roman soldiery around him, guarding the staircase from top to bottom, against the raging mob,——and with the enormous mass of the congregated thousands of Jerusalem, and of the strangers who had come up to the festival, all straining their fierce eyes in wrath and hate upon him, as a convicted renegade,——one feeble, slender man, now stood, the object of the most painful attention to all,——yet, less moved with passion and anxiety than any one present. Thus stationed, he began, and gave to the curious multitude an interesting account of the incidents connected with that great change in his feelings and belief, which was the occasion of the present difficulty. After giving them a complete statement of these particulars, he was narrating the circumstance of a revelation made to him in the temple, while in a devotional trance there, on his first return to Jerusalem, after his conversion. In repeating the solemn commission there confirmed to him by the voice of God, herepeated the crowning sentence, with which the Lord removed his doubts about engaging in the work of preaching the gospel, when his hands were yet, as it were, red with the blood of the martyred faithful,——“And he said to me, ‘Go: for I will send thee far hence, unto theGentiles.’” But when the listening multitude heard this clear declaration of his having considered himself authorized to communicate to the Gentiles those holy things which had been especially consigned by God to his peculiar people,——they took it as a clear confession of the charge of having desecrated and degraded his national religion, and all interrupted him with the ferocious cry, “Take him away from the earth! for such a fellow does not deserve to live.” The tribune, finding that this discussion was not likely to answer any good purpose, instantly put a stop to it, by dragging him into the castle, and gave directions that he should be examined by scourging, that they might make him confess truly who he was, and what he had done to make the people cry out so against him,——a very foolish way, it would seem, to find out the truth about an unknown and abused person, to flog him until he should tell a story that would please them. While the guard were binding him with thongs, before they laid on the scourge, Paul spoke to the centurion, who was superintending the operation, and said in a sententiously inquiring way, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a Roman citizen without legal condemnation?” This question put a stop to all proceedings at once. The centurion immediately dropped the thongs, and ran to the tribune, saying, “Take heed what thou doest, for this man is a Roman citizen.” The tribune then came to Paul, in much trepidation, and with great solemnity said——“Tell me truly, art thou a Roman citizen?” Paul distinctly declared, “Yes.”Desirous to learn the mode in which the prisoner had obtained this most sacred and unimpeachable privilege, the tribune remarked of himself, thathehad obtained this right by the payment of a large sum of money,——perhaps doubting whether a man of Paul’s poor aspect could have ever been able to buy it; to which Paul boldly replied——“But I wasBORNfree.” This clear declaration satisfied the tribune that he had involved himself in a very serious difficulty, by committing this illegal violence on a person thus entitled to all the privileges of a subject of law. All the subordinate agents also, were fully aware of the nature of the mistake, and all immediately let him alone. Lysias now kept Paul with great care in the castle, as a placeof safety from his Jewish persecutors; and the next day, in order to have a full investigation of his character and the charges against him, he took him before the Sanhedrim, for examination. Paul there opened his defence in a very appropriate and self-vindicating style. “Men! Brethren! and Fathers! I have heretofore lived before God with a good conscience.” At these words, Ananias the high priest, provoked by Paul’s seeming assurance in thus vindicating himself, when under the accusation of the heads of the Jewish religion, commanded those that stood next to Paul to slap him on the mouth. Paul, indignant at the high-handed tyranny of this outrageous attack on him, answered in honest wrath——“God shall smite thee, thou whited wall! For dost thou command me to be smitten contrary to the law, when thou sittest as a judge over me?” The other by-standers, enraged at his boldness, asked him, “Revilest thou God’s high priest?” To which Paul, not having known the fact that Ananias then held that office, which he had so disgraced by his infamous conduct, replied——“I knew not, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.” Then, perceiving the mixed character of the council, he determined to avail himself of the mutual hatred of the two great sects, for his defense, by making his own persecution a kind of party question; and therefore called out to them——“I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. Of the hope of the resurrection of the dead, I am called in question.” These words had the expected effect. Instantly, all the violent party feeling between these two sects broke out in full force, and the whole council was divided and confused,——the scribes who belonged to the Pharisaic order, arising, and declaring, “We find no occasion of evil in this man. But if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God.” This last remark, of course, was throwing down the gauntlet at the opposite sect; for the Sadducees, denying absolutely the existence of either angel or spirit, could of course believe no part of Paul’s story about his vision and spiritual summons. They all therefore broke out against the Pharisees, who being thus involved, took Paul’s side very determinedly, and the party strife grew so hot that Paul was like to be torn in pieces between them. The tribune, seeing the pass to which matters had come, then ordered out the castle-guard, and took him by force, bringing him back to his former place of safety.“The reason whySt.Paul chose to speak in the Hebrew tongue, may be accounted for thus. There were at this time two sorts of Jews, some called by Chrysostomοἱ βαθεις Ἑβραιοι,profound Hebrews, who used no other language but the Hebrew, and would not admit the Greek Bible into their assemblies, but only the Hebrew, with the Jerusalem Targum and Paraphrase. The other sort spoke Greek, and used that translation of the scriptures; these were called Hellenists. This was a cause of great dissension among these two parties, even after they had embraced Christianity, (Actsvi.1.) Of this latter sort wasSt.Paul, because he always made use of the Greek translation of the Bible in his writings, so that in this respect he might not be acceptable to the other party. Those of them who were converted to Christianity, were much prejudiced against him, (Actsxxi.21,) which is given as a reason for his concealing his name in his Epistle to the Hebrews. And as for those who were not converted, they could not so much as endure him: and this is the reason which Chrysostom gives, why he preached to the Hellenists only. Actsix.28. Therefore, that he might avert the great displeasure which the Jews had conceived against him, he accosted them in their favorite language, and by his compliance in this respect, they were so far pacified as to give him audience.” (Hammond’s Annotations.) [Williams’s Pearson,p.70.]“Scourging was a method of examination used by Romans and other nations, to force such as were supposed guilty to confess what they had done, what were their motives, and who were accessory to the fact. Thus Tacitus tells us of Herennius Gallus, that he received several stripes, that it might be known for what price, and with what confederates, he had betrayed the Roman army. It is to be observed, however, that the Romans were punished in this wise, not by whips and scourges, but with rods only; and therefore it is that Cicero, in his oration pro Rabirio, speaking against Labienus, tells his audience that the Porcian law permitted a Roman to be whipped with rods, but he, like a good and merciful man, (speaking ironically,) had done it with scourges; and still further, neither by whips nor rods could a citizen of Rome be punished, until he were first adjudged to lose his privilege, to be uncitizened, and to be declared an enemy to the commonwealth, then he might be scourged or put to death. Cicero Oratio in Verres, says, ‘It is a foul fault for any praetor,&c.to bind a citizen of Rome; a piacular offense to scourge him; a kind of parricide to kill him: what shall I call the crucifying of such an one?’” (Williams’s notes on Pearson,pp.70, 71.)“Ananias, the son of Nebedaeus, was high priest at the time that Helena, queen of Adiabene, supplied the Jews with corn from Egypt, (Josephus Antiquities,lib. xx.c. 5.§ 2,) during the famine which took place in the fourth year of Claudius, mentioned in the eleventh chapter of the Acts.St.Paul, therefore, who took a journey to Jerusalem at that period, (Actsxv.) could not have been ignorant of the elevation of Ananias to that dignity. Soon after the holding of the first council, as it is called, at Jerusalem, Ananias was dispossessed of his office, in consequence of certain acts of violence between the Samaritans and the Jews, and sent prisoner to Rome, (Josephus, Antiquities,lib. xx.c. 6.§ 2,) whence he was afterwards released and returned to Jerusalem. Now from that period he could not be called high priest, in the proper sense of the word, though Josephus (Antiquities,lib. xx.c. 9.§ 2, and Jewish Warlib. ii.c. 17.§ 9,) has sometimes given him the title ofαρχιερευς, taken in the more extensive meaning of a priest, who had a seat and voice in the Sanhedrim;αρχιερειςin the plural number is frequently used in the New Testament, when allusion is made to the Sanhedrim;) and Jonathan, though we are not acquainted with the circumstances of his elevation, had been raised, in the mean time, to the supreme dignity in the Jewish church. Between the death of Jonathan, who was murdered (Josephus Antiquities of the Jewslib. xx.c. 8.§ 5,) by order of Felix, and the high priesthood of Ismael, who was invested with that office by Agrippa, (Josephus Antiquitieslib. xx.c. 8.§ 3,) elapsed an interval in which this dignity continued vacant. Now it happened precisely in this interval, thatSt.Paul was apprehended at Jerusalem; and, the Sanhedrim being destitute of a president, he undertook of his own authority the discharge of that office, which he executed with the greatest tyranny. (Josephus Antiquitieslib. xx.c. 9.§ 2.) It is possible therefore thatSt.Paul, who had been only a few days at Jerusalem, might be ignorant that Ananias, who had been dispossessed of the priesthood, had taken upon himself a trust to which he was not entitled. He might therefore very naturally exclaim, ‘I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest!’ Admitting him on the other hand to have been acquainted with the fact, the expression must be considered as an indirect reproof, and a tacit refusal to recognize usurped authority.” (Michaelis,Vol. I.pp.51, 56.)“The prediction ofSt.Paul, verse 3, ‘God shall smite thee, thou whited wall,’ was, according to Josephus, fulfilled in a short time. For when, in the government of Florus, his son Eleazar set himself at the head of a party of mutineers, who, having made themselves masters of the temple, would permit no sacrifices to be offered for the emperor; and being joined by a company of assassins, compelled persons of the best quality to fly for their safety and hide themselves in sinks and vaults;——Ananias and his brother Hezekias, were both drawn out of one of these places, and murdered, (Josephus Jewish Warlib. ii.c.17, 18,) thoughDr.Lightfoot will have it that he perished at the siege of Jerusalem!” (Whitby’s Annotations.) [Williams on Pearson.]
FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS.Paul’s residence in Ephesus is distinguished in his literary history, as the period in which he wrote that most eloquent and animated of his epistles,——“the first to the Corinthians.” It was written towards the close of his stay in Asia, about the time of the passover; according to established calculations, therefore, inthe spring of the year of Christ 57. The more immediate occasion of his writing to the Corinthian Christians, was a letter which he had received from them, by the hands of Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus. Paul had previously written to them an epistle, (now lost,) in which he gave them some directions about their deportment, which they did not fully understand, and of which they desired an explanation in their letter. Many of these questions, which this epistle of the Corinthians contained, are given by Paul, in connection with his own answers to them; and from this source it is learned that they concerned several points of expediency and propriety about matrimony. These are answered by Paul, very distinctly and fully; but much of his epistle is taken up with instructions and reproofs on many points not referred to in their inquiries. The Corinthian church was made up of two very opposite constituent parts, so unlike in their character, as to render exceedingly complicated the difficulties of bringing all under one system of faith and practice; and the apostolic founder was, at one time, obliged to combat heathen licentiousness, and at another, Jewish bigotry and formalism. The church also, having been too soon left without the presence of a fully competent head, had been very loosely filled up with a great variety of improper persons,——some hypocrites, and some profligates,——a difficulty not altogether peculiar to the Corinthian church, nor to those of the apostolic age. But there were certainly some very extraordinary irregularities in the conduct of their members, some of whom were in the habit of getting absolutely drunk at the sacramental table; and others were guilty of great sins in respect to general purity of life. Another peculiar difficulty, which had arisen in the church of Corinth, during Paul’s absence, was the formation of sects and parties, each claiming some one of the great Christian teachers as its head; some of them claiming Paul as their only apostolic authority; some again preferring the doctrines of Apollos, who had been laboring among them while Paul was in Ephesus; and others again, referred to Peter as the true apostolic chief, while they wholly denied to Paul any authority whatever, as an apostle. There had, indeed, arisen a separate party, strongly opposed to Paul, headed by a prominent person, who had done a great deal to pervert the truth, and to lessen the character of Paul in various ways, which are alluded to by Paul in many passages of his epistle, in a very indignant tone. Other difficulties are described by him, and various excessesare reproved, as a scandal to the Christian character; such as an incestuous marriage among their members,——lawsuits before heathen magistrates,——dissolute conformity to the licentious worship of the Corinthian goddess, whose temple was so infamous for its scandalous rites and thousand priestesses. Some of the Corinthian Christians had been in the habit of visiting this and other heathen temples, and of participating in the scenes of feasting, riot and debauchery, which were carried on there as a part of the regular forms of idolatrous worship.The public worship of the Corinthian church had been disturbed also by various irregularities which Paul reprehends;——the abuse of the gift of tongues, and the affectation of an unusual dress in preaching, both by men and women. In the conclusion of his epistle he expatiates too, at great length, on the doctrine of the resurrection of the body, vehemently arguing against some Corinthian heretics, who had denied any but a spiritual existence beyond the grave. This argument may justly be pronounced the best specimen of Paul’s very peculiar style, reasoning as he does, with a kind of passion, and interrupting the regular series of logical demonstrations, by fiery bursts of enthusiasm, personal appeals, poetical quotations, illustrative similes, violent denunciations of error, and striking references to his own circumstances. All these nevertheless, point very directly and connectedly at the great object of the argument, and the whole train of reasoning swells and mounts, towards the conclusion, in a manner most remarkably effective, constituting one of the most sublime argumentative passages ever written. He then closes the epistle with some directions about the mode of collecting the contributions for the brethren in Jerusalem. He promises to visit them, and make a long stay among them, when he goes on his journey through Macedonia,——a route which, he assures them, he had now determined to take, as mentioned by Luke, in his account of the preliminary mission of Timothy and Erastus, before the time of the mob at Ephesus; but should not leave Ephesus until after Pentecost, because a great and effectual door was there opened to him, and there were many opposers. He speaks of Timothy as being then on the mission before mentioned, and exhorts them not to despise this young brother, if he should visit them, as they might expect. After several other personal references, he signs his♦own name with a general salutation; and from the terms, in which he expresses this particular mark already alluded toin the second epistle to the Thessalonians, it is very reasonable to conclude, that he was not his own penman in any of these epistles, but used an amanuensis, authenticating the whole by his signature, with his own hand, only at the end; and this opinion of his method of carrying on his correspondence, is now commonly, perhaps universally, adopted by the learned.
FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS.
Paul’s residence in Ephesus is distinguished in his literary history, as the period in which he wrote that most eloquent and animated of his epistles,——“the first to the Corinthians.” It was written towards the close of his stay in Asia, about the time of the passover; according to established calculations, therefore, inthe spring of the year of Christ 57. The more immediate occasion of his writing to the Corinthian Christians, was a letter which he had received from them, by the hands of Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus. Paul had previously written to them an epistle, (now lost,) in which he gave them some directions about their deportment, which they did not fully understand, and of which they desired an explanation in their letter. Many of these questions, which this epistle of the Corinthians contained, are given by Paul, in connection with his own answers to them; and from this source it is learned that they concerned several points of expediency and propriety about matrimony. These are answered by Paul, very distinctly and fully; but much of his epistle is taken up with instructions and reproofs on many points not referred to in their inquiries. The Corinthian church was made up of two very opposite constituent parts, so unlike in their character, as to render exceedingly complicated the difficulties of bringing all under one system of faith and practice; and the apostolic founder was, at one time, obliged to combat heathen licentiousness, and at another, Jewish bigotry and formalism. The church also, having been too soon left without the presence of a fully competent head, had been very loosely filled up with a great variety of improper persons,——some hypocrites, and some profligates,——a difficulty not altogether peculiar to the Corinthian church, nor to those of the apostolic age. But there were certainly some very extraordinary irregularities in the conduct of their members, some of whom were in the habit of getting absolutely drunk at the sacramental table; and others were guilty of great sins in respect to general purity of life. Another peculiar difficulty, which had arisen in the church of Corinth, during Paul’s absence, was the formation of sects and parties, each claiming some one of the great Christian teachers as its head; some of them claiming Paul as their only apostolic authority; some again preferring the doctrines of Apollos, who had been laboring among them while Paul was in Ephesus; and others again, referred to Peter as the true apostolic chief, while they wholly denied to Paul any authority whatever, as an apostle. There had, indeed, arisen a separate party, strongly opposed to Paul, headed by a prominent person, who had done a great deal to pervert the truth, and to lessen the character of Paul in various ways, which are alluded to by Paul in many passages of his epistle, in a very indignant tone. Other difficulties are described by him, and various excessesare reproved, as a scandal to the Christian character; such as an incestuous marriage among their members,——lawsuits before heathen magistrates,——dissolute conformity to the licentious worship of the Corinthian goddess, whose temple was so infamous for its scandalous rites and thousand priestesses. Some of the Corinthian Christians had been in the habit of visiting this and other heathen temples, and of participating in the scenes of feasting, riot and debauchery, which were carried on there as a part of the regular forms of idolatrous worship.
The public worship of the Corinthian church had been disturbed also by various irregularities which Paul reprehends;——the abuse of the gift of tongues, and the affectation of an unusual dress in preaching, both by men and women. In the conclusion of his epistle he expatiates too, at great length, on the doctrine of the resurrection of the body, vehemently arguing against some Corinthian heretics, who had denied any but a spiritual existence beyond the grave. This argument may justly be pronounced the best specimen of Paul’s very peculiar style, reasoning as he does, with a kind of passion, and interrupting the regular series of logical demonstrations, by fiery bursts of enthusiasm, personal appeals, poetical quotations, illustrative similes, violent denunciations of error, and striking references to his own circumstances. All these nevertheless, point very directly and connectedly at the great object of the argument, and the whole train of reasoning swells and mounts, towards the conclusion, in a manner most remarkably effective, constituting one of the most sublime argumentative passages ever written. He then closes the epistle with some directions about the mode of collecting the contributions for the brethren in Jerusalem. He promises to visit them, and make a long stay among them, when he goes on his journey through Macedonia,——a route which, he assures them, he had now determined to take, as mentioned by Luke, in his account of the preliminary mission of Timothy and Erastus, before the time of the mob at Ephesus; but should not leave Ephesus until after Pentecost, because a great and effectual door was there opened to him, and there were many opposers. He speaks of Timothy as being then on the mission before mentioned, and exhorts them not to despise this young brother, if he should visit them, as they might expect. After several other personal references, he signs his♦own name with a general salutation; and from the terms, in which he expresses this particular mark already alluded toin the second epistle to the Thessalonians, it is very reasonable to conclude, that he was not his own penman in any of these epistles, but used an amanuensis, authenticating the whole by his signature, with his own hand, only at the end; and this opinion of his method of carrying on his correspondence, is now commonly, perhaps universally, adopted by the learned.
♦“ownn,ame” replaced with “own name”
♦“ownn,ame” replaced with “own name”
♦“ownn,ame” replaced with “own name”
“Chapterxvi.10, 11. ‘Now, if Timotheus come, see that he may be with you without fear; for he worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do: let no man therefore despise him, but conduct him forth in peace, that he may come unto me, for I look for him with the brethren.’
“From the passage considered in the preceding number, it appears that Timothy was sent to Corinth, either with the epistle, or before it: ‘for this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus.’ From the passage now quoted, we infer that Timothy was not sentwiththe epistle; for had he been the bearer of the letter, or accompanied it, wouldSt.Paul in that letter have said, ‘ifTimothy come?’ Nor is the sequel consistent with the supposition of his carrying the letter; for if Timothy was with the apostle when he wrote the letter, could he say, as he does, ‘I look for him with the brethren?’ I conclude, therefore, that Timothy had leftSt.Paul to proceed upon his journey before the letter was written. Further, the passage before us seems to imply, that Timothy was not expected bySt.Paul to arrive at Corinth, till after they had received the letter. He gives them directions in the letter how to treat him when he should arrive: ‘if he come,’ act towards him so and so. Lastly, the whole form of expression is more naturally applicable to the supposition of Timothy’s coming to Corinth, not directly fromSt.Paul, but from some other quarter; and that his instructions had been, when he should reach Corinth, to return. Now, how stands this matter in the history? Turn to the nineteenth chapter and twenty-first verse of the Acts, and you will find that Timothy did not, when sent from Ephesus, where he leftSt.Paul, and where the present epistle was written, proceed by a straight course to Corinth, but that he went round through Macedonia. This clears up everything; for, although Timothy was sent forth upon his journey before the letter was written, yet he might not reach Corinth till after the letter arrived there; and he would come to Corinth, when he did come, not directly fromSt.Paul, at Ephesus, but from some part of Macedonia. Here therefore is a circumstantial and critical agreement, and unquestionably without design; for neither of the two passages in the epistle mentions Timothy’s journey into Macedonia at all, though nothing but a circuit of that kind can explain and reconcile the expressions which the writer uses.” (Paley’s Horae Paulinae, 1 CorinthiansNo. IV.)
“Chapterv.7, 8. ‘For even Christ, our passover, is sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.’
“Dr.Benson tells us, that from this passage, compared with chapterxvi.8, it has been conjectured that this epistle was written about the time of the Jewish passover; and to me the conjecture appears to be very well founded. The passage to whichDr.Benson refers us, is this: ‘I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost.’ With this passage he ought to have joined another in the same context: ‘And it may be that I will abide, yea, and winter with you:’ for, from the two passages laid together, it follows that the epistle was written before Pentecost, yet after winter; which necessarily determines the date to the part of the year, within which the passover falls. It was written before Pentecost, because he says, ‘I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost.’ It was written after winter, because he tells them, ‘It may be that I may abide, yea, and winter with you.’ The winter which the apostle purposed to pass at Corinth, was undoubtedly the winter next ensuing to the date of the epistle; yet it was a winter subsequent to the ensuing Pentecost, because he did not intend to set forwards upon his journey till after the feast. The words, ‘let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth,’ look very much like words suggested by the season; at least they have, upon that supposition, a force and significancy which do not belong to them upon any other; and it is not a little remarkable, that the hints casually dropped in the epistle, concerning particular parts of the year, should coincide with this supposition.” (Paley’s Horae Paulinae. 1 Corinthians.No. XII.)
