mother Eunice; in the history it is said of the mother, that she was a Jewess, and believed; of the father, that he was a Greek. Now when it is said of the mother alone that she believed, the father being nevertheless mentioned in the same sentence, we are led to suppose of the father that he did not believe, i. e. either that he was dead, or that he remained unconverted. Agreeably hereunto, while praise is bestowed in the epistle upon one parent and upon her sincerity in the faith, no notice is taken of the other. The mention of the grandmother is the addition of a circumstance not found in the history; but it is a circumstance, which, as well as the names of the parties, might naturally be expected to be known to the apostle, though overlooked by his historian. In the same epistle St. Paul says of him, that from a child he had known the Holy Scriptures. This is accounted for in the history, when it is said that his mother was a Jewess perhaps he was not less likely to be carefully instructed in them, for that his mother alone professed that religion."*

:

3. Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him, because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.

As they knew that his father was a Greek, they would conclude that he had not been circumcised, and, therefore, be offended by seeing him in the company of Paul, and employed with him in preaching the gospel. The conduct of Paul on this occasion, has been thought by some to furnish a proof that he regarded the law of Moses as of perpetual obligation to the Jews; since he recommended to a Jew to conform to it in one of its most distinguishing rites. This, however, seems to be inferring more from his conduct than it will warrant: but it appears as if Paul and the other apostles thought it enough to represent the law of Moses in their writings as abolished, and soon to be laid aside by the destruction of their polity and temple, while, to prevent the Jews from taking umbrage at their conduct, they conformed to it themselves, and recommended it to be observed by all of Jewish extraction. In another case, where the Jews required Titus, who was a Greek by descent, to be circumcised, as a mark of subjection to the law, we know that Paul resolutely refused to gratify their wishes:† whether the present compliance with the prejudices of the Jews was proper, some persons may perhaps question.

4. And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem.

5. And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.

Had the Gentiles been required to observe the law of Moses, many of the new converts would have given up their profession of Christianity in disgust, and many others been prevented from joining them; but, by the wise determination of the church at Jerusalem, both these evils were avoided; the first converts were retained, and many new ones added to their number.

REFLECTIONS.

1. FROM this history we learn that great and virtuous characters may differ, and that those differences may proceed to contention: for such is the situation of Paul and Barnabas, each of them pleading with earnestness for the excellence of his own plan, and for the insufficiency or impropriety of that which is recommended by his friend yet their difference is accompanied with no hatred or illwill; it produces no disgust with the work in which they are engaged. They separate with mutual esteem; they continue to devote themselves to the same benevolent employment of instructing mankind, although in different ways, and prosecute their work with the same zeal. This controversy reveals no secret, which betrays the bad conduct or evil designs of one of the parties, as contentions among the wicked have uniformly done; no plot for imposing upon the credulity of mankind, no scheme of private interest or ambition, pursued under colour of zeal for the public welfare. Such has been the usual effect of contentions and separations amongst others, which have proved fatal to the undertaking in which they were engaged; but as nothing of this kind occurs here, it is a proof that nothing of a private or secret nature entered into the views of Paul and Barnabas. Thus it is, that we gain evidence for the truth of the gospelhistory from the concurring testimony of the first teachers, and especially from their holding the same language under every other variety of opinion.

To

2. We see what advantage Christianity derives from the separation of those things from it, which do not belong to the system. have imposed the law of Moses upon all converts, would have been gratifying to the Jews, but would have given disgust to the Gentiles, and proved a great obstacle to the success of the gospel: to have retained it, would have been a constant source of contention and dispute, of rancour and hatred. By rejecting it, the apostles preserved the good will of those who were already converted, and prepared the way for the conversion of many more. The churches were established in the faith, and increased in number daily.

The like benefit would arise to the gospel of Christ by our separating from it many other doctrines and rites, which have been added to it by the folly or wickedness of mankind. By such errors and additions, inquisitive and thoughtful minds are disgusted, and many are induced to reject Christianity altogether, or prevented from embracing it; and while they are retained, we must expect that unbelievers will increase and abound.

let

Let all those, therefore, who wish well to Christianity, exert all their influence to purify it from every foreign admixture, from every thing which is not essential to its nature. For this purpose, them make an undisguised profession of the truth themselves, and aid every scheme for communicating it to, others. In doing this they may awaken the fears of some, who may be apprehensive that by such proceedings they are taking from Christianity every thing that rendered it interesting, or even undermining its foundations; but let them not be deterred by such fears. They are, in fact, restoring it to its native dignity, and placing it on a firmer foundation than before; they will, by this means, secure the wavering attachment of its friends, and invite many to return who had deserted its standard.

