Worthy.Bible » KJV » Acts » Chapter 11 » Verse 14

Acts 11:14 King James Version (KJV)

14 Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.

Cross Reference

Acts 16:15 KJV

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.

Acts 10:22 KJV

And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee.

Acts 16:31-34 KJV

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.

John 4:53 KJV

So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.

John 20:31 KJV

But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

1 John 5:9-13 KJV

If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

1 Corinthians 1:16 KJV

And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.

Romans 10:9-10 KJV

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Romans 1:16-17 KJV

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Acts 18:8 KJV

And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.

Acts 10:43 KJV

To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.

Acts 10:32-33 KJV

Send therefore to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose surname is Peter; he is lodged in the house of one Simon a tanner by the sea side: who, when he cometh, shall speak unto thee. Immediately therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.

Acts 10:6 KJV

He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.

Acts 10:2 KJV

A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.

Acts 2:39 KJV

For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.

Genesis 17:7 KJV

And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

John 12:50 KJV

And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.

John 6:68 KJV

Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

John 6:63 KJV

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Luke 19:10 KJV

For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Mark 16:16 KJV

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Jeremiah 32:39 KJV

And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:

Isaiah 61:8-9 KJV

For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed.

Proverbs 20:7 KJV

The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.

Psalms 115:13-14 KJV

He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great. The LORD shall increase you more and more, you and your children.

Psalms 112:2 KJV

His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.

Psalms 103:17 KJV

But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children;

Psalms 19:7-11 KJV

The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

Genesis 18:19 KJV

For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

Commentary on Acts 11 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 11

Ac 11:1-18. Peter Vindicates Himself before the Church in Jerusalem for His Procedure towards the Gentiles.

1-11. the apostles and brethren … in Judea—rather, "throughout Judea."

2. they … of the circumcision—not the Jewish Christians generally, for here there were no other, but such as, from their jealousy for "the middle wall of partition" which circumcision raised between Jew and Gentile, were afterwards known as "they of the circumcision." They doubtless embraced apostles as well as others.

3, 4. Thou wentest in … But Peter rehearsed the matter, &c.—These objectors scruple not to demand from Peter, though the first among the apostles, an explanation of his conduct; nor is there any insinuation on Peter's part of disrespect towards his authority in that demand—a manifest proof that such authority was unknown both to the complainers and to himself.

12-18. we entered the man's house—No mention of Cornelius' name, much less of his high position, as if that affected the question. To the charge, "Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised," he simply speaks of the uncircumcised "man" to whom he had been divinely sent.

13. seen an angel—literally, "the angel," for the rumor took that definite shape.

14. Who shall tell thee words whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved—The historian makes the angel express this much more generally (Ac 10:6). So also the subsequent report of it by the deputies and by Cornelius himself to Peter (Ac 10:22, 32). But as Peter tarried with Cornelius certain days, and they doubtless talked over the wonderful scene together, perhaps this fuller and richer form of what the angel said was given to Peter; or the apostle himself may have expressed what the angel certainly designed by directing them to send for him. Observe, "salvation" is here made to hang upon "words," that is, the Gospel message concerning Christ. But on the "salvation" of Cornelius, see on Ac 10:34, 35. On that of his "house," see on Lu 19:10.

16, 17. Then remembered I the word … John … baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Forasmuch then, &c.—that is, "Since God Himself has put them on a level with ourselves, by bestowing on them what the Lord Jesus pronounced the higher baptism of the Holy Ghost, would it not have been to withstand God if I had withheld from them the lower baptism of water, and kept aloof from them as still 'unclean?'"

18. held their peace and glorified God—Well had it been if, when Paul afterwards adduced equally resistless evidence in justification of the same line of procedure, this Jewish party had shown the same reverential and glad submission!

Then hath God also granted to the Gentiles, &c.—rather, "granted to the Gentiles also." (See a similar misplacement of "also" in Heb 12:1). To "grant repentance unto life"—that is, "such as issues in life" (compare 2Co 7:10, "repentance unto salvation")—is more than to be willing to pardon upon repentance [Grotius]. The case of Cornelius is so manifestly one of grace reigning in every stage of his religious history, that we can hardly doubt that this was just the feature of it which they meant here to express. And this is the grace that reigns in every conversion.

Ac 11:19-24. The Gospel Being Preached to Gentiles at Antioch Also Barnabas Is Sent Thither from Jerusalem, Who Hails Their Accession and Labors among Them.

19. they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen—and who "went everywhere preaching the word" (Ac 8:4).

travelled as far as Phenice—that part of the Mediterranean coast which, commencing a little north of Cæsarea, stretches northwards for upwards of one hundred miles, halfway to Antioch.

and Cyprus—(See on Ac 4:36). An active commercial intercourse subsisted between Phenice and Cyprus.

and Antioch—near the head of the northeast coast of the Mediterranean, on the river Orontes, and containing a large colony of Jews, to whose religion there were there numerous proselytes. "It was almost an Oriental Rome, in which all the forms of the civilized life of the empire found some representative; and through the two first centuries of the Christian era it was what Constantinople became afterwards, 'the Gate of the East'" [Howson].