SECOND VOYAGE TO EUROPE.After the disturbances connected with the mob raised by Demetrius had wholly ceased, and public attention was no longer directed to the motions of the preachers of the Christian doctrine, Paul determined to execute the plan, which he had for some time contemplated, of going over his European fields of labor again, according to his universal and established custom of revisiting and confirming his work, within a moderately brief period after first opening the ground for evangelization. Assembling the disciples about him, he bade them farewell, and turning northward, came to Troas, whence, six or seven years before, he had set out on his first voyage to Macedonia. The plan of his journey, as he first arranged it, had been to sail from the shores of Asia Minor directly for Corinth. He had resolved however, not to go to that city, until the very disagreeable difficulties which had there arisen in the church, had been entirely removed, according to the directions given in the epistle which he had written to them from Ephesus; because he did not desire, after an absence of years, to visit them in such circumstances, when his Corinthian converts were divided among themselves, and against him,——and when his first duties would necessarily be those of a rigid censor. He therefore waited at Troas, with great impatience, for a message from them, announcing the settlement of all difficulties. This he expected to receive through Titus, a person now first mentioned in the apostle’s history. Waiting with great impatience for this beloved brother, he found no rest in his spirit, and though a door was evidently opened by the Lord for the preaching of the gospel in Troas, he had no spirit for the good work there; and desiring to be as near the great object of his anxieties as possible, he accordingly took leave of the brethren at Troas, and crossed the Aegean into Macedonia, by his former route. Here he remained in great distress of mind, until his soul was at last comforted by the long expected arrival of Titus. Luke only says, that he went over those parts and gave them much exhortation. But though his route is not given, his apostolic labors are known to have extended to the borders of Illyricum. At this time also, he made another important contribution to the list of the apostolic writings.THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS.There is no part of the New Testament canon, about the date of which all authorities are so well agreed, as on the place and time, at which Paul wrote his second epistle to the Corinthians.All authorities, ancient and modern, decide that it was written during the second visit of Paul to Macedonia; although as to the exact year in which this took place, they are not entirely unanimous. The passages in the epistle itself, which refer to Macedonia as the region in which the apostle then was, are so numerous indeed, that there can be no evasion of their evidence. A great topic of interest with him, at the time of writing this epistle, was the collecting of the contributions proposed for the relief of the Christian brethren in Jerusalem; and upon this he enlarges much, informing the Corinthians of the great progress he was making in Macedonia in this benevolent undertaking, and what high hopes he had entertained and expressed to the Macedonians, of the zeal and ability of those in Achaia, about the contributions. This matter had been noticed and arranged by him, in his former epistle to them, as already noticed, and he now proposed to send forward Titus and another person, (who is commonly supposed to be Luke,) to take charge of these funds, thus collected. He speaks of coming also himself, after a little time, and makes some allusions to the difficulties which had constituted the subject of the great part of his former epistle. Of their amendment in the particulars then so severely censured, he had received a full account through Titus, when that beloved brother came on from Corinth, to join Paul in Macedonia. Paul assures the Corinthians of the very great joy caused in him, by the good news of their moral and spiritual improvement, and renews his ardent protestations of deep affection for them. The incestuous person, whom they had excommunicated, in conformity with the denunciatory directions given in the former epistle, he now forgives; and as the offender has since appeared to be truly penitent, he now urges his restoration to the consolations of Christian fellowship, lest he should be swallowed up with too much sorrow. He defends his apostolic character for prudence and decision, against those who considered his change of plans about coming directly from Ephesus to Corinth, as an exhibition of lightness and unsettled purpose. His real object in this delay and change of purpose, as he tells them, was, that they might have time to profit by the reproofs contained in his former epistle, so that by the removal of the evils of which he so bitterly complained, he might finally be enabled to come to them, not in sorrow, nor in heaviness for their sins, but in joy for their reformation. This fervent hope had been fulfilled by the coming of Titus to Macedonia, forwhom he had waited in vain, with so much anxiety at Troas, as the expected messenger of these tidings of their spiritual condition; and he was now therefore prepared to pass on to them from Macedonia, to which region he tells them he had gone from Troas, instead of to Corinth, because he had been disappointed about meeting Titus on the eastern side of the Aegean. With the exception of these things, the epistle is taken up with a very ample and eloquent exhibition of his true powers and office as an apostle; and in the course of this argument, so necessary for the re-establishment of his authority among those who had lately been disposed to contemn it, he makes many very interesting allusions to his own personal history. The date of the epistle is commonly supposed, and with good reason, to be A. D. 58, the fifth of Nero’s reign, and one year after the preceding epistle.
SECOND VOYAGE TO EUROPE.
After the disturbances connected with the mob raised by Demetrius had wholly ceased, and public attention was no longer directed to the motions of the preachers of the Christian doctrine, Paul determined to execute the plan, which he had for some time contemplated, of going over his European fields of labor again, according to his universal and established custom of revisiting and confirming his work, within a moderately brief period after first opening the ground for evangelization. Assembling the disciples about him, he bade them farewell, and turning northward, came to Troas, whence, six or seven years before, he had set out on his first voyage to Macedonia. The plan of his journey, as he first arranged it, had been to sail from the shores of Asia Minor directly for Corinth. He had resolved however, not to go to that city, until the very disagreeable difficulties which had there arisen in the church, had been entirely removed, according to the directions given in the epistle which he had written to them from Ephesus; because he did not desire, after an absence of years, to visit them in such circumstances, when his Corinthian converts were divided among themselves, and against him,——and when his first duties would necessarily be those of a rigid censor. He therefore waited at Troas, with great impatience, for a message from them, announcing the settlement of all difficulties. This he expected to receive through Titus, a person now first mentioned in the apostle’s history. Waiting with great impatience for this beloved brother, he found no rest in his spirit, and though a door was evidently opened by the Lord for the preaching of the gospel in Troas, he had no spirit for the good work there; and desiring to be as near the great object of his anxieties as possible, he accordingly took leave of the brethren at Troas, and crossed the Aegean into Macedonia, by his former route. Here he remained in great distress of mind, until his soul was at last comforted by the long expected arrival of Titus. Luke only says, that he went over those parts and gave them much exhortation. But though his route is not given, his apostolic labors are known to have extended to the borders of Illyricum. At this time also, he made another important contribution to the list of the apostolic writings.
THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS.
There is no part of the New Testament canon, about the date of which all authorities are so well agreed, as on the place and time, at which Paul wrote his second epistle to the Corinthians.All authorities, ancient and modern, decide that it was written during the second visit of Paul to Macedonia; although as to the exact year in which this took place, they are not entirely unanimous. The passages in the epistle itself, which refer to Macedonia as the region in which the apostle then was, are so numerous indeed, that there can be no evasion of their evidence. A great topic of interest with him, at the time of writing this epistle, was the collecting of the contributions proposed for the relief of the Christian brethren in Jerusalem; and upon this he enlarges much, informing the Corinthians of the great progress he was making in Macedonia in this benevolent undertaking, and what high hopes he had entertained and expressed to the Macedonians, of the zeal and ability of those in Achaia, about the contributions. This matter had been noticed and arranged by him, in his former epistle to them, as already noticed, and he now proposed to send forward Titus and another person, (who is commonly supposed to be Luke,) to take charge of these funds, thus collected. He speaks of coming also himself, after a little time, and makes some allusions to the difficulties which had constituted the subject of the great part of his former epistle. Of their amendment in the particulars then so severely censured, he had received a full account through Titus, when that beloved brother came on from Corinth, to join Paul in Macedonia. Paul assures the Corinthians of the very great joy caused in him, by the good news of their moral and spiritual improvement, and renews his ardent protestations of deep affection for them. The incestuous person, whom they had excommunicated, in conformity with the denunciatory directions given in the former epistle, he now forgives; and as the offender has since appeared to be truly penitent, he now urges his restoration to the consolations of Christian fellowship, lest he should be swallowed up with too much sorrow. He defends his apostolic character for prudence and decision, against those who considered his change of plans about coming directly from Ephesus to Corinth, as an exhibition of lightness and unsettled purpose. His real object in this delay and change of purpose, as he tells them, was, that they might have time to profit by the reproofs contained in his former epistle, so that by the removal of the evils of which he so bitterly complained, he might finally be enabled to come to them, not in sorrow, nor in heaviness for their sins, but in joy for their reformation. This fervent hope had been fulfilled by the coming of Titus to Macedonia, forwhom he had waited in vain, with so much anxiety at Troas, as the expected messenger of these tidings of their spiritual condition; and he was now therefore prepared to pass on to them from Macedonia, to which region he tells them he had gone from Troas, instead of to Corinth, because he had been disappointed about meeting Titus on the eastern side of the Aegean. With the exception of these things, the epistle is taken up with a very ample and eloquent exhibition of his true powers and office as an apostle; and in the course of this argument, so necessary for the re-establishment of his authority among those who had lately been disposed to contemn it, he makes many very interesting allusions to his own personal history. The date of the epistle is commonly supposed, and with good reason, to be A. D. 58, the fifth of Nero’s reign, and one year after the preceding epistle.
MILETUS. Actsxx.15–17.
MILETUS. Actsxx.15–17.
MILETUS. Actsxx.15–17.
“Chapterii.12, 13. ‘When I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I went from thence into Macedonia.’
“To establish a conformity between this passage and the history, nothing more is necessary to be presumed, than thatSt.Paul proceeded from Ephesus to Macedonia, upon the same course by which he came back from Macedonia to Ephesus, or rather to Miletus in the neighborhood of Ephesus; in other words, that, in his journey to the peninsula of Greece, he went and returned the same way.St.Paul is now in Macedonia, where he had lately arrived from Ephesus. Our quotation imports that in his journey he had stopped at Troas. Of this, the history says nothing, leaving us only the short account, ‘that Paul departed from Ephesus, for to go into Macedonia.’ But the history says, that in hisreturnfrom Macedonia to Ephesus, ‘Paul sailed from Philippi toTroas; and that, when the disciples came together on the first day of the week, to break bread, Paul preached unto them all night; that from Troas he went by land to Assos; from Assos, taking ship and coasting along the front of Asia Minor, he came by Mitylene to Miletus.’ Which account proves, first, that Troas lay in the way by whichSt.Paul passed between Ephesus and Macedonia; secondly, that he had disciples there. In one journey between these two places, the epistle, and in another journey between the same places, the history makes him stop at this city. Of the first journey he is made to say, ‘that a door was in that city opened unto him of the Lord;’ in the second, we find disciples there collected around him, and the apostle exercising his ministry, with, what was even in him, more than ordinary zeal and labor. The epistle, therefore, is in this instance confirmed, if not by the terms, at least by the probability of the history; a species of confirmation by no means to be despised, because, as far as it reaches, it is evidently uncontrived.
“Grotius, I know, refers the arrival at Troas, to which the epistle alludes, to a different period, but I think very improbably; for nothing appears to me more certain, than that the meeting with Titus, whichSt.Paul expected at Troas, was the same meeting which took place in Macedonia,viz.upon Titus’s coming out of Greece. In the quotation before us, he tells the Corinthians, ‘When I came to Troas, I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus, my brother; but, taking my leave of them, I went from thence into Macedonia.’ Then in the seventh chapter he writes, ‘When we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears; nevertheless, God, that comforteth them that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus.’ These two passages plainly relate to the same journey of Titus, in meeting with whomSt.Paul had been disappointed at Troas, and rejoiced in Macedonia. And amongst other reasons which fix the former passage to the coming of Titus out of Greece, is the consideration, that it was nothing to the Corinthians thatSt.Paul did not meet with Titus at Troas, were it not that he was to bring intelligence fromCorinth. The mention of the disappointment in this place, upon any other supposition, is irrelative.” (Paley’s Horae Paulinae. 2 CorinthiansNo. VIII.)
