25 You are the sons of the prophets, and of the agreement which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, Through your seed a blessing will come on all the families of the earth.
Who are Israelites: who have the place of sons, and the glory, and the agreements with God, and the giving of the law, and the worship, and the hope offered by God: Whose are the fathers, and of whom came Christ in the flesh, who is over all, God, to whom be blessing for ever. So be it.
And God said to Abraham, On your side, you are to keep the agreement, you and your seed after you through all generations. And this is the agreement which you are to keep with me, you and your seed after you: every male among you is to undergo circumcision.
And say not to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father; because I say to you that God is able from these stones to make children for Abraham. And even now the axe is put to the root of the trees; every tree then which does not give good fruit is cut down, and put into the fire.
He has kept his agreement in mind for ever, the word which he gave for a thousand generations; The agreement which he made with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac; And he gave it to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an eternal agreement; Saying, To you will I give the land of Canaan, the measured line of your heritage: When they were still small in number, and strange in the land; When they went about from one nation to another, and from one kingdom to another people. He would not let anyone do them wrong; he even kept back kings because of them, Saying, Put not your hand on those who have been marked with my holy oil, and do my prophets no wrong.
And Jacob sent for his sons, and said, Come together, all of you, so that I may give you news of your fate in future times. Come near, O sons of Jacob, and give ear to the words of Israel your father. Reuben, you are my oldest son, the first-fruit of my strength, first in pride and first in power: But because you were uncontrolled, the first place will not be yours; for you went up to your father's bed, even his bride-bed, and made it unclean. Simeon and Levi are brothers; deceit and force are their secret designs. Take no part in their secrets, O my soul; keep far away, O my heart, from their meetings; for in their wrath they put men to death, and for their pleasure even oxen were wounded. A curse on their passion for it was bitter; and on their wrath for it was cruel. I will let their heritage in Jacob be broken up, driving them from their places in Israel. To you, Judah, will your brothers give praise: your hand will be on the neck of your haters; your father's sons will go down to the earth before you. Judah is a young lion; like a lion full of meat you have become great, my son; now he takes his rest like a lion stretched out and like an old lion; by whom will his sleep be broken? The rod of authority will not be taken from Judah, and he will not be without a law-giver, till he comes who has the right to it, and the peoples will put themselves under his rule. Knotting his ass's cord to the vine, and his young ass to the best vine; washing his robe in wine, and his clothing in the blood of grapes: His eyes will be dark with wine, and his teeth white with milk. The resting-place of Zebulun will be by the sea, and he will be a harbour for ships; the edge of his land will be by Zidon. Issachar is a strong ass stretched out among the flocks: And he saw that rest was good and the land was pleasing; so he let them put weights on his back and became a servant. Dan will be the judge of his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. May Dan be a snake in the way, a horned snake by the road, biting the horse's foot so that the horseman has a fall. I have been waiting for your salvation, O Lord. Gad, an army will come against him, but he will come down on them in their flight. Asher's bread is fat; he gives delicate food for kings. Naphtali is a roe let loose, giving fair young ones. Joseph is a young ox, whose steps are turned to the fountain; He was troubled by the archers; they sent out their arrows against him, cruelly wounding him: But their bows were broken by a strong one, and the cords of their arms were cut by the Strength of Jacob, by the name of the Stone of Israel: Even by the God of your father, who will be your help, and by the Ruler of all, who will make you full with blessings from heaven on high, blessings of the deep stretched out under the earth, blessings of the breasts and of the fertile body: Blessings of sons, old and young, to the father: blessings of the oldest mountains and the fruit of the eternal hills: let them come on the head of Joseph, on the crown of him who was separate from his brothers. Benjamin is a wolf, searching for meat: in the morning he takes his food, and in the evening he makes division of what he has taken. These are the twelve tribes of Israel: and these are the words their father said to them, blessing them; to every one he gave his blessing. And he gave orders to them, saying, Put me to rest with my people and with my fathers, in the hollow of the rock in the field of Ephron the Hittite, In the rock in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham got from Ephron the Hittite, to be his resting-place. There Abraham and Sarah his wife were put to rest, and there they put Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I put Leah to rest. In the rock in the field which was got for a price from the people of Heth. And when Jacob had come to the end of these words to his sons, stretching himself on his bed, he gave up his spirit, and went the way of his people.
And Israel, stretching out his right hand, put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands on purpose, for Manasseh was the older. And he gave Joseph a blessing, saying, May the God to whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, gave worship, the God who has taken care of me all my life till this day, The angel who has been my saviour from all evil, send his blessing on these children: and let my name and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, be given to them; and let them become a great nation in the earth. Now when Joseph saw that his father had put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it did not seem right to him; and lifting his father's hand he would have put it on the head of Manasseh. And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father, for this is the older; put your right hand on his head. But his father would not, saying, I am doing it on purpose, my son; he will certainly become a nation and a great one; but his younger brother will be greater than he, and his seed will become a great family of nations. So he gave them his blessing that day, saying, You will be the sign of blessing in Israel, for they will say, May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh; and he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
And he said, Is it because he is named Jacob that he has twice taken my place? for he took away my birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing. And he said, Have you not kept a blessing for me? And Isaac answering said, But I have made him your master, and have given him all his brothers for servants; I have made him strong with grain and wine: what then am I to do for you, my son? And Esau said to his father, Is that the only blessing you have, my father? give a blessing to me, even me! And Esau was overcome with weeping. Then Isaac his father made answer and said to him, Far from the fertile places of the earth, and far from the dew of heaven on high will your living-place be: By your sword will you get your living and you will be your brother's servant; but when your power is increased his yoke will be broken from off your neck.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Acts 3
Commentary on Acts 3 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 3
Ac 3:1-26. Peter Heals a Lame Man at the Temple Gate—Hs Address to the Wondering Multitude.