SECTION XXV.

Paul having preached the gospel in Asia Minor, crosses over into Macedonia; and at Philippi heals a woman that had a spirit of divination.

ACTS xvi. 6-18.

6. Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia, i. e. in Asia Proper, or Proconsular Asia;

7. After they were come to Mysia, they essayed, "they attempted," to go into Bithynia; but the Spirit of Jesus* suffered them not.

8. And they, passing by, " "passing through," Mysia, came down to Troas.

The reason of this prohibition was, that they might meet with no interruption in their progress towards Europe, to which they seem to be miraculously called, and in which the inhabitants were better prepared to receive the gospel. That the restrictions were only temporary, we learn from the eighteenth chapter of this history, where we find Paul preaching at the city of Ephesus, which lay in this part of Asia, but especially from the nineteenth, in which we are informed that he spent two years at Ephesus, "so that," it is added, "all they of Asia heard the word."

In the seventh verse, the best manuscripts read, the Spirit of Jesus, instead of the Spirit, as it is in our translation, and that is, probably, the original reading. The miraculous influence which accompanied

* Griesbach.

the gospel might with propriety be denominated the Spirit of Jesus, because it came from him, and was intended for the establishment of his cause in the world.

9. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: there stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.

10. And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.

It appears from this verse that the writer of this history was the companion of Paul on this journey; for he says, "we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called This circumstance gives peculiar authenticity to his narrative.

us.

11. Therefore, loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothrace, an island in the narrow part of the Archipelago, and the next day to Neapolis, a town on the continent of Europe.

12. And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony; and we were in that city abiding certain days.

The Roman historian, Livy, calls Amphipolis the chief city of this part of Macedonia, and therefore seems to contradict the assertion of Luke but both accounts may be true; for although Amphipolis merited this distinction when Livy wrote, yet in the time of Luke, above one hundred years after, the condition of the two places might be much changed, so as to justify the precedence which is here given to Philippi.t

*

13. And on the sabbath-day, we went out of the city, by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made, and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted there.

Many persons have supposed that the word which we render "prayer," should be understood rather of the place than of the act of prayer. It is certain that the Jews had such places of worship, without the gates of the cities, where they resided in foreign countries, either because they were too poor or too few to provide a synagogue, or because they were not allowed to observe their form of worship within the gates; and that these oratories or places of prayer

* Pearce, Doddridge, and Benson are for altering the text.

By using the Latin word, colony of Philippi, Luke plainly shows its connexion with Rome, which will serve to explain what the Philippians afterwards say of themselves in the twenty-first verse, that they were Romans, that is, enjoyed the privileges of Roman citizens.

were often situated near the sea or a river, for the sake of those purifications which the Jews practised.*

14. And a certain woman, named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, (a city of Lydia,) which worshipped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.

Lydia, perhaps, derived her name from the country in which she dwelt, which was a province of the Lesser Asia. This woman, who appears to have been a person of property, from her selling purple, the most expensive kind of cloth used by the ancients, and from her receiving the apostle and his companions at her house, was a proselyte to the Jewish religion, which is intimated, when it is said that she worshipped God. This prepared her for the reception of the gospel. It is said, indeed, that the Lord opened her heart for this purpose; but we are not to infer thence, that any supernatural influence was exercised over her mind, to make her a convert; for that would have superseded the use of all means. This change was produced entirely by the arguments and reasoning of the apostle Paul and of those who were with him, but, being a good effect, is attributed by the historian, as was usual with pious Jews, to the immediate hand of God, although produced in the ordinary course of things.

15. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there. And she constrained us, "she pressed us to compliance."

16.

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And it came to pass as we went to prayer, "to the oratory," or, place of prayer," a certain damsel, "a maid-servant," possessed with a spirit of divination, in the original, "a spirit of Python," or, Apollo," met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying, "by prophecying."

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To understand the account that is given of this woman, it is necessary to observe, that amongst the Greeks it was supposed that the spirits of their dæmons took possession of the living, and that in this state they prophecied, or predicted future events; their prophecying being accompanied with fits of raving madness. Hence it arose that mad persons of a particular description came to be considered as animated by a dæmon or god, and capable of foretelling future events. This was the condition of the person here mentioned: she was insane, and, therefore, supposed to be possessed by the spirit of Apollo, and regarded as a prophetess. She had probably. lucid intervals, which qualified her better for the purpose of her

* Lardner, Vol. I. p. 110.