SECOND JOURNEY TO CORINTH.Among his companions in Macedonia, was Timothy, his ever zealous and affectionate assistant in the apostolic ministry, who had been sent thither before him to prepare the way, and had been laboring in that region ever since, as plainly appears from the fact, that he is joined with Paul in the opening address of the second epistle to the Corinthians,——a circumstance in itself sufficient to overthrow a very common supposition of the critics,——that Timothy returned to Asia; that Paul at that time “left him in Ephesus,” and at this time wrote his first epistle to Timothy from Macedonia. It is also most probable that Timothy was the personal companion of Paul, not only during the whole period of his second ministration in Macedonia, but also accompanied him from that province to Corinth; because Timothy is distinctly mentioned by Luke, among those who went with Paul from Macedonia to Asia, after his brief second residence in that city. No particulars whatever are given by Luke of the labors of Paul in Corinth. From his epistles, however, it is learned that he was at this time occupied in part, in receiving the contributions made throughout Achaia for the church of Jerusalem, to which city he was now preparing to go. The difficulties, of which so much mention had been made in his epistles, were now entirely removed, and his work there doubtless went on without any of that opposition which had arisen after his first departure. There is however, one very important fact in his literary history, which took place in Corinth, during his residence there.THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.From the very earliest period of apostolic labor, after the ascension, there appear to have been in Rome, some Jews who professed the faith of Jesus. Among the visitors in Jerusalem at the Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit first descended, were some from Rome, who sharing in the gifts of that remarkable effusion, and returning to their home in the imperial city, would there in themselves constitute the rudiment of a Christian church. It is perfectly certain that they had never been blessed in their own city with the personal presence of an apostle and all their associated action as a Christian church, must therefore have been entirely the result of a voluntary organization, suggested by the natural desire to keep up and to spread the doctrines which they had first receivedin Jerusalem, under such remarkable circumstances. Yet the members of the church would not be merely those who were converted at the Pentecost; for there was a constant influx of Jews from all parts of the world to Rome, and among these there would naturally be some who had participated in the light of the gospel, now so widely diffused throughout the eastern section of the world. There is moreover distinct information of certain persons of high qualifications, as Christian teachers, who had at Rome labored in the cause of the gospel, and had no doubt been among the most efficient means of that advancement of the Roman church, which seems to be implied in the communication now first made to them by Paul. Aquilas and Priscilla, who had been the intimate friends of Paul at Corinth, and who had been already so active and distinguished as laborers in the gospel cause, both in that city and in Ephesus, had returned to Rome on the death of Claudius, when that emperor’s foolish decree of banishment, against the Jews, expired along with its author, in the year of Christ, 54. These, on re-establishing their residence in Rome, made their own house a place of assembly for a part of the Christians in the capital,——probably for such as resided in their own immediate neighborhood, while others sought different places, according as suited their convenience in this particular. Many other persons are mentioned by Paul at the close of this epistle, as having been active in the work of the gospel at Rome;——among whom Andronicus and Junias are particularly noticed with respect, as having highly distinguished themselves in apostolic labors. From all these evangelizing efforts, the church of Rome attained great importance, and was now in great need of the counsels and presence of an apostle, to confirm it, and impart to its members spiritual gifts. It had long been an object of attention and interest to Paul, and he had already expressed a determination to visit the imperial city, in the remarks which he made to the brethren at Ephesus, when he was making arrangements to go into Macedonia and Achaia. The way was afterwards opened for this visit, by a very peculiar providence, which he does not seem to have then anticipated; but while residing in Corinth, his attention being very particularly called to their spiritual condition, he could not wait till he should have an opportunity to see them personally, to counsel them; but wrote to them this very copious and elaborate epistle, which seems to have been the subject of more comment among dogmatic theologians, than almost anyother portion of his writings, on account of its being supposed to furnish different polemic writers with the most important arguments for the peculiar dogmas of one or another, according to the fancy of each. It undoubtedly is the most doctrinal and didactic of all Paul’s epistles, alluding very little to local circumstances, which are the theme of so large a part of most of his writings, but attacking directly certain general errors entertained by the Jews, on the subject of justification, predestination, election, and many peculiar privileges which they attributed to themselves as the descendants of Abraham.This epistle, like most of the rest, was written by an amanuensis, who is herein particularly named, as Tertius,——a word of Roman origin; but beyond this nothing else is known of him. It was carried to Rome by Phebe, an active female member of the church at Cenchreae, the port of Corinth, who happened to be journeying to Rome for some other purposes, and is earnestly recommended by Paul to the friendly regard of the church there.RETURN TO ASIA.After passing three months in Corinth, he took his departure from that city, on his pre-determined voyage to the east, the direction of which was somewhat changed by the information that the Jews of the place where he then was, were plotting some mischief against him, which he thought best to avoid by taking a different route from that before planned, which was a direct voyage to Syria. To escape the danger prepared for him by them, at his expected place of embarkation, he first turned northward by land, through Macedonia to Philippi, and thence sailed by the now familiar track over the Aegean to Troas. On this journey, he was accompanied by quite a retinue of apostolic assistants,——not only his faithful disciple and companion Timothy, but also Sosipater of Beroea, Aristarchus and Secundus of Thessalonica, Gaius, or Caius of Derbe, and Luke also, who now carries on the apostolic narrative in the first person, thus showing that he was himself a sharer in the adventures which he narrates. Besides these immediate companions, two brethren from Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus, took the direct route from Corinth to Troas, at which place they waited for the rest of the apostolic company, who took the circuitous route through Macedonia. The date of the departure of Paul is very exactly fixed by his companion Luke, who states that they left Philippi at the time of the passover, which was in the middle of March; and other circumstanceshave enabled modern critics to fix the occurrence in the year of Christ 59. After a five days’ voyage, arriving at Troas on Saturday, they made a stay of seven days in that place; and on the first day of the week, the Christians of that place having assembled for the communion usual on the Lord’s day, Paul preached to them: and as it was the last day of his stay, he grew very earnest in his discourse and protracted it very late, speaking two whole hours to the company, who were met in the great upper hall, where, in all Jewish houses, these festal entertainments and social meetings were always held. It was, of course, the evening, when the assembly met, for this was the usual time for a social party, and there were many lights in the room, which, with the number of people, must have made the air very warm, and had the not very surprising effect of causing drowsiness, in at least one of Paul’s hearers, a young man named♦Eutychus, whose interest in what was said, could not keep his attention alive against the pressure of drowsiness. He fell asleep; and the occurrence must appear so very natural, (more particularly to any one, who has ever been so unfortunate as to be sleepy at an evening meeting, and knows what a painful sensation it is, though the drowsiness is wholly beyond the control of the reason,) that it can hardly be thought worth while to take pains, as some venerable commentators do, to suppose that the devil was very specially concerned in producing the sleep of Eutychus, and that the consequences which ensued, were an exhibition of divine wrath against the sleepy youth, for slumbering under the preaching of Paul. If the supposition holds equally good in all similar cases, the devil must be very busy on warm Sunday afternoons; and many a comfortable nap would be disturbed by unpleasant dreams, if the dozer could be made to think that his drowsiness was the particular work of the great adversary of souls, or that he was liable to suffer any such accident as Eutychus did, who, falling into a deeper sleep, and losing all muscular control and consciousness, sunk down from his seat, and slipping over the side of the gallery, in the third loft, fell into the court below, where he was taken up lifeless. But Paul hearing of the accident, stopped his discourse, and going down to the young man, fell on him and embraced him, saying, “Trouble not yourselves, for the life is in him.” And his words were verified by the result; for they soon brought him up alive, and were not a little comforted. Paul, certain of his recovery, did not suffer the accident to marthe enjoyment of the social farewell meeting; but going up and breaking bread with them all, talked with them a long time, passing the whole night in this pleasant way, and did not leave them till day-break, when he started to go by land over to Assos, about twenty-four miles south-east of Troas, on the Adramyttian gulf, which sets up between the north side of the island of Lesbos and the mainland. His companions, coming around by water, through the mouth of the gulf, took Paul on board at Assos, according to his plan; and then instead of turning back, and sailing out into the open sea, around the outside of Lesbos, ran up the gulf to the eastern end of the north coast of the island, where there is an other outlet to the gulf between the eastern shore of Lesbos and the continent. Sailing southward through this passage, after a course of between thirty and forty miles, they came to Mitylene, on the southeastern side of the island. Thence passing out of the strait, they sailed southwestwards, coming between Chios and the main-land, and arrived the next day at Trogyllium, at the southwest corner of Samos. Then turning their course towards the continent, they came in one day to Miletus, near the mouth of the♠Meander, about forty miles south of Ephesus.♦“Entychus” replaced with “Eutychus”♠“Maeander” replaced with “Meander”Landing here, and desiring much to see some of his Ephesian brethren before his departure to Jerusalem, he sent to the elders of the church in that city, and on their arrival poured out his whole soul to them in a parting address, which for pathetic earnestness and touching beauty, is certainly, beyond any doubt, the most splendid passage that all the records of ancient eloquence can furnish. No force can be added to it by a new version, nor can any recapitulation of its substance do justice to its beauty. At the close, took place a most affecting farewell. In the simple and forcible description of Luke, (who was himself present at the moving scene, seeing and hearing all he narrates,)——“When Paul had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all.” The subjects of this prayer were the guardians of that little flock which he, amid perils and death, had gathered from the heathen waste of Ionic Asia, to the fold of Christ. When he left it last, the raging wolves of persecution and wrath,——the wild beasts of Ephesus,——were howling death and destruction to the devoted believers of Christ, and they were still environed with temptations and dangers, that threatened to overwhelm these feeble ones, left thus early without the fostering care of their apostolic shepherd. Passing on his way to the great scene of his coming trials, he couldnot venture among them to give them his parting counsels, and could now only intrust to their constituted guardians, this dear charge, with renewed exhortations to them to be faithful, as in the presence of their God, to those objects of his labors, his cares, his prayers, and his daily tears. Amid the sorrows of that long farewell, arose on the prophetic vision of the apostle some gloomy foreshadowings of future woes to fall on that Ephesian charge, and this deepened the melancholy feeling of his heart almost to agony. This no doubt was the burden of his last prayer, when with their elders, and for them, he kneeled down on the shore and sent up in earnest petition to God, that voice which they were doomed to hear no more forever.Such passages as this in the life and words of Paul, constitute a noble addition to the reader’s idea of his character. They show how nobly were intermingled in the varied frame of his spirit, the affectionate, the soft, and the winning traits, with the high, the stern, and the bitter feelings that so often were called out by the unparalleled trials of his situation. They show♦that he truly felt and acted out, to the life, that divine principle of Christian love which inspired the most eloquent effort of his pen;——and that he trusted not to the wonder-working powers that moved his lips, as with the eloquence of men and angels,——not to the martyr-spirit, that, sacrificing all earthly substance, devoted itself to the raging flames of persecution, in the cause of God,——not to the genius whose discursive glance searched all the mysteries of human and divine knowledge,——but to that pure, exalted and exalting spirit of ardent love for those for whom he lived like his Savior, and for whom he was ready to die like him, also. This was the inspiration of his words, his writings, and his actions,——the motive and spirit of his devotion,——the energy of his being. Wherever he went and whatever he did,——in spite of the frequent passionate outbreaks of his rougher nature, this honest, fervent, animated spirit of charity,——glowing not to inflame, but to melt,——softened the austerities of his character, and kindled in all who truly knew him, a deep and lasting affection for him, like that which was so strikingly manifested on this occasion. Who can wonder that to a man thus constituted, the lingering Ephesians still clung with such enthusiastic attachment? In the fervid action of that oriental clime, they fell on his neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he said,——that they should see his face no more. Still loth to take their last look atone so loved, they accompanied him to the ship, which bore him away from them, to perils, sufferings and chains.
SECOND JOURNEY TO CORINTH.
Among his companions in Macedonia, was Timothy, his ever zealous and affectionate assistant in the apostolic ministry, who had been sent thither before him to prepare the way, and had been laboring in that region ever since, as plainly appears from the fact, that he is joined with Paul in the opening address of the second epistle to the Corinthians,——a circumstance in itself sufficient to overthrow a very common supposition of the critics,——that Timothy returned to Asia; that Paul at that time “left him in Ephesus,” and at this time wrote his first epistle to Timothy from Macedonia. It is also most probable that Timothy was the personal companion of Paul, not only during the whole period of his second ministration in Macedonia, but also accompanied him from that province to Corinth; because Timothy is distinctly mentioned by Luke, among those who went with Paul from Macedonia to Asia, after his brief second residence in that city. No particulars whatever are given by Luke of the labors of Paul in Corinth. From his epistles, however, it is learned that he was at this time occupied in part, in receiving the contributions made throughout Achaia for the church of Jerusalem, to which city he was now preparing to go. The difficulties, of which so much mention had been made in his epistles, were now entirely removed, and his work there doubtless went on without any of that opposition which had arisen after his first departure. There is however, one very important fact in his literary history, which took place in Corinth, during his residence there.
THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.
