(32) As Peter passed throughout all quarters.--The plan of the writer, arranging his materials, leads him from this point of Acts 12:18 to dwell entirely on the personal work of Peter. So far this section of the book may be described as the Acts of Peter. On the other hand, it is obvious that he only gives those acts as part of his general plan, not caring to follow the Apostle's course, as in a biography, but confining himself to tracing the steps by which he had been led to the part he played in the great work of the conversion of the Gentiles. The "all quarters" may well have included Galilee.
He came down also to the saints which dwelt at Lydda.--On the term "saints" see Note on Acts 9:13. Lydda, the Lud of the Old Testament (1 Chronicles 8:12; Ezra 2:33; Nehemiah 7:37; Nehemiah 11:35), was a town in the rich plain of Sharon, one day's journey from Jerusalem, founded originally by settlers from the tribe of Benjamin, and retaining to the present day its old name as Ludd. It is mentioned by Josephus (Wars, iii. 3, ? 5) as transferred by Demetrius Soter, at the request of Judas Maccabeus, to the estate of the Temple at Jerusalem (1 Maccabees 10:30; 1 Maccabees 10:38; 1 Maccabees 11:34). Under the grasping rule of Cassius, the inhabitants were sold as slaves (Jos. Ant. xiv. 11, ? 2). It had, however, recovered its former prosperity, and appears at this time to have been the seat of a flourishing Christian community. In the wars that preceded the destruction of Jerusalem, it was partially burned by Cestius Gallus A.D. 66 (Jos. Wars, ii. 19, ? 1), all but fifty of the inhabitants having gone up to the Feast of Tabernacles at Jerusalem, and was again occupied by Vespasian A.D. 68 (Jos. Wars, ii. 8, ? 1). When it was rebuilt, probably under Hadrian, when Jerusalem received the new name of 'lia Capitolina, it also was renamed as Diospolis (= city of Zeus), and as such was the seat of one of the chief bishoprics of the Syrian Church. It was, at the time when Peter came to it, the seat of a Rabbinic school, scarcely inferior to that of Jabneh, and retained its fame after the scribes of the latter city had migrated to Tiberias. Gamaliel, son of the great Rabbi who was St. Paul's master, and himself honoured with the title of Rabban, presided over it, and was succeeded by the great Tarphon (Lightfoot, Cent. Chorogr. c. xvi.). The question which we naturally ask, who had planted the faith of Christ there, carries us once more on the track of Philip the Evangelist. Lying as it did on the road from Azotus to Caesarea, it would lie in his way on the journey recorded in Acts 8:40, as he passed "through all the cities;" and we may believe, without much risk of error, that here also he was St. Luke's informant as to what had passed in the Church with which he was so closely connected.
A certain man named 'neas.--The Greek name (we note the shortened vowel 'n?as of the later form of the word), perhaps, implies that he belonged to the Hellenistic section of the Church. Had the fame of Virgil's poem made the name of the Trojan hero known even in the plains of Palestine? In the care with which St. Luke records the circumstances of the case, the eight years of bedridden paralysis, we note a trace of professional exactness, as in Acts 3:7; Acts 9:18; Acts 28:8. The word of "bed," used commonly of the couches of the lower class (see Note on Matthew 2:4), suggests the thought that poverty also was added to his sufferings.
Verse 32.- Went for passed, A.V.; all parts (διὰ πάντων) for all quarters, A.V. All parts. Afford, following Meyer, understands "through all the saints," which is scarcely so well. The current of St. Luke's narrative is here temporarily diverted from St. Paul, in order to trace that portion of St. Peter's apostolic work, which led immediately to that opening of the door of faith to the Gentiles in which Peter was to have the priority in point of time (Matthew 16:18, 19), but Paul the chief burden of labour and danger (Galatians 2:7-9; Romans 11:13), and which was also the main subject of St. Luke's history. He came down; Lydda (afterwards called Diospolis, now Ludd), being more than half-way between Jerusalem and the sea-coast at Joppa.
9:32-35 Christians are saints, or holy people; not only the eminent ones, as Saint Peter and Saint Paul, but every sincere professor of the faith of Christ. Christ chose patients whose diseases were incurable in the course of nature, to show how desperate was the case of fallen mankind. When we were wholly without strength, as this poor man, he sent his word to heal us. Peter does not pretend to heal by any power of his own, but directs Eneas to look up to Christ for help. Let none say, that because it is Christ, who, by the power of his grace, works all our works in us, therefore we have no work, no duty to do; for though Jesus Christ makes thee whole, yet thou must arise, and use the power he gives thee.
