5 and having come unto Salamis, they declared the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews, and they had also John `as' a ministrant;
and they having gone through from Perga, came to Antioch of Pisidia, and having gone into the synagogue on the sabbath-day, they sat down,
And having gone into the synagogue, he was speaking boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading the things concerning the reign of God,
therefore, indeed, he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the worshipping persons, and in the market-place every day with those who met with him.
And it came to pass in Iconium, that they did enter together into the synagogue of the Jews, and spake, so that there believed both of Jews and Greeks a great multitude;
also, having considered, he came unto the house of Mary, the mother of John, who is surnamed Mark, where there were many thronged together and praying.
and immediately in the synagogues he was preaching the Christ, that he is the Son of God.
And Moses riseth -- Joshua his minister also -- and Moses goeth up unto the mount of God;
Salute you doth Aristarchus, my fellow-captive, and Marcus, the nephew of Barnabas, (concerning whom ye did receive commands -- if he may come unto you receive him,)
And having passed through Amphipolis, and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was the synagogue of the Jews, and according to the custom of Paul, he went in unto them, and for three sabbaths he was reasoning with them from the Writings, opening and alleging, `That the Christ it behoved to suffer, and to rise again out of the dead, and that this is the Christ -- Jesus whom I proclaim to you.'
And Barnabas counseled to take with `them' John called Mark,
and Barnabas and Saul did turn back out of Jerusalem, having fulfilled the ministration, having taken also with `them' John, who was surnamed Mark.
And Jehoshaphat saith, `Is there not here a prophet of Jehovah, and we seek Jehovah by him?' And one of the servants of the king of Israel answereth and saith, `Here `is' Elisha son of Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.'
And he turneth back from after him, and taketh the yoke of oxen, and sacrificeth it, and with instruments of the oxen he hath boiled their flesh, and giveth to the people, and they eat, and he riseth, and goeth after Elijah, and serveth him.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Acts 13
Commentary on Acts 13 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 13
We have not yet met with any things concerning the spreading of the gospel to the Gentiles which bears any proportion to the largeness of that commission, "Go, and disciple all nations.' The door was opened in the baptizing of Cornelius and his friends; but since then we had the gospel preached to the Jews only, ch. 11:19. It should seem as if the light which began to shine upon the Gentile world had withdrawn itself. But here in this chapter that work, that great good work, is revived in the midst of the years; and though the Jews shall still have the first offer of the gospel made to them, yet, upon their refusal, the Gentiles shall have their share of the offer of it. Here is,
Act 13:1-3
We have here a divine warrant and commission to Barnabas and Saul to go and preach the gospel among the Gentiles, and their ordination to that service by the imposition of hands, with fasting and prayer.
Act 13:4-13
In these verses we have,
Act 13:14-41
Perga in Pamphylia was a noted place, especially for a temple there erected to the goddess Diana, yet nothing at all is related of what Paul and Barnabas did there, only that thither they came (v. 13), and thence they departed, v. 14. But the history of the apostles' travels, as that of Christ's, passes by many things worthy to have been recorded, because, if all had been written, the world could not have contained the books. But the next place we find them in is another Antioch, said to be in Pisidia, to distinguish it from that Antioch in Syria from which they were sent out. Pisidia was a province of the Lesser Asia, bordering upon Pamphylia; this Antioch, it is likely, was the metropolis of it. Abundance of Jews lived there, and to them the gospel was to be first preached; and Paul's sermon to them is what we have in these verses, which, it is likely, is the substance of what was preached by the apostles generally to the Jews in all places; for in dealing with them the proper way was to show them how the New Testament, which they would have them to receive, exactly agreed with the Old Testament, which they not only received, but were zealous for. We have here,
Act 13:42-52
The design of this story being to vindicate the apostles, especially Paul (as he doth himself at large, Rom. 11), from the reflections of the Jews upon him for preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, it is here observed that he proceeded therein with all the caution imaginable, and upon due consideration, of which we have here an instance.