From the very earliest period of apostolic labor, after the ascension, there appear to have been in Rome, some Jews who professed the faith of Jesus. Among the visitors in Jerusalem at the Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit first descended, were some from Rome, who sharing in the gifts of that remarkable effusion, and returning to their home in the imperial city, would there in themselves constitute the rudiment of a Christian church. It is perfectly certain that they had never been blessed in their own city with the personal presence of an apostle and all their associated action as a Christian church, must therefore have been entirely the result of a voluntary organization, suggested by the natural desire to keep up and to spread the doctrines which they had first receivedin Jerusalem, under such remarkable circumstances. Yet the members of the church would not be merely those who were converted at the Pentecost; for there was a constant influx of Jews from all parts of the world to Rome, and among these there would naturally be some who had participated in the light of the gospel, now so widely diffused throughout the eastern section of the world. There is moreover distinct information of certain persons of high qualifications, as Christian teachers, who had at Rome labored in the cause of the gospel, and had no doubt been among the most efficient means of that advancement of the Roman church, which seems to be implied in the communication now first made to them by Paul. Aquilas and Priscilla, who had been the intimate friends of Paul at Corinth, and who had been already so active and distinguished as laborers in the gospel cause, both in that city and in Ephesus, had returned to Rome on the death of Claudius, when that emperor’s foolish decree of banishment, against the Jews, expired along with its author, in the year of Christ, 54. These, on re-establishing their residence in Rome, made their own house a place of assembly for a part of the Christians in the capital,——probably for such as resided in their own immediate neighborhood, while others sought different places, according as suited their convenience in this particular. Many other persons are mentioned by Paul at the close of this epistle, as having been active in the work of the gospel at Rome;——among whom Andronicus and Junias are particularly noticed with respect, as having highly distinguished themselves in apostolic labors. From all these evangelizing efforts, the church of Rome attained great importance, and was now in great need of the counsels and presence of an apostle, to confirm it, and impart to its members spiritual gifts. It had long been an object of attention and interest to Paul, and he had already expressed a determination to visit the imperial city, in the remarks which he made to the brethren at Ephesus, when he was making arrangements to go into Macedonia and Achaia. The way was afterwards opened for this visit, by a very peculiar providence, which he does not seem to have then anticipated; but while residing in Corinth, his attention being very particularly called to their spiritual condition, he could not wait till he should have an opportunity to see them personally, to counsel them; but wrote to them this very copious and elaborate epistle, which seems to have been the subject of more comment among dogmatic theologians, than almost anyother portion of his writings, on account of its being supposed to furnish different polemic writers with the most important arguments for the peculiar dogmas of one or another, according to the fancy of each. It undoubtedly is the most doctrinal and didactic of all Paul’s epistles, alluding very little to local circumstances, which are the theme of so large a part of most of his writings, but attacking directly certain general errors entertained by the Jews, on the subject of justification, predestination, election, and many peculiar privileges which they attributed to themselves as the descendants of Abraham.
This epistle, like most of the rest, was written by an amanuensis, who is herein particularly named, as Tertius,——a word of Roman origin; but beyond this nothing else is known of him. It was carried to Rome by Phebe, an active female member of the church at Cenchreae, the port of Corinth, who happened to be journeying to Rome for some other purposes, and is earnestly recommended by Paul to the friendly regard of the church there.
RETURN TO ASIA.
After passing three months in Corinth, he took his departure from that city, on his pre-determined voyage to the east, the direction of which was somewhat changed by the information that the Jews of the place where he then was, were plotting some mischief against him, which he thought best to avoid by taking a different route from that before planned, which was a direct voyage to Syria. To escape the danger prepared for him by them, at his expected place of embarkation, he first turned northward by land, through Macedonia to Philippi, and thence sailed by the now familiar track over the Aegean to Troas. On this journey, he was accompanied by quite a retinue of apostolic assistants,——not only his faithful disciple and companion Timothy, but also Sosipater of Beroea, Aristarchus and Secundus of Thessalonica, Gaius, or Caius of Derbe, and Luke also, who now carries on the apostolic narrative in the first person, thus showing that he was himself a sharer in the adventures which he narrates. Besides these immediate companions, two brethren from Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus, took the direct route from Corinth to Troas, at which place they waited for the rest of the apostolic company, who took the circuitous route through Macedonia. The date of the departure of Paul is very exactly fixed by his companion Luke, who states that they left Philippi at the time of the passover, which was in the middle of March; and other circumstanceshave enabled modern critics to fix the occurrence in the year of Christ 59. After a five days’ voyage, arriving at Troas on Saturday, they made a stay of seven days in that place; and on the first day of the week, the Christians of that place having assembled for the communion usual on the Lord’s day, Paul preached to them: and as it was the last day of his stay, he grew very earnest in his discourse and protracted it very late, speaking two whole hours to the company, who were met in the great upper hall, where, in all Jewish houses, these festal entertainments and social meetings were always held. It was, of course, the evening, when the assembly met, for this was the usual time for a social party, and there were many lights in the room, which, with the number of people, must have made the air very warm, and had the not very surprising effect of causing drowsiness, in at least one of Paul’s hearers, a young man named♦Eutychus, whose interest in what was said, could not keep his attention alive against the pressure of drowsiness. He fell asleep; and the occurrence must appear so very natural, (more particularly to any one, who has ever been so unfortunate as to be sleepy at an evening meeting, and knows what a painful sensation it is, though the drowsiness is wholly beyond the control of the reason,) that it can hardly be thought worth while to take pains, as some venerable commentators do, to suppose that the devil was very specially concerned in producing the sleep of Eutychus, and that the consequences which ensued, were an exhibition of divine wrath against the sleepy youth, for slumbering under the preaching of Paul. If the supposition holds equally good in all similar cases, the devil must be very busy on warm Sunday afternoons; and many a comfortable nap would be disturbed by unpleasant dreams, if the dozer could be made to think that his drowsiness was the particular work of the great adversary of souls, or that he was liable to suffer any such accident as Eutychus did, who, falling into a deeper sleep, and losing all muscular control and consciousness, sunk down from his seat, and slipping over the side of the gallery, in the third loft, fell into the court below, where he was taken up lifeless. But Paul hearing of the accident, stopped his discourse, and going down to the young man, fell on him and embraced him, saying, “Trouble not yourselves, for the life is in him.” And his words were verified by the result; for they soon brought him up alive, and were not a little comforted. Paul, certain of his recovery, did not suffer the accident to marthe enjoyment of the social farewell meeting; but going up and breaking bread with them all, talked with them a long time, passing the whole night in this pleasant way, and did not leave them till day-break, when he started to go by land over to Assos, about twenty-four miles south-east of Troas, on the Adramyttian gulf, which sets up between the north side of the island of Lesbos and the mainland. His companions, coming around by water, through the mouth of the gulf, took Paul on board at Assos, according to his plan; and then instead of turning back, and sailing out into the open sea, around the outside of Lesbos, ran up the gulf to the eastern end of the north coast of the island, where there is an other outlet to the gulf between the eastern shore of Lesbos and the continent. Sailing southward through this passage, after a course of between thirty and forty miles, they came to Mitylene, on the southeastern side of the island. Thence passing out of the strait, they sailed southwestwards, coming between Chios and the main-land, and arrived the next day at Trogyllium, at the southwest corner of Samos. Then turning their course towards the continent, they came in one day to Miletus, near the mouth of the♠Meander, about forty miles south of Ephesus.
♦“Entychus” replaced with “Eutychus”♠“Maeander” replaced with “Meander”
♦“Entychus” replaced with “Eutychus”
♦“Entychus” replaced with “Eutychus”
♠“Maeander” replaced with “Meander”
♠“Maeander” replaced with “Meander”
Landing here, and desiring much to see some of his Ephesian brethren before his departure to Jerusalem, he sent to the elders of the church in that city, and on their arrival poured out his whole soul to them in a parting address, which for pathetic earnestness and touching beauty, is certainly, beyond any doubt, the most splendid passage that all the records of ancient eloquence can furnish. No force can be added to it by a new version, nor can any recapitulation of its substance do justice to its beauty. At the close, took place a most affecting farewell. In the simple and forcible description of Luke, (who was himself present at the moving scene, seeing and hearing all he narrates,)——“When Paul had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all.” The subjects of this prayer were the guardians of that little flock which he, amid perils and death, had gathered from the heathen waste of Ionic Asia, to the fold of Christ. When he left it last, the raging wolves of persecution and wrath,——the wild beasts of Ephesus,——were howling death and destruction to the devoted believers of Christ, and they were still environed with temptations and dangers, that threatened to overwhelm these feeble ones, left thus early without the fostering care of their apostolic shepherd. Passing on his way to the great scene of his coming trials, he couldnot venture among them to give them his parting counsels, and could now only intrust to their constituted guardians, this dear charge, with renewed exhortations to them to be faithful, as in the presence of their God, to those objects of his labors, his cares, his prayers, and his daily tears. Amid the sorrows of that long farewell, arose on the prophetic vision of the apostle some gloomy foreshadowings of future woes to fall on that Ephesian charge, and this deepened the melancholy feeling of his heart almost to agony. This no doubt was the burden of his last prayer, when with their elders, and for them, he kneeled down on the shore and sent up in earnest petition to God, that voice which they were doomed to hear no more forever.
Such passages as this in the life and words of Paul, constitute a noble addition to the reader’s idea of his character. They show how nobly were intermingled in the varied frame of his spirit, the affectionate, the soft, and the winning traits, with the high, the stern, and the bitter feelings that so often were called out by the unparalleled trials of his situation. They show♦that he truly felt and acted out, to the life, that divine principle of Christian love which inspired the most eloquent effort of his pen;——and that he trusted not to the wonder-working powers that moved his lips, as with the eloquence of men and angels,——not to the martyr-spirit, that, sacrificing all earthly substance, devoted itself to the raging flames of persecution, in the cause of God,——not to the genius whose discursive glance searched all the mysteries of human and divine knowledge,——but to that pure, exalted and exalting spirit of ardent love for those for whom he lived like his Savior, and for whom he was ready to die like him, also. This was the inspiration of his words, his writings, and his actions,——the motive and spirit of his devotion,——the energy of his being. Wherever he went and whatever he did,——in spite of the frequent passionate outbreaks of his rougher nature, this honest, fervent, animated spirit of charity,——glowing not to inflame, but to melt,——softened the austerities of his character, and kindled in all who truly knew him, a deep and lasting affection for him, like that which was so strikingly manifested on this occasion. Who can wonder that to a man thus constituted, the lingering Ephesians still clung with such enthusiastic attachment? In the fervid action of that oriental clime, they fell on his neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he said,——that they should see his face no more. Still loth to take their last look atone so loved, they accompanied him to the ship, which bore him away from them, to perils, sufferings and chains.
♦duplicate word “that” removed
♦duplicate word “that” removed
♦duplicate word “that” removed
“Assoswas a sea-port town, situated on the south-west part of the province of Troas, and over against the island Lesbos. By land it is much nearer Troas than by sea, because of a promontory that runs a great way into the sea, and must be doubled to come to Assos, which was perhaps the reason that the apostle chose rather to walk it.” (Wells’s Geography and Calmet’s Commentary.)
MYTELENE. Actsxx.14.
MYTELENE. Actsxx.14.
MYTELENE. Actsxx.14.
“Mitylene, (chapterxx.verse 14,) was one of the principal cities in the island of Lesbos, situated on a peninsula with a commodious haven on each side; the whole island was also called by that name, as well as Pentapolis, from the five cities in it,viz.Issa or Antissa, Pyrrhe, Eressos, Arisba, and Mitylene. It is at present called Metelin. The island is one of the largest in the Archipelago, and was renowned for the many eminent persons it produced; such as Sappho, the inventress of Sapphic verses,——Alcaeus, a famous lyric poet,——Pittacus, one of the seven wise men of Greece,——Theophrastus, the noble physician and philosopher,——and Arion, the celebrated musician. It is now in the possession of the Turks. As mentioned bySt.Luke, it may be understood either the island or the city itself.” (Wells’s Geography and Whitby’s Table.)
“Chios, (verse 15,) was an island in the Archipelago, next to Lesbos, both as to situation and size. It lies over against Smyrna, and is not above four leagues distant from the Asiatic continent. Horace and Martial celebrate it for the wine and figs that it produced. It is now renowned for producing the best mastic in the world.
“Sir Paul Ricaut, in his ‘Present State of the Greek Church,’ tells us, that there is no place in the Turkish dominions where Christians enjoy more freedom in their religion and estates than in this island, to which they are entitled by an ancient capitulation made with Sultan MahometII.” (Wells’s Geography.)