And it came to pass, as Peter passed through all quarters,.... The Arabic version reads, "all the foresaid places", as Judea, Galilee, and Samaria; through which he took a tour, in order to visit the new churches here planted, fix pastors over them, and confirm the Gospel by miracles, which they had received:
he came down also to the saints which dwelt at Lydda: a city which lay on the west of Jerusalem, and is said (u) to be a day's Journey from it; and a day's journey were ten parsas, or forty miles (w): it was but thirty two miles from Jerusalem, and was a place famous for Jewish doctors; for which reason it is frequently mentioned in the Talmudic writings, under the name of Lod or Lud. Mention is made of R. Simlai, who was of Lydda (x), and of the chambers of Beth Nithzah, and of Arum in Lydda (y) where the doctors disputed; there was a school here, of which R. Akiba was president (z) here also the sanhedrim sometimes sat, since we are told that Ben Sutda was tried and stoned at Lud or Lydda (a); and here likewise they intercalated the year (b), it being in Judea: this place was situated in a plain; so says Jerom (c),
"they that dwell in Sephela, that is, in the plain, Lydda and Emmaus, which design Diospolls and Nicopolis, shall possess the Philistines.''
And with this agrees the account the Talmudists (d) give of it,
"the country of Judea was divided into three parts, the hill country, the plain, and the valley; from Bethhoron to Emmaus was the hill country; from Emmaus to Lydda was the plain or champaign country; and from Lydda to the sea, the valley.''
Hence also we read (e) of , "the plain of Lydda": and now Peter coming from Jerusalem, and the hill country of Judea, into this plain and champaign country, is properly said to come down to the saints there. So Quadratus in Josephus (f) is said to come up from Lydda to Jerusalem. This place was near the Mediterranean sea; and was in Jerom's time called Diospolis (g), and in the time of R. Benjamin (h) Seguras; it is the same with Lod in Ezra 2:33 The builder of it was Shamed the son of Elpaal, 1 Chronicles 8:12. It was in the times of Josephus (i) a village, yet not inferior to a city for greatness. It is now called S. Georgia. And here it seems some saints or Christians dwelt, whom Peter, among the rest, visited; and which is mentioned for the sake of the miracle he there wrought, next related. And these saints at Lydda very likely were converted under Philip's ministry, as he passed from Azotus to Caesarea, Acts 8:40 and, it may be, were in a church state, or, however, were afterwards. Zenas the lawyer, the Apostle Paul speaks of in Titus 3:13 is said to be bishop of Diospolis, or Lydda; in the beginning of the fourth century Aetius was bishop of this place, who assisted in the council of Nice; and in the same century, anno 331, Dionysius, another bishop of this place, was present at a council at Constantinople; and in the fifth century Photinus wrote himself bishop of Lydda, in the Chalcedon council, anno 451 (k).
(u) Misn. Maasersheni, c. 5. sect. 2. T. Bab. Betza, fol. 5. 1. & Roshhashana, fol. 31. 2. & Juchasin, fol. 37. 1.((w) T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 93. 2. & Gloss. in ib. (x) Juchasin, fol. 105. 1.((y) T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 40. 2. T. Hieros. Pesachim, fol. 30. 2.((z) Misn. Roshhashana, c. 1. sect. 6. (a) T. Hieros. Sanhedrin, fol. 25. 4. (b) Ib. fol. 18. 3.((c) In Obadiah 1. 19. (d) T. Hicros. Sheviith, fol. 38. 4. (e) Misn. Sheviith, c. 9. sect. 2.((f) De Bello Jud. l. 2. c. 12. sect. 8. (g) Epitaph. Paulae, fol. 59. A. (h) ltinerar. p. 52. (i) Antiqu. l. 20. c. 5. sect. 2.((k) Reland. Palestina Illustrata, 1. 3. p. 878, 879. Vid. Magdeburg. Hist. Eccles. cent. 4. c. 2. p. 2. cent. 5. c. 2. p. 2.
He came down also to the saints which dwelt at Lydda.--On the term "saints" see Note on Acts 9:13. Lydda, the Lud of the Old Testament (1 Chronicles 8:12; Ezra 2:33; Nehemiah 7:37; Nehemiah 11:35), was a town in the rich plain of Sharon, one day's journey from Jerusalem, founded originally by settlers from the tribe of Benjamin, and retaining to the present day its old name as Ludd. It is mentioned by Josephus (Wars, iii. 3, ? 5) as transferred by Demetrius Soter, at the request of Judas Maccabeus, to the estate of the Temple at Jerusalem (1 Maccabees 10:30; 1 Maccabees 10:38; 1 Maccabees 11:34). Under the grasping rule of Cassius, the inhabitants were sold as slaves (Jos. Ant. xiv. 11, ? 2). It had, however, recovered its former prosperity, and appears at this time to have been the seat of a flourishing Christian community. In the wars that preceded the destruction of Jerusalem, it was partially burned by Cestius Gallus A.D. 66 (Jos. Wars, ii. 19, ? 1), all but fifty of the inhabitants having gone up to the Feast of Tabernacles at Jerusalem, and was again occupied by Vespasian A.D. 68 (Jos. Wars, ii. 8, ? 1). When it was rebuilt, probably under Hadrian, when Jerusalem received the new name of 'lia Capitolina, it also was renamed as Diospolis (= city of Zeus), and as such was the seat of one of the chief bishoprics of the Syrian Church. It was, at the time when Peter came to it, the seat of a Rabbinic school, scarcely inferior to that of Jabneh, and retained its fame after the scribes of the latter city had migrated to Tiberias. Gamaliel, son of the great Rabbi who was St. Paul's master, and himself honoured with the title of Rabban, presided over it, and was succeeded by the great Tarphon (Lightfoot, Cent. Chorogr. c. xvi.). The question which we naturally ask, who had planted the faith of Christ there, carries us once more on the track of Philip the Evangelist. Lying as it did on the road from Azotus to Caesarea, it would lie in his way on the journey recorded in Acts 8:40, as he passed "through all the cities;" and we may believe, without much risk of error, that here also he was St. Luke's informant as to what had passed in the Church with which he was so closely connected.