1-11. Peter and John—already associated by their Master, first with James (Mr 1:29; 5:37; 9:2), then by themselves (Lu 22:8; and see Joh 13:23, 24). Now we find them constantly together, but John (yet young) only as a silent actor.
went up—were going up, were on their way.
2. a certain man lame from his mother's womb—and now "above forty years old" (Ac 4:22).
was carried—was wont to be carried.
4, 5. Peter fastening his eyes on him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed—that, through the eye, faith might be aided in its birth.
6. Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee—What a lofty superiority breathes in these words!
In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk—These words, uttered with supernatural power, doubtless begat in this poor man the faith that sent healing virtue through his diseased members.
7. And he took … and lifted him up—precisely what his Lord had done to his own mother-in-law (Mr 1:31).
his feet—"soles."
and ankle bones, &c.—the technical language of a physician (Col 4:14).
8. leaping up, stood … walked … entered the temple walking, leaping, and praising God—Every word here is emphatic, expressing the perfection of the cure, as Ac 3:7 its immediateness.
9. all the people saw him, &c.—as they assembled at the hour of public prayer, in the temple courts; so that the miracle had the utmost publicity.
10. they knew that it was he which sat for alms, &c.—(Compare Joh 9:8).
11. the lame man … held, &c.—This is human nature.
all the people ran together unto them in the porch, &c.—How vividly do these graphic details bring the whole scene before us! Thus was Peter again furnished with a vast audience, whose wonder at the spectacle of the healed beggar clinging to his benefactors prepared them to listen with reverence to his words.
12-16. why marvel at this?—For miracles are marvels only in relation to the limited powers of man.
as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk—Neither the might nor the merit of the cure are due to us, mere agents of Him whom we preach.
13. The God of Abraham, &c.—(See on Ac 2:22; Ac 2:36).
hath glorified his Son Jesus—rather, "his Servant Jesus," as the same word is rendered in Mt 12:18, but in that high sense in which Isaiah applies it always to Messiah (Isa 42:1; 49:6; 52:13; 53:11). When "Son" is intended a different word is used.
whom ye delivered up, &c.—With what heroic courage does Peter here charge his auditors with the heaviest of all conceivable crimes, and with what terrific strength of language are these charges clothed!
15. killed the Prince of life—Glorious paradox, but how piercing to the conscience of the auditors.
16. his name, through faith in his name, hath made this man strong, &c.—With what skill does the apostle use the miracle both to glorify his ascended Lord and bring the guilt of His blood more resistlessly home to his audience!
17-21. And now, brethren—Our preacher, like his Master, "will not break the bruised reed." His heaviest charges are prompted by love, which now hastens to assuage the wounds it was necessary to inflict.
I wot—"know."
through ignorance ye did it—(See marginal references, Lu 23:34; Ac 13:27; 26:9).
18. that Christ—The best manuscripts read, "that His Christ."
should suffer—The doctrine of a Suffering Messiah was totally at variance with the current views of the Jewish Church, and hard to digest even by the Twelve, up to the day of their Lord's resurrection. Our preacher himself revolted at it, and protested against it, when first nakedly announced, for which he received a terrible rebuke. Here he affirms it to be the fundamental truth of ancient prophecy realized unwittingly by the Jews themselves, yet by a glorious divine ordination. How great a change had the Pentecostal illumination wrought upon his views!
19. when the times of refreshing shall come—rather, "in order that the times of refreshing may come"; that long period of repose, prosperity and joy, which all the prophets hold forth to the distracted Church and this miserable world, as eventually to come, and which is here, as in all the prophets, made to turn upon the national conversion of Israel.
20. he shall send Jesus Christ—The true reading is, "He shall send your predestinated (or foreordained) Messiah, Jesus."
21. until the times—embracing the whole period between the ascension and the second advent of Christ.
restitution of all things—comprehending, probably, the rectification of all the disorders of the fall.
22-26. a prophet … like unto me—particularly in intimacy of communication with God (Nu 12:6-8), and as the mediatorial Head of a new order of things (Heb 3:2-6). Peter takes it for granted that, in the light of all he had just said, it would be seen at once that One only had any claim to be that Prophet.
him shall ye hear in all things, &c.—This part of the prediction is emphatically added, in order to shut up the audience to the obedience of faith, on pain of being finally "cut off" from the congregation of the righteous (Ps 1:1).
24. foretold of these days—of Messiah; all pointing to "the time of reformation" (Heb 9:10), though with more or less distinctness.
25. Ye are the children … of the covenant—and so the natural heirs of its promises.
in thy seed, &c.—(See on Ga 3:8, &c.).
26. God, having raised up—not from the dead, but having provided, prepared, and given.
his Son Jesus—"His Servant Jesus" (see on Ac 3:13).
sent him to bless you—literally, "sent Him blessing you," as if laden with blessing.
in turning away every one of you from his iniquities—that is, "Hitherto we have all been looking too much for a Messiah who should shed outward blessings upon the nation generally, and through it upon the world. But we have learned other things, and now announce to you that the great blessing with which Messiah has come laden is the turning away of every one of you from his iniquities." With what divine skill does the apostle, founding on resistless facts, here drive home to the conscience of his auditors their guilt in crucifying the Lord of Glory; then soothe their awakened minds by assurances of forgiveness on turning to the Lord, and a glorious future as soon as this shall come to pass, to terminate with the Personal Return of Christ from the heavens whither He has ascended; ending all with warnings, from their own Scriptures, to submit to Him if they would not perish, and calls to receive from Him the blessings of salvation.