“Samos, (verse 15,) was another island of the Archipelago, lying south-east of Chios, and about five miles from the Asiatic continent. It was famous among heathen writers for the worship of Juno; for one of the Sibyls called Sibylla Samiana; for Pherecydes, who foretold an earthquake that happened there, by drinking of the waters; and more especially for the birth of Pythagoras. It was formerly a free commonwealth; at present, the Turks have reduced it to a mean and depopulated condition; so that ever since the year 1676, no Turk has ventured to live on it on account of its being frequented by pirates, who carry all whom they take into captivity.” (Wells’s Geography and Whitby’s Table.)
“Trogyllium, (verse 15,) is a promontory at the foot of Mount Mycale, opposite to, and five miles from Samos: there was also a town there of the same name, mentioned by Pliny,Lib. v,c. 29.p.295.” (Whitby’s Table.)
“Miletus, (verse 15,) a sea-port town on the continent of Asia Minor, and in the province of Caria, memorable for being the birth-place of Thales, one of the seven wise men of Greece, and father of the Ionic philosophy; of Anaximander, his scholar; Timotheus, the musician; and Anaximenes, the philosopher. It is called now, by the Turks, Melas; and not far distant from it is the true Meander.” (Whitby’s Table and Wells’s Geography.) [Williams on Pearson.pp.66, 67.]
Tearing himself thus from the embraces of his Ephesian brethren, Paul sailed off to the southward, hurrying on to Jerusalem, in order to reach there if possible, before the Pentecost. After leaving Miletus, the apostolic company made a straight course to Coos, and then rounding the great northwestern angle of Asia Minor, turned eastwardly to Rhodes, and passing probably through the strait, between that island and the continent, landed at Patara, a town on the coast of Lycia, which was the destination of their first vessel. They therefore at this place engaged a passage in a vessel bound to Tyre, and holding on southeastward, came next in sight of Cyprus, which they passed, leaving it on the left,and then steering straight for the Syrian coast, landed at Tyre, where their vessel was to unlade; so that they were detained here for a whole week, which they passed in the company of some Christian brethren who constituted a church there. These Tyrian disciples hearing of Paul’s plan to visit Jerusalem, and knowing the dangers to which he would there be exposed by the deadly hate of the Jews, were very urgent with him against his journey; but he still resolutely held on his course, as soon as a passage could be procured, and bade them farewell, with prayer on the shore, to which the brethren accompanied him with their women and children. Standing off from the shore, they then sailed on south, to Ptolemais, where they spent a day with the Christians in that place, and then re-embarking, and passing round the promontory of Carmel, reached Caesarea, where their sea-voyage terminated. Here they passed several days in the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the seven deacons, who had four daughters that were prophetesses. While they were resting themselves in this truly religious family, from the fatigues of their long voyage, they were visited by Agabus, a prophet from Jerusalem,——the same who had formerly visited Antioch when Paul was there, and who had then foretold the coming famine, which threatened all the world. This remarkable man predicted to Paul the misfortunes which awaited him in Jerusalem. In the solemnly impressive dramatic action of the ancient prophets, he took Paul’s girdle, and binding his own hands with it, said——“Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem, bind the man that owns this girdle, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles.’” On hearing this melancholy announcement, all the companions of Paul and the Christians of Caesarea, united in beseeching Paul to give up his purpose of visiting Jerusalem. But he, resolute against all entreaty, declared himself ready not only to be bound, but to die in Jerusalem for the Lord Jesus. And when they found that he would not be persuaded, they all ceased to harass him with their supplications, and resigned him to Providence, saying,——“The will of the Lord be done.” They then all took carriages, and rode up to Jerusalem, accompanied by some brethren from Caesarea, and by Mnason, an old believer, formerly of Cyprus, but now of Jerusalem, who had engaged them as his guests in that city.
Tearing himself thus from the embraces of his Ephesian brethren, Paul sailed off to the southward, hurrying on to Jerusalem, in order to reach there if possible, before the Pentecost. After leaving Miletus, the apostolic company made a straight course to Coos, and then rounding the great northwestern angle of Asia Minor, turned eastwardly to Rhodes, and passing probably through the strait, between that island and the continent, landed at Patara, a town on the coast of Lycia, which was the destination of their first vessel. They therefore at this place engaged a passage in a vessel bound to Tyre, and holding on southeastward, came next in sight of Cyprus, which they passed, leaving it on the left,and then steering straight for the Syrian coast, landed at Tyre, where their vessel was to unlade; so that they were detained here for a whole week, which they passed in the company of some Christian brethren who constituted a church there. These Tyrian disciples hearing of Paul’s plan to visit Jerusalem, and knowing the dangers to which he would there be exposed by the deadly hate of the Jews, were very urgent with him against his journey; but he still resolutely held on his course, as soon as a passage could be procured, and bade them farewell, with prayer on the shore, to which the brethren accompanied him with their women and children. Standing off from the shore, they then sailed on south, to Ptolemais, where they spent a day with the Christians in that place, and then re-embarking, and passing round the promontory of Carmel, reached Caesarea, where their sea-voyage terminated. Here they passed several days in the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the seven deacons, who had four daughters that were prophetesses. While they were resting themselves in this truly religious family, from the fatigues of their long voyage, they were visited by Agabus, a prophet from Jerusalem,——the same who had formerly visited Antioch when Paul was there, and who had then foretold the coming famine, which threatened all the world. This remarkable man predicted to Paul the misfortunes which awaited him in Jerusalem. In the solemnly impressive dramatic action of the ancient prophets, he took Paul’s girdle, and binding his own hands with it, said——“Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem, bind the man that owns this girdle, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles.’” On hearing this melancholy announcement, all the companions of Paul and the Christians of Caesarea, united in beseeching Paul to give up his purpose of visiting Jerusalem. But he, resolute against all entreaty, declared himself ready not only to be bound, but to die in Jerusalem for the Lord Jesus. And when they found that he would not be persuaded, they all ceased to harass him with their supplications, and resigned him to Providence, saying,——“The will of the Lord be done.” They then all took carriages, and rode up to Jerusalem, accompanied by some brethren from Caesarea, and by Mnason, an old believer, formerly of Cyprus, but now of Jerusalem, who had engaged them as his guests in that city.
“Coos, (chapterxxi.verse 1,) an island in the Aegean or Icarian sea, near Mnydos and Cnidus, which had a city of the same name, from which Hippocrates, the celebrated physician, and Apelles, the famous painter, were called Coi. Here was a largetemple of Aesculapius, and another of Juno. It abounded in rich wines, and is very often mentioned by the classic poets.” (Whitby’s Alphabetic Table.)
Witsius very absurdly defines the situation of this island by saying that it is “near Crete.”——“Coos, quae maris Mediterranei insula estprope Cretam.” It is in the Aegean sea properly, andnotin the Mediterranean; and can not be less than one hundred and twenty miles from Crete, much farther off from it than is Rhodes,——the next island in Paul’s route, and there are many islands between Coos and Crete, so that the statement gives no just idea of the situation of the island. It would be as proper to say that Barbadoes isnear Cuba, or the isle of Mannear France.
“Rhodes, (verse 1,) an island, supposed to have taken its nameαπο των Ροδωνfrom the many roses which were known to grow there. It lies south of the province of Caria, and it is accounted next to Cyprus and Lesbos, for its dignity among the Asiatic islands. It was remarkable among the ancients for the expertness of its inhabitants in navigation; for a college, in which the students were eminent for eloquence and mathematics; and for the clearness of its air, insomuch that there was not a day in which the sun did not shine upon it; and more especially celebrated for its prodigious statue of brass, consecrated especially to the sun, and called his Colossus. This statue was seventy cubits high, and every finger as large as an ordinary sized man, and as it stood astride over the mouth of the harbor, ships passed under its legs.” (Whitby’s Table and Wells’s Geography.) [Williams on Pearson,pp.67, 68.]
LAST VISIT TO JERUSALEM.Paul was now received in Jerusalem by the brethren with great joy, and going, on the day after his arrival, to see James, now the principal apostle resident in the Holy city, communicated to him and all the elders a full account of all his various labors. Having heard his very interesting communications, they were moved with gratitude to God for this triumph of his grace; but knowing as they did, with what rumors against Paul these events had been connected by common fame, they desired to arrange his introduction to the temple in such a manner, as would most effectually silence these prejudicial stories. The plan proposed by them was, that he should, in the company of four Jews of the Christian faith, who had a vow on them, go through with all the usual forms of purification prescribed under such circumstances for a Jew, on returning from the daily impurities to which he was exposed by a residence among the Gentiles, to a participation in the holy services of solemn worship in the temple. The apostles and elders, however, in recommending this course, declared to him, that they believed that the Gentiles ought not to be bound to the performance of the Jewish rituals, but should be exempt from all restrictions, except such as had formerly been decided on, by the council of Jerusalem. Paul, always devout and exact in the observance of the institutions of his national religion, followed their advice accordingly, and went on quietly and unpretendingly in the regular performance of the prescribed ceremonies, waiting for the termination of the seven days of purification, when the offering should be made for himself, and one for each of his companions, after which, they were all to be admittedof course, to the full honors of Mosaic purity, and the religious privileges of conforming Jews. But these ritual observances were not destined to save him from the calamities to which the hatred of his enemies had devoted him. Near the close of the seven days allotted by the Mosaic ritual for the purification of a regenerated Israelite, some of the Asian Jews, who had known Paul in his missionary journeys through their own country, and who had come to Jerusalem, to attend the festival, seeing their old enemy in the midst of the temple, against whose worship they had understood him to have been preaching to the Gentiles,——instantly raised a great outcry, and fell upon him, dragging him along, and shouting to the multitude around, “Men of Israel! help! This is the man, that every where teaches all men against the people, and the law, and this place; and he has furthermore, brought Greeks into the temple, and has polluted this holy place.” It seems they had seen Trophimus, one of his Gentile companions from Ephesus, with him in the city, and imagined also that Paul had brought him into the temple, within the sanctuary, whose entrance was expressly forbidden to all Gentiles, who were never allowed to pass beyond the outermost court. The sanctuary or court of the Jews could not be crossed by an uncircumcised Gentile, and the transgression of the holy limit was punished with death. Within this holy court, the scene now described took place; and as the whole sanctuary was then crowded with Jews, who had come from all parts of the world to attend the festival in Jerusalem, the outcry raised against Paul immediately drew thronging thousands around him. Hearing the complaint that he was a renegade Jew, who, in other countries, had used his utmost endeavors to throw contempt on his own nation, and to bring their holy worship into disrepute, and yet had now the impudence to show himself in the sanctuary, which he had thus blasphemed,——and had, moreover, even profaned it by introducing into the sacred precincts one of those Gentiles for whose company he had forsaken the fellowship of Israel,——they all joined in the rush upon him, and dragged him out of the temple, the gates of which were immediately shut by the Levites on duty, lest in the riot that was expected to ensue, the consecrated pavement should be polluted with the blood of the renegade. Not only those in the temple, but also all those in the city, were called out by the disturbance, and came running together to join in the mobagainst the profaner of the sanctuary, and Paul now seemed in a fair way to win the bloody crown of martyrdom.The great noise made by the swarming multitudes who were gathering around Paul, soon reached the ears of the Roman garrison in castle Antonia, and the soldiers instantly hastened to tell the commanding officer, that “the whole city was in an uproar.” The tribune, Claudius Lysias, probably thinking of a rebellion against the