20. some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene—(see on Lu 23:26); as Lucius, mentioned in Ac 13:1.

spake unto the Grecians—rather, "the Greeks," that is, uncircumcised Gentiles (as the true reading beyond doubt is). The Gospel had, from the first, been preached to "the Grecians" or Greek-speaking Jews, and these "men of Cyprus and Cyrene" were themselves "Grecians." How, then, can we suppose that the historian would note, as something new and singular (Ac 11:22), that some of the dispersed Christians preached to them?

21. a great number believed—Thus the accession of Cornelius and his party was not the first admission of uncircumcised Gentiles into the Church. (See on Ac 10:1.) Nay, we read of no influence which the accession of Cornelius and his house had on the further progress of the Gospel among the Gentiles; whereas there here open upon us operations upon the Gentiles from quite a different quarter, and attended with ever growing success. The only great object served by the case of Cornelius was the formal recognition of the principles which that case afterwards secured. (See on Ac 15:19-29.)

22. sent … Barnabas … as far as Antioch—implying that even on the way to Antioch he found churches to visit [Olshausen]. It was in the first instance, no doubt, a mission of inquiry; and no one could be more suitable to inquire into the proceedings of those Cyprians and Cyrenians than one who was himself a "Grecian" of Cyprus (Ac 4:36), and "a son of consolation."

23. when he … had seen the grace of God—in the new converts.

was glad—owned and rejoiced in it at once as divine, though they were uncircumcised.

exhorted them all that with purpose of heart—as opposed to a hasty and fickle discipleship.

they would cleave unto the Lord—the Lord Jesus.

24. For he was a good man—The sense of "good" here is plainly "large-hearted," "liberal-minded," rising above narrow Jewish sectarianism, and that because, as the historian adds, he was "full of the Holy Ghost and of faith."

and much people were added unto the Lord—This proceeding of Barnabas, so full of wisdom, love, and zeal, was blessed to the great increase of the Christian community in that important city.

Ac 11:25, 26. Barnabas, Finding the Work in Antioch Too Much for Him, Goes to Tarsus for SaulThey Labor There Together for a Whole Year with Much Success, and Antioch Becomes the Honored Birthplace of the Term Christian.

25. Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus for to seek Saul—Of course, this was after the hasty despatch of Saul to Tarsus, no doubt by Barnabas himself among others, to escape the fury of the Jews at Jerusalem. And as Barnabas was the first to take the converted persecutor by the hand and procure his recognition as a disciple by the brethren at Jerusalem (Ac 9:27), so he alone seems at that early period to have discerned in him those peculiar endowments by virtue of which he was afterwards to eclipse all others. Accordingly, instead of returning to Jerusalem, to which, no doubt, he sent accounts of his proceedings from time to time, finding that the mine in Antioch was rich in promise and required an additional and powerful hand to work, he leaves it for a time, takes a journey to Tarsus, "finds Saul" (seemingly implying—not that he lay hid [Bengel], but that he was engaged at the time in some preaching circuit—see on Ac 15:23), and returns with him to Antioch. Nor were his hopes disappointed. As co-pastors, for the time being, of the Church there, they so labored that the Gospel, even in that great and many-sided community, achieved for itself a name which will live and be gloried in as long as this world lasts, as the symbol of all that is most precious to the fallen family of man:—"The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." This name originated not within, but without, the Church; not with their Jewish enemies, by whom they were styled "Nazarenes" (Ac 24:5), but with the heathen in Antioch, and (as the form of the word shows) with the Romans, not the Greeks there [Olshausen]. It was not at first used in a good sense (as Ac 26:28; 1Pe 4:16 show), though hardly framed out of contempt (as De Wette, Baumgarten, &c.); but as it was a noble testimony to the light in which the Church regarded Christ—honoring Him as their only Lord and Saviour, dwelling continually on His name, and glorying in it—so it was felt to be too apposite and beautiful to be allowed to die.

Ac 11:27-30. By Occasion of a Famine Barnabas and Saul Return to Jerusalem with a Contribution for the Relief of Their Suffering Brethren.

27. came prophets from Jerusalem—inspired teachers, a class we shall afterwards frequently meet with, who sometimes, but not necessarily, foretold future events. They are classed next to apostles (1Co 12:28, 29; Eph 4:11).

28. that there should be great dearth throughout all the world—the whole Roman empire.

which came to pass in the days of Claudius Cæsar—Four famines occurred during his reign. This one in Judea and the adjacent countries took place, A.D. 41 [Josephus, Antiquities, 20.2,5]. An important date for tracing out the chronology of the Acts. (But this subject is too difficult and extensive to admit of being handled here).

29. Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief, &c.—This was the pure prompting of Christian love, which shone so bright in those earliest days of the Gospel.

30. sent it to the elders—an office well known to be borrowed from the synagogue; after the model of which, and not at all of the temple, the Christian Churches were constituted by the apostles.

by the hands of Barnabas and Saul—This was Saul's Second Visit to Jerusalem after his conversion.