A certain man named 'neas.--The Greek name (we note the shortened vowel 'n?as of the later form of the word), perhaps, implies that he belonged to the Hellenistic section of the Church. Had the fame of Virgil's poem made the name of the Trojan hero known even in the plains of Palestine? In the care with which St. Luke records the circumstances of the case, the eight years of bedridden paralysis, we note a trace of professional exactness, as in Acts 3:7; Acts 9:18; Acts 28:8. The word of "bed," used commonly of the couches of the lower class (see Note on Matthew 2:4), suggests the thought that poverty also was added to his sufferings.
he came down also to the saints which dwelt at Lydda: a city which lay on the west of Jerusalem, and is said (u) to be a day's Journey from it; and a day's journey were ten parsas, or forty miles (w): it was but thirty two miles from Jerusalem, and was a place famous for Jewish doctors; for which reason it is frequently mentioned in the Talmudic writings, under the name of Lod or Lud. Mention is made of R. Simlai, who was of Lydda (x), and of the chambers of Beth Nithzah, and of Arum in Lydda (y) where the doctors disputed; there was a school here, of which R. Akiba was president (z) here also the sanhedrim sometimes sat, since we are told that Ben Sutda was tried and stoned at Lud or Lydda (a); and here likewise they intercalated the year (b), it being in Judea: this place was situated in a plain; so says Jerom (c),
"they that dwell in Sephela, that is, in the plain, Lydda and Emmaus, which design Diospolls and Nicopolis, shall possess the Philistines.''
And with this agrees the account the Talmudists (d) give of it,
"the country of Judea was divided into three parts, the hill country, the plain, and the valley; from Bethhoron to Emmaus was the hill country; from Emmaus to Lydda was the plain or champaign country; and from Lydda to the sea, the valley.''
Hence also we read (e) of , "the plain of Lydda": and now Peter coming from Jerusalem, and the hill country of Judea, into this plain and champaign country, is properly said to come down to the saints there. So Quadratus in Josephus (f) is said to come up from Lydda to Jerusalem. This place was near the Mediterranean sea; and was in Jerom's time called Diospolis (g), and in the time of R. Benjamin (h) Seguras; it is the same with Lod in Ezra 2:33 The builder of it was Shamed the son of Elpaal, 1 Chronicles 8:12. It was in the times of Josephus (i) a village, yet not inferior to a city for greatness. It is now called S. Georgia. And here it seems some saints or Christians dwelt, whom Peter, among the rest, visited; and which is mentioned for the sake of the miracle he there wrought, next related. And these saints at Lydda very likely were converted under Philip's ministry, as he passed from Azotus to Caesarea, Acts 8:40 and, it may be, were in a church state, or, however, were afterwards. Zenas the lawyer, the Apostle Paul speaks of in Titus 3:13 is said to be bishop of Diospolis, or Lydda; in the beginning of the fourth century Aetius was bishop of this place, who assisted in the council of Nice; and in the same century, anno 331, Dionysius, another bishop of this place, was present at a council at Constantinople; and in the fifth century Photinus wrote himself bishop of Lydda, in the Chalcedon council, anno 451 (k).
(u) Misn. Maasersheni, c. 5. sect. 2. T. Bab. Betza, fol. 5. 1. & Roshhashana, fol. 31. 2. & Juchasin, fol. 37. 1.((w) T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 93. 2. & Gloss. in ib. (x) Juchasin, fol. 105. 1.((y) T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 40. 2. T. Hieros. Pesachim, fol. 30. 2.((z) Misn. Roshhashana, c. 1. sect. 6. (a) T. Hieros. Sanhedrin, fol. 25. 4. (b) Ib. fol. 18. 3.((c) In Obadiah 1. 19. (d) T. Hicros. Sheviith, fol. 38. 4. (e) Misn. Sheviith, c. 9. sect. 2.((f) De Bello Jud. l. 2. c. 12. sect. 8. (g) Epitaph. Paulae, fol. 59. A. (h) ltinerar. p. 52. (i) Antiqu. l. 20. c. 5. sect. 2.((k) Reland. Palestina Illustrata, 1. 3. p. 878, 879. Vid. Magdeburg. Hist. Eccles. cent. 4. c. 2. p. 2. cent. 5. c. 2. p. 2.