Romans, instantly ordered a detachment of several companies under arms, and hurried down with them, in a few moments, to the scene of the riot. The mob meanwhile were♦diligently occupied in beating Paul; but as soon as the military force made their way among the crowd, the rioters left off beating him, and fell back. The tribune coming near, and seeing Paul alone in the midst, who seemed to be the object and occasion of all the disturbance, without hesitation seized him, and putting him in chains, took him out of the throng. He then demanded what all this riot meant. To his inquiry, the whole mob replied with various accounts; some cried one thing and some another; and the tribune finding it utterly impossible to learn from the rioters who he was or what he had done, ordered him to be taken up to the castle. Castle Antonia stood at the northwestern angle of the temple, close by one of the great entrances to it, near which the riot seems to have taken place. To this, Paul was now taken, and was borne by the surrounding soldiers, to keep off the multitude, who were raging for his blood, like hungry wolves after the prey snatched from their jaws,——and they all pressed after him, shouting, “kill him!” In this way Paul was carried up the stairs which led to the high entrance of the castle, which of course the soldiers would not allow the multitude to mount; and when he had reached the top of the stairs, he was therefore perfectly protected from their violence, though perfectly well situated for speaking to them so as to be distinctly seen and heard. As they were taking him up the stairs, he begged the attention of the tribune, saying, “May I speak to thee?” The tribune hearing this, in some surprise asked, “Canst thou speak Greek? Art thou not that Egyptian that raised a sedition some time ago, and led away into the wilderness a band of four thousand cut-throats?” This alarming revolt had been but lately put down with great trouble, and was therefore fresh in the mind of Lysias, who had been concerned in quelling it, along with the whole Roman force in Palestine,——and from some of the outcries of the mob, he now took up thenotion that Paul was the very ringleader of that revolt, and had now just returned from his place of refuge to make new trouble, and had been detected by the multitude in the temple. Paul answered the foolish accusation of the tribune, by saying, “I am a Jewish citizen of Tarsus, in Cilicia, which is no mean city; and I beg of thee, to let me speak to the people.” The tribune, quite glad to have his unpleasant suspicions removed, as an atonement for the unjust accusation immediately granted the permission as requested, and Paul therefore turned to the raging multitude, waving his hand in the usual gesture for requesting silence. The people, curious to hear his account of himself, listened accordingly, and he therefore uplifted his voice in a respectful request for their attention to his plea in his own behalf. “Men! Brethren! and Fathers! Hear ye my defence which I make to you!”♦“dilgently” replaced with “diligently”Those words were spoken in the vernacular language of Palestine, the true Hebraistic dialect of Jerusalem, and the multitude were thereby immediately undeceived about his character, for they had been as much mistaken about him, as the tribune was, though their mistake was of a very opposite character; for they supposed him to be entirely Greek in his habits and language, if not in his origin; and the vast concourse was therefore hushed in profound silence, to hear his address made in the true Jewish language. Before this strange audience, Paul then stood up boldly, to declare his character, his views, and his apostolic commission. On the top of the lofty rampart of Castle Antonia,——with the dark iron forms of the Roman soldiery around him, guarding the staircase from top to bottom, against the raging mob,——and with the enormous mass of the congregated thousands of Jerusalem, and of the strangers who had come up to the festival, all straining their fierce eyes in wrath and hate upon him, as a convicted renegade,——one feeble, slender man, now stood, the object of the most painful attention to all,——yet, less moved with passion and anxiety than any one present. Thus stationed, he began, and gave to the curious multitude an interesting account of the incidents connected with that great change in his feelings and belief, which was the occasion of the present difficulty. After giving them a complete statement of these particulars, he was narrating the circumstance of a revelation made to him in the temple, while in a devotional trance there, on his first return to Jerusalem, after his conversion. In repeating the solemn commission there confirmed to him by the voice of God, herepeated the crowning sentence, with which the Lord removed his doubts about engaging in the work of preaching the gospel, when his hands were yet, as it were, red with the blood of the martyred faithful,——“And he said to me, ‘Go: for I will send thee far hence, unto theGentiles.’” But when the listening multitude heard this clear declaration of his having considered himself authorized to communicate to the Gentiles those holy things which had been especially consigned by God to his peculiar people,——they took it as a clear confession of the charge of having desecrated and degraded his national religion, and all interrupted him with the ferocious cry, “Take him away from the earth! for such a fellow does not deserve to live.” The tribune, finding that this discussion was not likely to answer any good purpose, instantly put a stop to it, by dragging him into the castle, and gave directions that he should be examined by scourging, that they might make him confess truly who he was, and what he had done to make the people cry out so against him,——a very foolish way, it would seem, to find out the truth about an unknown and abused person, to flog him until he should tell a story that would please them. While the guard were binding him with thongs, before they laid on the scourge, Paul spoke to the centurion, who was superintending the operation, and said in a sententiously inquiring way, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a Roman citizen without legal condemnation?” This question put a stop to all proceedings at once. The centurion immediately dropped the thongs, and ran to the tribune, saying, “Take heed what thou doest, for this man is a Roman citizen.” The tribune then came to Paul, in much trepidation, and with great solemnity said——“Tell me truly, art thou a Roman citizen?” Paul distinctly declared, “Yes.”Desirous to learn the mode in which the prisoner had obtained this most sacred and unimpeachable privilege, the tribune remarked of himself, thathehad obtained this right by the payment of a large sum of money,——perhaps doubting whether a man of Paul’s poor aspect could have ever been able to buy it; to which Paul boldly replied——“But I wasBORNfree.” This clear declaration satisfied the tribune that he had involved himself in a very serious difficulty, by committing this illegal violence on a person thus entitled to all the privileges of a subject of law. All the subordinate agents also, were fully aware of the nature of the mistake, and all immediately let him alone. Lysias now kept Paul with great care in the castle, as a placeof safety from his Jewish persecutors; and the next day, in order to have a full investigation of his character and the charges against him, he took him before the Sanhedrim, for examination. Paul there opened his defence in a very appropriate and self-vindicating style. “Men! Brethren! and Fathers! I have heretofore lived before God with a good conscience.” At these words, Ananias the high priest, provoked by Paul’s seeming assurance in thus vindicating himself, when under the accusation of the heads of the Jewish religion, commanded those that stood next to Paul to slap him on the mouth. Paul, indignant at the high-handed tyranny of this outrageous attack on him, answered in honest wrath——“God shall smite thee, thou whited wall! For dost thou command me to be smitten contrary to the law, when thou sittest as a judge over me?” The other by-standers, enraged at his boldness, asked him, “Revilest thou God’s high priest?” To which Paul, not having known the fact that Ananias then held that office, which he had so disgraced by his infamous conduct, replied——“I knew not, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.” Then, perceiving the mixed character of the council, he determined to avail himself of the mutual hatred of the two great sects, for his defense, by making his own persecution a kind of party question; and therefore called out to them——“I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. Of the hope of the resurrection of the dead, I am called in question.” These words had the expected effect. Instantly, all the violent party feeling between these two sects broke out in full force, and the whole council was divided and confused,——the scribes who belonged to the Pharisaic order, arising, and declaring, “We find no occasion of evil in this man. But if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God.” This last remark, of course, was throwing down the gauntlet at the opposite sect; for the Sadducees, denying absolutely the existence of either angel or spirit, could of course believe no part of Paul’s story about his vision and spiritual summons. They all therefore broke out against the Pharisees, who being thus involved, took Paul’s side very determinedly, and the party strife grew so hot that Paul was like to be torn in pieces between them. The tribune, seeing the pass to which matters had come, then ordered out the castle-guard, and took him by force, bringing him back to his former place of safety.
LAST VISIT TO JERUSALEM.
Paul was now received in Jerusalem by the brethren with great joy, and going, on the day after his arrival, to see James, now the principal apostle resident in the Holy city, communicated to him and all the elders a full account of all his various labors. Having heard his very interesting communications, they were moved with gratitude to God for this triumph of his grace; but knowing as they did, with what rumors against Paul these events had been connected by common fame, they desired to arrange his introduction to the temple in such a manner, as would most effectually silence these prejudicial stories. The plan proposed by them was, that he should, in the company of four Jews of the Christian faith, who had a vow on them, go through with all the usual forms of purification prescribed under such circumstances for a Jew, on returning from the daily impurities to which he was exposed by a residence among the Gentiles, to a participation in the holy services of solemn worship in the temple. The apostles and elders, however, in recommending this course, declared to him, that they believed that the Gentiles ought not to be bound to the performance of the Jewish rituals, but should be exempt from all restrictions, except such as had formerly been decided on, by the council of Jerusalem. Paul, always devout and exact in the observance of the institutions of his national religion, followed their advice accordingly, and went on quietly and unpretendingly in the regular performance of the prescribed ceremonies, waiting for the termination of the seven days of purification, when the offering should be made for himself, and one for each of his companions, after which, they were all to be admittedof course, to the full honors of Mosaic purity, and the religious privileges of conforming Jews. But these ritual observances were not destined to save him from the calamities to which the hatred of his enemies had devoted him. Near the close of the seven days allotted by the Mosaic ritual for the purification of a regenerated Israelite, some of the Asian Jews, who had known Paul in his missionary journeys through their own country, and who had come to Jerusalem, to attend the festival, seeing their old enemy in the midst of the temple, against whose worship they had understood him to have been preaching to the Gentiles,——instantly raised a great outcry, and fell upon him, dragging him along, and shouting to the multitude around, “Men of Israel! help! This is the man, that every where teaches all men against the people, and the law, and this place; and he has furthermore, brought Greeks into the temple, and has polluted this holy place.” It seems they had seen Trophimus, one of his Gentile companions from Ephesus, with him in the city, and imagined also that Paul had brought him into the temple, within the sanctuary, whose entrance was expressly forbidden to all Gentiles, who were never allowed to pass beyond the outermost court. The sanctuary or court of the Jews could not be crossed by an uncircumcised Gentile, and the transgression of the holy limit was punished with death. Within this holy court, the scene now described took place; and as the whole sanctuary was then crowded with Jews, who had come from all parts of the world to attend the festival in Jerusalem, the outcry raised against Paul immediately drew thronging thousands around him. Hearing the complaint that he was a renegade Jew, who, in other countries, had used his utmost endeavors to throw contempt on his own nation, and to bring their holy worship into disrepute, and yet had now the impudence to show himself in the sanctuary, which he had thus blasphemed,——and had, moreover, even profaned it by introducing into the sacred precincts one of those Gentiles for whose company he had forsaken the fellowship of Israel,——they all joined in the rush upon him, and dragged him out of the temple, the gates of which were immediately shut by the Levites on duty, lest in the riot that was expected to ensue, the consecrated pavement should be polluted with the blood of the renegade. Not only those in the temple, but also all those in the city, were called out by the disturbance, and came running together to join in the mobagainst the profaner of the sanctuary, and Paul now seemed in a fair way to win the bloody crown of martyrdom.
The great noise made by the swarming multitudes who were gathering around Paul, soon reached the ears of the Roman garrison in castle Antonia, and the soldiers instantly hastened to tell the commanding officer, that “the whole city was in an uproar.” The tribune, Claudius Lysias, probably thinking of a rebellion against the Romans, instantly ordered a detachment of several companies under arms, and hurried down with them, in a few moments, to the scene of the riot. The mob meanwhile were♦diligently occupied in beating Paul; but as soon as the military force made their way among the crowd, the rioters left off beating him, and fell back. The tribune coming near, and seeing Paul alone in the midst, who seemed to be the object and occasion of all the disturbance, without hesitation seized him, and putting him in chains, took him out of the throng. He then demanded what all this riot meant. To his inquiry, the whole mob replied with various accounts; some cried one thing and some another; and the tribune finding it utterly impossible to learn from the rioters who he was or what he had done, ordered him to be taken up to the castle. Castle Antonia stood at the northwestern angle of the temple, close by one of the great entrances to it, near which the riot seems to have taken place. To this, Paul was now taken, and was borne by the surrounding soldiers, to keep off the multitude, who were raging for his blood, like hungry wolves after the prey snatched from their jaws,——and they all pressed after him, shouting, “kill him!” In this way Paul was carried up the stairs which led to the high entrance of the castle, which of course the soldiers would not allow the multitude to mount; and when he had reached the top of the stairs, he was therefore perfectly protected from their violence, though perfectly well situated for speaking to them so as to be distinctly seen and heard. As they were taking him up the stairs, he begged the attention of the tribune, saying, “May I speak to thee?” The tribune hearing this, in some surprise asked, “Canst thou speak Greek? Art thou not that Egyptian that raised a sedition some time ago, and led away into the wilderness a band of four thousand cut-throats?” This alarming revolt had been but lately put down with great trouble, and was therefore fresh in the mind of Lysias, who had been concerned in quelling it, along with the whole Roman force in Palestine,——and from some of the outcries of the mob, he now took up thenotion that Paul was the very ringleader of that revolt, and had now just returned from his place of refuge to make new trouble, and had been detected by the multitude in the temple. Paul answered the foolish accusation of the tribune, by saying, “I am a Jewish citizen of Tarsus, in Cilicia, which is no mean city; and I beg of thee, to let me speak to the people.” The tribune, quite glad to have his unpleasant suspicions removed, as an atonement for the unjust accusation immediately granted the permission as requested, and Paul therefore turned to the raging multitude, waving his hand in the usual gesture for requesting silence. The people, curious to hear his account of himself, listened accordingly, and he therefore uplifted his voice in a respectful request for their attention to his plea in his own behalf. “Men! Brethren! and Fathers! Hear ye my defence which I make to you!”
♦“dilgently” replaced with “diligently”
♦“dilgently” replaced with “diligently”
♦“dilgently” replaced with “diligently”
Those words were spoken in the vernacular language of Palestine, the true Hebraistic dialect of Jerusalem, and the multitude were thereby immediately undeceived about his character, for they had been as much mistaken about him, as the tribune was, though their mistake was of a very opposite character; for they supposed him to be entirely Greek in his habits and language, if not in his origin; and the vast concourse was therefore hushed in profound silence, to hear his address made in the true Jewish language. Before this strange audience, Paul then stood up boldly, to declare his character, his views, and his apostolic commission. On the top of the lofty rampart of Castle Antonia,——with the dark iron forms of the Roman soldiery around him, guarding the staircase from top to bottom, against the raging mob,——and with the enormous mass of the congregated thousands of Jerusalem, and of the strangers who had come up to the festival, all straining their fierce eyes in wrath and hate upon him, as a convicted renegade,——one feeble, slender man, now stood, the object of the most painful attention to all,——yet, less moved with passion and anxiety than any one present. Thus stationed, he began, and gave to the curious multitude an interesting account of the incidents connected with that great change in his feelings and belief, which was the occasion of the present difficulty. After giving them a complete statement of these particulars, he was narrating the circumstance of a revelation made to him in the temple, while in a devotional trance there, on his first return to Jerusalem, after his conversion. In repeating the solemn commission there confirmed to him by the voice of God, herepeated the crowning sentence, with which the Lord removed his doubts about engaging in the work of preaching the gospel, when his hands were yet, as it were, red with the blood of the martyred faithful,——“And he said to me, ‘Go: for I will send thee far hence, unto theGentiles.’” But when the listening multitude heard this clear declaration of his having considered himself authorized to communicate to the Gentiles those holy things which had been especially consigned by God to his peculiar people,——they took it as a clear confession of the charge of having desecrated and degraded his national religion, and all interrupted him with the ferocious cry, “Take him away from the earth! for such a fellow does not deserve to live.” The tribune, finding that this discussion was not likely to answer any good purpose, instantly put a stop to it, by dragging him into the castle, and gave directions that he should be examined by scourging, that they might make him confess truly who he was, and what he had done to make the people cry out so against him,——a very foolish way, it would seem, to find out the truth about an unknown and abused person, to flog him until he should tell a story that would please them. While the guard were binding him with thongs, before they laid on the scourge, Paul spoke to the centurion, who was superintending the operation, and said in a sententiously inquiring way, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a Roman citizen without legal condemnation?” This question put a stop to all proceedings at once. The centurion immediately dropped the thongs, and ran to the tribune, saying, “Take heed what thou doest, for this man is a Roman citizen.” The tribune then came to Paul, in much trepidation, and with great solemnity said——“Tell me truly, art thou a Roman citizen?” Paul distinctly declared, “Yes.”
Desirous to learn the mode in which the prisoner had obtained this most sacred and unimpeachable privilege, the tribune remarked of himself, thathehad obtained this right by the payment of a large sum of money,——perhaps doubting whether a man of Paul’s poor aspect could have ever been able to buy it; to which Paul boldly replied——“But I wasBORNfree.” This clear declaration satisfied the tribune that he had involved himself in a very serious difficulty, by committing this illegal violence on a person thus entitled to all the privileges of a subject of law. All the subordinate agents also, were fully aware of the nature of the mistake, and all immediately let him alone. Lysias now kept Paul with great care in the castle, as a placeof safety from his Jewish persecutors; and the next day, in order to have a full investigation of his character and the charges against him, he took him before the Sanhedrim, for examination. Paul there opened his defence in a very appropriate and self-vindicating style. “Men! Brethren! and Fathers! I have heretofore lived before God with a good conscience.” At these words, Ananias the high priest, provoked by Paul’s seeming assurance in thus vindicating himself, when under the accusation of the heads of the Jewish religion, commanded those that stood next to Paul to slap him on the mouth. Paul, indignant at the high-handed tyranny of this outrageous attack on him, answered in honest wrath——“God shall smite thee, thou whited wall! For dost thou command me to be smitten contrary to the law, when thou sittest as a judge over me?” The other by-standers, enraged at his boldness, asked him, “Revilest thou God’s high priest?” To which Paul, not having known the fact that Ananias then held that office, which he had so disgraced by his infamous conduct, replied——“I knew not, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.” Then, perceiving the mixed character of the council, he determined to avail himself of the mutual hatred of the two great sects, for his defense, by making his own persecution a kind of party question; and therefore called out to them——“I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. Of the hope of the resurrection of the dead, I am called in question.” These words had the expected effect. Instantly, all the violent party feeling between these two sects broke out in full force, and the whole council was divided and confused,——the scribes who belonged to the Pharisaic order, arising, and declaring, “We find no occasion of evil in this man. But if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God.” This last remark, of course, was throwing down the gauntlet at the opposite sect; for the Sadducees, denying absolutely the existence of either angel or spirit, could of course believe no part of Paul’s story about his vision and spiritual summons. They all therefore broke out against the Pharisees, who being thus involved, took Paul’s side very determinedly, and the party strife grew so hot that Paul was like to be torn in pieces between them. The tribune, seeing the pass to which matters had come, then ordered out the castle-guard, and took him by force, bringing him back to his former place of safety.
“The reason whySt.Paul chose to speak in the Hebrew tongue, may be accounted for thus. There were at this time two sorts of Jews, some called by Chrysostomοἱ βαθεις Ἑβραιοι,profound Hebrews, who used no other language but the Hebrew, and would not admit the Greek Bible into their assemblies, but only the Hebrew, with the Jerusalem Targum and Paraphrase. The other sort spoke Greek, and used that translation of the scriptures; these were called Hellenists. This was a cause of great dissension among these two parties, even after they had embraced Christianity, (Actsvi.1.) Of this latter sort wasSt.Paul, because he always made use of the Greek translation of the Bible in his writings, so that in this respect he might not be acceptable to the other party. Those of them who were converted to Christianity, were much prejudiced against him, (Actsxxi.21,) which is given as a reason for his concealing his name in his Epistle to the Hebrews. And as for those who were not converted, they could not so much as endure him: and this is the reason which Chrysostom gives, why he preached to the Hellenists only. Actsix.28. Therefore, that he might avert the great displeasure which the Jews had conceived against him, he accosted them in their favorite language, and by his compliance in this respect, they were so far pacified as to give him audience.” (Hammond’s Annotations.) [Williams’s Pearson,p.70.]
“Scourging was a method of examination used by Romans and other nations, to force such as were supposed guilty to confess what they had done, what were their motives, and who were accessory to the fact. Thus Tacitus tells us of Herennius Gallus, that he received several stripes, that it might be known for what price, and with what confederates, he had betrayed the Roman army. It is to be observed, however, that the Romans were punished in this wise, not by whips and scourges, but with rods only; and therefore it is that Cicero, in his oration pro Rabirio, speaking against Labienus, tells his audience that the Porcian law permitted a Roman to be whipped with rods, but he, like a good and merciful man, (speaking ironically,) had done it with scourges; and still further, neither by whips nor rods could a citizen of Rome be punished, until he were first adjudged to lose his privilege, to be uncitizened, and to be declared an enemy to the commonwealth, then he might be scourged or put to death. Cicero Oratio in Verres, says, ‘It is a foul fault for any praetor,&c.to bind a citizen of Rome; a piacular offense to scourge him; a kind of parricide to kill him: what shall I call the crucifying of such an one?’” (Williams’s notes on Pearson,pp.70, 71.)
“Ananias, the son of Nebedaeus, was high priest at the time that Helena, queen of Adiabene, supplied the Jews with corn from Egypt, (Josephus Antiquities,lib. xx.c. 5.§ 2,) during the famine which took place in the fourth year of Claudius, mentioned in the eleventh chapter of the Acts.St.Paul, therefore, who took a journey to Jerusalem at that period, (Actsxv.) could not have been ignorant of the elevation of Ananias to that dignity. Soon after the holding of the first council, as it is called, at Jerusalem, Ananias was dispossessed of his office, in consequence of certain acts of violence between the Samaritans and the Jews, and sent prisoner to Rome, (Josephus, Antiquities,lib. xx.c. 6.§ 2,) whence he was afterwards released and returned to Jerusalem. Now from that period he could not be called high priest, in the proper sense of the word, though Josephus (Antiquities,lib. xx.c. 9.§ 2, and Jewish Warlib. ii.c. 17.§ 9,) has sometimes given him the title ofαρχιερευς, taken in the more extensive meaning of a priest, who had a seat and voice in the Sanhedrim;αρχιερειςin the plural number is frequently used in the New Testament, when allusion is made to the Sanhedrim;) and Jonathan, though we are not acquainted with the circumstances of his elevation, had been raised, in the mean time, to the supreme dignity in the Jewish church. Between the death of Jonathan, who was murdered (Josephus Antiquities of the Jewslib. xx.c. 8.§ 5,) by order of Felix, and the high priesthood of Ismael, who was invested with that office by Agrippa, (Josephus Antiquitieslib. xx.c. 8.§ 3,) elapsed an interval in which this dignity continued vacant. Now it happened precisely in this interval, thatSt.Paul was apprehended at Jerusalem; and, the Sanhedrim being destitute of a president, he undertook of his own authority the discharge of that office, which he executed with the greatest tyranny. (Josephus Antiquitieslib. xx.c. 9.§ 2.) It is possible therefore thatSt.Paul, who had been only a few days at Jerusalem, might be ignorant that Ananias, who had been dispossessed of the priesthood, had taken upon himself a trust to which he was not entitled. He might therefore very naturally exclaim, ‘I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest!’ Admitting him on the other hand to have been acquainted with the fact, the expression must be considered as an indirect reproof, and a tacit refusal to recognize usurped authority.” (Michaelis,Vol. I.pp.51, 56.)
“The prediction ofSt.Paul, verse 3, ‘God shall smite thee, thou whited wall,’ was, according to Josephus, fulfilled in a short time. For when, in the government of Florus, his son Eleazar set himself at the head of a party of mutineers, who, having made themselves masters of the temple, would permit no sacrifices to be offered for the emperor; and being joined by a company of assassins, compelled persons of the best quality to fly for their safety and hide themselves in sinks and vaults;——Ananias and his brother Hezekias, were both drawn out of one of these places, and murdered, (Josephus Jewish Warlib. ii.c.17, 18,) thoughDr.Lightfoot will have it that he perished at the siege of Jerusalem!” (Whitby’s Annotations.) [Williams on Pearson.]